Secure the network, secure your business

As you modernise your network, it's sensible for networking and security teams to collaborate.

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What should modern organisations be doing to realise the full potential of their network, enhance their security posture and continually support their digital transformation efforts?

This was one of the opening questions posed to a packed room of IT and business leaders at an executive roundtable presented by NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks, in partnership with ITWeb, at the Alphen Boutique Hotel and Spa in Cape Town yesterday.

 And it made for some insightful conversations, most of which centred on a few key themes: from visibility and user experience to costs and change management.

While network modernisation is critical, the room agreed that any changes made to the network or investments in the network must be done strategically and with the end user in mind. As networks evolve, it’s important to remember that each business will be on a unique journey that requires different solutions based on their specific needs and requirements, said Justin Lee, regional sales director at Palo Alto Networks.

And a major factor in this conversation is costs. While the network might not have tangible value, we all know what the business stands to lose when the network goes down, added Prashil Gareeb, VP for Managed Network and Collaboration Services at NTT DATA. Which is why it’s so important to manage your network transformation carefully.

“One of the most challenging things to manage in any organisation is change,” commented Palo Alto Networks’ Rowan Whelan. If you don’t effectively educate the end user, your IT teams will be bogged down by executives and business users coming to them and complaining that things aren’t functioning as they used to. “This brings a lot of complexity and, in some cases, can even lead to projects being set aside entirely.”

Here, the topic of network consolidation came up. While this is often the goal, it should not be done at the expense of visibility. And, again, user experience. Ultimately, businesses need to focus on who they are and what they do. Any changes or upgrades to the network should aid and improve their operations and enable them to provide a better experience to their users. This could be the experience offered to most technical and tech savvy user or the experience offered to the user who still wants to go into a bank branch or visit a retail store in-person.

Traditionally, there has been a very siloed approach when it comes to networking and security.

The sentiment among the two camps is: this is what I need to focus on and I’m only focussing on this. This mindset needs to change. “Most organisations have a very siloed approach when it comes to network and security and they don’t want to talk to each other,” said Whelan. But as these two areas converge, it makes sense for networking and security teams to work together and for these two teams to take the time to learn about each other and understand what the other is doing. Here, trust is important; especially with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

While AI holds incredible potential – particularly when it comes to detecting and fighting cyber risks – the sentiment in the room was that this emerging technology needs to be used with care and with a healthy amount of human oversight. Additionally, any AI investment must have a clear purpose, added Whelan. “Your use of something like AI needs to be driven by your business objectives. There’s no value in just jumping on the AI bandwagon if you aren’t going to derive any real value from the investment.”

Chatting to ITWeb briefly following the event, Gareeb shared that events like this are incredibly valuable because they provide a platform for customers across different industries to discuss their business and technical drivers. “In having these conversations, we can better understand customer needs and then use our experience and insights from working with other clients around the globe to meet these needs. We know these needs will change; it’s an iterative conversation and iterative journey.”