{"id":89078,"date":"2019-03-06T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T17:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/\/?p=89078"},"modified":"2024-04-08T13:51:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T20:51:01","slug":"securing-your-digital-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/2019\/03\/06\/securing-your-digital-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Securing your digital transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, technology can make things overly complex.<\/p>\n

Even with the best of intentions, there can be too much of a good thing. In the world of cybersecurity, complexity has been a mainstay, but in recent years, it has grown beyond its breaking point and has become a liability for security practitioners.<\/p>\n

The Forrester study, titled Security Through Simplicity (Dec. 2018)<\/a>\u2014commissioned by the Microsoft Security team\u2014clearly shows that digital transformation, while necessary for business success, compounds the complexity of an already tangled security threat landscape. However, the study also found a correlation between vendor consolidation and strategy modernization to reduce security complexity.<\/p>\n

Digital transformation introduces new levels of complexity<\/h3>\n

Digital transformation is a critical shift under which businesses are using data-powered platforms and applications to improve nearly every aspect of their business operations. New open ecosystems and the democratization of data means more users in varied locations sharing data across more applications, devices, platforms, and environments\u2014both internally and externally.<\/p>\n

As businesses continue to digitize processes, security teams must contend with an increase in attack vectors and more complicated management, all while keeping pace with increasingly sophisticated attackers. In the face of this massive challenge, security teams must evaluate and refresh their legacy security procedures, tools, and skill sets to accommodate a new and adaptable approach to enterprise security.<\/p>\n

In the study<\/a>, paid for by Microsoft, Forrester asked 481 IT security decision makers, \u201cHow challenging are the following security goals\/objectives to achieve?\u201d and found them all to be highly or extremely challenging:<\/p>\n

\"Infographic<\/a><\/p>\n

Reducing\u00a0security\u00a0complexity<\/h3>\n

So how are enterprise IT security teams successfully reducing complexity to improve their security efforts in the face of digital transformation? The study found an interesting correlation between vendor consolidation and strategy modernization in successfully achieving both business and security initiatives, when executed in concert with each other.<\/p>\n

A high number of disparate security solutions in place for on-premises and cloud infrastructure and applications makes visibility and central management extremely difficult. Reducing the number of disparate security point solutions that must interact with each other\u2014particularly older, legacy ones\u2014brings complexity down to a manageable level and allows businesses the visibility, security, and control to expand their digital adoption with confidence. Vendor consolidation and modernization can also yield cost savings by lowering technology budgets, increasing management efficiencies, and avoiding the costs of a data breach<\/a> or regulatory noncompliance.<\/p>\n

A small subset (11 percent) of enterprises that have successfully achieved both critical initiatives, modernization, and vendor consolidation, have been able to reduce complexity and reap the rewards of digital transformation. These organization are:<\/p>\n