How To Overcome The ‘Tech Deficit’ And Meet Your Data Centre Security Needs

With the evolution and sophistication of new security breaches reaching national media, it’s no surprise that IT managers in European organisations are feeling the pressure to protect their data.

The influx of devices in the workplace, along with the increased number of users accessing corporate networks, has created new headaches for organisations. Complete with the cloud and The Internet of Things, organisations are expected to have the right foundations in place to support changing demands and adapt to future requirements. But are these enterprises ready to meet security needs?

Colt recently commissioned research (the Tech Deficit) to find out how European organisations are supporting their business, and in particular, how ready their technology infrastructure is to support future ambitions. Interestingly, the findings of the report show that data centre security (34%) and general security (31%) ranked amongst the top 5 areas which IT managers felt would severely impact infrastructure. Overall, almost three in four businesses (72%) have either a significant or moderate tech deficit – where their infrastructure is not ready to deliver the critical services needed to meet future business needs.With the different type of security threats evolving so quickly, it can be difficult for IT and data centre managers to remain ahead of the curve. So what can they do to make sure that the security needs of their organisation are met? Here are some top tips to get started:

Make sure your infrastructure is ready for the future

As hackers get more sophisticated, so too must the security measures in place. But current infrastructure is not future-ready and scalable to support the peaks, troughs and complexity of demand in the next two years – only 26% of respondents believe theirs is – organisations will struggle to deliver on security expectations. To ensure infrastructure is ready for future changes and innovation, more organisations are using the service-based delivery model. This model allows organisations to focus on their core competencies, whilst infrastructure can support changes in demand and scale accordingly.

Find the security solution that is right for your organisation

It goes without saying that there is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to security. Each organisation should have its own priorities when it comes to data protection and ensuring their data is in safe hands. The important thing to remember is that the solution you choose must be flexible to develop for your future business needs. Working to develop a strong understanding of data centre security considerations can help you to identify these needs. . Multiple layers of security and disaster recovery options will reassure your customers that their data is secure and accessible. It’s important to consider what’s important to your customers, and reflect that in the security solution you choose to implement.

Seek assistance from strategic partnerships

Research shows that in order to better manage their infrastructure, organisations are opting to simplify the services, applications, storage and network resources they have in place. Simplification (60%) of the technology infrastructure is seen as the preferred route to ensuring that infrastructure supports the services needed to drive future business performance. Strategic partnerships could be a key movement for organisations in the future, as budgets become squeezed and technology more complex.

Consider outsourcing and flexible IT models

One trend we are seeing is organisations move away from buying technology and owning things, to more flexible models such as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Some of those opting for these flexible models are choosing colocation providers to support their infrastructure and streamline planning for the future. Colocation facilities have strong security practices in place, due to the mandatory industry requirements they are required to meet and also because security is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure complacency does not creep in.

In the digital economy, customers expect quick responses to demands, which means an increasing pressure on businesses to respond in an agile way. The technology infrastructure should be able to support the changes in demand and scale accordingly, while maintaining all the necessary governance and security. Owning infrastructure that cannot quickly be used to support the new requirements, could prevent businesses from exploiting the benefits of the digital economy and hold them back from future opportunities.

This post was a contributed article written by John Hayday, director security & business resilience at Colt.

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