We all face extensive security demands every day. Whether you’re seeking to tighten access to your remote network assets, keep your teleworkers safer or just get a better handle on your business-critical information, the demand is in place. For many – potentially even most businesses – the answer has been to adopt a “best-of-breed” approach with close coordination over a series of smaller investments. According to Palo Alto Networks, however, there can be complications to this purchasing strategy. For one, this plan can obstruct the ability to add, integrate and scale new security technology as needs shift. Others point to a limited scope for management. Increasing staff demand and cost both contribute to an inability to maintain adequate coverage, all in the face of an increasingly dangerous cybersecurity threat-scape. As a result of these and other issues, many now turn to an outsourced, allencompassing platform to handle virtually all aspects of security. Palo Alto recently published new data from certain anonymous clients examining this dynamic and its many considerations in greater detail. According to Palo Alto, most of the 83 company representatives surveyed believe that their ultimate goal for cybersecurity is an infrastructure that can “procure, manage, operate – and reduce risk.” Researchers identified as many as 17 different unique benefits to implementing a consolidated security platform – in this case, Palo Alto Networks’ product. Positives tended to center around three key areas: procurement, rollout and security operations. Procurement and Acquisition According to Palo Alto, 28 percent of respondents believe that they drastically cut their investments of time and money by choosing its consolidated security platform. Of note, companies witnessed diminished time spent obtaining the necessary coverage (25 percent) and less financial investment (19 percent). And a recent report by TechTarget’s ESG division, for its part, called this need for a streamlined, consolidated approach one of the single most important challenges faced by a modern, often ill-equipped security crew. In particular, Palo Alto recommends choosing a platform that “breeds integration, enterprise-wide visibility and easy scalability.” New threats continue to arise almost daily, after all, while the older ones constantly adapt to do more damage. Implementation and Deployment The act of deciding what actual types of products to buy is one thing. Rolling them out as part of what Palo Alto calls a “comprehensive, smoothly functioning system” is entirely different. The traditional path of implementing several “best-of-breed” disparate systems to cover all aspects of security means an organization will need additional resources in order to maintain, update and replace those individual platforms with time. Scalability comes at a premium that leaves little room for the “plug-and-play” aspect that keeps a security system fresh and most up to date. After all, there’s rarely a universal, underlying infrastructure or APIs (application programming interfaces) to support newer features with time. The conventional approach also tends to require dedicated, experienced By Brady Hicks SECURITY The All-In Platform Can you have more security with less investment? 14 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
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