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organisations. My role has
changed to ensure that our
teams innovate to address the
needs of our customers both
with technology but also in our
ability to be commercially agile.
Going forward I can see my
role becoming more focused on
developing a happy and healthy
team who has a good work life
balance. I have worked for too
many organisations that value
success more than the quality of
their products, the wellbeing of their
staff and the happiness of their
customers. I will not let Mimecast
Middle East fall into that trap.
What advice would you
offer somebody aspiring to
obtain c-level position in the
security industry?
How do you deal with stress and
unwind outside the office?
I went to Thailand in 2009 on a sponsored
charity walk. During the walk, I met a group
of Singaporean travellers who taught me
meditation. I have meditated every morning
since then. It’s a great way to put life into
perspective and have a clear mind to deal
with the daily tasks in the office. I also relax
inside the office. When your organisation
has a strong culture, with true team work
and respect, the office can also be a happy
and relaxing place. I plan also to introduce
the team to meditation during the year.
What do you currently identify as
the major areas of investment in the
cybersecurity industry?
While many organisations are not yet
moving to cloud, it’s estimated that over
60% of GCC organisations will be in the
cloud by the end of 2018. Their biggest
concern therefore is how do they put
workloads and critical applications into the
cloud and ensure they have suitable security
and redundancy. A recent Gartner study
revealed, that company IT investments
have shifted from building infrastructure to
deploying to and securing cloud. Securing
the cloud will remain the highest priority for
customers over the next two years. It’s also
worth pointing out that email remains the
number one business application used by
companies as well as the number one vector
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INTELLIGENTCIO
used to execute cyberattacks. And with
organisations moving in their droves to cloud
and adopting services like Office 365, new
challenges are entering the landscape. Email
security therefore needs to be a priority area.
Are there any differences in the way
cybersecurity challenges need to
be tackled in the different regions?
Middle East, Africa, Europe, Americas.
That’s a very difficult question to answer
in one paragraph but I will have a go.
There are huge differences across regions,
depending on the infrastructure maturity,
legislation and technology adoption.
Interestingly the countries who are the most
forward thinking can become the most
vulnerable. For example, if you are investing
in automating public services then you tend
to have higher levels of on-line commerce
and higher end-user adoption. This means
more infrastructure and people vulnerable
to cyberthreats. Smart Cities, the Internet
of things (IoT) and new disruptive business
models all bring cybersecurity challenges.
What changes to your job role have
you seen in the last year and how do
you see these developing in the next
12 months?
I think the role of a leader has changed
and I am certainly seeing that. Firstly, this
market is going through huge changes
with a significant move to cloud for many
There are two pieces of advice I would give.
1. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. We
are all paranoid about making mistakes
and are conditioned to believe that it is
a weakness in a leader. It isn’t. Strangely
the more mistakes you make during your
career, the more you learn, and the more
complete and prepared you are when
you become a leader.
2. Stay focused. My old boss used to always
say that the most important thing in
business is ‘constancy of purpose’. Once
you have defined your purpose spend
every day focused on achieving it. Make
sure that every action gets you one step
closer to your objective and if the whole
team is aligned to the same purpose,
you cannot fail. n
“
MAKE SURE THAT
EVERY ACTION
GETS YOU ONE
STEP CLOSER TO
YOUR OBJECTIVE.
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