Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 48 | Page 42

FEATURE: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TRANSFORM WHILE OPTIMISING YOUR BUSINESS – YOU CAN’T CHOOSE ONE OR THE OTHER. enable customers to continue at speed while bridging existing and emerging technologies all while securing identities, applications and data. To be successful at Digital Transformation, you have to be able to transform while optimising your business – you can’t choose one or the other.” as well. Internally, the company supports employee resource groups that encourage all different types of diversity. “We hold events throughout the year. For example, every time we have a Micro Focus event, we have a Women in Technology luncheon,” Murphy explains. “We are now trying to amplify these activities out to our customers.” To that end, Murphy is heading up a webinar series Data Protection Regulation) now in play, companies need to ensure that their data is both safe and legally compliant. “We are focused on securing content, giving the customer the right governance frameworks, and giving them secure access to their own data,” said Murphy. Intelligent security Micro Focus customers looking to leverage emerging technologies to update their security have been looking to AI and Machine Learning. Rather than expanding or changing their threat surface, Murphy suggests that AI can give key insights into potential threats that may have been missed. “AI can be a great tool for understanding threats to your data and infrastructure,” explains Murphy. Micro Focus’ acquisition of Interset earlier this year has proven that point. Interset uses user and entity behavioral analytics to provide highly intelligent and accurate cyber-threat protection through AI and Machine Learning. “With tools such as Interset that leverage AI, customers can gain a deeper understanding of their data, as well as potential cracks in their security that they may have missed,” explains Murphy. “We need to protect data at rest, in transit and in use – AI and Machine Learning helps us to protect data in all of its states.” International regulations Another potential pain point that Micro Focus aims to alleviate in its customer base is the recent implementation and enforcement of data and privacy protection regulations across regions. With governance laws such as the European Union’s GDPR (General 42 INTELLIGENTCIO “We understand first-hand that implementing something like GDPR is a matter of updating technology, people and processes. We had to implement GDPR for our own data sets, and it isn’t just a matter of protecting the data – you have to upskill your people and update your processes as well.” As the company has been tasked with major scaling projects internally, Micro Focus is in a unique position to understand the importance of empowering their partner and customer bases. To that end the company has put renewed emphasis on training its partner ecosystem. “We’ve now brought our partners programmes together, allowing us to have consistency with how we train and reward our partners. We’ve started certification training this year, so our partners can feel more empowered around our solutions,” said Murphy. Further, to empower the end-users and partners of Micro Focus solutions, Micro Focus has launched a digital badging programme for its customers and has plans to expand digital badging to its partners soon. Empowering the ecosystem With its extended reach into the partner ecosystem and access to nearly 40,000 customers, Micro Focus does its best to enable positive change in the IT industry www.intelligentcio.com