CIO opinion
CIO OPINION
“
THE CLOUD IS A
KEY FACILITATOR
OF DIGITAL
STRATEGIES.
PARTICULARLY
WHEN IT COMES
TO BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE,
ARCHIVING AND
CENTRALISING
ACCESS.
sites to support real-time data processing to
prevent this from happening.
Resolving the issue through traditional
infrastructure would be highly costly and
complex to manage, but with Edge it’s a
different story. Edge Computing offers a
lean, powerful infrastructure for ingesting,
processing and analysing millions of relevant
data points, where they’re created in
real-time. Minimising the time and cost of
directing IoT traffic to the cloud.
You will face numerous new
security threats
In 2018, 26% of business breaches
were caused by unsecured IoT devices or
applications, according to the Ponemon
Institute. This was almost double the
percentage reported in 2017. This rise is
thanks to the increase in the number of
IoT devices in use, lack of stringent security
measures and the fact that all the devices
are connected, providing hackers with
numerous roads into networks and data.
Furthermore, for the data produced to be
instantly actionable, it may be temporarily
stored outside the secure confines of a
cloud or data centre increasing the chance
of exfiltration or loss. If this occurs, it
could seriously damage the company’s
reputation and as a result, customer
acquisition and retention.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Combining SD-WAN and Edge Computing
helps overcome these issues. Firstly, SD-WAN
enables you to set network rules that segment
IoT assets away from other apps, devices and
systems, such as payment, with just a couple
of clicks. This makes it easier to control access,
limiting the scope of attacks. It also decreases
the chance of a security event happening as a
result of an operator error.
Secondly, Edge architecture limits the
active data outside of the secure data
store by only holding active data at
the IoT edge. This means the smallest
possible percentage of data is vulnerable
for the smallest possible amount of time.
Meanwhile, complete copies are constantly
updated to a secure location. This has the
additional benefit that frequent backups
will give companies more recovery points if
the IoT service faces an outage.
Given the disruption IoT initiatives can
cause when first introduced – from increased
complexity and latency to security
challenges – it’s vital that CIOs, who have
a greater understanding of the potential
pitfalls, push for involvement in their
business’ IoT strategies from the start.
If they don’t emphasise upon the other
stakeholders the importance of investing in
the intelligent, modernised infrastructure
required to support their initiatives, such as SD-
WAN, their company’s efforts to embrace IoT
and reap the associated benefits will not be as
successful. As such, it’s clear that it’s time IT
was put back in the IoT conversation. n
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