CIOopinion
CIO OPINION
“
COMPANIES
NEED TO FOCUS
NOT JUST ON
INSTALLING
TECHNOLOGY, BUT
UPGRADING THE
INSTITUTIONAL
MINDSET
TOWARDS A MORE
EXPERIMENTAL
APPROACH.
stakeholders, the biggest success factor
in delivering on the business case will be
understanding and responding to any
adverse consumer and employee reactions
over how these technologies might be
used and how they might impact personal
privacy. Trust and transparency are going to
be key to implementation.
Security and risk management
As with any large-scale transformation,
adopting edge-based strategies has
inherent security challenges and risks,
and many have raised concerns about the
potential invasion of privacy and misuse of
customer data. Operationally, the critical
risk here is not investing enough in mind-set
change, digital literacy across the business,
and the capability of IT to lead and deliver
edge strategies.
According to Fast Future’s book, the most
voted for security fear is that Edge solutions
could potentially create thousands of
points of risk exposure across the network
for hackers to take advantage of (82%).
Every enterprise that moves towards the
Edge must act to pre-empt the security
threats inherent to a network newly flooded
with connected devices. Fundamental to
these opportunities is the need for robust,
centrally-managed network infrastructure
– one that provides visibility and control
in an increasingly complex and potentially
vulnerable, enterprise environment.
Enterprises must also work on the basis of
an open technology ecosystem that leaves
them with the room to adapt and evolve
over time, as priorities change. Businesses
will have to show stakeholders that the
benefits of Edge technologies far outweigh
any privacy fears and that any data
captured will only be used to evolve and
improve their experiences.
It’s clear that, if implemented correctly, Edge
is going to be key to evolving businesses
and getting a digital advantage over
competitors, fast becoming the single
most important trend for enterprises in the
coming years, which will be able to contend
with the quickly evolving expectations of
consumers for more seamless, customised
and on-demand services. But in order to
implement these solutions effectively,
enterprises must take heed of both the
benefits and challenges such an extensive
implementation may cause and pre-empt
them ahead of time. Companies need to
focus not just on installing technology,
but upgrading the institutional mindset
towards a more experimental approach and
improving digital literacy across the board.
Those that lay the foundation now from
a technical and structural standpoint, will
be best placed to take advantage of the
Edge potential. •
46 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com