Security Perfect Storm Highlights Greater Need for Solution Providers

Solution providers have always been the linchpin holding the IT industry together. For the past 30 years they have evolved from simple hardware and software providers to small businesses and big corporations alike to being the critical component to making businesses more efficient and competitive. And their role will continue to grow in importance going forward, study after study after study proves.

A perfect storm is brewing in IT that is increasing the need for solution providers. The continued adoption of the mobile enterprise is causing the need for more efficient data storage and access, which is fueling the adoption of cloud computing and hosted environments. These three major movements are putting solution providers right smack in the center of the future of technology. Security is the common risk and, therefore, the underlying technology—as organizations continue to adopt these evolving computing advances, their security risks grow. That’s where solution providers can shine.

According to a recent study by KnowBe4, 51 percent of IT managers said security now is harder to maintain compared with a year ago. Only 40 percent said maintaining IT security is no more or less difficult, and less than 10 percent find security it easier. “To maintain security, every company should adopt the ‘defense-in-depth’ strategy and create a strong first layer that includes up-to-date security policies, procedures and security awareness training, as this affects every aspect of an organization’s security profile,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO and founder of KnowBe4, in a prepared statement.

Solution providers, take notice: IT departments do not have the skills or the resources to ensure complete data security anymore—either from internal, human-error threats or from malicious outside attacks. And as more organizations embrace mobile technology—specifically, bring your own device (BYOD) policies—the threats will grow. IT directors know this and, as a result, 60 percent of IT managers are looking to some sort of security awareness training to help solve them identify and then protect their companies from potential threats, according to the study. This is a tremendous open door for solution providers.

This recent, security specific study comes on the heels of a report from research giant Gartner that found 70 percent of CIOs are looking to change their outsourcing partner relationships, due mainly to the rapid pace of technology. The Gartner report highlights the fact that solution providers are needed more than ever, as companies struggle to keep up with the evolution of mobile technology, cloud computing and data storage.

The perfect storm is brewing, indeed, and solution providers will be critical in bringing all of the pieces together.

Knock ’em alive!