Corporate Boardrooms are Concerned with IT Security
Hardly a day goes by without IT professionals hearing about some new horror story on how digital espionage is wreaking havoc throughout the world. Whether it is the hacker threat that grounded Polish Airlines or the cyber security issues boiling between the US and China. IT security is becoming a top concern across company boardrooms and parliaments alike. So, where does all this lead managed service providers (MSPs) and their cloud-based file sharing services? Undoubtedly, all the fear mongering is going to present a challenge in securing more prospect signups. Yet, provided you play your cards right, this just might be the biggest opportunity yet!
IT Security becomes a C-Suite affair
Recently, security vendor Veracode and the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) Governance Services released a study that examines how cyber security is being perceived in company boardrooms. The results of the study are telling. “We got some interesting results” says, Chris Wysopal, co-founder and CTO of Veracode. It turns out that security has become a pressing matter for C-Suite executives over the past year.
For instance, 46 percent of respondents said that cyber security is being discussed in most boardroom meetings, while 35 percent stated it is talked about at every meeting held. Clearly, the boards are taking their IT security VERY seriously.
Says Brian Raymond, director of technology policy for the National Association of Manufacturers, “Cyber security has moved up the value chain rapidly in how it matters to C-Suite. Whether it’s trade secrets, patents or crown jewels of their company, [executives] know that there are bad actors that may have access to that. Second by second, there are attempts to penetrate these networks.”
Really, manufacturing is merely the latest industry to have been hit by the IT pirates. A few months ago, there was hue and cry in the retail sector over digital theft, as well.
IT security concerns and the cloud
At first glance, this seems like a very gloomy picture for cloud-based file sharing services. Surely, this means it’s going to be harder for MSPs to convince executives to go for the cloud. However, there is a huge opportunity here. So far, most of the threats that boardrooms are worried about pertain to their own in-house infrastructure or other traditional forms of IT which they employ.
Since cloud-based file sharing services utilize far more sophisticated security technologies, protocols and practices than what most companies can afford or put together, MSPs can present themselves as a secured and trustworthy option over in-house IT.
This goes back to the urgent need to educate clients and prospects about the cloud. As it is a fairly recently development, there is a good chance many executives are simply unaware of how the cloud can help them overcome their company’s security dilemmas.
