In a lot of ways, changes in enterprise technology have mirrored consumer technology trends over the last few years. Just look at mobility, social apps, and cloud computing as examples. And whether you view the crossover as advantageous, overly risky, or merely inevitable, it’s certain that enterprise IT security must adapt quickly to the new challenges presented, including overcoming cloud data security, cloud data residency, and cloud compliance issues.
A series of recent articles and industry analyst reports I have read shows the clear trend that business-critical apps like CRM, storage, and collaboration — enterprise IT’s mainstays – are now moving towards cloud and mobile, despite inherent risks. In the case of mobile, workers are simply more productive and comfortable using their smartphones, laptops, and tablets to access company information of all types from a variety of locations. Similarly with the cloud, the benefits are simply too compelling for the business organizations inside of the enterprise. And rather than burying their heads in the sand, enterprise IT managers need to adapt security practices accordingly, or ban the use of personal devices and cloud altogether – an unlikely choice given recent trends.