Questioning Whether Enterprise IT Security is Better Off Outsourced

Is your company ready to support new business models and guarantee the security of the entire organization? Do you know if your company has ever suffered from a security breach? These are the questions I have been asking to all the executives I run into during industry events, especially in Latin America. The purpose is to really understand their perception of how secure their company’s infrastructure is. Often, employees are not even aware their infrastructure has experienced a security gap.

It is obvious that security lapses are what frighten companies the most. But is your infrastructure more secure in your company than it would be with an IT provider? Most companies are probably not certified and not ready to guarantee the availability and security of their infrastructure, for the simple reason that IT is not their core business. On the other hand, IT companies have accredited data centers and possess the expertise and specialists to assure the appropriate management of your infrastructure.

Therefore, in my opinion, restraints concerning security outsourcing are not caused by technology itself but by cultural apprehension.

Technology is evolving at a very rapid pace and is becoming more complex every day. In order to efficiently manage their infrastructure, organizations would need to invest significantly in capital and operational expenditures. Yet, in a business environment driven by cost reduction, it is both expensive and complicated to keep an internal IT infrastructure.

Multifaceted Cyber Attacks

In addition, threats are also increasingly tangled. The market was used to traditional virus prevention, but nowadays attacks are multifaceted and directed to create infrastructure damages. As a result, security management should not only be focused on devices, since the objective is to break into the network and the company’s infrastructure by any fissure. Consequently, it is essential to create an improved administration and supervision of the infrastructure as a whole, which will lead companies to proactively identify possible threats and protect their systems.

Moreover, with trends like cloud computing and mobility – which offer the possibility of accessing any information, from anywhere and at any time – everything connected to a network is a possible target for an attack to penetrate the organization.

The complexity of the IT environment, coupled with companies’ low maturity and knowledge regarding the concept of this new business model, still drive organizations toward in-house infrastructure management.

But if your company doesn’t have the skills and equipment to protect your IT infrastructure, why wouldn’t you put it into the hands of a reliable and competent IT provider?

Bruno Tasco is an IT Research Analyst with international research firm Frost & Sullivan. Tasco is based in Brazil and he keeps an eye on information technology industry in Latin America.