Mike Johnson explains how IT security can be more than just an insurance policy against data breaches – and why business leaders also need to consider the benefits.
When people hear the word “security,” they almost certainly think about breaches, firewalls or governance policies that strictly allow or deny access to business information. Protection and prevention is, after all, its primary role.
But modern IT security tools can do a lot more than protect. Used strategically, they can also provide valuable insight – a deep visibility into a company’s IT infrastructure, a better understanding of how corporate computing resources are used, even insight to power targeted advertising.
Often overlooked, here are five business-enabling benefits that advanced IT security solutions can provide:
- Investment prioritisation: Gaining a better understanding of who and how many people use applications within the data centre provides the insight required to support effective prioritisation and more targeted investments.
- Geolocation data: Learning where customers reside can be used to optimise advertising. Equally, questioning unusual communication patterns can reduce risk, putting the organisation on the front foot by quickly determining whether behaviour is marketing-driven or malicious.
- Troubleshooting: Security tools can be used to give IT teams a baseline for “normal” IT system states and performance, which helps isolate faults and get things back online faster.
- IT capacity planning: Visibility gives IT a handle on what resources are being used. No one wants to overbuy capacity that sits unused or to be caught short by under buying.
- Social media measurement: Find out how sales and marketing interacts with customers and measure engagement by traffic volume. You can also help with promotional targeting by determining which social media outlets are most relevant to customers.