AMR: Securing your boundaries
Expanding the boundaries of the enterprise will expand business opportunities--but security can't be an afterthought. It needs to be a top priority.
Cate Quirk
Research Analyst
AMR Research
The majority of organisations' IT budgets will remain flat from 2001 to 2002, which is on average somewhere between 5 percent and 10 percent of revenues. This will certainly affect the choice of IT projects as CIOs are determined to see a quick ROI, while maintaining and improving the current infrastructure. Security has traditionally been a top priority, but the size of the security budget does not always match a company's security concerns.
As organisations look to expand their boundaries in 2002 to include partners, suppliers, and customers, IT will need to develop strict, proactive security policies in order to maintain the security of channels, as well as intellectual property (IP).
The ability to work closely with partners will increase business opportunities and improve the visibility of the supply chain for organisations, but security measures can't be an afterthought and need to be included as part of business planning. Virus protection, intrusion detection and firewalls are normally the first line of defense, and AMR Research expects to continue to see investments in those areas, however, IT also needs to update external access policies.
More importantly in 2002, IT departments need to focus on addressing the strategic concerns of the business, such as authentication and authorisation to applications from external constituents. Ensuring secure extended boundaries should be a top priority for all organisations. Playing with new and improved security gadgets might be tempting, but choosing those over strategic initiatives is not the wisest way to spend dollars that are already tough to come by.
