The decentralization of IT management, brought about by more businesses moving to the cloud, brings with it growing concerns about vulnerabilities, according to a survey commissioned by virtualization vendor VMware. The purchase of non-secure solutions has led to new compliance and security issues, and IT managers must overhaul their measures in order to keep up with the move to the cloud.
The Effects of Decentralization
According to the VMware study,
- 69% of those surveyed agree that IT management has become decentralized,
- 57% believe that, as a direct result, non-secure cloud and other services are being purchased,
- a similar percentage believe that this results in non-compliant applications, and
- 61% agree that decentralization leads to duplicate IT resources.
Shifting to the Cloud
The cloud has become a solution that the majority of businesses are using, driven at least in part by efficiency, flexibility, and long-term cost savings. According to the study, IT infrastructure spending is up by an average of 5.7%, which includes authorization of devices and new applications. However, this comes with the risk of breaches, especially as business leaders are able to purchase technology themselves rather than relying on the IT department to properly vet new applications before they’re deployed.
The Role of IT in Keeping Data Secure
Regardless of whether the IT department itself purchased and implemented the new applications, it is usually responsible for their security. According to the aforementioned survey,
- almost 75% of business leaders are authorizing new devices,
- 56% of business leaders are purchasing third-party applications,
- nearly 50% of IT leaders have seen a shift in their internal application development, and
- 75% of IT leaders agree that business users taking control of purchasing and deployment is leading to an increase in vulnerabilities and IT costs.
Finding a Solution
IT managers must find a balance between keeping sensitive data and applications secure and working with business users to continue to grow within new technology. One possible solution is a network virtualization framework, which will not only give the cloud the same security as a physical data center, but also strengthen the network.
Security is the main concern of any business’s IT department as it works to keep data safe and ensure the system is still manageable. However, with more business leaders taking on the role of purchasing and deployment of applications as well as authorization of devices, IT leaders will need to find ways to keep up. Business leaders would benefit from stopping the decentralization of their IT departments, allowing the business to continue to grow and take advantage of flexible new technologies without compromising security and compliance.