Smarter, Stronger, Simpler: The Case for Simplified Network Security
Guest blog by Colette Kitterhing, VP at Netskope UK and Ireland
Corporate technology teams are expected to maintain a tricky balancing act: maintaining complex legacy infrastructure to keep operations afloat, while also driving and supporting innovation amid rapid technological change. It’s the manual legacy work that dominates resource allocation, hampering efforts to take advantage of new digital opportunities. According to Gartner, half of all organisations have automated less than a quarter of their network operations, highlighting just how far behind many still are.
But, it doesn’t have to be this way. Modern network security solutions such as Security Service Edge (SSE) may alleviate a lot of the pressure facing the networking, infrastructure and operations teams.
Reducing inefficiency through simplification
Perhaps the most common challenge faced by these teams is that they’re overwhelmed by maintaining fragmented systems and out-of-date tooling. Instead of focusing on strategic tasks, employees tend to spend disproportionate amounts of time managing on-premises proxies, manually patching systems, and coordinating incident responses across siloed teams.
In a recent analysis conducted by Forrester, one VP of digital experience in the financial services sector described having up to twenty people on bridge calls just to resolve a single issue. That same leader later described how shifting to SSE had allowed their team to automate previously manual processes, refocus on strategic tasks, and reduce their list of active issues from over thirty to fewer than five.
Forrester also found that businesses adopting SSE saw a thirty percent increase in the effectiveness of their network and security operations: one of the organisations the researchers spoke to described that they had been able to automate the entire Virtual Desktop Infrastructure onboarding process, and eliminate manual intervention altogether, thanks to adopting SSE. Overall, replacing legacy technologies with SSE meant networking teams were able to focus on more strategic work.
Minimising downtime and restoring control
Too often, complex and poorly integrated security architecture undermines resilience. It is fairly common knowledge that the more tools a company uses, the more potential points of failure may happen, with sometimes even one tool triggering an issue that will impact multiple systems. A common example are outdated VPNs, where downtime can immediately stop all productivity for remote or mobile teams.
Looking back at the Forrester report, there’s more data to show that companies that have integrated multiple security tools into one SSE platform saw a sixty percent improvement in mean-time-to-resolution - literally fixing problems in less than half the time. Perhaps even more importantly, outages that once affected half the company were reduced to isolated incidents and unplanned downtime reduced by 15%.
Reframing performance and security as a unified objective
Today, many corporate technology teams are forced to choose between user experience and robust security. They are making the conscious choice to allow technology and operational decisions either weaken security controls or deliver poorer user experiences. But those trade-offs are no longer necessary. With cloud based SSE platforms, security policies can be applied much closer to the user, and with the right architecture underpinning the service delivery, both security and performance can be improved. Opting for SSE solutions helps increase productivity and enhance security in the day-to-day work of networking infrastructure and operations teams.
Social Media Links:
Netskope - website
Netskope - LinkedIn
Cyber Resilience Programme activities
techUK brings together key players across the cyber security sector to promote leading-edge UK capabilities, build networks and grow the sector. techUK members have the opportunity to network, share ideas and collaborate, enabling the industry as a whole to address common challenges and opportunities together. Visit the programme page here.
Upcoming events
Latest news and insights
Learn more and get involved
Cyber Resilience updates
Sign-up to get the latest updates and opportunities from our Cyber Resilience programme.
Meet the team
Jill Broom
Head of Cyber Resilience, techUK
Jill leads the techUK Cyber Security programme, having originally joined techUK in October 2020 as a Programme Manager for the Cyber and Central Government programmes. She is responsible for managing techUK's work across the cyber security ecosystem, bringing industry together with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors. Jill also provides the industry secretariat for the Cyber Growth Partnership, the industry and government conduit for supporting the growth of the sector. A key focus of her work is to strengthen the public–private partnership across cyber to support further development of UK cyber security and resilience policy.
Before joining techUK, Jill worked as a Senior Caseworker for an MP, advocating for local communities, businesses and individuals, so she is particularly committed to techUK’s vision of harnessing the power of technology to improve people’s lives. Jill is also an experienced editorial professional and has delivered copyediting and writing services for public-body and SME clients as well as publishers.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Website:
- www.techuk.org/
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-broom-19aa824
Read lessmore
Annie Collings
Programme Manager, Cyber Resilience, techUK
Annie is the Programme Manager for Cyber Resilience at techUK. She first joined as the Programme Manager for Cyber Security and Central Government in September 2023.
In her role, Annie supports the Cyber Security SME Forum, engaging regularly with key government and industry stakeholders to advance the growth and development of SMEs in the cyber sector. Annie also coordinates events, engages with policy makers and represents techUK at a number of cyber security events.
Before joining techUK, Annie was an Account Manager at a specialist healthcare agency, where she provided public affairs support to a wide range of medical technology clients. She also gained experience as an intern in both an MP’s constituency office and with the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed. Annie holds a degree in International Relations from Nottingham Trent University.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Twitter:
- anniecollings24
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-collings-270150158/
Read lessmore
Tracy Modha
Programme Marketing Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK
Tracy supports the marketing of several areas at techUK, including Cyber Exchange, Central Government, Cyber Resilience, Defence, Education, Health and Social Care, Justice and Emergency Services, Local Public Services, Nations and Regions and National Security.
Tracy joined techUK in March 2022, having worked in the education sector for 19 years, covering administration, research project support, IT support and event/training support. My most outstanding achievement has been running three very successful international conferences and over 300 training courses booked all over the globe!
Tracy has a great interest in tech. Gaming and computing have been a big part of her life, and now electric cars are an exciting look at the future. She has warmed to Alexa, even though it can sometimes be sassy!
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 02073312000
- Website:
- www.techuk.org
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracymodha83
Read lessmore
Authors
Colette Kitterhing
VP, Netskope UK and Ireland
Colette is the vice president of the UK and Ireland at Netskope, a leader in modern security and networking
