Many executives are focused on the potential business benefits of big data and analytics. However, the IT department may be more concerned about the security implications. That gap may slow big data adoption in many companies, but at least security is becoming part of the discussion.
Voltage Security polled more than 300 IT professionals at Infosecurity Europe in April. Three out of four senior-level IT and security professionals said the inability to secure data across big data initiatives gave them pause. In fact, Voltage reported that security concerns may stall 56 percent of big data and cloud projects.
“This is a huge roadblock for organizations that are ready to reap the benefits of big data,” Dave Anderson, senior director of marketing at Voltage, said in a press release. “The majority of large and mid-size organizations are finding that an inability to protect sensitive data within a big data environment is a major concern, so while they may be starting projects, they are abandoning them. That’s not good for business.”
Anderson told us in an interview that, even though security is a huge stumbling block for organisations of all sizes hoping to undertake a big data initiative, there are signs that things may be changing.
Even a few years ago, security was just a complete afterthought for many organisations looking at big data. As companies get more aware of big data and get a better understanding of where their data resides and exists within a big data environment, and realizing that it comes collectively from massive new data sources, it has been really interesting to see that companies are starting to realise the security implications more.
As organisations weigh the massive value in big data and analytics against the security complexities, they are realising that getting the security piece right from the beginning is critical from the compliance, privacy, and security perspectives. “IT is beginning to understand that it can’t automatically say no to management any more for the sake of security,” Anderson told us. “We’ve seen improvement on that front and expect that to continue.”
Moving forward, he recommends that organisations focus on:
- Creating solid alignment between the executive management and IT management to understand the potential for breaches and how to protect against them
- Identifying and implementing technologies and processes that allow managers to share sensitive corporate information with stakeholders and let employees pull that information over the cloud in a protected fashion to achieve business objectives.
By working together, management and IT can move business-growing big data and cloud initiatives forward in safe and secure ways.
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