The author of this Pathfinder report is Mike Fratto, a Senior Research Analyst on the Applied Infrastructure & DevOps team at 451 Research, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence. Pathfinder reports navigate decision-makers through the issues surrounding a specific technology or business case, explore the business value of adoption, and recommend the range of considerations and concrete next steps in the decision-making process.

This report explores the following topics:

• the growth of already commonplace cloud usage for mission-critical applications
• the importance of cloud governance
• the top cloud security concerns for enterprises
• the adoption of third-party tools for cloud management
• the steps IT teams should take to make their cloud environments more secure and reliable

Vladimir Galabov, Director, Cloud and Data Center Research, and Rik Turner, Principal Analyst, Emerging Technologies, are the co-authors of this eBook from Omdia, a data, research, and consulting business that offers expert analysis and strategic insight to empower decision-making surrounding new technologies.

This eBook covers the following topics:

• the current landscape of cloud computing, including the BIG problems
• the advantages of using a multi-cloud approach
• the dangers of shadow IT, including billing surprises and security breaches
• the move of mission-critical applications to the cloud
• the considerations regarding cloud security, including recommendations for IT teams

There is no getting away from the fact that passwords are still the cornerstone of modern cybersecurity practices. Despite decades of advice to users to always pick strong and unique passwords for each of their online accounts, Keeper Security found that only one-quarter of survey respondents actually do this. Many use repeat variations of the same password (34%) or still admit to using simple passwords to secure their online accounts (30%). Perhaps more worryingly, almost half (44%) of those who claimed all their passwords were well-managed also said they used repeated variations of them. One in five also admitted to knowing they’ve had at least one password involved in a data breach or available on the dark web.

At first glance, these results may come as a shock, especially to those in the cybersecurity industry who have been touting these simple best practices for years. However, when considering more than one in three people (35%) globally admit to feeling overwhelmed when it comes to taking action to improve their cybersecurity, and one in ten admit to neglecting password management altogether, the results are much less of a surprise.

Cybersecurity is a priority and cybersecurity solutions must also be. The threat landscape continues to expand as our lives shift from in-person banks, stores, and coffee shops to online banking, internet shopping, social networking, and everything in between. We have never been more dependent on our phones, computers, and connected devices, yet we are overconfident in our ability to protect them and willfully ignoring the actions we must take to do so. Perhaps we need more people to admit they’re as careless as a bull in a china shop, burying their heads in the sand like an ostrich or simply paralyzed with fear. Facing reality and coming to recognize what’s at stake, they can more confidently charge forward and take the necessary steps to protect their information, identities and online accounts.

Contents

• What is a network digital twin?
• Outages are expensive and preventable
• A network digital twin saves time and money
• Time is money
• General use cases
  • Workflow automation
  • Inventory management
  • Automated compliance/audit
  • Change management
• Network security use cases
  • Security posture verification
  • Incident response
  • Vulnerability management
• Multi-cloud use cases
  • Continuous multi-cloud security audit
  • Service assurance
  • End-to-end visibility
• Network operations use cases
  • Path verification/analysis
  • Outage prevention
  • Troubleshooting

• Finding Disconnects: Scalability and hybrid cloud integration are two issues that traditional NCM approaches face.
• Promising Solutions: BackBox proposes a NetDevOps-inspired, API-driven strategy to transform NCM procedures.
• Benefits of Automation: Optimizing processes by using automated processes for OS upgrades, configuration backups, and compliance checks.
• Strengthening Network Teams: Increasing productivity and preparedness for upcoming obstacles.

Technical Marketing Manager, and former IT engineer Mike Lossmann demonstrates features within Forward Networks