Everyone knows that IT and its evolution is an undisputable partner in any organization. IT teams no longer play a supporting role. Rather, they are the key differentiator in terms of driving an organization ahead of its competitors. In order to get ahead of the competition and be relevant, organizations have to change at a very quick pace and be seamless in adopting to change and deriving the benefits.
IT has its own set of liabilities in terms of the legacy practices that could impede the speed of an organization adopting to change in market. The key is for organizations and IT to be able to ensure the shift is achieved with no compromise on IT security of the organization.
It is imperative to keep up with IT hygiene to enable organizations to achieve success without compromising on security. Best practices for keeping up with IT hygiene focus on people, process and product, and the tone at the top is of paramount importance for developing an information security mindset in all teams outside of IT, creating a homegrown advantage for any organization.
Simply put, security should not be compromised for speed of change in any way.
There is a proverb that states that “prevention is better than cure.” If we are disciplined and follow best practices on keeping up with the hygiene in our IT teams, it will go a long way in keeping up with information security requirements in organizations. By doing so, organizational objectives to use IT as the driver in the organization›s evolution, using game-changing technologies and practices, will be supported, while security is also implicitly taken care of. This alignment across the enterprise is a big advantage for organizational growth and maturation.
Editor’s note: For further insights on this topic, read Sundaresan Ramaseshan’s recent Journal article, “Security Discipline and Hygiene Mean Healthy, Naturally,” ISACA Journal, volume 1, 2021.
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