Transformation Innovation

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2018 AT&T Business Summit: Security “in” and “of” the Cloud

By G C Network | November 10, 2018

While public cloud is undoubtedly an outsized piece of the conversation, news headlines of the latest data breach can make this move a very frightening proposition. The question of how…

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My Brush with Royalty: Queen Latifah

By G C Network | November 9, 2018

Queen Latifah! Hip Hop Icon. Movie Star. Television Star. Fashion Model. Songwriter. Producer. Entrepreneurial Genius!? YES! Dana Elaine Owens, her given name, is co-owner of Flavor Unit Entertainment, a firm that includes…

What’s New in Puppet 5?

By G C Network | November 9, 2018

Puppet 5 is released and comes with several exciting enhancements and features that promise to make configuration management much more streamlined. This article will take a comprehensive look at these…

5 Reasons Why Ansible is the Best CM Tool Out There?

By G C Network | November 9, 2018

Amidst volatile markets, dynamic technology shifts, and ever-increasing customer demands, it is imperative for IT organizations to develop flexible, scalable and high-quality applications that exceed expectations and enhance productivity. A…

Machine learning APIs for Google Cloud Platform

By G C Network | November 9, 2018

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is considered to be one of the Big 3 cloud platforms among Microsoft Azure and AWS. GCP is widely used cloud solutions supporting AI capabilities to design and…

What Is The Most Important Part of Architecture?

By G C Network | November 9, 2018

I always find it interesting to hear what people view architecture as. A lot of people think it’s just about the design aspect, where you get to put pen to…

Cloud migration best practice Part 4: Executing the migration

By G C Network | September 16, 2018

This series has stepped through cloud migration best practices. After providing an overview, we discussed: Classifying business-critical data. Updating organizational IT governance policies. Application screening and cloud workload selection. How to…

Cloud Migration Best Practice Part 3: Application Portfolio Analysis

By G C Network | September 16, 2018

In part three of this series on cloud migration best practice, I will focus on migrating the application itself. If you haven’t had the opportunity to read our recommendations from part…

Why Use Immutable Storage?

By G C Network | September 11, 2018

Data has become a global currency, and its value has nowhere to go but up.  According to The Economist online, the world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but…

CLOUD ACT: What Does That Mean for Your Cloud Storage

By G C Network | August 31, 2018

When Congress names a law after you, it’s getting serious.  That is where we are now with cloud computing.  The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act or CLOUD Act (H.R. 4943) is…

4 Factors Driving Digital Transformation ROI

The critical assessment factors for cloud ROI risk probability are the following:     

  • Infrastructure utilization
  • Speed of migration to cloud
  • Ability to scale business/mission processes
  • Quality delivered by the new cloud-based process 

These four factors directly drive digital transformation ROI because they affect revenue, cost, and the time required to realize any investment return. Differences between actual and projected values in these metrics indicate a likely failure to achieve the desired goals.

Although business alignment is always a primary digital transformation drive, ROI remains a key decision component. This metric should, however, be addressed from multiple vantage points to include cloud workload utilization, workload size versus memory/processor distribution and the virtual hardware instance to physical asset ratio. 

Value delivered through innovation should also be part of the business value calculation. Value can be delivered through operational cost reductions, optimization of resource capacity, and a reduced total cost of ownership. Business process time reductions, product quality improvements and customer experience enhancements are also useful outcomes.

Security Controls

Business/mission model changes can also introduce operational risk. Acceptance of these risk are based on executive risk tolerance. Their risk mitigation decisions result in the implementation of security controls. A control will restrict a list of possible actions down to what is allowed or permitted by the organization. Encryption, for example, can be used to restrict the unauthorized use of data.

The security control continuum extends over three categories:         

  • Management (administrative) controls: policies, standards, processes, procedures, and guidelines set by corporate administrative entities (i.e., executive to mid-level management)         
  • Operational (and physical) controls: operational security (execution of policies, standards and process, education, and awareness) and physical security (facility or infrastructure protection)
  • Technical (logical) controls: Access controls, identification and authentication, authorization, confidentiality, integrity, availability, and non-repudiation 

They also encompass the following types:

  • Directive controls: often referred to as administrative controls, advise employees of the behavior expected of them during their interfaces with or use of information systems
  • Preventive controls: include physical, administrative, and technical measures that preclude actions that violate policy or increase the risk to system resources
  • Deterrent controls: use warnings and a description of related consequences to prevent security violations
  • Compensating controls: Also called an alternative control, a mechanism that is put in place to address security requirements deemed impractical to implement
  • Detective controls: Refer to the use of practices, processes, and tools that identify and possibly react to security violations
  • Corrective controls: involves physical, administrative, and technical measures designed to react to a security-related incident in order to minimize the opportunity for an unwanted event to reoccur
  • Recovery controls: restore the system or operation to a normal operating state once integrity or availability is compromised 

The costs associated with the implementation of any security control should be weighed against the value gained from digital transformation business/mission process improvements.

Would you like to learn more about digital transformation innovation? Pick up a copy of my new book, Click to Transform! 

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