WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO IT SECURITY

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO IT SECURITY 

 

Innovation is important to us on a number of levels. We encourage innovation within the organisation through a number of reward schemes. But also look for innovation in how we organise ourselves - our corporate direction - and how we interact with the market - our customer focus.

Innovation in corporate direction is important to maintain market position and to be able to adapt to changing market dynamics. These dynamics also impact on our customer focus - understanding who the customer is and how their needs and demands are changing.

In IT security, as in many areas of commercial activity, client needs are often first expressed in the consumer space. Technology requirements, in particular, are being driven by the retail consumer and their experiences define trends before they emerge in the corporate sphere. Currently, the three main aspects important in the consumer IT security environment are identity management, privacy, and the highly collaborative environment in which they operate.

This latter environment is found throughout IT-related activity, and especially strong examples include Internet banking and email. In this collaborative world, how data is stored - particularly the storage of sensitive and confidential information - is of key importance.

This situation led Symantec to purchase the storage company Veritas. Many thought this a strange mix, but our awareness of technological innovation and changing market trends in the consumer space led us to innovate in our corporate direction.

We believe we were the first organisation to see the link between availability, security and storage. The purchase has doubled the size of the company, and our aim now is to be the number one company in security as well as the number one company in storage. We will do this through capturing innovation both within and outside the organisation.

David Sykes, vice president Pacific region, Symantec

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