FEATURE: 2017 IN REVIEW
“The year ahead will be built on both
technology and relationships. We have
already started to re-engineer our
core platforms, making it faster and
simpler to adopt new functionalities
and integrate new technologies.
We will also take a leadership
position to deliver to customers and
partners simpler, more cost-efficient
implementation of our roadmaps.”
BRANDON BEKKER:
“We will continue
to focus on helping
organisations
manage their email
and improve cyber
resilience in the
cloud. As cyberattacks on organisations
and individuals become increasingly
common, businesses will need to
ensure they have comprehensive
cyber resilience strategies in place. An
effective strategy will ensure networks
are kept secure from targeted threats,
that email remains up and running
during an attack and that companies
are able to recover data after an attack,
with a secure multipurpose archive.
our Mimecast Cloud Archive will help
improve data governance and enable
fast, effective search and e-discovery,
to respond quickly to opt-out requests.
Our Targeted Threat Protection can help
ward against impersonation attacks,
weaponised attachments, and malicious
links – offering front line defence for
personal data entrusted to you.”
WHAT TRENDS AND TECH
DEVELOPMENTS DO YOU SEE
AFFECTING THE ROLE OF THE
CIO IN 2018?
CHERIAN VARGHESE:
“The business’s success
and ability to remain
competitive hinges on
strategic IT decision-
making. CIOs are being
rebranded as Chief
Digital Officers and/or Chief Security
Advisors and dominate the strategic
discussions in boardrooms. In addition,
young millennials are entering sales jobs
in vast numbers globally to address the
increased requirement of social selling.
“Our most recent case studies illustrate
these trends – Smart Applications
International based in Nairobi and
Kenyan Airways both adopted cloud
solutions to accelerate service delivery
and enhance the customer experience
to take their businesses to the next level.
“However, African CIOs are faced
with several challenges including skills
shortages, a slow adoption of digital
channels for the business and the
speed with which products or services
reach customers. In addition, CIOs
need to address concerns raised by
their boards such as data security and
ways in which the business can mine
its data accurately to make informed
business decisions.” n
“As we move towards a post-
infrastructure era, we will continue to
focus on ensuring organisations have
security strategies for the cloud and
in the cloud. AI will become a focus
and a bigger investment will be made
in machine learning to cope with
the increasingly severe problem of
defending against malware.
“GDPR will affect our customers globally
(not only in Europe) and we will offer
guidance and support, educating them
about why compliance is necessary and
helping them adapt. A multipurpose
archive, targeted threat protection and
continuity services will all simplify GDPR
management for email. For example,
“If we don’t get
those relationships
right, the
technology is
meaningless.”
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INTELLIGENTCIO
www.intelligentcio.com