GET TO KNOW...
On the lighter side of things, we ask the
industry experts what makes them tick. . . .
Scott Manson,
Cybersecurity Lead – Middle East
and Africa, Cisco
What would you describe as your
most memorable achievement?
From a non-business perspective it is
certainly playing rugby for my country,
Scotland! When I was growing up all I
wanted to do was play for Scotland and
although it was a short-lived career, it was a
fabulous experience. On a business footing,
it is getting my first job with telecoms giant
MCI worldcom and moving from a student
to a taxable human!
What first made you think of a
career in technology?
I was very fortunate to find an affinity
with IT at university and enjoyed taking
extracurricular courses in programming
and software. It was in the late 90s so the
courses were becoming more popular and
it was clear that the opportunities that IT
would offer in the workplace would continue
to get larger and larger.
What style of management
philosophy do you employ with your
current position?
Working for a company the size of Cisco
there are many resources to collaborate
with and get the most from: business
units, product management, channel
resellers, ecosystem technology partners,
specialists and generalists. So I very much
view management as the unlocking of
everyone’s (including my own) potential
in the pursuit of a common and consistent
goal. In order to achieve this, I employ a
supportive philosophy based on empowering
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the individual to go and try new things
and ideas. I try to act as a guide and a
conscience on that journey. But if things are
not working, I will not hesitate to say so!
What do you think is the current hot
technology talking point?
Cybersecurity is everywhere! It runs through
all aspects and facets of IT: the data
centre, the network, end-points,
around wireless, fixed, WAN, LAN,
cloud and on-premise. The perfect storm has
arrived for our hacker enemies in that we see
more ‘things’ connected to IP that can now
be used as a gateway in to our crown jewels,
which are our applications and our data. At
all costs we must save these two domains,
so cybersecurity has to be at the heart of
every new business, new design and new
innovation on the market.
“
THE PERFECT
STORM HAS
ARRIVED FOR OUR
HACKER ENEMIES
IN THAT WE SEE
MORE ‘THINGS’
CONNECTED TO
IP THAT CAN
NOW BE USED AS
A GATEWAY IN
TO OUR CROWN
JEWELS.
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