2021 will drive IT professionals to deal with critical security risks that have expanded by the increased adoption of SaaS models.
The migration toward subscription-based services using the SaaS business model has been a part of a larger shift away from on-premises applications, data centers, etc. –for years now. It is no secret that the pandemic accelerated this shift, advancing the SaaS subscriptions across businesses.
Today, companies have switched to virtual collaboration and online meeting tools to stay afloat. Given the current market scenario, employees are interacting with business applications on a larger scale. This has connecting implications for IT professionals globally.
Hence, enterprises are ensuring the SaaS vendors keep their company data secure and use these SaaS solutions is protected simultaneously. This is precisely when the end-users are not connected to the office network.
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Certainly, 2021 will drive IT teams to deal with security risks that have seen expansion due to an increased number of SaaS vendors, proliferating end-points, and progresses in hacking practices. And thus, IT will scale up its security architecture.
Experts believe new ways of interacting with applications will need advanced thinking about security design. For instance, IP whitelisting for SaaS access works efficiently when workers log into the company network before accessing a cloud solution. But at the same time, there is an interest in creating direct connections with cloud solutions. In this context, Richard L. Villars, VP of Worldwide Research at IDC, explained, “By the end of 2021, based on lessons learned in the pandemic, most enterprises will put a mechanism in place to accelerate their shift to cloud-centric digital infrastructure and application services twice as fast as before the pandemic.”
Companies will move with cloud-native apps to take up control over crucial business functionalities. As a result, data privacy regulations and new security laws continued to take center stage. “We will see more companies investing in SaaS product offerings to support compliance initiatives to maintain standard operations globally,” said Andrew Sellers, CTO, and Co-Founder at QOMPLX.
Moreover, the use of SaaS-based solutions surged amid the pandemic, and indeed, this trend will continue even after 2021. It has been a challenge for IT and security teams spanning industries to safeguard data while hastily expanding access to devices. This is also valid for enterprise solutions and information which endorsed business continuity during the trying times.
Andrew Sellers adds, “GDPR, CCPA, and similar regulations will continue to be iterative frameworks for new privacy legislation. These regulations will continue to evolve and will require agility to support data organization. Other governments will undoubtedly follow the example set by GDPR and CCPA to address perceived shortcomings in current consumer protection laws.”
As 2021 gets underway, the IT ecosystem will look forward to consolidating gains and ensure safe business operations. The forward-thinking organizations will meet new requirements by upgrading their security architecture, evaluating vendors efficiently, and taking an expansive approach to governance.
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Clearly, striking the right balance between business requirements and security policy enforcement via the security architecture is critical. Advanced initiatives will enable companies to benefit from a SaaS environment while mitigating risks effectively.
