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Recommendation #4: Be realistic about security staffing.
Finding staffers who are experienced in three key areas – networks, security, and applications –
is no picnic.
Sometimes finding an expert in just one area is difficult. If you do find them, they’re likely to be
expensive and in demand.
That’s why it’s important to look for technology that reduces the need for adding staff with cross-
departmental expertise and can augment existing staff with insight that would have required
additional manual work or resources.
Recommendation #5: Automate routine tasks.
Automation has value beyond avoiding mundane tasks and freeing people to make better
decisions. It helps reduce delays and errors, as well as identifying incorrect or inefficient
processes, while avoiding ad hoc workarounds.
As survey respondents reported, automation institutionalizes tribal knowledge and allows staff to
react more consistently when faced with certain situations.
Perhaps our key recommendation from the network survey is to remember that every solution
encompasses people, process, and technology. Overreliance on any one is hardly ever the right
answer or approach.
About the Author
Mr. Sleiman has more than 20 years of sales, technical and business
experience with some of the world’s leading networking and
telecommunications technology companies.
He has held key executive roles, including chief operating officer and
chief technology officer at Core Communications, a software and IT
services company focused on cloud-based business services and web
and mobile apps.
He spent more than six years at Cisco in various leadership positions, the last being senior
director, leading the enterprise business for Middle East and Africa. He also developed the
strategic vision and technology roadmap, and managed all aspects of research and
development, for Nortel Networks in his role as CTO, Enterprise Business Unit.
74 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – August 2016 Edition
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