04 Mar 2010

Business 'should come first'

Firms have been advised that when installing data security protocols, they should ensure business aspects are ahead of security issues in order to avoid a bottleneck.

Speaking at the Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit 2010, Jan De Blauwe, IT transversal guidance and services information security risk management specialist at BNPP Fortis, said identity and access management (IAM) should not be put ahead of business issues when companies look to boost their security, as this could have serious adverse effects on productivity.

He commented: "Be very clear about the objectives. Make sure that you have your senior management on board, and not just in the IT organisation, but throughout the organisation."

According to Gartner, worldwide IAM revenue will reach $9.9 billion (£6.5 billion) in 2010, an eight per cent increase from 2009 revenue of $9.2 billion.

Furthermore, the firm noted compliance, audit and analytics requirements continue to be the main factors influencing investments in IAM.