INDUSTRY WATCH
INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Software for Business
acquiring faster-growing companies
from emerging adjacent markets. In
other cases, vendors are optimising
profits by consolidating similar
products under a single brand,
therefore leveraging economies of
scale by combining core functions,
such as development, support, sales
and marketing.
3. End-users’ quest for flexibility
will increase adoption of SaaS
Gartner: four vectors are
transforming the security
software market
The security software market is undergoing a dramatic transformation due to four
key developments, according to technology research and advisory firm, Gartner,
Inc. The use of advanced analytics, expanded ecosystems, adoption of Software
as a Service (SaaS) and managed services and the prospect of punitive regulations
are causing enterprises to rethink their security and risk management software
requirements and investments.
“The overall security market is undergoing a period of disruption due to the
rapid transition to cloud-based digital business and technology models that
are changing how risk and security functions deliver value in an organisation,”
said Deborah Kish, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner. “At the same time,
the threat landscape and rise in the number of high-impact security incidents
are also creating demand for security technologies and innovations that deliver
greater effectiveness.”
Four vectors are transforming the security software market:
1. By 2020, advanced security analytics will be embedded in at least 75%
of security products
Enterprises are increasingly seeking products that incorporate ‘smarter’
predictive and prescriptive analytic technologies, which help warn users of
potential security incidents and provide guidance on optimal responses. These
more advanced analytical capabilities are driven by a variety of underlying
technologies, such as heuristics, artificial intelligence/machine learning and
other techniques. Successful vendors will work with customers and prospects to
understand use cases where analytics will deliver significant value and augment
limited security staff and resources.
2. Acquiring and integrating products and technologies will be a critical
strategy to increase market share and enter new markets
Given the preponderance of startups and smaller vendors pursuing innovative
approaches to security problems, acquisition, integration and consolidation
are highly effective strategies to increase market share and enter completely
new markets. In many cases, mature vendors in search of continued growth are
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Security buyers are making security
product investment decisions that
support digital business, fit their
current challenges and deliver
performance value. Gartner’s recent
end-user security spending survey
indicates that, in order to do this, they
have a preference for products in an
as-a-service format.
Is your ERP system Industry
4.0 compatible?
Monzer Tohme, Regional Vice President, Sales, MEA at
Epicor Software, explains that for manufacturers, growth
in an Industry 4.0 environment will be intrinsically linked
with a business’s ERP system.
SaaS for security and risk
management is becoming critical
as customers transition to digital
business practices. However,
providers must consider the financial
implications of maintaining support
for legacy security products while
investing in an as-a-service product or
managed service.
4. The regulatory environment will
create opportunities for security
software providers
The EU General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) will come into
effect on May 25, 2018 and could
see organisations facing heavy fines
should they receive a single complaint
for mishandling private data. Punitive
regulations will create board-level
fears, driving security software
budget decisions based on the
potential financial impact of fines and
noncompliance.
Consequently, enterprises will look to
providers with products that provide
the needed visibility and control of
their data. Providers should identify
the key regulatory requirements and
constraints in target geographies by
working with legal counsel to deliver
product and service choices that will
alleviate board-level fears.
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W
e are on the cusp of Industry
4.0, the fourth Industrial
Revolution. Over the next
decade, Industry 4.0 will emerge to
meet demand for tailor-made products
at affordable prices – from mobile
phones to cars and from household
goods to sheet metal fabrication.
At the same time, it will give
manufacturers access to highly flexible
mass production processes that can be
rapidly adapted to market changes.
Industry 4.0 calls for a future of agile,
affordable manufacturing, fuelled
by technology enablers such as the
Internet of things (IoT), 3D printing,
cloud computing, mobile devices and
big data. This will marry the world
of production and networking in a
connected environment. Enterprise
resource planning (ERP) will become
even more central to production in
this environment. The ERP system will
become the backbone of the network;
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connecting smart machines, logistics
systems, production facilities, sensors
and devices, as products and machines
communicate with each other and
exchange commands as products
move through the production line. integration with MES as they embark
on their journey towards Industry 4.0.
Below are five questions, which I think
every manufacturer should be asking
about their ERP system in order to get
ready for Industry 4.0.
To prepare for Industry 4.0, ERP
vendors are moving away from pre-
built interfaces and formulas and
towards developing highly connected
systems that conduct operations
at the production line level, whilst
giving business decision makers the
real-time data they require. The
Industry 4.0 compatible ERP system
will fully integrate with manufacturing
execution systems (MES). As a result, it
will be possible to track and document
the transformation of raw materials
through to finished goods. Is your ERP system flexible?
Crucially, manufacturers need to
address whether their existing ERP
environment can support this level of
Industry 4.0 is a journey, not a one-off
project. Manufacturers will therefore
benefit most from ERP software that
has flexible deployment options.
This will allow them to adapt to new
business and service opportunities,
new processes, workflows, data
networks and decentralised locations,
all in real-time, as their business grows
in the inter-connected world.
Whether your ERP solution is hosted
in your own data centre, in the cloud,
as a managed service, on-premises,
or a combination thereof, it should be
possible to easily switch processes and
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