CIOs are responsible for ensuring that the organisation is able to operate in a secure and seamless manner , regardless of where resources reside . This demands delivering fast , secure , and resilient services across a range of different platforms , all with the same user experience , and with the same advanced protection built-in by design . And since cloud environments are often remote , connectivity and strong access control are key to delivering optimal experience and resilience across what is now a diverse and distributed digital estate . The shared responsibility model and the SLA for each cloud service are mandatory reading for every CIO .

Fortinet , to enable them to easily integrate awardwinning , cloud-agnostic security and connectivity solutions that provide the protection and digital experience that they are demanding .

Cloud solutions remove the need to rack , stack , power , cool , and secure the physical underlying infrastructure that enterprises rely on to power their business .

Cloud solutions remove the need to rack , stack , power , cool , and secure the physical underlying infrastructure that enterprises rely on to power their business . On-demand , scalable services available anywhere in the world offer organisations the agility to transform , collaborate , and innovate , helping them focus on their digital goals without the up-front investment and delivery delays of hardware . This same agility applies to cloud-based security and connectivity services that are also on-demand , scale to demand , and can even be consumed as a SaaS offering to further simplify delivery .

Data sovereignty , resilience , and performance are all top of mind for MEA cloud customers . To address these , the main cloud providers such as AWS , Google Cloud , Microsoft Azure , Oracle Cloud , are making strategic investments in the region , with a number of new data centres . And their cloud marketplaces offer native cybersecurity solutions from partners such as cloud is all about speed and agility – being able to quickly pivot as needs change . The pandemic showcased the power of cloud in quickly delivering new services , at scale , wherever needed . Healthcare providers were able to build new applications online for testing and vaccinations , research organisations were able to collaborate to accelerate vaccine development , and governments were able to easily share data and health guidance . What was critical though was also building security into each of these services .

As always , fraudsters , scammers , and other threat actors were quick to take advantage of the situation . For instance , by creating bots that would quickly reserve all vaccination slots and then sell them to the highest bidders , or ransomware gangs targeting healthcare institutions . Cloud-based and cloud native security from cybersecurity leaders make it simple and easy for organisations to face this daily onslaught of attacks .

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Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 87 | Page 33