Software will continue to eat the world – Empowering Access Control and Cloud SaaS Security

The dramatics of post-Covid in 2020 ushered in a new era of business software. With a shift of strategic business priorities and an instant need for flexibility, organisations around the world adopted cloud-based software almost overnight. Digitalisation was at the forefront from marketing, recruitment, financial services, and industrial manufacturing to all professional services as well as transport & logistics. Not one sector was undisrupted, with thousands of businesses' digital strategic plans being accelerated to be incorporated into cloud technology. Business leaders and management required remote access to gain and retrieve operational data to maintain productivity, across their networks to enable continued operations whilst prioritising employee safety.

Access Control is a method of restricting access to sensitive data or environments. Only those who have verified their identity can access it through an access control gateway.

Greg McHugh, Founding Managing Director at GTS Group Ltd has specialised in working with leadership for over 26 years and Access Control and IAM for 10 years. “CEOs must now and continue to evaluate a transformed and improving business for the longer term. And despite the enthusiasm for what cloud can do, executives across the C-suite have concerns,” say’s Greg. “We have seen undoubtedly that medical researchers, innovators, and those in the National Health Service have been the heroes, ensuring the world is liveable for us all. However, without the collaborative work of people and digitalisation, the world would have faced an even more problematic situation.”

There are five key areas all CEOs must lead:

·????????Speed to market

·????????Reduced costs

·????????Flexibility of operations

·????????Business Resilience

·????????Innovation capabilities

Ultimately, cloud technology has allowed start-ups and medium enterprises (SME’s) to access and learn from larger technology capabilities. For example: computer power, programming tools architecture, and algorithms.

According to the Harvard Business Review of 2020, 20-30 percent of work was being done through the cloud, this has increased dramatically and companies initially planned to accelerate that to more like 80 percent over an 8 to 10-year process. As we move from a post-pandemic world, how can businesses continue to leverage the power of cloud-based software and SaaS solutions, while ensuring their business continuity remains secure and resilient?

“Software is eating the world”, says Greg. ?Since then, the challenges of SaaS requirements for businesses have grown dramatically — including the increasing number of IT applications, the shift to the cloud, new agile working methods, and decentralised DevOps teams. According to Forbes, “gaining complete visibility of SaaS applications” is now a top priority for nearly all business leaders to future-proof enterprises. The problem for business leaders today is the unknown when it comes to SaaS.

For example:

·????????How many SaaS apps are used by the business in total?

·????????How many of these apps are on auto-renewal?

·????????Which team members purchased them, and how much are these apps costing the business each year?

·????????Are these SaaS apps raising security concerns?

The use of SaaS solutions surged during the pandemic, and that trend will continue into 2025. It’s been a challenge for IT teams to protect data while rapidly expanding access to the devices, solutions, and information that enabled business continuity during a once-in-a-century global health emergency.

Above all, the CEO and CTO need to become intimately involved in the cloud journey. Cloud is too important to a business’s fundamental competitiveness to be treated as an IT program. It’s about creating a platform for the efficiency, innovation, and growth that will determine the future success of your business.

As we enter the final 2 quarters of 2024, IT leaders are looking to consolidate gains and ensure safe operations. The most forward-thinking IT professionals will meet new requirements by upgrading security architecture, taking a more expansive approach to governance and evaluating vendors more efficiently. These steps will allow their companies to enjoy the benefits of a SaaS environment while mitigating the risks more effectively. Now, CIOs and their IT teams can focus on proper management of their cloud infrastructure to ensure they are streamlining admin operations, mitigating risk, and optimising ROI on their tech investments.

GTS provides permanent, contract & Executive recruitment solutions to native digital organisations and traditional businesses embracing digital transformation.

GTS has extensive experience helping organizations navigate these leadership challenges in a world that prizes agility over size and diversity over homogeneity. Our industry experience and professional networks reach across the sector and geographies, from global market leaders to disruptive early-stage ventures.

Greg and his team help boards and senior management clarify the kinds of leaders they need, based on their business strategy, their stage of corporate development, and the competitive environment.

GTS Group Ltd work with CHROs to better align their talent-management function with the organization’s strategic direction. We can leverage our long-term relationships and industry intelligence to identify and recruit leaders who thrive in uncertainty and demonstrate the ability to create, impact, and transform their organizations.

To find out more about GTS Group Ltd Group please get in touch at [email protected] or contact Gregory McHugh - [email protected] or call +44 (0)1908 103 661?