Companies embrace the digital economy because it allows them to connect with more customers, devices and data than ever before. From a business perspective, this means making decisions quickly based on market opportunity and customer experience, as well as collaboration through the free flow of information. In this new economy, the imperative is to continuously deliver new applications and tighter customer relationships to drive growth — and to do so safely.

A new report, “Bridging the Digital Transformation Divide: Leaders Must Balance Risk & Growth,” conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by IBM, unveiled the barriers and dissonance security professionals experience and outlined best practices to minimize risk while supporting digital transformation initiatives.

Ponemon Report Reveals Good News and Bad News About Digital Transformation

Insights from the research were presented to security leaders to drive discussion at the Ponemon Responsible Information Management (RIM) Renaissance Conference in early March. The feedback from breakout sessions — which spanned from corporate counsel to chief information security officers (CISOs) and tech entrepreneurs — reinforced several findings from the research and sparked lively debate.

Below are some key insights:

• Less than half of senior business leaders are fully aware of the link between security and consumer trust, brand value and (ultimately) revenue growth.
• There’s an overabundance of tactical security tools and a shortage of skilled security professionals.
• The biggest barriers to securing digital transformation include culture and functional silos, governance and compliance requirements, as well as an inability to secure the free flow of information through the supply chain and with customers.

On the positive side, there was agreement about what “high performers” in digital transformation are doing to achieve business goals in the new digital era while maintaining privacy, trust and security.

High performers were found to share certain attributes, including:

• Senior management has a greater appreciation for IT security’s role in the digital transformation process.
• IT security has more influence on digital transformation strategy (i.e., full alignment between IT security and lines of business).
• These organizations understand the importance of protecting data assets, reducing third-party risk and maintaining customer and consumer trust.
• More investments are made in technologies that simplify the reporting of threats, minimize insider threats, leverage big data analytics for cybersecurity, use orchestration for cybersecurity and prevent unauthorized access to data and applications.

Read the complete Ponemon Report: Bridging the Digital Transformation Divide