A shortage of money and skills is preventing South African CIOs from properly securing their digital transformation systems.
“Security is front of mind, but unfortunately it is not front of spend,” says Jon Tullett, research manager at IDC Sub-Saharan Africa.
Digital transformation is happening around the world, and it is very much a reality in South Africa as well, he says.
More than 90% of local CIOs are planning or executing digital transformation today. And 80% of those not engaged in digital transformation cite budget onstraint.
“So all South African CIOs would like to be undergoing some sort of transformation,” Tullett says.
One of the most important technology disciplines for enabling digital transformation is security, but this is one of the biggest challenges that CIOs are facing.
“Companies don’t have the budget or the skills to tackle security,” Tullett says. “And so we are seeing attacks.”
There are many reasons why IT security isn’t happening as it should, but perhaps the bottom line is the complexity that surrounds it, Tullett says.
“It is a very complicated space and we are getting some of the basics wrong.”