Live @ Pulse 2010: Security and the Smarter Planet

In today’s general session at IBM Pulse 2010, IBM Tivoli VP of marketing, Doug Brown, kicked off the morning by introducing Helene Armitage, GM of System Software, IBM Systems and Technology Group.

Armitage outlined the opportunity presented by integrated service management and its linkage to virtualization, workload optimization, the use of new delivery models, and the need to integrate.

Armitage explained that heterogeneous infrastructure-wide virtualization can deliver systems efficiency (say that three times quickly), as opposed to siloed management of individual platforms. By “managing through a single pane of glass,” organizations can consolidate resources and reduce their complexity, in turn improving their efficiency.

She also discussed the “self-provisioning” of services and resources, whereby companies could leverage the most cost effective provider of the necessary service.  She highlighted one example, SK telecom, a Korean mobile communications provider which had three large data centers with around 1,000 servers, and which deployed a cloud computing platform with IBM to enable quick development and testing of new services.

Another highlight of the keynote were several IBM customers (including a panel discussion), as well as IBM Chief Privacy Officer and VP, Security Counsel, Harriet Pearson’s thoughtful look at security and data privacy in the smarter planet realm.

Pearson explained that 71% of CIOs around the world are concerned about risk management and compliance, but that business needed to view risk management through a lends of opportunity, not liability.

Though admittedly there has been an explosion of regulatory activity in governments around the globe…and a 500X increase in Web links last year that could harm your company…despite these, and other challenges and threats, we can’t go on the way we have been: Bolting on security or risk management after we’ve installed new systems or introduced a new initiative.

We could try, but the planet is getting smarter, and so must we.

The state of security on the smarter planet is complex, no doubt.  As the planet gets more instrumented, interconnected, and intelligent, that presents new possibilities, complexities, and risks (critical infrastructure protection, privacy and identity, cloud security, etc.)

Where’s the data?  Who has access to it?  Who knows who, and who knows who is who??

No question, people like lower crime, less traffic, better health outcomes…all the things a smarter planet can potentially provide.  But people are also increasingly uncomfortable with “them” having all this information about us.

So, we must change how we approach security and privacy, and risk management in general, in our business and our policymaking.

Plan security and privacy from the start, not as an afterthought.  “Security by design,” which is about driving innovation while reducing risk.

Security by design is an enabler of innovative change, not simply a risk prevention measure.

Pearson closed by identifying a number of ways IBM is helping clients get smarter about security.

For example, by safely adopting new forms of technology like cloud computing and virtualization.  Enabling new business models like teleworking and outsourcing. Addressing emerging compliance constructs, while decreasing operations costs.

And, to the point of consumer concerns, addressing consumer expectations of privacy by assuring trusted brand status, while also assuring the integrity of quality and availability of information required for real-time decision making.

The state of security on our smarter planet is good, but with some investment and focus, and planning up front, it could be so much better, and in turn, provide businesses with new opportunities to be “in compliance” with both regulatory regimes as well as key business objectives.