Why the End (Point) is in Sight for True Integration

  • Maurizio Canton, CTO EMEA at TIBCO Software

  • 29.11.2017 11:15 pm
  • Endpoint integration , financial services

The explosion in big data, IoT devices and cloud technology has broadened the digital landscape, but the flipside is the soaring number of endpoints and challenges that arise from their management.

Gartner predicts that by 2020, we will see 20 billion of them, a traction fuelled largely by the increase in remote and mobile working and the trend for bringing your own devices (BYOD) to the workplace.  

This greater flexibility has had a positive bearing on productivity, but has also introduced a heightened complexity into the corporate network infrastructure. Having to accommodate additional personal devices that are not necessarily updated with the latest security solutions and do not offer a comparative level of protection to internal IT systems, inevitably leaves a business vulnerable and compromised. Battling for control over the gigabytes of intelligence flooding in and out of the organisation daily, this reactive housekeeping is the kind of distraction that can hinder true digital transformation.  

Similarly, these issues seep into organisations that have had to make radical changes to respond to the digital agenda and the new demands of the customer through a more omni-channel offering. It's a challenge evident in financial institutions, where APIs and mobile transactions have proven to be a game changer in differentiating a bank’s proposition, providing a vital new channel for innovation through more interconnected services that enhance the customer experience and drive a competitive advantage.

Big data and analytics now permeate all key strands of financial services, informing and innovating the payment process, retail banking, insurance, and wealth management and shedding greater light on transaction history. However, in tandem with this added value and opportunities, come greater demands and pressures over user identity, personal data privacy and a greater propensity for fraud.

Here, the need to strike a balance between innovation and stringent security credentials becomes particularly acute, an issue exacerbated by the fact that financial institutions have traditionally fallen short when it comes to achieving full visibility on the security status of their endpoints. However, the answer isn’t to build Fort Knox. Security measures must deliver, but that doesn’t mean via a solution so draconian that it compromises accessibility, convenience and the seamless end-user experience now expected as standard.

The control needed to achieve this delicate balance is ultimately about visibility, having all the information in real time at your fingertips to enable both preemptive and proactive measures and agile and intuitive responses as situations change. It calls for integration technology that brings all facets together thorough a highly configurable bundle, a portfolio of independent, but tightly integrated products that enable swift and seamless integrations to and from the cloud and on premise to address all the competing concerns.

Crucially, this needs to be simple to use, to drive a DIY approach that doesn’t rely on complicated code or specialist skills. Accessible and intuitive integration means that a broader section of the business can be involved to create solutions quickly, and minimise risk.

In the financial services environment, we see just how many elements depend on seamless integration for smooth operations, covering user experience, data, infrastructure, security, application and service. Also added to the mix is the need to incorporate identity management systems to ensure data integrity and confirm that the user of the device is authorised to access sensitive resource. A solution that can update, track and protect data by monitoring the number of profiles and endpoints using the identity, before suggesting the available or required action, is essential for peace of mind and to cover all bases.

A holistic, interconnected approach is the only meaningful approach to the challenge of device management, enabling you to ride the mobile and IoT tidal wave without drowning in the increased threat levels that can arise.

 

 

 

 

 

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