Intrusion prevention and ransomware are key areas of focus for Canadian organizations, according to a new survey by CDW Canada, while at the same time they are following through with their cloud strategies.
As security threats to data have become inherently persistent, survey respondents indicated they are keeping a close eye on their security practices and technologies, with 39 per cent citing intrusion prevention as a top priority, while 35 per cent cited ransomware protection.
Despite the omnipresent security threats, Canadian organizations are putting a great deal of effort into growing their cloud deployments with half of businesses surveyed indicating their cloud strategy for 2017 includes hybrid solutions and moving workloads over time. A small number – 16 per cent – said they were planning to be a “cloud-first” organization going forward. Priorities in the data centre, meanwhile, include redundancy (29 per cent), expansion and scalability (27 per cent) and cost reduction (26 per cent).
Despite a move the cloud, only 10 per cent of survey respondents said they would replace current legacy tools and applications with new technologies, while just over a quarter of respondents said they would continue to use current tools and applications. Nearly a third of Canadian organizations said their unified communications strategies include integration of new features or products into current tools and applications.
Analytics and big data are also on the minds of Canadian organizations, with 28 per cent citing them as the emerging technologies that will have the most impact on their business, while 27 per cent cited the Internet of Things.