Most businesses today have a variety of data management and security tools. However, this does not necessarily mean they have full data visibility across their network—especially if that network is off-premise. In fact, one survey of 300 IT and security professionals indicated about 90% of organizations have a significant amount of work to do if they want to reach full network visibility and security. This same survey reveals that these visibility gaps exist for several reasons, including more devices on the network, more network traffic, and more network and security tech as well as the new kinds of cyberthreats and vulnerabilities that continue to arise.
The best way to close these gaps and reduce your security blind spots is to gain greater visibility across your extended network.
Understanding the Visibility Gap
As new and more complex threats emerge, it becomes increasingly more important for organizations to have full visibility into how their data is used and transmitted as well as where potential threats may exist. However, with the increase in devices for end-users, communication between virtual and physical devices, and data sharing between the cloud, data center, and other networks, this visibility becomes harder to achieve. In fact, according to a 2017 research study by The Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), 85% of organizations report that network security operations are more difficult than they were just two years ago.
Though many organizations believe the answer to this problem is to use more tools, the truth is that adding more tools to a security and monitoring environment that is already fragmented can make security outcomes worse. Instead, organizations should address this visibility gap by investing in the right IT staff and working to consolidate their tools with an effective platform that improves visibility by enabling organizations to consolidate the data, analytics, and reports from several tools into one convenient dashboard.
When an organization changes its architecture to improve visibility and make better use of its tools, it can make smarter decisions about data and security.
Improve Data Visibility with Gigamon
Gigamon provides an effective solution to the data-in-motion dilemma with its Visibility Platform. The platform integrates with an organization’s network, tools, and applications to provide consistent visibility into the data in motion across the organization’s entire network, including physical, virtual, and cloud environments. By providing better network visibility, the Gigamon Visibility Platform enables organizations to make smarter decisions about their network and security operations.
With the platform, you can simplify, consolidate, and automate traffic delivery to the tools that are most important to your organization. Additionally, you can deliver relevant data that helps you maximize the performance of your security tools. By gaining full transparency into what’s happening within your network, you can better understand traffic and make decisions that will help you optimize your security and use of important tools.
The platform works by sitting between the production network and the tools that your organization uses for monitoring and managing different processes. This centralized platform delivers important data from the various networks to the set of tools that are connected to the platform. The platform works to filter, replicate, and forward traffic to ensure only the relevant data is being delivered to the correct tools, enabling you to optimize your use of these tools without having non-relevant traffic impact your operations (i.e. less powerful devices continue to work for longer saving you money).
Though clear network visibility becomes more difficult as networks increase in complexity, the Gigamon Visibility Platform makes it easy for organizations to achieve pervasive visibility in even the most demanding IT infrastructures. This scalable and flexible, centralized visibility platform solution enables organizations like yours to improve efficiency and realize significant cost savings.
For more on increasing visibility, read about: Layering Strategic Visibility for Greater Cloud Security.
