Why Identity-Based Zero-Trust Is Key To Your Digital Transformation Journey

Whether or not your organization has entered the arena, the race toward digital transformation is on. In fact, over half of businesses are worried they won’t make it to the finish line and will lose market share as a result. But rushing headlong into a digital world is no simple task; 70% of businesses fail at the first digital hurdle. 

With goals that include increased revenue, a better total experience, and greater innovation, getting your digital transformation project out of the gate will likely be critical to your organization’s future success. Let’s examine why digital transformation is happening, what differentiates successful efforts from failures, and why identity-centric zero-trust is at the heart of it all. 

Why is Digital Transformation Happening?

The world of IT has changed, there is no doubt about that. Cloud computing has become a major disruptive force to how we work and to computing overall. The Covid-19 pandemic shocked businesses worldwide, but without cloud apps, cloud-based services, and mobile devices, stay-at-home mandates would have driven many companies over the edge. Cloud computing now shapes our IT infrastructure choices and provides the mechanisms to create, share, analyze, and store data at volumes never previously experienced. APIs are the levers, pulleys, and gears of today’s cloud infrastructure, allowing the massive datasets created by the modern enterprise to flow. 

As our technology stacks have become more powerful, new technologies have also appeared. Artificial intelligence and data analytics, as well as automation, are providing opportunities to turn arcane business processes into slick, beautiful digital experiences that benefit everyone. 

But this new world order of high-tech and fluid data has created opportunities for cybercriminals as well. 

Why Do Digital Transformation Projects Fail?

Cybersecurity threats and negligent employees have created a data nightmare, with 22 billion data records exposed in 2021. Human beings, whether acting maliciously or simply carelessly, are behind most data breaches. At the same time, the expanded edge of cloud computing has made securing access to data and IT resources increasingly difficult. The ‘castle and moat’ security approach is no longer fit for purpose. The fuzzy perimeter of the cloud demands a more agile, adaptive way of controlling access to apps and data. In the absence of more modern security and access management solutions, digitizing business processes and services will bring data disaster to a business and stall digital transformation projects. 

How to Ensure a Successful and Secure Digital Transformation

The modern enterprise is built around a complicated mesh of people, data, devices, and networks. Data no longer resides only in centralized stores but flows across disparate cloud networks and systems, the boundaries of which are often fuzzy. Securing this data and other IT resources requires a dynamic and adaptive methodology. This is where identity-based zero-trust excels. A zero-trust security approach is recognized by security experts, analysts, governments, and standards agencies such as NIST, as the most effective security model for controlling access. 

Unlike older security tools, identity-based zero trust solutions are designed for the expanded enterprise and draw upon next-generation security technologies to secure data, prevent malware infection, and maintain compliance with industry regulations. An enterprise taking on a digital transformation project must recognize that verified identity, enforced using zero-trust rules, is intrinsically linked to the success of that program.

Take a deeper dive into how identity-based access and zero trust can turn your digital transformation project into a success story by reading our new white paper, “Secure Digital Transformation Requires Identity-Based Access Control.”