As economic uncertainty continues alongside the ongoing pandemic, IT and Security budgets are likely to see modest - if any – growth this year. Therefore, it will fall to CIOs to focus on maximizing existing investments, getting back to the basics, and doing more with the same (or less). There are some core principles I believe are important to keep top of mind when it comes to minimizing risk and maximizing budgets.

Enterprises are grappling with increased complexity as cloud adoption increases, the perimeter expands, and digital transformation projects take hold. The accelerated shift to remote working has only added to the complexity. As more businesses leverage hybrid IT environments in their digital transformation journey, many confront challenges managing identities and access across multiple applications, clouds, networks and servers.

Convincing C-suite executives to approve budgets for security system upgrades may be difficult in the best of times. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting financial upheaval it caused may make selling new projects more challenging for security directors. While security may not be a daily topic of discussion among C-suite members, they understand the need to provide and maintain a safe and secure environment for corporate employees and visitors. But they don’t see security in terms of a camera brand or access card technology. They view security in terms of risk management and mitigation strategies. Addressing those concerns in any project plan will increase its chances of it winning approval.

How do different companies plan their IT security spending, and what we can learn from these approaches?

More than fifty percent of survey respondents struggle to align security initiatives to business goals and 44 percent aren't clear on what the business goals are, says a Thycotic Cyber Security Team's Guide to Success report. 

The Pasco County school district in Tampa, Fla. is adding $840,000 in new surveillance cameras to campuses over two years, as part of an effort to enhance student and employee safety.

There are several options to consider when it comes to analytics for video surveillance systems: deploy analytics on the edge, or “in-camera”; use a dedicated server; or use a hybrid approach which leverages both edge and server implementations.