Imagine that you are the system administrator or Chief Technology Officer of your company. You are responsible for building and assembling your company’s data security infrastructure that will be protect your customers’ sensitive data, your organization’s payroll records, research data, and more. You now have many important decisions to make. Is it better to build and assemble your infrastructure piece by piece by selecting different technologies from different data security companies, or is it better to use one company for all of your infrastructure’s needs?
Think of building your infrastructure like you would think of building your dream customized, high-end sports car. You want it to look sleek and elegant, it needs to run efficiently, and it needs to be reliable. If you want your sports car to be a top of the line product, you wouldn’t have your engineer, designer, and mechanic to use your station wagon’s old tires just because they’re sitting in your garage. You are going to trust your team to use only the best parts available and build you a first-rate product. You’re also going to trust the advice your team gives you on how to maintain the quality and reliability of your sports car over the years.
These are the same concepts professionals should to consider when assembling their organization’s data security infrastructure. Typical components of a data security infrastructure may include various encryption devices such as hardware security modules, key and certificate management servers, secure storage devices, and more. Each of these components needs to be able to function together effectively and efficiently. Any gaps or incompatibility could result in system downtime, loss of efficiency, or even security risks, so first-rate technology is a necessity.
While organizations can choose to assemble their infrastructure piece by piece, it will often be easier, more cost-effective, and more secure to utilize a single supplier for numerous reasons.
1. Utilizing a single supplier is more cost-effective
Piecing together your data security infrastructure could potentially be more costly. All of the devices in your infrastructure need to be able to work together seamlessly, so you might have to make adjustments to the individual devices to allow them to function together. These adjustments could require making changes to the device’s code or setup, which manufacturers may charge more to do.
2. A single supplier will be able to provide advice regarding your entire infrastructure
You may not be entirely certain what types of encryption technology you need to protect your sensitive data, but encryption technology manufacturers have years of experience in designing and implementing successful data security infrastructures. Using multiple providers will make it more difficult to design and effective and efficient infrastructure. Each company will be able to advise you on the best way to use their devices, but they will not be able to provide advice for your infrastructure as a whole. By using a single supplier to build your infrastructure, they will be able to assess your needs and design a solution that meets all of the unique requirements of your organization.
3. Employee time and training costs will be drastically reduced
The time requirement to train employees on devices from several different companies will be significantly higher than it would be to learn how to operate devices manufactured by the same company. Each company’s device will have its own user interface, its own unique way of interacting with the other devices in the infrastructure, different command structures, etc. Additionally, you’ll need to schedule time with each individual company to receive training on their device, which could take exponentially more time than it would to receive training from one company on multiple devices.
Every organization is going to have different needs. A financial institution will have different security requirements than a hospital. Colleges and universities will be responsible for different types of sensitive data than retail organizations. However, all of these businesses have one thing in common: they all need to protect the sensitive data they are responsible for, and they need the most reliable solution available to them.
