Monday Morning Impact – July 9

Published On: July 9, 2018Categories: Buzz, Uncategorized

Study: Tech Hiring Hot Across U.S., IT Leaders Prioritizing Security

As security, cloud and digital projects in U.S. companies expand, so does the need for skilled tech professionals to support them. According to Robert Half Technology’s latest research on the state of tech hiring, 60 percent of IT hiring decision makers plan to expand the size of their teams between now and the end of the year.

Top cities for staffing increases include Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Charlotte.

When asked to describe their top concerns, tech leaders in 21 of the 26 major metropolitan areas included in the study listed security as their biggest priority, after recruitment, followed by investing in new technologies, upgrading business systems for efficiency, and innovation. Parallel with that data, the most important skill sets valued by hiring managers includes cybersecurity and cloud security (tied for first), followed by cloud computing and cloud architecture.

“Business needs surrounding security, cloud and digital transformation are outpacing the supply of talent, and technology leaders are facing difficulties staffing open roles,” said Jeff Weber, executive director of Robert Half Technology. “Employers should be discerning about what skills are must-haves versus what can be trained for on the job and move quickly with offers when they meet strong candidates.”

Additionally, it seems tech professionals are willing to relocate for opportunities: More than eight in 10 tech leaders (81 percent) said they are seeing more tech talent move to their cities for career opportunities. Top cities for relocation include Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, and Miami.

The report is based on responses from more than 2,600 senior managers in 26 major U.S. markets. All respondents were screened to have hiring authority for the information systems or information technology department of a company and were asked to provide a six-month hiring outlook.

Channel Impact®
The data provides channel partners with a sense of key growth technologies as well as a heat map for key locations.

Kaspersky Survey Reveals Concerns About Industrial IoT

Kaspersky Lab introduced its new “State of Industrial Cybersecurity 2018” survey, which found that 65 percent of organizations globally believe that OT/ICS security risks are more likely with IoT.

The convergence of IT and OT, the wider connectivity of OT with external networks, and the growing number of industrial IoT devices is boosting the efficiency of industrial processes, but also presents new risks and vulnerabilities. Many surveyed industrial organizations feel unsafe, with 77 percent of respondents saying that their organization is likely to become the target of a cybersecurity incident involving their industrial control networks.

Of the concerns related to IoT, 54 percent of respondents claim that the increased risks associated with connectivity and the integration of IoT ecosystems are a major cybersecurity challenge.

Companies relying on ICS are still falling victim to more conventional threats, including malware and ransomware. While concerns have grown around the risk of targeted attacks and APTs, 64 percent of companies experienced at least one conventional malware or virus attack on their ICS in the last year, 30 percent of companies suffered a ransomware attack, and 27 percent had their ICS breached due to the errors and actions of employees. Although it was the top concern, targeted attacks affecting the sector accounted for only 16 percent in 2018 (down from 36% in 2017).

“With the sector embracing more digital trends such as cloud and IoT to further drive efficiencies, the challenge and importance of cybersecurity becomes even more vital to keep critical systems running and businesses operational,” said Georgy Shebuldaev, brand manager, Kaspersky Industrial Cybersecurity. “The good news is that we are seeing more and more businesses improving their cybersecurity policies to include dedicated measures towards safeguarding their industrial control networks. While this is a step in the right direction, action needs to go further to keep up with the pace of digitalization. This includes updating incident response programs to cover specific ICS actions and using dedicated cybersecurity solutions to help meet the challenge.”

In partnership with a market research firm, Kaspersky conducted a survey of 320 global professionals with decision-making power on OT/ICS cybersecurity from 25 countries across the globe from April to May 2018.

Channel Impact®
As the trend for digitalization – including increased connectivity and IoT – grows among industrial organizations, so do the cybersecurity risks associated with complex industrial environments. Customers need strong ICS incident response programs to avoid compromising severe operational, financial and reputational damage.

Twilio Launches an “API-First” Partner Program

Twilio, a San Francisco-based cloud communications platform vendor, has formally rolled out “Twilio Build,” a partner program designed with an API-first, developer-first approach. The program delivers go-to-market support, certification and training programs, and a partner success team to support consulting and technology organizations.

The company categorizes every partner as either a technology partner or a consulting partner and offers two levels of partnership – Registered and Gold. Key aspects of the program include support for a variety of partner models, lead sharing, co-selling, a new certification program, dedicated support, a digital product showcase, and a New Technology Early Access Program.

While many developers prefer the traditional approach of building directly with Twilio’s platform, the vendor also has customers who are looking for alternate ways to build and customize their applications. The ecosystem of partners offers customers both packaged applications and consulting expertise.

Consulting launch partners include Blacc Spot, DVELP, Impekable, Nethram, Perficient, Silicon Valley Software Group and Vision Point Systems. Technology launch partners include Zendesk, IBM Watson, Voicebase, WhitePagesPro and Ytica.

“Twilio’s unique API-first cloud platform is tailor-made to support an ecosystem of partners that are differentiated by the innovations they deliver for their customers” said Ron Huddleston, chief partners officer at Twilio. “With Twilio Build, we believe we are laying the foundation for a whole new partner ecosystem that will accelerate Twilio, our partners, and most importantly, our customers.”

Channel Impact®
The new program will help to enable channel partners to add additional value to vendor value propositions, which has long been the primary mainstay of indirect sales.

 

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