Organisations Should Adopt ‘Zero Trust Framework’ to Enhance Cyber Resiliency: Manish Gupta, Vice President, ISG, Dell Technologies

As the world has stepped into an era of digital and technologies more or less drive all our daily work processes, it has become imperative for businesses to gear up for securing their cyberspace and data. Therefore businesses need to adopt a ‘Zero Trust’ framework and secure all the endpoints with best-in-class solutions. Also, the threat landscape is evolving rapidly which further calls for the deployment of stringent security measures. Bringing to light the abovementioned aspects and sharing Dell’s perspective on the Indian market, Manish Gupta, Vice President, ISG, Dell Technologies interacted with Express Computer.   

Dell Technologies has been leading the Infrastructure Solutions market for decades now and has proved its mettle in customer satisfaction as well. How do you see the industry demands changing with the onset of emerging technologies and how has Dell geared up to cope?

During the last couple of years, companies have taken note of their digital transformation needs which has created an ecosystem where IT solutions providers like Dell have had the opportunity to drive organisational growth for Indian businesses. The realization that modern enterprise solutions offer quicker time-to-market, flexibility, and broader technology accessibility in the workplace has helped organisations streamline their business goals. According to the Dell Technologies 2023 Innovation Index report, 59 percent of Indian businesses are presently investing in or exploring the possibility of investing in AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics to enhance their innovation efforts.

As the volume of data and the speed at which it is processed continues to increase, the demand for infrastructure that can analyse and derive insights from it right at the edge continues to soar. We advocate for a multi-cloud by the design approach. Adopting what fits the business is the guiding principle of this framework, mapping the IT needs right from the start. The answer may be on-premises, public cloud, co-locations, or the edge, or a combination of them. The strategy varies according to the industry and the size of the company, but the premise remains the same: planning for growth – internally and externally.

Dell Technologies offers complete infrastructure solutions to help businesses scale IT effectively. We support both “Ground to Cloud” and “Cloud to Ground” journeys, providing easy data storage, protection, and control across diverse platforms. Our solutions ensure resilience, scalability, open technologies, and consistent management, supporting operational efficiency. Embracing digital transformation requires leveraging cloud services, automation, data analytics, and AI for optimised processes and customer experiences, all while maintaining a holistic security strategy.

Cybersecurity comes to the center stage for every customer before they deploy any solution. How do you see the realm of security evolve with time? How does Dell ensure security with its offerings?

It’s true that today, organisations rely more heavily on technology platforms that give them open access to innovation. In fact, as businesses continue to embrace digital transformation, it results in a huge amount of data being online, increasing the potential for cyber threats. According to Dell Technologies 2023 Innovation Index report, only 43 percent of Indian businesses are confident that they can continue working with minimal disruption in the event of a cyberattack.

To keep up with people’s changing work patterns, it is critical to map security threats that emerge with these adjustments. Every device and process an organisation adopts should have security as a baseline in its design.

Once security features are part of the data and systems, the next step is applying a ‘Zero Trust’ architecture across the organiasation. Zero Trust is an authenticate-every-step model that verifies every interaction before proceeding. And lastly, while every precaution is necessary to protect data, a recovery plan is important. A cyber-resilient organisation prepares to face a crisis, recovering data and resuming operations even in the face of an attack.

Our Zero Trust security architecture is based on three factors – universal continuous authentication of everything; robust authoritative policy-driven behavior; and deeply integrated threat management.

While we are definitely going to introduce new solutions and offerings under the security portfolio, what we are also planning is the launch of other infrastructure solutions with a strong security architecture. This means, you have a storage solution that offers robust protection against attacks so even if you miss adding another layer of data protection, at least your data inside that storage will be secured.

With emerging technologies, threat actors have also evolved raising concerns across industries, governments, and even for the common people. Considering this, what line of thought or action plan should companies have, to ensure the security of their data, network, and systems?

Data is the building block for every company that plans to achieve a digital future. The right security strategy gives you control to be proactive and shape this future, with no fear of technological shifts. A sustainable digital transformation enables employees to do their best work from everywhere, with services and devices that are secure and efficient. Organisations whether private or public, need to have their bases covered to shield themselves, making it absolutely impossible for attackers to pass through. This is what Dell Technologies has been underlining for a while now – the Zero Trust philosophy to security.

According to Dell Technologies 2023 Innovation Index report, just 23 percent of Indian businesses are exploring/building a Zero Trust architecture, a cybersecurity model that shifts how organisations approach security from relying solely on perimeter defenses to a proactive strategy that only allows known, authorised traffic across system boundaries and data pipelines.

With embedded security features designed into the hardware, firmware, and security control points, this holistic approach helps organisations achieve Zero Trust architectures to strengthen cyber resiliency by offering integrated data protection software, systems, and services to help ensure data and applications are protected and resilient wherever they live. It is imperative that business leaders consider IT infrastructure upgrades and show enthusiasm toward accepting new technologies that disrupt the flow of work.

What innovations Dell Technologies aim to bring to the Indian market in the coming year? Also, considering the Indian customers, what investment plans do you have for the Indian market in the coming years?  

Dell Technologies has always been committed to enabling digital transformation for its customers and partners with an innovation-first approach. As part of our vision for 2024, John Roese, Global Chief Technology Officer and Peter Marrs, President, Asia Pacific & Japan have highlighted emerging trends that are set to shape the technology industry in 2024, as well as how Dell is working with customers to navigate these trends and build on the innovation opportunity in the region. These include the transition of AI from theory to practice, particularly via quantum computing and the expansion of modern edge and dominance of multi-cloud as a platform. Additionally in 2024, Dell’s project Fort Zero will be deployed into the market as the first commercial full Zero Trust private cloud system in the industry, paving the way for Zero Trust adoption across various industries. With this, Dell Technologies looks forward to creating greater impact for its customers and partners, in India and beyond.