Posts by DavidKelly

he threats to corporate security are numerous, complex and unfortunately growing. The need for security has blossomed as our business practices have become more global, more fluid and have increasingly extended beyond the physical walls of the corporation. No longer are discussions about border attacks on a corporate network or worm and virus protection enough when it comes to corporate security. The sophistication and complexity of attacks from hackers are getting harder and harder to deal with. New business models are emerging to drive business growth and improvement in the bottom line, but they bring with them opportunities for new security risks.
Today, in the current global economy, corporations need to be sure they are building a comprehensive security approach that covers physical and logical security threat and processes to manage them. At the same time the expanding definition of identity management and the need to meet regulatory and corporate compliance efforts are forcing business leaders to rethink security. Upside Research believes that it is important for enterprises to have a full understanding of the latest security issues and risks their companies face and to develop an actionable plan for incorporating the necessary security measures to ensure success.
A solid security approach is one that follows a continuous loop of evaluating and assessing security needs, planning and building improved security measures and managing those security programs once they are implemented. Because security is such as fluid, fast-moving area for the enterprise, it is important to understand that a corporate security framework needs to be continually changing and adapting to the changing security landscape. Therefore, building constant feedback and input into the security model will help organizations to keep up with the latest security developments.
IBM Announces Two New Security Offerings Understanding the challenges that many enterprises face on the security front, IBM recently announced the addition of two new products for corporate security. The IBM Information Security Framework is an intellectual asset for organizations to use to build a comprehensive security plan that will address both the business risks associated with specific situations as well as the corporate risk-level and level of comfort for managing those risks. Using the framework, managers can identify what risks they face, and make informed decisions about how to address those risks. The framework helps enterprises identify the capabilities that are necessary to implement and prioritize security efforts, and measures improvements that result from the resulting security initiatives.
Another area of security that many organizations are paying increased attention to is identity management. IBM announced its Identity Management Services, designed to assist organizations in more effectively managing the entire identity lifecycle. Historically, identity management has been focused on managing user ID’s and passwords. However, in today’s fluid business environment, identity management extends beyond password management to enabling businesses to manage their access control from a physical and logical standpoint, incorporating new security technologies that go far beyond the scope of passwords and user ID’s. Additionally, many organizations are grappling with increased regulatory compliance, and they need to create security systems that support the latest regulations. IBM’s Identity Management Services are designed to assist organizations in managing and optimizing the entire identity management lifecycle.
Upside Uptake
Upside Research believes that the right approach to security isn’t just about sinking money in to prevent problems and looking around the next corner for trouble. It’s about understanding, quantifying, and measuring your current level of risk — both from an IT and business perspective – in appropriate areas, and then planning accordingly. Rather than throwing money or products at the problem without really understanding what that problem is, organizations should spend the time to assess their current security risks, and make informed decisions about where they should invest in security measures first. IBM has demonstrated a similar approach to security, and with Information Security Framework and Identity Management Services, customers can effectively assess their risks and act on that assessment.
IBM’s announcement addresses security from a number of critical angles. Because it is focused on the business-related aspects of security, Upside Research believes it does a good job of avoiding the technology trap, where new technologies and services are released for their own sake, rather than being tied to the direct goals of the business.
There is no question that enterprises are struggling with larger security problems, and offering frameworks and services that tie results back to the business goals is an important strategy for IBM to adopt. The framework avoids being too theoretical by providing organizations with a focused way to determine their security status and offering actionable ways they can improve their security. That being said, it still may be overwhelming to some organizations that are not as security-savvy as others. IBM provides an extensive list of products and other partners it works with to assist organizations in overcoming any trepidation. The key for the organization is to be sure to verify IBM’s ability to work with any existing products it has in place already.
The Identity Management Services offer a comprehensive portfolio of capabilities that will benefit a wide range of enterprises. As IBM has reported, many of its customers have been able to utilize the services to perform discrete and independent identity management projects. This is an important distinction to make, and Upside Research believes it is a particular strength of the offering, because it enables customers to target the exact areas where their identity management needs are most pressing.
Offering discrete solutions and components is particularly helpful for those enterprises that may be further behind the entire security curve than others. Tapping into IBM’s expertise in the security area enables those enterprises to adopt a solution that meets their current need but also fits into a larger overall identity management lifecycle, something that is nearly impossible to achieve with point solutions from niche vendors. Additionally, customers can choose whether outsourcing the identity management piece of their security infrastructure makes sense for their situation, and IBM is prepared to provide those services if necessary.
As we stated earlier, Upside Research advocates that enterprises spend the time to understand, quantify, and measure their current level of risk, and then develop an appropriate plan of attack. With its Information Security Framework and Identity Management Services, IBM is an experienced partner that can help overcome many of the security burdens that today’s computing environment presents.

Overview
While businesses continue to try to adjust to changing economic and market conditions, interviews conducted by Upside Research with leading global 2000 executives continue to highlight the role that process-oriented and rule-driven IT solutions can play in both increasing business opportunities and reducing business costs. In fact, Upside Research has seen several new products in the past few months that reiterate our prediction that one of the top trends of 2006 will be the impact that business process management and related technologies (including business activity monitoring and business performance management) have on an organization’s ability to proactively address IT and business concerns. As organizations implement successful process-oriented IT or business solutions, they begin to realize the benefits that effective process automation and management can bring to any area of the organization.
For example, one area that stands to benefit significantly from process automation and management is corporate finance. How well an organization manages its finances can ultimately determine success or failure of the company. Areas like accounts receivable and cash flow may not garner as much attention as sales and R&D, but they can be critically important to the success of the company. In a time when business leaders are looking for every way possible to cut costs and improve effectiveness, shining the spotlight on corporate finance is one of the best places to achieve real, noticeable results quickly. Consider the fact that reducing the days it takes for its customers to pay their bills by just 10 days can free up millions of dollars annually for an organization. The return on investment for a solution that can help optimize the business processes surrounding accounts receivables is measurable and can be significant.
While many large organizations rely on their ERP applications to manage financial components of the business, many of these ERP solutions fail to provide enough specific tools geared toward cash flow management. Understanding this situation, and the fact that corporate finance managers are being tasked with finding ways to tighten payment cycles and maximize positive cash flow, one vendor is offering a solution that speaks to the business need for financial performance management. Emagia, an eight-year veteran of financial management applications, announced in January 2006 a specialized process- and business rules-driven solution for helping corporate finance managers make the most out of their working capital.
Putting Working Capital to Work
Emagia’s Cash Flow Performance Management Suite is designed to help organizations optimize their cash flow-related processes and manage their working capital performance. The solution builds on the expertise Emagia has developed in its existing product suite, including Cash Outflow Manager and Cash Inflow Manager that are designed to provide intelligent automation and collaboration for accounts receivable and accounts payable processes. The suite can gather financial data from multiple systems throughout the enterprise, and consolidate the views of the performance of various financial applications into a cash flow forecasting tool and management dashboard that highlights performance and enables simulation, forecasting, and close monitoring of working capital performance.
While most of Emagia’s existing customers have been using its solutions that focus on process automation and optimization, the new Cash Flow Performance Management Suite offers the next step toward cash flow optimization. Adding a management dashboard and tools for forecasts and simulation, Emagia is targeting corporate finance directors that are eager to find ways to maximize working capital. According to Emagia, most customers can be operational in twelve weeks using Emagia professional services, and the solution is geared to be hands-off for IT, enabling business managers to modify goals, and conduct simulation and forecasting exercises independently.
Upside Uptake
Throughout the next few years, Upside Research believes that we’ll see an increasing number of specialized enterprise solutions (such as Emagia’s Cash Flow Performance Management Suite) taking advantage of new process- and business rules-oriented technologies.
Using Emagia, corporate finance managers can more easily view consolidated data about cash flow performance and make more accurate forecasts and predictions. This is critical information that can make a significant difference in the day-to-day operations of a global enterprise. Emagia’s solution replaces Excel spreadsheets held by various departments and locations that are often inconsistent and error-prone. Several of Emagia’s customers have seen impressive results from using the company’s cash flow management tools. For example, a large enterprise reduced its Days Sales Outstanding by 15 days using Emagia, saving roughly $14 million annually. Another company used the solution to consolidate all of its accounts receivables into one system, automating country-specific accounts payable processes and enabling cash flow forecasting and decision support that was previously impossible with the old systems.
Upside Research believes that solutions such as Emagia highlight one of the next chapters in business process management and process-oriented applications. As BPM vendors still work diligently to claim real estate in enterprises with a broad solution that can solve many process-related issues across departments, we believe there will continue to be a growth of specialized software vendors that focus on specific vertical markets or vertical areas within the enterprise. Emagia has demonstrated its singular focus and expertise in the finance area of the enterprise. The resulting solution is intended for IT to install it once and then let it run relatively hands-free.
As a result, the buyers of this type of solution are predominantly finance managers, credit and collections executives, CFO’s, controllers and VPs of Finance. IT’s minimal involvement make it an easier sale directly to the business side of the organization, whereas traditional BPM platforms must successfully marry business and IT participation. Upside Research believes this may be a way for specific point applications to be more quickly adopted into the enterprise, and it makes sense from a sales strategy perspective for vendors such as Emagia. Look for other similar specialized applications to expand the edges of BPM and BAM technologies as organizations continue to look for ways to quickly and cost-effectively streamline manual processes and achieve business optimization.