Why Unifying your Network and Security Teams makes Business Sense

The NetSecOps trend is gathering momentum as business realises the gains in productivity and cost savings that internal collaboration can bring.

NetSecOps is not a new concept or term. The idea that a close collaboration between Network Operations and Security teams can bring considerable dividends is widely accepted as the way forward in enterprise network management.

What has changed is that the theory is turning into practice, with businesses adopting the collaboration model and formalising the convergence of network and security operations working as one team, with joint planning and an aligned roadmap.

This evolution is happening despite the apparent conflict in the teams’ individual focus -providing access to apps and services in the case of the network team and locking data and filtering connectivity in the case of the security team.

What are the reasons that are driving organisations to unifying their network and security teams?

More effective networks: joint team planning means a unified proactive approach resulting in less time spent troubleshooting and a better user experience. As an example, DDOS attacks used to be considered network issues, whereas they are best approached from a security perspective.

Faster security diagnosis and resolution: a unified team is better equipped to identify and resolve breaches in security thanks to the extended, combined range of competencies, expertise and resources. Infrastructure management for instance, detecting unusual network activity, potentially linked to a cyber-attack, is normally a networking tool not available to security teams and yet very valuable to them.

Cost savings: Sharing tools to monitor and analyse the network means cost efficiencies can be achieved through team collaboration. One joint solution can be purchased by two teams, with just one support contract, with obvious cost savings for the business.

Agility: joint planning speeds up change – from cloud migration to ‘work from home’ enablement.

Lower risk: joint team collaboration means more eyes scanning the network to ensure better flow and security combined. Network teams become security aware and risk detection is accelerated.

Alex Chartres, Group Business Manager, Riverbed Sales at Nuvias commented: “As a European distributor, working with channel partners and their customers, we see the NetSecOps trend gaining ground. An integrated approach to networking and security makes sense on a number of levels, especially when the only way to stop the ever more sophisticated cyber attacks is to continuously and thoroughly monitor your network for anomalies. Perimeter defences are now largely ineffective towards the type of attacks that FireEye sustained in 2020. Visibility is the mantra for both networking and cybersecurity teams today. Educating users and encouraging cross-team collaboration brings dividends for efficient and secure networks”.

Here is a quick checklist to ensure your unified NetSecOps team has the right tools for the job:

  • Network Flow Monitoring: for monitoring, analysing and reporting of enterprise networks, to ensure early detection of potential threats.
  • Network & Application Analysis: network-based application performance monitoring and analysis.
  • Infrastructure Management: to improve IT infrastructure monitoring and troubleshooting so that it can underpin your critical applications. As infrastructure is in constant flux, it is essential to monitor performance on an ongoing basis.

For more information about unifying your network, check out the EMAanalyst whitepaper: The Convergence of Network and Security Operations