NEWS
IBM OPENS SOC IN SAUDI ARABIA
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BM Security has announced the official opening of its first Security Operations Center in Saudi Arabia and the region to provide managed security services to private and government sector customers. Through the center, IBM will offer clients in Saudi Arabia the option of managing their security operations around-the-clock, via IBM staff and local infrastructure. Located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the key areas of focus for the new Security Operations Center are supporting clients in responding to cybersecurity incidents and helping them proactively manage emerging threats through real-time analysis and early warning notification of security events. The center also provides local data residency designed to support clients’ preferences and regulatory requirements. IBM Security analysts and experts will help clients with expedited incident investigations and remediation plans. According to a recent IBM study examining the financial impact of data breaches on organisations in Saudi Arabia, incidents cost companies
studied $6.53 million per breach on average, which is higher than the global average of $3.86 million per breach. IBM Managed Security Services manages more than 150 billion security events on average daily. It brings together the power and integration of proprietary and third-party machine learning and AI to help customers reduce incident fatigue, perform triage quickly and manage what matters most to clients. With many organizations today navigating complex environments, IBM’s managed security services are built for scale and efficiency to help protect hybrid cloud environments. “The launch of IBM’s Security Operations Center in Saudi Arabia is
SAP AND MICROSOFT TO RUN SUPPLY CHAIN AND INDUSTRY 4.0 IN THE CLOUD
Franz Hero, SAP
SAP and Microsoft have announced an expanded partnership to enable customers to design and operate intelligent digital supply chain and 6
CXO INSIGHT ME
JANUARY 2021
Industry 4.0 solutions in the cloud and at the edge. The partnership, which includes a collaborative approach to standards, consortia, and open source, will shape the future of supply chain and manufacturing. As a result of this partnership, organisations will be able to use a comprehensive set of SAP Digital Supply Chain solutions on Microsoft Azure, including SAP solutions for digital manufacturing, SAP Intelligent Asset Management solutions, SAP Integrated Business Planning, and SAP Logistics Business Network. ”SAP is excited to bring our proven and innovative solutions to Microsoft Azure for our manufacturing and digital
a critical investment in helping our clients not only respond to the everincreasing cybersecurity incidents but provide them with local data residency designed to support their preferences and industry requirements,” said Hossam Seif El-Din, General Manager, IBM Middle East and Pakistan. “We are seeing a lot of new threat actors looking to take advantage of the confusion and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19. Therefore, we are also looking to use the new SOC to drive education and awareness to help clients defend themselves from potential threats.” Amidst the COVID-19 health crisis, the rapid shift to a remote workforce alongside a corresponding increase in attacks by cybercriminals capitalising on uncertainty have combined to create unparalleled cybersecurity challenges for organisations across the globe. According to IBM Security X-Force, there was a 40% increase in security incidents in 1Q 2020 globally compared to the same quarter in 2019. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, one of the first regions to be hit hard by the virus, incident response rose 125% in the same timeframe.
supply chain customers,” said Franz Hero, SAP Senior Vice President for Digital Supply Chain Solutions. “This partnership gives our customers the ability to subscribe to our digital supply chain and manufacturing solutions in the cloud and enhances our offerings for Industry 4.0. Building on this, SAP solutions will soon be available at the edge in factories, plants, and automated warehouses in close proximity to sensors, machines, and control systems.” SAP has announced new tools, updates, and services for making developers’ lives easier, regardless of skill level or job focus. These new offerings include low-code/no-code tools, a free tier model for SAP Cloud Platform, exclusive free learning opportunities and further updates to SAP Business Technology Platform.