The corporate world is no different from this scenario. Each day brings out a new challenges and it is the CIOs who bear the brunt if things go awry.

Sanjeev Kumar, CIO, Philips Lighting India Ltd, says, "Today the major challenges in front a CIO are cost optimisation in compliance with security standards, data centre consolidation and business continuity."

"Virtualisation is the best method to mete the complexities in the present situation. But, at the same time, a CIO must be sensitised enough to know which area has to be virtualized and which should not. Because complete virtualization is possible, but that would invite a major setback to the company's cost frame.

Therefore, a CIO has to evaluate, validate and internalise the situation and take a decision on virtualization," he adds.

Business continuity challenge
Business continuity is a very sensitive area and maintaining the continuity despite problems is a challenging situation for any CIO.

"If disaster management network faces a setback then business continuity plan is effected and it leads to business loss. There are several network solutions in the market that promise complete redundancy. But at the same time we have to keep it in mind that complete redundancy though achievable is not viable because then the cost structure goes for a toss. So what we need is a solution that provides us full redundancy as well as complete availability," he avers.

In this age of virtualization and consumerization, employees are no longer tied up to their cubicle and it is no wonder if people work on the go. As per a recent survey, the majority of the security breaches are programmed internally.

Sanjeev Kumar says: "Even when internal security concerns are on rise, we can't help it out if people work on their PCs or use personal gadgets in the office. Though social networks, messengers and external networks are not used openly, we are aware that it is being used very discreetly as things are available for free over the net."

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