BANGALORE: In an interview with CIOL, Pramodh Menon, senior vice president – South, Cisco India & SAARC, shares his views about data security among SMBs and Cisco's security products for this particular segment. Excerpts:

CIOL: In your view, how secure is the SMB data? How vulnerable are SMBs to data thefts?
Pramodh Menon: Data security is a growing concern among the SMB sector, and there is scope for improvement in how it is currently being managed. SMBs are moving towards global standards these days, and now find that the value of their information – and controlled access to it – has never been greater. A Forrester report has estimated that 59 per cent SMBs are concerned about the security of their data.

It must be said that SMBs are positioned all along the curve of security implementations when it comes to their data, and it would not be fair to paint them all with the same brush. While some have completely understood the significance and taken steps comparable to the most evolved enterprises, there are some others that are in the 'danger' zone as far as information security is concerned.

SMBs do realize that their business intelligence and data is a significant competitive differentiator. They are also waking up to the fact that any malicious access to their information could actually have detrimental effects on their business, which would directly impact their bottom lines. With recent efforts by security vendors to actually make security simpler, it has helped enhance the implementation of and adherence to security tools and practices.

CIOL: With SMBs being highly cost conscious, are liberal enough in spending on security solutions?
PM: SMBs that have realized the inherent value in IT are also buying in to the fact that it is not simply a case of installing an IT infrastructure and allowing it to stay indefinitely. As with any other business-critical investment, it requires periodical review and upgrades to ensure that the system continues to deliver on its promise, even as the business continues to grow.

While the spending could begin as a response to an incident, it quickly becomes a priority OPEX as the business realizes the value of not simply having a functional network, but a secure one.

One of our learnings from this segment is that while they look for significant value, they are not averse to making the right investments that can create business value. A key requirement of this segment, however, is that the solutions be simple to use, maintain and upgrade, and is preferably able to fulfill multiple demands.

This is how we see the success of Cisco solutions like our ISR series routers and UC 500 integrated box for Internet, mobility, switching, WAN, and more.