Trend Micro Global Survey Finds Internal Communication Falls Short Between Security and Developer Teams In The Move To DevOps

AUCKLAND, July 4, 2019 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced results from a recent survey that shows despite the enterprise benefits assured by adopting a DevOps culture, the majority of New Zealand IT leaders polled believe communication between IT security and software development must improve greatly to achieve success.

While 90% of respondents claimed such initiatives had become more important over the past year, an even higher percentage argued that communication within the IT department needed to improve.

A significant 100% said software development and IT security teams needed to be in closer contact, while 83% said the same for developers, security and operations. Almost a third (30%) claimed that these siloes are making it harder to create a DevOps culture in the organisation.

“History of software development shows that the biggest and best process improvements never happen quickly due to the most valuable variable, people, who have existing behavioural patterns and cultural components,” said Mick McCluney, Technical Director, Trend Micro ANZ. “Organisations implementing a DevOps structure are going in a strong direction, but security cannot be forgotten during this transition.”

Respondents indicated the best ways to drive this cultural change include: fostering greater integration between teams (60%); setting common goals (53%); and sharing learning experiences across teams (47%). Yet over 81% of IT decision makers said improvement is needed in these areas.

Only one-fifth (20%) of respondents said DevOps is a shared responsibility between software development and IT operations, which is another indication of the current communication breakdown between teams. It appears that each department feels responsibility or ownership to lead these projects.

Part of the challenge is believed to be — despite enthusiasm for DevOps, which has seen 90% of organisations already implement or currently work on projects — only 30% have only partially developed their DevOps strategy. IT leaders polled confirmed that enhancing IT security is more of a priority (47%) in DevOps than any other factor.

Despite being a priority, six in 10 (60%) respondents agree that IT Security slows downs the DevOps progress in their organisation, which could be as a result of internal processes and procedures. Considering the security risks that can occur in implementing DevOps, it is essential that IT Security not only encourage the initiatives, but do not hinder the process – getting their buy-in is critical.

McCluney continued by saying, “Regardless of where an organisation is in their journey, there are new tools that bake security into the development process while automating rapid deployment of security at the same time as reducing risk and ensuring compliance.”

Led by independent research specialist Vanson Bourne, the company surveyed the attitudes toward DevOps held by 1,310 IT decision makers from within both enterprise and SMB organisations across the globe. Those surveyed are at various stages of the DevOps implementation as they integrate their teams, application development, information technology operations and security, to shorten and secure the development lifecycle.

To learn more about Trend Micro’s approach and solutions for securing DevOps, please visit: https://www.trendmicro.com/en_nz/business/products/hybrid-cloud/development-operations.html.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centres, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defence with centralised visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro secures your connected world. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.co.nz.