Navigating the Risks and Benefits of Vendor Consolidation in Cybersecurity

Businesses around the world have been embracing transformation by adopting digitization of operations at a breakneck speed. However, this rapid pace has put CIOs in a precarious position as they are tasked with delivering innovation while striving for operational excellence. The need to stabilize the IT environment and drive optimization is seeing many leaders grapple with the challenges of finding the right balance. Finding cost optimization without sacrificing business acceleration may seem insurmountable, but this can be simplified with collective organizational efforts and the rethinking of priorities. One of the chief methods of achieving this is through vendor consolidation. In essence, vendor consolidation reduces the number of vendors to streamline workflows, reduce costs and improve efficiency by consolidating purchases. While this has been a common practice in procurement and supply chain management, the need to optimize operations has unlocked a much wider scope of application. However, businesses need to tread the vendor consolidation path carefully to mitigate risks and avoid wrecking their well-established processes. SPEAKERS • G Kiran Raju, Microsoft Ecosystem, Business Development & Product Offerings, Cybersecurity & GRC Services, HCLTech • Nick Blackman, Senior Cloud Solutions Architect, Microsoft MODERATOR: Nicholas Ismail, Global Head of Brand Journalism, HCLTech