Environmental Scanning Strategy of AlienVault - Case Study Example

Environmental Scanning Strategy Name Institution Business profile of AlienVault When it comes to network and internet security, AlienVault has made a name for being one of the most trusted names in the security industry. Started by founders loved hacking and finding solutions around computer problems, AlienVault has emerged as one of the leading computer security firms that specialize in creating vitals security solutions that are not only affordable, but also effective in combating present and future threats. Unlike other computer security firms, AlienVault stands out because it makes use of a collaborative stance that allows sharing of information between users and information security (Cohan, 2012). This collaborative environment forms the core of its operation in developing open sources solutions that address computer threats. In addition to the open source framework for combating security threats that affect networks and the internet, AlienVault offer enterprises with solutions that help detect and deter threats before they strike. Location of the business While AlienVaults has millions of users across the world, the company has a physical location in Europe and the United States of America. The company has its headquarters in San Mateo, California, United States of America. This headquarters is located on one of the largest suburbs of California—San Mateo. The other headquarter of the firm is in United Kingdom, where it serves many countries in Europe and Asia. While these are major offices where the company runs its operations, the company has offices in other regions such as Spain, Germany, Mexico and Brazil. The distribution of these offices is consistent with the company strategic goal of providing real security solutions across the globe. Whereas the company has no physical presence in some parts of the world, this does not deter it from making sales connection with customers in these areas. Structure of the business The business structure of AlienVault reflects the complex structure of computer security firms with regard to their operations. AlienVault has several departments, each dealing with specific areas of operation, which contribute to the overall wellbeing of the organization. First, company has a management board headed by Barmak Meftah, the firm’s president and CEO. Meftah, the CEO, heads the management team and is responsible for overseeing production of business products. Alien Vault has a business unit that focuses on guiding product development that meets the needs of its clients. This business unit is currently under Julio Casal who oversaw the building and deployment of unified security management. In addition, the firm as a technical division that deals with rolling out of new and innovative technologies that constitute the company’s network and internet security products. Currently, Roger Thornton heads this division and is responsible for developing all security products in the company. Field operations is another essential division of AlienVault. This division is critical to the success of the firm as it bridges between technology and usability. This division boasts to have Jim Yares who heads a team of people tasked with ensuring that companies use the firm’s security products to attain their business objective. Sales department is another vital section that enables AlienVault to sell its products to all customers who are interested in deploying the firm’s security product. This department has a robust team who work across the globe selling products to business organizations. The sales team is responsible for conducting sales meeting and demonstration to customers interested in the firm’s products. AlienVault has a finance and administration department responsible for planning and implementing financial initiatives of the firm. This department has paramount tasks of enabling the company meet its financial obligation and maintain its solvency. Apart from finance and administration, AlienVault has a customer success department that has staff tasked with satisfying customer demands. The customer success division is critical in maintaining higher levels of customer loyalty and satisfaction. AlientVault cannot operate without human resource department. This section of the firm recruits talented and qualified individuals into various areas of specialization. For instance, the human resource recruit talented programmers and software design specialist to develop and maintain its product lines. This is one of the critical departments of the firm. Alien Vault also has a marking team working in the marketing divisions. Being that AlienVault sell some of the best enterprise security solutions, the marketing team are responsible for generating marketing leads and creating marketing communication strategies that sell the company’s products. This division has staff with passion in marking and building marketing links with customers not to mention leading marketing campaigns. To ensure that its products remain updated and consistent with market demands, AlienVault has a product management team. This division is responsible for ensuring that AlienVault’s product competes with other products in the industry and the firm maintains strong ties with other partners in the industry. Business mission and goal AlienVault was born out of the need of security in network and internet infrastructure. The mission of the organization is to provide organization with software solutions that provide security and ease compliance to security standards (Cohan, 2012). The goal of the organization is to transform security by providing affordable security tools that are easy to deploy and use in combating risks. In tandem with these mission and goals, AlienVault has security solutions it delivers with the best customer support to ensure organization attain their business objectives. Purpose of business The primary purpose of AlienVault is developing security solutions that address threats organizations face within networked computer environment. Notably, the firms develops product that help organizations probe their networks for loopholes and prevent threat from attacking them. These security products are central in protecting critical assets from cyber-attacks and other related threats. The business purpose of AlienVault is similar to what other competitors have in the computer security industry. There are many companies that offer similar solutions as AlienVault. Some of these companies include NexTier Networks, Comodo Security, CoreTrace, and Envysion (Messmer, 2008). The list is endless, which points to the surging interest among organizations to secure the business environment from threats. Environmental Scan Strategy Overview of the scan The role of environment scanning strategy cannot be underestimated. This section of the paper describe the environment scanning strategy of AlienVault, outlines the issues the firm is facing or likely to face and enumerate how an environmental scan is of importance in dealing with uncertainties. Most important, this section of the reports describes the process of environment scanning for AlienVault Company. Environment issues facing or likely to face AlienVault Environmental scanning is an effective tool that allows organizations to have a comprehensive view of the external business environment. However, this holistic approach is possible when an organization explores various issues that are a challenge or likely to causes challenges in the future. With focus on the business category of AlienVault, there are several issues that require attention in the environmental scanning process. a) Industry trend: The computer industry is rapidly evolving and so must companies. AlienVault must consider changes in the business environment so as to succeed in its operation by exploiting opportunities and predicting threats before they occur. With focus on the computer security industry, AlienVault must become aware of new entrant into the market who can pose significant competition. In addition, AlienVault must keep an eye on emerging security threats that may call for a rethink in development of security product. These issues have significant weight since AlienVault must position itself as one of the leaders in the market by adapting to these issues. By scanning these areas and using data to formulate new approaches, AlienVault is certain to benefit from environments scanning of the industry forces. b) Technology: The emergence of new technology paradigms is another aspect of industry trend that AlienVault has to account when scanning the environment. Being a technology firm, AlienVault must pay special consideration on various aspects of technological change. Technological change is a vital issue since it affects the effectives of the firm. For instance, development of new problem solving paradigms and technologies will certainly affect how AlienVault performs in the industry. Being that many organizations rely on technologies to power their business and gain a competitive edge, AlienVault must consider scanning the environment for any changes in technology and weight the potential implications of named changes. c) Economic issues: Issues that touch on global economy are certain to affect the functions of AlienVault. Consequently, AlienVault need to scan trends in international economies because it can help it in responding to changes appropriately. For instance, a change in recession and economic deterioration can affect the consumer’s ability to purchase products and pay for enterprise support. Notably, AlienVault will have to respond to such changes by changing its pricing model. Moreover, changes in economy can also affect employment remuneration and AlienVault response can help it retain talents and provide appropriate rewards and benefits necessary for its success. The issue of economic trend also affects expansion of the firm. During times of economic difficulties, AlienVault collection of correct data can help the firm respond by reducing staff or closing some of the international offices or undertaking other downsizing alternative. On the other hand, the firm’s awareness on economic opportunities can help the firm in undertaking expansion or acquisition. d) Social issues. Society plays a critical role in shaping the market. Shift in society such as population trend have effect on the performance of organizations. For instance, a population may be a source of customers and manpower thus changes in population can bring a mix of results. In addition, changes in consumer preference are a function of society and this can influence product like and other strategies like marketing and product development. Social variables such as income and education levels have influence on the performance of organization such as AlienVault. Any changes in these areas are likely to present a threat or an opportunity. The importance of these issues cannot be overemphasized in environmental scanning. e) Political issues. Business organizations often operate under the influence of political issues. AlienVault must consider various political issues such as tariffs, tax regimes and governance model. These issues may have significant impact on the operation of AlienVault should the firm fail to align itself future changes. In all the markets, political issues are constantly changing and AlienVault must contend with these changes for it to survive detrimental forces emerging from political issues. Role of information and Environmental scan Environmental scan is a robust exercise that enables organizations to determine uncertain events and take appropriate actions that assure business success and survival. Organizations that conduct environmental scanning can collect massive data on various variables that can shape its strategic planning. During an environmental scan, an organization can gather many insights from information, which it can use to make changes or adapt to changing forces in the external environment. Because information describes the state of an issue, conducting environment scan provides organization with an early warning system that support system wide change necessary for the success of business firms. In a nutshell, there is an intricate relationship between information from environmental scan and a firms strategic planning. For instance, successful environmental scan help organizations such as AlienVault to make adjustment in it product or other facets of business operations. These changes are necessary considering that businesses operate in dynamic environment where information is vital for success and business survival. How the environment scan of AlienVault was conducted Performing data collection during environmental scanning can be a daunting task to many information managers. During the environmental scan for AlienVault, special assumptions were taken into consideration. These steps were critical in guiding the process of environmental scanning as some areas had more impact than others. First, vital areas were established for scanning as changes in these areas remain critical for the success of the firm. The areas include competition, economic performance, technological changes, and social indicators such as income, economic factors such as recession and labour relations, and political factors such as tariffs. These areas were chosen with the assumption that AlienVault could use information in these areas to create strategic action plans. After the earmarking of the above mention areas, a search was conducted in Google scholar for articles listing any of the areas. The searches utilized keywords such as security threats, economic recession and consumer preference just to mention a few. The choice of Google scholar was based on the fact that it provides users with opportunities to access resources about topic of interests. After the search results were displayed, for each item searched, the abstract of these resources were read and some articles omitted for lack of relevance. The inclusion criterion was the relevance of the resource in addressing the need of AlienVault in the above mentioned areas. After hours of searching, several articles had been identified for collecting of data about the external environment. Apart from good search, lists of databases were compared with focus being their subject areas. Many of the databases were considered as potential sources of resources, but few looked credible and useful in providing the necessary information. The database chosen were Computer Database, Computer and Applied Science Complete and IEEE Computer Society Digital Libra among others. The choice of these databases was due to the fact that they had recent and peer reviewed articles focusing on various subjects in information technology. In each of the separate database, searches were made using keywords to find specific articles from the database. While the process yielded many articles, reading the abstract of many articles allowed the elimination of potential sources of information. In addition, a search was also conducted on search engines such as Google and Bing for keywords such as computer threats, security trends, and software prices among others. These keywords were used in the search as they related to various aspects of issues making part of the external environment. Like before, many articles were eliminated as they lacked focus and credibility. Resources from credible publishers and with appropriate Meta information were marked as critical in the environmental scanning process. Consequently, the activity resulted in a long list of print and electronic materials that were appropriate in providing information about the external environment surrounding AlienVault. The entire list of resource was then compiled with each resource having pertinent information giving essential information and description of the content and other necessary information. Information Resources Below is a list of 25 resources identified after AlienVault’s environmental scanning activity. By monitoring these activities, AlienVault may acquire useful insight from data about changes that may affect its operations. Consequently, the firm can assume a preparative stance to ensure it succeed in exploiting opportunities and beating competitors in the security industry. Below are the resources each with a description on various aspects. 1) IEEE database. This database resource has list various journals on computer issue and security topics. This database is available to organization that subscribe to the service for $185 per annum and members can search on major journals or search for specific topic. This resource has topics critical to the survival of AlienVault. The database can be accessed via http://www.ieee.org/index.html 2) Ebscohost is a database service that allows multiple searches of others databases. This database is useful because it will give AlienVault access to research articles on various topic of interest. This is only available to institutions who request and purchase subscription service. 3) This website showcases journals on computer security. Owned by University of Cambridge, the website provide up to data list of journals of computer security. This resource is free and critical in providing AlienVault with list of journals to monitor. The address for the site is http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/security/journals.html 4) Know Your Enemy: is an essential reference book that explores emerging threats and their effect. The book explores the dark side of hacker and provides tips and tools of overcoming attacks. This book’s ISBN is 0321166469 and available at Amazon. It cost about $40 and can offer AlienVault engineers the knowhow of overcoming threats through their products. 5) Computer security handbook, written by Boswoth and Kabay provide immense information on computer security. This book (ISBN 978-0-471-71652-5) cost $45 dollars and available at Amazon. The book has chapters written by security experts. Given that it covers on issues of security, the book is vital in monitoring of threats by the AlienVault experts. 6) Written by Prosise, Mandia and Pepe, Incident Response and Computer Forensics offers expound on security threats through the experience of FBI insiders. This book is a vital resource as AlienVault can gain insight into latest threats and existing solutions. The book costs $40 and is available through Amazon. Its ISBN is 007222696X. 7) Another important resource is Inside Cyber Warfare Mapping the Cyber Underworld a book written by Car. This book, ISBN 0-596-80215-3 list several aspect of cybercrime such as assessing attacks and responding to attacks. This book cost $ 31 and available via O’ Reilly press. By monitoring this resource, AlienVault can learn new techniques of combating cybercrime 8) Intrusion Detection and Prevention is a quality resource that describes hand-on technique of combating security threats. This book is available through Amazon at a cost of $130. The book (ISBN 0072229543) has topics that help engineers secure networks to assessing threats. By monitoring this resource AlienVault can learn how to best develop their products to match new threats. 9) Cloud Security and Privacy, a book written by Mather, Kumaraswamy and Latif provides a critical overview of security in cloud computing. The book cost $28 and covers topics from data security to delivery of security products as service. The book, ISBN 0-596-80276-5, is available at O’Reilly press is an appropriate resource that AlienVault can monitor for new information on threats affecting cloud infrastructure. 10) The Economist is a leading publisher of news on science, politics, culture and economics. This Economist cost $17 for three months. This magazine presents latest research and expert talk on various topics of interest. Because it covers many issues across the globe, AlienVault can benefit significantly by tapping on new ideas and trends. 11) Hutt, E Computer Security Handbook expound on the real impact of threats such as virus, outages, thefts and sabotage. This resource, ISBN 0471118540, costs $6, but can be helpful in providing case studies of computer risks. By monitoring these cases, AlienVault can learn about the real impact of security threats and tailor its solutions. 12) The Microsoft blog accessible via http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/, offers comprehensive information about malware. This resource is free and list recent malware incidences. Because users submit cases of malware, AlienVault can monitor the site to gain insight into new and emerging threats needed redress. 13) This is another blog listing expert talk on threats. The blog is accessible via http://www.securelist.com/en/blog and appropriate for technical experts. The site can offer AlienVault with a first place to gain knowledge on how to address computer threats by evaluating expert’s reviews on the blogs. The blog is owned by Kasperky Labs. 14) The Economic and Business Review is a popular journal that disseminates research findings on various topic of business. This journal has various articles touching on business and can provide direction on business research. This database is accessible via Ebscohost serves as a critical resource AlienVault can monitor for any trends in business industry. 15) AlienVault can also monitor the information sharing and analysis center accessible at http://msisac.cisecurity.org/newsletters/2012-01.cfm. This website offers recent tips and reports on threats targeting various platforms. As a one stop access to security threats, AlienVault can benefit from this free website by getting up to data information on threats in the cyberspace. 16) SearchSecurity is website that offers article on various topics covering security of information system. This website can be accessed via searchsecurity.techtarget.com. The website offers expert advice and article on security topics. By exploring the security topics in this website, AlienVault can became a leader in handling computer issue such as internet threats and achieving industry compliance. 17) The Security Laboratory is an online website that list security prediction of threats every year. While it is a free website and accessible through http://www.sans.edu/research/security-laboratory/article/security-predict2011, the website offers indispensible insight into computer trends. Consequently, AlienVault can monitor this resource to learn how threats can affect its product line and customer, as well. In addition, the website also provides users with other security articles that can increase the firm’s knowledge base on mitigating threats. 18) This internet evolution is another important website with various topics on computers system. The website has free content and is assessable at http://www.internetevolution.com/securityclan.asp?cid=sem_IntEvo_BusCar_goog_IntEvo2_ITSec_adver1_computer%20security%20threats. This website provides readers with a wealth of information on topics such as security threats and cloud technology .Monitoring this resource is paramount for AlienVault since the firms can benefit from the wealth of research the article in this website demonstrate. 19) Trendmicro, a dominant player in the computer security maintains vital resources online on its research and analysis of computer threat. This website offers insight on trends in security threats and research paradigms. When used as a resource, the website (http://www.trendmicro.com/us/security-intelligence/research-and-analysis/index.html) can offer exemplary articles on new trends in the security industry. The website has various crime reports offering comprehensive information about threats. 20) McAfee Lab has a unique blog accessible at http://blogs.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs. This blog offers recent report of malware threats, which can provide AlienVault with information on new threats should the firm monitor this resource. This resource is free and list expert views on various topics. By using this resource, AlienVault can keep abreast on how to resolve threats and possibly develop effective solutions. 21) The National Institute of Science and Technology’s website, assessable via the url http://www.nist.gov/cybersecurity-portal.cfm, has a comprehensive security portal that offers variety of topics on security information systems. This website is free and its reports are assessable to all users thus providing AlienVault an opportunity to monitor articles of interest. This article highlights some of the best research findings in computer security. 22) The international business Review cannot be left out as it provides articles on international business. This journal is accessible via Elsevier and provides readers with up to data information on business at the international scale. By monitoring articles in this journal, AlienVault can learn how to adapt to changes in the international business since the firm has several business location across the globe. The journal, ISBN 0969-5931, has six issue per year and cost $154 per annum. 23) PCWorld.com is an informative website that offers articles on various computer areas. The website produces a magazine that showcases vital findings in various facet of computer technology. This implies that AlienVault can monitor this magazine for latest developments in information technology. This website has immense value because it list topics of profound impact on technology companies such as AlienVault. Apart from presenting up to date information technology articles, the website provide trending topics on issues such as computer hardware and security matters. 24) TechCrunch is a useful website that showcases various developments in the computer industry. This resource can be helpful in proving new trends that can shape business of firms such as AlienVault. Through this website, AlienVault can understand what consumers need as well as getting to know what other industry players are developing. This resource is useful to AlienVault in developing a comprehensive scan of the business environment. 25) The last resource found was a website title the CIO.com. This website provides readers with articles on managerial aspects. These articles can help the managers of AlienVault to garner new insight on management and operations of firms. As a free website, AlienVault can monitor this website and gather immense intelligence that can shape the firms operations. Top 3 Resource Recommendations After a careful review of all the 25 resources, 3 resources appeared to have more weight as vital source of information necessary for the adaptation of AlienVault. These resources are as below. a) IEEE database. This database offers comprehensive access to computer articles and journals. Most of the journals in this database are peer reviewed and reflect recent research in areas such as security. By monitoring this database, AlienVault can gain immense knowledge base necessary in building award winning security solutions for organizations. b) The second resource was the Economist, which offers a wide selection of articles ranging from economics, politics to science and technology. These articles are not only up to date, but also global. This resource will certainly help AlienVault monitor trends on consumers and other variables affecting political and economic performance. c) The third resource is cloud security and privacy reference book. This book details a shift of threats from traditional systems to the cloud environment. This resource is of great value since it provides trends of threats and security interventions. By monitoring this reference book, AlienVault can maintain its position as a leader in security industry. This book is an essential resource that fits the needs of AlienVault. References Messer, E. (2008, November 17). 10 IT security companies to watch. Networkworld.com. Retrieved August 16, 2012, from http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/111708-security- companies.html?page=2 Cohan, P. (2012, July 8). AlienVault is Catching the Internet Security Wave. forbes.com. Retrieved August 16, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2012/08/07/alienvault-is-catching-the- internet-security-wave/2/ Read More