by Phil Nash, Director Analyst Relations
As many commentators have pointed out over the years, Symantec has been built on two pillars, responding to the needs of both corporations and consumers. While this model has served us well it has sometimes added complexity.
Even more importantly however, the world, and therefore the environment within which we work, has changed. The line between consumers and businesses is becoming ever more fuzzy: whether or not companies are giving employees budget for technology purchases, across the board people are using their own equipment, software or online services in the workplace.
The phrase “consumerization of IT” has been coined to describe this phenomenon. Equally however, we’re seeing the IT-ization of consumers. People are generally becoming more tech-savvy and, in parallel, less tolerant of what they see as inadequate technology. In parallel, the resulting loss of control is both frustrating for the IT department and creates a wealth of new challenges.
This doesn’t just change the risk landscape, but also how organizations respond to the situations that arise. As the boundaries between people and organisations evolve, so IT is having to change how it delivers the capabilities it provides is users. We all know the keywords – dynamic, flexible, agile, responsive. These used to be aspirational qualities, now they are becoming necessary criteria .
To respond to this very different landscape and following an in-depth review of our operations led by the new leadership, we have decided to change the way we do business. Yes, we are merging the division that deals with consumers into a combined structure looking at both individual and small business needs. This doesn’t mean that consumers are any less important to us – simply that it does not make sense for Symantec as a business to focus on them in isolation.
This relentless focus on how people and companies are operating will form a central plank of the Symantec strategy and approach moving forward. During the announcements, it’s what we referred to as “best of need” rather than “best of breed”. Our task is to maintain a clear understanding of how needs are changing and respond accordingly, delivering simple to use, customizable, integrated solutions that can adapt to the evolving requirements of our customers.
While some of these changes may be subtle, Symantec 4.0 represents a shift of mindset – listening rather than telling, aligning rather than directing, horizontally focused across the ecosystems at play, rather than vertically focused on specific product offerings. Over the coming months you can expect a number of announcements showing how this shift will play out. In the meantime, these are indeed interesting times, and we’re feeling pretty excited about the future.