Impact of Hybrid Systems on Security Tech Stacks

by Jeffrey Smith

The expression security tech stack refers to the mix of technologies businesses, and organizations use to manage their security. These technologies include devices, software, frameworks, programming languages, and data storage services. The idea behind security tech stacks is that security is not just one activity but an integrated set of solutions. For maximum security levels to be achieved, these solutions must be seamlessly integrated and be able to communicate with each other.

Over the past few years, we saw an increase in the use of cloud computing solutions as a primary component of security systems. According to Statista, the cloud security software market is currently worth $217.9 billion, while the SECaaS (Security as a Service) has a value of $11 billion. 

Cloud computing plays a fundamental role in the development of hybrid security systems, which consist of both on-prem and cloud components. Let’s dig into how these systems are impacting security tech stacks. 

More Scalability and Flexibility

Increased scalability is one of the primary benefits of using hybrid systems. If you only use on-prem solutions, you will face higher costs and delays in upgrading your servers once they are at capacity. In contrast, a hybrid system allows you to leverage the cloud for computational power or storage once on-prem servers have reached their limit. This allows organizations to readily and easily adjust their system to evolving operational needs. Hybrid systems can provide this level of scalability thanks to virtual resources that are managed through an admin panel or API gateway. 

Hybrid systems also provide a higher level of flexibility when it comes to integrating different devices, especially if such devices are ONVIF-compliant. For example, if your access control devices are managed on-prem while your elevator security camera systems are cloud-based, you can leverage a hybrid security strategy, and seamlessly integrate these devices, even in the event they are produced by different manufacturers (an increasingly frequent scenario given the high number of providers in this industry).

Photo by Onur Binay on Unsplash

Increased Speed

Speed is another factor that makes hybrid systems preferable to on-prem ones. With a hybrid system, you can optimize the network to reduce latency and simplify the data transfer process, as well as use edge computing to make the IT infrastructure faster. This is particularly true for those organizations that have a highly fluctuating demand. When using on-prem solutions, you can only enhance capacity and bandwidth by deploying new servers. In contrast, hybrid systems adapt more easily to different workloads and minimize the risk of delays and malfunctions. These systems give organizations much more flexibility when it comes to upgrading server space, memory, and software.

Reinforced Security

There are different ways in which hybrid systems can help organizations achieve a higher level of security. First of all, they allow you to leverage the safety of both on-prem servers and cloud servers, as they can act as a fail-safe for one another in the event that one fails. 

These systems are also a step ahead in terms of disaster recovery, that is, measures to overcome critical failures, blackouts, technical glitches, and cyber attacks. By giving you instant access to virtual resources in the event a “disaster” happens, you can restore both applications and data instantly in a virtual environment. 

Another advantage of using hybrid systems is taking advantage of the most advanced encryption solutions offered by cloud providers. Cloud encryption is the process of converting data from its original version to unreadable formats before transferring or storing it in the cloud. It’s one of the most effective solutions that organizations can use as part of their cybersecurity strategy, and it ensures end-to-end protection of important information and a lower risk of data breaches.

Lower Costs

Hybrid systems are also very cost-effective solutions compared to on-prem ones and allow the organization to obtain significant savings. One reason for these lower costs is the increased scalability we discussed before. A hybrid system flexibly adapts to the current level of demand, whereas an on-prem system would force you to upgrade your servers in case of increased workloads and poses the risk of these additional resources remaining idle for a long period when demand decreases. 

On top of that, a system that partially uses cloud computing solutions is inherently more sustainable than one that relies entirely on on-prem servers. This means, among other things, that it can help contain the organization’s energy costs.