In an age when cyber threats loom massive, the dedication and fervour of cybersecurity professionals are extra essential than ever. Every year, Cisco makes a degree of choosing and recognizing a standout cybersecurity advocate who has earned the title of cybersecurity defender. This yr, it was inconceivable to decide on only one particular person.
This is the reason Cisco’s 2025 EMEA Cybersecurity Defender of the Yr award goes out to a staff of practitioners at SAP Enterprise Cloud Companies (ECS) whose contributions displayed an unusual potential to boost the bar for general safety posture. The recipients are:
- Boris Mäck, Head of Expertise and Structure at SAP Enterprise Cloud Companies
- Roland Costea, CISO of SAP Enterprise Cloud Companies
- Christopher Hett, Cloud Community Architect at SAP Enterprise Cloud Companies
On this weblog, we’ll discover the origins of their ardour, the challenges they confronted whereas engaged on their vital challenge at SAP ECS, the methods they employed to beat these hurdles, and their useful insights for these trying to make their mark in cybersecurity.
The Delivery of Ardour for Cybersecurity
A former Romanian chess champion, Roland Costea used his wits for technique to search out his method into the sphere. Having studied expertise and programming at college, he wished to discover a approach to make a extra distinctive contribution. He discovered cybersecurity and by no means seemed again.
Christopher Hett’s ardour began early as a pc sport hobbyist. After he studied data expertise at a college in Germany, his first encounter with cybersecurity was by enabling his work’s Wi-Fi community with state-of-the-art encryption to mitigate assault vectors now additionally coming from wi-fi connections exterior corporations’ premises.
Boris Mäck’s robust background in networking started his cybersecurity journey. His experience in infrastructure companies and community applied sciences naturally led him into cybersecurity, particularly as securing networks grew to become an more and more vital side of IT.
Partnering with Cisco to Overcome SAP ECS Challenges
As one of many world’s main deliverers of managed cloud companies, SAP Enterprise Cloud Companies can’t afford downtime. That’s the reason, for Roland, the corporate’s CISO, it’s all about pace. He notes, “I discover that pace is essentially the most vital factor. And once I say pace, it’s pace in the best way that we establish, detect, defend, reply, get better, and govern… [After all], you’ll be able to’t afford to maintain an airport down for half-hour.” That’s why, in his opinion, the way forward for multi-cloud wants to incorporate a built-in safety element, and that’s the place Cisco is available in.
First, Christopher, Cloud Community Architect, explains the state of affairs even additional: “We’ve over 7,000 buyer environments, so we have to have an answer that scales however doesn’t disrupt the companies of these 1000’s of consumers. It is a specific problem while you wish to introduce an elevated safety service that calls for extra sources, and but uptime nonetheless must be preserved in any respect prices.”
A part of the problem is that SAP is each a multi-cloud supplier and one of many high twelve hyperscalers on the earth (alongside Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and others), requiring steady uptime. Which means that SAP wants to supply the identical native capabilities for all their prospects all through the world “irrespective of the place the shopper resides,” and do it in a standardized method “that delivers the identical worth independently for all our prospects in a multi-cloud surroundings,” as Roland expressed.
Because of this, SAP Enterprise Cloud Service selected to accomplice with Cisco.
To optimize pace, enhance scalability, and guarantee enterprise continuity at the same time as companies develop, SAP is working to construct one overarching non-public cloud, protected by Cisco Multicloud Protection, a part of Cisco’s Hybrid Mesh Firewall options to take a seat over their three hyperscalers—offering constant, automated safety throughout them. As well as, SAP leverages Cisco Safe Entry to safeguard consumer entry to the online, cloud companies, SaaS and personal purposes with a single, cloud managed console.
These options improve SAPs safety and permit them the flexibleness to scale fluctuating enterprise wants and proceed to assist their community of consumers with little to no disruption to their operations.
On the Proper Observe
“This landmark safety challenge proves the facility of the ‘One Cisco’ Staff in fixing SAP’s greatest safety challenges—defending their prospects at scale,” says Robert Nicola, Consumer Govt. “We delivered an modern, scalable, and differentiated answer that units a brand new normal for buyer worth.”
Cisco likes to accomplice with corporations like SAP Enterprise Cloud Companies as a result of we will do the suitable factor collectively.
When requested what made him proud, Boris, Head of CAE Expertise and Structure, shared, “I keep in mind when the CIO of the corporate we have been working with got here to us and stated, ‘Hey guys, we had a extreme ransomware assault in our community, and the one IT programs that survived have been the SAP programs hosted in RISE [one of our managed solutions]. To me, that is nice proof that we’re doing the suitable issues with our ideas right here.’
They’re, and Cisco is proud to assist. The insights and experiences shared by these Cisco 2025 Cybersecurity Defenders of the Yr emphasize shining a light-weight on the great that’s being completed by the suitable partnerships and the eagerness of engaged cybersecurity leaders.
As expertise advances, so does the crucial for strong cybersecurity measures. With devoted professionals like our defenders paving the best way, the way forward for cybersecurity seems promising. Thanks to our defenders for his or her inspiring tales and for illuminating the trail for future leaders on this vital area.
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