Unifying Compliance Across Hybrid Clouds: How Network and Security Teams Can Collaborate to Reduce Risk

Hybrid and multi-cloud environments are transforming IT—bringing scalability and flexibility but also introducing significant complexity for network and security teams.

To manage compliance and security effectively, these teams must collaborate and adopt unified platforms. However, collaboration is often the exception, not the rule. According to research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), only 45% of enterprises report effective collaboration between their network and security groups, and tool-sharing remains a major challenge.

These slides created by EMA Research and BackBox provide insights into the root causes of these disconnects and practical strategies to bridge the gap, enhance operational efficiency, and strengthen security posture.

1. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Unifying Compliance Across Hybrid Clouds:
How Network and Security Teams can
Collaborate to Reduce Risk
Stephanie Stouck
Director of Product Marketing
BackBox
Shamus McGillicuddy
VP of Research – Network Infrastructure & Operations
Enterprise Management Associates (EMA)
Tony Dalton
Technical Director
BackBox

2. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research 2
Watch the On-Demand Webinar
•Unifying Compliance Across Hybrid Clouds: How Network and Security
Teams Can Collaborate to Reduce Risk On-Demand Webinar:
https://info.enterprisemanagement.com/network-security-teams-
collaboration-webinar-ss
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.

3. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Featured Speakers
Shamus is a Vice President of Research at EMA, where he leads the
network infrastructure and operations practice. He has nearly two
decades of experience in the IT industry. His research focuses on all
aspects of managing enterprise networks, including network
automation, network observability, multi-cloud networking, and WAN
transformation.
Tonyleads the strategic efforts at BackBox to strengthen network
resilience and security through automation. With more than 20 years of
enterprise IT experience, Tony has held senior roles at leading
organizations including Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and NetApp. He also
played a key role in scaling SolidFire from startup to acquisition. Tony is
known for aligning technical vision with real-world business impact,
helping organizations boost efficiency, reduce risk, and stay ahead in
today’s dynamic digital environment.
Stephanie is a results-driven technology leader with over two decades of
experience driving innovation across the cybersecurity and cloud
landscape. She has led high-performing teams at industry leaders
including BackBox, Commvault, Equinix, Symantec, and Puppet —
consistently delivering market-leading strategies and products.
Stephanie is a recognized voice in the field, frequently contributing to
industry events and publications on topics such as cyber resilience, risk
governance, hybrid cloud, and data protection.
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 3
Stephanie Stouck
Director of Product Marketing
BackBox
Shamus McGillicuddy
VP of Research
EMA
Tony Dalton
Technical Director
BackBox

4. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Cloud is Driving NetSecOps Collaboration: Success is Marginal
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 4
84% of enterprise network and security teams expanded their
collaboration with each other
Only 45% of network and
security teams are
completely successful
with this collaboration
40%
31%
29% 28%
Top drivers of collaboration
Network
automation
strategy
Hybrid
cloud
SASE IoT Multi-cloud
25%

5. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Top Challenges to Collaboration
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 5
35%
30%
29%
Data quality and authority issues
Budget problems
Architectural complexity
Skills gaps
Cultural resistance
Lack of tools that enable collaboration
35%
26%
25%

6. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
How to Enhance
NetSecOps
Collaboration

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| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
CIOs and CISOs Must Lead from the Top
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 7
Best practice
WHAT KINDS OF POLICIES AND PROGRAMS HAVE THE LEADERS OF YOUR IT/SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS IMPLEMENTED IN RECENT YEARS TO
ENSURE NETWORKING AND SECURITY PERSONNEL COLLABORATE EFFECTIVELY?

8. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Extensive monitoring of compliance and vulnerabilities
correlates with NetSecOps collaboration success
Actively monitor network for compliance and
vulnerabilities
72% monitor network for vulnerabilities (CVEs, PSIRTs, etc.)
50% monitor for compliance with config standards
Enhance Compliance Management
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 8
HOW EXTENSIVE IS YOUR ACTIVE MONITORING OF SECURITY AND THE
COMPLIANCE POSTURE OF YOUR NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE?

9. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Exchange Data Across Silos
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 9
The security team’s need to analyze network data drives
collaboration in 96% of enterprises
Config change alerts
tighten compliance
Network telemetry provides
early warnings of trouble
Network flows
DNS queries/logs
Device logs
1
2
3

10. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Automate Operations: 91% of IT Pros Say Network Automation Tools Power
NetSecOps Collaboration
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 10
WHICH TASKS DO YOU MOST WANT TO AUTOMATE AS PART OF EFFORTS TO IMPROVE COLLABORATION BETWEEN
NETWORKING AND SECURITY PERSONNEL?

11. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Overcoming Hybrid,
Multi-Cloud
Complexity

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| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Hybrid, Multi-Cloud Complexity is Rising
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 12
The state of enterprise cloud complexity:
How can network and
security teams reduce
complexity?
Only 39% are completely effective at managing networking and
security across these environments
56% 51%
are multi-cloud are hybrid cloud

13. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Step 1: Smash Cloud Silos
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 13
Top priorities for silo reduction:
1.Network security polices/controls
2.IP address space
3.Cloud ingress/egress controls
4.DNS
1
2
3
4
Cloud native networking and security tools
dominate cloud networks
Management silos between clouds and
data center
Most enterprises want to centralize and unify
management of networking and security

14. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Step 2: Improve Observability
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 14
70% of enterprises use cloud providers’ tools for cloud network observability
No end-to-end insights across clouds and data centers
Update your traditional network observability tools for end-to-end visibility
Enterprises that adapt traditional tools have more success with hybrid, multi-cloud operations

15. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Step 3: Establish a Cloud Source of Truth
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 15
A centralized or federated repository of all network-related data
in the cloud
Streamlines operations
Enables automation
Top source of truth benefits:
1.Better network data quality
2.Better network visibility
3.Reduced security risk
1
2
3Enterprises with a comprehensive source of truth report
more effective hybrid, multi-cloud operations

16. @ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
@ema _resea rch
| @ema_research
Key Takeaways
© 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 16
Network and security teams
are working together to
solve hybrid, multi-cloud
complexity
Keys to good NetSecOps
partnerships:
Executive buy-in
Compliance monitoring
Data sharing
Automation
Network and security teams
can work together to reduce
cloud complexity by:
Eliminating cloud silos
Boosting observability
Establishing a cloud source of
truth

17. Modern Networks Are Not an Interim State
33% of
Enterprises
have deployed or will deploy
SASE within 24 months.
1
40,009
CVEs
were published in 2024 –
a 38% increase from 2023.
2
56% of
Breaches
resulted from a known and
unaddressed vulnerability.
3
The journey can be bumpy…

18. Modern Network Infrastructure is More Challenging
CYBER RESILIENCE
IS COMPLEX
TOO MANY
TOOLS
LIMITED
VISIBLITY

19. BackBox Network Cyber Resilience Platform
Onboarding & Inventory Backup & Recovery Upgrades Patching
AUTOMATED LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT
Source of Truth CIS & NIST Policy Hardening Frameworks Compliance Monitoring
CONFIGURATION COMPLIANCE & POLICY MANAGEMENT
Vulnerability Intelligence Vulnerability Remediation Change Monitoring Device Access
NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE INTEGRITY
Turnkey automations for over 180 network & security infrastructure vendors
API Driven to Integrate into Security Workflows

20. Increase risk-prioritized
processes to protect
against known and
new threats
Leverage enterprise-
grade backup and
recovery to automate
with confidence
Detect violations of rules
with better situational
awareness across the
network
SECURE
RESILIENTVIGILANT
All Network Devices. One Platform. Single Pane of Glass.
ALL NETWORK DEVICES ONE PLATFORM SINGLE PANE OF GLASS

21. Thank You
Schedule a 30-minute demo of
the BackBox platform
backbox.com/request -a-demo/