Interview: Rodd Cunico, Orro

What is the major potential tech pain point that will face all organisations large and small in 2023?

There will never come a time when the threat landscape stops evolving and the attack surface starts shrinking. So, cybersecurity will continue to be a major pain point for organisations of all sizes in 2023, but what we’re going to see is a greater willingness to take steps to build a secure organisation.

A lot of the pain will come from the use of legacy technology and processes, as well as the lack of organisation-wide cybersecurity training. There’s a real chasm for organisations to cross when it comes to increasing the awareness, understanding and adoption of cybersecurity principles across the workforce.

Another challenge is getting a clear direction from the government on where cybersecurity regulations are expected to go, because the industry will need three to five years to adapt.

What’s on your tech wish list from governments, innovators and the wider industry in 2023?

Technology roles are some of the hardest to fill. A few years ago, when the labour market was more vibrant, IT professionals made up a meagre 2% of the Australian workforce. Now, with even fewer people in the technology talent pool, combined with the rising demand for technology-enabled services, the situation is becoming dire.

The impact of the talent shortage is being felt across every industry, from hospitality to health care, that employs or partners with technology experts.

I’d like to see the Australian Government provide more programs, tax breaks and funding to make it easier for organisations to bring the best talent into the country.

Meanwhile, it would be great to see the tech sector collaborate more on making sure their architectures are open and integrated.

Many companies are too focused on competition. They lock clients into proprietary end-to-end solutions that claim to do everything they need, but do each thing poorly.

The industry needs to understand that working together will not necessarily result in the loss of market share — it will accelerate the adoption of new technologies, creating an environment where everyone wins.

Which new technologies will reach critical mass and become dominant in 2023?

Recognising the rising volume, frequency and sophistication of cyber threats, organisations now want security to be built into every technology solution they use. So, technologies that converge networking, cloud and security at the edge will gain a lot more traction in 2023.

For example, we can expect to see greater adoption of SD-WAN solutions that come standard with data plane encryption and control plane security. Full network visibility, plus centralised management, further elevates security by allowing organisations to detect and respond to threats faster.

The technology talent shortage will also accelerate and expand the adoption of automation. Organisations will be looking at which workflows or tasks can be automated to elevate productivity, prevent burnout and increase cost savings.

How can the technology sector build resilience into supply chain management during times of global uncertainty?

The major disruptions of the last few years have cast a spotlight on the resilience of our supply chains.

Risks like extreme weather events, resource constraints and third-party problems have made it glaringly clear that organisations need to diversify supply sources to build supply chain resilience.

Rodd Cunico is one of the country’s most experienced technology services leaders and the Chief Executive Officer of Orro. He is responsible for the business strategy, group performance and leading more than 400 professionals in the company’s cybersecurity, networking, managed hosting and professional services business.