The security landscape is rapidly evolving. Businesses once had a set number of locations to secure with on-premises operations in designated offices. Now, with the adoption of the public cloud, software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, and anywhere work, security teams must secure and provide access to infinite locations. These new domains permit less visibility and control than the previous, on-premises environments and require more complex integration efforts.

In August 2023, Cloudflare commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the growing complexity of IT and security teams. Forrester conducted an online survey with 449 global IT and security decision-makers and found that their responsibilities have significantly increased and grown in complexity in the last three years. This increased complexity has caused IT and security teams to lose control of their organizations’ environments — and failure to regain control of the IT and security environment has significant business consequences. This paper discusses a solution — a connectivity cloud. Respondents believe that a connectivity cloud will help them regain control and accelerate digital transformation initiatives.