Cyberark Case Study
Include the following:
In your Introduction, describe your vision for the cybersecurity landscape in 2025? Include your views of the future of cyber threats, competition and corporate buying behavior for cyber solutions.
In the body of your case study, discuss CyberArk’s current competitive advantages and how sustainable those advantages are.
In your Conclusion, explain the following would you advise Mokady to do?
o Stay the course on PAM
o Expand CyberArk’s scope beyond Privileged Account Management (PAM) to critical infrastructure
o Expand CyberArk’s scope beyond PAM to the broader category of Identity Management
Introduction
Today there are numerous cyber security challenges that have been occasioned by cyber criminals adopting new and advanced attack tactics. Studies show that by 2025, an estimated 2 billion new internet users will have joined the maket, adding up to a total of more than 4.7 billion online users (Burt, Kleiner, Nicholas, & Sullivan, 2014). With very many users expected to join the internet by 2025, analyst warn that cyber criminals will be eager to take advantage of the very many internet users to launch attacks. Burt, Kleiner, Nicholas, and Sullivan further suggest that going forward; cyber-security’s future is going to be influenced by many different factors from the growth and spread of malware attacks to social issues like population growth, investments in education among others.
With a growing population, I mean that more people and devices will have connectivity to the internet, a factor that will have significant impact on the overall outlook of the cybersecurity landscape. Rains (2019) recommends that policy makers together with other important stakeholders in the information technology industry should put more effort into analyzing today’s policy decision particularly in the field of cyber security. By dedicating more resources towards data driven research, the future of tomorrow’s cyberspace looks very bright. Undertaking this cyberark’s case study will give us a better understanding of the future outlook, advantages and sustainability of tomorrow’s cyberspace.
Cyberark’s Current Competitive Advantages and Their Sustainability
A brief analysis of CyberArk reveal that it is an Israeli company that has been in operation for the last two decades and in the process growing in size to a market capitalization of more than $1.6 billion (Burt, Kleiner, Nicholas, & Sullivan, 2014). The company is considered as a market leader in Privileged Account Management (PAM) cyberspace where it has prospered in securing the sensitive data and IT systems of various originations. Due to its competitive nature within the cyberspace security industry, CyberArk has managed to amerce more than $217 million in sales while employing more than 900 employees globally (Burt, Kleiner, Nicholas, & Sullivan, 2014). The company was founded and headed by Udi Mokady who in 2007 began on an ambitious project to drive the growth of the company. On one hand, Mokady mauled on whether to stick with the current business model of the company or expand its operations by venturing into new markets (Burt, Kleiner, Nicholas, & Sullivan, 2014). At a time when cyber crimes incidences are on the rise, it could present CyberArk with numerous opportunities especially going into the future where internet user are expected to grow significantly, making cybersecurity a lucrative industry. However, other player’s within the industry are also targeting to benefit from this growth, which means that CyberArk is likely to rising competition from new and existing entrants into the market. As such, this case study purposes to evaluate CyberArk’s current competitive advantage in the industry and its sustainability going into the future.
As it currently stands, Cyberark PAM has numerous capabilities and resources that can give the company a competitive and sustainable advantage within the market place. (Raffaella, Yoffie and Eiran (2017) argue that among the strengths that Cyberark PAM posses at the moment is its physical and financial resources like land, buildings and huge profit margins, an experienced human resource department and their past success and experience within the industry. By leveraging on these advantages, Cyberark will be able to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage within the cyberspace security industry.
The first competitive advantage that Cyberark Pam has over its competitors in the industry is the fact that the company has already experimented in a number of IT segments and acquiring a lot of experience in the process. As such, (Raffaella, Yoffie & Eiran, 2017) argue that this experience will enable Cyberark PAM to come up with innovative and unique solutions to any new emerging challenges in the marketplace which offers a competitive advantage. Also, the fact the company has been around for a long time gives them an advantage to have sustainable solutions to these challenges.
Secondly, Cyberark PAM has a portfolio of diverse products. By having a portfolio of diverse products, Cyberark PAM is able to target different market segments and in the process ensuring that the company has established a diverse source of revenue with different profit mix. As a result, the profit revenue of Cyberark PAM increases, allowing the company to invest in various projects that will allow it to sustain its dominance and competitive advantage within the industry.
Thirdly, Cyberark PAM can leverage on its intellectual property rights to maintain its competiveness within the industry. The fact that the company is endowed with numerous resources will allow it to acquire different types of copyrights and patents either through research and innovation or buying these rights from their creators. As such, Cyberark PAM will be in a strong position to thwart any challenges that might arise from their competitors within the different segments of the information technology industry.
Cyberark PAM has managed to maintain a very good track record of developing new products that have been tailored to cater for the needs of a particular market segment. This means that Cyberark PAM is able to cater for the needs of different markets based on local consumer’s insights. According to (Raffaella, Yoffie and Eiran (2017), Cyberark PAM has managed to test different concepts in various markets and in the process developing very successful strategies and execution solutions. Undertaking this kind of approach will ensure that Cyberark PAM has a sustainable competitive advantage within the market.
One of the main reasons why Cyberark PAM has managed to acquire such a huge market share locally and globally is because it has consistently produced superior products than its customers, a factor that has enabled the company to have an extremely loyal customer base. (Raffaella, Yoffie and Eiran (2017) argue that studies suggest that Cyberark PAM’s ability to consistently produce such high quality products and services mean that it can compete with any player within the industry both locally and internationally. As such, the fact that Cyberark PAM is able to produce such high quality products consistently over a long period means that the company will be able to sustain this competitive advantage into the future.
Cyberark PAM has managed to maintain strong relationships with its suppliers as well as other members within the supply chain over the years. (Raffaella, Yoffie and Eiran (2017) suggest that by leveraging on the skills and knowledge of these suppliers, Cyberark PAM can be able to increase the sale of its products and services within the market place, therefore giving the company a sustainable completive edge over other players.
Currently one of the main challenges that Cyberark PAM is facing is the ability to access the global market for talents. This challenge arises because it is a very intense undertaking that requires a lot of capital invest that Cyberark PAM might struggle to sustain over a long period. (Raffaella, Yoffie and Eiran (2017) notes that by being able to access the international talent market, Cyberark PAM will develop more unique products which enhances its competitive edge within the market. As such, it’s recommendable for Cyberark PAM to seek for alternative sources of funding to support this initiative because the expected benefits are immense in terms of sustaining its competitive edge within the cyber-security space.
Finally, the field of artificial intelligence is gaining attention rapidly due to the numerous benefits associated with it particularly in the computer technology industry. Today Cyberark PAM can look to rely on artificial intelligence to predict the demands of its customers or the market in general thus allowing the company to make informed decisions. Going forward, Cyberark PAM should seek to invest in utilizing artificial intelligence so as to acquire a competitive edge in the market
Conclusion
From the foregoing, there are many factors that give Cyberark a competitive edge in the market over other rivals. As such, my advice to Mokady would be that he should stay the course on Cyberark PAM because the company is already well established in the industry with a very loyal customer base. However, with a rapidly changing information technology landscape and the sophisticated nature of today’s cybercrimes, Mokady should also look to expand the scope covered by CyberArk’s products by installing critical IT infrastructure and knowledge that can handle these emerging threats. In addition, the company should also focus on other broader categories of identity management so as to broaden its market share and increase revenue. By adopting these strategies, then CyberArk will have a sustainable competitive edge in the cyber security marketplace.
References
Burt, D., Kleiner, A., Nicholas, P., & Sullivan, K. (2014, June). Cyberspace 2025 | Microsoft Cybersecurity. Retrieved from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cybersecurity/content-hub/cyberspace-2025
Raffaella, S, Yoffie, D, & Eiran, M (2017, September). “CyberArk: Protecting the Keys to the IT Kingdom.” Harvard Business School Case 718-418.
Rains, T. (2019, February 25). What will cybersecurity look like in 2025?, Part 1: The catalysts that will shape the future. Retrieved from https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2014/08/11/what-will-cybersecurity-look-like-in-2025-part-1-the-catalysts-that-will-shape-the-future/
Rains, T. (2019, March 20). What will cybersecurity look like in 2025?, Part 2: Microsoft envisions an optimistic future. Retrieved from https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2014/08/20/what-will-cybersecurity-look-like-in-2025-part-2-microsoft-envisions-an-optimistic-future/
