Enterprise IT's evolution to the cloud has a fair share of challenges, but also compelling rewards. Despite concerns, most enterprises are implementing virtualization and moving to a cloud computing future. Symantec's 2011 Virtualization and Evolution to the Cloud Survey, which examined how organizations plan to move business critical initiatives to virtual and hybrid cloud environments, revealed that despite the perceived benefits, C-level executives are concerned due to challenges including reliability, security, availability and performance. Forty-four percent of CEOs and 46 percent of CFOs are cautious about moving these applications to hybrid/private clouds, and yet more than 75 percent of organizations are at least discussing deployment.

Enterprises are adept at securing and managing computing endpoints such as desktop and laptop computers, but most do not have the same controls and processes in place for what is likely the fastest-growing computing platform: smartphones and other smart mobile devices. The mass adoption of both consumer and managed mobile devices exposes enterprises to a variety of new security risks. While more secure than traditional PCs, these platforms are still vulnerable to many traditional attacks. Moreover, enterprise employees are increasingly using unmanaged, personal devices to access sensitive enterprise resources, and then connecting these devices to 3rd-party services outside of the governance of the enterprise, potentially exposing key assets to attackers.