Forrester Introduces Minimum Viable Zero Trust

Many organizations have been inspired by the concepts of Zero Trust but have found the process of implementing it to be puzzling, according to Forrester. The numerous Zero Trust options available from cybersecurity vendors have filled some with skepticism, making them wonder if the whole endeavor is just an expensive endeavor with a catchy title.

The highest-profile Zero Trust initiatives have been undertaken by organizations with infinite technical and financial resources, creating a perception that adoption requires sweeping changes and new technology, accompanied by high costs. This has raised the stakes, leaving many organizations admiring the problem instead of taking action.

The advent of Zero Trust Network Access was the first step on most organizations' Zero Trust journeys, but many initiatives stalled after this step. There are still pressures to improve Zero Trust maturity, but this is a what, not a how, and vendors and enterprises have treated it like a magical solution that will appear if they repeat its name enough times.

Forrester is introducing the concept of Minimum Viable Zero Trust, which involves making reasonable investments to build security capabilities without outlandish budgets or risky swings. This approach is about implementing Zero Trust with the least amount of effort while still satisfying its tenets.

The idea of Minimum Viable Zero Trust is borrowed from the concept of a Minimum Viable Product, which is helpful for learning by building and establishing guideposts on the path of what to build next. This approach is deliberately less resource-intensive than massive, cross-functional efforts and helps organizations leverage what they already have to make the most out of their current and future security investments.

Minimum Viable Zero Trust is not about procuring new technology, but about overcoming systems integration challenges to make the most out of existing security investments. Forrester will be hosting a deep-dive session on Minimum Viable Zero Trust at its Security & Risk Forum, where attendees can learn about the journey and how to get started using tools they already have.

The session will provide a detailed introduction to Minimum Viable Zero Trust and will cover what the journey really entails, how to get started, and some of the challenges that organizations may face. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from Forrester analysts and gain insights into how to implement Zero Trust security without breaking the bank.