In an age when cyber threats loom giant, the dedication and keenness of cybersecurity professionals are extra essential than ever. Each 12 months, Cisco makes some extent of choosing and recognizing a standout cybersecurity advocate who has earned the title of cybersecurity defender. This 12 months, it was inconceivable to decide on only one particular person.
This is why Cisco’s 2025 EMEA Cybersecurity Defender of the Year award goes out to a workforce of practitioners at SAP Enterprise Cloud Services (ECS) whose contributions displayed an unusual skill to boost the bar for total safety posture. The recipients are:
- Boris Mäck, Head of Technology and Architecture at SAP Enterprise Cloud Services
- Roland Costea, CISO of SAP Enterprise Cloud Services
- Christopher Hett, Cloud Network Architect at SAP Enterprise Cloud Services
In this weblog, we’ll discover the origins of their ardour, the challenges they confronted whereas engaged on their vital mission at SAP ECS, the methods they employed to beat these hurdles, and their precious insights for these seeking to make their mark in cybersecurity.
The Birth of Passion for Cybersecurity
A former Romanian chess champion, Roland Costea used his wits for technique to seek out his approach into the sector. Having studied expertise and programming at college, he needed to discover a technique to make a extra distinctive contribution. He discovered cybersecurity and by no means appeared again.
Christopher Hett’s ardour began early as a pc recreation hobbyist. After he studied info expertise at a college in Germany, his first encounter with cybersecurity was by enabling his work’s Wi-Fi community with state-of-the-art encryption to mitigate assault vectors now additionally coming from wi-fi connections exterior firms’ premises.
Boris Mäck’s robust background in networking started his cybersecurity journey. His experience in infrastructure companies and community applied sciences naturally led him into cybersecurity, particularly as securing networks turned an more and more vital side of IT.
Partnering with Cisco to Overcome SAP ECS Challenges
As one of many world’s main deliverers of managed cloud companies, SAP Enterprise Cloud Services can’t afford downtime. That is why, for Roland, the corporate’s CISO, it’s all about pace. He notes, “I find that speed is the most critical thing. And when I say speed, it’s speed in the way that we identify, detect, protect, respond, recover, and govern… [After all], you can’t afford to keep an airport down for 30 minutes.” That’s why, in his opinion, the way forward for multi-cloud wants to incorporate a built-in safety part, and that’s the place Cisco is available in.
First, Christopher, Cloud Network Architect, explains the scenario even additional: “We have over 7,000 customer environments, so we need to have a solution that scales but doesn’t disrupt the businesses of those thousands of customers. This is a particular challenge when you want to introduce an elevated security service that demands more resources, and yet uptime still needs to be preserved at all costs.”
Part of the problem is that SAP is each a multi-cloud supplier and one of many high twelve hyperscalers on the planet (alongside Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and others), requiring steady uptime. This implies that SAP wants to supply the identical native capabilities for all their clients all through the world “no matter where the customer resides,” and do it in a standardized approach “that delivers the same value independently for all our customers in a multi-cloud environment,” as Roland expressed.
For this cause, SAP Enterprise Cloud Service selected to companion with Cisco.
To optimize pace, improve scalability, and guarantee enterprise continuity at the same time as companies broaden, SAP is working to construct one overarching personal cloud, protected by Cisco Multicloud Defense, a part of Cisco’s Hybrid Mesh Firewall options to take a seat over their three hyperscalers—offering constant, automated safety throughout them. In addition, SAP leverages Cisco Secure Access to safeguard person entry to the online, cloud companies, SaaS and personal purposes with a single, cloud managed console.
These options improve SAPs safety and permit them the flexibleness to scale fluctuating enterprise wants and proceed to help their community of shoppers with little to no disruption to their operations.
On the Right Track
“This landmark security project proves the power of the ‘One Cisco’ Team in solving SAP’s biggest security challenges—protecting their customers at scale,” says Robert Nicola, Client Executive. “We delivered an innovative, scalable, and differentiated solution that sets a new standard for customer value.”
Cisco likes to companion with firms like SAP Enterprise Cloud Services as a result of we will do the correct factor collectively.
When requested what made him proud, Boris, Head of CAE Technology and Architecture, shared, “I bear in mind when the CIO of the corporate we had been working with got here to us and stated, ‘Hey guys, we had a severe ransomware attack in our network, and the only IT systems that survived were the SAP systems hosted in RISE [one of our managed solutions]. To me, this is great proof that we’re doing the correct issues with our ideas right here.’
They are, and Cisco is proud to assist. The insights and experiences shared by these Cisco 2025 Cybersecurity Defenders of the Year emphasize shining a lightweight on the great that’s being completed by the correct partnerships and the eagerness of engaged cybersecurity leaders.
As expertise advances, so does the crucial for sturdy cybersecurity measures. With devoted professionals like our defenders paving the way in which, the way forward for cybersecurity seems promising. Thank you to our defenders for his or her inspiring tales and for illuminating the trail for future leaders on this vital area.
Interested in making a distinction in cybersecurity?
Get acknowledged! Tell us concerning the revolutionary methods during which you or your workforce are contributing to the cybersecurity panorama and be thought-about for our subsequent Cybersecurity Defender of the Year award.
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