Stephanie Balaouras

VP, Group Director Serving Security & Risk Professionals

Stephanie leads the research organization that serves Infrastructure & Operations Professionals and Security & Risk Professionals. Her team's research agenda encompasses designing, building, and automating resilient systems, technologies, and processes that firms need to drive innovation, accelerate time-to-market, prepare employees for the future of work, engage and secure customers, reduce risk, and protect the brand.

Previous Work Experience

Stephanie has more than 20 years of experience in enterprise risk, information security, and IT infrastructure and operations. Previously at Forrester, Stephanie served as the research director of Forrester’s security and risk research team for nearly a decade, helping drive research in key areas such as governance, risk, and compliance; identity and fraud; application security; data security and privacy; and security architecture and operations. Prior to joining the security and risk team, Stephanie was a principal analyst on Forrester's infrastructure and operations team, where she was instrumental in the development of research and offerings in business continuity, IT availability, and information storage and protection.

Prior to joining Forrester, Stephanie was a senior analyst with the Yankee Group, where she provided insight and consultative advice to technology vendors on industry trends in information storage and protection. Before the Yankee Group, Stephanie worked at EMC, first as a technical architect and then as a senior education and productivity consultant. As a technical architect, she articulated EMC's value to partners and customers and designed solutions to meet customer and new market opportunities. As an education and productivity consultant, she managed and supported complex technical training programs. Prior to EMC, Stephanie worked at Accenture as a consultant, focusing on the implementation of business applications (SAP, PeopleSoft) for global businesses.

Education

Stephanie holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and finance and investments with a minor in ethics from Babson College.

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Stephanie Balaouras

VP, Group Director Serving Security & Risk Professionals

Read Read Stephanie's blog posts

Previous Work Experience

Education

Stephanie holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and finance and investments with a minor in ethics from Babson College.

Research Coverage

Stephanie Balaouras's Research

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For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Essential Technology Solutions For Pandemic Management

A Mix Of Emerging And Reemerging Solutions Become Must-Haves

May 19, 2020Stephanie Balaouras, Stephen Powers, Caleb Ewald

Without a vaccine or community immunity, organizations must manage through the coronavirus pandemic for the next 12 to 24 months. They must maintain a hybrid workforce, support customers via digital channels and new engagement models, and maintain comprehensive health and safety protocols, all during an unpredictable set of cascading disruptions and crises. This report identifies the essential tools and solutions organizations will need to operate successfully until COVID-19 is eradicated.
For Security & Risk Professionals

REPORT: Returning To Work: How To Prepare For Pandemic Recovery

Essential Steps And Pandemic Management Protocols For Planning Your Operational Recovery

April 20, 2020Stephanie Balaouras, Alla Valente, Andrew Hewitt, Jeff Becker, Arielle Trzcinski, Sucharita Kodali, Jeff Pollard, Paul McKay, Scott Compton

As the epicenter of the global COVID-19 pandemic shifts and each affected region reaches its peak infection rate, firms must prepare now to restart closed plants, reopen retail locations, and bring employees back to work. Organizations must plan a staged recovery to reduce the health and financial risks of future scenarios that include a second infection wave, a steep economic downturn, and permanent changes to employee and consumer behaviors. This report details the essential steps and new pandemic management protocols for planning your operational recovery.
For Security & Risk Professionals

REPORT: Craft Zero Trust Security Metrics That Matter

Performance Management: The Zero Trust Security Playbook

March 24, 2020 Jeff Pollard, Stephanie Balaouras

Forrester's Zero Trust (ZT) Model of information security demands that security teams eliminate the dangerous trust assumptions underpinning perimeter-based security architectures. When you embrace a ZT mindset, you assume that malicious actors have already infiltrated your environment and are stealing your valuable data. ZT metrics answer two questions for business and security and risk (S&R) leaders: 1) Do we have a breach? and 2) What sensitive data have criminals exfiltrated? This report reviews the ZT metrics that help answer these critical questions. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and updates it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy.
For Security & Risk Professionals

REPORT: Prepare Your Organization For A Pandemic

Key Recommendations For How Business And Risk Leaders Build Resiliency In A World Where Disease Outbreaks Are The New Normal

February 7, 2020Stephanie Balaouras, Alla Valente, Andrew Hewitt

The likelihood and impact of a pandemic are impossible to predict with much accuracy. Regardless, history tells us there's a potential for widespread and costly disruption — especially for those who fail to adequately prepare. Risk professionals should treat the latest outbreak, the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), as, at best, another powerful warning and, at worst, a potentially massive disruption. Take practical steps such as refreshing plans, updating employee policies, communicating frequently, and carrying out succession planning.
For Security & Risk Professionals

REPORT: The Biggest Trends Shaping Enterprise Risk Management In 2020

Enterprise Risk Management Programs Must Mature Faster To Adapt To Changing Risks

January 3, 2020 Alla Valente, Salvatore Schiano, Stephanie Balaouras

Uncertainties in the business environment and emergence of new threats are leading to more complex risks. Firms are doubling down on proactive risk management to better anticipate disruption, build operational resilience, and respond to new dynamics. This report, part of a series of studies with the Disaster Recovery Journal, examines the current state of business resiliency and enterprise risk management (ERM) and provides risk, compliance, and business continuity professionals with insight into the trends and priorities for future ERM investment.

For Security & Risk Professionals

REPORT: Defend Your Digital Business From Advanced Cyberattacks Using Forrester's Zero Trust Model

Executive Overview: The Zero Trust Security Playbook

June 4, 2019Stephanie Balaouras, Heidi Shey

In today's threat landscape, skilled, organized, well-funded cybercriminals are working to steal your data — the lifeblood of your digital business — in pursuit of economic, political, or military gain. To combat this, security leaders need Forrester's Zero Trust Model of information security. With Zero Trust, you can develop robust detection and incident response capabilities to protect your company's vital digital business ecosystem. Our security architecture and operations playbook shows you how to use the Zero Trust Model to defend your customers.
For Security & Risk Professionals

REPORT: Protect Your Intellectual Property And Customer Data From Theft And Abuse

Executive Overview: The Data Security And Privacy Playbook

April 16, 2019Stephanie Balaouras

Data is the lifeblood of today's digital businesses. Sophisticated cybercriminals are determined to steal it, and employees can abuse it. IP theft erases competitive advantage, and privacy violations undermine customer trust. Forrester's data security and privacy playbook guides security and risk pros through major changes to processes for data policy development, inventory, classification, and protection, and identifies the technologies and services that will help you design and implement effective data security while enforcing privacy policy. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and updates it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy. We revised this edition to factor in new events and data.
For Security & Risk Professionals

REPORT: Five Steps To A Zero Trust Network

Zero Trust Is The Blueprint For Your Security Architecture

October 1, 2018Stephanie Balaouras, Chase Cunningham, Peter Cerrato

A Zero Trust (ZT) architecture abolishes the idea of a trusted network inside a defined corporate perimeter. ZT mandates that enterprises create microperimeters of control around their sensitive data assets to gain visibility into how they use data across their ecosystem to win, serve, and retain customers. This report gives security and risk (S&R) leaders best practices and a five-step road map to realize the benefits of a Zero Trust strategy more quickly.
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: Justifying The Business Case For Business Technology Resiliency

June 11, 2012Rachel A. Dines, Stephanie Balaouras

This report outlines Forrester's guidance for a business technology resiliency (BTR) business case. This is a critical step when securing funding because management is often reluctant to fund investments in BTR — including backup, high availability, and disaster recovery — because they represent cost avoidance, rather than a return on investment. But in today's age of 24x7x365 global operations and unrelenting customer demand, downtime can threaten your competitive advantage and erode market share. To help infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals overcome dangerous and outdated thinking, this report builds the business case for BTR and outlines seven steps that I&O professionals must take to successfully secure funding for BTR initiatives.
For Security & Risk Professionals

REPORT: TechRadar™: Data Security And Privacy, Q4 2017

October 4, 2017 Heidi Shey, Enza Iannopollo, Stephanie Balaouras, Alexander Spiliotes

As data volumes explode, it's becoming a Herculean task to protect sensitive data from cybercriminals and malicious actors while preventing privacy infringements and abuses — intentional and unintentional. Every day, vendors introduce a new product or service that claims to be the silver bullet for data security and privacy challenges. This TechRadar assesses 20 of the key traditional and emerging data security and privacy technologies that security and privacy leaders and their staffs can use to underpin a holistic strategy.