Simon Piff is the Vice President of IDC Asia/Pacific's IT Security Practice Business. He focuses on the needs of the chief security officer in an environment that encompasses cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and a continued and persistent attack from cybercriminals. Much has changed in this area since 1994, when Simon installed his first firewall, and the collision of Big Data with security, the move to a defense in-depth strategy, and the issues of insufficient numbers of well-trained staff make this a challenging area for businesses today.

Simon started his Asia/Pacific regional experience in 1989; since then, he has served in various sales, marketing management, and consulting roles for IT hardware, software, services, and online businesses. Having previously covered the storage system and then datacenter markets for IDC Asia/Pacific, Simon's career background and IDC experience put him in the ideal position to deliver valuable insights to both technology buyers and providers. Prior to joining IDC, Simon worked at Microsoft Asia/Pacific, defining the company's business intelligence, data warehousing, and data management go-to-market strategies for the region. He also worked at Digital Equipment Corporation to develop its IT security, Internet, ecommerce, and service provider business as well as with a medical dot-com in various business development and management roles.

• MBA from Southern Cross University, Australia