Snyk, a leader in cloud native application security, enabling software-driven businesses to develop fast and stay secure, is launching officially in South Africa. 

Blazing trails around integrating security with development at scale, Snyk’s Cloud Native Application Security Platform is a revolution for developers, security professionals, and business leaders. If an organisation enables excellence and market differentiation through software — and this distinction applies to virtually all modern companies — Snyk provides the platform to continually deliver secure development products that speak directly to the developer experience, integrate the company's security policies and posture, and align with the best in security practices.

Snyk solves a serious problem for modern companies increasingly investing in digital transformation projects. How apps are fundamentally created has evolved and now often involves assembling from a variety of internal and external sources, including open source software. Instead of “throwing their code over the wall,” developers retain ownership of their work while collaborating closely with operations, the nexus known as DevOps. This arrangement delivers development products at pace and scale in a world where software updates have accelerated from a few annually to several in a day. 

But this traditional approach undoubtedly compounded already existing security issues. Too often, security became an afterthought, applied near the end of the development cycle. This is unrealistic, leading to two outcomes: development either grinds to a halt as it tries to meet security requirements, or the code is released without the necessary security baked in. 

The evolution of DevOps, DevSecOps, addresses this specific issue, yet challenges remain.

Development teams are not security experts, and even a security audit report can be useless to help them fix concerns. Security teams are overstretched and cannot keep pace alongside the development cycle. Compounding matters, development teams often outsize security teams, and the subsequent gap causes a loss of productivity. Developers not at work are costly to the business.

Snyk is a platform for developers. It looks like a development tool and engages developers on their level. Snyk is also a security expert hub, both collaborating with the security world and conducting proprietary research in numerous guises. These discoveries are fed into the Snyk platform for developers to take immediate control of security problems in code and address them, even if they aren't well-versed in security themselves. 

Since Snyk integrates across the systems development lifecycle, security teams gain full visibility, auditing, and reporting capabilities. But it goes beyond that. Snyk involves the entire organisation, fostering a collaborative environment that connects development, security, and business value into one continuum. 

“Snyk is fortunate that over the last year, we’ve seen enterprises of all sizes and all across the globe select us as their cloud native application security solution for their digital transformation initiatives,” said Ethan Schechter, Vice President of Sales leading the EMEA region. “As 2021 begins our next chapter of growth in EMEA, we’re excited to launch in South Africa. Home to thousands of developers, South Africa is an EMEA hub for innovation and we look forward to bringing our differentiated approach to this market to ultimately allow South African developers to continue to develop fast, while also staying secure.”

• Enable DevSecOps into a full cultural shift; 
• Secure cloud native infrastructure at scale; 
• Maintain the software bill of materials (both what they personally code and what they acquire/assemble from elsewhere); 
• Manage compliance and licensing; or 
• Create more secure pathways for containerisation.

According to the company, Snyk is the answer, forsaking the “break it and complain” approach that often grinds development security solutions down and only focuses on the negatives. The company's approach, it explains, is proactive, helping customers build, not break, and thus appeals to developers and embraces security professionals, not dwelling on personal tension but finding shared solutions so that development can happen safely and reliably at scale. 

This comprehensive platform is now officially available in South Africa and already serves major clients that use software to create their market edge.