Gartner Expert

John Watts

VP Analyst

John Watts works in Research Infrastructure Protection with primary coverage of Security Service Edge (SSE), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), Zero Trust strategy and implementation. John also covers security operations topics such as the evolving cybersecurity threat landscape, Cyber Asset and Attack Surface Management (CAASM) and External Attack Surface Management (EASM).

Previous experience

Prior to this, Mr. Watts built a security engineering and operations team from scratch focused on preventative security controls. He designed security solutions including network segmentation, intrusion prevention systems, cloud-based proxy controls, firewalls, enterprise mobility management, data loss prevention, identity and access management systems including SAML and OAuth/OpenID Connect, client and server antivirus, PCI and SOX compliance controls, and cloud security (SaaS and IaaS).

Professional background

Micron Technology

Sr. Manager IT/Lead Enterprise Security Architect

Southwest Airlines

Software Architect

Greenbrier and Russel

Senior Consultant

Areas of coverage

Security of Applications and Data

Security Operations

Infrastructure Security

Education

B.B.A., Information Systems and International Business, Cum Laude, Baylor University

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Top Issues That I Help Clients Address

1How do we pursue a zero-trust strategy?

2How should we evolve and modernize our network security strategy?

3How do we provide and manage secure access to any application from any device?

4How can we gain and sustain visibility of assets, technologies and environments?

5How do we prepare and respond to the current threat landscape?