Develop a Strategic Plan for Intelligent Application Security

AI-assisted coding, API-driven systems, and fast-moving delivery cycles have made applications the number one target for security threat actors – and traditional secure software development lifecycles (SSDLCs) are too rigid and siloed to keep pace. This comprehensive blueprint offers an intelligent, capabilities-driven SSDLC framework that will embed security in every stage of the lifecycle.

Generative AI coding and other emerging technologies have strained SSDLCs – but they also stand to make them more adaptive, with the aid of a mix of autonomous and manual practices. Security leaders must coordinate a strategy among security, application, and product leaders that aligns with organizational priorities, optimizes investment, and ensures security, development, and operations teams work together as one.

1. Security should be an enabler, not a roadblock.

Modern development moves fast – and, if it is to keep pace with emerging threats, so must security. Intelligent, adaptive capabilities aligned to organizational priorities can help eliminate bottlenecks and enable teams to deliver at scale. When embedded effectively, security becomes an accelerant, not a delay.

2. Let your gaps guide your investments.

Not all application security improvements are equal or useful to the organization. A structured capability assessment can reveal where maturity is lacking so you can focus resources on initiatives with the highest risk reduction and greatest organizational value.

3. Security is a shared responsibility.

Effective application security depends as much on people and expertise as it does on tools. Embedding secure practices early requires tight collaboration across security, development, and operations teams. This cross-functional coordination reduces risk, improves consistency, and accelerates delivery.

Use this step-by-step blueprint to enable an intelligent application security program

Our practical research offers valuable tools and templates to help you modernize your secure software development practices to face modern challenges and align them with organizational goals. Use this step-by-step framework to understand your current state, prioritize improvements, and build an application security program that is equipped to withstand today’s threats and tomorrow’s challenges.

Prioritize iSSDLC capabilities by defining organizational opportunities supported and security threats mitigated, and establish key metrics and defined governance practices.
Define your target state by assessing current application security maturity levels.
Develop your strategic plan by listing your prioritized application security initiatives and developing and communicating your roadmap.

Develop a Strategic Plan for Intelligent Application Security Research & Tools

1. Develop a Strategic Plan for Intelligent Application Security – A step-by-step framework to take an intelligent approach to building a scalable and adaptive application security.

Use this framework to evaluate the maturity of your security practices through a capabilities-driven and risk-aligned lens.

Understand why traditional SSDLCs fail to meet modern demands.
Learn how to align security with organizational opportunities and emerging threats.
Consider the need for autonomous security capabilities as part of your practice.

2. iSSDLC Capabilities Assessment Tool – An Excel-based tool to develop your improvement plan across an intelligent Secure Software Development Lifecycle (iSSDLC).

Use this practical tool to:

Assess your current application security maturity across SDLC phases.
Map capabilities to organizational priorities and risk mitigation targets.
Customize and prioritize initiatives to build your roadmap.

3. iSSDLC Strategic Plan Template – A presentation template to communicate value and earn support from organizational leadership.

This easy-to-use template enables you to:

Incorporate inputs from the research framework and capabilities assessment activities.
Demonstrate your current and target maturity and visualize capability gaps and roadmap stages.
Tailor messaging to a variety of stakeholders from executives to engineering leads.

Plan for an intelligent SSDLC to build smarter, faster, and more resilient solutions.

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.