Tech Priorities for Enterprises: Where Security Meets Innovation

The fast ascension of emerging technologies and accelerated innovation has lately been a trend in most enterprises. The reason behind is related to COVID-19 consequences, where most of these businesses had to move their activities onto a remote system. Decision-makers are developing strategies that will keep their business floating without losing too many resources. More than that, the strategies are focused on solutions that keep the productivity and the quality of their services untouched.

According to an extensive report from McKinsey, it turns out that almost 86% of the first-time customers are satisfied or very satisfied with how businesses have managed to adopt a friendly digital strategy. This is proof that digital technology is now at the forefront of most businesses. At the same time, this means that those who want to differentiate themselves on the market have to put more effort into being innovative and be the target audience’s first choice. From this perspective, I find it critical to approach the cybersecurity measures that need to be taken, and the landscape they form with innovation, a subject that I will advance in this article.

Why approaching innovation from a security perspective? 

As previously mentioned, the competitive advantage is forcing innovation to be the new norm. But trying to focus on innovation while ensuring the security stays in check can be challenging during times of crisis, when budgets are usually stretched, or unusual events can become security threats for your business. 

To give an example of how sensitive your business data can become, in the past few months, there has been a 667% increase in coronavirus-related cyberattacks, due to the uncertain situation that led people to search and click on mainly everything.

Nevertheless, the potential cybercrime damages can cost your business much more than it would be to have a security strategy in place that aligns with the innovative technologies you are looking to implement within your organization. 

Even more so, when the innovation brings cloud computing, artificial intelligence, edge computing, blockchain, Internet of Things, and technologies that require special attention when it comes to monitoring the processes that make use of these technologies. That is mainly because emerging your processes with more technologies involves more entry points for cybercriminals looking to take advantage of the smallest security gap within your organization. 

Eventually, being the victims of a cyberattack will not only cause financial and brand damage to your business, but will also endanger your customers’ data and operations, impacting your business’ position health.

How to keep your enterprise safe when leveraging innovation 

Data and systems security is critical during and after migrations

When investing resources to develop your business’s digital transformation, it is paramount to ensure the security of each data and each one of your systems, at every single step. Migrating a part of your processes to a new platform will require constant security monitoring from your IT team, not only during the process, but also after the migration has been completed. Sometimes, being in charge of all the IT infrastructure that is usually very complex in an enterprise, can become an overwhelming task, and especially since the security policies and regulations require an extensive strategy. To meet your organization’s needs, you can approach a security vendor to ensure that all of your operations are compliant. 

Consider collaborating with a trusted security partner 

As mentioned previously, having a security vendor dedicated to your organization can be extremely beneficial. An external team will have an outsider perspective on your security strategy, making it easier to make the right decisions that can strengthen those new entry points that we discussed in the first point. Choosing the right security partner is always a flexible option to keep your security programs updated, and to make sure your organization is constantly optimized with the latest security trends. After all, since you are seeking innovative solutions, you should seek it in all your processes. 

Foster a customer-centric security strategy

One of the things most businesses experience during their growth journey is the challenge to build a customer-centric environment. Even so, this is one of the main objectives since companies that rely on this principle are 60% more profitable than companies that are not focused on the customer. Moving beyond the general aspect, one of the core security measures you should be taking is to focus on securing a customer-centric environment. In this article, I have tried to focus on the innovative factor from enterprises, mainly because information security is one of the most valuable assets in a business. Once your sensitive information has been compromised, nothing can save your business from a massive financial loss.

Conclusion

Driving innovation as a competitive advantage can be challenging for decision-makers looking to grow their business with agile methods. Making cybersecurity a priority is a high valued edge that can attract potential customers to become partners, but until doing so, your security must be in place, and the quality of your services have to show that as well.

To optimize your IT team’s results, you can get in touch with cybersecurity teams and find out how they will make your business’ innovation a lean journey for all its stakeholders.