In a semi-post-pandemic world, it is no surprise that most of the issues that businesses are dealing with are still connected to the drastic shift in working models we experienced last year. Although employees and businesses have quickly adapted to a remote working model, there are some key issues of concern surrounding security, privacy, compliance, and long-term effective digital transformation which can be challenging for businesses.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity has been one of the primary challenges facing many businesses since the mass installation of remote work in 2020. The accelerated adoption of various technologies because of the pandemic has exposed many cyber vulnerabilities as well as a level of cybersecurity unpreparedness. An increase in digitalisation and a surge in the use of IoT devices suggests that many organisations can only be assured of security by making cybersecurity features, principles, and frameworks a central part of their business strategy moving forward.
Cybersecurity, however, is a large and complex domain, so it is important to have expertise on your side to be able to completely understand the implications of a laxed cybersecurity approach and the negative impacts it could have on your business.
Ransomware, for example, is one of the fastest growing cybercrimes to date – a point which has been compounded with the switch to remote work. No organisation is safe or deemed too small to become victim to this kind of attack, so it is essential for businesses to work on the premise that they WILL get hit and take the necessary steps to diminish the impact, i.e., back up IT resources and data, ensure operational continuity when systems are disrupted, and continuously train all employees in a realistic cybersecurity response plan. The right cybersecurity expertise and planning will be able to reduce the impact of cyberattacks on your organisation.
Data Privacy and Governance
Data privacy has been a key topic in recent years and, as such, has influenced a wave of regulations which businesses must follow to guarantee the ethical use of consumer data. The implementation of regulations around the world requires all companies to strengthen their privacy and data governance practices. Thus, effective data privacy and governance must be an integral part of the analytics infrastructure as it can’t be reached by implementing a series of standalone tools.
As the goalposts of data regulations are constantly changing as new data issues are highlighted, most companies are still trying to understand, adopt, and implement privacy requirements and programs that support their company security practices and culture. Regardless of which stage you find yourself in, having a solid foundational framework is essential for supporting the infrastructure from the ground up and ensuring your organisation is accountable, auditable, standardised, ethical, responsible, and transparent.
Compliance
It is not enough to simply be compliant when adhering to data regulations. Organisations must be able to prove their compliance in the chain of accountability, and this is another technological challenge which businesses currently face. Compliance can be evaluated through an audit trail which details all the measures which have been taken by the organisation to guarantee compliance.
Some common issues which could house potential vulnerabilities include:
- Access and identity control
- Control over data sharing
- Incident response
- Disaster recovery
- Data loss prevention measures
- Protection against malware
- Corporate security policies
- Monitoring and reporting
Effective Digital Transformation
Since the pandemic took hold and life went online, designing a digital transformation roadmap has become a top priority for many businesses. But it can be challenging to go through the process of selecting the right platform for your business and integrating new technology to maintain operational efficiency while still providing the customer experience your users have come to expect. It is necessary for your business to be able to weather the storm of the ever-changing business and market landscape, but without an effective digital transformation roadmap, your organisation could enter rocky terrain and have an uncertain future. Therefore, ensuring you have the right IT strategy to allow your business to easily create new – or modify existing – business processes, culture, and customer experiences is a must. This will create a more agile and efficient operation, and a smoother more connected customer experience, giving your organisation more long-term resilience.
Challenges can be solved with the right people
Challenges don’t always have to remain challenges, though. With the right support, you can manage to find the solutions you need to all your technology difficulties, and Lindentech has the expertise and experience to help. So, contact the team to discuss how they can provide you with the solutions your business needs.
