Why being secure is good for business

By Sarah Tierney, Digital Storyteller, Microsoft UK

10/05/2018

By approaching security and compliance as if it’s a dull and boring chore, it turns something that can be a positive win for your business into a negative, that won’t easily be adopted into your systems and workplace culture, causing more risk to the organisation.

Take the humble door lock. Sure, it’s a simple construction, but it has (and is continuing) to be finessed over the years to ensure you can trust it, and will keep your house and its contents safe. You would use another form of security if you didn’t trust the door lock, wouldn’t you?

So, just like you put trust in the humble door lock every day to protect your house, you need to ensure you have a modern, up-to-date lock on your organisation’s data. That way your customers can trust that their information is stored safely and shows you care about the information you store.

Not just a checklist

Around 46 percent of UK organisations identified at least one security breach or attack last year, showing that the old stereotype of cyber attacks being limited to big global corporations and Governments is clearly not true.

With 51 percent of businesses holding personal data considered more at risk, these stats show not only the importance of GDPR, but also strong, secure tools to help protect your organisation.

Cyber security and compliance should be embedded in an organisation from the top down – everyone needs to be security champions and your tools and technology need to support this and keep up-to-date with the everchanging threats.

Integrated and collaborative tools such as Office 365 allow organisations to keep systems up to date and secure, while increasing productivity and collaboration between teams.

NGR Human Resources, based in the UK understand the important of reputation and trust. “Privacy and security are essential to everything we do,” says their Privacy Counsel Deputy Data Protection Officer Sascha Schneider. “Our customers expect us to process their sensitive data according to their country’s unique regulations, which is why we use Office 365. I advised our leaders and CIO that the Microsoft approach to security, compliance, and privacy is of the highest standard in the industry. For instance, Microsoft was the first major cloud provider to achieve ISO 27180 certification.”

NGA HR use Office 365 to collaborate with colleagues, business stakeholders, sales teams, and product experts to create public relations and branding materials that define the company, while staying confident their data is well protected. “…I stay connected via my mobile phone, laptop, or tablet, no matter where I am,” says Schneider. “If I am in a meeting and something important comes up on my device, I quickly read and communicate the information to our executives.”

What’s good for customers is good for business

Meanwhile, software developer iSalon just by simplifying IT management, will improve compliance and data loss prevention.

“We use Microsoft 365 Business to make sure devices are compliant with our standards,” says Ryan Taylor, IT Manager. “Before, we had to manage that each month using spreadsheets filled with static data and wait two hours to get a report on all hardware assets.”

“Data loss prevention sold us on Microsoft 365,” says Taylor. “Having our identities hosted in the cloud means we won’t have to worry about a domain controller failing and causing data loss or downtime.”

“We now have all we need in one portal—I sign in and manage everything from one place. I can track and control what I need to meet GDPR standards and implement IT policies across the company in minutes.”

– Ryan Taylor iSalon IT Manager

With data breaches and cybersecurity regularly hitting headlines these days, it’s at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Harris Poll compiled a 10,000 global consumer survey and found that when it came to purchasing decisions, cybersecurity was second after quality.

However, by leveraging cloud and intelligence, you can stay updated and compliant with GDPR and security, so you and your customers will be secure in the knowledge that data is safe.

“When used properly, cloud platforms and threat intelligence can be powerful tools in staying ahead of – or at least on pace with – contemporary threats,” says Prakash Venkata, a PwC principal and a leader of the company’s cybersecurity and privacy practice. “Utilizing cloud platforms and their highly integrated and flexible security integrations, such as Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365, can help to keep systems up to date and reduce risks related to known vulnerabilities.”

It can also make your business more agile. By using a powerful cloud platform and integrated tools you can be confident your employees can access anywhere, anytime securely.

Affinity Workforce handles lots of personal data and wanted to have high security standards while still staying agile and enabling their workforce to work more flexibly. “We opted for Microsoft 365 which gives us key solutions like Windows 10, protected by cloud supported security and ongoing feature updates, with Office 365 productivity services and Azure cloud-based identity management. Our staff can get their new computer delivered to their desk and be setup and fully functional in 15-25 minutes. When they log in with their single sign-on ID they aren’t even aware that they’re being protected by the built-in security measures of Azure,” says Chris McCall, CTO. “It’s the ideal balance: maximising mobility and productivity without sacrificing data protection.”

“Having seamless access across devices and applications has enabled the whole business to adopt a faster pace and to be palpably more agile and productive,” he says. “It feels great for my team that we’ve delivered this impact to the business, we’re actively enabling Affinity Workforce to realise its strategic aspirations. Without fanfare or fuss, I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved.”