Security & Compliance strategies are essential to any business, particularly in today’s evolving world of business communications. Rapid digital transformation and the shift into the cloud landscape have paved the way for innovations and working styles.
Unified communications platforms have emerged as the new hub for the future of work, synchronizing distributed teams. By 2032, the market for UC solutions is expected to reach a massive $511.21 billion.
Unfortunately, while innovative new communication tools and cloud landscapes promote collaboration and productivity, every digital evolution has risks.
Companies embracing new communication tools need a comprehensive strategy for maintaining compliance and data security across multiple channels. Here’s why every business should be investing in innovative UC Security & Compliance tools moving into 2024.
1. Security & Compliance Standards are Evolving
Data is the world’s most valuable asset, and companies are generating more of it than ever before.
Without a comprehensive security & compliance solution, businesses risk everything from massive fines to reputational damage. In 2023, for instance, the SEC and CTFC groups imposed charges against various companies for communication record-keeping failures. These charges amounted to over $1.8 billion in penalties.
Trends like hybrid and remote work, BYOD policies, and the influx of employees embracing new communication methods, from apps like WhatsApp to video communications, all impact a company’s ability to protect data. The proper security and compliance platform will help organizations capture the correct data from all environments, preserving context and crucial insights.
This will ensure businesses of all sizes can minimize the gaps in their strategy for complying with regulations from GDPR to CCPA, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS.
2. Attacks are Growing More Sophisticated
Companies have always had several security concerns to overcome when building and managing their communications networks. As technology evolves, the threats businesses face become more advanced, sophisticated, and complex.
As organizations rely more heavily on collaborative platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, criminals leverage phishing attacks to break into accounts and access sensitive data. At the same time, issues like call center fraud are becoming more prevalent, particularly in a world where intelligent algorithms can mimic human speech.
Investing in modern security & compliance solutions allows organizations to access the necessary tools, expertise, and technology to protect sensitive data, customers, and intellectual property. Current solutions can offer everything from basic access control solutions like multi-factor authentication to advanced automated threat monitoring applications.
3. The Security & Compliance Skill Shortage is Increasing
Unfortunately, as threats continue to evolve in the communications and business landscape, the number of skilled professionals available to support companies is deteriorating. In the UK alone, a 2023 study found that 50% of all businesses have a fundamental cybersecurity skills gap.
While security & compliance tools and platforms don’t eliminate the need for human skill, they can help to reduce the requirements of some companies. Innovative tools can leverage AI and automation to manage many repetitive tasks in security and compliance.
For instance, automated compliance tools can rapidly redact sensitive information from recordings and ensure information is stored in the correct location. Security solutions can monitor conversations across every channel, alerting business leaders when threats emerge.
All of this helps to ensure the security professionals available in your team can focus their attention on the tasks that matter most.
4. New Technologies Introduce New Challenges
The evolving communications landscape doesn’t just present challenges in the form of new channels and platforms to monitor. Companies also face issues as they adopt innovative solutions to boost productivity, efficiency, and customer experience.
Perhaps the biggest example of this comes from the world of generative AI. Some studies show that over 70% of companies are experimenting with generative AI. However, many of these organizations have encountered security & compliance issues as a result.
While tools like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT can significantly enhance business performance, they require companies to share significant amounts of data with bots. Many market leaders offer enterprise-grade versions of their solutions to ensure companies maintain control of their data. However, a comprehensive security and compliance strategy will help to ensure that intellectual property and personal information don’t slip through the cracks.
5. Employee Mobility is Here to Stay
In the last couple of years, mobility has emerged as an essential component of the modern workplace. Even in a world of return-to-office mandates, demand for flexibility remains high. This means companies allow employees to access communication tools from home when necessary and use more devices.
Unfortunately, flexible working strategies and mobility come with their own security & compliance issues to consider. Not only do employees working outside of the office risk accessing unsecured networks, but their devices can be lost or stolen.
Simply removing mobility from the workplace isn’t an option. This strategy increases the risk of shadow IT and harms productivity. Instead, companies must embrace a security and compliance strategy that puts mobility front and center.
6. Security & Compliance Ensures Business Continuity
Finally, security & compliance issues don’t just lead to fines and stress for evolving businesses. Often, breaches lead to disruptions in business operations, loss of productivity, and downtime. Moreover, they cause distrust among consumers, leading to massive churn rates.
78% of customers say they would avoid interacting with a business after it suffers a data breach. This issue will likely become more profound as we invest more heavily in our digital identities. With people spending more time on the web than ever before, security is a paramount concern.
Implementing the proper security & compliance initiatives ensures businesses can protect their reputation and preserve consistent performance. In an environment of constant economic uncertainty and turmoil, companies can’t afford to ignore the value of data protection.
Investing in Security & Compliance in 2024
The importance of robust security & compliance solutions shouldn’t be a new concept to most business owners. But as communication strategies, technologies, and customer priorities change, it’s becoming increasingly important to implement the right solutions.
Investing in the right tools for managing, protecting, and preserving data should be a strategic imperative for every organization.
from UC Today https://ift.tt/QAfczVM
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