A Strong Information Security Posture is a Business Enabler

Many of the clients I work with are startups or small to medium sized businesses (SMBs). These smaller, newer companies face challenges in establishing a robust information security posture. But when they get it right, security can be a powerful enabler for acquiring new customers and gaining their trust and loyalty.
In today’s business landscape, the companies with big budgets that many innovators want to target are heavily regulated (internally if not also externally) and therefore have lots of pre-sales security questions. It’s next to impossible to sell your product or service to these big players unless you have a great security story.

I love participating in these entrepreneurial situations where we can help a client with a new but rapidly evolving security program craft their “security positioning” and their responses to questions from major prospects.
Customer trust is critical to product adoption and business growth. A company that can demonstrate a commitment and ability to safeguard sensitive data, and can be transparent with customers about how they use and store data, will outflank competitors whose security controls are suspect.
Because of market and regulatory pressures that are only going to intensify, security is now a competitive differentiator and therefore a business enabler. Security is also increasingly recognized as:

• Empowering collaboration and data interchange
• Reducing downtime and therefore improving productivity
• Supporting digital transformation initiatives

This is a big shift from the entrenched view across companies of all sizes and industries that security is a cost of doing business and a constraint on growth, agility and innovation.
It’s time for organizations—from the C-Suite on down—to start viewing their information security programs as an enabling function that adds business value and supports efficiency and innovation. This view can only help facilitate a security culture where security becomes part of core business goals like profitability, customer retention and brand image.
You need to “do cybersecurity” anyhow if you want to attract and retain customers, avoid costly breaches and basically stay in business. Why not recognize and reap the value of getting it right?
If you’re looking for support to help you demonstrate that you’re secure and compliant, contact Pivot Point Security. We’ll work with you to create the ideal information security program for your business needs.