The Importance Of Effective Information Technology Risk Management Processes

Darren Jacobs
February 22, 2018

The digital era has created a new type of consumer, the 'CorpSumer'.The ‘CorpSumer’, as coined by MWWPR, comprises 33% of Americans. What makes them unique is that they care more about the intrinsic value of brands compared to the affordability of the products and services they offer. So, how does this relate to your Information Technology Risk Management Processes?

Online services are key for organizations in the digital era. Online customers are becoming an increasingly large segment of today’s consumers. Even if you do not directly sell products online, your online platforms are often where your customers often start when seeking out your services. What this means is that your online services must be secure and reliable.

Legacy Information Technology Risk Management Processes are often the primary restricting factor for online disruption in large enterprise. The inability to scale with ease is often the reason why legacy systems are becoming obsolete in the digital era. If your IT cannot keep pace with the digital era, how can your business?

The Importance of Effective Information Technology Risk Management Processes In The Digital Era

Whatever Information Technology Risk Management Processes you have in place, it is crucial that it can:

  1. Allow any relevant employees to identify and flag potential risks.
  2. Empower employee collaboration with real-time access to all disaster management protocols.
  3. Allow for pre-testing and disaster rehearsal so that crucial recovery strategies can be optimized.
  4. Transform raw data into actionable intelligence.
  5.  Automate alerts when thresholds are breached.

If you are trying to be a pioneer in your industry, your IT, especially those critical to your online platforms and services cannot be disaster-prone. As an international enterprise, your customers want perpetual access to you. This means online platform maintenance and downtime, due to IT failures such as security breaches or hard drive malfunctions must be kept to an absolute minimum.

IT disasters negatively impact your business. While not all of them can be eliminated, all of them can be mitigated. Ensuring that relevant stakeholders are made instantaneously aware of IT crises when they arise and understanding what recovery strategy protocol should be implemented is imperative in the digital era. This means that online service downtimes are kept to a minimum and your customers stay satisfied. The CorpSumer is likely to look elsewhere if your online services are unreliable.

Data Security And The CorpSumer

The CorpSumer invests their loyalty and money into brands with similar values to their own. Data security is a top priority for the CorpSumer. With 2017 being the worst year on record for cybersecurity attacks, your customers are expecting that your organization’s data is secure.

While knowing your customer is more important than ever, it is essential to also make sure that their data is secure. Intelligent Information Technology Risk Management Processes can allow for your data to be stored in the cloud with the leading levels of security while maintaining high accessibility. These services can also allow for the transformation of raw data into actionable intelligence meaning you can discover new consumer insights that will further hone your competitive edge.

The CorpSumer is highly active online, they publicly broadcast their support and distaste for brands. Having security breaches in your IT data storage does not go down well with the ever-vigilant CorpSumer. Your platforms and services need to be secure, optimized for your customer and be perpetually active. These three key elements can be catalyzed by Intelligent IT Risk Management Services.

Intelligent IT Risk Management Services And Your Corporate Social Responsibility

Consumer insights should drive your organization’s vision and strategy. Yet, the data you use for this must be secure. Your organization should have a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that places your customer’s data security at the forefront.

The 24-hour news cycle and the proliferation of social media mean your organization is being constantly monitored by your customers and the media they turn to for information. Preventable IT disasters are always newsworthy in the digital era. The CorpSumer is more likely to inform their social networks than any other customer regarding company news. Organizational accountability is at an all-time high as consumers begin to take a more holistic approach to what they buy and use.

As your customers become more aware of the data you store and use to optimize their customer experience, it is imperative IT disasters that affect your online presence are kept to an absolute minimum.

It is in your best interest to ensure that your brand’s reputation is not tarnished by disaster-prone IT. Online hacking and malfunctions make the world ask questions.

So, ask yourself this, do you want your organization to be in the spotlight for good news or bad news?

 

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