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How To Effectively Manage Risk For Your Organisation

Diana Walker
March 20, 2018

Consider this: It took 89 years for the telephone to reach the level of household penetration that Facebook reached in just five. So, what does this say? The digital era is transforming how we operate in every aspect of life faster than ever before. Therefore, risk is becoming an increasingly concerning factor for organisations today.

What is organisational reputation? In short, it is the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. So, what do your customers think of your business?

Organisational Reputation And Risk

The idea of organisational reputation is simple. However, it is extremely complex when applied in assessing organisational maturity. While organisational maturity models can help simplify the idea, reputation cannot be just understood in terms of discrete and objective measurements and that is exactly what modelling does.

Reputation is perpetual. Relationships and communication are the key components of reputation and these are ongoing interactions. It is essential to understand the constant-state of reputation, particularly when understanding organisational reputation in the context of risk.

The Digital Era And Risk

Digital disruption is one of the major causes of risk for organisations today, and it isn’t really any surprise. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report 2018, cyber risk is viewed as the risk most likely to intensify in 2018.

The digital era has caused a proliferation of risk exposure to organisations as they continue to adopt new technologies. The expansion of online devices has dramatically increased the surface area open to risks such as cyber attacks. And this is only going to get worse in the future with interconnected devices have been predicted to increase from 8.4 billion today to 20 billion in 2020.

Concerningly, businesses continue to become more dependent on technology, yet their attitude towards the risk that new technology presents often remains stagnant. Research from the WEF states that only one-third of companies surveyed have created a disaster recovery plan for a major cyber attack, one of the most common and damaging risks for organisations today.

How Software Can Improve Organisational Reputation

Risk management software has been one of the many new technologies to be created in the digital era. While the software varies in quality from provider to provider, Intelligent Risk Management Software can empower your organisation to take greater control of its reputation.

Is The Technology ‘Futureproof’?

The problem with technology is that it’s constantly evolving. Organisations cannot afford to become complacent in the digital era. If they are, their industry will leave them behind.

Do your research. How new is the ‘newest in cloud PaaS’? An easy way of figuring this out is by contacting multiple service providers. Service providers that still have on-site legacy system services are often to be avoided. Having both cloud and legacy services often shows a sign that the provider is not willing to embrace digital disruption because they are stuck in the past.

The best Risk Management Platform providers offer scalable software that is highly configurable.

The best software doesn’t just let you manage risk, it lets you take control of it. For example, the best providers offer a platform that can equip your organisation’s auditing stakeholders with real-time access to the data they need, across multiple platforms and at the same time, means empowered collaboration and greater awareness of deadlines.

Being able to see which audits are pending, in progress and late at the click of a button is a vital resource for taking control of your organisation’s risks.

Is The Software Configurable For Your Risks?

It is imperative that the risk management software you select can be configured to your specific organisational needs. What this means is that you can create your own risk management protocols easily, regardless of your IT experience. Every organisation deals with varying degrees of similar risks. Being able to build your own applications to your specific organisational needs is invaluable.

Multitenant architecture is also an imperative for risk management software. This means having various clearance and access levels to different aspects of the software. For example, The CEO and CTO may have full access to changing all organisational risk management protocols. Department or team managers may only have access to changing the risk management protocols that apply to their section of the business. And finally, general employees may only have access to flag and generate risk management reports.

Collaboration is the key to risk management and the key to collaboration is being able to provide specific stakeholder groups with the information relevant to them. This is what Intelligent Risk Management Software can do.

Ease of Upgrades

The total cost of ownership for risk management software should be incorporated into a single subscription fee. What this means is that there are no hidden upgrade or additional labour costs. Service providers that tell you this from the outset mean you will not have any nasty surprises.

Upgrades should be frequent. True cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers should be updating their software and features often. This shows that they are keeping up to date with the latest technological disruption, and empowering you with its capabilities.

New Imperative For Risk Management

Risk, by definition, involves uncertainty. There is a broad scope of potential shocks for organisations in the digital era.

According to the WEF, the average time companies spend in the S&P 500 index has already decreased from around 60 years in the 1950s to just 12 years today. While this paints a bleak picture, There is an opportunity hidden in there.

Now more than ever, risk management needs to be integrated into organisational innovation, growth and organisational objectives. Leaders must navigate their companies with a bold, yet risk appetite focused mindset to create a healthy form of organisational resilience.

Risk management can no longer be focused on only prevention. Response and anticipation are the areas that need focus and proper risk management software can empower organisations that see this as a corporate imperative.

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