GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITH TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY PLANNING!
It is hard to believe that we are at the start of another year. 2022 went very fast and we are kicking things straight off by thinking about technology strategy planning for our clients in 2023.
If you are starting 2023 with good intentions, January is a great time to think about what you want to achieve with your business. If you are a business owner or senior leader, January the opportunity for a “course correction” month. We like to call this the “January Refresh and Refocus”.
To get you one step ahead of your competition with your technology strategy planning and grow your business faster this year (and every year!), the two technology areas we feel will be the most important are to “Defend and Invest”.
Defend is about protecting your business from cyber criminals. We believe, that unfortunately, cybercrime is going to rise again this year, to levels never seen before.
Invest is about making sure technology is powering your business forward, not holding it back.
Defend
A great analogy for your business, is to imagine a burglar at night, walking down a street full of houses, looking for the right opportunity. It’s probable that all the houses are potential targets for the burglar, but some are easier targets than others.
The houses with locks on the doors and windows, visible security alarms and cameras, and lights that make it look like someone is home or at the least well protected. Not so easy for the burglar to break into.
It’s exactly the same for cyber criminals targeting businesses and some make themselves easier targets.
Why would cyber criminals go to the trouble of trying to break into a business with excellent defences, when there are millions of businesses leaving themselves wide open to attack?
Today, cyber criminals are pretty sophisticated in their antics. It’s big business, organised crime. Last year global cyber-crime cost at least $1 trillion. It’s estimated to reach $10 trillion within 3 years.
Why the rise in cyber criminal activity?
There are three key drivers of this:
- As technology has become more sophisticated, so have the criminals.
- The pandemic permanently changed the way we work. Hybrid working opens more opportunities for them.
- We estimate up to 80% of cyber-crime we deal with has started because a human made a mistake.
There are lots of ways to mitigate cyber risk. Here are two to get started on right now:
Use the best tools
Like layers of an onion, the best protection for your business comes from a blend of security measures. This might include tools like password managers, biometrics (face or fingerprint access) and multifactor authentication.
As security experts, we fully assess each business we protect, to look at how they work and where that introduces vulnerabilities.
You can’t rely upon security tools alone to protect the business. They have to be used and implemented correctly, with policing systems.
Training your staff correctly and often
If 80% of breaches start with an inadvertent human error, we need to educate your staff to be your first line of defence. Techniques used by cyber criminals include relying on someone to click a link or download a file. This loads malware onto a device or gives them access to your network.
Sadly, most of the time, people don’t even realise they have done it. This is why we recommend regular cyber-security training. Which we can help with.
… and it is critical that everyone in the business has this training. Including you!
Invest
Now we get onto the fun part. Having your defences breached is as costly in time as it is in money. But it can empower growth! Forward-thinking businesses see that an investment in the right technology can give them a real edge and a competitive advantage.
When you’ve got the right technology:
- Your people become more efficient
- Communication is improved
- You can reduce your overheads
All of these benefits can be translated into advantages for your customers.
Things move very quickly in the world of technology.
Take professional advice and avoid spending money simply because it promises the world, if it’s too good to be true… It’s imperative that any investment delivers on your growth strategy.
Working with our clients, we take time to understand their business and what future plans they have to best advise on areas for investment, Before making a commitment, we ask two simple questions:
- Will this increase the top line of the business?
- Will this increase the bottom line of the business?
And what about the benefit to your clients?
- Will it help you deliver a better product or service?
- Will it speed up delivery or help you eliminate any steps in your processes?
- Will it give you an edge over your competitors?
- Or help you expand your range of products and services?
Look at the real cost of your investment. It’s not just buying the hardware, software and setup. New technology creates period of adjustment so you might initially see a dip in productivity while people are learning new systems.
Some businesses will be focused right now on cutting costs. When it comes to technology, we believe this to be a false economy. Technology investment must always be looked at as part of the bigger growth picture.
The Killer Questions
We want to finish with 3 key questions for you:
- How will technology strategy planning grow your business this year?
- Have you thoroughly looked at these two important areas: Defend and Invest?
- Is your technology partner capable of supporting your business growth at a strategic level, as well as with day-to-day?
If you want to find out more about this in depth, download our free Defend and Invest Guide.
Alternatively, we would love to talk to you about your business with a free and no obligation discovery call. Meet with our experts to discuss what would work best for you and your business.