RISK MANAGEMENT
Is Reliable IT At The Top Of Your Customers ’ Risk Management ?
It Should Be !
BY GARY TONNIGES JR ., CPA & CEO OF TRIQUEST TECHNOLOGIES
In the past , cybersecurity and tech have stayed in the IT department . Today , CFOs must lead the conversation about cybersecurity business risks or jeopardize the business altogether .
Four times a year on average , business executives — including but not limited to CFOs , CEOs , and department heads — sit down around a rectangular table facing a whiteboard or projector screen . At the top of the whiteboard , written in red marker , reads “ Key Business Risks .” They have a detailed report in front of them with worst-case-scenario line items like compliance failure , building risks like fire , and human risks like injury . Then somewhere down on that list is “ cybersecurity .” On that item , the conversation is brief . It ’ s not the executive ’ s problem ; after all , that ’ s why they have an IT team . “ Let ’ s make sure data is protected and our systems are secure ,” they say , and everyone at the table agrees . They assign their IT tech to the task and check the box . Done and dusted , right ? Not quite .
WELCOME TO THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION
Before the digital age , it was routine for businesses to leave tech conversations within the IT department — outside of larger dialogues around operations . IT was tucked away in a back office , taking care of abstruse coding and software installations , and the business plugged along .
Today , we ’ re in the mid-digital age , the dual-sided coin of digital transformation where , on the one side , nearly every business uses some level of technology — like apps , scanners , or mobile devices — to connect processes and execute business strategy across the entire enterprise .
The other side of the coin is more problematic : though businesses use digital tools prolifically , they don ’ t fully grasp the risk that ineffective technology practices pose to their business . Keeping discussions about technology isolated in the IT department is the root of the problem . What happens when their business tech suddenly stops working ? Is confidential information or customer loyalty at stake ?
What separates a business that thrives from a business that flounders — or closes entirely — is whether they are having conversations at the executive level about how reliable IT impacts business strategy and business risk . It ’ s a conversation that CFOs need to initiate . If they don ’ t , they leave vulnerabilities on the table ripe for exploitation . Money isn ’ t the only thing it will cost them . Odds are it will cost them the entire business . Data from the National Cybersecurity Alliance reports that 60 % of SMBs that suffer a cyberattack go out of business within six months . 1
TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED PROCESSES
What gets businesses thinking in the right way is to see the big picture and lay out their most essential processes : the steps , tools , and people they use to get their product or service from the factory floor to their customers . How many of these processes require technology to complete ? Imagine what would happen if , during those processes , technology stopped working . Here ’ s an example : A manufacturer ships products across the nation . To get products to customers , employees use computers and scanners that document and track packages as they are loaded on a truck . Then tracking software gets hit with ransomware , and the company is locked out . Business productivity decreases , employees are less efficient or can ’ t work at all , and valuable customer loyalty is lost because their package never shows up . All that comes down to
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