Every organisation is vulnerable to unique risks. What may pose a huge risk to some may not be as pervasive of a threat to others. Because a threat has not yet emerged as one, however, doesn’t mean it won’t pose a threat in the future.
This approach to business security may seem like a constant state of alarm, and that’s because it is.
Our familiarity with cyberattacks tells us they are often silent threats that may lie dormant within our systems for a while before making their presence known and wreaking havoc across our businesses. By the time the threat is identified, the damage is already done.
The key to robust digital security is to have processes in place to stop a threat from developing. This approach takes on the form of risk identification, risk mitigation, and the shoring up of vulnerabilities as opposed to eliminating threats as and when they appear.
That’s where integrated risk management becomes invaluable.
The value of integration across your risk management strategy
The digital age has brought many contradictions to our businesses.
Digital systems tout the power to protect your company, offering capabilities to streamline the work you do and add greater value to it.
On the flip side, it can also create a higher risk of cyberattacks, fraud, and breakdowns, which can, in turn, be fixed by a different set of tools.
The capabilities of technology are seemingly endless, but it has become clear that choosing the right systems can make all the difference. This is true not just when it comes to business efficiency but cybersecurity as well.
The implementation of digital systems is often accompanied by the assumption that the overview of your business, access to information, and transparency will also improve automatically. This outcome, however, is wholly dependent on the system you choose.
A recent survey of IT professionals revealed that 74% of respondents recognised a mounting collaboration between enterprise risk management and IT security. This trend implies that more and more organisations are beginning to recognise IT security as a critical part of operational continuity.
It also reveals that the business landscape is waking up to the idea that better coordination within a business may mitigate the security risks it has faced in the past.
This coordination, facilitated by the integration of your systems, is an operation that is often taken for granted and, as a result, is underutilised.
Integration, by definition, implies the unification of your business data. An effort to ensure that your entire business, from internal and external stakeholders to processes and systems supporting every operation, is considered in your risk management process.
An integrated risk management platform also involves the end-to-end process of not just accessing and gathering data but evaluating it and ensuring that the information you gather through this process informs your strategy, communication, reports, monitoring, and responses.
An organisation-wide effort to maintain risk management
Your integrated risk management platform requires a change in organisational culture to ensure that security is considered by every team member and process that leads to the final product or service.
This means your organisation must facilitate more dynamic training programmes and keep teams up to date on the many advances in the cybersecurity landscape. This is necessary to maintain your risk management platform.
Not only does an integrated risk management platform ensure security across your business processes, but it also yields valuable information and tools. This information will keep your stakeholders informed when making key decisions that affect the security of your organisation.
In short, the integration of risk management through a digital platform supports more powerful organisational security while distributing the responsibility of upholding it across your organisation.
Implement an integrated risk management platform for greater business stability
Today, not a single company function is secure until every other piece of the puzzle is stable and protected as well.
Given the current business landscape, greater integration across your risk management process is the only effective approach a contemporary business can take to bolstering its security posture.