Security meets strategy: cybersecurity as centerpiece of the IT–business partnership

Now more than ever, a company’s IT organization plays a key role in implementing business strategies. Driven by digitalization, the lines between the IT and business sides are increasingly being blurred. But while this important partnership spurs innovation and growth, cybersecurity is often relegated to secondary status. Many companies hesitate to invest in advanced, holistic security measures such as zero trust or the necessary measures to implement the NIS2 security requirements. Why? That’s simple: The costs often seem high, and the benefit is not immediately obvious. On top of that, many organizations view these security measures as too complex, or they may lack the internal expertise to set up and carry out projects in this space. The irony of this situation is that systems that protect company data against invisible threats often remain invisible themselves. They are tremendously important, but that does not become widely apparent until harm occurs.

Future business processes will increasingly be driven by data, underscoring the importance of AI, machine learning, and business intelligence. These technologies require processing and analysis of critical data. This means a robust cybersecurity strategy is critically important when it comes to protecting the data sets that form the basis for these technologies. Cybersecurity must be viewed as an integral element of a company’s business and corporate architecture. IT has long since moved from its original supporting function to one of strategic partnership, helping to achieve business objectives reliably. Integrating IT security measures at an early stage not only improves companies’ protection, but also ensures operational excellence. After all, if these measures are part of the underlying concept, there is no need to add them on later, which is a laborious process and often not very efficient.

A holistic cybersecurity concept integrated right from the start sets the direction for a company’s future IT strategy. Clear responsibilities and unwavering vigilance on cybersecurity risks protect data and processes, but that is not all. They also safeguard the company’s future viability. What companies should definitely bear in mind in considering these matters is that proactive implementation costs less than responding to a security incident – even without considering the damage to a company’s reputation and trust status that these kinds of incidents cause. Close partnership between the IT and business sides enables innovation while also guarding against misuse of data due to unnoticed hacking attacks, which is crucial to a company’s competitiveness.

With all this in mind, companies should consider that key aspects such as cybersecurity, data protection and privacy, governance, and compliance are absolutely crucial to business processes that are viable for the future. This is another area where they can benefit from advanced technologies: AI will play a role in cybersecurity in its own right by addressing the shortage of skilled workers with Microsoft Security Copilot, for example, and streamlining security operations. 

But how can companies bring about this change and incorporate a holistic IT security strategy into their corporate strategy? As noted above, there is often a lack of internal resources, with the necessary expertise being limited. A professional external viewpoint can help take security to the next level, further strengthening the partnership between the business and IT sides.

Campana & Schott provides companies with a full range of support in this area. The first step is our cybersecurity quick check, which takes place as part of a free half-day workshop. The workshop’s goal is to arrive at an initial assessment of your company’s current maturity level in terms of cybersecurity, a crucial step in moving toward defined security objectives. The workshop will give you an overview of the organizational and technological security measures that have already been put in place. The primary result of this quick check is to identify future measures that will have the biggest impact on improving cybersecurity. These measures are assessed with an eye to their effect and scope to lay a solid basis for setting priorities and crafting an integration plan. This is a quick way for companies to get key insights and initial recommendations for actions that can take their security to the next level.

In addition to this service, Campana & Schott can also carry out the Microsoft Cyber Security Assessment if required. This assessment includes 

• Analysis of your environment and determination of the current cyber security maturity level 
• Deployment of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management and Insider Risk Analytics within a defined scope in your production environment 
• Conducting a vulnerability assessment and prioritizing identified vulnerabilities 
• Data security assessment to discover sensitive information and potential insider risks 

Based on the results of the assessment, you will receive recommendations and guidance on next steps to improve your cyber security posture and reduce risks.