Why Every Mature Business Have To Make An Investment In Data Privacy

We are thriving in the information age and the business environment around us is such that data security has become the primary responsibility of every organization which wants to grow and prosper. The advantages of investment in data privacy are endless and every mature business has come to the realization that if they aspire to be the primary choice of their customers, they have to make sure that they stand true to their customers’ privacy and security expectations.

General Data Protection Regulation, also known as GDPR, was enforced by the European Union to set a regulatory benchmark for the organizations in terms of data privacy. As these regulations are utterly strict and penalize heavily in case of non-compliance, the businesses are shifting their approach towards following more mature data privacy policies.

Many researchers have also proved through their studies that the GDPR ready organizations are not only reaping massive benefits from their wise investment in data privacy but are also on the verge of becoming the pioneers in their respective business platforms. So, let us try to understand why every mature business is committed to focus on data privacy investments and what are the positive outcomes out of it.

Investment In Data Privacy - Why it Needs to be a Priority?

1) Sales Delays Can Be Reduced

In the data-driven world, well-informed customers are always curious about the privacy and security readiness of the organizations. Consequently, bigger time frames are required by the companies in order to address the data privacy concerns of their potential customers, which leads to sales delays. Due to these delays, the companies not only lose a major chunk of their revenues, but their customers may even move to their competitors.

Research by Cisco on the benefits of investment in data privacy boldly outlines the fact that the GDPR ready businesses have significantly shorter sales delays as their customers are satisfied with their privacy policies and believe in their data security framework. Investment in data privacy can help organizations in strengthening their processes and addressing the customers’ privacy requirements in shorter time frames.     

2) Data Breaches Can Be Avoided

The successful companies of today’s age understand their preferences and act with extreme care when it comes to protecting the data of their customers. According to the Cisco study, the organizations which adhere to the GDPR regulations reap the maximum benefits as they face a lesser number of data breaches. On the other hand, the organizations which refrain from investing in data privacy are more vulnerable to data breaches and face severe impacts. Investing in data security will not only reduce the chances of data breaches but also make ways for a more secure and robust IT network for your organization.

3) Shorter System Downtimes Are Achieved

When it comes to getting back on the tracks after some kind of privacy-related discrepancy, the GDPR ready organizations emerge far more efficient than their competitors.

As compared to 9.4 hours of average system downtime of the least complying companies, the organizations which follow the investment regulations experienced a mere 6.4 hours of average system downtime (Cisco research).

Better management of data not only reduces the system downtimes but also drives your business in the right direction.  

4) Operational Efficiency Is Enhanced

Investment in data privacy is highly correlated with the overall system efficiency of any data-centric business. And it is not surprising that those businesses which make a smart investment in data privacy tend to achieve the best possible results. Organized privacy-related practices and cataloged data can help organizations in preventing system breakdowns and data breaches. This can yield enhanced operational efficiencies and higher profits.

5) Overall Cost Of Data Breach Is Reduced

It is quite interesting that investment on one side saves money for organizations on another side. In the adverse case of the data breach, the GDPR-ready businesses tend to experience the minimum possible financial harm as their robust security frameworks protect their data assets coherently and even in the worst case scenario, only a tiny fraction of the data records get impacted. The cost of a data breach is further reduced as the downtimes faced by systems are shorter and the processes start running smoothly within no time.

Privacy Benefits compared to investments on security

6) Competitive Advantage And Greater Support From Investors

The mature practice of investment in data privacy has created tremendous business opportunities and serves as a major competitive advantage for a number of companies. Investing in data curation and protection turns data into a valuable asset and also helps in gaining appeal with investors.

7) Enhanced Customer Experience  

With a constant surge in technological advancements, the expectations of customers are also evolving day by day. When the customers feel that they have control over their data, they develop a feeling of trust in your business and this leads to a long term relationship. Offering a mature security environment to the customers will immensely enhance their overall experience and drive higher value for the organization in the long term.

With each passing day, the customer demands as well the privacy requirements are evolving continuously and the businesses which make intelligent privacy investments will surely have a notable advantage. Thus, each and every information-centric organization must realize the importance of data as an asset and look for ways to protect that data in order to maintain and enhance customer trust.