Choosing a party outside your organization to perform specific tasks is a very popular practice. However, it’s not that easy. There are many parameters that need to be considered and priorities that must be aligned carefully. These preparations and research are particularly hard when you choose to outsource tech roles. Outsourcing cybersecurity and compliance services is most likely the trickiest domain to cover.
Still, if you do everything correctly and conduct a thorough search, the odds of obtaining amazing results are on your side. Finding a suitable BPO provider gets much easier if you follow the simple guidelines we’ll write about. So, get ready to understand and embrace some of the principal methods and procedures that will get you precisely where you want to be.
What are the 5 types of cyber security?
Cybersecurity is a big deal. It’s way more than a buzzword or a trend. Each business must learn about it, regardless of its specific industry or niche. However, the exact types or methods a firm will use depends on their needs – and the people in charge of it. So, what are the common types of cyber security? Here are the ones we all have to know of:
- Network security for each business that aims to protect their computers and entire systems from cyber-attacks and all kinds of intrusions and threats,
- Critical infrastructure cybersecurity for the systems we all heavily depend on, like those related to power and water supplies,
- IoT security that provides safety + valuable information, data, and analytics to those businesses that implement it,
- Cloud security that preserves the stored data and protects both firms and their clients and customers from malicious intents,
- Application security that mitigates cyber-attacks and keeps all sorts of apps intrusion-free.
Life without using the internet for work, fun, or education is nearly impossible to imagine these days. In fact, more than 4.6 million people across the globe are active web users. And one of the top struggles they could encounter is safety issues. Regardless of whether you’re trying to start an eCommerce business, build a PWA, or just browse – pay close attention to the ways to protect your privacy and data. Around $6 trillion was lost due to cyber-attacks. Secure your information, profit, and people around you.
Why do companies outsource cyber security?
There are countless benefits of outsourcing that companies can rely on and obtain excellent results. Some of the main reasons to outsource a specific job function include saving time, reducing costs, raising profits, boosting productivity, simplifying hiring and onboarding processes, gaining more coverage, and much more.
The main reasons for outsourcing cybersecurity and compliance services include:
- Bringing highly skilled individuals on board quickly and saving money in the process,
- Working with experienced industry experts who have seen it all and can promptly react to any threat or malfunction,
- Providing layered protection and granting extensive and efficient safety checks,
- Having around the clock service and constant shielding against intruders,
- Overcoming skill gaps and covering specific scenarios by collaborating with highly proficient BPO providers,
- Getting fresh sets of eyes and hands on your safety checks and obtaining independent validation.
Lastly, one of the pros of outsourcing cybersecurity is that you can direct your aims toward other core business areas. Your in-house team can easily take their time to focus on other equally significant tasks and functions. Moreover, getting external help will reduce the pressure and enable your staff to feel more stress-free. That way, you can decrease churn rates and improve employee retention and satisfaction.
What types of cybersecurity services do companies provide?
Finding a BPO company to help an organization out with its protection from intrusive attacks is becoming a prevalent trend. As of 2017, more than 47% of surveyed businesses outsourced tech security and similar roles. And these figures are on the rise.
The expert third-party companies tend to provide a wide range of different services – and here are the main ones:
- On-site technical support,
- System engineering,
- Penetration testing,
- Systems auditing,
- Multiple tools and analytics.
During the past year, more than 77% of tech leaders reported cyber-attacks. And with the rapid expansion of technology and the global shift toward digitalization, it is no wonder that so many firms will outsource software development, IT management, compliance services, and other similar roles.
3 best practices you need to know when outsourcing cyber security and compliance
No matter which roles and responsibilities a firm chooses to delegate to a BPO provider, there’s always one crucial point to keep in mind. Pairing up with the right outsourcing company is imperative. So, in order to encounter your perfect match, you must run to the core research. After that, make sure everything is perfectly synced and harmonical – from your expectations and BPO team’s abilities to contracts, legal forms, and the fine print you’ll need to read and study out and out.
Research through and through to find the best third-party partner
Exploring your options and finding out as much as you can about each BPO company you could work with is paramount. What can you do? Well, you can check out their website, other pages, previous work, testimonials, and sites dedicated to collecting reviews about companies. Also, you’ll have to trust your gut. So, if anything feels “off” about a company, it most likely is. Nevertheless, here are the major red flags to watch out for:
- They can’t provide you with basic information like a phone number or a street address.
- A firm does not have business email addresses and instead communicates by using Gmail, Yahoo, and others.
- It presents you with a website that seems very unprofessional in design or has content written in broken English.
Even when a potential BPO partner appears to be absolutely legit and skilled, you should always ask for references. Guess what – acknowledged cybersecurity teams would be more than happy to provide them. Cast about and find your ideal match.
Align your requirements with your BPO provider’s compliance processes
Your demands and prospects must be met. Make sure that you and the potential BPO company are fully aligned regarding that. First of all, their skill sets and expertise must fit your unique needs and requirements. Why is this essential? Well, believe it or not, some auditors are still using Excel and similar spreadsheet programs to conduct tech compliance reporting and audits. Even though spreadsheet programs aren’t meant for the extensive data sets produced in today’s complex data environments, some rely on them. Hence, those who still feel their way around with sheets will cost you much time and money and produce jumbles.
Ensure your BPO partner uses advanced software to perform compliance reporting.
Write down the entire deal and double-check every term & condition
Finally, it’s crucial to get everything properly documented. Each agreement and every single assignment must be written and kept throughout the entire collaboration. The contract must specify exactly what is expected from a third-party team. That way, you have ensured that they’ll sign to deliver what they’ve promised.
Cybersecurity practices small businesses need to embrace
If you’ve just started a small firm or founded a type of eCommerce company, don’t get all cozy and overlook the possible threats. Unfortunately, cybercriminals don’t skip small businesses and startups. So, in order to protect yourself and ensure security and excellent experience to your customers, it’s vital to implement these layers of cybersecurity:
- Use a firewall as the first line of defense and install anti-malware software,
- Document all your policies and protocols,
- Develop a plan to protect mobile devices,
- Set up strong passwords and change them frequently,
- Educate your employees about the importance of cybersecurity,
- Backup all data and store it in various locations,
- Identify malfunctions by using proper tools to detect any problem on time.
Ultimately, find a leading BPO company that specializes in these fields. Reach out to them and dedicate them to these significant assignments. Hire a knowledgeable crew and reduce your stress by counting on their experience and integrity.
Is it safe to outsource IT security?
Like in any other domain, outsourcing cybersecurity can come with a few risks and challenges. Regardless of these potential downsides, this business practice is still worth your while. If you partner with a credible and highly skilled third-party provider, everything will run smoothly. Diminishing the risk of being cyberattacked is a top priority. Hiring an external helper to take care of it is far less dangerous than to trace state-of-the-art attacking methods yourself and hope for the best.
Pros and cons of outsourcing cybersecurity
Increased productivity, vast knowledge, superb skills, and lower costs all around are among the prime advantages of outsourcing cybersecurity compliance services. You’ll also reduce quite a few risks and level the playing field – especially if you run a small firm. Staying focused while deploying new technologies quickly will also enable you to grow, scale, and gain a competitive edge.
Nevertheless, some cons of outsourcing need to be known – and overcome:
- Potential hidden costs may pop up somewhere along the way,
- Investment expenses will still emerge since attackers are getting more sophisticated, and it will be up to you to switch to new protection methods that are more pricey,
- Reliability might also pose an issue if you don’t look carefully and fail to find an utterly trustworthy external team,
- Communication and quality control could also be affected since you’ll have less room to monitor the processes, and the teams could fail to sync their schedules,
- Dependency on the provider could also happen over time – which can make their internal misunderstandings and shortcomings your problem.
However, all of these challenges can be reduced or completely eliminated. The trick is to find a team outside your organization that fully matches your needs. And it goes the other way around – you must be fair, transparent, and respectful. Build mutual trust and start small until you’re on the same page. In the meantime, learn new ways to motivate your core team and promote the company culture throughout all external collaborations.
Outsourcing cybersecurity and compliance requires extra precaution – so choose wisely!
Each business practice and every great decision entails careful planning and a lot of research. Outsourcing is no exception. When it comes to preventing cybercrimes and boosting safety – picking a reputable and skilled external tech team is often the best choice. Explore your alternatives and do the homework properly to find the best cybersecurity and compliance services.
