Multiple facets of security
It seems that a day doesn’t go by without reference in the business, professional or personal world on the impact of security. As a consultant in the business of “inspiring companies to be customer-focused”, security can impact your business in many shapes and sizes. My partner and business colleague, Janet, recently blogged and provided some great insights on the impact to products, services, and one’s conduct and approach.
What forms of security are most relevant and important to your business? Security is such a broad term — it can apply to preservation of one’s data (or IP), protection of your employees (human), safeguarding your customer’s information, and many other aspects. Take a step back, and assess those areas that may be most vulnerable to your business as well as those which can impact your growth.
I recently worked with a real estate agent in Canada on a project to help create awareness of their services and offers in their targeted geographic markets. It was a relatively simple and straightforward marketing campaign focused on potential buyers and sellers of high-end residential property. However, based on recent privacy laws, access to customer mailing information using public records such as tax information, no longer provides owner names, so personalizing the campaign information was not that simple. As a result we needed to change our approach from our traditional way of sourcing new leads and take the privacy laws into consideration.
This prompted me to research some of the critical trends of security in the global markets because a number of my clients do business outside of North America. Access to information such as customer databases, ability to manufacture in a local market, securing talent and retaining your company IP – can all have various levels of security ramifications in a given country or market.
While I was overwhelmed with the abundance of information on the “web”, it made me realize the importance of understanding the opportunities and barriers to entry in markets where security plays into a company’s national, marketing, sales, manufacturing and human capital presence. If your growth strategy includes global markets, either existing or new, being abreast of the trends on security in your target market should not be overlooked. Here are a couple of links to sites and resources that I found and may be helpful to explore further:
The Global Privacy and Security Law Reference
The ultimate reference for Global Privacy and Security Law, this book analyzes the privacy and data protection laws, usages, and trends of 65 countries on all continents.
Because my focus is primarily on ICT, I lean towards research on technology related security news. Regardless, I discovered many sources of information verticalised by industry, such as energy, food, health services, manufacturing and education just to name a few, each having key aspects relating to security trends in their industry.
If you are considering expanding your business in new global markets, do your research – deeply understand the implications of security across all aspects of your business and what is needed to succeed and support your growth. It may ultimately determine whether or not you invest in that market.