Cyber security and risk management spending is forecast to grow yet again in 2021, putting even further strain on businesses and their profits. But should boardrooms accept the need for bigger and bigger budgets, or look for more effective solutions?
Talking to CEOs, CFOs and CISOs regularly, as we do, it’s clear they’re not happy with the growing level of budget and workforce resources they need to allocate to protect their operations, reputations and profits from cyber threats and carry out the necessary audits and compliance work.
Even so, many business leaders believe this increasing year-on-year spend to be “a necessary evil”. Others, however, are actively seeking – and finding – a solution that can both dramatically reduce costs and dramatically improve their security posture and peace of mind.
So what are the facts with regard to increasing cyber security spending, and what can be done?
Gartner: Cyber security spend keeps growing – and it’s the top priority for new spending
Gartner has forecast that security and risk management spending worldwide will grow 12.4% to reach $150.4 billion in 2021. That’s up from a 6.4% increase in spending in 2020, so the rate of spend growth has almost doubled in 12 months.
The Gartner 2021 COO Agenda Survey, meanwhile, revealed that cyber security was the top priority for new spending, with 61% of 2,000-plus CIOs surveyed increasing their organisation’s investment in cyber/information security in 2021.
This comes on top of Gartner’s Emerging Risks Monitor Report stating that “cybersecurity control failures” are the #1 concern of business executives globally”.
All of this paints a costly, worrying and stressful picture for those at the top of any medium-size or large organisation with high compliance requirements.
The automated, cost-cutting, risk-reducing solution – encapsulated in a single infographic
The good news is that our new infographic ‘Cost benefits and ROI of Quod Orbis Continuous Controls Monitoring‘ depicts an altogether more positive picture for businesses.
This graphical analysis also demonstrates and details quite clearly that throwing more money and resources at the cyber security problem is definitely not the solution.
But applying greater intelligence, sophistication and automation certainly can be – and this can actually result in major cost reductions.
Intelligence, sophistication and automation are all key characteristics of Quod Orbis Continuous Controls Monitoring – a Managed Security Software-as-a-Service solution that at once delivers dramatic cost reduction married to equally dramatic improvement in security posture.
Download our cost analysis infographic pdf.
So what is continuous controls monitoring
First, let’s be clear what Continuous Controls Monitoring is not. It’s not “the next security product”. It’s more all-encompassing than that.
Continuous Controls Monitoring is a more mature, cost-effective and transformative approach to cyber security audits and compliance.
It’s an always-on, automated, 24/7, real-time solution that maximises your cyber investment and reduces your costs and risk at enterprise level in ways never before possible.
Continuous Controls Monitoring, as delivered by Quod Orbis, is effectively a single pane of glass through which our clients can view all their security products, processes and controls via user-friendly dashboards.
And that pane of glass is available on a personalised, role-specific ‘need to know’ basis across the enterprise, from cyber and risk operations through to the boardroom.
Cost savings, value-add and ROI explained
Critically, this new cost analysis infographic details exactly the kind of cost savings, value-add and ROI that a typical medium/large FTSE 500 organisation with high compliance demands can expect to achieve – and how, in practice, this will actually be achieved.
Indeed, the enlightening infographic content makes a compelling business case for Continuous Controls Monitoring versus the traditional, labour-intensive and often backwards-focused approach to cyber security audits and compliance.
The infographic compares and explains through data and visuals:
- Workload, outcomes and typical resourcing and costs across the key cyber/information security areas of Metrics, Compliance, Risk, Hygiene and Maturity
- The recurring problems encountered when operating a traditional, manual approach to cyber security-related audits and compliance
- The transformation of workload, outcomes and costs made possible by implementing Quod Orbis Continuous Controls Monitoring, delivered as a Managed Security Software-as-a-Service (MS-SaaS) solution
- Key examples of how this transformation is achieved through, for example, automatic, continuous, real-time monitoring of controls in a single pane of glass, and audit and compliance automation.
Cut audits and compliance costs by around 75% a year
Finally, the infographic presents the key benefits of Quod Orbis Continuous Controls Monitoring.
Not least of these are complete cyber controls visibility and a cost reduction of around 75% a year compared to the traditional approach to cyber security audits and compliance.
Bolstering the financial case still further is ROI payback within a remarkably short period of time. Added to which, the Quod Orbis CCM solution is managed software as a service, so there’s minimal or no overhead.
So, far from thinking that your organisation needs to throw more money and more people at the cyber security problem, the time has come for a new mindset.
Position your organisation ahead of the curve
Yes, the business world as a whole is increasing its spending on cyber security.
Equally, the smart money is looking very closely at the most effective way to dip the upward trajectory of the cyber security spending graph and, at the same time, deliver dramatically reduced business risk.
Continuous Controls Monitoring – recognised by Gartner as a fast-emerging risk management solution, and with a Garner Benefit Rating of “High” – is where the more informed and questioning corporate eye is settling.
Download our cost analysis infographic – ‘Cost benefits and ROI of Quod Orbis Continuous Controls Monitoring‘ – and you’ll begin to understand why.
Then to arrange a meeting, and to see a demo of the Quod Orbis Continuous Controls Monitoring solution, simply contact us now or call Alastair Dickson at Quod Orbis on +44 (0)7939 286 006.