Rules, regulations, red tape: data handlers must cover multiple bases.
The consequences of failure are simply too grave to countenance – fines, sanctions, even criminal prosecution for organizations that don’t check every box.
In a world where the volume of that data is set to double every two years, it’s easy to see why unified communications and managed service providers must have robust systems in place.
Is customer data being processed in line with the rules? Is it being stored correctly? Is it leaving or entering geographical jurisdictions compliantly? And, perhaps most importantly of all, is the data (and the platform or system processing it) sufficiently protected from theft or security breach?
Having an awareness and understanding of the more than 100 relevant laws is challenging enough for many, let alone being able to answer all those questions in the affirmative.
Staffing organizations with qualified (and expensive) compliance teams is of course one way to go.
However, (less expensive) outsourcing comes with added value: objective, all-seeing scrutiny from experts unconstrained by a daily and overly-close connection to the organization and its protocols.
All those organizations have to do is pick the right provider.
“Compliance is strictly non-negotiable; the only choice organizations have is how they achieve and maintain it,” says Dr Scott Allendevaux, senior practice lead at UC professional services practice Allendevaux & Company, which helps thousands of businesses do just that.
“First, you have to understand the laws and regulations that apply to you. That sounds obvious but, for many organizations, that is a significant challenge all of its own. Second, you have to design and build effective and efficient processes which ensure compliance with all those laws and regulations. And third, you have to have systems in place which maintain that compliance, and which can respond quickly to new and constantly-evolving legislation. It is mission-critical for any telecoms, UC or managed services business.”
Indeed, the laws are numerous and wide-ranging.
Data privacy; data security. Data laws that apply globally; data laws that apply locally. Laws in relation to customer data; laws in relation to employee data. Laws that govern financial auditing and reporting, payment of taxes, money laundering, and bribery. And then there are also laws around health and safety, and employment.
Critically – for a sector that operates globally – many of those laws are unique to individual regions, countries and states, and are administered by different entities, often in different languages.
