Investing in the proper security and compliance software, platforms, and solutions is essential for any organization. As the world becomes increasingly digitized, consumers and employees alike are becoming more concerned about how companies handle their data.
At the same time, threats and issues are becoming more difficult to manage. Compliance standards are evolving to suit a world of mobility and omnichannel communications. Additionally, attackers are accessing ever-more sophisticated tools and strategies.
The challenge for business leaders is in choosing the right software or tech to help them mitigate issues and protect their organization. Here’s our guide to comparing security and compliance software solutions in 2024.
Step 1: Examine Evolving Compliance Guidelines
An effective security and compliance software solution should allow companies to adhere to the ever-changing regulations present in their industry. However, to understand what sort of technology or support you need, you must first examine the landscape.
Some compliance guidelines apply to virtually every industry, from GDPR to CCPA. Others are more common in specific industries. For instance, financial companies need to ensure PCI-DSS compliance when managing transactions. Healthcare brands need solutions that support HIPAA compliance.
Understanding which guidelines apply to you and how they change is crucial to choosing the right technology. Depending on your industry, you may need specific content retention and disposition, data capture and sovereignty, and data redaction solutions.
Step 2: Assess Your Risk Landscape
After examining the compliance standards you need to adhere to and their evolving guidelines, the next step is exploring your risk landscape. The technology and processes your teams rely on will all come with their own threats to consider. For instance, if you’re offering hybrid and remote work opportunities to teams, you’ll need to determine how you can secure devices and remote networks.
If you’re running a contact center, you’ll need to think about how customer information is stored, protected, and even collected across various channels. If, like many organizations, you’re investing in unified communications, you’ll need to ensure you can capture the correct data from every channel, preserving context and structure.
For some companies embracing innovative new technologies like generative AI, there’ll be a need to assess how bots capture data, and whether it’s used to train future systems.
Step 3: Look for Unified Security and Compliance Software
One of the biggest challenges companies face today is figuring out how to maintain complete visibility in an evolving communications space. In the past, many organizations relied on disparate tools to collect and manage data on each communication channel.
Unfortunately, this disconnected landscape leads to a host of problems, from data silos and inaccuracies to potential security gaps. In a world of unified communications and omnichannel customer service, the proper security and compliance software must cover all avenues.
It should allow organizations to capture and manage data wherever it flows comprehensively. The right solutions should also make it easy to implement security policies into every workflow. The best software will not only support different communication channels it will also integrate with other analytical and workflow tools, paving the way for better visibility and automation opportunities.
Step 4: Embrace Innovative Solutions
Innovation in the business world is often a double-edged sword. New developments in communication channels, tools, and artificial intelligence come with risks to consider. However, innovative security and compliance software can help businesses overcome common challenges.
For instance, automation solutions can ensure businesses can monitor networks, threat landscapes, and risks consistently without additional staff. Automation tools can use natural language processing to detect when customers reveal sensitive information and even redact this data from recordings. They can also save businesses significant time in the analysis of attacks.
AI solutions are also becoming extremely valuable in the security and compliance software. Tools like Microsoft Security Copilot can empower companies to build better security strategies, predict threats, and quickly resolve issues.
Step 5: Prioritize Customizable Solutions
As mentioned above, every business has unique compliance and security concerns. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to protecting your company and customers. Because of this, organizations need security and compliance software that adapts to their needs.
The right solution should be flexible, scalable, and designed to suit your requirements. Look for a provider that offers complete control over the strategies you use and policies you set. You should be able to deploy your technology however you choose, set your own rules for data retention, and even leverage comprehensive zero-trust access controls.
Some security and compliance vendors can even work with businesses to help them configure their technology, train employees, and implement integrations. If you have complex requirements, searching for this extra level of support will be valuable.
Step 6: Ensure Ease of Use
Finally, security and compliance can be a complex landscape to navigate. However, the software you use to protect your business shouldn’t be complicated. The harder any technology is to use, the more likely you’ll struggle with low adoption and business disruption.
An adequate security and compliance software system will make it easy to protect your business without causing problems for your team. Innovative platforms will allow companies to automate repetitive tasks in seconds, create secure workflows, and access insights instantly.
Many top systems today come with intuitive search tools, so you can find and share the data you need rapidly. They also feature convenient online portals to manage technology, reports, and insights from anywhere.
Choosing the Ideal Security and Compliance Software
Investing in the proper security and compliance software is crucial, no matter which industry you serve. As the digital world evolves and regulations become more complex, the number of vendors offering intuitive solutions is increasing.
However, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for choosing the exemplary service. The best solution for you will depend on your business structure, the risks you face, and your priorities.
