Effective IT Security Solutions Contribute to SMB Success and Profitability

• Figure 1: Business Impact of IT Developments
• Figure 2: Good News, Bad News - 1
• Figure 3: Impact of a Breach
• Figure 4: Disconnects in Security Policy & Practice
• Figure 5: Good News, Bad News - 2
• Figure 6: Good News, Bad News - 3

The premise of this paper – that effective IT security solutions contribute to organizational success and profitability – rests on two assumptions:

• IT/business solutions are important to business success and profitability; and
• Security is important to the value of IT/business solutions

Most SMB business executives would agree broadly with the first point, or would at least concede that the absence of effective IT/business solutions impedes business success.

The second point is less intuitive; in many environments, IT security is viewed as a necessary-if-unwelcome cost, rather than as an enabler of business solutions, a viewpoint that is reinforced by the clear need for IT security in the face of increasing threats to information security and business continuity. This need not and should not be the end-point of the IT security discussion, though. Effective security practices go beyond merely “raising the shields” around users, data and networks – they enable innovation throughout the IT/business infrastructure. Environments where security acts as an anchor will not be agile, will have difficulty innovating, and are likely to fall behind more nimble competitors.

SMBs that build effective, responsive security frameworks will be positioned to capitalize on new technologies and on the new efficiencies that they enable.