So, you want to increase the digital maturity of your business. And you are planning your digital roadmap. Does your plans consider of any business risks involved as well?
Everyone always speaks about the positives of digital change. And yes, there are many of them. Improved customer experience, operational efficiency, and staying competitive. But what are the risks that you need to consider? And how do you navigate them?
With each passing day, the risks to businesses utilizing digital strategies expand as well – from cyber threats to non-compliance with data privacy regulations and more. Not having a strategic digital plan in place can lead to costly mistakes that significantly damage your business.
Possibly you are moving a customer process to the cloud. Or maybe you are installing a new capability on your website or online service. Regardless, you need a checklist of risks to consider whenever you make the change. A checklist to be reviewed, even when you have a technology partner involved.
There are many things to consider.
Data privacy risk.
Anytime, you have a technology change you need to know the impact to your data privacy commitments. Make changes to internal processes and procedures. And update the externally facing privacy statement.
Staffing risk.
Does the digital technology you are using need specialized skills to develop, implement and maintain it? Consider any digital enablement needs when making change. Plan for updating processes and training employees. trained.
Operational risk.
Digital systems and technologies fail. Leading to potential reputation damage, legal liabilities, and financial losses. (But so do manual ones, it just seems at times the technology risk is bigger.) It’s important to understand how your operations might be impacted. Then build in fault tolerance, backup, and recovery procedures.
Cybersecurity risk.
As your business increases its digital capabilities, it also increases its exposure to cyber threats such as hacking, data breaches, ransomware attacks and phishing scams. It’s key to have a cybersecurity response in place and review it with each technology change you roll out.
Regulatory and compliance risk.
Often there are laws and regulations that are specific to the industry for your company. Review these as to any impact that the technology change may present.
A robust roadmap considers business risks
Don’t create a digital roadmap without considering these key business risks. They need to be a key part of your plans. And reviewed with each digital initiative. It will make your roadmap more robust.
