Security Sales & Integration October 2021 - 42

Management
Security Software
Platforms
streamline your processes and cut costs. When
you have a clear line of sight to your customers
and your business operations, you can make
better choices.
▶ Making smarter decisions - When planning
the strategic future of your business, you
benefit significantly from having clear access
to your data. However, this can be challenging
if the data is spread out and disparate. In
many cases, poor data visibility leads to ignoring
the data or worse, an incomplete picture
when making strategic choices. Scattered data
is the single biggest problem security companies
face when it comes to data visibility. If
data isn't housed in and analyzed from one
location, companies may not see the full picture.
Another common cause of data obscurity
is simply not collecting data. Unifying your
financial and business operations into one
platform allows for a more holistic view of
your business. That naturally leads to better
data-based decisions.
A purpose-built
solution can be
implemented to
include specific
reporting and
KPIs.
3. Moving to the Cloud: The move to SaaS
applications marks one of the biggest steps in
the evolution of business and financial management
systems. The majority of companies
are moving away from the perpetual license
model, opting for the superior customization
of SaaS solutions. This trend is seeing an uptick
for several reasons.
▶ SaaS Has Become Less Expensive - SaaS
solutions offer a larger return on investment
and come with a smaller TCO. SaaS has finally
surpassed on-premise solutions in this regard.
If you're looking for lower TCO, the costs of
hosting business management solutions onsite
are now, in many cases, higher. Companies
simply can't host their data as cost-effectively
SaaS solutions can.
▶ Cybersecurity Concerns - Second, the
Cloud isn't just less expensive. There's a safety
element as well. Cybersecurity risk is pushing
companies to adopt a SaaS model as on-prem
solutions are easily targeted by cybercriminals.
With an on-premise solution, once attackers
are in your network, they're in your network.
From there, they have access to multiple systems
and multiple layers of sensitive data. The
cost of a breach is high. Sometimes that's due
to the ramson demands of cybercriminals.
However, there's also reputation management
to consider. Cloud-hosted solutions mitigate
much of this risk.
42
Security Sales & Integration OCTOBER 2021
Choice Considerations
What should you look for in a business management
solution? Short answer: ROI. When
evaluating options for a business management
solution, there are a few other key items to
consider.
▶ Industry-Specific Solutions - First, look
for solutions that are unique to your industry
or company function. It's important to understand
and acknowledge your requirements, as
well as your " nice to haves. " Don't skimp on
this step. Due diligence is critical for identifying
your processes and potential gaps. For example,
consider reporting and regulatory compliance
needs. Identify the requirements from
each department head and talk to teams in the
trenches to ensure everything is covered. Then
put together a list of metrics-driven requirements.
If it will save X hours of time that you're
paying X dollars for, how can the solution help
address and reduce those costs?
▶ Holistic Solutions - Companies should
also look holistically at what the solution can
do for them. What elements of your business
does the solution help increase, decrease, improve
or add? All of these aspects are related
to ROI. Will it increase efficiencies and effectiveness?
Will it retain customers or increase
profitability? Will it decrease headcount or repetitive
processes? Will it result in fewer bugs?
Does it reduce or minimize touchpoints?
There are so many places the same data is
used across your different partners. Reducing
redundancy in data entry drives down labor
costs, saves hours and reduces manual errors,
which reduces risk.
Will it improve processes? Will the field service
management now be able to talk to your
CRM system? Are processes, reporting and
compliance improved? Ensure the solution
offers easy connection and integration points
across multiple systems for the best improvements.
What does it add to your business? Is
it creating new business? Are new features resulting
in new benefits - even unquantifiable
items such as morale?
Look closely at the difference between the
hard costs of an on-prem solution and the
licensing cost of a SaaS solution. Purchasing
software may result in a higher upfront fee,
but the cost usually proves lower over time.
It's important to go through the process of reviewing
ROI and TCO to see the true benefits
to the company. You may go through this
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Security Sales & Integration October 2021

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