By Guy Warren, CEO at ITRS
Mid-fall has just arrived, and it’s brought with it a much-needed breath of fresh air, which has filtered its way into the boardroom. This revived mentality – which some would class as similar to the ‘back to school mindset’ that many adopt at the start of a new school year – provides a good opportunity for organizations to revisit their business plans and set their minds to thinking about what they can achieve in the tail end of the year.
Given the current economic backdrop, managing the controllables well is more important than ever. To navigate uncertainty successfully, firms need to control what they can, and then manage the rest as best they can.
But what are the controllables that they can control this fall and into next year?
Mitigating system downtime
All organizations must have highly proactive monitoring and security capabilities to see how their systems are operating in real-time.
To protect their profits and customer base, the first thing firms must do is reduce any risk of system outages. Earlier this year, Zelle, the US-based digital payments network experienced an outage with hundreds of users claiming their money had disappeared. Whilst this is bad at the best of times, the high inflation and increasing interest rates which are currently straining consumers’ finances only heightens the impact that such downtime can have. Not only is it damaging to customer satisfaction, but the wider reputational risk can be catastrophic.
However, this isn’t an isolated incident. IT estates have only become more complex over recent years – and therefore more susceptible to outages.
Added to this is the fact that we are operating in an ‘always on’ economy, whereby customers demand real-time access to their banking services. And real-time must mean real-time – not 60 seconds, 30 seconds, or even 10 seconds later. While it might seem costly at a time when most businesses are operating on small margins, the bottom line is that system outages will not only cost you reputationally, but also result in tangible financial repercussions as well.
Navigating the regulatory landscape
Avoidable system outages are one thing, but as organizations assess their plans for the next quarter, executives must also consider the shifting regulatory landscape and the effects this will have on their decisions. In July, the SEC adopted rules requiring registrants to disclose material cybersecurity incidents they experience. These rules emphasize the importance of ongoing monitoring of cybersecurity risks and incidents. Companies are now mandated to disclose material information regarding their cybersecurity risk management, strategy, and governance on an annual basis.
Fortunately, having the right monitoring tools in place can help detect cyber incidents in real time, which can enable you to help identify, diagnose, and resolve issues before they impact business operations or cause significant financial damage.
Growing and scaling with hybrid cloud solutions
The current economic headwinds mean firms must be savvy about their spending budget. With costs rapidly rising, being cost-conscious will be an asset – so institutions need to see where they can optimize spending without compromising system safety. Firms should be reviewing their IT infrastructures to ensure they are optimized with no wasted costs.
Optimizing hybrid cloud management can radically transform business operations. Hybrid cloud computing enables firms to scale up their on-premises infrastructure to the public cloud to handle any spikes in demand – so firms only ever pay for what they need, never wasting money on unused capacities.
You could think of this with an ‘owning’ vs ‘renting’ mentality. Firms own their on-premises estate, buying more real estate with the idea that they will probably expand into it in time. However, they rent their cloud estate – renting only what they need, not spending excessive amounts on a cloud estate that is too big for their requirements. Management teams must ensure their hybrid cloud is scalable and flexible to avoid paying out of pocket for a cloud estate that they do not end up using.
Economic pressures will continue to impact businesses well into the new year, so firms must begin planning early, using this quarter to map out how to avoid unnecessary costs and start 2024 on the front foot. Firms need to be agile to remain resilient – and going back to basics and assessing the fundamentals will set them up with the best chance of success.
