PRIVACY has become a business imperative for an overwhelming majority of companies of all sizes, according to the Cisco 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study. Indeed, 92% of the security professionals surveyed say privacy is integral to their culture, 90% say they would not buy from an organization that does not properly protect its data, and 91% cite external privacy certifications as important to their buying process.
Respondents point to data privacy (32%) as one of their three top areas of responsibility, along with detecting and responding to threats (33%) and assessing and managing risk (30%).
Cisco 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study
Privacy laws that hold businesses accountable for how they manage and protect personal data have been on the rise around the world, and 83% of respondents view the impact as positive. Moreover, 92% recognize that their organization has an obligation to only use data responsibly, and 87% believe they already have processes in place to ensure automated decision making is in line with customer expectations.
Privacy budgets have risen accordingly, with average spending up 13% from $2.4 million last year to $2.7 million this year. Spending increased from $1.1 to $1.7 million for smaller organizations (50-249 employees), and from $1.6 to $2.1 million for organizations with 250-499 employees.
ROI on that investment is down slightly, at 1.8 times spending now vs. 1.9x last year, which Cisco attributes to factors such as the pandemic and increasing data localization requirements. While keeping data within the region it originated from is an important issue, according to 92% of respondents, 88% say it is adding significant cost. Still, most organizations are getting an attractive return, with 32% of respondents reporting benefits of at least 2x spend, and only 19% saying they are not breaking even.
For channel pros, continuing to build competency in data governance and privacy looks to be a winning strategy.
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