What are the Benefits of having an ISMS?
The most popular information asset being talked about at the moment is personal data, with new privacy regulation such as GDPR driving that focus. There are however many other types of information asset that organisations should be considering within their ISMS as the benefits from protecting and harnessing them may be significant too.
As we know, organisations increasingly have to show they can be trusted for information security and privacy management. If they can’t and competitors or substitutes can, the organisation’s future is at risk. With increased regulation and powerful customers getting smarter every day it may no longer be about standing out from the crowd with an ISMS either.
That might just be a minimum entry to a tender, a contract renewal or an attractive market opportunity. Whilst the minimum information asset that needs to be protected is personal data to meet the GDPR, consider the other valuable information assets for your ISMS scope too, especially if you have powerful stakeholders who expect other information assets to be protected as well.
An information asset is simply defined as “anything information based that has value to the organisation”.
Examples of Information Assets are:
- Personal data e.g. customers, staff, others.
- Intellectual Property e.g. source code, patents, designs, thought leadership etc.
- Financial and commercial information; plans, contracts, processes and procedures.
- Customers, suppliers and other important relationship information assets (beyond personal data).
- Networks, hardware and other information processing facilities.
- People with key knowledge that affect business performance.
An ISMS delivers a positive return on investment. The goal of our whitepaper is to show you why, what, and how you can get RoI from an ISMS that fits the business needs.
What are the key considerations when building the business case for an ISMS?
- Context
- A growing challenge
- Three reasons why nothing happens
- The return on investment from information security management
- A point on people
- In considering the technology
- What is an ISMS?
- What are the components of an ISMS?
- Why do organisations need an ISMS?
- Is your organisation leadership ready to support an ISMS?
- Developing the business case for an ISMS
- Benefits to realise – Achieving returns from the threats and opportunities
- Evaluating the threats
- Identifying the opportunities
- Stakeholder expectations for the ISMS given their relative power and interest
- Scoping the ISMS to satisfy stakeholder interests
- GDPR focused work
- Doing other work for broader security confidence and assurance with higher RoI
- Work to get done for ISO 27001:2013/17
- Build or buy – Considering the best way to achieve ISMS success
- The people involved in the ISMS
- The characteristics of a good technology solution for your ISMS
- Whether to build or buy the technology part of the ISMS
- The core competences of the organisation, costs and opportunity costs
- In conclusion