Chances are that every company you know is going through some kind of change. Digital transformation has defined the 21st century and the stats are jaw-dropping. For example, did you know that between 2010 and 2020, data interactions increased by 5000%? [1]
The advance of tech continues at pace, and there’s no chance of it slowing up any time soon. 41.4% of global tech and business leaders plan to increase their investment in tech-based services and products [2] and the global big data analytics market annual revenue is estimated to reach $68.09 billion by 2025[3]. By 2027, the use of big data application database solutions and analytics is predicted to grow to $12 billion. [4]
The number of UK AI companies has increased by 688% over the last 10 years. [5]
There’s no doubt that cloud is king. The cloud applications market is worth over $150 billion and 60% of the world’s corporate data is stored in the cloud. 90% of large enterprises have adopted a multi-cloud infrastructure and enterprises use an average of 2.6 public and 2.7 private clouds. [6]
Technology can definitely make our lives easier, keeping us connected across the digital and physical divide. But amongst the undoubted pros, there are also significant cons. As we move our data and our systems to the cloud, we also open ourselves and our enterprises up to cyber-attacks. Rather soberingly, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the rate of data breaches by more than 400%. [7]
As we enter October, cyber security is front of mind. October is Cyber Security Awareness Month. As things stand every month could be cyber security Awareness month. Technology itself is evolving to take the fight to cyberspace but onboarding new technology requires due diligence, a robust cyber hygiene and has to take account of evolving compliance and regulatory requirements. Get any of this wrong and you can give the relentless hacker new opportunities to wreak havoc.
What can you do to ensure you close down your attack surface? Well, you need to ensure that all your employees know how important they are to keeping your company secure. Technology can only take you so far and as cyber-attacks become increasingly sophisticated, your employees are effectively the first line of your defence. They need to be extra vigilant – questioning and bringing any interaction to your attention if it looks even potentially suspect.
But at a time when skills are in short supply, budgets are shrinking and your staff are under more pressure than ever before, this may well feel like an unwelcome addition to their workload. But shoring up your cyber security defences is so important for your business to thrive and grow. You need to be in the best possible position to confidently protect your customers, your assets and your reputation.
This is where AI and ML come into their own. They can help you automate low-level tasks which frees your people up to prioritise high-value activity. Around one in six UK organisations, totalling 432,000, have embraced at least one AI technology – according to government research.[8] So if you’re thinking about it you’ll be in good company.
IT skills are being stretched at the moment and burn-out is a very real issue for many organisations who desperately can’t afford to lose their IT specialists. This is where automation can be of great benefit. If you can use automation to free up your employees it reduces human error, enforces the use of certain security protocols and lets your IT team focus on all more complex, important tasks.
Contract management is a good place to start. It can really help take the load off the IT department.
Contract management software from Four Business can help you automate your low-level contractual management processes and streamline your working day, so you can focus on keeping your business safe.
Real-time visibility into contracts can help you manage complex processes so that you can make informed decisions about your organisation’s future. And paperless, cloud-based digital solutions are better for the environment. Contract Insight’s flexibility and functionality can help ensure your enterprise meets the changing regulatory standards which are driven by external events. And it makes team collaboration easy which, in the remote and hybrid working world, is one less problem to deal with.
If you’d like to find out more about how Contract Insight can help your business, we’d be delighted to talk to you. Why not get in touch?
To find out how contract management software can streamline your operations, contact John O’Brien, CEO at Four Business Solutions, a global business consultant and software integrator specialising in business process improvement.
[1] https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/business/software/uk-artificial-intelligence-ai-statistics-2023/
[2] https://cloud.google.com/blog/transform/google-survey-build-financial-business-resilience-cost-optimization-cloud-finops
[3] https://www.frost.com/news/press-releases/global-big-data-analytics-market-to-grow-4-5-times-by-2025-powered-by-data-security-requirements/
[4] https://firstsiteguide.com/big-data-stats/#:~:text=Between%202010%20and%202020%2C%20data,gigabytes%20to%2059%20trillion%20gigabytes
[5] https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/business/software/uk-artificial-intelligence-ai-statistics-2023/
[6] https://explodingtopics.com/blog/cloud-computing-stats
[7] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-cyber-security-experts-report-4-000-cyber-attacks-a-day-since-covid-19-pandemic-301110157.html//cloud.google.com/blog/transform/top-cloud-computing-trends-facts-statistics-2023
[8] https://kuboid.co.uk/pros-and-cons-of-ai-for-self-storage-businesses/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20UK%20AI,to%20influence%20the%20industry%20massively