Reducing Cyber Risk With Minimal Resources: Maximizing Efficiency for Consultants

Cybers risk assessment consultants have traditionally remained under pressure to work on minimal resources. In fact, information security is an understaffed and under-budgeted area of most organizations.

The COVID-induced economic slowdown has further increased the pressure on cyber risk consultants to provide cost-effective services. According to a recent study, 23 percent of organizations have frozen their security spendings, whereas 49 percent have decreased their budgets.

So, when a client asks to reduce their cyber risks with minimal resources, where can a cyber risk assessment consultant start?

Here’re some tips for consultants to navigate through the current economic downturn with a cyber risk assessment framework that doesn’t break the bank.

Get Rid of Redundant Tools and Technologies

Redundancies can be costly. It is a good idea to identify technological overlaps and eliminate redundancies to achieve maximum efficiency. Focus on the software you use and identify areas where you can replace multiple software with an innovative, single solution.

Eliminating redundancies in tools and technologies is the best cost-cutting method that you’d likely want to use even after the world comes out of the economic slump.

Most technology vendors add new and better features continuously. That means there might be imbricate areas now that were not there at the time of initial deployment. It also makes sense to ask other consultants about the technologies they use and their benefits.

Many consultants have achieved maximum efficiency by exploring and using the features in their current technologies. You can start with the technology that you widely use to determine if it can enhance efficiency. For example, your existing platform might have options to launch remediation and mitigation workflows just by turning on a feature.

Switch to Single-Vendor Solutions

As a cyber risk assessment professional, you know that anything that can boost your efficiency and decrease the need for training will eventually cut your costs.

Most consultants use different solutions for each activity within the cyber risk assessment framework. That means you have to manage many different dashboards, besides getting training and certification for multiple tools and technologies. This approach is not only costly, but it can also reduce your efficiency.

Consider transitioning to a unified platform that allows you to perform all your vital activities and tasks from a single dashboard. By doing so, you can save yourself time, money, and energy, besides achieving maximum efficiency. Unlike using multiple tools, such a cohesive solution will not break your and your client’s budget.

The best part is that in the highly connected digital environment that we live in today, you can pull up the software and present a demo to your client right in the meeting. This is a game-changer, considering how it compares to the traditional, manual method of pitching to your prospects.

Automate Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Tasks

Logical use of automation can save you and your clients more money and time than any other strategy within the risk assessment framework. As such, always choose a cybersecurity risk assessment software that allows you to automate your tasks and streamline workflows.

A good automation tool will relieve you of tedious and repetitive activities, so you can focus on the most critical aspects of the risk assessment process. This approach will also allow you to get more creative and achieve maximum efficiency.

But remember that not all automation platforms are created equal. Many of the solutions are exhaustive in terms of time, budget, and deployment. Managing such platforms also requires consultants to work with many different elements within the entire cybersecurity framework.

The good news is that there are many advanced automation solutions out there that require less intensive deployment and are more user-friendly. These platforms will allow you to use pre-built industry-standard assessment templates or upload your own templates and then automate the repetitive assessment schedules. They also let you automate the risk scoring and risk-change functions, besides providing you with valuable insights and rich analytics.

Be sure to choose a solution that is flexible enough to integrate with your current data sources and cybersecurity environment. Or you could pick a solution that automates the functions within your existing cyber risk assessment framework. In both cases, make sure that the product is scalable and versatile.

Don’t Rely on Microsoft Excel

Using MS Excel for risk assessment may seem cost-effective, but do you know that it affects your productivity and efficiency? On top of that, spreadsheets have very high error rates and limited capacity. That means using Excel for risk assessment can be detrimental for your business.

Microsft Excel also lacks advanced features and the intelligence required to perform high-capacity analysis and assessments. It is not a good idea to use it for risk identification, monitoring, and mitigation since it doesn’t provide insights into risks and threats.

Think about the impact of using MS Excel on your business development efforts. Here’s WHAT one of our clients said during a call:

“I’ve an upcoming meeting with a big client’s CISO. As CISO’s do, he will dig into how we do assessments. And, if he finds out we are still using excel for them, it will derail the whole meeting. We need an efficient and effective cloud solution and we found that in CENTRL.”

All of these limitations will increase your costs and decrease your efficiency and cyber risks in the long run.

Instead of relying on MS Excel for risk assessment, we recommend you get a dedicated, next-gen risk assessment software that allows you to perform everything from a single dashboard. A good risk assessment software will give you full control over risk management, improving your productivity, cutting your costs, and getting you more clients.

Why Choose Cyber360?

We’ve built Cyber360 for cyber risk assessment consultants to provide the best services to their clients with minimal resources and achieve optimum efficiency. This platform can help save 33 to 50 percent of the time you spend on your projects. It also allows you to automate multiple, monotonous tasks within the risk assessment framework.

The single-dashboard risk assessment software has a user-friendly, straightforward, and concise interface. You can quickly deploy and use the platform without any extensive training. Using this tool, you can provide cost-effective solutions to your clients and capture more of the cyber risk assessment market share.

Read how EisnerAmper scaled its risk assessment services with Cyber360.

Request a live demo or learn more about CENTRL’s Cyber360.