As the countdown continues to the May 2018 deadline for GDPR compliance, businesses are urgently looking at how IT can support their GDPR goals. The big questions they are asking are: What is my path towards GDPR compliance? How much will GDPR compliance cost my business? Will it hold us back? Find out how Microsoft Office 365 can support GDPR compliance while setting you up for increased productivity and growth.
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” ~ Helen Keller
GDPR: what you need to think about
It’s understandable to feel a bit overwhelmed with the looming shadow of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) kicking off for serious in May 2018, with all the potential financial and reputational repercussions for non-compliant organisations. But what if this cloud has a silver lining?
Once you’ve grasped (hopefully sooner rather than later) that Brexit is likely to have zero impact on GDPR, you’ll need to consider the implications of GDPR on your business in the following terms:
- What is your path to GDPR compliance?
- What investment is required?
- What do you need to change – particularly in terms of IT and data?
The cloud paradox
While a handful of traditional IT users may remain sceptical about the compliance and security advantages of cloud IT, the ambitious financial and professional services have been investing in it for years. And cloud software and services continue to get better and better as more people are moving more areas of their business to the cloud. Initially, perhaps, to address regulatory requirements for better business continuity, then to improve productivity, and finally to have a more agile business with cloud infrastructure itself.
So, here’s the thing. With Office 365, you can address the first two of those stages when it comes to addressing GDPR compliance and increasing your people productivity.
How Office 365 helps increase productivity
Let’s briefly look at the productivity aspect. Microsoft Office 365 gies you access to your business email, shared calendars, instant messaging, conferencing and file collaboration – wherever you happen to be. And the security aspects that address GDPR issues – more below – mean that your business can embrace BYOD, allowing your people to work on their preferred devices. All of these elements lead to a happier and more productive workforce, who can communicate and collaborate wherever and however works for them. And this is the key part – all without putting your customer and business data at risk from non-compliance fines from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the inevitable reputational damage that ensues when word gets out.
How Office 365 helps address GDPR compliance
Office 365 helps you with three key aspects of GDPR compliance. It helps you:
