Can you build customer trust through security?

In today’s increasingly interconnected digital world, customers and partners are looking for businesses they can trust.

Our latest Fit for the Future research highlights that security is still a primary concern for a huge number of businesses. In fact, nearly 50% of all enterprises consider improving their cyber resilience a top priority.

However, only 25% of businesses believe their customers and partners have a very high level of trust in their security measures. As global cyberattacks increased by 38% in 2022, becoming resilient is crucial to earn your customers’ trust.

Keeping your business secure can give it a clear edge over the competition, especially when it comes to high-risk or high-volume sectors. But in a world where businesses extend far beyond the traditional boundaries of the office, it’s not easy to give your customers peace of mind.

Why trust is so vital

No business works alone. Every organisation has to interact with a number of suppliers, employees, logistics services and digital service providers. But working with third parties doesn’t always mean that you have total trust in your partners.

According to our recent research, only 25% of businesses that don’t yet identify themselves as ‘fit for the future’ have very high levels of trust in the cyber security measures applied by their supply chain. In comparison, 43% of ‘fit for the future’ organisations trust the third parties they work with, which is essential to growing their businesses in a secure environment.

With so many data breaches and cyberattacks in the news, many organisations are re-examining their agreements with third parties to ensure that effective security systems are in place.

Building secure connections

‘Fit for the future’ businesses are prepared for cyber threats, no matter where they emerge. They ensure visibility across the supply chain to stay on top of their operations by observing patterns in data and user behaviour.

They continuously audit the security compliance of their business partners to eliminate any weak spots in time. However, suppliers may still experience breaches due to the sheer number of threats and the complexity of the supply chain. That’s why ‘fit for the future’ businesses have alternative safeguards in place.

If you can prove that you’re worthy of your customers’ trust, they’ll be more likely to reward you with their loyalty, data and money.

Getting to this point should be the goal – and Vodafone Business can help you kickstart your ‘fit for the future’ journey.

Boosting confidence through borderless security

Gartner estimates that, this year, 40% of all enterprise workloads will be deployed through cloud infrastructure and platform services (CIPS), while the vast majority of employees will still be working in a hybrid environment. These trends bring evolving cyber security risks, so delivering borderless security is more important than ever.

Borderless security provides your business with consistent, reliable data protection regardless of the location, application or environment. This means your employees can work seamlessly, no matter where they are.

One simple way to achieve borderless security is to choose Secure Connected Enterprise (SCE) from Vodafone. SCE is a leading zero-trust, secure access service edge (SASE) solution, providing layers of security between user and system, and across wide-area networks.

SCE enhances connectivity and reinforces protection by consolidating our leading global network with security and embedding it into every layer of your infrastructure across wide-area networks. You can also select and customise the suite of security services to benefit from a solution tailored to your needs.

Being ‘zero-trust’ enables you to control the data that can be accessed from different endpoints to boost security for remote workers and third parties. Data and applications in the cloud are also covered, allowing you to grow your business in a sustainable, scalable and secure way.

SCE protects data where it really is – often beyond your own data centres – providing consistent, reliable security and real borderless confidence.

All this means you can do more, faster, and prove to potential customers or partners that your business is worthy of their trust. And because Vodafone Business leads the way in integrated SASE services, you can be sure to benefit from cutting-edge connectivity across your network – no matter how large or complex it is.

Move your business to the next level with security

Many businesses see cyber security as a burden or an unnecessary added cost, but ‘fit for the future’ businesses look at it very differently.

They understand that cyber security supports business growth and opens up new opportunities by reducing the hurdles in working with partners and suppliers securely. Such businesses also include cyber security in their strategic planning as a catalyst for adapting new tech, building resilience and winning new customers.

In short, cyber security is a must for ‘fit for the future’ businesses, and they know that their investments will pay off. As our FFTF study highlights, becoming more ‘fit for the future’ increases the likelihood of outperforming competitors by 36%.

Embracing security excellence creates a true competitive advantage, not only because these companies are able to innovate faster with fewer risks, but also because they give customers, stakeholders and partners the confidence they’re looking for.

It’s time to stop focusing on the risks and start exploring the opportunities that cyber security unlocks.

‘Fit for the future’ businesses are already building trust and credibility. Are you ready to join them?