Cisco released the findings of its 2019 Data Privacy Benchmark Study. The study validates the link between good privacy practice and business benefits as respondents report shorter sales delays as well as fewer and less costly data breaches.
Of all the organizations that were a part of Cisco’s 2019 Data Privacy Benchmark Study, 59% of organizations reported meeting all or most requirements, 29% expect to do so within a year, and 9% will take more than a year. Interestingly, India stood sixth globally, with 65% of Indian organizations ready for GDPR compliance.
“This past year, privacy and data protection importance increased dramatically. Data is the new currency, and as the market shifts, we see organizations realizing real business benefits from their investments in protecting their data,” said Michelle Dennedy, Chief Privacy Officer at Cisco. “At Cisco, we absolutely believe in both protecting our customers and driving business success by maximizing the value of data and minimizing risk.”
Some other key findings of the survey include:
- 87% of companies studies are experiencing delays in their sales cycle due to customers’ or prospects’ privacy concerns, which is higher compared to 66% last year.
- Sales delays by country varied from 2.2 to 5.5 weeks, with Italy, Turkey, and Russia at the lower end of the range, and Spain, Brazil, and Canada at the higher end.
- By country, GDPR-readiness varied from 42% to 75%. Spain, Italy, UK, and France were at the top of the range, while China, Japan, and Australia were on the lower end.
- Only 37% of GDPR-ready companies experienced a data breach costing more than $500,000, compared with 64% of the least GDPR-ready companies.
Vishak Raman, Director of Security at Cisco said, “India has greatly improved upon its GDPR readiness with its fast evolving data privacy ecosystem, which is primarily because of a collaborative approach by the government and private organizations. However, there remains huge scope for Indian organizations to increase their investments in people, and technology controls to meet customer privacy requirements faster.”