Use a Cybersecurity Maturity Assessment for an Efficient Approach to Security

In the increasing cyberthreat landscape, it can now seem like your organization has to constantly play catch up and implement quick fix tools to combat attacks. By taking a more proactive approach and beginning with a cybersecurity maturity assessment, your business can take control of your security plan. It also maximizes the use of your cybersecurity budget by allowing you to allocate funds where they’re most needed. CDW expert Jeremy Wilder shared insight on the value of a cybersecurity maturity assessment in tightening a business’s security posture. 

With cyberattacks on organizations increasingly making headlines, you surely want to tighten up your cybersecurity strategy. But if your organization has limited IT resources, or you’re unclear where your security vulnerabilities lie, it’s difficult to know where to start. Wilder explained that many customers will turn to trusted cybersecurity partners like CDW to determine a path forward. Engaging in a cybersecurity maturity assessment is a good way to begin the  journey.

One customer in the manufacturing industry approached CDW with cybersecurity concerns after a competitor made the news following a significant breach. Wilder shared that the organization’s employees knew that they were a potential cybersecurity target and wanted to be proactive to avoid becoming the next victim. This customer did not have dedicated cybersecurity personnel. Accordingly, the IT team had the dual responsibility of attending to IT needs and working to tighten up cybersecurity as best they could.

This company came to CDW because the staff knew they needed more cybersecurity help and a better understanding of their overall security posture. In order to gain that baseline understanding, the customer engaged in a cybersecurity maturity assessment, as well as a technical analysis and a gap analysis. As part of the maturity assessment, this customer received a comprehensive cybersecurity report that included a roadmap and a remediation plan.

Following the assessment, the organization began remediating but found that they needed additional resources to tighten up their posture. Because this customer had the insights from CDW’s maturity assessment, they reached back out to CDW for additional support. The organization outsourced some of the remediation and brought on a vCISO (virtual Chief Information Security Officer) for a year-long engagement to keep working on their cybersecurity.

Wilder shared that many customers have followed along a similar path and continually engage with CDW to ensure that their cybersecurity posture is solidified. 

The cybersecurity maturity assessment is a key starting point when it comes to cementing cybersecurity strategy, but it is only the beginning. Organizations will then need to decide if they want to remediate on their own or look to additional cybersecurity services to execute on the roadmap.

By outsourcing remediation, your business can rest easy knowing that you’re doing all you can to prevent cyberattacks. The maturity assessment offers a remediation plan with specific suggestions on how your organization can tighten cybersecurity. If your business does not have internal cybersecurity experts, that’s when it may be time to pull in CDW to remediate.

You can choose exactly how much assistance you would like when it comes to cybersecurity remediation. If you want longer term help with remediation, you might want to consider the vCISO service. A partnership with a vCISO is a year-long engagement, which gives your organization plenty of time to improve your cybersecurity posture across the board. CDW’s team can also work with you to assess your current cybersecurity tools and software and determine how you can best put those to use during remediation.

The security maturity assessment provides a critical path forward for your business’s cybersecurity strategy, but then you need to look at what’s next to make sure that roadmap is carried out. 

It is possible to make improvements to your cybersecurity posture piecemeal or address incidents as they arise. If your business takes that approach, you’ll likely end up playing “whack-a-mole” with your security approach and spending your budget on solutions that might not work long-term.

Investing in a cybersecurity maturity assessment means you can avoid having to address one-off security challenges and spend your security budget in an efficient way. The maturity assessment prioritizes cybersecurity initiatives for your business. While you may invest in individual security tools or software, that alone is not enough to prevent breaches. The maturity assessment grants peace of mind because it puts a holistic security plan in place that considers all elements you’ll need. 

If you’re tired of quick cybersecurity fixes and continually being vulnerable to cyberthreats, partner with CDW for a cybersecurity maturity assessment.