‘Compliance crucial for businesses to achieve optimum output in new normal’

ENABLING secure remote work, addressing regulations and uncovering new risks among businesses is now more of a  reality as Microsoft announces several new capabilities across its compliance offering. According to Modern Workplace and Security Business Group Lead for Microsoft Middle East and Africa Emerging Markets, Mohamed El  Nemr, In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many consistent challenges have been experienced by businesses.

El Nemr said:” With so many remote workers, people are creating, sharing and storing data in new ways fostering productivity, but this has also introduced new risks. “And this is not just an assumption. A recent Microsoft poll revealed that providing secure remote access to resources, apps, and data is the key concern for Chief Information Security  Officers (CISOs).

“With penalties and fines for non-compliance set at a maximum of €20 million or 4 per cent of a company’s annual global turnover – in an industry that is ever-changing, it is in the best interests of organisations to remain continually compliant. “As such, to assist companies in better protecting their data, mitigate risk and address compliance  regulations, especially in this time of flexible work, Microsoft has announced several new capabilities across Microsoft Compliance.”

He further stated that:”In addition to the talent shortage and complexity of compliance management, customers also face the need to comply with an increased volume and frequency of regulations, with hundreds of updates a day globally to thousands of industry and regional regulations. Additionally, the complexity of these regulations has made it challenging for organisations to know which specific actions to take and the impact of these.”