CISOs: Here’s How You Can Navigate The 2023 Downturn>
Forbes
So far, 2023 is shaping up to be yet another volatile and difficult year. Companies across sectors — with a particular concentration in high tech — are shedding jobs and slashing costs to weather the next 12 months. Given the perennial skills and staffing shortage in security, it’s unlikely that CISOs will be asked to make deep cuts to their organizations — but they won’t be entirely immune to spending cuts if the downturn endures.

Show how you secure what you sell. To increase customer loyalty and retention, prioritize security projects that drive the top line and increase customer stickiness, such as bot management solutions that improve customer experience; that automate processes, such as security questionnaire responses and software bill of materials generation, to give customers what they need before they ask for it; and that emphasize investments that reduce product infrastructure costs and enable you to pass savings on to customers. Volunteer to stop backfilling roles. You can potentially save jobs from cuts in other functions by not backfilling departures on your team in the near term. Don’t consolidate your partner ecosystem. Although cutbacks in this area may appear to be practical, overcorrection in key areas such as cybersecurity, risk, and compliance could increase concentration risk and severely disrupt your operations, similarly to what many firms experienced at the onset of the pandemic. Consider in your decision-making the time it takes to fully onboard a strategic supplier to ensure that you don’t miss out on opportunities when the economic pendulum swings back to growth.
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forrester/2023/02/24/cisos-heres-how-you-can-navigate-the-2023-downturn/?sh=591300104f81