Microsoft 365 Compliance, What You Need to Know

Compliance and privacy can no longer be put on the back burner by businesses. Companies today face serious risks if they fail to stay compliant.

Controlling data is not just a matter of privacy. It should be at the core of everything a business does. Watch the video below for an introduction to how Microsoft 365 aids compliance for businesses. 

Here are 3 staggering statistics that show how much security and compliance has become a key issue in today's business landscape:

1. 47% of executives are unsure what compliance standards apply to their industry.
2. There are over 750 regulatory bodies releasing over 200 updates to their policies per day.
3. 1 billion dollars is now invested in cybersecurity for businesses every year.

What types of security solutions improve compliance?

1. Identity and access management -- managing user's identities in an online environment and controlling who has access to sensitive data.
2. Threat protection -- protecting against organizational attacks and responding to threats.
3. Information protection -- ensuring that docs and data like sensitive emails and chats are only seen by authorized people.
4. Security management -- employing security experts and tools in order to have the right levels of visibility and control within the cyber landscape.

How does Microsoft 365 help power security and compliance?

Microsoft Teams is one app within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem that has been designed with compliance in mind.

According to Forrestor, IT compliance costs can be reduced by as much as 13.2% with the use of Teams. One company's three-year savings in relevant compliance costs was $42,050 -- attributed to the use of Teams for limiting conflicts of interest in office communication.

Another Microsoft 365 tool that fuels compliance is Advanced Threat Protection.

ATP detects and blocks malicious files in team sites and document libraries in Sharepoint and OneDrive. Employees regularly share files. Having ATP enabled offers an extra layer of document protection.

Other Tips for Managing Compliance Within Your Organization

1. Make sure someone is supervising the digital communication sent within your organization for reputation risks, as well as financial vulnerability.
2. Have an updated data governance policy for your entire org. Include specific instrucitons for how long data is to be retained, where it should be stored, and how it should be deleted and by whom.
3. Enforce data-loss-prevention (DLP) to ensure that business-critical data passed through emails meets compliance requirements.
4. Enable Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users who will be logging in to your network.

How Can PTG Help?

At PTG, we have experienced consultants who can establish not only a tested cybersecurity roadmap, but also assist your company with rolling out a data privacy and compliance action plan.

In addition we provide the resources and training necessary to onboard your team and test compliance with your users.

We understand the data security and GDPR compliance issues unique to specific industries. We can help your organization to leverage Microsoft 365's data governance and compliance capabilities, so that complying with legal and regulatory standards is one less critical issue your business needs to worry about.