The resilience shown by Costa Rican SMEs in the context of the pandemic and their openness to the digitization of processes and reinforcement of cybersecurity have been key to the growth of this important sector of the national economy, indicated Luis Diego Esquivel, Manager of Specialists for Microsoft Central America and the Caribbean.
If before the pandemic, companies were already betting on digitization models in many of their operations, after this historical context, it was inevitable for some companies to take that step, adopting new trends that would allow them to continue despite the difficulties of this stage.
Even more so, if one considers that the changes from face-to-face work models to a completely remote or hybrid one caught some organizations off guard that did not even consider applying this methodology, and therefore were not technologically prepared to face such challenges.
The emergence of enterprises due to the collateral effects that the pandemic had on the economy, such as payroll cuts or reductions in hours and salaries, as well as other micro, small and medium-sized companies that tried to get afloat were particularly affected by these conditionsin which even cyber-criminals made “firewood from the fallen tree”.
A resilient attitude
However, with a resilient attitude, Costa Rican SMEs decided to resort to digital tools to keep their businesses alive by adapting to a new reality, as revealed by the “Digital Transformation for SMEs” survey, carried out by Microsoft in Costa Rica and for which as shown to 80 decision makers in companies in this segment. “The adoption of digital technologies can help SMEs to reduce costs, detect efficiencies, increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and expand their reach”, indicates InekeGeesink, Country Manager of Microsoft Costa Rica. This study showed that companies in our country, although they may differ in priorities regarding their digital transformation processes in accordance with their business models, in what they do converge is in the need not to make a separation between implementing new technologies and consider cybersecurity as part of their investments in innovation.
Importance of developing an information security plan
“One of the biggest challenges for SMEs is to become aware of the importance of developing an information security plan that includes being clear about the most critical assets, as well as implementing strategic actions to prevent violations”, says Luis Diego Esquivel, Manager of Specialists for Microsoft Central America and the Caribbean. In this regard, adopting a ‘Zero Trust’ policy in which access privileges greater than necessary are not granted, as well as applying double authentication factor, among other technical resources to open the door of the information matrix of organizations from the most basic points such as a computer or mobile, is essential, according to the expert.
As a hopeful aspect, digital native companies are taking proactive measures to guarantee the cybersecurity of their systems, adds the report prepared by Microsoft.
