GDPR: THE INNOVATION OF A START-UP WITH THE STRENGTH OF A LEADING GLOBAL CONSULTANCY

By Robert J Baugh, Founder & CEO, Keepabl

I’m delighted to introduce Keepabl and Alpha Reply’s partnership, which brings a simple, practical and intuitive way for Alpha Reply’s customers of any type and size to get compliant and stay compliant, with GDPR.

GDPR matters because non-compliance puts your organisation at risk and prevents it from reaping its just rewards.  Cisco’s excellent Data Privacy BenchMark Study 2019 (and the same from 2018) shows that GDPR-compliant organisations have greatly reduced sales delays due to privacy concerns and not only greatly reduced risk of suffering a data breach that costs over $500k, but also greatly reduced downtime from breaches and greatly reduced records at risk.  And of course, non-compliance carries the risk of fines, adverse press coverage, customer loss etc.

Being GDPR compliant means you’ve put in place a Privacy Governance System.  You’ll have identified where you process personal data, reduced the personal data you process, rationalised and secured your data storage and trained people on the importance of data protection and security, including how to spot a breach and who to talk to if they have a question.  You’ll also have a plan to maintain that system, much as you maintain ISO 27001 on an ongoing basis (that’s a pain, right?).

But I imagine that’s not your organisation yet.  In fact, I’ll bet:

• you don’t have a set of privacy-focused policies and procedures,
• while you may have an information security breach plan, it probably doesn’t say that all personal data breaches need to be recorded nor help identify which ones need notification to regulators or individuals (the test is different for each),
• if you’ve carried out any inventory of your processing activities at all, it’ll be in Excel,
• there’s quite a difference between how compliant your board believes your organisation is and how compliant the people running GDPR at your organisation think it is,
• you’re very unlikely to have implemented retention schedules,
• you’re unlikely to be able to report quickly to the board, investors, auditors or customers and prospects when they ask how you’re doing on GDPR, and
• you’re not convinced you have the right resources to manage GDPR going forward.

These may sound like cheap shots, and apologies if so and perhaps not all apply to you, but at the time of writing, nearly 18 months after GDPR came into effect, this is the GDPR status of most organisations.

When I was General Counsel of VC-backed SaaS companies, believe me, I made very good use of subscription services that instantly provided a policy pack to get me up and running fast on obligations such as employment and health & safety – crucial areas, but very detailed and intricate – and gave me some sort of information online as well as helpdesks and more if I needed it.

These services saved me a ton of time and opportunity cost as opposed to spending months trying to create policy packs myself.  They also provided me – and my colleagues if I wasn’t available – with information and help when we needed it, to keep compliant and avoid common mistakes.  All of which meant we addressed our risk, and our compliance with these key areas quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively.

Our partnership with Alpha Reply offers that same rapid risk management and return on investment to Alpha Reply’s customers who can benefit from Keepabl’s SaaS solution, Keepabl’s Privacy Policy Pack, Alpha Reply’s ad hoc support when needed, and specialist consultants for more detailed project work, all on a subscription basis to ensure budget certainty, with burstability when you need it.

Keepabl’s GDPR solution has won many plaudits including GDPR Company of the Year 2019, and you can see many case studies from happy customers.  But combining with Alpha Reply lets us take our solution to even more organisations and in a unique way, offering these unique advantages.

Now, you can use Alpha Reply and Keepabl’s unique service offering, combining the innovation of a startup with the strength and depth of a leading global consultancy, to move your organisation into compliance, reduce your data risk, accelerate revenue and be able to demonstrate your GDPR compliance to internal and external stakeholders.  I urge you to review this unique service to see how quickly and effectively you can sleep better at night knowing you have a great GDPR answer and the experts ready for your call, and I thank you for your interest in this service.