CISO Secures 12% Budget Increase with SAGE

The Challenge:

The CISO of this significant financial services company was preparing his annual budget, requesting a 12% increase over the previous annual budget. It was a challenging task due to several factors:

The complexity of using spreadsheets made it difficult to get a comprehensive, up-to-date view of the risks and controls in one place.
No easy way to compare different plan or determine the optimal budget request that would provide the most cyber protection with the available resources.
The language used by the cybersecurity team and outside analysts in their reports hindered effective communication with the board. There was no easy way to translate security risk into dollars.
There were no clear metrics to show increase in efficiency or how much risk would be reduced by increasing the budget.
It was difficult to convince the board of the necessity for large investments in new cybersecurity measures, such as pen testing and SOAR upgrades, without clear explanations and measures of their effectiveness.

The Outcome:

Using the SAGE Platform helped the CISO overcome the following challenges and secure a 15% increase in the cybersecurity budget despite previous resistance from the board.

SAGE obliterated the silos and integrated all cybersecurity planning elements into a single dynamic tool, eliminating CISO’s cumbersome spreadsheets and providing a unified solution.
SAGE facilitated the creation of a comprehensive cybersecurity defense plan that optimized spending and prioritized investments with the highest impact.
SAGE facilitated the creation of multiple budget alternatives and guided the CISO in selecting the optimal one
SAGE improved communication with the board and stakeholders by demonstrating how cyber risk translates to lost dollars. Proving the necessity for cybersecurity investments.
SAGE improved decision-making, helping allocate resources efficiently and avoid unnecessary spending.
SAGE helped the CISO demonstrate each specific cybersecurity investment’s potential cost savings and its impact on cybersecurity risk management and mitigation.

The Company:

Cutting-Edge Financial Services Company With Worldwide Influence, Known For Its Innovative Approach.

Industry:

Financial Services

Company Size:

18,000 employees. 1.2 Billion market cap.

The Challenge In Depth:

The CISO of this significant financial services company needed to prepare an annual cybersecurity budget, as requested by his BoD. The company’s rapid growth in the past year led to a significant increase in employee headcount and the number of endpoints that needed securing.

After reviewing the organization’s additional security needs, including increased employee training, pen-testing, better-advanced threat detection, and a major SOAR upgrade, the CISO calculated that a 15% increase over the previous year’s security budget was needed.

However, convincing the board to approve that budget would be difficult. The company was dedicated to cutting overall spending after two-quarters of slow growth and a decrease in annual profits. They were planning to demand the CISO cut his budget, delay all but the most crucial upgrades, and reduce spending wherever possible.

The CISO’s budget planning process was arduous, relying on outdated spreadsheets that required significant manual updating. There was no straightforward way to compare different budget and planning options or show the ripple effect that any cut or addition would have on the organization’s overall security posture. The CISO knew that the budget he presented contained a bit too much guesswork and gut instinct about what measures would be the most effective for the organization’s cybersecurity needs.

Communication with the board posed its own set of hurdles. The technical language used in the tall stack of cybersecurity reports and analyst assessments often proved too technical for board members to grasp easily and quickly. The CISO lacked a straightforward way to explain how increased cybersecurity vulnerability translated directly to increased business risk, which threatened to damage their bottom-line profits in the next year.

Without clear metrics to quantify the risk reduction associated with increasing the budget, convincing the board of the necessity for substantial investments in new cybersecurity measures would be difficult.

SAGE Budget Slider helped the CISO Optimize His Cybersecurity Plan

The Outcome In Depth

Deploying the SAGE Cyber Defense Planning and Optimization platform revolutionized the CISO’s budgeting process and his presentation to the board.

First, SAGE enabled the CISO to present precise numbers and user-friendly graphics, translating complex cybersecurity expenditures into clear business terms. This allowed the CISO to clearly show the board the expected outcomes of each investment and how the new budget aligned with the company’s strategic goals for the upcoming year.

Unlike the traditional spreadsheet, the SAGE platform was able to show the exact effect of budget changes and how they would increase or decrease risk. The CISO was also able to defend the budget development process and provide concrete numbers and expected ROI to justify why he made specific choices in the budget request.

SAGE helped the CISO demonstrate to the board how last year’s budget could have been used more efficiently. He highlighted plans to reallocate some resources, like moving from a code scanner to a more cost-effective offering from a big vendor already deployed on their system. This change would maintain the same risk level while optimizing the budget to further

The Board of Directors was impressed with the budget presentation. They understood exactly how the cybersecurity budget expenditures translated directly into tangible business outcomes. The members left the meeting understanding the direct correlation between how money spent on the security team’s activities advanced their company’s goals.

By using SAGE as his Co-pilot, the CISO successfully navigated budget discussions and secured the additional he had requested.

SAGE was a game-changer when it came time to present our annual budget for approval to my board.

It helped me showcase the real-world impact of my team’s cybersecurity investments and helped me secure an essential 12% budget increase from the board to protect our company effectively.