E-mails, written instructions and other text clutter: Welcome to the supposedly modern working life. A recent study by TechSmith in cooperation with the Centre for Economics and Business Research confirms that internal communication in most companies is still mothballed, despite advancing digitization and modern technologies. Multimedia content? Rather a marginal phenomenon. The consequences: declining motivation and loss of time.

The scientific proof: visual = efficient

As part of the representative study, 4,600 office employees from six countries (including over 1,000 from the DACH region) were surveyed on communication and information transfer at their workplace. In addition, the processing of information was examined with over 100 test subjects under scientific conditions. Two-thirds (67 percent) of the participants were able to complete the tasks set more quickly and reliably if they were given screenshots, screencasts or videos instead of pure text instructions to help them prepare. They were also more motivated than the employees who had only received text instructions.

The practice: Unused potential

Companies therefore benefit from replacing or at least supplementing time-honored methods of conveying information with modern, visual tools. In practice, however, this rarely happens: Only just under a quarter (22 percent) of respondents said that visual elements played an increased role in communication within their company.

Internal communication: the billion-dollar grave of the economy

The resulting time loss per employee averages 33 minutes in a normal working week. According to the study, if companies incorporated more visual elements - images, graphics or videos - they could reduce this time loss and thus achieve significantly higher productivity: Over a year, this equates to a difference of over 1,000 euros (over $1,200) per employee.

In the regions studied, an average increase in gross domestic product of 0.52 percent would be possible - corresponding to a gain of over 142 billion euros (167 billion U.S. dollars). For the DACH region in particular, an average increase in gross domestic product of 0.48 percent would be possible, equivalent to a gain of over 20 billion euros (23 billion U.S. dollars).

The six regions surveyed at a glance

"Considering that well over half of the human brain is designed to process visual stimuli, it's not surprising that using visual elements to communicate information and ideas significantly improves individual productivity," said Wendy Hamilton, CEO of TechSmith. "Two conclusions can be drawn from the study: First, visual elements play an even greater role in comprehension than previously thought. Second, companies have a responsibility here - they need to be more aligned with employee needs and consider the business implications."

The civilian drone market has been growing steadily worldwide for years. At the same time, drones are becoming cheaper and more powerful. But as exciting and innovative as the new technology may be, it unfortunately also harbors new dangers, because destructive forces are also increasingly taking advantage of the new application possibilities. Whether it's smuggling attempts into prisons, spying on system-critical buildings or facilities, or even attacks with explosives-laden drones - the potential for misuse of these devices is huge.

Danger potential of drones

Due to the rapidly increasing sales figures of small drones and the associated increase in the potential danger, the Chur-based company Droptec has developed a drone defense system called "Dropster" for close range at the intention of the Grisons cantonal police. The Dropster is a handy pistol-sized drone defense system that can shoot a tear-proof net up to 50 meters away using a blank cartridge. This allows police and security forces to capture small drones weighing up to 30 kg in a case of abuse and take them out of the sky. For correctional facilities in particular, the Dropster thus offers a way to close a security gap that should not be underestimated. For this, the young company will receive the coveted "Golden Idea Award" this year from IDEE-SUISSE, the Swiss Society for Idea and Innovation Management.

Great market potential

The three company founders will proudly accept the award at the Chur Civil Defense Training Center Meiersboden. "What counts for us is that with our Dropster we can provide security forces with a tool that gives them a measure in hand to prevent worse in an emergency," says Tom Lardelli, Droptec's marketing and sales manager. In addition to production and sales, Droptec also offers its customers training in the handling and use of the Dropster. In this way, participants learn to recognize the danger of a drone and how to react in an emergency. The huge positive response to the product spurred the company to gain a foothold in the international drone defense market as well. The Chur-based network launcher is also already being used by foreign police forces, prisons and intelligence services, and Droptec sees great market potential, especially abroad. This is especially true because although there are comparable products on the market, they are too expensive to purchase or can usually only be used by specialists.

More information: www.droptec.ch

As already mentioned earlier on this place reportsIn spring 2018, the management bodies of Simsa and Swico decided to merge the two organizations. The boards of the two associations signed a merger agreement, which now had to be ratified at two separate general meetings on June 18, 2018. At both meetings, the ¾ majority required by the Merger Act was clearly exceeded. This means that nothing more stands in the way of the merger.

Swico board is strengthened

The new organization takes over all activities of Simsa and Swico unchanged and operates under the name Swico. On the Simsa side, the Code of Conduct Hosting and the Collaboration Framework in particular will be integrated, as well as the training courses such as the federally certified Web Project Manager. Swico will contribute, among other things, its comprehensive issue management, its start-up program and the industry solution for occupational health and safety. All 600 member companies will gain access to a greatly expanded portfolio of member services, according to the latest media release. Two former Simsa exponents will sit on the new Swico board. The former president of Simsa, Andrej Vckovski, CEO of Netcetera, and Nadja Perroulaz, co-founder and chairman of the board of Liip, were newly elected.

Creation of new expert bodies

A new expert committee will now be created for the hosting segment under the leadership of Hostpoint co-founder Claudius Röllin and one for the web agencies under the joint leadership of Imre Sinka, CEO of Dotpulse and Maximilian Plank, CEO of Omento. Both expert committees will work on projects and issues of these two member segments independently and with their own budget within the framework of Swico, as well as develop their own activities, as other Swico expert committees already do.

Swico President Andreas Knöpfli is convinced: "This merger will decisively strengthen the ICT and online industry. We are sending a clear signal against the fragmentation of the association landscape and will be able to represent the concerns of our members even more effectively on the political stage in the future." The previous Simsa president and new Swico board member Andrej Vckovski sees a lot of potential: "Together we can reach a critical mass and thus achieve significantly more impact for our industry. At the same time, both organizations can learn a lot from each other."

The merger will be formally completed on June 30, 2018. Growing together on a day-to-day basis is expected to take until the end of 2018.

Information: www.swico.ch

In addition to opportunities, advancing digitization also brings risks and poses major challenges for Swiss SMEs. Data, an important asset for many companies, is particularly affected. This is also evidenced by the incidents of data leaks recorded in recent months. But where do we have to start in order to protect data? In the context of a master's thesis, we are investigating the extent to which Swiss SMEs deal with the specific protection of databases. Of particular interest is whether Swiss SMEs are aware of the dangers to databases and whether they have the necessary knowledge for specific protection.

The survey is aimed at IT and database managers in Swiss SMEs and aims to identify trends in securing databases. The survey is completely anonymized and will be adapted to the new DSGVO. Furthermore, after evaluation of the survey and completion of the master thesis, the results will be made available as a summary on a website created for this purpose.

So take part and support application-oriented research. Here is the link to the survey: https://survey.infoscience.ch/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=984664&lang=de

A total of 2,800 companies from 19 European countries took part in the competition to promote good and attractive workplace quality and voluntarily put themselves to the test. More than 1.6 million employees were surveyed by Great Place to Work on the quality and attractiveness of their company as an employer. The focus was on topics such as leadership, innovation, inclusion, organizational culture and trust. Company managers also answered questions on the quality, diversity and sustainability of the measures and instruments of their HR work.

Awards in four categories

The companies had qualified for the overall European competition via the national Great Place to Work competitions. Differentiation was made according to four different categories: international companies, small, medium-sized and large national companies. The awards for special quality and attractiveness as an employer have been presented annually since 2003. The 36 best employers in Switzerland were already honored in Zurich in May of this year. Of these Swiss winners, 11 companies have now been chosen as "Best Workplaces in Europe 2018″.

The winners from Switzerland

In the category "Europe's Best Employers - Multinationals", the following companies are currently also awarded in Switzerland:

• Cisco in 5th place,
• AbbVie in 6th place,
• SAS Institute in 7th place,
• Amgen in 12th place,
• Bristol-Myers Squibb in 14th place,
• DHL Express in 18th place,
• Novo Nordisk in first place
• SC Johnson in 22nd place
• and Phoenix Contact in 25th place.

The following companies based in Switzerland were also successfully placed:

• in the size category "Europe's Best Employers - Companies up to 50 Employees" The winning company from Switzerland, Rackspace came in 5th for Europe.
• In the size category "Europe's Best Employers - Companies between 50 and 500 Employees", the winning company from Switzerland, UMB AG, came in 6th place among all companies in Europe.

This makes UMB AG the best Swiss employer in Europe. "The fact that we, as the triple best Swiss employer, have now also reached the sensational 6th place in Europe out of more than 2800 evaluated companies, is another highlight of our success story", Matthias Keller, CEO & owner of UMB AG, is pleased to say.

You can find the complete list here

Let's assume that in the course of your life you encounter a product again and again and know its advantages: Would you then use it in your own company? He didn't hesitate for a second: Pietro Pignatiello, owner and CEO Pi2Process AG. The SME with 20 employees in Freienbach, which emerged from a succession arrangement in September 2016, manufactures mechanical components mainly from aluminum, non-ferrous metal, plastic and assembles subassemblies up to entire devices. These are delivered to Switzerland, overseas and Asia. It is also the only supplier in Switzerland to specialize in 3D hybrid additive manufacturing - a new dimension of 3D printing. "On my long career path, I have already led five different ERP-systems. For my own company, I chose SAP because it's the only solution that guarantees proven standard processes and a small company doesn't have time to question them," says Pietro Pignatiello. Only with standardized processes is there fast and efficient processing. As a man of action, he also immediately renamed his newly acquired company, consistently aligned it with processes and decided on a new location in order to better implement the process idea in the material flow as well as in the way of working with the machinery.

Project management and an SAP template

Just a few days after taking over the company, Pietro Pignatiello started working with the IT service provider GIA Informatik AG from Oftringen. Why didn't he perform an actual ERP evaluation? "My evaluation was my career path. GIA and I had been in contact several times in the past. The open communication, the mutual trust, the competent project manager and the people behind it convinced me. In addition, I knew that with 'gia//fertigung' the company had a proven SME template with best-practice processes from SAP."

The 75 Days Project

In just 75 days, GIA was to complete the implementation of SAP ERP on HANA "from the socket". Is this even possible? In such a small company? "Supported by Pietro Pignatiello, we paid attention to rigorous compliance with the SAP standard and lean SME project management in precisely defined phases right from the start," says Thomas Burkhardt, Account Manager GIA Informatik AG. "In September 2016, we set up the system in our data center and imported our template." In parallel, GIA created the delta functional concept, in which the deviation from the SAP standard processes is recorded. Then it was off to the implementation phase with user training and data transfer. The go-live took place at the end of December 2016 - just within the set deadline.

New processes as unknowns

One difficulty was the requirement that employees master the new SAP processes within a short period of time. What to do? From the very beginning, Pietro Pignatiello inspired his employees with enthusiasm for the chosen path. He always stood by their side, continuously trained them, and thus took away their fear of the unknown. "Whereas improvisation and a hectic pace were the order of the day in my company before, the standardization and structure of SAP now came into play," explains Pietro Pignatiello.

Big benefit for small company

The example shows that SAP also works in small companies. Pietro Pignatiello: "Our customers, SMEs with 200 to 1000 employees, often work with SAP themselves. That's why they really appreciate the exchange at eye level. They know that SAP guarantees expertise, is standardized, transparent and traceable. The trust in these qualities is palpable." Investors such as banks are also happy to have a partner with an up-to-date ERP system, as the reported key company figures can be presented transparently at any time.

Tips for other companies

What advice does Pietro Pignatiello give to other SMEs who are thinking about ERP?

• Even as an SME, invest in a professional ERP system. If you make the calculation including process benefits over the entire service life, almost every price is put into perspective.
• Take a pragmatic approach right from the start. Invest your money in a standardized and, above all, end-to-end ERP solution such as SAP. Because the as-is state is a non-goal; the way is the goal. This eliminates the need for a costly and time-consuming formal evaluation.
• SAP has high-level integrated standard processes across the entire value creation process and cash flow. Build on it.
• Rely on a partner with professional and human competencies. Only when you speak the same language can such a plan work.

Distinction with the Quality Award

This SAP project set new standards. For this reason, the Schwyz-based company won the SAP Quality Award in the "Fast Delivery" category in spring 2017. "Together, we have proven that we are able to implement such a project leanly and successfully due to the right attitude," Thomas Burkhardt explains.

Pi2Process is currently refining and training the standard processes so that it can, for example, carry out capacity planning even more precisely. In addition, many other automations are in the pipeline. "In this way, we ensure even better internal transparency and even faster processing," emphasizes Pietro Pignatiello.

Facts - the most important in brief

• Objectives:
  • Ensure maximum process reliability as well as logistical and financial transparency at Pi2Process
  • No server landscape at Pi2 Process AG; "delivery ex socket".
  • Prove that the approach with the "gia//fertigung" template works even for very small companies
  • Carry out reference project with SAP at a company with 20 employees
• Effort:
  • 46 consultant days until go-live, another 19 consultant days for additional processes as well as optimizations in phase two
  • Pi2Process: Three people (CEO, Finance, Operations)
  • GIA: Six people (project managers, consultants: order processing, purchasing/materials management/production, finance/controlling, forms/labels, technology).
• Project flow:
  • Set up SAP system and import the template "gia//production": September 2016
  • Delta subject concept: Parallel in September 2016, completed in October 2016.
  • Realization: Set up process deltas, train users, transfer data in November and December 2016
  • Go-Live: End of December 2016
  • Lead time: 75 working days
• Infrastructure/Software/Hosting/Operations:
  • Use of "SAP from the socket" from the SAP Cloud@GIA in the GIA Datacenter, operated on shared SAP HANA system
• Total cost:
  • All-in fee for infrastructure, hosting, operation, licenses, maintenance, solution and project: cost per user and per month is equivalent to leasing a mid-range car

• Achieved goals:
  • Project was implemented to the previously defined extent, at the pre-calculated cost, in the agreed time and quality
  • Customer and consultant proved that an SAP project can be implemented very leanly even for small companies
  • IT and ERP lay the foundation for a business that can grow
  • Winning SAP Quality Award in the category "Fast Delivery" at SAP Forum 2017

More information: GIA Informatics

The advantages of the latest technological developments are obvious: Never before have we had such extensive information at our disposal to make decisions. Given this starting position, the first priority for many companies is to expand their own business model. In this context, it is important to "think outside the box" in order to generate real potential for a company through networking.

The digital transformation of a company aims to use digital technologies and business models to adapt to the changing market and further increase the company's performance. It is important to understand that the basis for success is the corporate culture and the involvement of employees. Employees need to understand why these changes are coming and what their role is in the future.

Business Agility

Customer orientation will also be the starting point for all activities in the digital world. Customers today are better informed than ever before - long before they make a purchase. They are also becoming increasingly involved in the value chain, with the result of increasing customization and higher expectations of delivery service. Digital business agility is thus becoming a key competitive advantage, which according to Michael Wade's model (IMD, June 2015) is based on the following three pillars:

• Hyperawareness (availability data and information)
• Informed Decision Making
• Fast Execution

Decentralized decisions

Digitizing processes and networking systems only makes sense if they are up-to-date, optimized, efficient and lean - free of waste. In order to constantly adapt and improve corporate agility to market conditions, it is necessary to map and analyze overarching processes with value stream mapping and to eliminate waste. However, the flow of information will enable new, direct paths between intelligent actors in the course of networking, and decisions can increasingly be made decentrally. In the future, improvements will be suggested by intelligent machines in addition to humans, and lean production will thus become a self-learning system.

Use lean approach

Lean, with its approach to lean and waste-free processes, is the basis and prerequisite for Industry 4.0 and targeted digitization. The digitization of production promises new opportunities to make production more efficient or even revolutionize it. However, only a few companies can plan production from scratch and take all the possibilities of Industrie 4.0 into account. Especially for companies that want to digitally upgrade an existing production, it is important to demonstrate an approach that uses the proven lean approach and at the same time integrates the possibilities of digitization.

Author: Christoph Lustenberger, Dr. sc. techn., dipl. Lebensmittel-Ing. ETH, is Senior Consultant at Wertfabrik AG. www.wertfabrik.ch / www.wertblog.ch

While the metropolitan areas of Zurich, Bern and the Lake Geneva region are well supplied with infrastructure for the digital economy, the Espace Mittelland region, and Biel in particular, have been shortchanged until now. Since mid-June, this gap has been closed. "With the hub:biel, companies will find the optimal IT infrastructure to digitally conquer Switzerland and the entire world from here," said a delighted Erich Fehr, Mayor of Biel. Adrian Roth, CEO of the DataHub Group, added: "The Biel region is known for precision work. We're keeping it the same way with our new data center, not only offering our customers the highest security for their data, but also operating our facility in an extremely environmentally friendly way." Due to its advanced technical design, the hub:biel was nominated for the prestigious British DCS Award in April in the category for new projects.

Working at "Amazon of Biel

As a managed service provider and cloud specialist, netrics AG offers a wide range of services for the digital age and is therefore dependent on the know-how of specialists. These specialists are sometimes rare. "To attract talent from the youngest generation, financial incentives alone are no longer enough," explained Pascal Schmid, CEO netrics AG: "The right working atmosphere is also needed, as well as the opportunity to engage with the latest technologies." netrics has seized the opportunity and offers its 60 employees a contrasting and relaxed ambience in the new headquarters. netrics serves many customers with high regulatory requirements. Here, the new data center offers strategic advantages: "For customers with high demands on compliance or specific security requirements, the hub:biel - combined with the offerings of netrics - is the ideal solution," Schmid added.

Highest energy efficiency - PUE* value below 1.25 and energy densities up to 20kW per rack

The hub:biel's power supply, fiber optic connection, cooling systems and air conditioning are redundant across the entire 3000 square meters of floor space (2N infrastructure). They meet the highest security standards. For high-performance computing, energy densities of 15 - 20 kW per rack are possible in the hub:biel. For comparison: in a conventional data center, 2kW per rack is common. In this way, a lot of space can be saved, which is particularly important in Switzerland. The very high energy efficiency results from a combination of precision cooling, a new type of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and systematic energy management. For the first time in Switzerland - and one of the first times in Europe - a UPS system from Schneider Electric with lithium-ion batteries is used in the hub:biel, which allows an efficiency of over 98 percent. The overall energy efficiency in the hub:biel is below 1.25 PUE*, which means customers save a lot of money on their electricity bills.

* PUE (Power Usage Efficiency) is the ratio of the total electrical energy consumption of a data center (IT equipment plus infrastructure components) to the electrical energy consumption of the IT equipment alone.

More information: www.data-hub.ch

On June 12, the Swiss Venture Club (SVC) honored exemplary small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region for the seventh time with the Prix SVC Central Switzerland 2018. The event offered the more than 1,300 invited guests from business, science, politics and the media insights into the impressive and diverse entrepreneurship of Central Switzerland. The award ceremony in the KKL Luzern was hosted by Nik Hartmann. The sponsor and initiator of the Prix SVC is the Swiss Venture Club, an independent, non-profit association for the promotion and support of SMEs in Switzerland. Christoph Baggenstos, SVC Regional Manager Central Switzerland, emphasizes: "We award companies that belong to the SME elite in Switzerland. Our focus is on exemplary companies that create jobs and help shape the Swiss economy. With the Prix SVC, we offer these companies a platform to showcase their success to the outside world. Last but not least, the attention that our award winners receive through the Prix SVC should also be an incentive for other companies."

First place for Seven-Air Gebr. Meyer AG from Lucerne

Founded in 1971 and managed in the second generation by the brothers Christoph and Tobias Meyer, Seven-Air Gebr. Meyer AG specializes in the manufacture and sale of air conditioners and air conditioning systems worldwide. The company focuses on high quality and optimized energy use with heat recovery and high insulation values in its products and solutions. The units are robust, easy to maintain and simple to operate. Jury President Urban Camenzind, Director of Economic Affairs for the Canton of Uri, praised the winner in his laudation: "Seven-Air convinces with high quality and environmental awareness, combined with competence, continuity and reliability. The jury is impressed by the high depth of consolidation as well as the countless innovations in the production process." He also praised the exemplary corporate culture: "The many years of service of many employees is no coincidence. Seven-Air's company music and its own soccer team manifest this exemplary corporate culture." Seven-Air, with its headquarters in Lucerne and production site in Hitzkirch, is today the market leader in Switzerland with its approximately 400 employees. Numerous reference projects - from the Gotthard Base Tunnel and the Monte Rosa Hut to office buildings in the USA, Japan, Russia and Indonesia - attest to Seven-Air's leading position. According to its own figures, Seven-Air Gebr. Meyer AG has a market share of 60 percent in Switzerland.

Veriset AG and Rigitrac Traktorenbau AG in second and third place, respectively

Second place goes to the market leader in Swiss kitchen construction, Veriset AG. Founded in 1999, the company now employs 270 people and, thanks to new production facilities, has state-of-the-art production technology, high flexibility in production and cost leadership in Swiss kitchen construction. With its "Design to Cost" model, the company, led by owner Ueli Jost, manages to develop cost-optimized kitchens according to a predefined target price and, with its "Digital Kitchen", networks all kitchen appliances on a single platform, thus opening up new cooking experiences with great added value for its customers. Bronze is awarded to Rigitrac Traktorenbau AG, whose company foundation began with the vision of building its own tractor. Since then, the family business founded by Marlis and Sepp Knüsel has been setting new standards in slope mechanization and in the tractor market in general with ongoing innovations, including the center pivot joint. Quality and perfection are the top priorities in development and production. In addition to all four Knüsel daughters, the company now employs 40 people.

Awards for Bergkäserei Aschwanden, Bruno's Best AG and Stanserhorn-Bahn AG

Also honored were the Aschwanden mountain cheese dairy from Seelisberg, with its mountain cheese made from hay milk, Bruno's Best AG from Sarnen, known for its popular Bruno's Best salad sauces, and Stanserhorn-Bahn AG from Stans, which created a tourism attraction and world first with its CabriO-Bahn. Overall, the awarding of the Prix SVC Central Switzerland 2018 - like the award ceremonies in the other regions, by the way - once again demonstrated the undisputed innovative strength of Swiss companies, some of which are hardly known to the general public.

www.swiss-venture-club.ch

This year's winner of the Startfeld Diamant is OnlineDoctor AG. Thanks to OnlineDoctor's platform, dermatologists can work more efficiently and patients receive a specialist assessment quickly and easily. 80 percent of all skin diseases can be quickly assessed online using cell phone photos - a visit to the practice is only necessary in a few cases. The OnlineDoctor skin check is fast, location-independent and cost-effective, serving patients and dermatologists alike.

High market potential attested

Roland Ledergerber, jury president and CEO of SGKB: "OnlineDoctor addresses two highly topical issues: the shortage of specialists and rising healthcare costs. The telemedicine platform for dermatologists is a real innovation that enables more efficient, cost-effective and faster diagnosis and treatment." The jury was convinced by the platform, which was consistently built along customer needs, and the high market potential.

Further innovations from Eastern Switzerland awarded

In addition to the winner OnlineDoctor, four other finalists were awarded 5,000 Swiss francs each. Their names are Surp, Master- ColdBrewer, ServiceOcean and Mivital. Surp offers surprise trips, Mastercoldbrewer has developed a new coffee processing method, ServiceOcean relieves call centers with its software and MiVital has developed a process for using active ingredients from food. The prize for young and innovative companies supports and promotes five companies each year with advice, training and prize money totaling 50,000 Swiss francs from the St.Galler Kantonalbank. In addition, the young companies are given access to a broad network of knowledge and contacts throughout eastern Switzerland. A total of 26 young companies applied this year.

More information: www.sgkb.ch/startfeld-diamant

The Risk:Value Report is produced annually by the market research company Vanson Bourne on behalf of NTT Security. Executives around the world - 1,800 this year - are surveyed on topics related to IT and IT security.

Low investment in IT security

The current survey shows that with 40%, less than half of the decision-makers surveyed in Swiss companies classify all business-critical data as "completely secure". Compared to last year's survey, this represents a drop of 15 percentage points. One reason for this is the continuing low level of investment in IT security. In Switzerland, only a good 15% of the IT budget is invested in information security. The investment volume is significantly lower than in quite a few other corporate areas. With regard to the segments in which higher investments are made than in information and data security, the following were named

• 46% Operation and manufacturing
• 46% Marketing
• 41% Distribution
• 41% Accounting and Controlling
• 32% Research and development
• 25% Human Resources

Ransomware attacks: Better to pay...

The lack of willingness to invest corresponds with another key finding of the study. 23% of the Swiss companies surveyed would rather pay a ransom in the event of a ransomware attack than invest more heavily in information security, as they consider such an approach to be more cost-effective. On a global level, an average of as many as 33% of the companies are prepared to accept demands for payment.

"This result is more than alarming, especially given the unabating threat of ransomware attacks. Our recently unveiled Global Threat Intelligence Report revealed that ransomware accounts for a high 29% of all malware attacks in EMEA," said Kai Grunwitz, Senior Vice President EMEA at NTT Security. "If companies now expect cost benefits from paying ransom, this is more than deceptive in our eyes. And the rude awakening will come sooner or later for many."

The low level of willingness to invest is all the more surprising given that 96% of the companies surveyed in Switzerland were of the opinion that a security incident involving data theft would have serious negative consequences. Loss of customer confidence (52%), damage to reputation (52%) and direct financial losses (45%) were mentioned. The respondents expect an average loss of sales of a good 7% and estimate that it takes more than nine weeks to rectify a damage that has occurred, incurring costs of more than 1.1 million Swiss francs on average. Swiss companies estimate the costs to be significantly lower than in other countries. The international average is 1.5 million Swiss francs.

Seriousness of the situation still too little recognized?

The high damage potential raises the question of how things stand in terms of incident response. Here, too, not much has really changed compared to the previous year. In Switzerland, only 42% of companies had an incident response plan in place in 2017. However, 21% were already in the implementation process and a further 21% were planning to implement
corresponding measures in the near future. However, the current results do not reflect this development; on the contrary. As before, only 42% of the companies have an incident response plan in place. "Unfortunately, the result shows that in many cases it has remained with mere declarations of intent and the seriousness of the situation is still insufficiently recognized, even though numerous security incidents in recent times have actually shown that there is no way around a lived incident response plan. This is because dedicated process and emergency plans are the only way to respond appropriately and, above all, quickly to different IT security incidents. Ideally, specialized incident response tools should be
be used, for example, a central incident response platform for the systematic and coordinated handling of security incidents with ready-made action plans," says Grunwitz.

Managed security services are gaining in importance

However, from NTT Security's point of view, the investigation also produced positive results. For example, there is a growing awareness that security incidents cannot be ruled out entirely. 57% of respondents have already been the victim of such an incident, and a further 14% have not yet, but expect to be. For this reason, Managed Security Services (MSS) are also gaining significant importance with regard to the implementation of comprehensive cyber security strategies. Although MSS are still being used cautiously at present, the Risk:Value Report shows that around two-thirds of the companies surveyed in Switzerland are currently actively considering MSS solutions or plan to do so in the near future.

Source: www.nttsecurity.com/ch

"With the new corporate identity, we can specifically advertise our competencies on the market. At the same time, the new appearance ensures sustainable brand management," says Daniel Ettlinger, CEO of Galledia AG. The name "Galledia" remains, but the color and shape have changed. The print, digital and publishing divisions are equally weighted in the communication.

The new look is designed to consistently deliver on the brand promise of "simple," "personal," "effective" in both corporate communications and marketing and communications materials. The rebranding includes a new logo, a new Websitean image brochure, various letters as well as fact sheets, reference cases and advertisements.