What security considerations should you prioritize when selling enterprise software?

1 Data Protection

One of the most important security considerations when selling enterprise software is how your software protects the data of your customers and their end-users. Data protection includes encryption, access control, backup, recovery, and compliance with relevant regulations and standards. You should be able to explain how your software encrypts data at rest and in transit, how it manages user authentication and authorization, how it backs up and restores data in case of disasters, and how it complies with data privacy laws and industry best practices. You should also highlight any security certifications or audits that your software has undergone or passed.

2 Threat Prevention

Another key security consideration when selling enterprise software is how your software prevents and detects threats from malicious actors or unauthorized users. Threat prevention includes firewalls, antivirus, anti-malware, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and security monitoring and logging. You should be able to demonstrate how your software blocks or mitigates common attack vectors, such as phishing, ransomware, denial-of-service, or SQL injection. You should also show how your software alerts you and your customers of any suspicious or anomalous activities, and how you respond to them.

3 Integration Security

A third security consideration when selling enterprise software is how your software integrates with other systems and applications that your customers use. Integration security includes API security, data exchange security, and interoperability security. You should be able to describe how your software uses secure and standardized protocols and formats to communicate with other systems and applications, such as RESTful APIs, OAuth, SAML, or JSON. You should also explain how your software ensures data quality, consistency, and integrity across different systems and applications, and how it handles any errors or exceptions.

4 User Education

A fourth security consideration when selling enterprise software is how your software educates and empowers your customers and their end-users to adopt secure practices and behaviors. User education includes training, documentation, support, and feedback. You should be able to provide your customers and their end-users with adequate and accessible training and documentation on how to use your software securely and efficiently. You should also offer them ongoing support and feedback on their security performance and improvement areas, and encourage them to report any issues or suggestions.

5 Security Culture

A fifth security consideration when selling enterprise software is how your software fosters a security culture within your organization and your customers' organizations. Security culture includes values, policies, procedures, and incentives that promote security awareness and responsibility. You should be able to convey how your software aligns with your organization's security vision and mission, and how you embed security into every aspect of your software development and delivery process. You should also illustrate how your software helps your customers' organizations to establish and maintain a security culture among their employees, partners, and stakeholders.

6 Security Value Proposition

A sixth and final security consideration when selling enterprise software is how your software delivers a security value proposition to your customers and their end-users. Security value proposition includes the benefits, advantages, and outcomes that your software provides in terms of security, such as reduced risk, enhanced trust, improved compliance, or increased efficiency. You should be able to articulate how your software solves your customers' security pain points and challenges, and how it enables them to achieve their security goals and objectives. You should also quantify and measure the security value proposition of your software, using metrics, indicators, or testimonials.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?