Today’s clients and consumers aren’t satisfied with bare-minimum compliance checkboxes anymore - if ever they were.
As the stakes rise on organizational data value, so does attention to its security. That’s why data security is now not only table stakes, but a key differentiator when choosing where to invest.
Organizations that want to stay ahead of competitors have a unique opportunity; as data expansion outpaces governance, those that pull ahead will be the ones that can evolve from compliance-driven to confidence-driven security.
In this new race, Fortra is uniquely positioned to help orgs achieve both operational and reputational security maturity - and keep competitive in the race for consumer trust.
The Challenge: Meeting vs. Exceeding Data Privacy Mandates
Compliance shouldn’t just meet regulations but differentiate organizations through trustworthy data handling.
Achieving regulatory requirements like CCPA, GDPR, SOC 2, PCI DSS, and HIPAA are just a “pay to play” these days. Customers (both B2B and B2C) expect more.
Safety: “Buyers at B2B companies frequently...[select] the safest choice over all other options,” a Forrester analyst and researcher note.
Competency: When it comes to what B2B buyers trust, competency is first on the list (18.5%) according to one Forrester survey. Sticking to bare-minimum security standards doesn’t inspire trust in a company’s security competency.
Privacy: Forbes notes that 86% of Americans are more concerned about data privacy than they are about the economy.
Trust: “Trust has emerged as the single most important factor in B2B tech purchasing decisions, outranking cost, innovation and delivery speed,” according to 2025 research from award-winning tech PR agency EC-PR.
Protection: Gartner found that 86% of B2B buyers expect companies to be “well-informed” about their personal data during a service interaction and that “customers also expect their data to remain private and secure.”
Customers know that these priorities; safety, competency, privacy, trust, and protection – are not an off/on switch. They are on a sliding scale, so the organizations that make them feel most safe, that seem the most competent, and that offer the most data protection are the ones that are going to win their business.
That is why simply meeting established data privacy mandates is not enough; at least not enough to compete.
The Solution: Proactive Data Protection that Builds Customer Trust
Organizations need to grow beyond reactive, compliance-centric security. Forward-looking, proactive data protection is needed to build customer trust.
The trend is here: organizations like CISA are taking the pledge to ensure security by design, a move which they “not only fortifies the resilience of essential services but also bolsters consumer trust.”
ENISA supports such initiatives, stating that “A flexible, adaptable, and proactive approach to cybersecurity is the guarantee to create vital trust in the ongoing digital transformation." And as EC-PR's 2025 research tells us, trust is the “single most important factor” when it comes to what B2B buyers will buy.
Getting out in front of data protection by proving a commitment to go beyond the basic requirements isn’t just good for security; it’s good for business.
Fortra: Keeping Companies Competitive with Proactive Data Protection
Fortra’s industry-leading data protection solutions help organizations respond with confidence when asked “What do you do with all our data?”
Fortra's data protection suite allows companies to not only prove compliance but demonstrate an above-and-beyond data protection approach. Each of these tools meets and exceeds data protection requirements in regulatory frameworks today, and reduces the man hours required to demonstrate compliance to your regulators.
Data Security Posture Management (DSPM): Discover, Classify, and Protect sensitive data anywhere it lives.
Discover: Gain control over the data in the cloud apps your teams use every day: AWS, Azure, Google Drive, and more. Find misconfigurations, tighten risky access.
Classify: Go beyond compliance-mandated labels. Automatically determine what’s sensitive and classify it by context.
Protect: Ensure data gets protected everywhere with built-in DLP to add an extra layer of defense (beyond what typical DSPM tools do alone).
Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB): Add a protection layer between your employees and the cloud applications they access. Prevent them from:
Uploading sensitive files to the wrong place
Using unauthorized apps
Accessing apps from risky locations
Downloading sensitive data to personal devices
And a lot more.
Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA): This really proves companies are ahead of the game. By cutting attackers off at the pass, organizations not only comply with mandated access control policies, but far exceed them.
Currently, no regulatory frameworks explicitly require ZTNA, but it should be viewed as a fundamental building block of an organization’s data security strategy.
With Fortra ZTNA, teams can:
Require continuous authentication
Operate on the principle of least privilege
Provide secure remote access to all private apps (and the data stored inside).
These interlocking tools (and more) prevent sensitive data from leaving the network. They give security leaders visibility over all sensitive data, as well as the means to protect it—even when it is authorized to travel beyond network boundaries.
The Least Painful Option for B2B Buyers
Today, everyone understands that handing over sensitive information is just part of doing business and watching that business grow.
But with thousands of vendors that do the same thing, data risk management is what will set those vendors apart. And what will make handing over that data the least painful experience for buyers.
As organizations lean into a stance of “as much data protection as possible,” rather than an exercise in ticking compliance checkboxes, consumers will notice - and they will pay with their trust.
Cybersecurity for Your Industry
Your industry is unique. Your cybersecurity stack should be, too. Fortra® offers cybersecurity solutions to meet the challenges and compliance requirements of industries around the world.
