Technology is ever-evolving and plays an increasingly important role in business, therefore requiring business owners and executives to understand the impact, good and bad, that technology can have on their business. “Managers who understand software can better understand the possibilities and impact of technology. They can make better decisions regarding the strategic value of IT and the potential for technology-driven savings. They can appreciate the challenges, costs, security vulnerabilities, legal and compliance issues, and limitations involved in developing and deploying technology solutions” (Gallaugher, 2015). Adopting practices in order to enhance the use of technology within an organization is very important, as is adopting technology that helps to protect the vital technology in place. The cost of hardware and software to support business operations can be substantial, but without investing in systems to support those systems and prevent vulnerability to cyberattacks the money spent on other hardware and software could easily be wasted.
Wombat’s pricing is based on a per user license fee, which would make the cost of the program variable depending on the number of users’ Chatham determines. Given that increasingly more college students are the target of phishing campaigns, especially given the amount of emails incoming freshmen receive, the program would be recommended as a prerequisite for all incoming freshmen, similar in nature to Haven Plus’. Chatham can then amortize the annual cost of the program through incoming freshmen students’ tuition and fees. The cost of the program will vary each year depending on the enrollment number of the incoming freshmen class, which averages around 1000 students per year. It is also important to note that many incoming freshmen will also be employed by Chatham for work-study programs, making it even more critical to learn how to protect sensitive information and identify phishing attempts. All pricing is confidential and cannot be disclosed publicly – please visit: https://www.wombatsecurity.com/request-a-demo to request a price quote. Less than a 5% increase in tuition and fees, per student for the Tuition and Fees portion of the overall costs, per the chart below.
There are no additional costs for languages, customer technical support, implementation assistance, training, reporting, or software updates/upgrades, which are all built into the licensee fee, per user. This is a competitive advantage over other competitors who charge separately for items such as technical customer support. There is no limit to the number of phishing campaigns or training assignments during the license term. Wombat offers all products in almost 30 languages, making the service ideal for Chatham’s diverse campus. Factors that determine favorable pricing terms include number of users, products selected (for bundling discounts), as well as the length of the contract term.
As for fixed costs, this would be based on whether or not Chatham decided to have Wombat run the program in full via Managed Services or inhouse. For an internally managed program, Wombat recommends a designated Administrator(s) who will be the appointed lead(s) that will work with Wombat’s customer technical support team to plan and execute the assessments and training cycles. This would typically be less than one full-time equivalent (FTE), which would be at the cost of the employee’s current agreed salary. Wombat’s customer technical support will meet with Chatham’s staff and provide training on all aspects of the administrative tools, functions and features of the security platform during implementation. As an alternative solution, Wombat offers Managed Services for customers with limited time and resources who prefer us to manage their Security Education Program. Wombat’s Managed Service pricing is in addition to the software fees, but provides full turnkey management capabilities to run your security education program.
The following table outlines the products, users, and term for Chatham’s initial Security Awareness Program.
The upfront cost for this program would be the annual subscription cost, based on the number of users, as well as the fixed cost of a designated Chatham employee who would deploy the program or a Managed Services option. Universities spend around 5% of their IT budget on centralized programs, but as mentioned above, Chatham can amortize the cost by building it into a student’s tuition and fees. Phishing scams cost companies around half-a-billion a year, making an investment in Wombat’s Security a big return on investment. For the complete breakout of costs, please refer to the estimated investment below. Please note, all cost are estimates and based on KnowBe4’s published pricing, which is used as a reference in the industry.
*All pricing pulled from KnowBe4’s published pricing, which is being used as an industry reference. Please note, pricing does not reflect Wombat’s actual costs, only estimates based on KnowBe4. For Wombat pricing please contact Wombat Security for a quote.
As the world gets more digitized the threat of a cyber attack goes up exponentially, however, “boards and CEOs are becoming more concerned about the money they are spending and whether or not they are getting adequate return on their investment in cyber security technology and defenses, and also whether or not they are prioritizing the right things” (Myers, 2017). Senior leaders, such as the board and CEO, play a very important role in ensuring that their companies are employing the proper protection against cyber attacks. Leaders should be modeling behavior and ensuring that effective risk assessment and reporting is taking place (Bailey, 2014). By engaging in decision making and driving consideration for implementation of the Wombat system, senior leaders at Chatham are taking steps to protect their organization from increasing vulnerability. Although investing in software to reduce risk of cyber attacks comes at a cost, it can help to reduce larger potential financial risk and loss in the future through phishing attacks, therefore making it a sound investment in the safe future of the organization. Although one of the hardest parts of leading digital transformation, leaders must be able to envision where digital technology is heading in the future (McAfee, 2014), including how cyber attacks and cyber security play a role in that future. Taking steps now to ensure the business is prepared for the transformation of technology in the coming years will only help leaders to ensure they are taking part in the digital transformation.
In the US, across industries, $7.35 million dollars were spent in data breaches in 2017. This is a 5% increase from 2016 (Ponemon Institute LLC, 2017). The average cost per record is at $225, but in education where Data Privacy concerns are higher, the average cost per record is at $245 (Schaffhauser, 2017). The image and chart below reflect the total estimated data breach in education and the Return on Investment (ROI) for Chatham selecting Wombat. On average, the cost per user for training is $15 compared to $245 per record breach, which translates to a $230 savings for each student trained by Chatham. Data breaches do not only cost money, but a company’s reputation and standing.
References
Gallaugher, J. (2015). Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Flat World Knowledge.
Kim, J. (2016, August 8). How Much Does Higher Ed Spend on IT?. In Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/how-much-does-higher-ed-spend-it
Mathews, L. (2017, May 5). Phishing Scams Cost American Businesses Half A Billion Dollars A Year. In Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/leemathews/2017/05/05/phishing-scams-cost-american-businesses-half-a-billion-dollars-a-year/#4f27387f3fa1
Average Estimated Undergraduate Budgets, 2016-17 (n.d.). In CollegeBoard. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-estimated-undergraduate-budgets-2016-17
Bailey, T., Kaplan, J., & Rezek, C. (2014, June). Why senior leaders are the front line against cyberattacks. In McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/why-senior-leaders-are-the-front-line-against-cyberattacks
Myers, D., Sorel, M., & London, S. (2017, January). Staying ahead on cyber security. In McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/staying-ahead-on-cyber-security
McAfee, A. Leading Digital Transformation (2014, May 15). In Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/05/leading-digital-transformation
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