Security Is Now A Feature, Not An Afterthought

Forbes

5 days ago

Gegham Azatyan, cofounded Dexatel in 2015, innovating in CPaaS and omnichannel solutions for secure business growth.
Not long ago, enterprise leaders bought business communications tools the same way they picked office furniture. Something sturdy. Functional. Preferably with lots of integration options and a tolerable price tag. Security? That was IT's headache. Or legal's. Or perhaps, with luck, an auditor's.
But that approach no longer works. Security has migrated from the back office to the boardroom. It's now a product feature, front and center. And in enterprise communications, I've found that it's fast becoming one of the features that matter most. Why?
As founder of an omnichannel business communication company, I've come to believe it's because we're living in a time when customer engagement is not just multichannel—it's multi-risk. Whether you're pinging customers on WhatsApp, verifying users by SMS or pushing two-factor alerts in bulk, you're not just transmitting data. You're transmitting trust. And, in many cases, you're assuming risk on behalf of the customer.
That changes the stakes.
Security As A System Instead Of A Patch
Too many platforms still treat security like a postscript—or, worse, like a damage control strategy. You don't need a reminder of how poorly that can end, but just in case, see the growing list of breaches that have turned household brands into cautionary tales.
Instead of flashy dashboards or volume discounts, more and more tech buyers are asking vendors for penetration test results. They review data flows. They want transparency baked in. And they're right to do so, because in the new era of business communications, I find the real differentiator isn't who can message faster. It's who can message smarter. Securely. Responsibly. Globally.
In other words, we're seeing the rise of communications platforms built like infrastructure, not like apps. The kind of platforms that hold up not just under volume, but under scrutiny. And that's where security—once buried deep in the spec sheet—is finally getting its due.
From Compliance To Competitive Edge
Take ISO/IEC 27001 and GDPR, for instance. Once seen as bureaucratic hurdles, these compliance certificates are now becoming market differentiators. When a vendor says, 'We're compliant,' more and more enterprise buyers are hearing, "We've done the hard work so you don't have to explain a breach to your CISO."
In regulated industries like banking, healthcare and even e-commerce, that message can resonate. Strong data governance is important for reducing vendor risk, building consumer confidence and future-proofing digital growth.
Of course, compliance isn't exciting. Few enterprise leaders are going to brag about their data protection impact assessment at a cocktail party. But for buyers? These certifications can offer something better than buzz: assurance.
These are all reasons why I believe we as enterprise leaders should demand more. Secure communications should be architected, not added. That means encryption at rest and in transit. It means vendor due diligence, real-time anomaly detection and, yes, governance built to survive audits.
But most of all, it means asking better questions, such as:
• "Who has access to the message?"
• "What happens if the user's phone is compromised?"
• "Where is the data stored?"
• And the question nobody likes to ask: "How easily can this be misused?"
Best Practices For Architecting Secure Communications Platforms
If you're building or evaluating a communications platform in today's security-sensitive world, consider these five best practices—not as a checklist, but as a mindset.
1. Treat security like infrastructure, not insurance. Secure communications should be built from the ground up. That means encryption standards shouldn't be an afterthought. Architect for both encryption at rest and in transit—and plan for scale. Your platform should perform just as securely on Day 1 as it does on Day 1,000.
2. Build governance that's audit-proof, not just audit-ready. Don't scramble when a regulator comes knocking. Create a living governance framework: one that outlines data flows, permissions, storage protocols, retention policies and third-party access rules. Document everything, and ensure your framework can stand up to external scrutiny without needing last-minute cleanups.
3. Implement real-time monitoring and anomaly detection. In my experience, most breaches aren't discovered when they happen—they're discovered months later. Real-time anomaly detection, such as alerting for sudden spikes in message volume or unexpected IP geolocation patterns, can flag issues before they become incidents.
4. Conduct continuous vendor due diligence. Too many companies treat vendor vetting as a one-time event. But vendors evolve, and so do their risks. Re-assess critical vendors annually, review their compliance updates, and don't be afraid to ask for recent third-party audit reports. 'Trust but verify' applies here more than ever.
5. Avoid the most common pitfall: over-reliance on tools. Yes, software matters. But so do people and processes. Invest in security training for internal teams. Align cross-functional stakeholders—from legal to engineering—so everyone understands their role in protecting communications. Technology without accountability is just an accident waiting to happen.
You wouldn't send your CFO into a board meeting with half-finished numbers, so don't send your customer messages over half-secure channels. In 2025, security is not a luxury. It's a core feature. And if your communications platform isn't treating it that way, it may be time to shop around.
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