Cybersecurity: the arguments to convince your CODIR to commit budgets
A successful cybersecurity strategy does not manifest itself in conspicuous or spectacular results. It acts discreetly as a backdrop to protect the company’s assets and activity. This invisibility is often difficult to defend in front of a CODIR: how can we value what we prevent from happening?
Every year, the CESIN barometer recalls the essential role of cybersecurity: 40% of French companies suffered a significant cyber attack in 2025, and 81% of them felt a real impact on their business. But today, cybersecurity is no longer confined to a defensive role. It becomes a vector of value creation and economic growth for organisations. The challenge is to convince the CODIR of this in order to obtain budgets commensurate with these new challenges.
Cybersecurity, a lever for performance
Long perceived as a cost center by the CODIR, cybersecurity is actually a lever for the benefit of company performance. On the defensive plan, cybersecurity helps avoid business interruptions that can last from a few hours in the case of a DDoS attack to several weeks in the case of a ransomware. It also helps prevent sensitive or strategic data leaks. In addition to achieving significant savings, a good cybersecurity strategy therefore protects the operational performance and sustainability of the company.
This value must be demonstrated to the CODIR by monitoring tangible indicators such as the information system availability rate, the number of significant incidents avoided, or even the ratio between cyber investment and the potential cost of defused incidents.
But the role of cybersecurity does not stop there, it is a prerequisite for adopting new technologies and innovating. Artificial intelligence is a perfect example. Without an adequate security framework, companies tend to prohibit its use by employees for fear of data leaks. But when the cyber department secures its use, teams can harness the potential of generative and agentive AI to increase their operational performance. This argument often resonates with the CODIR, who tend to want to accelerate on the subject of artificial intelligence.
Legally, any company is obliged to comply with the new French and European regulations in force. However, several of them include a cybersecurity component, such as the NIS2 directive, the DORA regulation, or the Cyber Resilience Act. Committing cybersecurity budgets makes it possible to anticipate this alignment with standards, avoid errors and the additional costs associated with late and hasty compliance, but also to obtain a new competitive advantage over competitors behind.
Finally, cybersecurity secures remote work and allows employees to operate confidently, regardless of their workplace. The possibility of working remotely is always a requirement for employees: 54% of them declare themselves ready to change companies if they do not have this option. Securing remote work therefore means strengthening talent retention within the company, a sensitive issue for the CODIR. Ercom helps you protect remote work with solutions like Cryptosmart Mobile, a solution for securing mobile terminals approved Restricted Distribution level* by ANSSI, or Cybels VPN, a sovereign and trusted VPN that secures remote access to sensitive corporate resources.
Cybersecurity, a lever of trust
Your level of cyber maturity now determines the level of trust that your customers and partners give you. 85% of companies thus include safety clauses in their contracts, according to the CESIN barometer. They are becoming a new standard, just like a commitment to deadlines or quality. In a context where cybercriminals first attack the third parties of companies they wish to target, cybersecurity is no longer just a defensive issue; it is also a prerequisite for business.
Proof is in: 74% of companies use safety questionnaires to evaluate their suppliers and partners, still according to the CESIN. Without demonstrable maturity, your company may be excluded from a contract or tender even before the commercial negotiation. The CODIR must become aware of this new reality. This maturity must be proven, notably through recognised benchmarks such as ISO 27001 or cyber-rating solutions, used by nearly one in two companies to objectify their level of security against a demanding client or partner.
All of Ercom’s solutions address this challenge. This is for example the case of Citadel Team, a professional communication platform that protects internal and external exchanges through end-to-end encryption and an infrastructure hosted in France on a SecNumCloud 3.2 certified sovereign cloud. This is also the case with Cryptobox, a sovereign file-sharing solution and also available on a SecNumCloud 3.2 cloud, which in turn allows for securely associating third parties thanks to its Extended Collaboration feature, and offers collaborative real-time document editing, compatible with Microsoft Office and OpenDocument formats.
Beyond the commercial aspect, the cyber dimension is now fully integrated into merger operations. acquisitions, and plays a role in determining the value of the company in case of sale, redemption or fundraising. The ability to prove the level of cybersecurity clearly allows for a more favorable negotiation.
Gartner ranks cybersecurity as one of 10 strategic levers for protecting business value in 2026. It now goes beyond its defensive function to strengthen the organisation’s performance as well as the trust placed in its ecosystem. These arguments are key to convincing the CODIR to commit budgets to cybersecurity. Ercom offers a portfolio of sovereign solutions that deliver on this value promise. Discuss with our experts about your cybersecurity issues and the arguments to present to your CODIR to convince him.
*Renewal in progress