The market reality is that experiencing failure in an enterprise digital environment is a matter of “when” rather than “if.” Sixty-six percent of executives surveyed know that their companies are under threat of attacks that test the resilience of their IT systems on a daily or weekly basis. Savvy enterprises must be aware of weak spots in information and operational technology, which requires difficult choices when deciding where to place scarce resources. Both spend-to-protect and spend-to-enable must be continually rebalanced to manage the enterprise. Embracing a digital ecosystem, managing digitally and institutionalizing resilience are all vital steps that are necessary to make an enterprise resilient, agile and fault-tolerant.

1. Business resilience in
the face of cyber risk

2. 2
Market reality
Experiencing failure in an enterprise
digital environment is a matter of
“when” rather than “if”
Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved.
of executives surveyed
confirmed their companies
experience significant
attacks that test the
resilience of their IT systems
on a daily or weekly basis
66%• Downtime is not just costly but untenable
• Failures and hostile cyber actions have profound impacts
on enterprise performance
• The same technologies that are driving the digital
enterprise—can enable resilience
• Success requires a fundamentally different perspective on
risk and technology portfolio management
• And…the leadership required to make it reality

3. 3
Know thy weaknesses
Only 9%
of executives surveyed by
Accenture Strategy stated
that they proactively run
inward-directed attacks
and intentional failures to
test their systems on a
continuous basis
A mere 25%
of executives surveyed
consistently design resilience
parameters into their
operating model and
technology architectures
Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved.
Note: Accenture Strategy research into the intersection of business and technology, 2015.
Savvy enterprises are self-aware of weak spots in Information and
Operational Technology

4. 4
Battle between protection and enablement
Difficult choices need to be made as to where to place scarce resources
Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved.
Just 40%
of executives in an Accenture Strategy survey
“strongly agree” that balancing spend-to-
protect and spend-to-enable is mature and
continuously managed in their enterprise
spend-to-protect
spend-to-enable

5. 5
Resilience…not just for systems
Focus on engaging the entire executive team and capabilities across
the company
Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved.
CEO advances the importance of business
continuity with the entire executive leadership
team and board of directors
CEO works hand in hand with CIO and other
business leaders
• On average, two C-suite executives are
responsible for continuously monitoring and
improving business resilience, with the CIO
involved more than half the time
Only half
of executives in an Accenture Strategy survey
stated they have a board-level committee in
place focused on business resilience

6. 6
For resilience, actions speak louder than words
Vital steps to make an enterprise resilient, agile and fault-tolerant
Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved.
Embrace a digital ecosystem:
advantage of robust digital
capabilities and technologies
outside the enterprise
Manage digitally:
requires real-time
orchestration of myriad
internal and external services
Institutionalize resilience:
must be part of the
fundamental operating
model, and even culture

7. 7
Find out more
Learn more at www.accenture.com/businessresilience
Contact us to discuss how to drive technology innovation
technology.strategy@accenture.com
Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved.

8. 8
Join the conversation
@AccentureStrat
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting,
technology services and outsourcing company,
with approximately 323,000 people serving clients
in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all
industries and business functions, and extensive
research on the world’s most successful companies,
Accenture collaborates with clients to help them
become high-performance businesses and
governments. The company generated net revenues
of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended August
31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
About Accenture Strategy
Accenture Strategy operates at the intersection of
business and technology. We bring together our
capabilities in business, technology, operations and
function strategy to help our clients envision and
execute industry-specific strategies that support
enterprise wide transformation. Our focus on issues
related to digital disruption, competitiveness, global
operating models, talent and leadership help drive
both efficiencies and growth. For more information,
follow @AccentureStrat or visit
www.accenture.com/strategy
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