Following his talk at the Executive Leaders Network on Wednesday 15 November 2017, which outlined the future data journey that businesses will need to follow to become GDPR compliant, Mike Lenard of Tailored Data Solutions has announced that 80% of the businesses he spoke to at the event are not yet ready for the new GDPR regulations.

Presented to over 100 people, the talk by Mike Lenard was one of 20 at the ExecLN-hosted event last month and attracted over 300 people from a wide range of sectors, including CEOs, data protection officers, company secretaries, lawyers, IT and marketing teams and many more.

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) deadline is 25 May 2018, less than 6 months away, and sets new standards for the storage, collection, distribution and usage of all personal information and data pertaining to a company’s customers.

Up to 20 million Euros, or 4% of a company’s annual, whichever is greater, could be the price to pay by any company who is found to be in breach after the 25th May 2018 deadline. Not only do the GDPR guidelines mean a company needs to be able to comply with the regulations pertaining to storing and using their data, they must also be able to prove their compliance in a demonstrable way if asked to do so, including processes and security measures taken.

Some companies may believe Brexit will render the GDPR compliance work unnecessary, but as the UK will still be in the European Union on the 25 May 2018, all companies must still show compliance up until such a time that the UK government announces we are no longer bound by it – which may not happen at all – or be liable for the hefty fines.

“It was worrying that with the impending deadline, most businesses still aren’t ready for the changes. We spoke with large and small companies and there still is much confusion on how they can prepare for GDPR,” said Mike Lenard. “We can help with this. Either through training, or we can white label our services to consult with your clients directly”, he continued, assuring those companies who are not yet ready that help is at hand.