Professionals are working more differently today than ever before, thanks to the technology that connects them to information, clients and peers in ways few could have envisioned a decade ago. The notion of what is a profession is itself evolving, as the internet enables people to deliver services remotely to clients around the world.
The realm of professional services is no longer limited to traditional occupations such as accountants, lawyers, surveyors, and architects to name a few. However, in all professional services, whether traditional or newly emerging, there is risk of errors or omissions that lead to liability.
Global risks are also playing on the mind of professional services business leaders. Just as their increasing reliance on technology opens the doors to more business opportunities, efficiencies and the ability to reduce costs, it also exposes their businesses to technology-related risks.
When asked in November what their predicted top three risks would be in six months’ time, business leaders ranked cyber as their top risk (48%), closely followed by regulatory risk (46%) and political risk (45%).
The acknowledgement by professional services business leaders that regulatory risk is expected to be a concern could, in part, be Brexit-related, but with regulation around data and privacy tightening up globally, with many jurisdictions looking to replicate the EU’s GDPR framework, this too could be driving this heightened awareness.
Identifying the links between the information afforded to professional services firms by their increasing reliance on technology and global data regulations will be crucial.
In November last year, these risk factors drove business leaders in this sector to forecast slightly lower confidence levels in their business’ ability to grow and prosper in six months’ time from 63% to 59%.