Millgate partners to help businesses with upcoming GDPR

Sheffield IT services firm Millgate has teamed up with cloud and endpoint cybersecurity company Bitdefender, cyber security and data protection firm Forcepoint and consultancy training provider IT Governance to educate and assist businesses still unpicking and understanding the implications – and potential impact on their business – of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements and deadline for compliance.

Millgate Managing Director Chris Calvert said: “Through our partnership with Bitdefender, Forcepoint and IT Governance we can provide first step assistance to help organisations address the challenges of GDPR compliance with a comprehensive suite of information resources, training courses, toolkits, and consultancy services.”

IT Governance founder and executive chairman Alan Calder said: “Since May last year, our GDPR Foundation and Practitioner training courses have helped more than 2,000 professionals get a comprehensive understanding of the regulation and gain the practical skills to achieve compliance.

“The GDPR requirements mean there is considerable work to be done assessing risks and implementing new controls before it is enforced. Organisations should take action now and equip professionals involved in GDPR compliance projects with the skills and practical understanding to meet the Regulation’s requirements in both a cost and time-effective manner.

“Under GDPR, organisations have a responsibility to themselves and the general public to uphold the security of personal data. With fines of up to 4% of global turnover and data subjects’ rights to pursue legal actions for unlawful processing, businesses should recognise the benefits of compliance and re-think their customer relationships.”

GDPR overhauls previous data protection directives to give more power back to the data subject. Companies around the UK and EU must ensure they are compliant with the new directives before the May 2018 deadline – or will be at risk of substantial fines and reputational damage.