Effective cybersecurity strategy development starts with understanding your stakeholders and how they impact your initiatives. While most organizations recognize the importance of stakeholder management, many struggle with systematic stakeholder identification and categorization.
Why Stakeholder Analysis Matters
In smaller organizations, a simple desk-based research approach might suffice for stakeholder identification. However, larger companies often require a more comprehensive approach.
Our detailed guide, published as part of the Cyber Strategy Management Framework, introduces a structured methodology that works across organizations of different sizes and maturity levels.
Understanding the Approach
The framework outlines seven key activities in stakeholder analysis:
- Identifying all potential stakeholders who may influence or have an interest in your cybersecurity strategy,
- Refining the stakeholder list to ensure appropriate granularity,
- Creating a power-interest grid to visualize stakeholder positioning,
- Determining stakeholder power and their ability to impact decisions,
- Assessing stakeholder interest levels and strategy impact,
- Classifying stakeholders into appropriate tiers,
- Maintaining an updated stakeholder inventory.
What You Will Find in the Article
The detailed guide provides practical tools and resources:
- Comprehensive lists of internal and external stakeholders,
- Specific questions for stakeholder identification and assessment,
- Power-interest grid template with implementation guidance,
- Detailed stakeholder classification matrix,
- Tips for stakeholder list refinement,
- Guidelines for maintaining stakeholder inventories,
- Practical examples of stakeholder categorization.
