Exclusive Networks // Sustainability Report 2022

Risks and opportunities Risk factors

Risk related to the Group’s ability to maintain a portfolio of products and services tailored to demand

Criticality level: ■ ■ ■

Risk description

Risk management

As part of its mission, the Group must constantly offer the most relevant solutions that meet the requirements of the market and the needs of its customers. In this respect, the Group depends on the ability of vendors to (i) keep ahead of technological changes, (ii) introduce and improve their products and services, and (iv) adapt to industry standards. New violations of IT system infrastructures are occurring with ever-increasing regularity, as cyber criminals become more and more adept at exploiting new “techniques”, breaching vulnerabilities and devising other methods of attack. Vendors of cybersecurity consequently make every effort to anticipate and counter these attempts with equally ingenious solutions. The deployment of such solutions can nevertheless be extremely time-consuming, and a hundred or more new start-ups appear in the cybersecurity business every year. The approach developed by Exclusive Networks is not only to understand the market but also to anticipate the needs of its partners and their users. To this end the Group has set up a Technology Watch Committee (see opposite). Any inability of a vendor to anticipate industry trends and/or adapt to market needs could have a material adverse effect on the Group’s business.

The Group has implemented a process for identifying and managing its vendors which includes:  the creation of a Technology Watch Committee which reviews the quality of the technological value propositions of potential new vendors. The role of this Technology Watch Committee is to propose the best market access for Exclusive Networks and its vendors. The Technology Watch Committee includes technical members from the major countries and/ or regions, the chief strategy officers of Nuaware and Ignition, and the Vice-President Global Alliances and Ecosystem, who is a member of the Executive Committee;  the creation of a Technology Committee, which reviews the quality of the solutions sold;  a process of integration of new vendors which ensures the roll-out of solutions to the Group’s partners/clients;  a strategy for analysing the situation of existing vendors, which makes it possible to closely monitor their performance with the Group’s clients and which can be accompanied by internal improvement plans if necessary.

11

Exclusive Networks

Sustainability Report 2022