Secure Growth in Organizations Developing Critical Software: 5 Insights from Tech Leaders Norr

When organizations grow, challenges are unavoidable. From unclear responsibilities to technical obstacles and security concerns. At our event Tech Leaders Norr, IT decision-makers met in Umeå to discuss technical and security challenges that appear during organizational growth, especially in companies that develop critical software. This time, Vitec Software Group joined us to talk about their growth journey, the challenges they faced, and how they addressed them. Below is a summary of five key insights from the discussions. During the evening, participants talked about questions such as:

• What cybersecurity challenges do you face as the organization grows? How have you worked to solve them?
• What technical challenges do you face as the organization grows? How have you worked to solve them?

As organizations grow, the lines between roles and responsibilities can easily become blurred, creating dangerous uncertainty. Who makes decisions during an incident? Who should have access to critical systems? And who is truly responsible? When these answers aren’t clear, things fall through the cracks.

During the evening, participants emphasized how important it is to define clear role descriptions and establish routines that keep the security work on track. Sometimes it can be valuable to bring in an external consultant to spot hidden weaknesses that internal teams often miss. And as always, change must start at the top — leadership needs to show the way and set a high standard for security work.

Security is not only about technology, it’s also about building a culture of awareness and understanding. Short, regular, and engaging security exercises, like phishing simulations or short video lessons, can raise awareness without overwhelming people.

But balance is key: too much training can make employees overly suspicious of internal messages, or cause them to ignore them entirely because “security tests happen all the time.” Stress also plays a big role, since stressed employees make more mistakes. Because of this, cybersecurity must be part of a healthy work environment — not just a technical fix.

As companies grow, it quickly becomes obvious: old systems and technologies that have been around for years can start to slow everything down. Replacing them is difficult, they are often critical for operations, but expensive and time-consuming to change.

This is where a well-thought-out technology strategy becomes important. A good strategy should support the business goals, increase efficiency, and enable growth. To succeed, companies need to map out which systems they use, how they are used, and where improvements can be made.

The challenge is finding the right balance: modernizing and optimizing without risking operational stability. With the right strategy, technology becomes a springboard, not a roadblock.

Finding the right talent is one of the biggest challenges when a company grows. Software can scale quickly, but people cannot. Sustainable growth requires not only smart hiring, but also a clear plan for developing the skills of existing employees.

It’s not just about filling roles, it’s about attracting the right people who can make a real difference. Sometimes it’s better to bring in external experts to solve specific challenges instead of overloading existing staff. This gives the organization access to specialist knowledge while protecting long-term development.

A growing organization cannot rely on informal ways of working. Onboarding processes, guidelines, and regular updates become critical for keeping quality and security high. During the discussions, it became clear that keeping routines up to date at the same pace as changes happen is a major challenge, but it’s necessary to avoid inefficiency and security gaps and to support continued growth.

Growing as an organization is about balancing the core of the business with the ability to adapt to new demands. Cybersecurity and technical challenges are not just obstacles, they are opportunities to make the organization stronger.

With clear responsibilities, a strong security culture, and a well-designed technology strategy, organizations can build a foundation for safe and sustainable growth.

But success is not only about technology and processes. People play the central role here. When organizations invest in competence development, manage stress, and create smooth onboarding processes, they strengthen their teams to handle both today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

By integrating security and technology into the growth strategy, companies can not only reduce risks but also build an organization that is resilient, collaborative, and ready for the future. Security and innovation go hand in hand on the journey to success.