by Felicien | Feb 7, 2018 | Education
CEOs are some of the busiest people we’ve ever met, and we’ve met a lot of people.
What do CEOs do? The answer to this question is as unique as the company a given CEO is busy running. If we polled every CEO we know and asked what their primary goal is, we’d likely only get a handful of overlapping answers – but we’re betting they’ll all share a common theme: managing people and money.
Today it doesn’t matter if the CEO founded the company or rose through the ranks and was ultimately promoted to the position. The modern CEO is expected to have mastered certain skills:
Human Resources: Quite literally, CEOs are responsible for hiring the “human resources” needed to operate effectively, thus overseeing key senior management roles within a company.
Basic Accounting: At some point in their career, a likely CEO fulfilled the duty of managing a departmental budget and was tasked with cost-cutting where appropriate, without compromising quality or productivity.
Staff Management: Considering oneself a “people person” doesn’t cut it — the day-to-day operations and management of a team involve constant juggling of communication, compromise, and collaboration.
Has the principal function of a modern CEO evolved to focus on managing people? Making sure the right people are in the right positions, is critical. As stated above, being a “people person” isn’t enough – superior communication is a fundamental requirement of a member of senior management. A CEO must understand the needs of his or her staff and the needs of the company – and find a way to compromise for the best results. Successfully marrying these two independent sets of needs can understandably pose a major challenge.
Use Two-Way Radios
Every organization is unique, but one thing is shared: people. People are the cogs that make a company function like a well-oiled machine. From interns and administrative assistants to specialists and management, each position must be filled with qualified people – this is the backbone of any successful business.
This all sounds like a chaotic organizational chart, but it underscores the importance of the corporate hierarchy and the flow of communication. What isn’t happening in so many organizations is the focus on the two-way flow of communication.
Where might a flaw in communication flow be most obvious? Just ask the CEO – in some cases the former CEO – at any of the companies that recently made the news for experiencing massive data breaches, such as:
Target, 2013
Sony Pictures, 2014
Home Depot, 2014
Anthem, 2015
Ashley Madison, 2015
Equifax, 2017
It seems pointless to ask the CEO of Target or Equifax what they would have done differently if they knew then what they know now, but this may be the most valuable advice available. For example, for which department might they have considered budgeting more money? In the months leading up to each instance, it’s unlikely there was an immediate need to beef up cybersecurity.
Is Your Data Defense Lacking?
The general public may never know the true extent of these now-infamous data breaches, and just how hackers were able to access their sensitive and secure data. One thing is obvious: there was a clear break in the communication chain between senior management and the IT staff tasked with safeguarding these assets.
Data protection is big business, and the failure to keep data secure can effectively cripple your bottom line. The hidden cost of a data breach is immense:
The common response to a data breach is to offer one year of identity theft protection to all consumers affected, at a cost of millions of dollars.
The financial loss to credit organizations for purchases made using stolen identities.
The negative impact on a company’s public image, and the resulting loss of confidence, and subsequently, profit.
The affected organization is in reactive mode for months following a data breach.
Did you know the average cost to a company with a security breach is over $5 million? By comparison, Target’s breach cost an estimated $1 billion.
It’s a safe assumption that the CEO of each company in the list above was out of touch when it came to cybersecurity. We ask a few questions to determine the root problem:
Do executives fail to appreciate the true value of cybersecurity in general?
Do CEOs fail to relate data insecurity with financial loss?
Is data security seen as more of a luxury than a necessity?
We don’t think any of these are independently the issue; it’s more likely that the CEO thinks everything necessary is already being done. Again, this shows a major lapse in communication.
Does Today’s CEO Need To Be Fully Versed In Data Security?
The answer? Don’t expect the CEO to be a security expert, but rather, find the best human resources possible to oversee data security, and then encourage open dialogue and a two-way flow of communication to ensure adequate protection.
Ask yourself how your communication flow is structured:
Who is tasked with overseeing cybersecurity measures at your company?
Who is responsible for ensuring the latest improvements are considered?
What methods are in place that are just “sufficient”?
When was the most recent full review of your cybersecurity strategy?
By initiating communication and proactivity, you eliminate barriers to address true needs and minimize risk to your company – and your profitability. This leads to a lower overall cost impact in the long run, which equates to a common-sense approach for a CEO.
Tech Task Force
Working together, a CEO and senior-level executives can communicate openly with IT staff to discuss the needs of the company and assess the cost/savings benefits of cybersecurity to establish a comprehensive security strategy and safeguard data.
Long-term success in business relies on compromise, collaboration, and communication – at all levels of an organization.
by Felicien | Feb 7, 2018 | Education
Wi-Fi isn’t just for your computer anymore. These days Wi-Fi is changing the way we make calls from our cellular phones, and this way of calling has a lot to offer. Instead of using the minutes from your cellular plan, you can make a call by connecting to a Wi-Fi signal. Depending on your plan, you can end up saving a lot of money each month by using Wi-Fi instead of plan minutes.
How Does Wi-Fi Calling Work?
It works like this. Wi-Fi calling hinges on a technology called SIP/IMS (IP Multimedia Subset), a technology that lets your phone make and receive phone calls using a regular Wi-Fi network. IMS was originally created for mobile applications, primarily allowing the convergence of data, speech, and mobile network technology over IP-based infrastructure. IMS can be examined with its layered construction, which includes many layers with different functionalities. SIP is a session control protocol which exists in the application layer and can complete multimedia session establishment and modification. Normally, SIP devices communicate with each other using SIP servers which provide an infrastructure for routing and authentication services.
Depending on where you live, you may not have great cellular coverage – sometimes even more populated areas can have signal issues, and rural areas may always have a hard time receiving a signal. This is one of can be especially the key reasons as to why Wi-Fi calling is becoming more popular. T-Mobile is the biggest supporter of Wi-Fi calling to date, and yet many people still don’t know that it exists, because some carriers are slow to accept the process. With carriers who do support this service, it allows for clearer, better calls. Whereas not all phones support Wi-Fi calling, with each new generation of the device released, more are coming on board.
The Cost of Wi-Fi Calling
If you’re calling throughout the United States, there’s good news – everything is free. However, internationally, the price of a call will vary. All major networks allow for international calling, but they don’t all charge the same. Whereas T-Mobile lets you make and receive Wi-Fi calls for free from more than 140 countries, Sprint customers can call from over 200 countries, with a few exceptions to country and phone. However, four of its Android phones don’t support international Wi-Fi calling at all. Unless you have an iPhone running iOS 9.3, both AT&T and Verizon charge for international Wi-Fi calls, whether you buy an international plan or pay per use. It’s also worth noting that most carriers allow you to make free calls back to the U.S. if you’re traveling out of the country.
The Specifics
So, if you’re ready to take a step into the future, here are detailed instructions, provided by Marc Mintz of Mintzit.com, on how to set-up your Wi-Fi calling:
Be in range of a Wi-Fi network for which you have the password.
On your iOS phone, open Settings > Wi-Fi. It should show that you are connected to the Wi-Fi network. If not, tap Wi-Fi, in the Wi-Fi screen, enable Wi-Fi, select the target Wi-Fi network, and then enter the network password.
At the top left corner of the screen, tap Settings to return to the Settings screen.
In the Settings screen, scroll down and then tap on
In the Phone screen, enable Wi-Fi Calling.
In the Wi-Fi Calling screen, enable Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone.
An alert will appear “Enable Wi-Fi Calling?” Tap
Enable Prefer Wi-Fi While Roaming.
When on the Wi-Fi network, 911 operators can’t determine your location as quickly as they can when on the cellular network. If you will be using Wi-Fi calling primarily at home, tap Update Emergency Address, and then enter that address.
When done, scroll down to Terms & Conditions, tap the “By using this service…“, and then tap
The Future Is Bright
Wi-Fi calling may be nothing new, but it is making more headlines lately. Apps like Skype have been around for a while, but a new trend in phone buying sees people opting for a Wi-Fi cell phone instead (also called a cellular-Internet phone or cell-Internet phone). These phones can automatically switch between regular cellular and Wi-Fi VoIP modes, even in the middle of a conversation.
HELP! My Carrier Doesn’t Support Wi-Fi Calling
If your phone carrier doesn’t technically support Wi-Fi Calling, don’t worry. There are a lot of apps out there to choose from that will let you make calls over Wi-Fi (note – not all apps are free):
Facebook Messenger
Skype
Google Hangouts (you’ll need the Hangouts Dialer app as well)
Google Voice
Google Duo
Wi-Fi Calling Unlimited Free
Talkatone
You like it. You want it. You just have to have it. What are you waiting for? Grab your phone and give it a try. Happy dialing.
by Felicien | Feb 7, 2018 | Education
Businesses store data like we store clothes. How many times do we step into our closets and wonder “When was the last time I wore this”?
This is similar to what we, as business owners, should be asking ourselves. “When was the last time I used this data?” We collect and store data on a constant basis, but if we aren’t using it, then it’s only taking up space and costing us money. It’s a common misconception that big data analyst programs or business intelligence are solely for large businesses. We should be using these tools and taking advantage of them every chance we get.
Most small businesses assume that they cannot afford business intelligence tools. While this may have once been true, it’s just not the case anymore. Before now, business intelligence tools came with a hefty price tag and needed highly trained and educated staff to run them. However, with today’s advances in technology, there’s been a considerable improvement in affordability of these tools. There is no longer the need for entire teams of analysts and scientists to explain the data in layman’s terms. Now, programs and tools such as these work as a middleman, giving even the most inexperienced employee access to compelling, game-changing data. Now, that data that sat unused can now have huge impacts on your small business’ profits, efficiency, and security.
There are few main ways that business intelligence tools can aid your small business:
Increased Profits
One of the most critical aspects of a business is profit – without it, everything stops. Business Intelligence Tools aid your business’s profit by providing valuable insight into your activity and your customers’ behavior. Business Intelligence Tools can increase your business’s profit, both current and future through the use of analytics and science-based predictors.
Efficiency
Efficiency is a vital cornerstone of any business. You can build the effectiveness of your small business operations in a few ways. The easiest way is by using a Business Intelligence Tool like Business Activity Monitoring. Business Activity Monitors analyze data that comes from inside your organization as well as outside, such as those involving your customers and partners. This analysis offers you an opportunity to see where gaps exist and where they don’t. It also looks for patterns of efficiency within your business by showing which departments are running efficiently, and which aren’t. These tools ensure that you and your staff are making efficient use of all your resources, no matter how large or small.
Market Reach
The 2017 SMB Routes to Market Study found that small businesses reported that “getting better insights out of the data they already have is their top technology challenge”. How much data does your small business have that isn’t being used to its full potential? This unused data might make a huge difference in your business marketing. Business Intelligence Tools help your small business by further developing and strengthening your market reach. This makes use of the data that you’ve already collected and helps you detect patterns. These patterns can reveal both customer and employee trends. Tools such as these fill that void by giving employees the opportunity to be more productive and efficient in working towards the greater good for the business.
Common Goals
Another essential tool is the digital dashboard, which gives you a dashboard view of numerous sources of data all at once, in an easy-to-understand and organized way. A recent study showed that only 40% of the workforce knew about their company’s goals, strategies, and tactics. Improving the efficiency of your business means getting all your employees working towards the same goal. Digital dashboards provide an explicit representation of the data findings of your business, to anyone from the CEO to the temp receptionist, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same data-driven goals.
Security
Maintaining secure and stable storage of essential data helps you provide professional and trustworthy service. Business Intelligence Tools provide security by protecting the data it holds. For example, a Business Intelligence Tool for data cleansing can monitor your data to detect any corrupt files. Once it finds a corrupt or incorrect file, it safely confines and deletes it. This tool not only protects your clients’ data but safeguards your company from possibly making decisions based off of faulty data as well.
Business Intelligence Tools are no longer out of reach for small businesses. They can help your business reach its full potential, help you increase profits, improve efficiency, expand your market reach, unite your staff’s efforts and improve data security. As a small business, you now have these resources at your disposal. Don’t let that data continue to sit unused. It could have a big impact on your small business.
by Felicien | Feb 6, 2018 | Education
Your small business is at risk. There’s no way to sugar coat it and no way to say it any more plainly. Every day there are criminals targeting businesses.
Why?
Because they want your money, they want your private data, or they just want to cause trouble for you.
It doesn’t matter what they want. The scary thing is that they can do immense damage to your company in a very short window of time. If ransomware takes control of and encrypts your data, your only recourse is to pay the criminals. But what if you could get ahead of the criminals and enact nine strategies that will enhance your company’s cybersecurity posture?
It’s time to take a stand and act BEFORE the bad guys do their damage. These nine cybersecurity tips will help your business be proactive regarding your IT security.
#1 – Strengthen Your Payment Gateway With Card Best Practices
Your bank and credit card issuers can help you tremendously in the area of IT security for credit and debit cards. They will help you by supplying many of the tools that you need to validate cards and ensure that the cards you process haven’t been compromised by fraud.
Part of the credit/debit card cybersecurity best practices is the practice of isolation. By putting your payment systems on a separate computer – even a separate internet connection – then the computers you use for internet use, you lower the risk.
Another best practice that revolves around keeping up with cybersecurity technology is the move from magnetic strip readers to chip card or EMV readers. These new EMV readers are now the industry standard, and even small businesses need to comply with this new payment security measure.
#2 – Backup Everything
Your business cannot operate effectively without access to your data. If you don’t back it up, your data may not be there for you when you need it the most. A busy office creates thousands of files each day, and the secure backup of these files needs to be a part of your company’s cybersecurity strategy.
Backups should be made at least daily and mirrored in the cloud or an offsite server.
Backup should be overseen by an IT support and IT security professional. Companies like us have the cybersecurity experts that are proficient in handling automatic, secure data backup and recovery for companies large and small.
#3 – Get Your Physical Access Points Secured
If the bad guys – even bad employees – can just walk into any office in the building and access computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones, you’re not even close to having bulletproof cybersecurity.
You need to ensure that your devices are protected by two-factor authentication and that you use door locks and more sophisticated electronic access systems to prevent entry by unauthorized individuals.
Everyone in the company should have their own secure passwords, and admin privileges should only be given to the actual network administrator.
#4 – Have Structured Procedures In Place For Mobile Devices
The mobile devices that your company employees use can present some unique problems when it comes to cybersecurity. IT security experts routinely point to unsecured mobile devices as the vulnerability used by cyber-criminals to gain access to company networks.
Make sure your employees use passwords to protect their smartphones and tablets. Contact an IT security professional – like our cybersecurity experts – to help you with data encryption, secure file synchronization, and secure network access. Cybersecurity experts can help you protect your data with remote wipe capability if your phone is lost or stolen.
#5 – Secure Your Entire Website
Everyone knows that their sign up forms and check out pages need to be secure, but what about the rest of your company’s website?
We’ve all had the experience of going to a business site, only to find that it has been hacked and taken over by malicious cyber-criminals.
Don’t let it happen to you.
Implement antivirus and anti-spyware software on your computers
Do all the updates, upgrades, and patches issued by your operating system developer
Bring in an IT security professional to do a vulnerability assessment on a regular basis
#6 – Lock Down Your Networks
Your network connects all your devices, the internet, and your peripheral devices (like printers). Each device is a point at which a criminal could gain access. Here are some tips.
Your internet connection isn’t safe unless you are utilizing a monitored firewall and leveraging the power of encryption.
Make sure to hide your company WiFI and use controlled access to customer WiFi.
Password protect your router.
Disconnect any WiFi enabled devices that you don’t regularly use and security check.
#7 – Put Policies in Place to Secure Private Data
Your employees should know what the IT security policies of the company are and how to deal with private information. But they won’t unless you specifically take the time and invest in cybersecurity awareness training.
Once you have done the training, they should be aware of and be held responsible for following IT security protocols.
#8 – Employees Are Your First Line Of Defense Against Cyber-Criminals
Employees want to help you secure your business against cyber-crime, but often don’t know that they are letting the bad guys in the front door.
By training your employees on topics like phishing, social engineering, ransomware, spyware, and adware, you can drastically reduce your risk.
Following that training, employ and cyber security professional to run tests on your employees’ ability to spot these scams and intrusion attempts.
#9 – Leverage Strong Passwords And Multi-Factor Identification
Your staff should be instructed on what makes for a good password. Better yet, hire an IT security professional to set up multi-factor identification and single sign-on strategies for your business. These cybersecurity tactics can help your employees be more efficient while enabling a higher degree of security for your company.
Looking for IT security experts to help your business avoid intrusions, disruptions, and costly downtime?
by Felicien | Feb 6, 2018 | Education
We all wish we had a magic crystal ball that would make our lives easier, whether that means knowing when to change our hairstyle, or when to apply for that dream job.
In business, there is no magic crystal ball that will tell us what’s going to happen, but with the right technology, we can get a good idea. Using incredible algorithms and analytics, technology can detect patterns that help you to adjust your business for the future. The use of this technology is called business intelligence.
Business intelligence tools are here to help you manage your business more effectively. Still, many small businesses don’t take advantage of the tools that they have available to them. Small business owners know that they should be analyzing their data but often fail to do so. In fact, the SMB Routes to Market Study found that small businesses reported “getting better insights out of the data they already have” is their primary challenge with technology. There is a common misconception that Business Intelligence Tools are mainly for large businesses and grand corporations. While analytics and other business intelligence tools are helpful to large businesses, they also work well for small businesses.
What is business intelligence and how can it help my small business?
Business Intelligence is software and tools that support the growth of a company through data collected such as department productivity, overall growth, sales trends, and customer behavior. Business Intelligence Tools can range from something as simple as Spreadsheets for the organization, analysis and storage of data to Online Analytical Processing or Reporting and Querying software. Each has a specific use, and offer various benefits to your small business.
Most common Business Intelligence Tools:
Reporting and querying software
Online analytical processing (OLAP)
Digital Dashboards
Business Activity Monitoring
Local information systems
Data Mining
Data Warehouse
Data Cleansing
Reporting and querying software extracts, sorts, summarizes, and presents selected data. This data could range from sale reports of specific items to a measurement of the efficiency of marketing plans. Sisense, an example of reporting and querying software, is one of the more well-known programs of this type, given that it won the Best Business Intelligence Software Award for 2016. Sisense collects data from multiple sources while offering the ability to complete analytics both on-premise and in the cloud.
Online analytical processing (OLAP) is part of the broader category of Business Intelligence, which also encompasses relational database, report writing, and data mining. Microsoft explains that “OLAP databases are designed to speed up the retrieval of data…It is a sophisticated technology that uses multidimensional structures to provide rapid access to data for analysis”. This is beneficial to your small business as it saves you time and money by constantly retrieving data and reporting its findings to you and your analyst in clear ways that help you improve your business. Looker is a popular example of OLAP software, using simplified language to give businesses a better understanding of their data analytics.
Digital dashboards give you a dashboard view of your data and sources. This is important when you need to view numerous reports and data sources, or when you need to present these findings in one location to numerous employees. This provides a clear representation of the data findings of your business, to anyone from the CEO to the temporary receptionist, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same data-driven goals. In a recent study, it was brought to light that only 40% of the workforce knew about the company’s goals, strategies, and tactics. Tools such as these fill that void by allowing employees the opportunity to be more productive and efficient in working towards the greater good for the business.
Some of the most important Business Intelligence Tools recognize and take advantage of patterns. If your company is losing money, it’s best to know why, and where, so that you can stop it. The same concept works in reverse. If your business is doing well, you’ll want to know specifically how and why in order to continue to do so. There are numerous Business Intelligence tools that can support this way of thinking.
For example, Business activity monitoring refers to the aggregation, analysis, and presentation of real-time information inside the organizations, as well as activities involving its customers and partners. Taking a closer look at all the activities of your business, from an analytical standpoint, would give you clear-cut answers on where there are gaps, and where there aren’t. These tools provide you with the opportunity to ensure that you, your staff, and your business are making efficient use of all your resources, no matter how large or small.
Tableau is one of the top software choices for business activity monitoring. This program helps you make improved decisions based on material and resources usage. This especially helps businesses ensure that they are ordering enough to meet demands while managing their risks.
Additionally, sometimes the answers lie outside of your business. Local information systems focus on collecting data in relation to geographic reporting. Similarly, data mining is the process of discovering patterns in large data sets involving methods at the intersection of machine learning, statistics, and database systems. Recognizing these patterns help you depict optimal opportunities while making smart choices to avoid negative trends.
Domo is a popular program that optimizes the business’s marketing efforts by recognizing and measuring customer engagement through hundreds of different data sources. For example, Domo can help your business collect data from all types of social websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook as well as more technical ones such as Google Analytics and QuickBooks.
The term that is clearly repeated throughout business intelligence is “data”. Some of the most important and most beneficial tools of business intelligence are Data Warehouse and Data Cleansing. Data Warehouse is the storage of the data currently collected as well as previous data. Maintaining a secure and stable storage of important data helps your business to provide professional and trustworthy service. Google Analytics is a great Business Intelligence tool that allows you to improve your data collection. This type of data collection will help you improve your understanding of your audience and prioritize your marketing channels and make smarter advertising placements.
Data Cleansing is the process of monitoring stored data to detect any incorrect or corrupt data. After the file is identified as corrupt or incorrect, then Data Cleansing software works to safely correct or remove the corrupt data without damaging any other files. If you were at your doctor’s office and he prescribed you something that was researched with an 88% error rate, would you still take that pill? Of course not. So why do we continue to use data that is erroneous?
A recent study from the University of Hawaii shows that “88% of spreadsheets contain errors”. If you are storing corrupt files, you could lose other important data, therefore losing time and money. These corrupt or incorrect files can come from a few different sources, with misspellings and missing information being one of the most common errors. Without cleansing this data, your business could be making analytical decisions off incorrect or corrupt data.
Which ones should I choose?
With so many options to choose from, it can be hard to determine which is the best for your business. The great news is that now business intelligence tools aren’t solely for the large corporations with the deep pockets. These systems are extremely affordable, and in fact, some are even free. For example, you can download Microsoft’s Power BI Desktop app for free with up to 1 GB of data. Once your business grows past those needs it will only cost you $10 a month.
What does this mean for my business?
Business Intelligence Tools are meant to eliminate guesswork while helping to monitor critical metrics. They provide you with valuable insight into your business’s activity and your customer behavior. There is no longer the need for whole teams of analysts and scientists to explain the data in layman’s terms. Now, programs and tools such as these will work as a middleman, giving even the most inexperienced employee access to powerful game-changing data.
These programs also increase your business’s profit, both now and in the future through the use of analytics and science-based predictors. Business Intelligence Tools increase your productivity within your business, as well as improving your efficient reach of a larger audience. Then with your improved business, it ensures that you are able to secure and protect your business and the data in which it holds.
Small businesses don’t grow big by continuing to think small. Businesses grow by having a good understanding of their company’s activities, and the needs of their customers. That requires Business Intelligence. Don’t sidestep Business Intelligence Tools because you aren’t sure if your business is large enough to need it. Take advantage of the tools available to you and make the most of your business today.
