Is Shadow IT Lurking Around Your Office? How to Address it the RIGHT Way
There’s a hidden danger in many companies that people may look past every day, not even realizing it’s there. But it ends up growing in the shadows putting their data security at risk. This danger may initially take root when an employee sees an interesting cloud app online, like a task manager. They decide to use it to make their workflow more productive. Then another employee is working from home one day and realizes they can’t get into a CRM they normally use, so they find another one and begin putting customer data into that. Before you know it, shadow IT has spread throughout your organization. Shadow IT is the description of applications being used by employees without the knowledge of or clearance of a company’s IT team or IT partner. They’re apps that an organization may not even realize are being used with business data, so they’re outside any managed services, backups, or cloud strategies.
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7 Devastating Ways You Can Lose Data from Your Cloud Services
Do you feel safe and secure that nothing will happen to your data because it’s in the cloud? Unfortunately, it might not be as safe as you think. It’s easy to get a false sense of security when using cloud platforms because your data is available from anywhere, you can access it from any device, and those cloud services, like Microsoft 365, have uptime guarantees, right? While all those things might be true, that also may not protect you from cloud data loss. Services like Microsoft also warn users that if they don’t back up their cloud data with a 3rd party service, that it could be lost. Only, the warning is buried deep in their services agreements, which most users don’t read. If you think you’ve got it made in the shade and don’t need any cloud service management or backup, you could end up with some devastating data loss because you weren’t properly protected. Work from home (WFA) has now become an acronym and employers have
realized that having employees work remotely can be a bonus. With the pandemic forcing businesses in Tucson and throughout the country to operate remotely, companies were initially thrown for a loop. But now, many of them see the benefits of utilizing a remote workforce, either part or full-time. Benefits include:
But wait? Aren’t there any downsides to having employees work from home? New Report Shows 7 Ways Your Employees Can Destroy Your Business. How to Protect Yourself! No business owner likes to think that their own employees are a threat to the security of their business. But if you don’t take insider threats seriously you could end up blindsided.
A new report by Cybersecurity Insiders, a community of 400,000 information security professionals, shows just how dangerous employees can be to your business. The 2020 Insider Threat Report lays out several security threats that happen from negligent and malicious employees. How big of a deal are insider threats, anyhow? A pretty big one. Over half (52%) of security professionals state that internal attacks are more difficult to detect and prevent than external cyberattacks. This is because by definition, an “insider” attack is coming from someone with legitimate login credentials. Growing through a recession
Remaining profitable during a recession is difficult as it is, but growing may feel impossible. After all, if nobody wants to buy, nobody wants to buy what you sell. Right? I am not a marketer. We pay people for that. But I do understand people and business, and how going the opposite way of others can lead to huge returns. If you are in danger of closing your doors within a month, you need cash. If you are set and can continue operating, you have an excellent opportunity to set yourself up as a market leader. Economic recessions have the fantastic effect of making you and your business quickly cut fat and push employees to deliver. Within weeks you realize how much unnecessary extras you were paying for, signed up for, or had hired. Services you thought you needed to get canceled, and your business seems as usual at the moment. While I do advocate for cutting unnecessary expenses, there is one thing you should never do. NEVER (did I say never?) cut any service you will be taking back on as a business owner that has a lower value than what you do. Don’t cut janitorial if you will be spending 10 hours a week scrubbing a toilet. I wouldn’t even give it to a staff member unless they are in danger of being laid off, and you otherwise would like to keep them. But, you may think, I have extra time, so why not fill it with something I am already paying for to reduce cost? It seems perfectly rational in hard times to pull up your bootstraps and get to work. With Office 365, it seems common sense has finally prevailed, giving business the changes they actually want. It’s still Office, and your staff will still know exactly how to work it, but they’ll get so much more done.
1. The whole Mac/Windows drama is over Office 365 brings with it a stack of benefits, but perhaps the most relieving is the in-built file compatibility across all platforms. No more converting (or corrupting) files back and forth, productivity black holes have essentially been eliminated. 2. It’s always ready to go Microsoft is so confident in their cloud-based software and data storage; they’re giving a 99.9% uptime guarantee. You can even call a real life human for support. Work online, offline or mobile – the choice is yours. |