The article “It’s 2020 — Should Business Owners Fear The Cloud?” was written by Epicor Software Corp. CEO Steve Murphy and published by Forbes on March 2, 2020. You can read the original article here.
The cloud. It’s a small word that packs a big punch. Defining what a cloud is can confuse some while implementing it raises concerns for others.
We should consider three key factors as we continue into a new decade and business owners ask if they should fear the cloud: privacy, interoperability, and cost.
But first, what is the cloud, and why are businesses migrating to this solution?
Essentially, the cloud is a delivery method for your software. It’s a network of servers that are linked together and operate as a single system. The cloud can perform a variety of functions (e.g., storing data, running applications, delivering content, etc.), and you can access it online. There are both public and private cloud options. The biggest difference with the cloud is what it doesn’t require. You don’t need any hardware or networking gear on-site – all you need is a tablet or a phone to run the software.
One of the major reasons I believe cloud adoption continues to grow is the flexibility and productivity enhancements it offers. As the CEO of a company that offers cloud platforms, I’ve found that these features are particularly attractive for business owners looking to build resiliency in the face of unpredictable trade wars and other geopolitical changes. Business owners often look to business management software to provide stability. According to Goldman Sach’s 2020 review (via CNBC), 23% of IT workloads are now in public clouds.
So, should business owners fear the cloud when it comes to privacy, interoperability, and cost?
Should I fear privacy in the cloud?
There is no denying privacy is a major concern when it comes to data. Data breaches continue to increase, as does the projected production of data. To keep pace, both software solutions and IT departments will have to up their game.
First, I’ll share the bad news. According to Hiscox’s 2019 Cyber Readiness Report, most businesses are unprepared for cyber threats. In fact, in the U.S., 73% of businesses are “novices” at cyber readiness.
The good news, however, is that the public cloud has proven safer than on-premise data center environments. Specifically, Gartner found that “to date, there have been very few security breaches in the public cloud” and that “through 2020, public cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) workloads will suffer at least 60% fewer security incidents than those in traditional data centers.”
If you decide to move to the cloud due to these safety findings, you should still be mindful of cloud vulnerabilities. Take stock of what kinds of sensitive information you are putting in the cloud, and ensure you understand how the cloud provider will protect that data. The time needed to safely migrate systems and data can be lengthy, but it shouldn’t be rushed at the expense of security infrastructure. Select a provider who prioritizes security during the migration process and who has a solid reputation for getting the configuration right, and communicate with your team so that they understand the migration timeline and can manage their expectations.
Regardless of your software solution, privacy issues will continue to be a concern. One of the most important things business leaders can do is ensure they have a crisis management protocol in place if and when a breach should occur.
Should I fear cloud interoperability challenges?
I have great news on this front. There have been major strides toward interoperability. Multiple systems can exchange and use information easier than ever before. This is due to a variety of reasons: Many application programming interfaces (APIs) continue to get better, standards continue to improve, and, notably, I see tech giants such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft Azure frequently expand the universe of applications that can easily be put in their clouds. I believe their efforts have significantly moved the needle.
While interoperability isn’t perfect, there’s a lot of upward momentum. I expect that to progress.
Should I fear the cost of the cloud?
If you’re a business owner and you aren’t sure cloud makes sense for you from a cost perspective, ask yourself if you have a good grip on how much it costs to have your own data center in your business. Do you already have the IT skills in-house to run your system? If so, the cloud may not make sense.
However, many business owners are surprised to find that their IT operations cost them a lot more than they think and that implementing cloud solutions can save them both time and money when it comes to issues such as automatic upgrades (which keep your company current and competitive), labor and maintenance costs, or increases in workforce productivity, to name a few.
Just remember that the decision between on-premise and cloud will be unique for each business. When you’re evaluating your IT operations cost, ask yourself how scalable you need your solution to be in the future. How adept is your IT department at staying up to date with evolving technology? Will you need additional data storage, and do you have the physical space to accommodate an expansion of your on-premise data center? Do you need access to data on the go? If a natural disaster hits your business, how will you back up your data?
What it comes down to is the total current cost of your on-premise data center versus a cloud solution. For business leaders who are still on the fence about expenses, make sure you evaluate your options regularly. Cloud providers will have to continue to be cost-competitive, which could work in your favor.
Bottom line: Don’t fear the cloud. It could be a safer option than on-premise data. Its interoperability continues to improve. It can be highly effective at increasing productivity. It can save you money long-term. And the cloud will likely continue to improve over time. The year 2020 may be the one for you to move forward with implementation.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of the Industry.
Looking for a way to leverage the power of your ERP to deliver higher-quality customer experiences? Encompass Solutions and Bezlio can make that connection through Epicor ERP and a Self-Service Customer Portal. To speak directly with an expert about how you can get started creating a more dynamic and customer-oriented experience, contact us using the link below.
What Is A Self-Service Customer Portal?
Think of these portals as gateways to sharing what content and data you want with a customer, so that they can interact with it on their own time and on their terms to carry out actions. The applications aren’t limited to customers, either. Self-Service Customer Portals can also be created for supply partners and vendors you work with and function in much the same way.
The information shared can include real-time order status updates, invoice history, and much more. by and large, the biggest benefit is found in the fact that, once an initial build-out is completed, connecting the customer with the information they are looking for requires no additional effort on your end.
The Self-Service Customer portal delivers the customer’s unique data, stored within your ERP, to enhance the relationship you share, deliver mission-critical updates when necessary, and drive loyalty for your brand.
Still not convinced your business needs a self-service customer portal? Here are four reasons why you can’t afford to not have one for your customers.
1. There’s No Reason Not to Build A Self-Service Customer Portal
While we’re sure you can see the benefits a self-service customer portal provides, you may be wondering about the back end. We’re talking about security. It’s a topic that occupies the waking nightmares and sweaty fever dreams of many IT professionals and business owners alike. The Bezlio/Epicor integration that will deliver your self-service customer portal utilizes a unique token-based security process. This process protects all of your enterprise data to the most granular levels, around the clock.
Any information you have designated a customer can access, via a security token from your system administrator, is routed securely behind your firewall. This token is required at several points to ensure that data request comes from the person or persons granted permission for that access. Following verification, a secure channel is opened via Bezlio’s cloud API to link the front-end user and the data they are cleared to access. No data is ever stored on the device, be it desktop or mobile, during or after the information is accessed.
At this point in the security conversation, it should be clear that your sensitive data is safe at all times, which means you can share securely and with peace of mind knowing no one without access will be able to view your enterprise data. Are your customers frequently requesting order and inventory information to view or check? Investing in a self-service customer portal will give them access to the information they need without having to involve your staff in the process. The ERP and self-service customer portal take care of it all for you.
2. Self-Service Customer Portal Permissions Deliver Only What Customers Need
Your Bezlio-developed self-service customer portal is completely customizable, capable of delivering all the information your customers need and nothing they don’t. That’s right, you have all the control when building out your self-service customer portal. There’s no compromising your data policies as you may experience with an off-the-shelf package.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a self-service customer portal, you may be wondering what information should be shared and what should not.
Some common data examples include order histories, tracking details, shipment information, inventory and parts look-up, order entry, and more. Due to the customizable nature of Bezlio, you can share as little or as much as you like, provided that the information you are sharing is relevant to your customers. Dashboards, search functionality, and many other information tools can all be leveraged when setting up your self-service customer portal.
3. A Self-Service Customer Portal Will Free Your Team
A self-service customer portal pays for itself two-fold. First, it delivers relevant information your customers are looking for via a system that is open to them and secure 24/7. Second, provided you have a platform that facilitates read/write functionality, your customers are granted the ability to modify their data and handle administrative tasks within the scope of their relationship with your business. This relieves your team of certain admin duties, like placing orders, providing status updates, and reviewing inventory levels.
In providing your customers with the ability to control certain aspects of their information within your ERP system, customer data quality and accuracy are improved. Whatsmore beneficial is the fact that your team no longer needs to manage that data. As a result, your organization runs more effectively. Customer satisfaction improves alongside these organizational efficiencies.
4. A Self-Service Customer Portal Increases Customer Satisfaction And Business Performance
Customers don’t like having to wait. Few have the time it takes to reach out and get updates on orders, invoices, inventory, or service requests. Why not give them the ability to view, update, and interact with their data when they want it, where they want it?
You’ll find that customers who are empowered to make changes and submit requests or data queries on their own time are far more satisfied with their partner relationships. The result is higher customer satisfaction and improved business performance. This is apparent with the increased volume and frequency of order placement from customers who can leverage a self-service customer portal. Handing off the viewing of the status of their repair or service requests in real-time frees your customer service team to tackle more demanding tasks, which saves you time and resources.
when combined, these benefits pave the way for quality data within your organization’s system. So, when the time comes to evaluate employee and business performance, your company leadership has the benefit of more accurate information upon which to base their decisions.
See The Benefits Of A Self-Service Customer Portal For Yourself
There are many reasons for building a self-service customer portal, and at Bezlio, the development platform has been used to create some amazing examples. If you think your organization could benefit from a self-service customer portal, we’d love to show you how this low-code development platform can help you build your own quickly, easily, and at a fraction of the cost of many other software solutions.
Encompass Solutions, Inc. is an ERP consulting firm, NetSuite Solution Provider, Suite Success Partner, and Epicor Gold Partner that offers professional services in business consulting, project management, and software implementation. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems or addressing emerging challenges in corporate and operational growth, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. As experts in identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of the Industry.
November is usually the month when businesses big and small are mobilizing in their effort to tie up loose ends and prepare for the new year with a business year-end checklist. Q4 is crunch time for year-end activities and the more room you leave your business to tackle those to-do’s before year-end, the better. Finish up this year and begin the next in good standing by getting a handle on more than just taxes for the fiscal year.
While financials are just the beginning of a proper end-of-year agenda; Inventory counts, marketing strategies, expansion plans, and IT evaluations are essential topics to visit in your business year-end checklist.
Looking for a helping hand during your year-end evaluation?
Don’t have time to read through the what’s and the why’s?
You can download the simplified Encompass Solutions business year-end checklist in PDF format, Here.
Financial Year-End Checklist
Admittedly, financials will likely be where you spend the bulk of your efforts come time to attend to your business year-end checklist. If you’ve been keeping meticulous records, you’ll likely be in a good spot and reporting won’t be as painful as it might be if the opposite were true. If you haven’t been keeping good records or any at all, this is likely your least favorite time of year. The best time to adopt good recordkeeping and accounting practices was last year, and the second-best time right now. So, try to identify where you’ve been slacking and invest in getting those processes up to snuff.
Running Standard Reports
It’s important to understand where your business is financially about previous years. You can access this information by reviewing past reports. Dig up those spreadsheets or reports in your accounting software. If you’re using an ERP solution like Epicor or NetSuite, you’re already in a good way, as these tools make financial reporting and analysis that much easier for a business. A typical financial report will consist of:
A Profit And Loss Statement – shows a company’s revenues and expenses during a given period.
A Balance Sheet – shows the assets, liabilities, and capital of a business at a particular point in time, detailing income and expenses relative to the preceding period.
A Cash Flow Statement – shows how changes in balance sheet accounts and income affect cash and cash equivalents with a drill-down into operating, investing, and financing activities.
Looking at your profits for the year is another easy way to gauge performance.
Cash Flow Analysis
Let’s break down your cash flow statement into the three components you’ll want to analyze as part of your business year-end checklist. Understanding how your money was spent throughout the year is essential for proper analysis, and the Cash Flow Statement helps you do just that. There are three components you’re going to want to look at:
Operating activities – This includes your business’ revenue and expenses
Investing activities – This includes any assets purchased or sold throughout the year
Financial activities – This includes any loans and repayments
Reconciliation Of Accounts Receivable
If you’re an active business, chances are you have invoices that remain unpaid or clients who owe you money for goods and services performed. Do your best to rein in these accounts and get those outstanding debts settled as part of your business year-end checklist. Don’t play catch-up. Get started next year with a clean slate and position your business for success.
Reconciling of accounts receivable (AR) requires a business to match their total outstanding customer billings to the AR total stated in its general ledger. There are two information sources from which this data is derived. They are:
General Ledger – the main accounting record of a company or organization.
Receivables Detail – the outstanding invoices a company has or the money clients owe the company.
These details should match, though inconsistencies may be apparent. There are a few reasons this may be the case, such as:
A general ledger journal entry was recorded but initially bypassed the subsidiary sales ledger.
A billing instance was posted to an incorrect account.
The general ledger balance and aged receivables report were run with misaligned dates.
Reconciliation is an important step in the financial year-end checklist because financial statements need to be issued without material inaccuracies. Any inconsistencies need to be identified and reconciled before a business’ third-party auditors examine those financial statements. Failure to do so could lead to a large-scale audit, a significant business disruption, and even charges of fraud from financial authorities.
Verify Vendor Information
During your business year-end checklist is the time to look at the vendors in your system. If you used any vendors this year, chances are you did, then you’ll have to collect W-9 forms for some of them. These are essentially a breadcrumb for the IRS to track your expenses and your vendors’. If you spent $600 or more on a vendor’s services, you’ll need to issue and complete a 1099 form. This form needs to be sent to the IRS by January 31.
Take the opportunity to verify the accuracy of the contact information, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and contact names. If outdated or inaccurate information is present, correct or removes those entries. Have time to make a few calls? Now would be a good point to evaluate whether it is worth reconnecting, setting up meetings, and drafting new contracts.
Address Payroll And Benefits
Every business must ensure payroll and benefit requirements are met at the end of the fiscal year as part of their business year-end checklist. The undertaking is no small effort and some of its tasks will carry on into the new year.
Initially, a business will need to verify all employee data, such as legal names, SSNs, and current addresses. This information should already be available to your accounting department when it comes time to issue W-2s. Failure to include all the correct data can lead to penalties.
A complete record of each employee’s payment throughout the year should be compiled, including paychecks, commissions, bonuses, and anything running peripheral to standard payroll activity. This includes any handwritten checks, be they cleared or voided. Double-check each employee’s benefits and deductions for consistency.
Audit all time off including sick days, vacation, or otherwise approved out-of-office time. What was used and what remains? Does your business allow vacation rollover or require employees to “use it or lose it”? Notify employees of their remaining balances if one exists and how they can use them based on your company policy.
You’ll have to buy W-2 and W-3 forms as part of the financial end-of-year checklist. These forms can be purchased directly from the IRS or any authorized provider. The W-2 forms will need to be distributed to employees and both federal and state governments at the beginning of the new year. The W-3 forms will be sent to state and federal governments as a summary of all W-2 forms.
New labor law posters for your locality will need to be posted by federal and state laws. This can also include the necessity for other legal documents to be posted, such as the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. You can find out exactly what your company needs to post by contacting the U.S. Department of Labor poster advisor. State and local laws may have additional requirements, too.
Check federal, state, and local tax rates, which are updated on an annual basis. These rates include:
Federal income tax
Federal unemployment tax (FUTA tax)
FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare taxes)
State income tax
State unemployment tax (SUTA tax)
Local income tax
Each year your employees are to evaluate their withholding allowances for federal and state tax systems. For federal withholdings, the W-4 form is used. An additional withholding allowances form may be used in the case of state income tax withholdings.
Determine your next year’s deposit schedule for federal income tax and FICA taxes before the new year begins. These taxes are paid on either a monthly or weekly basis. This schedule is based on a lookback period, a designated period that is used to measure how much you previously paid in taxes. This deposit schedule is fluid and can change with each new year, therefore it is important to determine before the beginning of the new year.
Your financial year-end checklist doesn’t finish when the year ends. Several tasks carry on into the new year. These include:
Updating payroll to reflect any new wage rates, withholding allowances, and other deductions.
Employee Form W-2 distribution (Must be filed by January 31).
Social Security Administration filings for all employees’ Form W-2. (Must be filed by January 31) Filing of Form W-3, the transmittal form. (Must be filed by January 31)
Filing FUTA taxes on Form 940. This includes your company’s Q4 FUTA taxes from the previous year. (Must be filed by January 31)
You must also file your federal income taxes and FICA taxes in the new year, Forms 941 & 944. (Must be filed by January 31)
Information Technology (IT) Year-End Checklist
An often-overlooked component of the small and mid-sized business year-end checklist, your hardware and software should be evaluated every year. This not only ensures the integrity of your business systems, but also the security of your business and customer data. Here are a few things you can do to ensure you’ve taken the right steps towards ensuring your IT infrastructure is ready to carry your business into the new year.
Back-Up Your Data
First and foremost, you should be backing up your data regularly. If you aren’t, there is no better time to begin this essential practice than right now. Get into good data-keeping habits and back up all your business’ critical information. Keep in mind if you don’t, you could be one outage away from ruin. All your files, including accounting, client files, creative collateral, and emails should be backed-up and secured. You should consider requiring your employees to do the same. Providing external hard drives for business use or access to a cloud-based system like DropBox or OneDrive will help ensure that important data is kept safe.
It’s not enough to keep your essential files updated, they need to be available if something should happen to your critical infrastructure. This will ensure you can continue to operate on good data while systems are being rebuilt. The best way to approach this is to keep a combination of digital copies of your critical files. Don’t settle for just one copy in a cloud-based filesharing site like Dropbox or leave your reports in the system that ran them. When it comes to backups, a ratio of 2:1 is ideal. That is, keep two digital copies of your files and store them in two separate places. Then, make an additional copy and store it on an external device, not connected to your business systems, and preferably in an external place.
Evaluate For Hardware And Software Upgrades
When was the last time you upgraded these two critical components of your business? You might not need to stay current with every new release of the latest tech or software versions, but keeping in tandem with the latest of each will go a long way. Ensure that you are abreast of the latest in data and systems security by utilizing modern equipment and software. Waiting too long to upgrade, what is referred to as being version locked, can spell disaster for you down the road.
Evaluate Filing And Naming Systems
Evaluate your system for naming files. This may seem like a small detail but using a unified system of data storage and look-up conventions can keep important files from being lost in the library of information your business retains. Create a set logic for filenames according to each type of file you store in your systems. For instance, when filing receipts, you can designate a convention like “Name/Company-Date-InvoiceNumber”. This is an especially important undertaking if your business operates at multiple sites and shares servers that are accessed by multiple employees. Being as clear and consistent as possible will ensure nothing slips through the cracks and your internal auditing processes go off without a hitch.
General Business Year-End Checklist
There are plenty of undertakings that fall into the category of general business, each of which can be as critical to your success as financial year-end checklist components by which every business has to abide.
Complete A Physical Inventory
Not every business will need to complete a physical inventory as part of their business year-end checklist. However, retailers, manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics companies certainly all need to complete a full-scale physical inventory at least once a year. This will provide accurate visibility into current stock, its value, cycle rates, capital currently tied up in inventory, as well as a host of other important metrics. These counts will also need to match your year-end balance sheet. This is one year-end checklist item that doesn’t have to be a bore. You can get the whole company involved, from the back office to those who are on the warehouse floor every day. Play music, order lunch, and get everyone working together towards a common goal. The task will go much faster this way and will allow your teams to build relationships.
Consider that this may be the best time for your organization to implement a cycle counting system for more efficient inventory tracking and control.
Examine Growth Trends And Plan For Hiring
As you enter a new year of operation, one thing you’ll want to take a close look at is growth. If you’re on an upward trend you will want to consider your staffing needs. Now is the time to determine if you’ll be hiring next year and for what positions. Be sure to budget appropriately and begin looking at your criteria for positions sooner, rather than later. Now is also a good time to evaluate and improve upon your processes for hiring, onboarding, training, and retaining employees. You want to capture the best candidates out there looking for new opportunities and keep the reliable talent you have in-house as you move into the new year.
Account For Accomplishments
Too often during the year-end checklist process, businesses get caught up in what’s gone wrong and where mistakes were made. It’s important not just for perspective, but for morale as well, to recognize and announce what you have accomplished over the last year. Your employees will appreciate knowing that their hard work has not gone unnoticed and the recognition they receive will invigorate them going into the new year.
Gather Feedback, Examine Goals, and Set New Ones
There are many components of a business that can lend insight into how processes and efforts can be improved. Using your financial statements, customer feedback, and employee input, you can evaluate how well you did in achieving your previous year’s goals. Didn’t have any clear goals last year? Now is the time to give the company a clear direction and work towards clear results. Use what you learned last year to set new, achievable goals in the year to come. This isn’t just for the profitability of the company. Consider what goals should be set for employees and how the organization addresses their needs, too.
Evaluate Your Website
Your company website is essentially your online storefront. It’s a way for you to introduce your company to prospects and provide a gateway for established customers to learn what you’ve been up to. Does your website address those groups and provide the information they come looking for? Now is the time to make sure the answer to both those questions is a resounding yes.
Check your links. Not just frontpage links, every link. Broken links not only keep your website visitors from finding the information they are looking for, but they are also punished by search engines when it comes to listing your web pages in search results pages.
Testing your contact us form, calling your support phone number, and ensuring the email addresses on your webpage are delivered to the appropriate inbox are all essential webpage testing you should complete before the year is over.
Reporting and search engine optimization may seem a bit advanced if your company doesn’t have a dedicated resource for these endeavors. However, with some basic knowledge, you can optimize your website and gain visibility into how effective your efforts are based on traffic and keyword reporting.
Sales And Marketing Plan
Chances are you came into this year with sales and marketing goals in mind. How well did you succeed in achieving them? Take a close look at your sales process and identify where you can make adjustments for better success in the new year with this business year-end checklist. Some key metrics to consider include:
Sales cycle time – from first contact to signed contract
Prequalifying processes for prospects
Upselling rates
Customer lifecycle and retention rates
Rates of lapsing or lapsed customers whom you haven’t heard from in a while
Marketing should support sales and the way you approach marketing will have a direct effect on your results in sales. Marketing is one component of a business that can easily get out of hand in terms of budget. Be sure that your efforts result in profitable sales, otherwise, your marketing is essentially cannibalizing your business.
Evaluating Business Processes
Every business is unique, but every business fails or succeeds in implementing sound business processes. This can include everything from the assembly of manufactured goods to invoicing. Take a look at your most highly accomplished competitor; how are they cutting waste and optimizing processes to maximize profitability? Identifying where you can make processes more efficient will deliver quantifiable results to employees, customers, and stakeholders in a big way. This business year-end checklist is just one of the many tools to help ensure your process improvement efforts are successful.
Budgeting
Now that you’ve looked at your accounting requirements, hiring needs, technological infrastructure, marketing efforts, and process improvement as part of your business year-end checklist, you’ll have to decide the number of resources each of the components of your business will receive in the new year. This doesn’t need to be a concrete figure, but you need some idea of where the money and talent are going to ensure success. After all, the business that fails to plan, plans to fail.
You can download the complete Encompass Solutions business year-end checklist in PDF format, Here.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of the Industry.
Ransomware has emerged as one of the preeminent tools utilized by malicious actors who target the data of businesses around the world. In 2018, ransomware attacks have been on the rise. Following these critical guidelines can help mitigate the impact a breach will have on your business.
First Things First: Educating Employees
You probably already know not to open suspicious emails or click on links that look less than legitimate. That said, human nature prevails and it never fails that curiosity or carelessness gets the better of some people in the line of work. Human negligence is one of the largest, if not the top, contributors to such compromising positions as viruses, malware, and ransomware. However, there are ways to mitigate risk if you should ever find yourself on the wrong end of a malicious data breach. Educating your workforce about certain email and filesharing policies can reduce risk before you encounter a breach. Conducting in-house phishing and penetration tests are other useful avenues to explore if you have the resources available. These can open up opportunities to have candid conversations about security in the workplace as well as work to identify shortcomings in your security efforts.
Disconnect, But Don’t Unplug
One critical mistake Ransomware victims make time and again is rushing to shut down their machine at the sight of a ransomware prompt. This is a terrible response because it will make data forensics a much more arduous process for in-house or external teams attempting to unravel the source, extent, and possible resolution to the breach. In this case, disconnect affected machines from the internet, but do not turn them off.
Don’t Panic
This is a critical time and your response will dictate the course of your recovery from this unfortunate event. As with many stressful situations that emerge in life, panic rarely results in a favorable outcome. Keep your composure, collect the personnel necessary to evaluate the situation, and prepare to enact your response plan.
The Recovery Plan
You’ve been breached. This is the moment you prepared for. Follow the steps of your carefully designed plan and follow through on every step as you work towards a resolution.
There is no rubric when it comes to data breach recovery plans. Each instance is unique to each business. Sit down with your in-house security personnel or consult with an external team to develop the ideal plan of action should you fall victim to ransomware or another malicious incident targeting your sensitive data.
Evaluating Backup Data
If at this point in the scenario you have not prepared a recovery plan or created backups for your sensitive data, chances are you’re feeling uneasy about the future of operations, potential legal action, and your company’s reputation. However, this is only a hypothetical situation and you now have the idea in your head that creating a sound recovery plan in the event of a breach and backing up important files can’t wait until after the fact. Don’t wait until it’s too late to prepare your organization for a breach. Take steps towards preparing a disaster recovery plan and begin backing up your files regularly.
Call Data Forensics
Now is the time to perform an assessment with your in-house team or enlist data forensics professionals to determine the incident’s root cause, what, if any, data has been extricated from your systems, and if the malicious actor remains inside your system with unlimited access.
Contacting the federal authorities is another option that should be taken into consideration. Some cybersecurity consultants will tell you it’s a waste of time as the three-letter organizations get hundreds of reported ransomware events a day. Others will tell you it is imperative you contact federal authorities in the event you fall victim to ransomware. Alerting the authorities likely won’t have a detrimental effect on your status if you already found yourself the victim of a breach. Their experience and advice could put you on the right course to a speedy resolution.
Ransomware And Cybersecurity Checklist
Commit an incident response plan to paper and practice it regularly, updating as necessary alongside new threats and security technologies as they emerge.
Carry out ongoing penetration testing and vulnerability scanning. These are both examples of controlled probing of your systems for chinks in your hardened systems’ armor.
Keep your applications and operating systems up to date with the latest patches.
Train your workforce in the best practices as they apply to cybersecurity. The largest contributor to breaches is human vulnerability.
Continuously monitor your network integrity. This includes your anti-virus and malware protection software.
Conduct quarterly or annual data audits and mapping to know where your sensitive data is, how it’s stored, and how best to protect it.
Audit your external groups and accounts for vulnerabilities. Chances are good that a third party you conduct business with can present a vulnerability if they are not following the same cybersecurity standards as you.
Back up your data regularly and test your data recovery plan often. Simulated brute force, phishing, and attack scenarios can keep your teams on their toes and continuously aware of security.
Understand your liability, the data protection requirements, and necessary compliance regulations in your jurisdiction.
Encompass Solutions, Inc. is an ERP consulting firm and Epicor Platinum Partner that offers professional services in business consulting, project management, and software implementation. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems or addressing emerging challenges in corporate and operational growth, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. As experts in identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of the Industry.
Right now, employment in the US is the highest it’s been in over a decade. That has put a lot of businesses in a tough position when hiring talented employees. More and more businesses are running into the same problem: lack of availability of capable manpower. With so much competition, your business may want to consider going down a more progressive route.
By implementing automated processes made possible with ERP software, your business can avoid the resource-intensive undertaking of searching for, hiring, and onboarding new talent in a competitive labor market. Getting rid of the mundane and repetitive tasks on your back-end will free up your workforce to take on more customer-focused tasks, ensure your business is positioned to adapt to a sudden change in your business environment, and improve your bottom line without sacrificing headcount or quality customer experiences.
Addressing Labor Market Constraints
While low unemployment is great for job-seekers, it puts businesses in a tough position when hiring new talent to help their operations expand. Couple that with employees having more bargaining power in the workplace and it’s clear that businesses not only need to improve their benefits but their environment, as well. One of the easiest ways to address the trend is to automate processes. This will free up your employees to take on more creatively demanding and fulfilling roles within the workplace. This not only allows the employee to take on more significant tasks within the organization, but also grow professionally and receive compensation worthy of their increased responsibility and skill set. As a result, their time is more valuable and the work they produce for the company is valued more highly in the eyes of customers.
Combining Process Automation With ERP
One of the biggest buzzwords to come out of Industry 4.0 is Robotics Process Automation (RPA). However, the misleading name is enough to turn off even those who can benefit from it the most. RPA doesn’t involve any robots or mechanical components. Not only this, but it applies to just about any business that deals with ordering, invoicing, and data entry.
Let’s break it down by definition:
Robotic – an entity being programmed by a computer to complete complex tasks. In this case, the term refers to mimicking human actions.
Process – A sequence of steps leading to a meaningful activity or task.
Automation – when a task happens automatically, i.e. without human intervention.
RPA is a business process automation technology that automates tasks through the interface a company uses to enter data in the back-end of their operations. In short, RPA initially watches a user perform a task in the GUI, then automates that task and performs it autonomously. One common application can be found in identifying important attachments in emails, like an invoice, extracting that data, and then entering it into the company bookkeeping system. This all happens automatically and in a fraction of the time, it takes a human worker to complete manually.
The Impact of RPA On Employment
While it’s no secret that many workers are skeptical of automation and fear it can lead to layoffs, the incorporation of such technology has had the opposite effect according to a study conducted by the London School of Economics. The study found that rather than a decrease in the workforce, employees were able to achieve greater productivity and work completed with the same number of people.
The same study also found that RPA technology enables repatriation of processes in the workplace, allowing companies to bring processes back to their home soil, rather than outsourcing business processes to cheaper labor markets abroad.
The Impact of RPA on Employees
A company’s greatest resource is its employees and anything a business can do to retain top talent is in its best interest. RPA directly contributes to the benefit of employees by implementing practices that reduce the stress of a cluttered and over-managed environment. Here are a few examples:
Reduction in human error – When RPA takes over the mundane and tedious tasks involving data entry, there are far fewer instances of human error leading to blockers and errors on the paperwork that must then be re-evaluated and re-submitted. With the risk of human error substantially diminished, your employees spend less time going over the same data they’ve already entered and less time thinking about what might have gone wrong after the fact. A more precise and automated workflow allows your employees to spend more time fretting and overdelivering the best service to your clients.
Employee Empowerment – One of the biggest challenges in retaining top talent is providing these individuals and teams with the ability to share innovative ideas and creative solutions to business challenges, have their voices heard, and directly impact the future of their company. They want buy-in and the ability to pursue their full potential within the company. Give them the opportunity by getting rid of the tedious tasks that can suck up most of their day with an automated workflow process.
Organization Of Your Organization – When your workflow and document management are automated, there are far fewer instances of lost documents or searching through the system for the latest iteration. The organization is one of the many byproducts of RPA. When employees aren’t spending the time to track down documents between departments, more time is made available for employees to take a measured approach to more critical tasks with more time to collect, plan, and strategize, or fit in a personalized call to a new customer or prospect you’ve been working on.
Internal Communication Improves – When the opportunity for employees to lose documents or impact another worker’s tasks is removed from the equation, relationships between coworkers improve and productive communication becomes the norm. Cleaner data and better access to their colleagues ensure that your employees have what they need to do their jobs correctly and well. Workflow automation lends itself to effective monitoring of tasks as well, so looming deadlines and tasks past due don’t contribute to office stress levels.
With improved confidence and a new sense of ownership resulting from RPA and an effective ERP software solution, both employees and businesses benefit. The result is a better service, better product, and better working environment, which pleases everyone from the management to the employee to the customer.
Encompass Solutions, Inc. is an ERP consulting firm, an Epicor Platinum Partner, and NetSuite Solution Provider that offers professional services in business consulting, project management, IT support, and software implementation. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems or addressing emerging challenges in corporate and operational growth, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. As experts in identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of the Industry.
The effects of emerging technology on business are felt faster and stronger than ever before in just about every industry. Most enterprises know they need modern tech to remain competitive, but do they know which technologies are the right focus for their business? Do you?
Below is a compilation of recently released findings surrounding the emerging technology. Find out why enterprises are integrating new technology, what sectors of their business they are most interested in growing, and what you can do in-house to modernize operations and scale at the pace of the industry.
Encompass Solutions, Inc. is an ERP consulting firm and Epicor Platinum Partner that offers professional services in business consulting, project management, and software implementation. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems or addressing emerging challenges in corporate and operational growth, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. As experts in identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of the Industry.
Change management is a term that is broadly used in the Information Technology realm. It’s also a concept that often drives an organization, a group of people or a process from one stage to the next. In order to comprehend the complexities of change management, the concept of change must first be understood. Change is a period of inconsistency that reflects on the realm of evolution.
Change is human nature, it occurs in all environments-professional, personal, political, and emotional. Change is an inevitable part of life. Therefore, there is a need for a structure that will organize and categorize the vital processes of change that must take place.
In the business world, project managers are often tasked with the implementation of change management. Answering the questions- How will the change be implemented? Who should be involved with the change? What critical changes are taking place? When will this change occur? Lastly, who will be directly impacted by the change?
Change Management From A Theoretical Perspective
From a psychological perspective, change can be perceived as a positive or negative mode of thinking, a mandatory adoption from a business perspective or the determining factor in the completion of an engineering methodology. Despite the varying perspectives for the concept of change, in order for it to take place in any environment, it must be managed; henceforth the term ‘change -management’.
Change Management From A Project Perspective
At the start of most project environments, a project manager is designated to oversee the totality of the project from start to finish. The beginning stages of the project are at times outlined with milestones, deadlines, needed accomplishments, number of staff members assigned, and other information vital to reaching the project’s success. Although this occurs in many organizations, there are some cases in which the finite details are not outlined. The Complexity Theory defines the methodology of how a structure is implemented when change management is not clearly defined (Flum, & Grohe, 2006).
The Complexity Theory is described as a conceptual study of how order and structure are achieved after the occurrence of chaotic phenomena (Flum, & Grohe, 2006). The Complexity Theory was utilized and enhanced by the leaders involved in the task management of the horrific events of 9-11 (Curlee & Gordon, 2011). On a day of mass chaos, various leaders were called to order when the first airplane collided into the Twin Towers of New York City, NY. In a collaborative effort, all in-flight airplanes were forced to land at their nearest hub, due to the uncertainties of this terror attack. As various organizations scrambled to derive what was going on and how to effectively and efficiently handle the situation at hand, a theory evolved in order to bring structure and allegiance to this chaotic series of events nationwide (Curlee & Gordon, 2011).
Just as the leaders of the 9-11 attacks responded to their individual tragedies, bringing stability and direction to the many teams of firemen, police officers, air traffic controllers, and other personnel – as project managers, team leaders, consultants, and IT team members – we have a responsibility to one another to direct, structure and embrace the change that we face daily in our professional and personal lives. The blueprint to our ever-changing lives and projects may not always be mapped out for us- with the right perception and attitude, managing change can be a gift, rather than a challenge.
Curlee, W. & Gordon, R.L. (2011). Complexity theory and project management. Hoboken, NJ: Jon Wiley & Sons.
Flum, J. & Grohe, M. (2006). Parameterized complexity theory. Editors: W. Brauer, G. Rozenberg, and A. Salomaa. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
