Is Hybrid working remote working? Not exactly. It’s important to realise that if you think you are remote by adopting a hybrid working setup, then you’re always going to be “rooted” in your physical office space.

Remote First vs Hybrid Working

Remote first companies are remote working by design. They have remote teams, remote “offices”, and remote cultures. For remote-first companies, remote working is all they do. Many remote-first employers are not just remote workers but remote thinkers that don’t believe that work has to happen in a physical office space.

Here are some companies that are remote-first by design and thinking:

• InVision is a remote-first company and works hard to continuously improve its communication, collaboration, and remote working processes.
• Zapier is remote-first and remote by design. Zapier has remote teams and a remote-first culture. For remote-first companies, remote working is all they do. 
• Hotjar is another remote-first company that enables remote working by design. Hotjar clearly articulates its remote-first culture, company perks and benefits and real-world anecdotes from their CEO on remote working.
• Gitlab is another remote-first company with over 1,400 employees distributed globally across multiple time zones.
• Gitlab’s remote-first culture stems from several different beliefs:
• – Providing a global remote-first experience means the innovation will come from everywhere on the planet – not just Silicon Valley
• – Employees can work anywhere as long as they have access to a computer and internet connection
• – A remote work policy reduces the time employees spend commuting which also relieves pressure on public transport systems
• – People are more productive

There is a fundamental difference for remote-first companies in their outlook on collaboration, culture, work time and productivity.

Remote first companies benefit from not having legacy office infrastructure and processes to adapt to a new way of working. Remote-first organisations are remote working by design which means remote workers are remote thinkers. Organisations using remote work policies are remote workers who are remote thinkers, remote cultures, remote offices and remote teams.

Zapier clearly articulates their culture and way of working in 5 points, and I like to quote this example as its easily understood and is a straightforward and articulate way of summarising how they work:

1. Freedom & Flexibility
2. Diversity, inclusion, and belonging
3. Camaraderie from afar
4. Learning on- and offline
5. Interesting problems to solve

Change in Approach Needed

Traditional companies that have moved to Hybrid ways of working like PWC will struggle to get the same level of flexibility, cost savings and productivity output from companies that are remote-first by design like Zapier.

One of the major global accounting and consulting firms, PWC, has recently decided to allow its workers to work from anywhere in the US.

This is excellent news for thousands of employees working remotely for some time, but this was always on the hub and spoke approach.

The hub and spoke approach of hybrid working is that you have your home base or head offices, possibly with regional offices, and that you give your employees the ability to work at home permanently or a few times a week.

This is great, but it is not remote working in its purest form. The challenge is taking full advantage of remote working for both the company and its employees.

Think about it. You have been working for a company for five years at their offices. Suddenly the world, and your world, is thrown into turmoil, and you have to work from home.

You are forced to adapt to remote collaboration tools and platforms, working strange hours and trying to juggle home life and work life in the same space.

The company you work for is trying its best to ensure the tools it uses help its employees stay productive, happy and sane. But ultimately, the innate culture in the organisation is based on many years of traditional ways of working.

You cannot just send people to work at home and call yourself a remote company.

Organisations that have realised the benefit and need to introduce flexibility will need to spend much time reinventing their culture and ways of working.

For now, the remote-first companies have a clear edge over the hybrid approach.

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Scaling your engineering team is as much about people as it is about the process. Whether you’re a startup or an established business, there is no one size fits all solution. But there is a proven process to ensure that you can put in place the necessary processes and skills, and recruitment structures to ensure you can sustainably scale your engineering teams.

1. Build the Team

One of the best ways to build a scalable engineering team is to take the time to build the right team. You need to identify the skill sets, personalities and backgrounds that will be the key contributors to your company’s success. This is usually easier when working with small groups of people but can be more difficult when working with large numbers of people. Research potential new team members, read their bios, look at how their experience relates to your needs, and develop a clear set of metrics that will help you to choose the right people for your team. Team Development Once you’ve picked out the right people, you need to develop them. This is typically the most challenging part of the process and can be fraught with risk if done incorrectly.

2. Hire for Culture Fit

Before you add any engineering hires, you have to ensure they’ll fit in and complement the team you have. The “culture fit” component is critical as new people will inevitably bring their own unique experiences to your team. Before getting any engineers on board, evaluate their capabilities and how they’ll fit into your team. Are they professionals with the required skills and talents? If not, don’t waste time training them and try to recruit new talent. Ask the Right Questions. Do your interviewers know the right questions to ask? Do they care about what you value? This is especially important when scaling a team, as you need to focus on the people who will make or break your business. Interviewers need to ask the right questions.

3. Create an Engineering Toolkit

While I have discussed the tools and structure that make scaling engineering teams more effortless, we have talked about the people who deliver the work. So how can you ensure that your people are well-equipped to handle the growing complexity of their tasks? Having an engineering toolkit provides you with the necessary resources and skills that enable you to scale. It means that whenever you need to escalate an issue to a more senior engineer, you are equipped with the required expertise to do so, no matter how large the team or your current recruitment capabilities. The toolkit can also help you onboard new hires quickly, as you have everything you need from day one, as well as any additional required certifications.

4. Shape the Processes, Tools, and Environment

For early startups, scaling is no longer about filling empty roles but about getting things done effectively. Having worked as an engineer at different companies, I can see apparent differences in the process. One company I worked for had just one senior engineer to do the entire day-to-day engineering process. The remaining staff members were often inexperienced or left feeling unsupported. Another company I worked with had two senior engineers working alongside a series of interns. The senior engineers were often more focused on strategic development and other business areas, leaving inexperienced staff in a difficult position. These companies are both companies that more prominent technology players later bought out, so I don’t claim to have the definitive answer.

5. Grow Your Engineering Teams with Care

It takes time, and experience, to build the right engineering team to scale. It’s essential to have a process that is effective in the early stages and then scales up without sudden changes. A report by Business Insider goes as far as to say that 60% of engineering companies were not using an online marketplace to recruit talent. This number could easily be higher. With the job market evolving and attracting quality candidates into the market has become increasingly difficult. Broaden your horizons when it comes to where you recruit from, whether it’s an online marketplace or working with specialist engineering recruitment marketplaces.

Remember that it is all about the people. It’s easier to have a skills tick box, but scaling your engineering team will become an uphill battle if you don’t get the right people and culture fit.

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The influence of artificial intelligence in business is increasing. The use of AI has exploded over the last decade, and it’s no surprise that many companies are scrambling to keep up with this trend. Management consultant McKinsey & Company recently revealed some juicy statistics on just how influential AI will be for businesses in the very near future:

– Around 60% of firms surveyed predict they’ll have adopted enterprise machine learning by 2021 (up from less than 20%)

– 90% think their customers would want enhanced interactions if these technologies were available, such as chatbots or virtual assistants

– Nearly 40% see automation enabling a reduction in headcount across different job functions

– And more than 50% expect an impact on skills development

Which Companies are using AI?

IBM, Amazon, Google and Microsoft are among the most recognizable companies that have used Artificial Intelligence in their business. They offer voice recognition software for smartphones and computers, automated customer service chat bots to answer questions 24 hours a day on social media sites like Facebook Messenger or Skype, as well as product recommendations based on your online shopping habits.

The progress of artificial intelligence has surged in recent years. A large part of this is due to the emergence and proliferation of machine learning, a subset of AI that uses algorithms to learn from data without being explicitly programmed. With an exponential increase in computational power as well as vast quantities of information available online, it’s no wonder why many believe we’re experiencing a technological renaissance. As time goes on, more businesses are opting for some form or another of AI integration into their business practices- whether its hiring specialists who focus solely on developing these strategies or seeking out tools like IBM Watson which provide AI services over the cloud. Organizations are also beginning to see benefits outside standard cost savings; namely increased customer satisfaction and loyalty rates– with one study suggesting 37%

Is AI only accessible to Large Companies?

No. AI is beginning to permeate every corner of the economy and all businesses are using it in one form or another. For example, an agricultural company might use machine learning algorithms to anticipate demand for food by studying weather patterns that impact crop yields; a global manufacturing conglomerate might deploy deep neural networks to optimize production lines across dozens of facilities worldwide—or a small startup might be looking at ways artificial intelligence can help them design next year’s fashion line.

The growing adoption rate of Artificial Intelligence means there will be more high-paying jobs opening up as companies compete to hire experts who can solve their most challenging problems with automation, data modeling and analytical thinking skills. Is your organization ready?

What AI tools are available for Small Businesses?

There are many Artificial Intelligence tools available for small businesses. For example, there is a company called Nara Logics that provides business with predictive analytics software to help them make better decisions while reducing costs and inefficiencies. Instead of guessing which products will sell well on Black Friday or what countries might be interested in your new product line, this type of AI uses complex algorithms to analyze data from stores’ past performance and customer preferences to predict how they can maximize revenue over the next few months.

The point is: you don’t need millions of dollars to invest in order benefit from automation or artificial intelligence—many startups offer affordable off-the-shelf solutions—or even build their own custom bot using open source code like Microsoft.

Streamlining customer service with AI chatbots, such as the one offered by Conversica are being used in many businesses to provide a more personalised experience for customers.

A study conducted by Forbes found that replacing two human workers with an artificial intelligence robot could save $159,000 per year based on salaries and benefits alone. For some companies this is a small price to pay considering what they stand to lose if their customer’s loyalty slips away due to poor service or missed deadlines.

Another benefit of streamlining processes is productivity gains from automation which can increase output even when working fewer hours each day (think about how much time you waste every day filling out forms) and then there’s also the removal of office politics.

What will AI technology look like in the Future?

This is an interesting question, because the technology for AI will continue to change as it matures. It’s difficult to predict exactly what artificial intelligence will look like in 2020 or 2050. There are two possible paths that can happen with this exciting new technology: one path leads to a future where people and machines work side by side collaboratively. The other path could lead us into a highly automated society where human jobs become obsolete, which may be too much of a societal shift for some governments.

Regardless of whether you believe these scenarios are realistic, there is no denying that we have barely scratched the surface when it comes to how we use intelligent technologies today.

The post The Increasing Influence of Artificial Intelligence in Business appeared first on Yoav Tchelet.

It’s no secret that more businesses than ever before are allowing their employees to work remotely. In many cases, this has resulted in both increased productivity and a higher level of employee contentment.

However, not everyone is aware of the numerous WFH cybersecurity issues that can arise when working remotely. I’ve put together a short guide that details everything you need to know.

Let’s get started.

1. Always Keep Your Software Updated

As you might expect, one of the most important tenants to keep in mind when working from home is ensuring that your software is always kept up to date. This is simply due to the fact that utilizing outdated software comes with a large number of security concerns.

To elaborate, let’s assume that the most current version of a program that you use for work is 12.5. Using any version older than this comes with the risk of security vulnerabilities.

After all, developers often update their software in order to address security concerns. One of the most common is oversights within the software that can be exploited by hackers in order to gain access to sensitive information.

For those who work in industries that inherently manage confidential data, such as tech or healthcare, this is a particularly important practice.

Fortunately, updating your software as often as easy as going to the developer’s website. In many cases, the software will also update itself when the new version is available as long as you give it the appropriate permissions.

2. Use Your Equipment Appropriately

One of the most prominent issues involving cybersecurity when working from home stems from the improper use of company equipment. Employees who have been issued a business laptop should always ensure that they use this device appropriately.

By using a company device for personal use, you inadvertently expose that device to risks that it otherwise would have not have encountered. This is especially true if the user is prone to exercising unsafe browsing behavior.

In general, this means that you should avoid doing anything that you wouldn’t do on a computer at your place of employment. So, don’t download unnecessary programs, visit websites that aren’t relevant to your projects, etc.

A common threat to business security is a practice known as phishing. This involves misleading members of an organization to providing a criminal with sensitive data.

If you receive an email from an address that you don’t recognize, one that contains an unsolicited attachment, or one that you generally find suspicious, avoid interacting with it at all costs.

This simple practice can go a long way when it comes to preventing security concerns.

3. Immediately Report Suspicious Activity

Sometimes, employees are afraid to report suspicious activity that occurs. This is more than likely due to the fact that they have a fear of being reprimanded over the incident.

However, it’s imperative that you get in touch with the relevant party as soon as you notice shady behavior.

This could include the unexplained presence of files that you didn’t download, your computer performing functions on its own, or even a direct message from a hacker demanding you to take a specific action.

The longer you wait in this type of scenario, the greater the consequence will be. Since cybercriminals often seek to procure sensitive data as quickly as possible, your organization will need to take immediate action.

4. Only Utilize Secure Connections

The type of connection that you use for work-related obligations plays a large role in how well you’re able to secure your data.

It should go without saying that you should never connect to a public Wi-Fi network. It’s well-known that a scenario like this is exponentially easier for other people to gain access to your personal information.

However, it’s also essential that you take the necessary steps in order to properly secure the network that you choose to use.

In order to provide an additional layer of protection to the Wi-Fi connection that you work with, ensure that you disable WPS. Afterward, immediately enable WPA2–PSK.

The password that you use for your network should also be different than the default password that comes with your router. Many routers have passwords that are overly simple, such as “Admin.”

In most cases, taking the above steps will ensure that your network remains properly secure.

5. Protect Your Devices When They Aren’t in Use

Some data breaches occur due to the way that employees manage their company devices when they aren’t in use. A common scenario could involve someone leaving their laptop open and active while stepping away from their seat at a coffee shop.

Similarly, an individual who works in the common area of a home that they share with multiple roommates could also leave their device unsecured.

As soon as you are done using your device (even if it is only for a brief moment), ensure that you lock it. Additionally, your password should be something difficult to guess that you don’t share with anyone else.

Managing WFH Cybersecurity Can Seem Complicated

When handled correctly, though, it’s not nearly as difficult as you might think at first. Our guide above will help make sure that you handle all of your WFH cybersecurity obligations with ease.

The post The 5-Point Checklist for WFH Cybersecurity appeared first on Yoav Tchelet.

Are you interested in learning about five of the things that keep CIO’s/CTO’s up at night?

Two of the professionals involved in business transformations and digital transformations are the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Both of these positions are quite similar, but they do have their slight differences. In general, they both deal with information technology, and generally make up the most senior roles in a business. This means that they have a lot of responsibility when it comes to keeping the business safe and progressive in terms of technology. Both of these roles essentially determine and supervise the technology strategy of the business and, barring other more recent role designations, are the two most senior technology oriented positions in a business.

Due to all the responsibility that these professionals have, there are things that can keep them up at night. In this article, I am going to be taking a look at what some of these things are. As such, if you would like to find out more about this topic, keep reading down below.

Cybersecurity

The first thing that keeps these professionals up at night is cybersecurity. Unfortunately, with the advancements in technology comes with it, more people who are mastering how to get around it. The problem with this is that not all of them are interested in using their skills for good, and instead take it upon themselves to hack into other people’s networks and systems. Some of these people do it because they want access to the information that the business has. Some of them do it so that they can steal the information and then hold it for ransom (for financial gain). And, some of them do it simply because they can. It is the job of the CIO/CTO to help put practices into place so that this doesn’t happen to their company. Of course, there are other professionals around to help with this.

Coming up with strategies to keep other people out of the business is not always easy. One of the things that needs to be done is ensuring that your firewalls are correctly configured, patched and monitored regularly. If there aren’t enough qualified staff in the business address this, then you’re going to need to look into firewall management services. As such, it will be down to the CIO/CTO to sort this out, and ensure that the network is protected. 

It’s true to say that there is much more to cybersecurity than just your firewall/s. There is antivirus software, there are anti malware software solutions, penetration testing, policies and procedures, employee awareness training, regular audits, and so many other things that are required in order to keep the hackers out. The reason that this keeps CIO’s/CTO’s up is because no matter what you do, it is never possible to 100% guarantee that no one will be able to break into your business network.

Digital Strategy

Another thing that CIO’s/CTO’s are going to be kept up at night by is digital strategy. Using technology to increase business performance is important, especially with the fast paced rate of change of technology. If you are not utilising it to the very best of your ability, you are going to need to make some changes sooner rather than later. But, how can you use technology to make your business better? That’s something that they have got to figure out, even though the solution might not be evident in the beginning, there is always going to be one.

It might mean that new products need to be created, or it could simply be that the processes currently used by the business need to be reimagined. The digital strategy will lay out the specifics for how the business is going to be taking a new direction and creating new competitive examples. 

There are a number of components that make up a successful digital strategy. Some of these are as follows:

• Digital marketing
• Online presence 
• Online security
• Mobile based solutions
• Selling online
• Customer Experience
• Efficiencies through technology

There are, of course, more than just these, but these are some of the main ones. All of this must be taken into account when it comes to a digital strategy, and there is an enormous amount of work both from a people and process level and technology perspective. If things go wrong, then the business is going to be hamstrung and on the back foot, which puts a lot of pressure on the strategy.

Customer Experience

If you want to keep customers coming back to your business, or if you want to attract new customers, then customer experience is essential. There are a number of elements that make up customer experience, but the general idea of it is that you want to make the whole process as simple and pain free for your customers as possible. Some companies require you to search through their website for half an hour before you actually find what you are looking for. Most people aren’t going to bother doing this, and are going to leave to find a website where they don’t have to click more than three times to find what they are looking for.

Customer experience also extends to social media and all other aspects of the business, including customer service. The one thing that you don’t want as a business is for your customers to have a bad experience. Customer experience is focused on the way that consumers behave throughout your process. The reason that this might keep a CIO or CTO up is because if the customer experience isn’t fantastic, you’re going to lose customers, or simply stop gaining them.

Don’t forget that people talk, and they are not likely to recommend a business that they didn’t enjoy their experience with. One of the roles of the CIO and CTO is to support enterprise goals, and gaining more customers surely counts in this. As such, making sure that the online and technology aspect of customer experience is up to scratch falls on these shoulders. It’s not an easy task to complete.

Future Of Work

With all the changes that are being made in the technology industry, who knows how long humans are going to be needed to operate certain pieces of tech? It is not possible to know if in the future, humans are no longer going to be required to do things such as build websites or even manage technology as a whole. With all the advancements that are being worked on, it wouldn’t be surprising to a lot of people if a piece of technology came to the market that could do all of this without human input. The current shift to hybrid and work from home arrangements globally have accelerated this process and shift.

The thing that separates humans and AI is the fact that humans have the capacity to feel emotions and morality. However, when it comes to business, this could be seen as a massive weakness. In some cases, emotions get in the way of making the best possible choice, which is something that AI would never have an issue with. It could be for this reason that CIO’s and CTO’s are worried about the future of their work. If there is no longer a need for them, what happens from there? 

AI And Automation

AI and automation are taking over a large portion of the industry already. More and more businesses are including automation in their business in order to increase the efficiency of the business. Computers and other pieces of technology can do things a lot faster than humans can, which is one bonus they have over using humans to complete tasks. A business can get much more done using automation than they will be able to using humans, which means that the smart business decision is to go with automation. It may not be necessarily cheaper and doesn’t mean that human processes will be completely eliminated, but it does mean that the speed and agility of a business will be greatly increased and repetitive tasks delegated to a computer.

CIO’s and CTO’s also know that the smart business choice would be to go with automation where it is available. But, as more automation is introduced into a business, the less humans are needed are for mundane and repetitive tasks. CIO’s and CTO’s might be worried about the capability of the AI to control things though. There may be some things that don’t have a logical or rational problem, which also means that the automated process won’t be able to solve it. This is where humans come in handy, but trying to explain this to a business owner who is trying to keep up with latest trends, and stay competitive on the market might not be the easiest thing on the planet. 

I hope that you have found this article helpful, and these five topics are only some of the myriad of responsibilities and areas of focus for CIO’s and CTO’s. Each of these can be worrisome for these professionals, but understanding how to solve the issue is part of their job. It is the job of these professionals to ensure that information and technology is effectively managed, but it is a task that is becoming increasingly difficult the more advanced technology becomes. There are also some concerns about how long positions like this are going to be around which can cause a lot of stress.

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Digital marketing has been very important for a number of years now. The number of advantages to being digitally present and literate was significant before the pandemic, but things have only amplified. 

The economy is hurting right now, businesses are facing challenges, and consumers have shifted online out of necessity. We’re going to talk a little bit about how adding digital marketing to the mix might help keep your business afloat, as well as some of the methods you can use to start marketing yourself. 

So, let’s talk about the importance of digital marketing. 

The Importance of Digital Marketing in 2021

Digital marketing is sort of a loaded concept that includes a number of things. “Marketing” yourself online, in many ways, simply means being present and active on a few digital platforms. 

Within those platforms, you can do a lot of good for your business by engaging with the various advertising and marketing options that they provide. Those spaces tend to be social media platforms where your demographic spends time. 

Another huge opportunity for success lies in search engines. Individuals are using search engines as much as they ever have, and landing in the top results for popular searches in your niche is a great way to draw traffic to your site. 

We’ll discuss some of the methods for optimizing those things in a moment. 

First, though, let’s talk about the bare-bones facts of most people’s economic and personal situations right now. 

Where People Are Shopping, What They’re Doing

We can’t speak for everyone of course, but most individuals are doing their best to stay home and try to snuff out this virus. Staying home means that people are either working from home as well, or they’re going out to work and mostly heading straight back after they’re done. 

Additionally, they might be worried that the sudden economic downturn will impact their employment status. That means that people are trying to be frugal, they’re unable to go out as much, and they’re spending a lot of time online at home. 

Home delivery and digital shopping options have increased a lot over the course of the pandemic, and that’s because options to find the things you need online are literally life-savers right now. 

This also means that just because people aren’t out and about looking to spend money, that doesn’t mean they aren’t available to engage with your brand online and potentially make purchases. 

That’s about the only spot where you’re going to see success, though, which makes digital marketing so crucial to our situation right now. Digital marketing gives you the opportunity to reach thousands of people in your target audience for relatively little money. 

Let’s talk about some of the methods you can use to reach your audience through digital marketing. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is a method of tailoring your website and content to rank well in search engine searches made by your target audience. If you can establish yourself with high ranking spots within your niche, your posts will gather a lot more traffic. 

Additionally, the more success you have on those posts will indicate to the search engine that your content has more general value, and you’ll have a better time ranking in subsequent posts.

The first piece of the ranking puzzle is keyword research. 

Keyword Research

Search engines like Google are loaded with tools that help you analyze the kind of searches that your users are making. You can look at trends within your niche by isolating different demographic points such as location, gender, age, and general subject matter. 

Then, you can take a look at how many people are searching for particular things. This gives you a good idea of what your audience is interested in and you can make content to meet those needs. 

You should also look at the search phrases that are popular and see what your competition looks like. It’s no use trying to rank for a term that is already locked down by industry titans. 

Instead, small businesses should try to corner less-popular terms that will still bring in a good deal of traffic. That way, your site actually has a chance of competing with the other businesses that are vying for those spots. 

Content Creation

The content you create should respond directly to your insights from the keyword research. Instead of posting content that only deals with what you can freely discuss, try matching your content right up to the needs that your users are expressing through their keyword searches. 

For example, if the term “where can I take my cat outside” is popular in your niche, then you have a clear response as to what the content should be. You should write about options for where a person can take their cat outside. 

You can also glean a few different content ideas from that term. For example, you might imagine that these people are having trouble coming up with ideas about how to make their cats happy. You could then write a post about different ways to keep your cat entertained and happy, inserting the keyword “where can I take my cat outside” at key points within it. 

Social Media Marketing

Social media is a little more direct in how small businesses can achieve more success. Search engine optimization takes a little more time for things to develop but you can place ads immediately on social media. 

One of the heaviest hitters for social media marketing is something called PPC. PPC stands for pay-per-click marketing, and its a method of getting sponsored posts in front of thousands of potential customers for a smaller amount of money. 

Plus, you’re only charged when your content is engaged with, so you get exactly what you pay for. 

The post Importance of Digital Marketing in a Difficult Economic Environment appeared first on Yoav Tchelet.

Companies in all industries can benefit from implementing AI. From making strategic business decisions to improving a customer’s experience, there are almost endless possibilities for AI.

5 Ways AI Impacts Business Operations

AI relies on human input. The more it is taught, the smarter it becomes. That means that every business has an opportunity to train AI to perform functions that benefit their stakeholders and customers.

Here are some ways AI and automation are impacting today’s businesses in ways that will shape tomorrow’s future.

Increased efficiency

Unlike humans, AI-enabled machines can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without getting bored or needing a break. These computers can send instant alerts when they encounter an issue so that it can be resolved quickly, reducing downtime.

Streamlined processes

Automation is critical for businesses, especially those that are now operating with a remote workforce. Being able to perform a range of business functions like managing calendars, solving IT challenges, and filtering emails automatically saves companies and their employees a lot of time.

Improved customer experience

From eCommerce to health organisations like the Center for Disease Control, companies of all kinds utilise chatbots to provide quick answers to customer questions. An AI-powered chatbot can communicate with customers to answer commonly asked questions. This helps customers get answers quickly without having to wait for a human to be available. At the same time, letting a machine take over all the mundane and common questions frees humans up to focus on helping customers with more complex issues that cannot be solved by an AI.

Make informed decisions

Data is only useful if you can analyse it. AI-powered computers can process massive amounts of data in a short amount of time. Data sets that might take a person a month or longer to analyze could take a computer just a few minutes. This allows AI to make informed decisions faster than people, resulting in more efficient processes. In turn, businesses will see a drop in costs and an increase in revenue.

Significantly reduce errors

Humans make mistakes. Machines rarely do. Therefore, implementing AI into business processes will result in fewer errors. Because AI relies on human input, it can learn from any mistakes it does make once a human retrains it. Unlike humans who can forget what they’re taught, AI machines do as they are told, eliminating the potential for costly human error.

Bottom Line

The concepts of AI and automation are critical for today’s businesses. With AI, companies can decrease costs, increase revenue, and improve efficiency by transitioning mundane and repetitive tasks performed by humans to automated machine processes. The result is an improved experience for everyone, including employees, stakeholders, and customers.

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Often, a manager or leader will hire a bunch of qualified people with the right technical skills and call them a team. However, the best IT teams are carefully recruited so that each team member is qualified and has the right interpersonal skills to fit in with the team.

What is Team Culture? 

The word “culture” gets thrown around. In an organization, the term describes the values a team has and how individual team members work together to reach a common goal. It also describes how team members treat each other.

There can be both positive and negative team cultures. A positive team culture brings out the best in each team member and ensures the team benefits the organization. A negative team culture can be detrimental to the team and the organization by not accepting every team member or even participating in harmful discriminatory activities.

People are the most defining features of a team culture. If the people you hire have the values you seek, such as working hard and collaborating, they will encourage a positive team culture. On the other hand, individuals who cut corners, are ego-driven, or do not work well with others can quickly bring down your whole culture.

How to Develop a Cultural Strategy

The best IT teams have a well-defined culture that empowers each team member to perform at their best and contribute to the business’s success.

Here are some ways to develop a positive culture, whether you are just getting started with hiring or you have a team in place already that needs some nurturing.

1.  Define team objectives

A common challenge IT teams face is not having a clear idea of how their work impacts the organization. Often, they are simply given orders and expected to fulfill them as quickly as possible.

The most successful IT teams understand why they are being asked to do something and how their work contributes to the organization’s success. This insight can help IT teams make more informed decisions about how to perform their functions to improve the results they deliver.

2. Collaborate

Collaboration is essential in any positive team environment. Think of major league sports teams. They may have one or two stars on the team, but even those stars need their teammates’ support to win games.

An IT team should operate the same way. There’s no room for egos in a team environment. Everyone has something valuable to contribute, and every voice should be heard when working on a project. At the same time, every teammate needs to trust each other and know they can turn to each other for help with a problem.

3. Provide resources

Even a team of all-stars won’t get much accomplished if they don’t have the support or resources they need to do their job. Leaders should regularly check in with their teams to see what support they need and how they can help them reach their goals.

Don’t assume that the team has everything they need to be successful and don’t expect a team to perform at a high level when they don’t have enough supplies, money, or leadership support.

Bottom Line

Developing a strategy to create a positive team culture is essential for IT leadership. A great IT team will efficiently and effectively work together to solve problems and find solutions to the organisation’s challenges.

The post The Impact of IT Team Culture on an Organisation appeared first on Yoav Tchelet.

This is where DataOps can help.

The term DataOps is short for data operations. This emerging field combines the roles of data engineers, data scientists, and DevOps teams to provide necessary processes and tools that data-driven companies can use to make decisions based on the customer data they collect.

Data and analytics teams use the automated, agile, and process-driven methodology of DataOps to improve and speed up their data analytics cycle time. The goal of using DataOps is to streamline an application’s design and development through data and data analytics.

Companies use DataOps to improve how their data is managed, then find ways to implement the improvements in ways that meet the business’s goals and objectives.

DevOps vs. DataOps

Both DataOps and DevOps are based on an Agile framework and have some similarities in how they work. They each rely on engaging with end-users early to address issues and make changes to improve the user’s experience. However, they are not the same thing.

Companies use DevOps to manage and maintain their software. DevOps requires software developers and IT professionals to coordinate in order to create and maintain software and software-related products.

Companies use DataOps to manage and maintain the data they collect from their users and customers. DataOps requires coordination from everyone in an organization who works with data to improve how that data is used to further the company’s objectives.

In addition to being used for data instead of software, the main difference between DataOps and DevOps is that DataOps requires cross-departmental coordination within the entire organization. There is not just one team responsible, as is often the case with DevOps. Further, because data is always changing and evolving, DataOps requires constant attention and testing.

Who Can Benefit from DataOps?

Implementing DataOps is not a decision to be made lightly. Implementation will require several structural and organizational changes. However, many organizations recognize that the benefits of DataOps far outweigh the slight inconveniences and challenges that come from making such a structural change.

Here are a few signs that your organization could benefit from DataOps implementation:

• The organization is riddled with data silos
• Data analysts are writing duplicate reports and jobs
• The data team can’t keep up with all the minor tickets that are coming in
• Business users are frustrated with how long it takes them to get their data
• Business users have stopped trusting the data they do get because it has many errors
• It takes months for data scientists to get the data and resources they need to do their job

If any of the above points sound familiar, it might be time to think about implementing DevOps into your organization.

Takeaway

Although DataOps is an emerging field, it is quickly taking off and becoming a necessity within data-driven organizations that already have, or are seeking to hire, a data engineer and data scientist. There are many DataOps solutions on the market, including open-source DataOps services that can help businesses in all industries improve the speed, accuracy, and analytics of their data.

The post What is DataOps and Why Do Businesses Need It? appeared first on Yoav Tchelet.

Implementing new technologies can significantly improve how your business operates and lead to enhanced profitability—if the change is handled correctly. Leaders often recognize digital transformation as wholly positive without considering how the change will impact their team members. However, like other major disruptions, digital transformation should be approached as a major change.

Good leadership that recognizes how to lead during times of change is essential for a successful digital transformation. You can have the best processes and structures in place, but it will all fall apart without the right leadership.

These three tips will help you successfully lead your organization through digital transformation.

Three Keys to Successful Leadership During a Digital Transformation

1. Communicate Your Why to Frontline Employees

Digital transformation should solve a specific problem. Implementing new technology just for the sake of having the latest tech in your organization isn’t a long-lasting strategy. There should always be a reason why you are making a digital shift, whether it’s to improve the customer experience, lower internal costs, increase productivity, or solve another challenge facing your business.

While it’s essential to have buy-in at the top, you also need to have frontline workers at different levels and in various departments to support you and work with you as advocates. These early adopters will be critical for getting their colleagues to buy-in to the change with the same level of urgency.

Frequent communication is key. Clearly articulate the problem that this new change is solving so that all employees understand why they are being asked to make significant changes to their processes.

2. Expect Setbacks

Going into a major change expecting nothing to go wrong is a recipe for disaster. While it’s important to have a plan for success, it’s also crucial to expect that you will face challenges that you have not yet imagined. Expect setbacks and prepare yourself ahead of time for how you will manage them.

Being able to adapt quickly is vital for great leadership during a digital transformation. You will need to recognize when a strategy isn’t working and pivot to a new one. Talking to other leaders who have successfully led through change management can be beneficial and help you recognize that you aren’t the only one who has gone through this.

3. Celebrate Small Wins

Small wins show employees, customers, and stakeholders the benefits of the changes you are implementing. Anytime there is a success as a result of digital transformation, celebrate it! It doesn’t matter how small.

Those small wins may be more meaningful to many employees than the big ones because they can see how their everyday operations are positively affected by the new changes.

Takeaway

Managing a digital transformation is no small task. It requires diligence, adaptability, and patience. You are going to discover some new things about your organization and the people who work there. Whenever it gets tough, remember your “why” and focus on how the changes you are making will positively impact your employees, clients, and stakeholders.

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