As we mentioned in our previous blog post that’s linked above, we have no doubt we’re going to see many companies moving a portion of their work force to permanent remote work now that they’ve recognized how it reduces overhead costs. But there are downsides as well, one of those being data security issues. Hopefully, you have at least a few tools in place already to combat data breaches, like a VPN and password protected laptops and phones, but this needs to be taken a step further by implementing tools like Mimecast and multi-factor authentication.

Mimecast ATP

Mimecast is an email spam filter that provides heightened protection from general email threats. It provides real time scanning of attachments, malicious links, and data loss/leak prevention. Employees working remotely are targets for increasingly sophisticated attacks designed to steal money, credentials, customer data, and other valuable intellectual property. In addition to implementing Mimecast, reinforce your employees’ knowledge around data breaches by providing content that increases their awareness of suspicious emails, links and attachments.

Multi-factor Authentication Solution – DUO SSO (Single Sign On)

Add another layer of email protection by implementing a multi-factor authentication solution like DUO SSO. This provides a seamless authentication experience and minimizes the number of passwords to remember while keeping data secure. When using single sign on, you verify your identity using an additional authentication method like your mobile phone to prevent anyone but you from logging in, even if your password has been compromised.

Another downside to remote work, if it’s not thought out properly, can be confusion around expectations amongst employees. Guidelines for working from home should be established to avoid this. Lay out exactly what you expect in terms of productivity and performance, as well as any technology requirements so your employees are set up for success from the start. This could include requirements for internet speed, firmware upgrades on home equipment, office supply must haves, etc. It’s also important to define the appropriate channels for communication when collaborating (phone call, email, virtual meeting). Having collaboration tools in place can not only help your team communicate effectively, but helps your company look professional and tech savvy.

Cloud Based Virtual Collaboration Tool – MS Teams

Collaborate in real time using MS Teams for video meetings. This allows you to have face-to-face communication with your team and your clients to hash out important topics. MS Teams comes with a handy chat feature that can be used in lieu of email to reduce traffic and prompt quick responses. You can also share documents in real time via chat or using the file sharing function. This function allows other team members to securely collaborate on your document in real time, since they are stored in the cloud and not on a server. You also have the ability to add on any websites or apps that you think would be useful – we love Planner, which enables us to build out meeting agendas and assign tasks that appear in email as reminders.

Document Collaboration – SharePoint

SharePoint is a great, cloud-based tool used for document sharing, collaboration, and management. Emailing around different versions of a single document after you and your team have made edits gets confusing and frustrating. Instead of having to save multiple versions of one document, SharePoint enables users to edit one document simultaneously in real time, and even has a function that allows other users to see where the edits were made and who they were made by.

Electronic Signatures – DocuSign

Signatures are required in many aspects of business, and paperwork doesn’t end just because teams are working remotely. Identifying a secure way of collecting these signatures and passing confidential documents back and forth is crucial to business operations. DocuSign is an easy to use and relatively cheap option at about $15 a month. Even if you end up moving your staff back into the office eventually, we guarantee DocuSign will be a tool you use for years and years to come.

Adjusting to the new normal is going to take some time. Having the willingness to pivot your strategies to create processes that keep you ahead of your competitors is the first step in a long line of adjustments, but you can begin this pivot today. Having a great tech strategy will boost your company’s reputation as well as your staff’s productivity. The sooner you begin implementing these tools, the sooner you’ll become adjusted to the new normal.

The post Top Tech Tools to Keep You Ahead of Competitors During COVID-19 appeared first on Awecomm.

So, what aspects of business are companies modifying that will improve their stature? It’s vital to retain your top talent and continue keeping your employees safe. The best way to bring your employees back into a physical space is to phase them in based on their role, starting with those who struggle to do their jobs properly without being present at the office. While guidelines for in-office work have not been solidified yet, pro-active businesses will have put their own safety measures in place. These will include making sure there is plenty of space between desks and cubicles, putting up signs to encourage handwashing, and limiting public bathroom usage to 1-2 people at a time. It may also be necessary to screen your employees each morning for illness before they enter the office. Keep in mind that some employees will be eager to return, but others will be fearful. Keep remote working opportunities open to those employees, if possible.

Business leaders have undoubtedly begun to recognize the dramatic reduction in overhead costs associated with remote work. We predict that some businesses will switch a portion of their staff to this status permanently, so it’ll be crucial as a leader in your industry to stay ahead of tech trends and tools that enhance work-from-home capabilities. Now that the initial scramble to make sure your employees are set up remotely has passed, focus on how to improve the process and begin tracking these trends and implementing new tools, if you haven’t already. It’ll be useful to set up trainings for your employees so they know the proper usage of new tools and processes. It’ll also be useful to create guidelines so employees know exactly what is expected of them while remote, i.e. schedule specifications, regular check-ins, etc.

Once you’ve ensured the safety and productivity of your employees, you’ll want to check in with your customers to let them know that you’re back up and running as well as to gauge how they’ve faired during the shut-down. They may need extra services or assistance of some kind from you. It may be useful to consider broadening your scope of services for them, even if just for a short time, so they know they can rely on you when times get tough.

After easing back into work at the office, it’s time to evaluate your operations. This is the perfect time to re-do your SWOT analysis. Here are some questions you can bring up to discuss with your leadership team:

• Were any new weaknesses or strengths identified?
• What new threats have you identified?
• Were any new opportunities identified?

Times of uncertainty are a test for businesses – are you able to gather your leaders and think like a team to focus on coordinated and proactive steps to ensure your company survives? How can you modify your services and apply them in a new context, staying relevant to consumers? Keep these questions in mind as you navigate the ‘new normal’. Business has and will continue to change, and success depends upon your ability to stay ahead of the competition.

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Of course with all technology there can be a learning curve, and Teams is no different. There are a ton of features, and more are being launched each day. Below we’ve compiled 5 powerful tips that will help you conquer working remotely.

1. Adding external users to your meetings.
   When starting a meeting for the first time it can be a little confusing adding external (non-employee) users. Currently this can be done by simply clicking the show participants button from your active meeting.
   
   Then clicking on the small link icon in the participants pane on the right side of the screen. You will be able to copy the meeting info to your clipboard, and then paste it in an email or instant message and send to whomever you would like to join.
   
2. Scheduling a meeting with Teams info.
   Another time saving tip is to use Ms Outlook meeting invites to setup your Teams conference calls instead of appointments. To setup a new meeting from outlook just click the New Items button on your home ribbon.
   
   Then select Meeting. Once the new meeting dialog comes up you will notice an option for Teams meeting in the meeting ribbon. Just click that button and the Teams meeting will be setup and conference information will be added to the message of the invite.
   
   *You can also invite external users this way as well!
3. Set custom backgrounds in your Teams meeting
   Microsoft just released the ability to set custom backgrounds in your Teams meeting (similar to a Zoom video conference feature). To set a custom background while in a video meeting. Click on the “…” icon in the Teams toolbar.
   
   Then select Show Background Effects. The Background effect tab will open up on the right. Choose the background image you would like to use, and select Apply.
   
4. Be mindful of phishing attacks.
   With more and more people working remotely, attacks targeting users have increased. Be extra mindful of the meeting invites you are receiving and verify they are accurate and legitimate. If something does not look right, don’t click the link. You can see the legitimate meetings you have been invited to on your Teams calendar. When you open the Teams app just click the calendar icon on the left toolbar and look for the meeting in your schedule.
   
5. Record your meetings.
   A very handy way to go back and verify meeting notes and assigned tasks is to record the meetings. MS Teams gives you a very easy way to do this by clicking the “…” icon in the meeting toolbar and selecting Start Recording.
   
   The meeting will start recording and save in the meeting chat, as well as in MS Stream. To get a copy of the meeting after you have stopped the recording you can simply open MS Stream, or click the chat icon on the MS Teams toolbar
   
   And then from the chat pane on the right, click the the dots “…” next to the recording and choose to copy a link to the file, or open MS Stream
   
   You will also receive an email after the meeting with a link to the recording in MS Stream.
   
   ** BONUS TIP
6. Quick launch a new Teams meeting without scheduling it.
   Every once in a while you need to meet right now! This is easy to do in Teams by clicking on the Calendar icon on the left toolbar of the Teams app.
   
   Then simply clicking on the Meet Now icon located in the upper right hand corner.
   

MS Teams is constantly evolving and Microsoft is always coming out with new features. It will continue to be a great tool to leverage while transitioning to remote work. But remember, when you’re not in the office it is still very important to stay in touch with your peers. Keep safe and stay healthy!

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5 Tips to Boost Morale and Ensure the Well-being of Your Remote Team

Set Your Employees up to Work From Home Efficiently

3 Simple Ways to Protect Your Business Data

How to Make Working With a Remote Team Successful

Zoom User Warning: This is How Attackers Could Steal Windows Passwords

5 Tips for MS Teams When Working Remotely

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1. Ensure employees have the proper hardware to work from home (laptop, cable modem/WiFi router).
2. Employees should always use the Virtual Private Network (VPN) that your company has in place whenever working outside of the office for security purposes.
3. Employees should work from a designated workspace with a desk and comfortable chair within their home to limit distractions.
4. Encourage employees to keep a regular working schedule, similar to their schedule at the office.
5. Employees should continue to collaborate with one another by using video conferencing, chat functions, and other collaborate software in place to stay connected and motivated.

During this confusing time, the last thing anyone wants to worry about is the productivity of their staff. If you’d like to discuss any of these points further, please feel free to reach out to me – I’d be happy to elaborate on this topic or answer any other questions.

The post Set Your Employees up to Work From Home Efficiently appeared first on Awecomm.

1. Schedule regular one-on-one check ins 

Once a week, schedule a virtual check in with each member of your staff using video chat. This may not be as casual as having a brief chat in the break room, but perhaps these times call for a different level of engagement. Ensure their work from home environment is safe and productive. Ask them how their work on a day-to-day basis seems – are they confused about what’s expected of them? Are they distracted by current events? Are they maintaining their health? Perhaps they’re afraid to approach you and admit that working from home has been difficult for them, or that they’re having trouble focusing. Keep an open mind and encourage communication so that these concerns can be addressed before they cause an issue.

2. Be considerate of changing schedules 

No matter the reason for the switch from in-office to remote, try to be considerate of a change in schedule for your employee. Maybe they take their lunch earlier or later, need to run out to pick up their child from school at 3pm, or can’t get online until 10am some days. If they are meeting basic guidelines you’ve put in place and are completing their work in a timely manner, tracking them from 9am-5pm isn’t effective. Studies show that remote employees need more frequent breaks, so keep in mind that if they don’t answer and email right away they’ve probably stepped away for 10 minutes to regroup. 

3. Coordinate virtual coffee meetups or happy hours 

The fun stuff doesn’t need to end just because your team is at home! Schedule virtual coffee or happy hour meet ups to encourage socialization among your team that’s NOT work related – maybe you discuss current events, your families, hobbies, etc. The first couple of these can be a bit awkward if you’re not used to them, so have some topics of conversation or even a game in mind. Encourage everyone to take their turn sharing their answers or thoughts so that everyone can engage. 

4. Encourage office “challenges” 

Does your team enjoy working out? Maybe they all watch a certain show, have a certain hobby, or love to cook? Create a challenge around one of these and push your team to participate and track their results. For example, if they’re exercise nuts, put in place a sit up or push up challenge. Love watching a certain show? Create a trivia game around it. Encouraging the team to participate in these challenges together boosts their sense of connection. 

5. Give them shout outs 

If your team as a whole or certain members are performing particularly well or going above and beyond, give them recognition. Utilize email, social media, and even your website or blog posts to write a brief thank you. Whether they express it to you or not, employees can’t help but feel a sense of pride and gratitude that their hard work has been recognized.  

Just because the work environment has changed, doesn’t mean we need to sacrifice workplace culture and well-being. Whether this is a temporary measure, or your staff has gone remote permanently, these tips can be easily applied and maintained. Regular communication and the implementation of fun activities will ensure your staff is just as satisfied as they were when they came into the office five days a week.  

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There are a few key areas that need to be addressed when navigating your digital transformation. Focusing on these first will get you to have the right conversations, answer the important questions, and force you to have real business discussions related to your transformation strategy. There will still be work to do after, but these tips will get you prepared and ready to go!

1. Add trending conversations to your annual SWOT analysis
   If you are not doing a SWOT analysis each year to see where you stack up against your competition, you should be. In addition, we suggest adding a current trends analysis discussion to this process. Have it right after you cover your Strengths and Weaknesses, but before your Opportunities and Threats. This will give you a strategic forum to examine the macro and micros trends affecting your business, industry, region, etc. that can alter your path over the next few years. Technology, of course, is a major area that should be thoroughly covered in the discussion. What is “tech” doing in your industry? Where is it headed? How does it play a role in protecting your margins? Creating profit? Creating product? What are your competitors doing today / tomorrow? How disruptive will technology be for you employees, your business, your industry? Are there any low hanging opportunities that your industry hasn’t picked up on yet? All of these discussions can have an impact on your future, and will almost definitely have an impact on your external Threats. Believe us, your competition is having these conversations.
2. Don’t delegate the important stuff
   As technology continues to become more ingrained in the business, we are surprisingly still hearing some business say things like “talk to my IT person” whenever the word technology or IT is mentioned. This is big red flag as it generally means the businesses view of technology is ONLY tactical, not strategic. Business discussions should always lead technology discussions, never the other way around. Business challenges like managing culture, revenue growth, product and service advancement, employee engagement and retention, all must drive the technology conversations. When the leaders of the business are not engaged in the high level discussions related to how your technology will play a role in solving the business issues, the result are almost always poor. Let me say that again, if the leaders of the business delegate all technology discussions, you will fail at transforming in a way that creates positive business results. This does not mean business leaders need to be technical by any means, it means business leaders need to demand business results from technology initiatives, and hold the right people accountable for the right business results. Avoiding conversations because they include technology concepts is an outdated approach that will put you years behind.
3. Get real about your budget and where it needs to be
   Do you know what your industry spends annually on technology? Do you know what your competition spends? Do you know how you stack up against those numbers? On average across all industries companies spend from 2.8% of gross revenue to 3.4% of gross revenue. Does that make you sweat when you hear that? Of course all industries are different, for example if you are in construction or manufacturing you could be closer to 1.5% or 2% (unless you are advanced manufacturing which is higher). On the other hand if you provide business or professional services, financial services, health services or banking securities, you’ll top out closer to an astounding 10% of gross revenue on IT related expenses. Don’t worry, we’re not suggesting you spend more than everyone else, in fact there are a million strategies to spend extremely effectively and still be a leader. The point is, if you are spending 1/2 to a 1/3 or less than your entire industry, you will not be able to compete with them and they will continue to transform at a much faster pace than you. In fact, to further illustrate the point. When we are asked to advise private equity firms on the technology strength of potential investments, we know a business grossly under spending compared to their industry is a huge red flag for any long term investment. Start compiling your numbers, and find out where you stand today, and where you need to be to remain competitive. And be realistic with your path to bridge the gap if necessary.
4. Pick your team wisely
   Time to ask yourself the tough questions. Do you really have the right team to tackle all of the initiatives necessary to transform your business from the inside out. This means you have the right people to come up with solid technology strategies to solve real business problems, the right team to change the conversation from tactical technology talk to business first discussions, the right team to help embed a new change driven culture into the organization that increases engagement with new systems and tools, the right team to execute complex technology initiatives that integrate cloud solutions, SaaS tools, and other up-to-date technology while also increasing your companies technical capabilities through training along the way? Most small to mid-sized business have one to two IT resources, and most need five to six to even have a chance. Take a hard look at the team you are going to leverage to get you through this transformation, and be very honest with yourself about your likelihood of success with your current players. Leading digital transformation is just as much about who is helping, as it is setting up a good plan of attack. Make sure you map out who will be accountable for each area necessary, and make them accountable. And don’t make the common mistake of believing your IT person somehow will magically learn all of the business skills to execute this plan. They will need help, a lot of it!
5. Track the right metrics
   If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. This is a popular saying for a reason. Results will come if you stay focused and committed to iterative improvements. But the results are business results, not technology results. Yes, you will be deploying technology strategies to affect those business results, but your key performance indicators (KPI’s) need to be business based. If one of your goals is to increase productivity for example, you need to create a baseline for where it is today. Will you measure a particular process, how many resources are necessary to perform a particular workload, how many hires annually you need to grow? What productivity metric are you going to select as your baseline to contrast against? Then how have your IT strategies affected that over time? The key is iterative improvement, and your initiatives should be measurable. Of course there will be a number of infrastructure related technology investments that are necessary to build the foundation for advancement, but even those can be measured. Infrastructure investment should remain flat, while IT investments with measurable return on investment’s (ROI’s) increase over time. The point is, a successful IT strategy is measured through business metrics, not tactical IT metrics. Think bigger and more strategic and force your IT teams to be accountable for results that make a legitimate difference for your business.

However simple or advanced your digital transformation needs to be, you need to have the right strategy to get there. Have the tough conversations with your executive team, ask the tough questions, be real with your expectations based on your strategy, and remember, transformation is already happening, it’s up to you to take charge.

The post 5 steps to master your company’s digital transformation appeared first on Awecomm.

We all know technology is important, very important – but not all business use technology the same. Every industry has a unique approach to putting their best foot forward in regards to their tech approach. But regardless of what you feel is necessary to compete, you need to be real about your approach. Awecomm President and COO, Dave Townsend, digs to the root of the issue and explains some key ideas to help you get focused when building your unique technology strategy.

The post Getting Real About IT: For The Non-Technical CXO’s appeared first on Awecomm.

Many times in small and mid-sized companies, the CIO roles and responsibilities fall on non-CIO executives. This presents a challenge when trying to run a technology department, as well as moving a company forward strategically with their technology capabilities.

Ultimately companies want to focus their efforts on becoming a digital leader.  To that extent we’ve put together a list of four critical steps to help non-technical executives get started the right way.

Click on the video to learn about the four necessary components of a solid technology strategy.

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There is a lot of confusion around digital leadership. From understanding the difference between technology strategies and digital strategies, to understanding the relationship digital leaders have with their business strategy. But one thing is very clear, digital leaders are outperforming their laggard counterparts. Today Awecomm CEO, Brent Yax, will dig into the common misconceptions of a digital leader, as well as explain the primary characteristics of them.

Now that you know what a digital leaders is, time to check out some tips on becoming one.

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What does it mean to be a Digital Leader? How do I get started? 

First, what is a Digital Leader and why should you care? Simply put, it is a sophisticated way to label an individual or organization that is innovative and forward thinking in how technology can drive business results in a rapidly changing environment. It is how an organization can leverage technology assets and capabilities to achieve business goals. (For more, check out our video “What is a Digital Leader?”) Why should you care?  The technology disruption that’s been occurring over the last several decades is not slowing down, and the companies that have positioned themselves as digital leaders are reaping the rewards. It’s no surprise McKinsey & Co. and others were easily able to quantify this terms of real numbers (growth), and real outcomes (profit). Digital leaders outperform their counterparts by leaps and bounds according to these studies. That is a tremendous advantage for the companies willing to take the plunge and become a digital leader. If you want your company to thrive, technology better be a big part of your strategy to achieve your vision. If it were easy, everyone would do it.. right? Well, it can be done, and it is not as complicated as you may think.  Once you eliminate the confusion surrounding what a digital leader is, how it can impact your business, you can start the organization down the right path to success.      

1. Make yourself accountable

Becoming a digital leader starts at the top of the organization. The owners and leadership team must believe in becoming a digital leader and need to be held accountable for the required corporate transformation. If the executive level doesn’t believe it is worthwhile, or necessary no one else in the company will. The data on the enormous benefit exists. It’s time to educate the leaders and take the leap.

2. Share the message

Once you are convinced you need to be a digital leader, you need to include the topic in your internal conversations. Openly discuss it at company meetings, strategic meetings, and operational meetings. Make it very clear this is a new company-wide initiative that is very important for the organization. Set the expectation that this means accepting change, but stress the changes will be made together, and for the betterment of the company and the employees both. Open the floor to discussions, and concerns, and help to build excitement. Every person will play a role, and every person needs to buy-in to the process. 

3. Build the team

You likely don’t have the technology team today that you need for this journey, so you need to start with a plan for capabilities that are required from the team. What resources will connect technology capability to business goals?  How will you deliver more effectively on operational technology services the business requires today? How will you budget the operational cost required and still have budget for higher business value initiatives? Will you outsource the team or build the team internally? This is a big step, and there is a lot to consider, so you probably will need some help exploring and defining this plan from the outside. Could be a consultant, or if you plan to have a technology leader, your first hire could be a new team member to lead this effort, even if the plan is to primarily outsource technology services for the organization.  

4. Embrace change management

A critical component of becoming a digital leader is proper change management. Technology changes rapidly. Everyday new software and hardware are released that help businesses advance more efficiently and effectively. The better you become at rolling out new tools, the more iterative steps forward you can take. This concept is the core of a solid digital strategy. Iterative improvement over time yields amazing results. The key is to get the iterations started, and that is all about change management so that you can take many small steps forward very quickly. 

5. Find your champions, the ones to help you by teaching and training others

Every company has early adopters. The employees that are a little more eager to try something new, or the ones that are driving change already. Identify the ones in your company, in each department, that can be your champions of change. These employees will be your best assets when getting adoption of new tools. Their role should be to help educate others, to share their victories and losses, and to gather feedback and make recommendations to help make the change easier and more successful.

6. Find your change resistors

Although you’ll have employees that help the process, you’ll also have some laggards that can cripple the efforts. You’ll need to understand who they are just as importantly as the former group. You may even find some actively disengaged employees, in which case it should be addressed separately.  Just keep in mind, change resistance does not necessarily mean they are disengaged. It’s your job to figure that out. Once you find the change resistors, they’ll need extra training, extra assistance, and extra motivation. Make sure you hold the resistors as accountable as everyone else, otherwise it’ll create delays in roll-outs and new initiatives.

7. Understand your employees value equation

Changing for the sake of change is a waste of everyone’s time. You need to understand each employee has a value equation for their role in the company.  What is their function, how are they rewarded, what do they contribute to the company, and what do they get recognition for?  All these items contribute to their sense of value and purpose. With change comes the potential to disrupt that equation. Make sure you understand the potential impact and help them understand the value they provide during and after the changes.

8. Start small, pick some easy wins with high value returns

If you are not familiar with the J-shaped change curve, you should check it out here. The concept is with every change there is an experience journey we each go through.  In the beginning it is negative, resulting in some anger and fear (change is hard).  As you push through the change you move to acceptance and commitment.  But only when we push through this fear to we see the positive side of the curve. To get employees used to this emotional rollercoaster it helps to start with smaller projects, so they can experience the curve in a shorter timeline. Once people understand the ups and downs of change, and they see positive outcomes, they are more comfortable tackling larger initiatives. Additionally, another technique is to purposefully create small victories along the way to keep teams positive and focused!

9. Invest in training

I can’t stress this one enough. One of the biggest barriers to implementing anything new is improper training, or a lack of it altogether. Increase your success rate by training thoroughly, in small batches, over a longer period. Having a one-week bootcamp does little to promote actual knowledge, only temporary test results. People just can’t remember everything thrown at them in firehose fashion. They need time to understand, and digest, and internalize the information. Give them time and repetition, and let them practice their new skills in demo environments with real-life scenarios. The reward is well worth it.   

10. Recognize, reward, and give feedback often

This is necessary for a million additional reasons completely out of the scope of this post. But for our purposes, rewarding and recognizing a job well done is mandatory. It reinforces everyone’s sense of value, maintains a positive atmosphere, holds people accountable, gives people the feedback they need to determine direction, and gives everyone confidence in what they are doing. Being a digital leader means being a leader, and leaders support and encourage their team members, and build a culture that recognizes “we are all in this together”.

11. Display results proudly

Finally, don’t be afraid to share results.  A lot of hard work goes into being a digital leader, but the results are well worth sharing. Let everyone celebrate the victories together. All of the initiatives you embark on will have some strategic goal associated with them. Whether you are trying to minimize waste, eliminate duplicate processes, enhance productivity, enhance employee experience, lower operational costs, increase profit per employee, lower overall technology spend as a percentage of gross revenue, or a million other business reasons, the fact is you are all in this together and should all enjoy the challenges and the victories.

Becoming a digital leader doesn’t have to be mysterious, but it is critical for success. If your company has defined the vision/values/mission and recognizes technology will be critical to your success, you already understand the role technology can play to help advance the business. Taking the necessary steps to get the right buy-in for successful change to be a digital leader can now be on the forefront. With the proper foundation in place any company can be the digital leader of tomorrow.  Just stay focused, stay positive, and get started today. Technology change is not slowing down to wait for you.

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If you are the CEO or COO of a business without a CIO, the tech strategy is your responsibility. It is much too important of an item to delegate.  Ignoring or delegating the strategy to the wrong person leads to increased risk, productivity loss, increased overhead, and possible business closures. The fact is, tech leaders crush tech laggards in their represented industries. And your tech strategy determines if you are a leader, or a laggard.  So how do you build a tech strategy if you are not a CIO? To help answer that we’ve put together a guide to help build a rock-solid strategy that will put you in position to crush your competition.

Starting with the end in mind

First, let’s get clear on the point. A successful tech strategy is all about the outcome, not about the technology itself. It doesn’t matter of you are completely digital, or have the latest technology, or are a mobile organization. Those are just tools that may, or may not, have any impact on your business. The point of a tech strategy is to leverage technology in a way that put the business in a position to succeed in today’s highly technical environment. The strategy will by shaped by your industry and the trends that influence it. By using a business first approach you will keep focused on the outcome, and not get distracted by the “latest and greatest” tech trends.

Focus on the right KPI’s

There are hundreds of KPI’s used to measure technology initiatives, but only a few that can clearly show if your strategy is having an impact or not. Start with determining your I.T. spend as a percentage of gross revenue. This will be used initially to help you understand what you spend vs. others in and out of your industry. Next, you’ll want to identify and track your technology investment per user, and overall profit per user. A successful tech strategy will drive profit per person up, and over time, I.T. spend as a percentage of gross revenue down. This will generally cause you to start looking at I.T. spend per user as opposed to a percentage of revenue. This is because a solid tech strategy is centered around enabling your employees to be highly productive. By using spend per user and profit per user as KPI’s you’ll stay focused on the correct business outcomes.

Be real with your budget

Yes, you will need to budget correctly to become a digital leader.  This tends to be the biggest battle for CIO’s, and the most important one. The overall Industry average for I.T. spending around 5%-6% of gross revenue. This is highly dependent on industry of course. For an example, on the low-end you have discreet manufacturing which could be spending 2% on I.T., while on the high end a financial services company could be spending over 10% on I.T.  Understanding where your industry sits in terms of appropriate budget will help you to start putting yours together.  This is probably coming as a shock for most of you, but it is the world we exist in today.  And it is understandable given that those who make the transition to becoming a digital leader drive 5X’s the revenue as those who do not.  Performing at that level takes effort, and takes investment.  There is no way to be a digital leader without.

You need different strategies to accomplish different technology challenges

There are many business objectives your strategy will need to address, so it helps to break your efforts into smaller, more management sections. A simple 3 spoke method is to break the efforts into infrastructure components, operational efficiencies, or strategic initiatives. This generally covers all of  areas of focus for a good strategy. Below we break the categories down and examine what should fall into each, and how your budgeting should adjust based on each.  

1. Infrastructure components – These are all the items necessary to “keep the lights on” or operate the business.  Items generally include your general I.T. personnel, servers, cloud services, storage, security hardware and software, communication and Internet lines, communication hardware, email, back office applications like Office 365, your line of business applications, and pretty much anything necessary to keep everyone working and delivering services. Disaster recovery, and business continuity items would fall in this category as well. From a budgeting perspective you need to determine an amount appropriate to keeping operations running smoothly and consistently.  That number will be different if you hire internal resources, or outsource, but will stay consistent year to year.
2. Operational efficiencies – These are the I.T. personal and efforts done to impact productivity, quality, turn-around times, and anything else that has a direct and measurable impact to the business. Items within this list should have a measurable R.O.I. and should be done as quickly as possible. You should work to get as much of your budget as you can into this category. The better you are at identifying these items and working through them, the more you can increase profit per user.
3. Strategic Initiatives – These are items that you think will impact your business now, or in the future, but do not have a very clear return on investment. You’ll most likely need to perform a risk vs. reward analysis to determine what should be implemented, and how much budget should be used. If you are on the aggressive side, you may allocate more budget to investigating and trying new things, even though there is additional risk. If you are on the conservative side, you may allocate much less budget to these items. Monitor your competition and any industry trends, then build a list of initiatives.  You may decide not to go forward with them, but the process of keeping an eye on your industry and your competition is a good habit.

Make sure training is a part of your strategy

Often training is only thought of when new team members join your company. This is not nearly enough when you start to embrace technology.  The process of continuously examining and updating systems and processes will create gaps in knowledge. A good CIO will see these gaps and will exploit any opportunities to better educate and equip employees; so should you. Have a system in place to identify training opportunities, and act on them. Work to make continuous education a positive and enjoyable part of the culture.

Stop making technology decisions, make business decisions

One of the most valuable things a CIO does is create an abstraction layer between the CEO and the technical decisions necessary to run I.T. Without a CIO your biggest challenge will be to duplicate this abstraction layer. Given that 95% of CEO’s are non-technical, there is no reason you should be making technical decisions. If you are asked which server, or software, or security items to buy, you need to refrain from answering. Instead force your I.T. resources to be accountable for the business objective the technology is supporting. Your technical people should make the technical decisions necessary to get you the business result you need. With this comes a shift in accountability. You’ll need to make sure the person making the decisions can understand the business outcome they are now responsible for.  This comes through clear expectations, clear communication, and a high level of trust between each party. If you don’t have that, it will not work. 

Stay focused and stay committed

Becoming a tech savvy organization takes time and energy from everyone involved. There will be ups and downs, challenges, frustrations, victories, and everything in between. As the CEO or COO, you will need to help everyone understand the importance of the transition and keep positive during the journey. If you stumble, brush yourself off and keep moving. Your job is to stay confident and stay the course. Your employees will draw their confidence and strength from you. Being a technology leader yields tremendous results, but not everyone can make the journey. Give yourself the time and support needed to get there!

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DevOps moves mainstream

The discussion is over, the facts are in, the reports are completed. Digital leaders outperform their peers in B2B. And not just by a little bit, digital leaders are crushing the competition. Businesses that make technology a part of their culture, and embrace a lifestyle of collecting, learning from, and using data effectively will win. Because of this, development resources are in high demand. Developers connect disparate systems, create reports to analyze data, link internal processes, automate workloads, and help businesses get visibility into the most important facets of the business. DevOps connect that development intelligence with operational intelligence and are growing in popularity in small and medium sized companies (Enterprise sized businesses are way ahead of SMB’s in this category). Expect DevOps capabilities to become a key differentiator for businesses in 2019. Those who invest will be setting themselves up to become the next round of digital leaders.

5G and redundancy

More and more applications and systems are moving to the cloud. This will continue without question for the foreseeable future. Because of this shift, businesses are becoming more and more reliant on their Internet connectivity. Simultaneously 5G technology has been progressing, and a major development in 2018 paved the way for it to come to market. In 2019 we’ll see the major players like AT&T, T-Mobile (now with Sprint), Verizon and others bring 5G products to market. This is important for business because it gives us another inexpensive option for Internet service that makes redundancy easier to implement and more affordable. Combining your existing Internet with a service like 5G will give you more reliability, which translates to more access to your cloud-based systems and applications.  Expect the digital leaders to focus on creating redundant Internet in 2019 and eliminating profit sucking downtime due to Internet failures.

End of the password

We’ve written about this again, and again, and again, but to get right to the point, passwords are not secure – at all. They are the number one reason hackers get your data, and one of the largest contributing factors of financial loss around security exploits. With several new technologies coming to market aimed at creating a more secure, reliable, and easier to use authentication process, businesses will be moving away from the old way and into better ways to protect themselves. Digital leaders jumping on the passwords are dead bandwagon will have better connected and better protected systems,  that are also easier to use. Bonus! This will save time and money and create an opportunity for differentiation from less secure competitors.

Data Regulation

It’s coming, and soon! The poor attempt at data privacy and management within the social media giants has sparked conversations in Washington regarding consumer data protection. This will inevitably lead to new regulations for businesses. Soon you’ll need to let people know what data you have, how you use it, how they can delete it, and who you share it with. All this means exposure for the non-compliant, and potential opportunity for those that embrace it. The digital leaders in 2019 will look to create ethical policies and practices for the data they collect and store about businesses and individuals. We also expect this will be another marketing tool to separate them from businesses that are behind the data protection curve.

AI Tools

We have been hearing about AI for a while now, but with no real tangible take-a-ways for most small to mid-size businesses. Expect that to change in 2019. Over the last few years we have seen an explosion in tools, applications, and frameworks that allow more companies to test the waters of AI. With DevOps (see trend one) gaining a foothold in SMB’s we expect AI to start coming into the picture. The digital leaders of tomorrow will be starting their AI R&D today. Expect businesses to use 2019 to get a better understanding of the capabilities of AI, explore integration of small AI projects into the workplace, and define and build strategies necessary to evolve their business. Technology is changing every industry, and AI will be at the forefront. Today’s digital leaders will be ready.

2019 will be a very interesting year.  The large trends that have been slow to progress over the last five years, will move much faster going forward. The companies looking to remain digital leaders, and the ones looking to become ones, need to stay ahead of what is coming. We hope our business first view of what is happening in 2019 gives you the insight you need to start the discussions with your executive teams.  Good luck, and Happy New Year!

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In the I.T. world this topic seems to come up every few years.  As new technologies surface, and more data breaches are discovered, the topic swirls around and ultimately hits the main stream media and business journals.  So here we are again, some years later, and the topic of the death of the password has surfaced again. So why does this discussion come up again and again?  And is it something that is finally gaining ground?  Or will the topic just die off again only to be recirculated some years later?  

Back in the early days of the technology revolution passwords were a great way to prevent access to data and systems. Individuals had their accounts, and their access, and protecting it was straight forward. As technology advancements continued, and access to systems became more mobile and interconnected, the I.T. world quickly realized protecting data had evolved, and become much more challenging. This led to a question on the plausibility of passwords for security, and ultimately led to the obnoxious password policies we have in place today. Things like password length, and adding numbers and characters, changing your passwords often, and not repeating the same password, etc., etc., I’m sure you get the point. 

The fact is, passwords are not a good way to protect data, and the increasing complexity in password policies is proof the system is breaking down. But why are we talking about this again now? What has changed in the last 5 or 6 years that caused this resurrection of the “passwords are dead” conversation (<- see what I did there)? Well, we think it comes down to four major tipping points.  

Tipping point one: Passwords are hackers holy grail 

According to a study by Verizon, out of over 900 phishing attacks studied, 91% were targeting the gathering of credentials.  Which is no wonder given in that same study 63% of data breaches were caused by weak or stolen credentials.  In another study in 2018 by TraceSecurity, 81% of the company data breaches studied were due to poor passwords.  In 2013 Google started a process to eliminate passwords internally, and even said startups today that use passwords as the only method to protect data will go out of business. They additionally went on to partner with DashLane to create a YOLO (You Only Login Once, not the other YOLO!) initiative to help eliminate the sole dependence on passwords as an authentication and data protection mechanism. With passwords being such an easy method for hackers to get access to accounts and data, it is becoming a cause for concern everywhere.  

Tipping point two: Passwords are a pain in the a$$ 

Seriously, does anyone like passwords?  It seems like we all need a password for almost every company we have any relationship with. Not to mention all the ones we use for our jobs as well.  Personally, I have well over 100 passworded accounts I need to manage. Now add the fact that everyone is requiring more complex passwords and requiring them to be longer and longer. It’s a pain.    

It’s this pain that has been a driving force in the recent password manager craze.  And although using a password manager is something we really, really strongly recommend, it doesn’t actually solve the issue.  It only masks it by helping people generate and store more complex passwords, and also automate some of the login processes on web sites and mobile apps. The issue of hackers using passwords as their number one method of getting at data is still a threat. And using different passwords only slows down their efforts. 

Here are some tips for being more secure with your passwords: 

• 8 tips – Mentalfloss 
• Use a password manager video / blog – Awecomm 
• 100 worst passwords, full list – Teamsid 
• Tips for creating and remembering a strong password – Howtogeek 

Tipping point three: Mobility taking over the financial world 

This has been a long time coming but has gained ground dramatically in the last 4-5 years.  Consumer demand is driving the digital evolution of financial institutions. And what’s at the top of their priorities, more digital, more mobile.  Not only that, but consumers have gained a ton of confidence in handling financial transactions through tech companies like Apple and Google’s Alphabet, Inc.  All this leads to more online transactions, and more financial services companies moving into the digital realm. This alone is not surprising, but there is also acceptance now in the financial world that passwords are not a secure method to protect data. Take Visa for example, in April of this year they started their plan to phase out static passwords for their Verified by Visa online fraud control service. Even the European Commission brought the PSD2 online January of this year that requires strong customer authentication (SCA) for financial transactions (which, fyi, is more than just a password).  With the growth of online transactions, and the financial industry getting sick and tired of loosing ridiculous amounts of money from online hackers, we are seeing a strong push to kill the password once and for all.  

 Tipping point four: Infrastructure no longer a barrier 

With any change that has societal implications, and believe me this does, there needs to be the correct infrastructure in place. Up until the invent of the iPhone 5s, consumers never really had access to biometric devices for personal use. Interestingly enough the iPhone 5s fingerprint reader was what sparked the last wave of “the password is dead” conversations.  But back in 2003 the infrastructure was nowhere near where it needed to be to have an impact on the movement. Since then other behemoths started adding sensors and biometric reading software to their devices. This brings us to where we are today; most smart phones have the ability to biometrically verify users. It’s worth keeping in mind, not all biometric scanning is the same, but it is still way more secure than passwords. 

Additionally, almost all Americas have smart phones already, and the largest group that does not own a smart phone are the least likely group to be impacted by online financial transactions. The 65+ group with an income less that 30K annually have little to no involvement in the movement, whereas the 18-29 age group, along with the 30-49 age group are leading the push for adoption, and will most likely convert to a new authentication mechanism well before any other group. And with the overall average of Americas with a smart phone being at 77%, we are only a few years away from biometric scanning being within reach for all Americans, regardless of their demographic grouping, or interest in online transactions. 

So what comes after passwords?  

Ultimately biometrics will replace the password, but only in combination with another authentication method.  This is commonly referred to as Muti-factor Authentication (MFA).  Currently MFA relies on a username/password in combination with something that only you know or have possession of.  Commonly this would be a cell phone. In the future the password requirement will drop and be replaced with biometric verification. The scenario will look like the following: 

1. You would go to a website as normal and put in your username 

1. An alert would be sent to your phone asking you to authenticate 

1. You scan your iris, or fingerprint, or face, and are authenticated 

1. The website allows you access with no password required 

Given the usability of software today, this method will most likely be easier, and save more time than the current process.  Additionally, it will be much more secure as it requires not only your biometrics to verify, but also your phone in your possession. There are other concepts for strong authentication, but given the tipping points above, this is the most direct and probable path.  

The real driver of change 

Although everything about is causing momentum, the real way to predict change is to map out where the pain caused by doing nothing crosses over the threshold for the pain felt to change. We are very close to that point. Certain industries and governments have already started the push, and many more will follow in months, not years.  The question is no longer “if” but instead “when”.  We have the want, we have the need, we have the infrastructure, we have the technology, and we have giants like Google, Apple, various banking institutions, credit card processing companies, and governments already pushing the initiative. Personally, I can’t wait to never have to use a password again!

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