Flexibility works both ways

Technology
May 8, 2013
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Today we hand over to our experts in the security field, with both of the blogs we’re publishing today having been published recently on our Let’s Talk Security blog.

Carl Blackett, ICT Security Architect, Norfolk County Council

There has been a steady increase in the requirement for flexible working patterns within the workplace. Historically some organisations have been unable to allow this flexibility and instead have resorted to offering job-sharing or part-time working as the only options available. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile & Flexible Working Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Do we need Chief Mobile Officers?

mobile-smartphone-and-tablet-security-challenges
September 19, 2012
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Technology is changing fast and mobile is one of the fastest game changers. Workers use their own smartphones and tablets wherever they are. The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend increases productivity and while many corporations allow employees to use mobile devices, security questions persist.

Though many companies want to delegate regulation of BYOD and mobile devices to IT, this is not always the case. Some businesses created a new function: the Chief Mobility Officer.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: ICT Management, Mobile Tagged With: , ,

Staying focused

flexible-futures
September 6, 2012
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Getting the best out of your staff can be a big challenge and one that some companies do better at than others.

However, despite focussing on staff engagement, one of the things that can reduce staff productivity is the way that theyare using (and abusing) the technology that is always on and always on them.It is true that technology has been an enabler of increased productivity but research is also starting to point towards technology sometimes acting as a distraction from work. Researchers at London Business School’s Future of Work Consortium have worked out that during an average working day we’re interrupted once every three minutes – as we respond to endless beeps, flashing lights and “you’ve got mail” alerts during the day, not to mention the M&Ms (meetings and managers). This means that we spend the whole day attempting to multitask (which is exhausting as our brain is effectively constantly juggling) or, worse still, task switching (when we forget our chain of thought or, sometimes, what we were doing entirely). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile & Flexible Working, Country, Financial Services, Global, Unified Communications Tagged With: , , , ,

May the (en)Force(ment) be with you: Security lessons from Star Wars

Rock climbing, wiff-waff and business continuity
September 3, 2012
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By guest blogger Terry Greer-King, UK MD for Check Point 

Star Wars: A New Hope is more than just an epic tale of the galaxy-wide struggle between the Galactic Empire and the Rebellion, and the triumph of good over evil. It’s also a great example of how a series of basic infosecurity mistakes can cost even a massive, powerful (but evil) organisation like the Empire dearly.

Ultimately, the Empire was compromised by a fatal combination of weak security policies and poor practice. It’s a classic example of investing in a seemingly-powerful security technology or product (like a Death Star), then building policies based around that technology — rather than starting with a policy that covers what’s critical to their business, then deploying solutions that map to it. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Country, Security, UK, Unified Communications Tagged With: , , , ,

BYOD – An Issue For HR As Well As IT

BYOD
August 24, 2012
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Several of our Summit presenters identified the growing trend of BYOD when competing to attract best talent for the workplace. “Next generation” employees indicate they consider social media connectivity and workplace flexibility more important even than salary. So how do technology leaders within business respond effectively to the connectivity and security demands of “device diversity”? 

Conformity to corporate policy appears the dominant stance, for now at least. Some 33 per cent of respondents describe their BYOD policy today as “very prescriptive” with another 37 per cent being “fairly prescriptive”. But for just under a third of respondents, BYOD is no longer on the “banned list”.  11 per cent are “very liberal” in approach to BYOD, while 19 per cent are “fairly liberal”. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Country, Global, Unified Communications Tagged With: , , ,

Decrease your Perimeter, Broaden your Horizons

Aerial Cityscape of London Showing St Pauls Cathedral, United Kingdom
August 20, 2012
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By Carl Blackett, ICT Security Architect, Norfolk County Counci

There has always been a need to protect your assets, whether this is a personal asset (within your house) or a corporate asset (within your organisation).  The basic need to look after our possessions is inbuilt in every human.

This need for protection is no better demonstrated than within an organisation where there are multiple levels of protection employed, both physical and technical, to ‘keep the baddies out’ ranging from high fences (even electrified) to protect the physical buildings to firewalls and monitoring software to protect the technology assets. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Country, Global, Security, Unified Communications Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Four BYOD strategies to protect your company against risks

Ashley Furness
June 20, 2012
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Guest blogger Ashley Furness, CRM Market Analyst at Software Advice, provides four strategies regarding a successful and secure deployment and use of BYOD.

Ashley reminds is that BYOD costs are shifted to other areas as Richard English, Strategic Consulting Director for Avaya Professional Services, suggested.

While the trend diminishes costs for traditional service desk tasks such as asset management, businesses should increase spending for security Ashley says. Sensitive corporate data is highly vulnerable to theft on employee-owned mobile devices. Here are Ashley’s four strategies help desk administrators should implement to protect your company against BYOD-related risks and common IT headaches. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Global, Security Tagged With: , ,