Why IAM Is So Important | 8 Reasons To Get Your Strategy Right

by Madhu Reddiboina | Jan 18, 2023 | IAM

Why Effective Identity & Access Management is So Important: The 8 Reasons Your Organization Needs to Get It Right

In a world of ever growing technologies and compliance laws, getting identity and access management right has never been so important.

Especially for large enterprise companies that have increased cyber threats in line with business growth from both outside and in.

Here are 8 reasons that make an effective IAM strategy so important:

Ensure Correct Access Is Given to the Correct People
Conform to Regulatory Compliance
Reduce Human Error
Streamline IT Workflows
Improve Data Security
Improve Data Confidentiality
Benefit From a Centralized Identity Store
Insider Threats Can Be Detected in Real-Time

1. Ensure Correct Access Is Given to the Correct People

The most crucial role of an IAM strategy is to ensure that the right people have access to the data and systems they need, at the right time.

More importantly, it’s about ensuring that access doesn’t fall into the hands of the wrong people.

All parties, whether employees, customers, vendors, or contractors, should only have access to what is required to do their job or interact with the organization to limit security risks. This should be covered by both the employee IAM policies and your CIAM (customer IAM) policies.

2. Conform to Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory compliance is required by all organizations in all industries. Of course, some industries are subject to greater levels of compliance than others.

Common requirements that need to be met are GDPR and HIPAA. The maintenance of which is heavily supported by your IAM strategy due to putting limitations on, for example, the employees who have access to customer data.

3. Reduce Human Error

An effective IAM strategy removes the requirement for IT teams to manually choose and set privilege or permission settings.

This is a process that can be automated with comprehensive IAM policies that outline which teams and individual work roles are to be allowed access to which systems.

Removing the requirement for manual intervention removes the possibility of any human error caused by IT teams granting the wrong access to employees.

4. Streamline IT Workflows

No longer having to commit time to manually managing access rights to data, the IT team can streamline their workflow significantly, allowing them to prioritize high-value and time-restrictive work.

This, coupled with other automation as part of your comprehensive strategy, such as automated reporting, creates a working environment more conducive to productivity and prioritizing the most pressing tasks.

5. Improve Data Security

Generally speaking, the better grasp an organization has on who is accessing what, the fewer security risks the organization is presented with.

Of course, this is a sweeping generalization, and no organization is completely averse to risk. Yet, increasing control over user access to systems means fewer individuals accessing data that they aren’t required to access, mitigating a lot of potential data breaches.

6. Improve Data Confidentiality

When the term confidential data is used, highly regulated industries like law, financial services, and hospitals often come to mind.

But the concept that data confidentiality isn’t as crucial in less regulated industries couldn’t be further from the truth. With ever-evolving regulatory compliance requirements, confidentiality is applicable to all companies – even down to solopreneur course creators, but particularly for large-scale enterprises. Because every single customer deserves confidence that their data is being handled correctly, no matter who is holding it.

A thorough IAM strategy allows a company to restrict users from seeing certain digital assets that are deemed confidential, reducing the risks of any confidential data breaches.

7. Benefit From a Centralized Identity Store

As an organization grows, so does its landscape of employees, devices, departments, buildings, and even sub-companies.

Having the right IAM systems in place allows for centralized storage of all identities across the company. This includes biometrics, pins, tokens, and more.

Centralized storage of identities allows for automated changes to privilege and permission criteria, as well as provisioning and de-provisioning unique IDs or identities.

8. Insider Threats Can Be Detected in Real-Time

As an organization grows, threats become larger from both inside and outside of the organization.

Cybersecurity programs are tailored to reduce external threats. However, internal threats are a little more challenging to detect when using typical security tools and techniques.

This is where the benefits of a modern IAM strategy come into play. An IAM program that harnesses the power of machine learning can model behaviors happening within an organization – detecting any abnormal behavior and raising an alert to the threat in real-time.

Check out our article on how artificial intelligence is having an impact on cybersecurity for more.

Creating an IAM strategy right through to execution and ongoing maintenance is no easy task.

If you’re looking for an implementation partner to support you in developing or refining the IAM strategy for your organization, visit our IAM solutions page to find out more about how RediMinds can support you.

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Comprehensive Identity and Access Management Strategy

by Madhu Reddiboina | Jan 11, 2023 | IAM

Identity and Access Management Strategy: The Essential Elements To Align Your Strategy With Business Goals

With an ever-growing change in the work environment accelerated by the pandemic and advocated by so many people, now more than ever companies need to focus on adapting and improving their Identity and Access Management (IAM) strategy.

Remote working and a transition to cloud and hybrid servers means ensuring only the right people have access to the right data and systems has never been more important.

What is IAM Strategy?

IAM strategies include the policies, processes, and technologies that are used to manage digital identities and control access to resources.

Secure networks, systems, and data are achieved by regulating who has access to what resources, and under what conditions. Whether that be a simple password or pin code or a more secure multi-factor authentication solution including biometric authentication.

What’s So Important About Getting Your IAM Strategy Right?

The world we now live in of exponentially evolving technologies such as artificial intelligence brings with it a whole host of ever-growing threats of security breaches.

A solid, effective IAM strategy is one of the crucial ways to reduce this risk – by ensuring the right people have access to the right resources at the right time.

This is particularly important in large organizations where there may be hundreds if not thousands of users, teams, and systems that need to be securely managed.

Meaning that, for those organizations, having a well-defined IAM strategy is non-negotiable, not only for the security of their data, employees, and customers, but to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Not to mention the cost implications of having a poor IAM strategy. Simply put, loss of data equals loss of money and reputation.

check out our full article on why identity and access management is important

Let’s dive into how to get it right.

Engage the Right Stakeholders

Before the intricacies of redefining your IAM strategy, it’s imperative to ensure all of the correct stakeholders are involved. Because failing to obtain stakeholder buy-in can lead to the most well-defined IAM programs failing.

This involves an effective communication strategy whereby the CISO sits down with each departmental executive to discuss potential upcoming changes, improvements, and concerns – securing their full support.

By Involving departmental executives from the offset so that they can communicate the strategy down to their direct reports, ensures that the strategy can be implemented throughout the company seamlessly.

That starts with defining whose day-to-day activities are impacted by any new changes, who has visibility of the impact on customers, and of course which team will be responsible for any projects.

This is key information to have at hand before the implementation of a new IAM program as it allows for structured planning, execution, training, and awareness programs.

Identify Your Organization’s IAM Goals and Objectives

Determining what you want to achieve with your IAM strategy ensures that everyone is on the same page when it’s time to implement the strategy.

This includes determining your IAM objectives, such as improving security, increasing productivity, and meeting regulatory requirements.

Your IAM goals and objectives should stem from your overall business objectives and will consider whether the focus of your strategic changes are to improve the workforce IAM, customer IAM, or both.

For more information check out our article on CIAM vs IAM

Assess Your Existing IAM Solutions

With any new business strategy, the key to moving forward is to evaluate where you are currently. A review of current IAM systems, processes, and policies is essential.

This information can then be used to determine any gaps, weaknesses, or opportunities to address, along with any well-performing areas as well.

What Exactly Should Be Covered in Your IAM Strategy?

Now that the preparation for the new IAM strategy has been completed, it’s time to talk about the specific areas to be covered in the IAM strategy.

Identity Verification and Authentication System Requirements

A successful IAM strategy should outline specifically what types of authentication methods are the best fit for the company, implementation or upgrade plans if needed, and for what data and systems it is/will be in place.

For example, a company’s most valuable data perhaps requires a more stringent access system than low-value assets.

Check out our article on the top identity and access management best practices to help identify the right permissions and access controls for your systems.

As part of this review, any investments in new technologies should be outlined.

New or Updated Policies and Procedures

Now that the exact identity verification and authentication methods have been decided, the strategy needs to outline what policies and procedures are required to support any changes.

These will consider how access to systems and resources is granted, revoked, and managed, including the use of access control lists, permissions, and other measures.

Employee Training Requirements

Training programs are essential in the implementation of any new systems or strategies to ensure they’re used correctly and don’t disrupt day-to-day operations.

Hence, a training program should outline clearly the learning modules required and who is required to take the training.

Check out our full article on employee cybersecurity training.

Incident Response Plan

An IAM strategy should cover any protocols for when things don’t go as planned. These protocols should include the processes for responding to and managing security incidents.

The creation of an incident response plan should include the roles and responsibilities of the incident response team along with who is responsible for testing and implementing the plan.

Once the IAM strategy has been implemented, the IAM systems should be continually improved as time goes by and external threats of data breaches increase.

Continuous Improvements

As businesses grow and the landscape of threats advances, the IAM strategy should evolve in line with the increased threats and complexities of daily operations.

Regular Audits

Audits should be conducted regularly to ensure that an organization’s IAM processes are still effective and in compliance with relevant regulations and standards.

Carrying out regular audits gives insights into any gaps in the IAM strategy that can be dealt with.

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are conducted to identify potential security risks and vulnerabilities. This information can be used to develop plans to mitigate those risks by improving the IAM systems.

Creating an IAM strategy right through to execution and ongoing maintenance is no easy task.

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9 Business Functions Being Transformed by Artificial Intelligence

by Madhu Reddiboina | Dec 23, 2022 | ai-enablement, Insights

Artificial Intelligence in Business: 9 Key Functions Being Transformed by AI

The guide to AI technologies that are revolutionizing how we do business, disrupting every industry and impacting almost every business process.

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Content Topics:

What is Artificial Intelligence

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Business

9 Examples of AI Transforming Business Functions

AI trends to look out for in 2023 and beyond

Artificial Intelligence: Choosing the Right Partner

Don’t have time to read it all right now? Download the entire guide to save it for later or share it with your team.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become commonplace in all our lives. In fact, 77% of the devices we use feature a form of AI.

It’s clear that AI is already disrupting almost every industry and impacting almost every business process. It offers huge opportunities for businesses at the forefront of its adoption.

Let’s explore exactly what AI means for businesses and the future trends to watch in this constantly evolving field:

What is Artificial Intelligence
The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Business
8 Examples of AI Transforming Business Functions
AI trends to look out for in 2022 and beyond
Artificial Intelligence – Choosing The Right Partner

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the programming of machines to replicate decision-making that typically requires human intelligence.

The field of AI covers technologies from machine learning and deep learning to computer vision and natural language processing.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is the most widely recognized and understood branch of AI. ML algorithms improve over time to more accurately predict outcomes. For example, Netflix’s recommendations system improves the more shows we watch.

Deep Learning

Deep learning is a type of machine learning that involves training artificial neural networks to perform specific tasks. Tasks include image recognition, natural language processing, and decision-making.

The ‘deep’ in deep learning refers to the neural networks being equipped with many layers, allowing them to learn complex and abstract representations of data.

The specialty of neural networks is that they are designed to mimic the way humans think.

The most common example of deep learning is self-driving cars. The models analyze multiple forms of inputs and make decisions in real-time intended to mirror how a human would react in the same situation.

AI technologies like this, coupled with the right data, analytics, and automation, can expand the capabilities of businesses immensely and help them achieve their strategic goals in ways previously unimaginable.

Types of Artificial Intelligence

AI as we know it today is ‘weak’ or ‘narrow’ AI – designed to perform only a specific task or a group of closely related tasks like Apple’s Siri or personalized social media ads.

These systems are powerful and have a huge impact on how we live and work, but their specialized applications still only have a limited scope.

The AI we often see in sci-fi movies – robots that can outperform humans at any task (think Vision from the Avengers movies) – is ‘strong’ or ‘general’ AI. For the time being this type of AI remains fictional, but is the ultimate goal for many researchers. If achieved, it could see technology quickly outsmarting humans.

“As AI gets probably much smarter than humans, the relative intelligence ratio is probably similar to that between a person and a cat” – Elon Musk

But with no real-life examples of strong AI yet, today’s narrow AI remains an enhancement of our human capabilities rather than a replacement.

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Business

AI was first named in 1956 by John McCarthy. so it has taken some time to reach this critical point for businesses across industries.

75% of executives now fear going out of business within five years if they don’t focus on scaling AI.

With advances in cloud computing and processing power, businesses have access to data like never before. This has thrown the doors wide open for AI technologies that harness the power of that data.

This also opens up the possibility for business leaders to combine digital transformation with AI. This transformation enhances current capabilities and creates completely new capabilities. Companies at the forefront of this are already having an impact on our lives every single day.

3 Examples of AI in Business You Must Know

Amazon

Have you ever wondered how Amazon manages to deliver products to you on the exact same day, often in a matter of hours?

Amazon began its AI evolution by developing its website recommendations engine but soon took it much further. Their entire distribution network now essentially runs on AI.

This means they can recommend products to their customers and use predictive models to shift stock between their warehouses in advance of purchases – all through the power of AI.

Amazon are even making strides with machine learning and natural language processing in healthcare with their Comprehend Medical System.

Tesla

When it comes to companies having success with AI, Tesla of course deserves a mention.

Their self-driving car technology is set to revolutionize safety and comfort on our roads. Not to mention the Tesla Bot, an autonomous humanoid robot, designed to take over all the boring tasks that we humans simply don’t want to do.

Uber

The world’s largest taxi firm takes no chances when it comes to cutting-edge technology – and it has paid off, with 93 million people using the app every month.

They’re using computer vision to more accurately confirm the identity of drivers and improve safety. Machine learning is forecasting demand and ETAs. Not to mention that they also have their own skin in the game when it comes to self-driving vehicles.

Benefits of AI in business

The largest appeal of AI cited by business leaders is the power to automate mundane and repetitive tasks. This allows employees to focus on valuable, strategic tasks that need human input – boosting efficiency and productivity.

Investing in AI can also significantly reduce operational costs in the long run as AI operates at a pace and scale humans can’t.

A further consequence is a reduced margin for error and higher accuracy with less human intervention.

In essence, these benefits serve one overarching purpose – to maintain or improve a company’s competitiveness. AI technologies drive efficiency, accuracy, and the availability of information. The result is more informed decision-making that enhances competitive advantage.

Challenges of AI in business

A large challenge faced by businesses implementing AI into their strategy is data scarcity. The amount of data out there is difficult to comprehend. But it can be difficult for companies to actually get their hands on enough of that data.

For machine learning to work effectively, it requires a large amount of data to train a model to be successful. Generally speaking, the more data the better the results. This raises the question of how a company can best access, store, and process this data to train the models.

Another example is businesses in newly emerging fields – there simply won’t be enough data in existence to harness the full effects of AI yet.

What it means for the workforce

No business survives without the efforts of its employees. So, what does AI implementation mean for them?

Successful implementation of AI doesn’t end with executing the software. User adoption is critical.

Even the most digitally forward companies need a cultural shift as processes and ways of working inevitably change.

That’s why it’s essential that teams understand how important these new technologies are to the success of the business and the benefits to themselves. AI is an augmentation of their capabilities, not a replacement for them.

9 Examples of AI Transforming Business Functions

If your company isn’t using AI-enhanced technologies in some capacity, you’re already behind the curve.

Here are the 8 areas you should consider to focus your AI efforts:

Customer Service
Marketing
Sales
Accounting & Finance
Research & Development
IT Operations
Human Resources
Supply Chain & Manufacturing
Cybersecurity

1. Customer Service

Business is about serving your customers well. So it’s no surprise that customer service is one of the key functions where leaders are adopting AI.

For example, chatbots are offering customers access to 24/7 support. As the fastest-growing method of communicating with customers in 2020, 24.9% of customers used chatbots to communicate with brands.

Aside from communication, businesses are using AI to analyze customer behavior. The results are driving improvements in customer service and the actual products or services they offer.

2. Marketing

Marketers at the forefront of adopting AI tools are using advanced technologies and insights to enhance their marketing efforts. For example, optimizing campaigns through targeted ads on social media and search engines that use metrics like customer browser history to improve targeting.

Marketing teams should also be adopting tools that track marketing insights. AI-driven metrics like click-through and conversion rates help optimize campaigns and assist with customer segmentation.

3. Sales

Arguably sales will remain a human-lead function, especially for high-ticket products and services. Yet, AI technologies can augment the capabilities of sales teams. They provide more accurate sales forecasts, key performance indicator (KPI) tracking, and automated customer follow-up reminders.

4. Accounting & Finance

Finance professionals are reaping the benefits of AI technology to shift their focus from repetitive data entry tasks to strategic, value-adding activities.

This automation reduces errors and considerably frees up their time.

But it also allows for monitoring real-time financial status – something not possible without AI.

5. R&D

Taking advantage of AI for R&D opens doors to analyzing massive amounts of data much more accurately and efficiently.

Deep learning and machine learning can also solve hugely complex problems that we as humans couldn’t overcome.

In turn, this drives more informed decision-making and strategic research.

The result? New opportunities and revenue streams whilst also reducing operating costs.

6. IT Operations

Implementing AI technologies and automation can completely transform IT ops. Often, companies use outdated and inefficient systems that have a huge negative impact on productivity.

How often do you experience IT issues at work?

AIOps (AI for IT operations) leverages the power of AI to manage systems. It’s possible to automate routine maintenance, proactively troubleshoot, and manage system updates.

Adopting these technologies ultimately boosts efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and also cybersecurity.

7. Human Resources

AI automates repetitive, data-driven HR tasks so that professionals can focus on the ‘human’ side of HR – the tasks that add more real value to the function. For example, 24/7 chatbots to respond to common HR queries and improved analytics to track HR KPIs.

Improving the experience of candidates during recruitment, enhancing employee training, and providing greater insights – AI is certainly strengthening the toolkit of HR professionals.

8. Supply Chains & Manufacturing

Supply chains have become substantially harder to manage – most notably due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Resilience and sustainability are more crucial than ever before to navigating challenges.

AI is changing the face of processes from procurement and logistics to manufacturing and warehousing. AI-driven supply chains can improve demand forecasting and materials shortage predictions, and even assist in quality control using computer vision.

This improved monitoring and visibility across the whole supply chain are driving strategic decisions.

9. Cybersecurity

It’s clear that AI is having a significant impact on all business functions and security is no exception to this. Not only does the additional data capture and storage required to use AI technology impact the level of security companies need to protect that data, but AI is augmenting those security capabilities as well.

Machine learning models can be trained to identify security risks in real-time. This ability can be utilized by banks to alert to any abnormal consumer spending, and by enterprises to automatically detect malware and keep track of IT asset inventory.

AI is also being harnessed to automate a lot of mundane tasks, freeing up the time of IT teams for more pressing matters that require their manual intervention.

Check out our full article on artificial intelligence in cybersecurity.

AI Trends to Look Out for in 2023 and Beyond

AI has the potential to increase productivity by up to 40% by 2035.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that digital-first companies are coming out on top in most cases. Now more than ever, companies are expected to double down on their AI-first approach.

50% of employers reported planning to accelerate automation in response to COVID-19.

That number is only set to grow, with a massive 81% of employers expecting to have adopted AI into their businesses by 2025.

Accelerate the digitalization of work processes (e.g. use of digital tools, video conferencing) 84% 84%
Provide more opportunities yo work remotely 83% 83%
Accurate automation tasks 50% 50%
Accelerate the digitalization of upskilling/reskilling (e.g. education technology providers) 42% 42%
Accelerate the digitalization of upskilling/reskilling programmes 35% 35%
Accelerate ongoing organizational transformations (e.g. manufacturing) 34% 34%
Temporarily reassign workers yo different tasks 30% 30%
Temporarily reduce worforce 28% 28%
Permanently reduce worforce 13% 13%
Temporarily increase worforce 5% 5%
No specific measures implemented 4% 4%
Permanently increase worforce 1% 1%

Planned business adaptation in response to COVID-19 – Future of Jobs Survey 2020, WEF

With technologies constantly advancing, what are some of the key emerging trends to look out for?

Chatbots

Already rising in popularity with both businesses and consumers, chatbots are set to continue on their trajectory of growth with further advancements in natural language processing (NLP). By 2024 consumer retail spend via chatbots is expected to reach $142 billion—up from just $2.8 billion in 2019.

ChatGPT

Openai released their ChatGPT service in November 2022 and it has taken the world by storm.

Achieving 1 million users in just 5 days there’s no questioning the ability of the application.

To put that into perspective, it took Instagram 2.5 months to reach 1 million users.

The application is simple: You ask it a question and it presents you with an answer.

ChatGPT and other language models like it have the potential to greatly impact businesses in the future by automating customer service and support tasks, such as answering frequently asked questions and providing information about products and services. They can also be used for tasks such as content generation and data analysis.

Additionally, language models can be integrated into virtual assistants and chatbots, which can improve customer engagement and experiences.

Overall, the use of language models in businesses can help to increase efficiency and reduce costs while also improving the overall customer experience.

Now, what if we told you that the last three paragraphs were written entirely with ChatGPT?

It didn’t produce the most riveting read, but you can see how the application definitely has merits that can be used to aid businesses now, and even more so in the future as it develops further.

The application is also currently being used to help people write code, generate ideas, and summarize lengthy pieces of information.

Here, we asked the application to “write me a piece of javascript code for a simple game. The game is a block character that has to jump over obstacles” – And this response took less than 60 seconds.

AI image generation

Similar to ChatGPT, Openai released an AI image generation tool – Dall-E.

The concept is similar. Users input something they want the tool to design and it generates an image.

For example, we asked it to generate an “image of a dog sitting on a chair in the style of Vincent van Gogh” and it produced these results within 60 seconds:

On the face of it, this seems a little “gimmicky”. However, the potential for businesses to adopt this into their workflows creates a huge potential to improve productivity.

E-commerce companies can use AI-generated images as product images, advertising agencies can use AI-generated images and videos for advertisements, and designers can use it for assistance in their design process.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The use of AI in image generation can also be used to detect fraudulent images that have been manipulated, such as deep fakes.

AI-Driven Quality Assurance

The development of AI-driven quality control and inspection has also gained momentum in recent years. Huge improvements in reliability and accuracy for processes like detecting defective products or parts on assembly lines are driving popularity in the manufacturing industry.

The Metaverse

The metaverse made headlines in 2021 when Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook) announced plans to create it. AI technology is the cornerstone of making this concept a reality – combining VR with the foundations they’ve already laid with the Facebook platform.

Brands who are early adopters are seeing the metaverse as a means of expanding what they do and how they connect with their customers – building deeper and more personalized relationships.

Not only that, that metaverse is set to augment communication within companies and the experience of employees as well. Businesses may be able to hold immersive virtual events using avatars and connect remote employees in virtual meeting rooms, using VR to immerse users by mixing digital and physical world experiences.

Undoubtedly, this news is just the beginning of a huge shift in the way businesses connect with their workforce and audiences. A change that is completely underpinned by AI technology.

Artificial Intelligence – Choosing The Right Partner

AI is here to stay. Using it to your advantage will be the only way to maintain competitiveness in any industry.

That’s why at RediMinds we combine our expertise in digital engineering and AI to help our clients harness the power of AI and access new insights that drive their businesses forward.

Visit our AI Enablement Solutions page to find out more or talk to one of our experts to start your AI journey.

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and Adapt?

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Digital Transformation – 5 Key Benefits and Trends in 2023

by Madhu Reddiboina | Dec 23, 2022 | digital-engineering, Insights

Why Are Businesses Experiencing a Digital Transformation v1

Why Are Businesses Experiencing a Digital Transformation: 5 Key Benefits and Trends to Look Out for in 2023

The guide to why data-driven digital transformations are the only way for businesses to stay relevant and competitive today.

By submitting your details, you are subscribing to our marketing communications. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Content Topics:

What is Digital Business Transformation?

The Importance of Digital Transformation in Business

Why Businesses Need to Embrace Digital Transformation Today

What Digital Transformation Means for Businesses – 5 Key Benefits

Digital Transformation Trends to Look Out for in 2023 and Beyond

Key Elements of a Successful Digital Transformation Strategy

Digital Transformation – Choosing the Right Partner

Don’t have time to read it all right now? Download the entire guide to save it for later or share it with your team.

Only 11% of executives believe that their business models will be economically viable through 2023. So it’s no surprise that 64% agree that they need to build new digital business models to change that.

There’s no doubt that data-driven digital transformations are the key to making this possible.

So, let’s explore exactly what digital business transformation means and some of the biggest trends that are revolutionizing how we do business in every industry:

What is Digital Business Transformation?
The Importance of Digital Transformation in Business
Why Businesses Need to Embrace Digital Transformation Today
What Digital Transformation Means for Businesses – 5 Key Benefits
Digital Transformation Trends to Look Out for in 2022 and Beyond
Key Elements of a Successful Digital Transformation Strategy
Digital Transformation – Choosing the Right Partner

What is Digital Business Transformation?

Digital Transformation is a fundamental shift to a sustainable, digital-based business model that enhances the capabilities of a business. The transformation can create new revenue opportunities and impact how the company delivered value to its customers.

Delivering a strong end-to-end customer journey is crucial to success for any business. Hence, optimizing the customer experience is a core driver of digital transformation.

Digitization, Digitalization, and Digital Transformation

Whilst digitization and digitalization are often mistakenly used interchangeably, they’re very different processes at different stages on the digital journey of a business.

Digitization is the process of making analog data digital. This optimizes internal processes by improving workflows and efficiency. Digitalization takes this a step further by leveraging digital technologies and data to further improve existing processes and reduce operational costs.

Digital transformation refers to the use of this digitalization to create a fundamental shift in the culture and business model of a company. This not only improves current processes but generates new ones.

Digital transformation takes on a different form in every organization to include initiatives such as:

Retraining and upskilling employees
Integrating technologies like artificial intelligence to automate certain processes
IT upgrades such as cloud computing
Technology that improves the customer experience online or in physical stores
Shifting to a remote work environment

The Importance of Digital Transformation in Business

Time and again new competitors have succeeded in outperforming incumbent firms by embracing digital transformations that gave them the competitive edge. Embracing their own digital transformation is the best way for existing companies to maintain their position in their respective markets.

In fact, 51% of executives view differentiating themselves from competitors as their core reason for pursuing their digital strategy.

McKinsey, 2021

Examples of 3 Companies That Just Got it Right

Starbucks

Starbucks has successfully used data-driven strategies to become the 3rd largest restaurant chain in the world. The most notable of these strategies is the implementation of their Deep Brew AI-based tool that predicts the best new store locations, and potential revenue growth from those locations.

They also drive personalization and menu innovation through their loyalty programs, as well as data-driven in-store improvements like upgrading their machines to speed up service time. All of these initiatives are part of their customer-focused digital transformation strategy that has driven huge business growth over recent years.

Disney

Disney’s digital transformation has occurred across many verticals of the business. Seeing an opportunity in the online streaming market, Disney launched Disney+ in November 2019. The platform has since amassed 118 million subscribers in 2 years.

They have also introduced new technologies in their theme parks to improve the physical experience of their visitors. Streamlined cashless payments in parks and personalized itineraries are both parts of their ongoing digital strategy. Whilst a partnership with Snapchat has also led to the launch of exclusive augmented reality ‘lenses’ for park visitors.

Burberry

In the case of Burberry, their transformation allowed them to reach new markets and reimagine their brand image.

At the core was a focused marketing strategy on millennials through social media and digital advertising. They also enhanced the in-store customer experience by retraining staff to use new technologies. Whilst also connecting their employees with a new internal chat platform.

Why Businesses Need to Embrace Digital Transformation Today

The rate at which new technologies are appearing on the market has increased dramatically in recent years. Progress in fields such as AI, robotics, and big data offers huge opportunities for digital innovation.

99% of organizations report actively investing in big data and AI in some way.

Embracing digital transformation is crucial for organizations to remain agile, innovative, and competitive.

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Accelerated Digital Transformation

The COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst for digital transformation across every industry.

Many organizations were already on a digitalization path pre-pandemic. But now, the necessary rapid adoption of new technologies has accelerated digital transformation by several years.

67% of companies in 2020 reported speeding up their digital transformation strategy in response to the pandemic.

Businesses had to adopt a digital approach to connecting with their workforce and customers. Platforms such as Teams and Zoom allowed colleagues to connect in virtual meetings. Customer service moved online for the most part.

Even as employees return to work, many companies are adopting a hybrid of office and home working. So, the digital infrastructure that facilitates this is now crucial to maintaining this new model.

With many changes to ways of working here to stay, this acceleration in digital investment is set to remain in the coming years.

What Digital Transformation Means for Businesses – 5 Key Benefits

Improved Customer Experience
Access to Live Analytics Data
Collaboration Between Departments
Increased Efficiency and Productivity
Improved Innovation and Resilience to Rapid Change

Improved Customer Experience

Nowadays, consumers often base their opinion of a company on their customer service and the quality of digital interactions.

Revenues for businesses that prioritize customer service are reported to rise 4-8% above their market average.

So it’s no surprise that a customer-centric digital strategy can bring about huge returns. With data-driven decisions creating smarter sales interactions and more personalized service.

The result is a more loyal customer base with a greater lifetime value.

Access to Live Analytics Data

Effectively making ongoing process and product improvements can only arise from access to relevant data.

Live analytics drive informed strategic decision-making in multiple business functions from marketing and sales to manufacturing and quality control. For example, targeted marketing campaigns rely on digital technologies to process and segment customer data.

Collaboration Between Departments

Powerful digital transformation strategies focus on creating a digital ecosystem that standardizes data sharing across the organization. This breaks down data silos and fosters a culture of cross-functional collaboration.

The resulting knowledge sharing between teams leads to improved capabilities and satisfaction for employees in the workplace.

Increased Efficiency and Productivity

Process automation, either digital or robotic, significantly improves efficiency. Not only are tasks executed faster by limiting manual intervention but errors are minimized, workflows become more streamlined, and operational costs decrease.

In fact, 78% of business leaders agree that automation improves productivity for everyone involved.

This productivity boost means employees are free to focus on more fulfilling and value-adding tasks and create opportunities for new functionalities as well.

Improved Innovation and Resilience to Rapid Change

Digital innovation is the foundation of maintaining competitiveness, being responsive to rapid change, and creating new revenue streams in the process.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example of this. Although many executives already recognized the importance of this resilience pre-pandemic, its value has become even more evident.

Digital Transformation Trends to Look Out for in 2023 and Beyond

Digital transformation is inevitable across all industries. Whether that be through existing market leaders acknowledging that digital-focused business models are their most sustainable method of growth, or by newcomers disrupting the market.

Here are 5 key trends that are gaining traction and we expect will be at the forefront of transformation objectives over the coming years:

A Shift to Online Business Models
Building Resilient Supply Chains
Adoption of Cloud Services
Artificial Intelligence and Automation
Society 5.0

A Shift to Online Business Models

Since 2020 in particular, sustainable online business models have become more crucial than ever.

We saw department stores all over the world closing throughout 2021 – for example, Sears and Kmart in the US both closed their doors. An inability for such business models to combat the reduction of in-person shopping during the pandemic led to massive losses and inevitable store closures.

For those businesses that have adapted, a cross-industry shift to digitized products and services has accelerated by several years across the world.

McKinsey, 2020

This shift to digital-focused revenue streams is only set to continue into 2023 and beyond.

Building Resilient Supply Chains

Following the significant supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic, companies are doubling down on investments in digital infrastructure to help future proof their supply chains.

Efficiency and cost-effectiveness were at the center of supply chain strategies. However, companies are now recognizing that resilience to supply chain disruption and reducing operational risk are key factors that were being missed.

Many companies are digitally transforming their supply chains to streamline processes, better understand customer demand and support every aspect of the process.

Adoption of Cloud Services

Although not a new concept by any means, the market has seen massive growth in recent years – valued at $380 billion in 2021 with an expected $1,614 billion evaluation by 2030.

Increasing expectations for employers to provide flexible remote working capabilities has put an emphasis on cloud technology that supports this. Solutions that offer these remote working capabilities and the cyber security required to enable it securely are becoming essential for businesses across industries.

Artificial Intelligence and Automation

Artificial intelligence is becoming integral to digital transformations and new use cases for AI will continue to expand as companies realize the power it can hold for automation and problem-solving at scale.

Society 5.0

Society 5.0 is focused on integrating the physical and digital space through digital innovation that balances economic advancement and resolving societal problems. This Japanese initiative aims to fully embed advanced technologies into every corner of society, bringing about a digital transformation across their whole economy.

Although still in relatively early stages, this concept is a trend to watch over the coming years.

Key Elements of a Successful Digital Transformation Strategy

70% of transformations fail, not due to a lack of technology but due to strategies that don’t account for all of the factors.

So what are the other key elements to a successful digital transformation?

A Well Defined Digital Strategy and End Goals

Digital initiatives without clear direction and end goals are a guaranteed way to waste time and resources. A well-defined digital strategy will minimize risks and drive the direction of the initiatives.

Yet, only 30% of businesses have a well-articulated data strategy for their company.

To fully realize digital transformations, a whole company strategic approach needs to be taken into account for the requirements of, and impacts on, every aspect of the business.

But the strategy doesn’t end upon execution.

For continuous improvement and optimization, the strategy must include ongoing measures of success beyond the implementation phase.

Digital Infrastructure

Implementing the right tools and technologies is of course crucial to a successful digital transformation.

Often the main focus in any digital transformation, building integrated systems that remove data silos and increase flexibility is the foundation of executing the strategy successfully.

Upfront investment in the right infrastructure results in long-run cost benefits and greater ROI on digital initiatives.

Customer Service and Engagement

At the center of any company initiative or investment should ultimately be the goal to better meet customer needs. Customer data should not be ignored, but used in context to sculpt digital initiatives. This approach better drives the purpose and direction of strategies.

Company Culture

Transformation success ultimately depends on employee adoption and cooperation.

Culture is identified by 92% of leading companies as the biggest hurdle to becoming data-driven organizations.

The necessary cultural shift should be woven into every element of the implementation strategy. From educating employees on the benefits of the new approach, to providing thorough training for those whose duties are impacted, employee adoption is a core factor in any transformation.

Undoubtedly, an approach that takes into account the whole company ecosystem, as well as an awareness of upcoming trends, is ultimately the most effective way of ensuring success and resilience in this constantly changing business environment.

Digital Transformation – Choosing The Right Partner

Further disruptive changes are inevitable across all industries as a digital-first economy becomes the new normal. As the ideation and adoption of new technologies accelerates, established companies and newcomers alike must be on board in order to maintain sustainable, long-term growth.

That’s why at RediMinds, we combine our knowledge of digital engineering and artificial intelligence to design data-driven innovative solutions for our clients.

Visit our digital engineering solutions page to find out more or talk to one of our experts to start your transformation journey.

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Employee Cybersecurity Training: How to Protect Your Company

by Madhu Reddiboina | Dec 21, 2022 | IAM

Employee Cybersecurity Training: Essential Tips for Protecting Your Company

Cybersecurity training is non-negotiable for any company, period.

Even with all the advancements in technology to defend against cybercriminals, it’s employees who are the first line of defense in protecting company data.

Technology can only go so far and cannot yet prevent human error. It’s always a person that clicks that link, opens that phishing email or downloads corrupted software.

This article will go over how to effectively implement cybersecurity training for your employees and the non-negotiables that should be included in your training plan.

How to Implement the Training

As with any training, it doesn’t matter how valuable the syllabus content is if it’s not delivered correctly. Without the right delivery in place, it won’t be taken on board and implemented effectively.

The fundamental goal of cybersecurity training is to make sure that all employees have a clear understanding of the importance of cybersecurity and the role they personally play in protecting their organization’s sensitive information.

Here’s exactly how to do that.

Implement Training From Day One: Cybercriminals Won’t Wait So Why Should You?

Here’s the thing, cybercriminals aren’t going to wait until your employees have been with the company for a few weeks before they target them.

So, why would you put any delay on starting their cybersecurity training?

Cybersecurity awareness should be implemented from day one, or at the very minimum before employees are granted access to software, valuable information, or emails.

Not to mention, new employees are the most vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches as they’re not familiar with their colleagues, customers, or suppliers yet. This means they’re not in a position yet to make an educated judgment as to what’s deemed normal or suspicious.

Make It Mandatory for All: You’re Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link

If there’s one thing that cybercriminals are good at, it’s exploiting weaknesses in a network.

This means that not including someone in the training because they only use their emails twice a month creates an exploitable weakness in the system. Nobody should be exempt from the training.

This is all about creating a culture that encourages everyone to take responsibility and not leave the responsibility solely on the IT team. This message should be woven throughout the training to all employees.

Regular Drills: Evaluate the Effectiveness of Your Organization’s Cybersecurity Training Program

Just like your scheduled fire evacuation drills, every company should have simulated cyber attack drills.

This is a Red Team-style test that requires individuals to play the role of an attacker by attempting to find, target, and exploit any cybersecurity weaknesses they find.

Phishing attacks are commonly used to scope how a company would hold up against a real cyber attack. These results can be used to

Evaluate how the company performed as a whole
Identify any particular employees or departments who performed badly
Track performance over time by comparing historic and current results
Steer the focus of future cybersecurity training

Basing new cybersecurity training on real-life data and events that employees have recently experienced is a great way to highlight the reality and severity of cyber threats, again reiterating the responsibility that every person in the organization must take for their cybersecurity.

Regular Training Sessions: Keep Employees Informed About the Latest Threats and Best Practices

Cybersecurity training is no one-and-done task. It should be ongoing and fluid with current trends, new procedures, and recent cybersecurity drills.

A simple monthly email just isn’t going to cut it for two reasons. One, it’ll likely get lost in the 100’s of emails that most employees receive every day.

And two, an email doesn’t portray the severity of the topic in question, it signals something that someone has thrown together quickly and sent to all.

Regular training should stand out to enforce the importance of the topic. For example, if a c-suite executive is allocating their time every month to training sessions and advocating for cybersecurity awareness, this signals to employees the severity of the topic versus a reminder email to be vigilant.

Make It Relatable: We Better Understand What We Can Relate To

If your cybersecurity training isn’t relatable, the importance of preventing data breaches just won’t sink in.

So how do you make it relatable?

There are two ways:

Make it personal
Follow current trends.

To make it personal, simply talk about protecting the individual’s personal computer or home network as well as protecting the company’s data.

Doing so makes employees more prone to pay attention and implement the best practices being taught as it’s in their best interest to protect their own safety and the safety of their family at home, rather than sole focus on the company’s systems and data.

Following recent trends also helps to keep training relatable, improve information retention, and the ultimate outcome of training sessions.

This can be achieved by talking about current events that have made it to the news – for example, the latest crypto or phishing scams, making the conversation relevant and relatable.

It gives the conversation context.

Create Clear Policies and Procedures: Drop the High-Level Tech Jargon

Policies and procedures should be clear, understandable, and accessible – no high-level technicalities that only the IT team can understand and not buried so deeply in the company records that only the IT team can find them.

These are the guidelines that people need to follow in their day-to-day activities or look to in the event of a security breach. They need to be understandable by all employees and accessible in an instant.

Accessible policies and guidelines at a minimum should be created for

Email
Web browsing
Using mobile devices
Handling of sensitive information
Accessing company systems when out of office

As with training, your policies should be fluid and evolve with the company and changing cybersecurity risks, which means a regular review is essential.

Policy and guideline amendments can be triggered for a number of reasons. Results from simulated security attacks, general improvements to the company’s identity and access management strategy, or a rapid change in ways of working – for example working from home during a pandemic.

No matter what induced the updates, it’s vital that the amendments are followed up with the necessary education on the new way of doing things, with a structured module added to employee training plans.

Employee training is just one area to improve your cybersecurity. Be sure to go check out our article on enterprise cybersecurity best practices for more areas to focus on.

What Training to Implement

Now we’ve covered some best practices to implement cybersecurity training within an organization, let’s go over some essentials for those training modules.

Security Updates

Outdated software can leave your business vulnerable to malware, viruses, and other security threats. Hackers take advantage of vulnerabilities created when devices are left out of date.

The importance of taking responsibility and keeping devices, software, and applications up to date should be expressed. Cybersecurity isn’t just for the IT team to take care of, it’s a culture that needs to be adopted, which means no waiting for IT to update individual workstations, employees should be doing this themselves.

Employees should be encouraged to take ownership of their cybersecurity in their day-to-day actions.

Strong Passwords

All it takes is one weak password to leave the door open for cybercriminals to gain access to company-wide data, including client and customer data.

80% of data breaches are linked to weak passwords which means it’s imperative to instill the importance of setting strong passwords in the workplace.

We have an entire article on password best practices that talks in detail about these eight factors:

Use long passwords: The longer the better
Never use personal information: No names, birthdays, or names of pets
Swap letters with punctuation: Keep passwords safe even if they’re verbally breached
Make deliberate spelling mistakes: Improve defenses against brute force attacks
Keep passwords secure: Writing them down on paper is a big no-no
Use unique passwords for different accounts: A breach to one account doesn’t mean a breach to all accounts
Use a password manager: To help keep a record of all different passwords and accounts
Use MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) where possible: Make unwanted access even more secure than just using a singular password

Using Public Wi-Fi Networks

With the new age of remote working upon us, it’s vital that employees are trained on the security risks of using public networks.

More and more employees are often working on the road, in cafes, restaurants, and hotels. Education on the risks of public Wi-Fi networks needs to be addressed with adequate training.

Public Wi-Fi networks are often unsecured, giving cybercriminals the opportunity to position themselves between the user and the connection point. Effectively giving criminals access to every mouse click, keystroke and webpage a user accesses.

Having explicit training on accessing sensitive information whilst on a public network is essential. While facilitating the use of a VPN that encrypts data for any remote workers should also be a strong consideration, particularly in companies handling sensitive information.

Secure Home Networks

As with accessing public networks, training should be implemented for employees using their home networks to demonstrate best practices for improving network security.

Home network improvements include:

Plugging computers directly into a router, rather than the modem
Updating the default router password to a stronger one
Changing the name of the network – if criminals know the manufacturer of the router, they may know the vulnerabilities
Using a VPN
Ensuring router firmware is up to date

Phishing Scam Awareness

Phishing is the act of someone pretending to be a reputable business or individual to either directly coerce a user into revealing valuable information like their credit card details and passwords or plant malicious software on the user’s infrastructure.

Training on the different types of phishing scams, the risks of falling victim to phishing scams, and how to identify phishing scams are critical to any cybersecurity training.

Protecting Devices With a Lock Screen Password

This section of training seems like a bit of a no-brainer but all too often employees leave their desks with their computer screens unlocked, allowing anyone in the room to access their computers.

Lock screens expand further than just work computers and laptops, it includes the use of other work devices such as mobile phones and tablets.

If employees have information or company emails on their work or personal mobile phones, it should be mandatory for them to have a secure pin that locks their devices and training needs to reflect why this is so important.

A policy of ensuring your devices are locked at all times when not in use can be seen as rudimentary, but is a critical part of cybersecurity.

As with setting strong passwords, pins should be strong. No 1234, 1111, 0000, birthdays, or wedding anniversaries, and touchID or faceID is recommended whenever it’s available.

Social Engineering Tactics

Social engineering is the use of psychological manipulation to coerce the victim into giving up sensitive information or taking actions that compromise their security and the security of their company network.

Attackers may use a variety of tactics in an attempt to trick people, including posing as a trustworthy person or organization, creating a sense of urgency, exploiting emotions, or using personal information found online to gain the victim’s trust.

Training on social engineering should bring light to the importance of what is shared on social media by asking “Can this piece of social media content be used against me?”.

Ensuring that privacy settings are reviewed regularly is another best practice to cover in this area.

By bringing awareness to the common signs of social engineering such as emails from untrusted sources, offers that appear too good to be true, and if something in an email just doesn’t feel right, it empowers employees to think carefully before they act on any requests for information or action.

For more cybersecurity best practices, check out our 9 essential identity and access management tips.