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Magical Journeys Towards Digital Retail

Over the past decade, the retail landscape has experienced eroding margins, the growth of e-commerce, declining visits to malls, the success of low-cost retailers, and changing consumer behavior/needs. As if that was not enough, the COVID-19 pandemic is still in full development. While many once-leading retailers have disappeared and more brands are in peril, often already since before the pandemic, others have managed to survive, and some even continued to thrive.

 

What drives innovation in retail today

Retailers need to understand that what drove the retail sector in the past differs from what drives it today. For John Brahim (CEO & AI Business Architect at Maistering BV), innovation in the global retail sector is partially AI-driven, highly virtual, and experiential. The pandemic fuels the fire, and strategic choices are imposing themselves much faster than expected. The real challenge to digital retail innovation is making good choices that are executable at the right speed.

 

Tips for managing innovation and resulting change

Change begets innovation and vice versa. Consumers now shop more mindfully and cost-consciously for local, sustainable, and high-value brands. They also consider their health, safety, and financial status often before making purchases. It is vital to take note of these trend changes to innovate effectively. Subsequently, Brahim understands that leaders can better manage growth and innovation through the following methods:

  1. Adopt and prioritize a “digital-first” approach to retail.
  2. Identify a portfolio of digital journeys from a mid-term perspective.
  3. Embrace new principles to orchestrate those journeys.
 

Fostering innovation through leadership

Innovation comes from everywhere. Leaders must possess the ability to tap into current digital trends and understand how the COVID-19 pandemic influences them.

They must also understand the changing consumer behavior in a digital world, having strong convictions on purpose, authenticity, value proposition, and business models.

A handful of global platforms dominate the world; thus, a retail leader must feel the digital consumers’ pulse to lead the race in digital innovation.

 

New digital technological roles in leadership innovation

To innovate in the digital world, one must practice a digital way of working. Get handsy with mobile technologies, conversational AI, and next-gen collaboration. Brahim states that leaders need to embrace digital technologies themselves and re-think management as they formerly knew it. Partly because it is hard to modernize businesses if one is old-fashioned and because the speed of digital innovation is murderous, requiring an acceleration in decision-making & execution.

Innovative leaders have many parallel-running business journeys. Each journey with a different impact and objective. Such leaders have to keep in mind local sensitivities and maintain constant contact with their teams. The game aims to gather insights and materialize propositions that lead to higher customer delight and profitability.

Maistering BV understood this and created the unique platform Master Collections. It addresses this topic by providing leaders the ability to run magical business journeys with essence, beauty, and impact in a way that classical retail systems simply cannot.

 

Customers, partners, and other stakeholders roles in innovation

Innovation today has become a collaborative, instantaneous, and solution-driven process. It is about undertaking experimental journeys with customers and partners in joyful, swift, rich, and impactful ways.

“Business leaders must be on their toes – listen to customers across all channels, understand their local and global buying choices, respect safety concerns in stores, and provides a seamless omnichannel digital experience.”
– John Brahim

Retailers and suppliers must engage in multiple collaborative journeys to reduce costs and enhance the experience. Both stakeholders must also learn how to speed up collaborative innovation.

 

What established leaders can learn from new innovative leadership

The retail sector in the post-COVID-19 world will undoubtedly find itself with an accelerated shift from bricks to clicks. There will be surges in AI implementation from demand forecast to supply optimization and cognitive digital consumer experiences.

Established retail leaders must adopt two things from digital leaders. The acceptance that software eats the world and the unconditional willingness to speed things up. The Holy Grail for established retail leaders is to undertake collaborative business journeys that combine speed, sophistication, and common sense feasibility. Established retail leaders still have unparalleled strengths in the latter.

 

Future trends in innovation

Although we continue to witness unprecedented change and innovation today, the real revolution is still to come. Brahim postulates that artificial intelligence (AI) will completely change the connection between consumers, retailers, producers, and the product portfolio itself. Soon we will see a whole new world of contactless collaboration, conversational interfaces, cognitive abilities, machine learning, and adapting algorithms, predictive software, applied robotics, and next-best suggestions reaching the consumer in a myriad of ways.

Business leaders will learn how to adopt AI technologies to solve new problems, create new ways of working, orchestrate magical journeys, and master their retail leadership art. As digital retail transformation accelerates worldwide, consumers’ expectations at each stage of the customer journey – be it prepurchase research or browsing, the shopping experience itself, or post-purchase experience sharing – are changing.

The adoption of breakthrough technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain will help brands and retailers address these changing consumer expectations in a timely and effective manner, thereby deepening customer engagement.

Master Collections, as a new category platform, offers leaders the perfect toolset to engage in digital journeys and naturally fosters the synergies with C-Suite peers and others who require guidance and empowerment as we master digital retail.

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5G in Europe: Deployment & Practical Uses

During the first half of the year 2020, we witnessed an unparalleled, accelerated evolution to mass home-working, living, and leisure during the pandemic. This has uncovered the significance and critical aspects of our network infrastructures. Some of these changes in behavior and working are likely to persist or re-emerge in the years to come.

 

Increased bandwidth demands combined with the fluctuating geography of mobile usage and longer peak hours, highlight the need for innate investment in telecom infrastructure, and a regulatory framework that encourages this.

 

 

The European Round Table for Industry (ERT) recently released an Assessment paper on 5G technology roll-out in Europe. The ERT summarized that Europe and some of the largest individual nations are well behind global competitors in deploying 5G technology.

 

However, the European Union is taking steps towards redressing the situation as it moves to full 5G coverage in the near future. A very possible endeavor seeing as two out of the top three global companies, Ericsson and Nokia are also European companies, that continue to lead the global 5G rollout race.

 

First Steps Towards Practical Uses of 5G

Irrespective of whether the business is a start-up, a corporation, or an LLC, 5G networks will reimagine business as we know it.

Manufacturing optimizations

In Sweden, Atlas Copco Industrial Technique recently installed a private 5G network in the integration lab to bring operational efficiencies and cost savings to the manufacturing process. training & skills acquisition

 

This is one of the first 5G implementations for industrial purposes in the world and one used to develop 5G ready industrial tool solutions for customers worldwide.

 

2018 also saw telecommunication giants Nokia and Telia Company AB conduct what is being described as the first “real-world” industrial applications of 5G manufacturing.

Both companies leveraged the ultra-low latency, high-bandwidth capabilities of 5G to support time-critical applications, enhancing production and efficiency in a manufacturing environment.

 

 

As the demand for manufacturing optimizations increases, join in the discussion about smart and lean production advancements in modern industrial organizations at our 600Minutes virtual events, IndustryForum on Smart Machinery and Services (Finland), Smart Manufacturing, and the Executive Club Manufacturing in Sweden.

 

Retail

Amazon Go

Amazon Go is a recent example of a retail outlet with the potential to transition seamlessly to a staff-less experience. Amazon utilizes dozens of sensors to provide real-time inventory visibility and update pricing according to demand. It is a similar technology to those used in self-driving cars to automatically detect when products are taken from or returned to the shelves, keeping track of the products in a virtual cart. Once completed, shoppers can simply walk out of the store with the products. The system then charges their Amazon account and issues a receipt.

 

In essence, improved connectivity empowers retailers to monitor customer behavior more closely and make educated decisions to better engage shoppers, increase sales, and reduce operating costs.

 

Join our virtual events for the chance to exchange thoughts and ideas with fellow business leaders on the future of retail: The 6th Annual European Strategy Forum (The Netherlands), IndustryForum Retail (Germany), and the Executive Club Retail in Sweden.

 

Smart Homes and Cities

Steelcase partnered with Ericsson to create the next generation office environment using 5G and IoT – Steelcase WorkLife Center. Smart City

Together, they are testing new use cases for the workplace that will allow team members to collaborate more efficiently and effectively. Employees will be able to create smarter, connected solutions, for example, ones that can serve as an interconnected layer to support digital wayfinding, asset location, and room scheduling

 

This web of connectivity will enable maintenance of the infrastructure and manufacturing systems, as well as robust flow control, adjustment, and fine-tuning of operating parameters to respond to real-time fluctuations in the environment and processes, as they occur.

 

The demand for urbanization continues to grow in vast cities. Meet other industry leaders and join the discussion on the smart and sustainable development of our future cities at Smart Cities & Sustainable Societies and Smart Buildings & Facilities in Sweden.

 

Healthcare

During the 5G Healthcare Vodafone Conference & Experience Day in Milan, remote surgery operation was carried out for the first time in Italy over a 5G network in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the IRCSS Hospital San Raffaele.
Professor Matteo Trimarchi performed the procedure from the Vodafone Village on a synthetic larynx model at the San Raffaele hospital, at the opposite side of the city.

 

The Government of Catalonia, SEM, Vodafone, i2CAT, IECISA, and 5G Barcelona are working together to develop advanced communication tools for 5G connected ambulances, highlighting how 5G networks affect critical areas such as healthcare.

 

Connected ambulances are already being used to receive specialized remote real-time HD video support while carrying a patient, and ambulances will soon also gain Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2i) capabilities to ensure they have access to clearer roads on the way to the hospital.

 

Explore the latest innovations and solutions that are aimed at improving health outcomes for patients and communities in the digital age at the IndustryForum Healthcare (The Netherlands) and the IndustryForum Hospital Healthcare (Germany).

 

 

Connected Transportation

The future of transportation is accelerated. New business models, limitless consumer experiences, and financial opportunities in the industry appear almost daily.Smart City

 

According to Intel, connected cars will save 250 Million commuting hours and increase productivity gains by US$507 Billion by 2030. The transportation industry also stands to gain over US$6 Trillion from pilotless vehicles, autonomous business fleets, and ride-hailing services.

 

Ericsson and Telia in partnership with Einride are developing an Autonomous Electric Transportation (AET) solution for next-gen driverless vehicles. AET is an example of how 5G facilitates all-electric road freight transportation with the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 90%, and eliminate harmful NOx emissions and ultrafine soot particles.

 

Conclusion

Businesses stand to benefit significantly from the increased speeds, reliability, and power provided by 5G infrastructure. New and existing technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Cities, Big Data, Autonomous Vehicles, Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) can reach new heights.

5G networks will undoubtedly enhance the speeds at which data is transferred from point to point, directly transforming how businesses work and operate to become more resilient and competitive. With increased productivity, companies will experience increased revenue and significantly boost the EU economy.

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Mind The Talent Gap: Bridging The IT Shortage

IT talent shortage is a top barrier for many industries as the business world advances steadily into the digital era.

Analytics Insights reported these global skill gaps:

  • Artificial Intelligence – 66%
  • Cyber Security – 64%
  • Internet of Things – 62%
  • AR / VR – 61%
  • Robotics – 60%
  • Big Data – 58%

In fact, Gartner’s survey discovered that global talent shortage is now the top emerging risk for organizations while 75% of enterprises are anticipating skills gaps in key IT roles post-outbreak.

What’s even more concerning is Korn Ferry Institute’s finding, which estimated a worldwide deficit of 4.3 million tech-skilled workers by 2030.

 

THE SHORTAGE PROBLEM

 

Although companies are aware of the importance of tech talents in the ever-changing digital landscape, recruiting much-needed IT professionals to close the talent gap is not an easy task.

Major reasons behind the digital skills shortage include:

 

  • Lack Of ICT Graduates

 

Representatives of the tech and education sectors believed there is a disconnect between tech employers and universities on the digital talent wanted by the industry, leading to ‘skills mismatch and unemployable graduates’.

One of the dilemmas is the speed of technology. The world is either churning out new inventions or updating existing technologies to the point that institutes are unable to keep up. Even when the universities are aligned with industry needs, 95% of the curriculums take roughly two years to change.

 

  • Shallow Pool Of Talent

 

With the demand for different skillsets, employers of today are not just wrestling with one digital talent gap but “hundreds of discrete shortages and surpluses”.

However, tech giants, such as Apple, Microsoft and Google, attract more than the fair share of available talent worldwide, and companies without the resources of the economic powerhouses are left at a disadvantage.

 

  • Outdated Workforce (& C-Level) Skills

 

Although the rapid progress of technology enables improved business efficiency, it also means that employee skillsets become obsolete quicker.

4 out of 10 workers fear they’ll lose their job within 5 years due to outdated skills while the World Economic Forum conveyed that “54% of all employees will require significant reskilling by 2022”. However, many don’t realize that the digital gap extends to the C-suites as well.

The MIT Sloan Management Review reported that upper-level executives are out of touch with the digital savviness required for these highly technological times, highlighting that less than 15% of surveyed executives believed their leaders have the right mindset and skills to lead in the digital economy.

 

BUILDING THE BRIDGE

 

The challenges of finding talents and upskilling workers while keeping pace with the speed of innovation seem like a herculean task. Thus, functions, from HR to the C-levels, must work closely with one another to discern and acquire the digital skills vital for a successful digitalized company.

 

  • Talent Management Strategies

 

Hiring is the top action companies across the regions take to solve IT shortage, followed by retraining and building skills, but many firms are ‘flying data blind’ in regards to the talents they require for their digital transformation.

 

SKILL GAP ANALYSIS

 

Conducting an IT skill gap analysis, such as the steps recommended by The Predictive Index or the template by Capterra, helps to pinpoint missing digital talents and crucial technical knowledge among employees in the company.

Once a clear plan on the necessary skills has been established, hiring managers will fully understand what talents to find and the required proficiency levels. But just that is not enough as organizations should continuously invest in talent acquisition capabilities, and nurture the talent pipeline to enable quicker business transformation.

 

DEPLOYING & UPSKILLING

 

Effective talent deployment is another method for minimizing the tech talent shortage. Companies should optimize their existing workforce by taking inventory of available digital talent, and deploying those with tech skills to essential key roles while training them to further advance their competencies.

On upskilling, organizations can organize peer mentoring or coaching sessions, where team members with digital tech skills are able to help hone the desired talents in other employees. It should be noted that mentoring may take considerable time before the skills are adequately learnt and applied, but is one of the least costly ways to upskill the workforce.

 

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT (L&D)

 

Research found that 83% of workers global-wide want their leaders to provide opportunities to learn new skills whereas more than two-thirds wish their companies would increase the budget for digital skills development. These findings indicate that workers feel their employers are not doing enough to drive the talent growth of the staff.

Enterprises should ensure that their internal training anticipates upcoming shifts in technology, and be aware of the skills needed to meet digital transformation across the board. For instance, Adobe conducts its own skills-growth training for employees, offering intense machine learning training programs to both technical and non-technical staff.

 

  • New Sources Of Talents

 

As mentioned earlier, it’s a global race to attract the best tech talents. In an increasingly shallow pool of talent with industry sharks swiping top IT professionals, firms must seek other sources of talents to progress their digital transformation.

 

MINORITY TALENT GROUPS

 

Salesforce’s President, Miguel Milano, wrote that businesses should tap into underutilized seas of talents, such as minority groups and those without college education. Howard Elias, President of Services and Digital at Dell Technologies, corroborated with Milano’s statement, stating that Dell seeks to hire those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech, which include women, people with autism, and other groups largely excluded from the industry.


 

“Diversifying teams does more than solve a shortage of workers, it also makes good business sense,” Elias mentioned, citing McKinsey’s recent study that discovered companies with higher gender and ethnic diversities are more likely to record better financial returns. 

 

VARYING EXPERIENCE LEVELS

 

The Wall Street Journal, on the other hand, revealed how older IT professionals are being passed over by employers for much younger talents, despite the shortage of IT workers. The reasons behind the choice range from lack of skills in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to the cost of compensation packages. 

However, the Executive Vice President of Robert Half, John Reed, believed that, “hiring managers can’t afford to overlook any potential talent pool” as companies will lose the advantage of having a team with varying experience levels to tackle different tech issues.

 

GIG ECONOMY

 

Another talent source is the gig economy. The emergence of the gig economy, or contract work, has significantly changed the traditional work dynamics, being dubbed as the ‘future of work’.

Reworked, a digital publication, commented that skills such as AI, natural language processing (NLP) and data engineering would be best filled by gig workers as “organizations are realizing they only need access to this skilled work for a limited time.”

 

START FROM THE TOP

 

Although companies should focus on training their workforce, the C-suites themselves must ensure that their digital skills are up-to-date. At the same time, CEOs and other C-level partners are encouraged to be actively involved in the development of corporate learning. 

 

  • Chief Learning Officer (CLO)

 

Most organizations have an L&D department tasked with driving effective corporate learning. Oftentimes, though, the training programs either lack analytical data on determining the agenda or lack the adaptive advantage of innovating according to market conditions.

This is why it’s vital for CEOs to make learning a C-suite priority by designating a Chief Learning Officer (CLO) to head the L&D function. Industry giants such as General Electric and Merck, for instance, appoint CLOs to oversee the ‘corporate learnscape’, utilizing data, science and other relevant learning in the workflow.

 

  • C-Suite Upskilling

 

Upskilling shouldn’t be limited to employees. Top executives should also scrutinize their C-suite tech skills inventory, and seek to improve their knowledge and experience in high technologies for greater chances of successful growth.

With the digital revolution strongly underway, the C-levels must have an intimate understanding of digital innovations and how they impact the organizations. Unfortunately, not all leaders comprehend technologies, as seen in the case of cloud transformation, which can cause misaligned goals and stalled projects.

 

  • Change of C-Level Mindset

 

Change is ever consistent, and leaders who are unwilling to embrace the technology-driven future of business risk falling behind their competitors, especially in the current time of remote working and digital business.

According to Management Events’ Executive Trend Survey, respondents stated that lack of experimentation and organizational support are top internal challenges when adopting new technologies in their companies, showing that some leaders are deeply rooted in the ‘legacy mindset’.

Before analyzing and closing the skills gap among the workforce, C-suites must ask themselves, “Are they equipped with the digital abilities and mindset to tackle the demands of the new economy?”

 

IN CONCLUSION

 

Many leaders may be ill-prepared to manage the tech skills gap, but that is why the whole executive team must come together to tackle the IT talent gap in today’s digital world – from HR leaders morphing into digital change agents able to drive talent strategies to respective C-levels analyzing missing skills and developing an integrated learning ecosystem.

There’s no single solution to address the digital skills shortage, and organizations may need a mix of approaches to close the gap. But whatever the case, businesses must start now to rectify the shortage of IT professionals and prepare actions for future talent disruptions.

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Silver Peak & Zscaler: Making SASE Work for You

As part of their digital transformation strategy, many enterprises are actively migrating applications to public cloud infrastructure and Software-as-a-Service offerings. Enterprise IT objectives and expected benefits of cloud migration include:

  • Increased agility
  • Higher application performance and availability
  • Improved application accessibility for users
  • Reduced data center footprint
  • Lower costs

Unfortunately, the transformational promise of the cloud often falls short of meeting these expectations.

Why? Because traffic patterns have changed.

They have changed not only due to the migration of apps to the cloud, but also in response to today’s “work-from-anywhere” world. Users now access applications from anywhere, from any device and across diverse WAN transports, including residential broadband.

IT has quickly come to realize that making incremental investments in their legacy routers and firewalls didn’t yield the desired outcomes. Traffic bound for the internet was still backhauled to the corporate data center, adding unnecessary latency and negatively impacting application performance.

What’s required is a complete transformation of the wide area network, and this transformation has fueled the biggest evolution of the WAN in two decades: the software-defined wide area network, or SD-WAN.

The combination of workers accessing business applications from home and remote locations (e.g. airports, coffee shops), along with the explosive growth of IoT devices is rendering the traditional enterprise security perimeter ineffective. Today’s cloud-first enterprise must arm workers with a security service solution that follows them wherever they go.

As we’ve already seen, continuing to use a hub-and-spoke architecture, backhauling internet-bound traffic to the data center for advanced security inspection, results in a sub-optimal user experience. What’s needed is a complete transformation of security infrastructure, and this has driven the rapid adoption of modern cloud-delivered security services.

WAN Transformation + Security Transformation = Digital Transformation

Only by transforming both the WAN edge and security architectures can the full promise of the cloud be fully realized.

In a report published by Gartner in November 2019, they proposed a new model called the secure access services edge – SASE for short. The model describes the integration of core WAN edge capabilities such as SD-WAN, routing and WAN optimization at the branch locations with a comprehensive array of cloud-delivered security services such as secure web gateway (SWG), firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS), cloud access security broker (CASB), zero trust network access (ZTNA) and more.

A key design principal of SASE is the transformation from complex hardware-laden branches to thin branches with cloud-native security services. The promises of the SASE model are many:

  • Improved user experience by delivering better application performance by breaking out cloud traffic locally over the internet from the branch
  • Operational efficiency by simplifying branch WAN infrastructure and through centralized orchestration of application, network and security policies
  • Reduced risk with consistent, always-up-to date, business-driven security policy enforcement
  • Increased business agility by significantly reducing the time to bring new sites and applications online or to update application and security policies

But simply adopting just any SD-WAN solution and cloud security offering is not enough to maximize the return on cloud investments described earlier.

While those individual solutions might deliver on the app performance/availability and accessibility promises and enable the shrinking of the data center, that approach falls short of delivering increased business agility and lower costs. And it won’t address consistent security policy enforcement across all users, locations and devices to mitigate risk to the enterprise.

What’s needed is fully automated orchestration of the WAN edge network functions and cloud-delivered security services. This is a 1 + 1 = 3 benefit for IT and the enterprise.

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600Minutes Executive IT: How IT Leaders Develop Agility In Times Of Crisis

The recent 600Minutes Executive IT held by Management Events revealed in-depth insights from over 300 top-level IT executives and solution providers from leading organizations in Sweden. 

In group discussions during the virtual event, CIOs across the industries lent their thoughts and opinions on leading in the virtual landscape and through times of crisis.


 

Virtual Leadership

As known the world over, the coronavirus outbreak has brought unprecedented circumstances to the business world, from urgent business continuity planning to lengthy operational disruptions.

As C-suites sought to keep their business operations running, remote working was widely established throughout organizations. But for many IT leaders, managing and leading a remote workforce is a novel experience, and they are faced with different levels of difficulties.

 

Obstacles and Challenges

There were multiple concerns expressed by the event attendees during the group discussions.

One IT executive mentioned that it’s a challenge to keep track of how employees are doing while another stated that it’s harder to pick up on what’s going on when they, as the leader, are working away from the team. Yet another participant expressed worry on the flow of information not reaching the teams.

But among the many hurdles, face-to-face communication and socialization seem to be the most worrying aspects of remote work. Participants were concerned on how to keep the teams together when they’re no longer physically meeting or interacting with each other.

This is especially the case for new hires, whereby organizations need to ensure proper onboarding of the employees and help in building relationships with the current teams. As an IT leader aptly explained, “Now, we are riding on the current company culture from the physical office, but for new hires, there’s a challenge to transfer the silent knowledge and culture that ‘sits in the walls’.”

Stagnancy is another worrying issue among leading IT directors and C-levels as teams don’t share as many ideas or brainstorm as much as before.

As one IT leader commented, “New ideas get lost as most meetings are within the same function. It’s important to keep in contact with decision makers in other functions in order to develop new ideas.”

Other worries and issues presented during the discussions were:

  • Investing more 1-to-1 time for the same output;
  • Difficulty in following up with their teams and getting concrete actions;
  • Lack of boundaries between work and non-work, resulting in potential burnout;
  • Struggles in starting new projects; and
  • Micromanagement.
 

Positive Outlook and Solutions

Even though there are concerns with coordinating a remote workforce, a number of participants are positive that working offsite, or telecommuting, can bring good results. As one attendee stated, “[Remote work] should not be seen as a cost, but an opportunity.”


 

For instance, a decision maker participating in the group discussions claimed that due to the outbreak and subsequent remote working situation, there’s now a stronger focus on innovation, which can help companies to discover business opportunities that were once neglected.

Others corroborated with his statement, saying that the coronavirus inadvertently led to the organization gaining momentum in digitalization, and they should use the ‘new normal’ as a chance to initiate strategic changes.

One example given is the use of iPads for the company’s operators for communication and training purposes, which in the past would have taken a very long time. Others mentioned how their organization now works more digitally and has increased efficiency in some areas, and how people are more innovative without so many contradictions.

 

As an IT director said, “Productivity increases during periods where we are forced to be more innovative.”

 

Additionally, it was a general agreement among the IT leaders that working remotely led to more efficient online meetings as staff seems more prepared, with specific agendas and smooth subsequent information flow and discussions.

Even though a number of attendees voiced out the challenges they’re facing in creating a successful digitalized workforce, they also suggested solutions to overcome the hurdles.

Some of the solutions for effective and progressive remote workforce management given by the participants include:

  • Developing policies and reinforcing them;
  • Raising morale through interactive and non-work-related activities, such as music quizzes;
  • Connecting more often with peers, teams and others from the company to gain different perspectives;
  • Having more dialogues with the workforce on handling the crisis and other work issues; and
  • Scheduling fun meetings and engaging sessions, such as a virtual coffee break, to replace physical socializing.

However, given the pros and cons of working remotely, quite a few of the top executives are looking to develop a hybrid solution of working from home and office.

 

Towards A Hybrid Landscape

“Remotely, productivity remains the same, or is even better, But for some cooperation and creative process work, there’s a need for physical meetings.”


“Virtual hiring is possible. However, physical meetup is still needed to hand over computers and phones, and to provide basic training on how to perform the job.”

 

The above statements are just a few comments from IT leaders who believe in having the best of both offsite and onsite worlds, and were discussing how to maximize value and efficacy in a hybrid office landscape.

Aside from providing possible solutions to the difficulties of building team relations and maintaining the innovation and development arenas, the hybrid solution also addresses the issue of trust.

As a participant mentioned, “If you don’t see your teammates and staff every day, more trust is required,” while another explained that, “In the past, it wasn’t part of leadership to ensure that their groups do their jobs from home.”

An IT executive in the discussion suggested a day or two per week working from home with the rest of the days in the office. Such a solution not only provides the flexibility for employees needing time to take care of family and personal business, but also answers the needs for department heads to have their teams for certain face-to-face tasks.

“A flexible workforce can lead to higher productivity,” a participant asserted.

 

Moving Forward

 As a top IT executive observed, “People react differently to the changing environment and working conditions.” However, overall, it seems that employees, and even customers, have adapted to the ‘new normal’ relatively fast, and companies are witnessing faster digital transformation and innovation than before.

Perhaps it’s true what a decision maker from the IT function said during the discussion – “We need more crises to develop further.”

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Internet of Things: Imperfectly Smart Devices

internet of things

Smart technology or IoT continues to shape both consumer and industrial domains. Achievable through the convergence of multiple technologies, which include machine learning, real-time analytics, commodity sensors, and embedded systems. Companies who miss an opportunity and or fail to innovate alongside IoT face the genuine possibility of being overtaken and fail over time.

 

IoT’s most significant trend in recent years is the explosive increase in connected devices, controllable over the internet. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global IoT market size stood at $250.72 billion in 2019. Projections indicate this number will reach $1.46319 trillion by 2027, exhibiting a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 24.9% during this forecast period. 2020 saw a rise in the following components of the IoT model; Networks and Communication, Sensors, Data Analytics (Cloud), and Applications, with different degrees of impact.

 

IoT brings a lot of benefits and new opportunities to businesses all over the world. Environmental sensors, machine learning capabilities, and artificial intelligence platforms provide various operational services for organizations across different industries. Although there are fundamental characteristics shared by most devices, the wide range of applications for IoT technology also means that the particulars can be entirely dissimilar from one device to the next.

 

Due to the large amount and variety of connected devices, IoT continues to implant itself deeper in our lives and society, making it another prime target for cyber-attacks. According to the IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2020, Financial services remain the topmost attacked industry, closely followed by the Retail sector. Ransomware and Magecart attacks were the most prominent attacks observed against retail and impacted at least 80 reported e-commerce websites in the summer of 2019 alone. Operational Technology (OT) targeting also increased by 2000% from 2018, with more attacks on Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and OT infrastructure than in the past three years.

Operational-Technology-Attack-Trends-2020-IBM-X-Force-Threat-Intelligence-Index-Report-1

Cyber-attacks are not new to IoT; the most common breaches are spyware, malware, and human errors. The latter is critical due to the increase in phishing tactics through email. Attackers have been impersonating consumer tech brands with tempting links to trick users into clicking malicious links. Consumer Technology giants such as Google & YouTube (60%), Apple (15%), and Amazon (12%), made up the bulk of targeted spoofed domains, where attackers hit due to the monetizable data they hold.

 

An innocuous IoT device should not be run unsecured. Therefore, both users and manufacturers need to accentuate and take cyber defense seriously. Thus, resulting in the real need to systematically understand the threats and attacks on IoT infrastructure to secure IoT devices against attackers. This article attempts to identify threat types, analyze, and describe intruders and attacks facing IoT devices and services.

 

Brute-forcing and Poor Passwords

IoT devices often require passwords for users to access and or control the device. According to Cybernews, the most common passwords worldwide are “123456”, “123456789”, “qwerty”, and the word “password” itself.  Weak passwords place your most sensitive information at risk and are similar to not using any password in the first place.

Weak Passwords

Manufacturers typically provide IoT devices with preset login credentials, making setup easier and consumer-friendly. These preset credentials are often openly available from a single web search and easily broken during brute-force attacks. Thus, IT administrators must replace the preset login credentials with significantly stronger credentials. The recommended way to go about this is to create quality passwords unique to the organization or the device and utilizing password managers.

An additional step would be to enable or implement two-factor authentication (2FA). Doing this instantly increases the security level by creating an additional lock that an attacker is less likely to access.

 

Improper Data Transfer and Management

IoT devices make automated decisions and carry out actions without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Thus, it is vital to the integrity of IoT applications that the source(s), data being fed, and produced are protected and verifiable at both ends. To achieve this, data must be encrypted from creation to consumption. However, this typically requires a higher level of encryption, cryptology, and intelligence than is easily achievable by the conventional one-way Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption.

 

Furthermore, dynamic keys should be employed that ensure each data payload is encrypted with single-use keys that are not stored on the device itself or shared over the network, particularly over an insecure network.

 

Insecure Network

IoT devices require an active network connection to allow endpoints to communicate with each other over the internet. As a result, one of the initial and simplest attack methods a malicious attacker can deploy is to seek out weaknesses in running network services and the network communication model of connected devices.
training & skills acquisition
Attackers attempt to manipulate several vulnerabilities to obtain login credentials, communication tokens, and other identifiers that the Service Ecosystem uses to identify various endpoints. It is crucial to secure endpoints with industry best practices to protect data integrity, privacy, and Man-In-The-Middle attacks (MITM). One method involves encrypting device authentication data at the data-level paired to the public key. Consequently, any captured data should remain unreadable without the equivalent private key.

 

Unsecure Update Process

Firmware and other software patches are often required to be pushed out to IoT devices to prevent them from being compromised or left in a vulnerable state. Organizations have to upload these updates securely to each endpoint as soon as they are made available. Failure to secure access to the update, verify the sources, and integrity can have physical consequences, resulting in data loss and corrode brand reputation, introducing legal liability.

 

Even if vulnerabilities and loopholes are identified, not all IoT devices can be updated securely, and this may be due to the following reasons.

  • Wrongful or no firmware validation.
  • Updates are delivered in plain text or without encryption.
  • No anti-rollback measures
  • Users are not notified of available updates. This is a fairly common occurrence.

 

Implementing anti-rollback update mechanisms can prevent attackers from downgrading a device to an older software version with a known security vulnerability that the attacker can exploit.

 

Inadequate Privacy Protection

IoT devices, by design, collect and store a significant amount of users’ personal information. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers implement strong privacy or data management and protection policies. Those that do tend to begin by encrypting and implementing various layers of distinct checks and balances, providing data security between endpoints. When these security and privacy protection models are absent, improperly installed, or set up, glaring issues crop up.

 

One such example of improperly set privacy controls by the manufacturer was the TRENDnet Webcam Hack. TRENDnet marketed their SecurView cameras for various uses ranging from home security to baby monitoring and claimed they were secure, the FTC said.
Data Protection=However, they had faulty software that let anyone who obtained a camera’s IP address look through it — and sometimes listen as well. Thus for at least two years (2010 – 2012), the SecurView webcams allowed the transmission of user login credentials in clear, readable text over the internet! It did not just end there. Even their proprietary mobile app for the cameras stored users’ login credentials in clear, readable text, right on their mobile devices allowing anyone who obtained a camera’s IP address to look and sometimes listen through it as well.

 

Insecure Ecosystem Interfaces

The IoT ecosystem comprises all the components that allow consumers, governments, and businesses to network between their IoT devices. Some of these include networks, data storage, remotes, security, dashboards, and data analytics. Interfaces like a backend API that devices use to connect to a larger network ecosystem can also be compromised. A significant security concern to network operators and manufacturers is 5G network technology, which is expected to shoulder the connectivity load of IoT devices.

 

IoT devices, when integrated with centralized management platforms and legacy systems, are at high risk of being compromised by users who unknowingly introduce security vulnerabilities at the application layer. When such interfaces are compromised, it is often due to the previously mentioned reasons and improper traffic filtering.

 

Conclusion

Should an IoT vendor build its device or devices with insecure software libraries or other elements that are from an insecure source, then the device(s) will logically be insecure. Other means include using third-party software and hardware from a compromised supply chain or the insecure customization of Operating System (OS) platforms.

 

Manufacturers must comprehend that as more IoT ecosystems are being built, it is equally imperative to build security in, right from the very start. From sourcing components to firmware writing, initial installs, and throughout a device’s lifecycle. Thus, as more and more IoT connected devices come online, these and other yet undiscovered vulnerabilities need to take center stage.

 

Alongside poor management practices, targeted malware, and weak IoT architecture, IoT devices and technology can also be exploited through hard to detect zero-day vulnerabilities. Attackers continue to modify their malicious code to obfuscate better and spread within networks faster. Some of the better practices that should be applied to IoT technology include not over connecting your systems, not trusting a compromised device, particularly if it was compromised locally, and for vendors, frequently subjecting your code and hardware to third-party penetration testing (Black & White Box variants).

Consumer vs Enterprise IoT Attacks

In the future, a significant feature of IoT devices will be the ability to rapidly modify device configurations through remote tools and deliver innovative applications and capabilities. Additionally, all control updates, and packages, will include increased security and encryption to block attacks while driving more automated deployments.

 

The goal remains to enable a user at a local site with little to no background or understanding of IoT and IoT edge devices to connect a power cord, network cable(s), and walk away. Allowing the device to carry out self-provisioning and authentication automatically. Likewise, should a need to move the device occur, it can self-provision itself to its new location’s conditions and obligations.

 

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The Challenges of Data Governance in EU: Two Years Into GDPR

On 25th May of 2018, the now-renowned General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was fully implemented across the countries in the European Union (EU).

Superseding the 1995 Data Protection Directive, the GDPR addresses the processing, protection and portability of personal data within the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA).

 

How does the GDPR impact businesses?

 

Not only does the framework provide more control to individuals over the use and collection of their personal data, it also streamlines data regulations for businesses that are operating in the EU or offering their services to clients located in the EU.

Core dna best explains which companies are affected by the GDPR in the diagram below.


 

Through the 7 principles of the GDPR – lawfulness, fairness and transparency, purpose limitation, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, and accountability, organizations are expected to control and process data, whether consumer or company information, in compliance with the regulations.

To clarify, businesses collecting customer data must document and have evidence of consent for every purpose the data will be used for.

 

“[The] generic consent or opt-out consent does not comply with GDPR. […] For example, if someone opts into email marketing, you cannot use this consent to send them a letter or call them or their company.”

– GDPR for Business: What is GDPR and How Does it Impact You?

Digital Media Stream

 

What data does the GDPR cover?

 

The GDPR protects any private data that identifies a data subject (the customer), ranging from basic identity information and race or ethnicity to biometric data and political opinions. However, data that is irreversibly anonymous and unidentifiable is not considered as personal data and therefore, is not covered by the GDPR.

Thus far, the length of time a business is expected to store the data has not been firmly established, with the GDPR stating that the information should not be kept longer than necessary or required. In this case, organizations need to determine how long to keep the data based on either the national law or the purpose of the data collection and processing.

 

“Think about what is the purpose you want to achieve, and how long you will need the collected data to fulfill that purpose.”

– How Long Should You Keep Personal Data?

Data Privacy Manager

 

The only information that can be kept for longer retention periods are data used “for archiving purposes in the public interest, and for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes.”

 

Who handles the data?

 

According to the GDPR’s Recital 39, the data controller, an individual or company that controls the processing and purpose of data, is responsible for ensuring that the personal data are not kept longer than necessary, and for establishing time limits for data erasure or periodic review.

There is also the data processor, usually a third-party person or organization, that processes the data on behalf of the data controller, which can include implementing security measures to safeguard the data. The controller must ensure that the assigned processor has sufficient guarantees “to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures” in compliance with the regulation.

Based on the GDPR, the regulation requires companies to assign a Data Protection Officer (DPO) if they store or process data on a large scale or if they are a public authority or body. Either internally or externally appointed, the DPO’s responsibilities include:

 

  • Informing and advising the company and employees on compliance requirements;
  • Awareness-raising and training of staff involved with data processing;
  • Monitor compliance and conduct related audits; and
  • Cooperating and acting as contact point with supervisory authority on issues relating to data processing.

 

What challenges are businesses facing in being GDPR-compliant?

 

Although companies are expected to be GDPR-compliant by May 2018, according to research, only 20% have completed their GDPR implementations as of July 2018. More than 2 years later, 27% still have yet to start on GDPR compliance while 60% of tech companies are also not prepared for GDPR.

Many organizations faced, and are still facing, difficulties in their journey to become GDPR-compliant. From changing the way they handle customers’ data to tackling challenges in data retention and deletion, some businesses believe that the regulation limits their ability to operate efficiently or run a profitable company.

 

  • Lack Of Readiness

 

Complacency, lack of understanding, competing laws, unfamiliarity with data processes and usage – these are some of the reasons behind organizations’ lagging or partial compliance with the GDPR. 

Research also stated last-minute data identification and other preparations in the final months before the deadline as another possible reason for the lack of readiness.

For most businesses, both big and small, it has been no simple feat to juggle the different aspects of being GDPR-compliant, from consolidating the data gathered over the years, training employees in data management, and hiring the different required roles, including talents in GDPR program design and implementation.

It’s even more difficult for international companies that need to comply with differing data privacy laws. And more often than not, all the complexities have led businesses to hiring individuals or companies to specifically handle compliance.

 

“My concern is that in the rush to be ready for the GDPR before 2018, and indeed since, many companies have engaged with individuals or organizations which haven’t given them proper advice with regards to their requirements.”

– Brian Honan, CEO of BH Consulting,

GDPR: The First Two Years and Future Challenges

 

In fact, according to TrustArc, 87% of companies needed help with GDPR and used external firms to understand the regulations, to gain tools and tech for automation and operationalization of data privacy, and new policy and process creation.

 

Solution tip: Break the regulations and processes into manageable tasks. Conduct a risk assessment to identify compliance and data security gaps, and establish a formal data governance program to map the type of data collected, its purpose, usage and storage, and how it’s shared.

 

  • Control of External Parties

 

Based on the GDPR, all third-parties that are accessing or will access the data of the controller, including vendors, partners and external data processors, must be in compliance with the regulations.

As Ian Evans, the Managing Director for EMEA at OneTrust, aptly put it, “You now have the obligation to ensure that the people you contract with – and who undertake processing on your behalf – are also going to represent you and your views on privacy as well.”

So how should companies maintain data governance and control arrangements of third-parties?

All contracts with third-parties should be revised to define the data processes, including:

 

  • How information is used, managed and protected;
  • How breaches are reported;
  • What are the customers’ rights;
  • Acting only as per documented instructions;
  • Agreement to not contract a sub-processor without prior approval; and
  • Returning or deleting all data at the end of the contract.

 

Not only do businesses need to ensure that the external firms follow through on the privacy commitments, they’re also required to know their vendors’ privacy policies and ascertain that they have appropriate security measures in line with data protection compliance.

It should be noted that a data breach occurring at a third party or caused by a vendor is a shared responsibility between the parties – the processor must notify the data controller of the breach, and the controller, in turn, is expected to report the incident to a GDPR regulator within 72 hours.

Furthermore, the controller is responsible for informing the data subjects, or customers, of the breach, where the DPO will act as the point of contact between the controller, the regulatory office and the customers.

 

According to Soha Systems, 63% of all data breaches can be linked directly or indirectly to third parties. Additionally, only 37% of controllers believe that they will be notified by the vendor if there was a breach of data.

 

However, less than 20% of companies feel confident in being able to report a breach within the stipulated time while it was discovered that only 45% of EU companies made an effort to report such incidents.

 

Solution tip: To avoid the heavy costs of a vendor data breach, it’s best to have a solid vendor risk management program with strong technology and clear policies and procedures. Detailed audit records and processes also help to catch any issues before they escalate into a breach.

 

  • Data Deletion and Minimization

 

According to Symantec’s State of European Privacy Report in 2016, 90% of organizations believe that deleting customer data will be a challenge for them in regards to GDPR compliance while 60% said they are not equipped with an existing system to delete the data.

As the GDPR dictates businesses from holding unnecessary data and storing data for long periods, companies were determining what data to keep and the data retention period. Since the regulation also provides data subjects the right to data erasure, organizations also need to find the best solutions for permanently removing personal data.

The issue is that some companies may not know where their data is stored within the organization, thus making it difficult to locate and delete the data. There’s also the problem of backups, so how are organizations expected to erase personal data that is “often scattered across multiple applications, locations, storage devices, and backups”?

 

 

Aside from data deletion, data anonymization and pseudonymization are data minimization techniques that are used by businesses to comply with the regulations.

Data that has been anonymized disables the data subjects from being identified, and is excluded from the GDPR regulation as it’s no longer considered as personal data.

On the other hand, data pseudonymization “replaces personal identifiers with non-identifying references or keys”, preventing the identification of the data subject without the key. But data processed using this method is still regulated under the GDPR as the data subject can be re-identified through additional information.

While companies are using these methods to protect their data assets, organizations must ensure that they still comply with the data purpose limitation in Article 5 of the GDPR.

 

Solution tip: Implement automated data discovery software or machine learning technologies that are able to keep track of all the data in the organization’s databases, data lakes and legacy systems. Carefully review if anonymized data is possible for the company’s data use before implementing any anonymization solution or automated erasure software.

 

  • Data Security

 

The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to organizations, one of them being the rise of data breaches as remote working continues to be the norm for companies. In fact, the months between March and June 2020 recorded more than 470 data breaches, pushing CIOs, CISOs and other C-suites to strengthen their cyber security strategies.

Breaches not only indicate a lack of data security, whether on the controller or processor’s part, but can also lead to hefty GDPR fines of up to €20 million, or 4% of the company’s total global turnover.

Reputation damage and loss of customer confidence are other consequences of such incidents, which can be hard to rectify even after containing the breach, seeing as “57% of consumers don’t trust brands to use their data responsibly”.

From low employee awareness of cyber threats and lax online behavior to unsecured endpoints and external access, there are many security gaps that hackers can utilize to gain access to a company’s data. 

 

“Data security does not equal data privacy, but it is an integral part in achieving it.”

– Paige Bartley, Senior Research Analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence,

Expert Interview: Paige Bartley on Data Privacy

 

CIOs are already focusing on maintaining system security while employee training is a topmost priority for 92% of C-suites, according to our findings.

 

Solution tip: Update policies regarding the access and handling of data when managing it externally, and increase training of employees on the new policies, online safety and rising cyber threats. Limit data access to only authorized personnel, and implement systems to detect illegal access.

 

How should companies stay GDPR-compliant?

 

Executive leadership is vital in ensuring the organization remains compliant with the regulations.

While data compliance and cyber security may be in the realm of the CDOs, CISOs and CIOs, all stakeholders that collect and use customer data should be involved – from marketing and sales to finance and operations – along with the assigned DPO.

Clear and detailed procedures must be established and periodically reviewed to ascertain that the processes continue to adhere to the GDPR. This not only includes the handling and use of the data, but also in answering the requests of data subjects exercising their rights.

Furthermore, organizations should demonstrate accountability and transparency in all processing activities, which extend to keeping records of risks and compliance progress, maintaining a strong data protection and breach response plan, and ensuring the continued compliance of external parties.

Although companies might lament over the obstacles and concerns of being GDPR-compliant, studies showed that among the businesses that have implemented their compliance processes, 74% of organizations say the GDPR has a beneficial impact on consumer trust while 73% believe the regulation has actually boosted their data security.

Overall, the GDPR is showing a positive effect on businesses, especially for companies that show they value the privacy of their customers.

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Online B2B Sales: How To Sell Better In The New Norm

The COVID-19 crisis brought unprecedented changes to the business world. And sales leaders in particular have to navigate paradigm shifts as companies move to preserve cash flow and reduce spending.

So how can you as a sales professional successfully close online B2B sales in this ‘new normal’? What are the best practices to sell remotely amid the pandemic?

Management Events checked with our sales managers across Europe for business-to-business (B2B) sales tips and advice on adapting to virtual selling and developing online strategies for better prospect engagement.


How has COVID-19 impacted your sales process?

Different sales managers have their own B2B sales techniques and routines, but all of them are in agreement that the outbreak has changed how they communicate with prospects and existing clients.

Knott: My sales process was not impacted because I have always been working over the phone or using video conferencing tools. But COVID-19 has, of course, affected the way of approaching and reaching the customers.

Werring: Our sales processes are definitely different from before. Generally, we see that we would need more meetings to close the deal, and the sales cycle takes longer than usual. Also, our concept in the Netherlands is based on face-to-face meetings, which is not possible for the meantime, so we had to change the way we sell – 100% virtual.

Komulainen also agreed with Werring’s statement on the longer sales cycle, noting that sales reps have to re-look at their communication strategy.

Komulainen: The base of my sales process has always been to find out the goals and ambitions of my customers. Then, together with the customer, we discuss whether cooperation with Management Events helps them reach their goals. Now, due to COVID-19, many companies have shifted their goals from growth to survival, and are a bit hesitant on new commitments. Hence, the sales cycles are longer and require more patience and understanding of the customer’s situation.

How have you adapted your sales approach to the current times?

The social and economic constraints of the pandemic are causing salesforces to quickly evolve their B2B sales approach to engage clients. And for Komulainen, although he understands that businesses are hesitant to spend at this time, “on the other hand, you have to be very assertive.”

Komulainen: Clients are very unsure, and they have every right to be. Some of them need a bit of extra convincing and help to make decisions. I try to find out whether clients are already looking to the future and trying to adapt to this new situation or if they are simply waiting for this storm to pass. For the ones that are trying to move forward, we can be of massive help.

Werring and Knott’s sales approaches also adapted to the current situation, leveraging on empathy and improved personal selling.

Werring: There are more meetings involved, and more empathic conversations about safety and family. I first try to understand how the client is doing personally, then understand how the company is doing, and the business in general. If all is good, then I will try to sell.

Knott: I have always been really personal with clients, but due to home office situations, my personal selling has increased even more.

Sales professionals who engage in personal selling focus more on helping clients to solve problems and find solutions for their pain points. In these times more than ever, prospects need to feel that you have their best interest in mind, and are not just looking to make a sale.

Knowing and addressing customer concerns give you the opportunity to diffuse any worries they may have, and a higher chance of them making a purchase decision.

Some companies are drastically impacted by the outbreak.

What is your strategy when contacting them about our services?

Knott: You have to approach them on a really personal level, and understand both their private and professional situations. See if and how we can still support them and offer our service.

Werring: You need to first show them compassion, and understand how they are affected business-wise and personally. Then you move towards helping them to improve and grow again, and how you and your company can assist them with that.

Komulainen: First, it’s key to find out just how they were impacted, where their focus is, and what their goals are, if they are at all hopeful about their future. We need to emphasize our key value driver – for us, it’s the quality of our events and business networking. We are still bringing in top delegates from the top companies in our market. If their services are relevant to the delegates at this moment or in the future, we offer a smooth path to direct discussions with these decision makers.

What are some of the biggest pros and cons of selling virtually?

While some sales reps have had difficulties in transitioning to remote selling, others took the change in stride. From a boost in productivity to interactive online presentations, virtual selling has become an important B2B sales skill.

Knott: The government may not allow physical meetups, but selling virtually has higher efficiency and simpler internationalization.

Werring: When conducting remote sales, you become much more efficient time-wise, as there is no need for traveling. Also, it’s easier to share your screen to show information, data and more with the clients.

Komulainen: Meeting virtually is much more efficient and structured. It’s so important to keep your camera on in order to keep your customer engaged. Also, you have different tools to share and visualize content. Some people like to draw, some show videos. You have so many options to choose from.

However, as with every sales strategy, there are both advantages and disadvantages of virtual B2B selling. And the essence of in-person meeting seems to be the most missed aspect of the new era of sales.

Knott: The core-competence of physical face-to-face meetings is gone, and there are no chances for extended networking and mingling, such as lunch or dinner, and talks by the coffee machine.

Komulainen: I miss being out, having a casual talk with a client in the lobby or while getting coffee. Meeting face-to-face is more personal and casual, you know. 

Werring: There is no real connection, making it hard to fully ‘feel’ somebody, and customers tend to get bored faster. There are also technical issues, like the camera not always working and such.

Objections are part and parcel of sales, and many businesses are using COVID-19 as their reason against spending on a service.

How do you handle this particular sales objection?

Komulainen: Goals and ambitions – that’s the key, in my opinion. If a company wants to achieve growth or build relationships during this trying time, today is always the best time to start.

Werring: In our concept, we always need to show a clear ROI and of course, in that sense, the costs precede the benefits. You need to make the client understand that, even in hard times, it’s not wrong to do the RIGHT investment!

Knott: First of all, dig deeper! What’s the objection: company regulations, budget cuts, staff cuts, and why? Even with the outbreak, life and business go on, and companies still need leads.

Instead of viewing it as the end of a lead, you should think of a sales objection as an opportunity to learn more about your client’s needs and a new way to effectively show the value of your product or service.

Werring:  Make the client realize that their workforce will be at home for the foreseeable future. And to keep them stimulated, an event works great, even though it’s virtual.

Komulainen: It’s not so much an objection towards us or other service providers, but more to their own business and self-belief. If we want to truly help them, we have to find out where the real problem lies. If the problem is lack of money coming in, or in other words, sales, we can help them same as always.

How do you think B2B customers are responding to online selling and virtual conferences?

Werring:  Great! Online sales definitely works, as we do most of our business remotely now. Virtual conferences also work – but they are generally less fun. However, to get connections and continue with developments and growth, they are definitely effective.

Komulainen: The initial shock has passed in most industries. The problem with virtual conferences is that there are so many of them. It seems that every other company decided to make their own webinars, and spam their customers and contacts with invitation to free webinars on different subjects. This created a sort of backlash. The quality and value of said webinars took a dive. I started hearing things like, “I do not want to take part in virtual webinars or conferences.”

But just like how companies are adapting differently to the consequences of the coronavirus, so too are the responses of B2B clients to virtual selling and events.

Knott: Every customer has a different opinion about going virtual. Some see the advantages and the higher efficiency of online events, and are happy to attend from home offices. On the other hand, others think that it doesn’t have the same value as a live conference, and compare us with standard webinars. 

So how can sales reps try to convince their clients on the value of their service?

Komulainen: The correct question to ask is, “Why?” They can tell you things like, “There’s no interaction between attendees” or “Low attendance and quality of attendees.” Then it’s easy to tell them how we have solved these issues at our virtual events.

What tools or working habits have been useful in helping you to get the sale remotely?

With lockdowns and movement restriction orders implemented throughout the countries, sales forces have to find alternative means of communication and selling.

Knott: Engagement sales method (ESM) tools are needed more than ever. We in DACH have always been selling over the phone or using video call tools, but Microsoft Teams made this a lot easier.

Werring:  I agree that ESM has been a valuable tool, which we developed for virtual selling a couple of years ago. Teams and Zoom are also useful in communicating with clients and getting the sale.

Komulainen: MS Teams is so helpful when it comes to selling. But I’m also experimenting taking walks during phone meetings. Short walks help to keep me energized during the days that involve a lot of sitting.

What common mistakes do you think salespeople are making during remote sales?

Werring:  Common mistakes would be forgetting about the whole COVID-19 situation, and starting to sell right away, instead of first understanding the client and the climate the client is in. Other mistakes are not dressing up for a meeting and pitching too much, instead of making it a dialog.

Knott: The mistake salespeople often make is feeling too laidback working from home, and not dressing up for the video calls. You need to dress to impress!

Komulainen: For me personally, it was essential to stop presenting and start selling. I think, as sales people, we are used to selling in our own way, but now we had to adapt very quickly and some mistakenly started presenting instead of selling. With virtual meetings, it’s more difficult to keep the customer engaged and intrigued, so we really have to be on our toes and keep focused.

What tips and advice would you give to salespeople to succeed in online selling?

Both Komulainen and Knott agreed that sales personnel need to get their basic preparations and materials ready for a successful virtual sales meeting.

Knott: Good preparation for meetings is vital. Make sure all the links you would like to share with the customer are ready, such as links to your sales materials on the enterprise service management and digital asset management platforms.

Komulainen: Have a clear structure to the meeting and inform it to the customer too. I like to close the agenda or the structure very firmly, such as “This is the agenda. Is this a good use of your time or should we make alterations to it before we start?”

Werring:  Dress to impress, and don’t forget the importance of small talks, especially in times like these. Keep the meetings dynamic and fun. Let the customer talk as much as you can allow, and keep the pace of the meeting high to make sure they won’t get bored.

Knott: It’s a good idea to warm up your calls by talking to a colleague to warm up your tongue. Also, dress up and smile so customers can hear and see the professionalism.

Komulainen: Keep the meeting efficient, and engage the customer. Ask the right questions and really listen. Salespeople are problem solvers of the best kind as we are here to help.

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Trend Micro: Securing The Pandemic-Disrupted Workplace

cyber security

The coronavirus is notably the singular cause behind many changes that have affected companies and sectors worldwide. And one area in particular that organizations are facing challenges in is cyber security.

Cyber crimes increased substantially amid the pandemic, with cyber criminals taking advantage of the crisis to attack businesses with malware, ransomware, and phishing emails. Due to the threats, business leaders are racing to patch recently uncovered vulnerabilities.

Trend Micro, a multinational cyber security software company, shares with Management Events how businesses can secure their systems in the current precarious landscape.

 

A Snippet of Trend Micro

Trend Micro was founded in 1988 developing antivirus software, but has evolved into a market leader in hybrid cloud security, network defense, endpoint security, and more.

Trusted by 45 of the top 50 global corporations and with over 500,000 businesses using their software, the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network is one of the most advanced threat intelligence networks in the world.

 

PRESSING SECURITY CONCERNS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

 

In the Trend Micro Security Predictions report for 2020, we tried to predict the changes that would shape the cyber security industry as we entered a new decade.

What we could not have anticipated was how the “new normal” — which would arise due to the COVID-19 pandemic — would affect the way we interact with the world.

For many people, working from home became not just an option, but a necessity as the pandemic forced organizations around the world to reconsider how and where they work. Unfortunately, the speed and urgency of the changes caught many businesses unprepared, leading to security gaps in both the home and the physical workplace.

Malicious actors took advantage of the situation by launching a slew of COVID-19-themed attacks using a diverse array of lures across a wide range of platforms, including emails, social media, malicious websites, and fake mobile apps. 

Video conferencing apps became a favorite target for cyber criminals as the need for effective communication led to increased usage. These attacks ranged from pranks such as Zoombombing to full-fledged campaigns involving malware bundled with app installers.

Threat actor groups relentlessly continued their campaigns. Some groups chose to expand their operations to new platforms and operating systems, while others built campaigns around seemingly outdated techniques or made use of malware types often thought to be harmless

Ransomware continued to be highly targeted in nature, with one high-profile group deciding to drop its public operations to concentrate on private campaigns. Some ransomware operators have also threatened to expose the data they stole from their victims to the public.

Microsoft ended its support for Windows 7 early in the year, while at the same time devoted more resources to fixing vulnerabilities. The company patched a record number of bugs in the first half of 2020, which also included a number of significant vulnerabilities such as CurveBall.

Several industrial internet of things (IIoT) vulnerabilities that exist in decades-old third party software components proved that there is a lack of standardization and safe coding guidelines when it comes to IIoT systems. Due to the large number and interconnectedness of the potentially impacted devices, it will be difficult to determine the impact of these bugs for the foreseeable future.

2020 has proven in many ways that the cyber security industry does not exist in a static bubble, but shifts and changes in accordance with and in response to the events of the world around it. In a year that has dramatically impacted most of our lives, we take a look at the most significant stories and trends to determine what has changed and what we can expect from the new normal.

Read the full report to get deeper insights into cyber threats and issues for the first half of 2020.

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Master Your Digital Leadership in Finance

Finance among organizational functions is unique in the sense that it spans all areas of a business. However, a new digital economic infrastructure and the tools to accompany it are being built with advancing digital technologies such as Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). What this means for financial innovation is that rapidly evolving technology and the full realization of the value of data are the current drivers developing the digital economy.

 

Consequently, finance leaders must adopt an all-inclusive view of their transformation across the organization. The effective finance leader needs to remain up to date by ensuring that they are conversant with the trends in technology and identify how they apply to create or support the company’s sustainable competitive advantage.

Trends and What It Means to Businesses and C-suite

Thinking about popular innovative leaders, one would be hard-pressed to remember or find a CFO on a shortlist, with most generally, seeing the CFO as the proverbial bad cop, with a bias for short term top and bottom line, depriving the creatives in the enterprise of oxygen, and subsequently killing innovation.

 

Fortunately, in the digital era, the CFO should maintain focus on the value equation: less cost, more revenues, and more margin. Thus, the caricature of the nay-saying bean counter does not apply to a holistic CFO. The digital CFO understands that the right type of innovation will, in the midterm, lead to all of that.

 

“Assuring innovation is tied to value thinking. Assuring creativity is not equal to Russian roulette. True innovation ultimately leads to superior financial performance is a mantra of the modern CFO.”

– John Brahim

 

“Digital” encompasses a set of trends and opportunities that belongs to the C-Suite. It thus should not be viewed as in contradiction of the long-term strategic focus on innovation and or delivering on the next reporting period. The CFO, as the guardian of value thinking, has a vital role to play. Such as Investment Allocation, Risk Mitigation, and Sharpening benefits cases.

How to Manage Innovation and Change

Change is inevitable, and just as the famous quote by Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, “The only constant in life is change.” Change affects us all, and we deal with each new change differently. There can be no innovation without change and vice versa.

“Make it tangible. Sure, innovation is about soft things like culture and freedom; however, sooner rather than later, it should shape up in concrete Journeys. The CFO can lead the way by focusing on 3 levers for innovation: automating the enterprise round 3, embracing analytics day to day, being digital as a way of life.”

As technology progresses and new solutions become available, the needs of financially vulnerable individuals or businesses need to be kept in mind. Players from various sectors can propel innovation effectively when they partner across sectors and keep the needs of financially vulnerable people at the center.

  1. Automating Enterprise Sequel 3

    Firstly, the hard part of the back office was automated. Softer operational processes closely followed this. Where thanks to a combination of Cloud, AI, and Visualization technologies, the third automation wave will go beyond mere operations and transform the tactical layers, augmenting those that orchestrate the enterprise.

  2. Embracing Analytics

    The past saw financial functions providing curated historical data to the enterprise. However, current trends show people clamoring for real, actionable, and predictive insights. Fortunately, enterprises only require two components to achieve this: the right tools to capture and analyze Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver more contextual and human answers.

  3. Being Digital

    Taking an enterprise digital requires a lot. For starters, the enterprise’s mission, value proposition, and business model will be affected. It will be a series of journeys requiring a dissimilar culture, new skills, different governance, and a new way of working. The mission and way of working have to transform for the CFO to assure financial health, allocate assets rightly, and mitigate risks amid novel volatility.

Remaining Relevant in the Eyes of Your Stakeholders

From a financial perspective, we can deduce that innovation requires proper budgets and timeframes. Smart financial constraints and deadlines do not impede but accelerate creativity by fostering a sense of urgency and focus. As the CFO, you play a vital role by operating with independence and critical empathy.

Cloud ComputingThis translates to creating measured freedom from business-as-usual rules, especially when it relates to funding, contracting, hiring, and reporting. The company can expect significant breakthroughs provided the CFOs know how to exercise their levers to empower and encourage innovation by understanding which rules to relax and which to follow. In this sense, a holistic CFO can validate how ideas outside of the current business logic may be worth pursuing.

CFOs are often being asked by their CEOs to assist in enabling digital innovations in their companies. As the gatekeeper of a data-rooted, value-seeking business model, the opportunity for CFOs is not so much to play the role of a skeptic but rather to be the voice of reason. Similarly, because CFOs can logically relate innovation to key business drivers, they can also engage with the innovation teams as the individual guiding them to a “Yes.”

CFOs: learning from innovation-driven leadership

Brahim shares one of the first things that CFOs need to be inspired to formulate a digital mindset for their own basic processes. Going digital touches all classical financial processes, changing everything from core accounting and treasury management to fraud detection and KPI reporting.

 

Secondly, established CFOs should take cues from the new generation of digital leaders about more effective and efficient means of collaborating internally & externally. Understandably, changing one’s working style will significantly drag a leader out of their comfort zone than intellectually absorbing the intrinsic contents of the new digital journeys.

 

Thirdly, AI should pervade the entire enterprise. CFO’s who were not raised with this technology must be willing to get their hands dirty, learning how to apply AI in their daily play. On the positive side, this makes them a better role model whilst signaling to their team that nobody stays behind.

 

This is all easier said than done. Fortunately, Maistering’s platform, Master Collections, brings all of these together in an entirely new set of services. It offers a completely natural means for CFOs and other C-suite members to adopt a digital way of working. Unlike classical ERP applications, the platform adapts organically and does not require a heavy wall-to-wall implementation. Within weeks a CFO and her team will easily engage in digital or other innovative journeys using Master Collections.

 

Digital Transformation

 

The Immediate Future of Finance Function

The finance function is set to experience the biggest era of transformation. Requiring a balance of solid technical knowledge and data science, as well as a deep understanding of the business itself. Digital and AI innovation spread from the consumer to the enterprise world so that most experiments will start with sales and marketing functions.

 

However, there will be as many use cases in production, logistics, HR, and so on. Finance will be no exception, but like all others, will wrestle with its own strengths and weaknesses in culture, talent, practices, and assets. To a certain extent, the CFO will be catalyzed by her own ecosystem as the surrounding world of accounting, funding, collections, tax, and compliance is bracing for deep impact from AI themselves.

 

In the past, enterprises were shaped by processes. However, Brahim believes that the largest impact will undoubtedly originate from leader augmentation by the more practical AI and not the mythical deep stuff.  Thus, our century will experience enterprises shaped by leader orchestrated journeys.

 

““Augmenting leaders in how they orchestrate Journeys, taps into a formidable business case. Imagine all those digital and other Journeys that a CFO or her peers in the C-suite undertake, becoming faster, richer, and more impactful. There is simply no better business case in modern enterprise than that. Surprisingly enough, Master Collections is a first mover when it comes to “augmenting masters”, as we call enterprise leaders, on their Journeys.”

– John Brahim

 

Ultimately Brahim believes that competent CFOs know how to co-shape journeys, create processes beneficial to the entire business, and make others successful. Master Collections as a new category platform offers CFOs the perfect toolset to engage in digital journeys and naturally fosters the synergies with the C-suite peers and others that require guidance and empowerment from the digital CFO. This is where the future lies for the new digital CFO.