To do so, we’ll discuss a few things that you have to make hard and fast policies for your employees to follow.

Establish Roles and Responsibilities
One of the most important features of successful collaborative efforts is the role that each person has in the greater process, and what they are responsible for as a result. While collaboration is a great way to help expedite the completion of tasks and projects, this is only the case so long as redundancy doesn’t enter into the mix.

In essence, you need to establish a firm order of operations within your collaborative efforts, especially if that collaboration crosses between different departments of your team. Any of the benefits of collaboration can be eliminated if someone does the wrong thing at the wrong time - and this confusion most often erupts when someone in the process is unsure of their role, and what responsibilities they have as a result.

Here’s a quick example to provide some hypothetical context: Let’s say someone in Department A begins a project. In their collaborative workspace, once that project is finished, it should be sent to a few resources in Department B to review and revise as needed before being enacted.

This scenario only works if each person in the process understands what their role is, and what responsibilities that role has within the greater process. Returning to our example, any benefits that the collaboration may have had are negated if someone acts out of turn. In this case, once the project has been reviewed by the resources in Department B, Department A shouldn’t touch it again unless specifically asked to by Department B, who should then repeat their actions. Otherwise, mistakes that the review process would have caught can go unnoticed, and negatively affect the success of the project as a whole.

Establish Firm, Yet Flexible, Goals
On a related note, your goals need to be designed to help outline these responsibilities in a clear fashion, leaving little room for assumptions to be made. By providing your employees with goals that are based on definite outcomes, you are removing the ambiguity that leads to the complications described above and enabling your processes to move forward more effectively.

However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t reexamine these processes and make adjustments to these goals to further improve them after you’ve seen how well (or not) they work. In fact, this is a crucial part of running a business successfully.

As far as solutions go to enable collaboration, Patriot Tech Services Inc. has you covered. Reach out to us at 877-874-4629 to find out how you can encourage clearer communications within your operations.

New Security
It’s not exactly a secret that connected devices don’t always come with powerful security. In fact, the IoT has been looked at as a risk by IT administrators since its inception. After all, if there isn’t any strength to the integrated security of the device, it is a vulnerability that could, if leveraged as such, be a handle to pull an organization’s computing network down with. One of the biggest shifts we will begin to see within the IoT is a focus on device security. As it is right now, devices like wearables, internet-connected appliances, audio/media equipment, and other consumer-driven networked devices are designed to be easy to connect to. This makes them easy to exploit. More concerning are the devices designed for specific business tasks, such as factory equipment, automated utility infrastructure, security cameras, and more, all of which could cause trouble if they were accessed by an outside entity.

More Devices
Depending where you get your information, there are between eight and 25 billion IoT devices connected to the Internet. The smart money would bet on the latter number being more accurate. With that many devices, it’s hard to imagine any network being safe, right? The truth is that we’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg. Estimates put the number of Internet-connected devices at nearly 75 billion by 2025. If the industry is going to grow that rapidly, we’d like to see a whole lot less risk than there is with these devices today.

IoT Devices Will Do More
Most IoT devices do one specific task, and they do it well. With 5G networks right around the proverbial corner, it should usher in a whole new era for IoT. With the enhanced bandwidth afforded by 5G mobile network speeds, management of the endpoints created by IoT devices will suddenly be faster and more responsive. This will likely have a major effect on the security issue mentioned above as well as the limitations of capability that a lot of the devices that have been released thus far have.

It Will Come to Define the Automobile
IoT already has its place in the automotive industry, but as data becomes more and more important for automakers, the need for smart devices will enhance substantially. With the entire automotive industry on the precipice of being yet another data-hungry market, you are sure to see the use of innovative technologies like IoT grow precipitously.

Business to the Edge
Cloud computing has become one of the most important technology innovations of the 21st century (despite being developed in the 20th century). Today virtualized environments of all types provide countless options for the growing business to succeed. The cloud doesn’t work for everything however. Some parts of businesses simply don’t have any use for cloud computing per se. Logistics and shipping departments for manufacturers and distributors can benefit the from use of IoT technology. This is what is called edge computing, as they are important variables in a business’ operations, but aren’t core technology systems.

The Internet of Things will continue to be a major player in the way that businesses move into the information age. If you would like more information on the Internet of Things or on how your business should make IoT security a priority, call Patriot Tech Services Inc. today at 877-874-4629.

Once crime that has seen several false portrayals is the act of hacking. This is not very surprising as hacking is a clandestine effort that would be in reality extraordinarily tedious and boring. That’s not to say that media doesn’t have an effect on how people view hackers, however. The more ludicrous content creators make depictions of hacking and hackers out to be in TV and movies, the less people actually consider that they are, in fact, the people being targeted.

Of course, this is just a contrived and ludicrous amalgamation from hacker movies and other interesting PC images (it even has the Matrix). Look at all the flashing lights and other idiotic stuff on that page. A real hacker’s screen is one with function. There are command prompts and open windows with real applications that help them to their end. In fact, the majority of modern hackers, because computing networks and communications are so well encrypted, need to utilize real credentials. So really their home screen probably looks a lot like yours. A browser with an email client open, a word processor to write the message, and maybe a graphics program to make it look as close to professional as possible.

Real hacking consists of more research and planning than fast-paced, against-the-clock typing in flashing boxes on a screen. In fact, the computer itself usually does the heavy lifting, as special software is used to infiltrate places by trying different options millions of times. Automation, unless it is undertaken by an eight-foot robot with laser guns, or it results in complete catastrophe, is not cinematic.

Most people still don’t know what it takes to hack. All they know is that there are “hackers” out there in Russia or China looking to steal their credit card numbers and it is up to people smarter and more capable than them to protect them. That kind of Superman view of hacking is exactly why there are so many people that fall victim to them each year.

The truth is that people need to know how to protect themselves from hackers.

Patriot Tech Services Inc. can help. If you and your staff need help sorting fact from fiction, or if you want your whole team to know exactly what you need to do (and what not to do) to protect you and your company’s resources, call us today at 877-874-4629.