Smarthills Corporate Solutions Limited - Our Insights by Smarthills Corporate Solutions Ltd

What is the cloud and how does it work?

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 12:07:52 +1000

The term 'cloud computing' has become increasingly popular in the business world. For some, the fact that the term 'cloud' can have nothing to do with the weather is a surprise. For others, the term may be familiar, but the concept is difficult to understand. What is the cloud? Where is it? How do you get there? Today, we'd like to help you get a good grasp on the basics of this idea. Cloud computing is here to stay, and it's becoming more essential for businesses than ever.

The cloud and cloud computing
Generally speaking, the 'cloud' is another term for the internet, or a software service that is accessible from any internet-capable device.

In 2020, most of the population interacts with or uses a cloud-based service, even without realising. Sitting down for a relaxing night of Netflix after a busy day? Netflix and other video streaming services rely on the cloud to grant customers access to files. On these services, none of the files you are watching are physically present on the device you are using. If you have ever ordered a video on demand at your home, you were using cloud technology.

Email has also been using cloud technology for years to allow a user to access all of their messages from any location. Similarly, social media allows people around the globe to access content, posts, photos, and messages that are not directly saved on your device.

Cloud computing simply refers to the delivery of these on-demand services or information resources. These services can range from servers, storage, databases, applications, and software, and they are usually provided on a pay-as-you-go basis. Companies or individuals can rent access to an application or storage system from a cloud service provider rather than own their own computing infrastructure or data centres.

Cloud services for your business
For many, using an internal server for storage, desktop applications, and hard drives was fine for day-to-day business operations. Maintenance issues with the server or hard drive may have been costly or they may have required the assistance of an external consultant, but it was manageable.

Then COVID-19 hit.

Organisations that had already transitioned to the cloud for the bulk of their business operations were able to easily transition to remote work. With cloud-based applications, data is stored on the internet rather than on a computer's hard drive. As a result, it can be accessed wherever employees have an internet connection. Cloud-based applications also ensure every employee has the most updated version of the software. Cloud technology also doesn't have the same obstacles as "on-premise" software such as updates on a Monday morning or a trip to the office just to access a single file or email.

Types of cloud computing
Cloud computing falls into a few different classifications, depending on the service being offered.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
IaaS involves renting IT infrastructure such as servers, virtual machines, storage, networks, and operating systems, generally from a cloud provider on a pay-as-you-go basis. This is the most basic category of cloud computing services.

Platform as a service (PaaS)
PaaS refers to cloud computing services which supply an on-demand environment for testing, developing, delivering, and managing software applications. PaaS is designed for the quick development of web or mobile apps without the maintenance and management of infrastructure, such as those included in IaaS.

Software as a service (SaaS)
SaaS is the delivery of software applications over the internet, on demand and typically through a subscription model. Cloud providers host and manage the software application, as well as the underlying infrastructure. They handle maintenance, software upgrades, and security patching. SaaS is usually delivered to the user through the internet via phone, tablet, or PC.

Cloud computing has continued to expand over the years, mainly because of its capacity to allow businesses to do more, with less. The offerings available on the cloud are continuing to grow and, with many businesses looking to adopt a more permanent remote work solution, the cloud has never been more popular.

Here at Smarthills Corporate Solutions Ltd, we provide best in-class SaaS solutions to our customers for all their business operations. We have products that range from sales and marketing automation to file management and accounting. We believe that cloud technology is going to expand and become the norm for businesses all around the world. If you'd like to check out the options we have available, feel free to take a look at all of the products we offer.

Best Practice for Account Security

Mon, 04 Apr 2022 11:04:00 +1000

Best Practice for Account Security

In today's digital age, safeguarding your online accounts is more crucial than ever. By adopting best practices for account security, you can protect your personal information and ensure a safer digital experience. Refer below tips to enhance digital security and keep your account and data secure!

Password

Always Use Strong Password

What is Strong Password? A strong password is one that is difficult for others to guess or crack. Here are some key characteristics of a strong password:

Length: At least 12 characters long.
Complexity: Includes a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters (e.g., !, @, #, $).
Unpredictability: Avoids common words, phrases, or easily guessable information like birthdays or names.
Uniqueness: Different from passwords used for other accounts.

Make passwords that are hard to guess but easy to remember.

To make passwords easier to remember, use multiple phrases that are not your names or related to you. For example, “breadandbutteryum” or “FoamGreenpaper”.
Avoid single words, or a word preceded or followed by a single number (e.g. Password1). Hackers will use dictionaries of words and commonly used passwords to guess your password.
Don’t use information in your password that others might know about you or that’s in your social media (e.g. birthdays, children’s or pet’s names, car model, etc.). Bad actors often deploy social engineering techniques to research and gather information about their targets.

Complexity still counts. To increase complexity, include upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. A password should use at least 3 of these choices. To make the previous example more secure: “Bread & butter YUM!” or “Fo@mgrEEnpaper99”

However, don't make the password overly complex; make sure it is easily remembered.

Don't reveal your Password to Anyone

Never share or disclose your password to your family, friends or colleagues. Nobody needs to know them but you—not even the IT department. If someone is asking for your password, it’s always a scam.

Use different Passwords on different Accounts

Use different passwords for different accounts or websites. That way, if one account is compromised, at least the others won’t be at risk. Always use Unique Password for your Online Banking Account and Email Account and do not use this password for any other account or websites.

Keep your Password Safe

Do not write your passwords on paper or in notepads. Keep your password in a safe location if you really need to write it down.

2FA/MFA Authentication

Set up 2FA or MFA method

Use multi-factor authentication (MFA). Even the best passwords have limits. Multi-Factor Authentication adds another layer of protection in addition to your username and password. Generally, the additional factor is a token or a mobile phone app that you would use to confirm that you really are trying to log in.

Public/Shared Devices or Networks

Public/Shared Devices

When using public or shared devices, it's essential to take extra precautions to protect your account security. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

Avoid Logging into Sensitive Accounts: If possible, avoid accessing sensitive accounts such as banking or email on public devices.
Use Private Browsing Mode: Enable private or incognito mode to prevent the browser from saving your history, cookies, and other data.
Log Out Completely: Always log out of your accounts and close the browser window when you're done.
Don't Save Passwords: Never save passwords or allow the browser to remember your login details on public devices.
Be Wary of Keyloggers: Public devices can be compromised with keyloggers. Use virtual keyboards or password managers with auto-fill features to minimize the risk.
Clear Browsing Data: Clear the browser's cache, cookies, and history after your session.

Public Networks

Using public networks/WIFI can expose your accounts to various security risks. Here are some best practices to help protect your account security:

Use a VPN: A Virtual Private Network (VPN) encrypts your internet connection, making it harder for attackers to intercept your data.
Avoid Accessing Sensitive Information: Try not to log into sensitive accounts, such as banking or email, when on a public network.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): This adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification.
Verify Network Authenticity: Ensure you are connecting to a legitimate network. Avoid networks with generic names like "Free Wi-Fi."
Keep Software Updated: Ensure your device's operating system, browser, and security software are up to date to protect against vulnerabilities.
Use HTTPS Websites: Look for "https://" in the URL, indicating that the website uses encryption to protect your data.

Phishing Emails

Be aware and careful of Phishing attempts

Phishing is a method attackers employ to gain access to your personal information, your credentials, or to your account in general. An attacker will send phishing emails to a large number of recipients, hoping that some of the recipients will be deceived. The phishing email may cite a critical emergency and urge you to provide your personal information, or ask you to access a link to a malicious web page, or download a malicious attachment.

Even if you have secured your account with multi-factor authentication, the attacker can gain access to your account through these phishing web pages using sophisticated techniques. For example, using the "Adversary-in-the-middle" method, the attacker can steal the session cookies from your browser and gain access to your account bypassing MFA.

How to identify a Phishing Emails

Identifying phishing emails can help you avoid falling victim to scams. Here are some key signs to look out for:

Suspicious Sender: Check the sender's email address. Phishing emails often come from addresses that look similar to legitimate ones but have slight variations.
Generic Greetings: Be wary of emails that use generic greetings like "Dear Customer" instead of your name.
Urgent or Threatening Language: Phishing emails often create a sense of urgency or fear, urging you to act quickly to avoid negative consequences.
Unusual Requests: Legitimate companies will never ask for sensitive information like passwords, Social Security numbers, or credit card details via email.
Poor Grammar and Spelling: Many phishing emails contain noticeable spelling and grammatical errors.
Suspicious Links or Attachments: Hover over links to see the actual URL before clicking. Be cautious of unexpected attachments, especially if they have unusual file types.
Too Good to Be True Offers: Be skeptical of emails offering large sums of money, prizes, or other rewards that seem too good to be true.
Mismatched URLs: Ensure that the URL in the email matches the website it claims to be from. Phishing emails often use URLs that look similar but are slightly different.

Ending

For business and corporate user, it is important to deploy and implement robust cybersecurity protection systems like Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security System and utilizing business-grade software such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace which comes with Advanced Protection Features. These tools provide comprehensive protection against threats, ensure data integrity, and facilitate secure collaboration. Let's take proactive steps to safeguard our digital assets and create a secure working environment for everyone.

Learn more about Google Workspace.

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A New Dawn For CRM: This Time It's B2B

Sun, 02 Feb 2020 12:03:00 +1000

Efficiency, Productivity and More

A few large business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations with millions of direct customers have generated some of the best returns from customer relationship strategies. By focusing on customers’ needs rather than those of the organization, these organizations enjoy significant boosts in revenues, enabling them to also enjoy healthy paybacks on their investment in Customer Relationship Management.

Business-to-business (B2B) organizations typically have fewer customers (often intermediaries rather than end consumers) and smaller product ranges. Nevertheless, B2C CRM principles can be successfully applied in a B2B environment, with the same, satisfying return on investment. This article will explain how these important principles can be applied.

A very brief history of CRM

The golden age for CRM was actually more than 50 years ago. Canada was then a small-town country, with businesses localized in small communities. Business leaders knew the intimate details of their fellow citizens’ lives – births, marriages, deaths and other life cycle changes — giving them a near-real time view of their customers’ changing needs. In those days, there was little need for expensive CRM technology.

Movement to big cities changed all that. Urban and suburban living in the second half of the 20th century coincided with development of many new and desirable consumer products to sell, and powerful new technologies to process huge transaction volumes and drive down transaction costs. With a combination of product-oriented, demand-push and transaction focus, it is hardly surprising that many organizations lost sight of the fact that their customers were individuals.

In the late1990s, companies tried to re-personalize their customer relationships by installing sales technology-sales contact management, Web personalization of e-sales messages, and sophisticated segmenting and predictive modeling tools for more tailored sales messages. All too often the result was an increase in one-way product “communications” fired at customers. It was a frenzy of sales missiles lobbed at any prospect coming within range, and driven by the need to sell more rather than the customers’ own intrinsic needs.

These sales tools have improved results, although the outcomes have often been modest and unsustainable. Gains in satisfaction, cross selling, and retention are reported from most incremental activity aimed at the customer. It seems that customers are used to the traditional “one size fits all” approach and appreciate additional attention.

However, customer resistance is setting in. For example, in the Canadian retail banking industry, relationship marketers are reporting declining responses to their targeted sales campaigns despite using sophisticated segmentation and modeling techniques.

The breakthrough in customer understanding

A few large-scale Business-to-Consumer (B2C) firms – some banks, airlines, retailers, hospitality providers, and telcos – have succeeded in taking CRM to a higher level. What have they done differently?

They practice relationship strategies that are based on the needs of the individual customer, rather than their own internal goals. They still use sales tools and still send out targeted product messages to various customer segments. However, they also search out a relatively few customers every day for whom actual relationship history and transaction behavior indicate that the time may be right to find out what may have changed in their customers’ lives.

These companies make it an act of faith to recognize customers’ needs rather than their own. They prefer to react to actual customer behavior rather than just make assumptions about customer needs from sampling and modeling. They like to find out customers’ needs through dialogue with them rather than from predictive models. They are very selective in which customers they talk to, recognizing that they can’t talk to all of their customers every day. They build their strategies through business rules set by business people, using technology as the enabler rather than the driver. They use reporting to facilitate individual customer decisions, rather than just reporting on trends. So strong is the commitment to satisfying their customers’ requirements that daily customer dialogue has become an integral part of their brand values.

The challenging of B2B Entreprise

Wed, 06 Feb 2019 11:18:00 +1000

Complexity & Competition

Business-to-business (B2B) enterprises sell and promote their products and services to intermediaries in the consumer distribution chain more often than directly to end consumers. Accordingly, B2B organizations have a more niche market, fewer clients, and a smaller product line compared to the B2C sector. In other words, the pool of potential leads for a B2B company is relatively narrower.

Efficiency, Productivity and More

However, it is crucial to spend more time and effort on each lead as well as monitor them attentively from the time of lead generation, due to three facts:

B2B deal is much more complex which results in more stages and longer sales cycle
B2B clients usually involve several decision-makers, are likely to have multiple considerations and requirements that need to be balanced at each touchpoint
B2B clients have higher budgets meaning higher transaction volumes, and thus, high expectations for individualized customer service.

Technological advancement has the ability to transform your B2B business in a way that helps your sales reps handle the sales process efficiently and understand B2B clients as individuals while keeping track of a large amount of lead-specific data.

WHY CRM & ERP IS NECESSARY FOR BUSINESS SERVICE?

Streamline sales processes and reduce the time spent on repetitive administrative tasks
Analyze your high-value customer base on demand
Measure results
Gain real-time visibility into the financial & operational health of the organization
Automate the process to generate RFPs, proposals…
Forecasting & resource planning

HOW WE CAN HELP

Align Sales, Marketing and Operations departments to optimize campaigns
Turn your organization’s strategies inside out – develop it from your target buyers’ perspectives (customer-centric approach)
Design detailed and meaningful customer’s journeys
Create lead scoring and qualification models to help salespeople prioritize the most promising ones in a timely fashion
Identify the sales velocity your team needs to meet quota
Build and automate processes to move customers through critical stages at the agreed velocity
Add recycling tactics to get leaking leads into your sales funnel / Fix leaking conversion funnel to decrease churn rate
Train your salespeople to ensure successful adoption