In a world where companies are no longer willing to settle for a one-size-fits-all solution for their communication and collaboration strategy, the demand for flexibility is on the rise. While a flexible technology stack has a multitude of benefits to offer, it also presents some significant challenges too. After all, there are risks associated with choice and a diverse tech landscape. Multiple vendors and tools within your stack are harder to manage from a security and privacy perspective, making solutions like service management increasingly essential.
I got in touch with the developers of ForgeServe, an award-winning device provisioning and management platform, Swoop Datacom, to learn more about the changing landscape. Here’s what the CEO, John Bennett, told me about the challenges that companies need to manage today.
What Are The Challenges Customers are Facing Now?
[caption id="attachment_17972" align="alignright" width="200"]
John Bennett[/caption]
According to John, Data security is a very significant issue for businesses today. Currently, Swoop is looking at how customers are setting up their devices. In an increasingly mobile environment, there is a lot of information on devices that organisations don’t want criminals to get their hands on. “If any of the information is outside of the customer’s network and transferred through the internet, it can be problematic. Hackers are becoming increasingly more intelligent about how they access data. We want to give companies a way to verify information and its validity.”
Unfortunately, there is a multitude of problems for companies to face today. Lots of resellers and service providers are passing information around that isn’t encrypted, which leads to issues like toll fraud and other issues. Additionally, many companies don’t fully know what their security should look like. Everyone has their own plan or strategy. “Sometimes, companies have different policies for the different manufacturers that they’re working with. We’re implementing a single security process for all the devices a company uses so that you can have the same coverage and policies everywhere.”
How Valuable is Service Management?
I asked John Bennett how valuable service management is in this changing landscape. They told me that security is just one piece of the puzzle, but it should also be the first port of call.
“We’re focused on implementing the highest levels of security for customers, so we can make sure that all of their devices are covered by our service wrap. We work closely with manufacturers to ensure that everyone we work with is authenticated and safe"
“All of the vendors that we support have secure processes in place. If there is a device that isn’t secure or doesn’t pass our protocols, we don’t support it. Everything we work with has been tested, and our policies are implemented carefully across the board. We use public IP addresses to check that calls are coming from the right location and so on.”
The issue today is that people only need to face a single data breach, and they will lose a huge number of customers. It’s not just the impact on your software. Enterprise customers are very conscious about the security that they get with their systems today. According to Bennett, “Having the right security system in place is critical for protecting your reputation and your future.”
