Small and medium businesses that view technology as an investment are finding that they’re able to use technology to build trust with their employees, customers and vendors. But investing in technology can be daunting – it’s not cheap and it takes time and effort to maintain it.
Phishing is a common attack used by criminals to obtain sensitive information, such as login credentials and payment details, from users. It happens when an attacker, posing as a trusted source, tricks a victim into clicking on a malicious link or downloading a spam file sent via email, text messages, phone calls or social media.
There is a strong connection between trust and prosperity. In fact, when trust levels are high, businesses tend to succeed and grow more quickly. According to McKinsey and Company, Harvard Business Review, Forrester Research and many other reputable organizations, trust is the connecting fabric upon which innovation and business success are built.
In the IT space, trust usually means zero trust, which is the concept of not automatically trusting anything inside or outside the organization’s perimeters, but instead verifying and authorizing everything before granting access to its systems. But the traditional concept of trust – the belief in the reliability of someone or something – is equally important and that’s why small and medium businesses need to prioritize trust.
Nothing is more crucial to a business than stability. “What about profit,” you ask. Profit matters, but companies can achieve consistent profits easily when markets are stable. It’s when markets are highly unpredictable and things change in the blink of an eye that your business’s survival will hinge on its stability.
Technology has evolved leaps and bounds over the last 20 years. In fact, in the next few years, the first generation to grow up with smartphones and social media, will join the workforce. It might seem like Generation Z will be the most cyber-secure generation, considering they’ve always had the Internet and other advanced technologies at the tips of their fingers, but reports are starting to show that this is not the case.
Even though it’s no secret that small to medium-sized businesses often have vastly fewer resources in comparison to larger corporations, prioritizing agility is just as critical for their survival. The last two years have shown us that unexpected surprises can pop up at any time, you must be prepared to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
The last two years have been a bumpy ride for organizations of all sizes globally, but small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) were hit the worst. Since most SMBs have limited cash and resources, setbacks were much more severe for them than for big corporations with more resources.
When the needs of your employees, customers and the market change suddenly, (think Covid-19, supply chain constraints, inflation and war) you must be ready to make the necessary shift if you expect to succeed and achieve your business’s long-term objectives.
Most small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are stretched for time and resources, which often leads to rushed process implementations, technology upgrades and new hire training. Inevitably, this results in botched executions and a foundation that doesn’t support sustainable scalability.
