Tag Archive for: LastPass

Best Tech for Busy Professionals

This week’s tech blog is dedicated to our readers.  We know that you all are swamped all day long, so if you are taking 5 minutes from your day to read this, we appreciate it.  As a thank you, here is a list of great tech to make your life a bit easier.

We all have days where it seems that you don’t have time to get anything done.  Your to-do list is so lengthy that you cannot remember if you ate, much less whether you have left your lights on or charged your phone.  I have compiled a list of the best tech gadgets to help busy professionals keep on task and manage their time.

To manage your diet and eat healthy food even when time is nonexistent, the good people at Tovala have you covered.  You may not have time to cook for yourself and healthy options are few and far between.  Or maybe you just hate to cook. The company’s motto is that you should never have to compromise between convenience, health, and taste. They offer a clean-eating meal delivery service with everything included.  There is no prep work involved other than acquiring a fork. You then place the trays into the Tovala, scan the barcode, and the oven automatically cooks your food perfectly by switching between convection, baking, and steaming. The oven even sends you a notification once the food is done so you aren’t stuck in the kitchen waiting. It includes an app so that if you feel inclined to cook your own meals Tovala will walk you through the process, and even lets you know about the nutritional value of the food.

To manage your home, a smart home hub is a necessity. If you are unfamiliar with the technology, smart hubs connect a variety of compatible smart devices. This allows you to control an array of devices and functions and also gives you access to a wealth of information. You can do simple things like stream music or order food, but you can also control electronic devices such as lights and thermostats. There is a myriad of connectable smart devices now, so functionality keeps growing. You can unlock doors, turn on sprinklers, and control plugs and thermostats. The Roomba even has smart technology now, so if your carpet needs a quick clean before you get home, they have an app for that. Home hubs run the gamut in pricing and performance, so choose what features are most important for you.  Amazon Echo has a great one, but if the price tag is too high for you,  the Wink Hub 2 has a nice option for less than $100.

To manage your technology, there is so much great tech out there to help you keep up with your business no matter where you are. The Anker Power Port 6 is a multi-port USB Hub can connect up to 6 USB devices at once from a single outlet. Charge your phone, a tablet, and any other device you need from one place. To avoid carrying a bulky wallet and multiple cards try the Wocket Smart Wallet. With biometric security, your multiple cards become a single card to conduct any transactions.  To keep up with all of your passwords, try LastPass.  This clever little app remembers all of your passwords so that you don’t have to. Unlike traditional password extensions and apps, no one can get access to your passwords even if your devices are stolen. This comes in handy when you treat yourself to a new phone or computer.

 

Commercient has the newest technology to help you manage all aspects of your business.  Our newest brainchild, IoT Pulse, lets you connect to over 750 apps. Access to this app is currently by invitation only, so click here to learn more and get on the waiting list.

Safe and Sound: 3 Useful Ways to Improve Security and Protect Your CRM Data

Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on CRM software alone; so poor security practices are not an option. In the wake of the Wikileaks revelations, IT companies are scrambling to up their security measures. So, just how secure is your data? Here are 3 useful ways to improve your company’s security and protect your CRM data.

Know thyself

What better way for you to protect your company than to know and inspect your company’s current business processes. It is possible that some of your current processes could be insecure, which can leave customer data exposed. Ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Does the company house information that is sensitive, and how is that information being handled?
  2. Are there any system permissions in place for your organization’s employees? Does everyone have the same access levels to your system data?
  3. Is the current customer database secure?

Without answering such questions and having a system in place to warn you of data breaches, your customer data can be easily exposed.  Performing routine risk assessments will help you and your company fight against any attempts of data breaching.

Salesforce is a good example of a company who fell victim to a security breach, and by improving its security measures, has not suffered a breach since then.

Train your staff

Your employees are the most critical assets to protecting your CRM data. It means they should know how to safeguard and handle your company’s data. You must make them aware of potential security threats.

To help improve security measures within your company, you can educate your employees through annual and quarterly security eLearning courses, on-site briefings, training classes, and more. Through security training modules, your employees can become more aware of your current security measures and will be more inclined to put security measures into practice. They also will feel more comfortable disclosing any mistakes or potential security threats. Additionally, by training your employees, you will help them to make good judgments and identify and avoid risks, Training your employees is one of the best ways to secure your data and your company.

Enforce strong passwords

Companies that allow their employees to use weak passwords are asking for a data breach. The best practice is to enforce employees to use strong passwords or employ a password manager, like LastPass. Password managers require employees to remember only one complex password, while the password manager remembers all the others.

Companies like Salesforce are also using two-factor authentication techniques to provide an extra level of security to user accounts. Such techniques can enhance and improve your organization’s security.

If you have integrated your CRM and ERP system using our SYNC App and would like to learn more about come common security concerns, check out our Commercient blog post on ERP Security Concerns.