Archive for August, 2016

How strong is your online presence?

Monday, August 22nd, 2016

This is a great time of year to review things – work practices, your website, how strong your social media is as well as many other parts of your business. A break or holiday sometimes lets you step back a little so you can see areas for improvement. At Online Practice, we look at your online presence in detail. This is a mix of your website, social media and any other activities such as blogs or press activity.

How you are portrayed online is vital to the way you are perceived – by clients, suppliers and even other firms within your sector. A dry, unchanging, outdated website with nothing new can sometimes be worse than not having an online presence at all. It smacks of neglect and a lack of dynamism that is actually not too hard to correct.

A fresh new look to your website to bring it bang up to date, the addition of an interesting blog page and filtering this into bite-size chunks for your social media platforms is surprisingly easy and low maintenance. We can even take it one stage further and create a bespoke monthly newsletter so you communicate with your clients in an informative and regular way.

Talk to us and see how we can advise you to do things better. It’s what we do best.

 

Is your company’s cloud storage secure?

Monday, August 22nd, 2016

Is Your Company’s Cloud Storage Secured?

Probably not.

The 2016 Global Cloud Data Security Study unfolds the bitter truth in cloud storage security of organisations in UK, Germany, US, Russia and other countries.. The study conducted by Ponemon Institute reported that behind the stable growth of cloud usage, companies lack necessary governance practices and security measures.

With over 3,476 IT security practitioners surveyed, only 43% said their establishments are implementing accountability measures to safeguard confidential and sensitive data in the cloud.

One of the weak points of companies is the lack of personnel charged to evaluate the cloud resources being deployed and increasingly, cloud resources deployed without security, due to loss of control over end users.

This is critical in the environment where cloud usage continues to grow in importance. About three quarters (73%) of IT security practitioners consider cloud computing applications are important to their organisation’s operation. On the contrary over half (54%) of the respondents do not agree that their organisations are committed to comply with privacy and data protection regulations in the cloud.

Ultimately, 56% of organisations are reportedly not cautious about sharing sensitive information with third-parties like business partners, contractors and cloud-providers.

The types of data at risk in the cloud are usually highly sensitive and confidential such as customer data, email, employee records, consumer data and payment information.

The paramount reason why cloud security is a challenge for organisations is that it is difficult to apply “conventional information security in the cloud computing environment.”

Another alarming revelation is that only a fifth of security practitioners are permitted at the table for decision making about data security governance. What’s more, according to the study, “Most organisations still do not have security policies for the cloud.”

On this note, Gemalto recommends adopting “encryption, tokenization or other cryptographic solutions to secure sensitive data transferred and stored in the cloud ” and said that organisations should improve compliance with data security and privacy regulations.

How docSafe can help you

For individuals working on a client-based industry like lawyers, accountants, writers, creatives and small business, you can store and access data filed in the cloud safely and efficiently. With docSAFE you can work collaboratively and exchange files with clients in the most secure way possible. You can have convenience, security and efficiency for just a few pounds each month.

Have you ever had trouble sending large confidential files through the internet safely? Or have you had the problem of how you can collaborate on a project with partners miles away?

docSAFE can help you with its secure and reliable file sharing online.
To learn more visit our site.

What is cloud working?

Monday, August 15th, 2016

There is a lot in the media about cloud working – what is it and why should you adopt it?

Firstly, ‘working in the cloud’ is just a way of describing storing all your data out of your office. Once you store everything remotely, you can access it from anywhere, at any time, provided you have internet access.

docSAFE, our client portal is an intelligent form of cloud working that allows you to store things in the way you prefer. You can store all the documents relating to each client together. You can even give them access to some or all of the data you store on them – highly securely of course. This has the advantage of reducing requests for information – therefore reducing admin and unprofitable time quite significantly.

Cloud working helps you to reduce paper and the need to have printed copies of everything. Get yourself a scanner and you can really go the whole hog in terms of a paper-free environment.

Our kind of cloud working (via docSAFE) means you enjoy automatic back ups and ultimate security. Mundane things like installing anti-virus software is taken care of – this is good for you and your clients’ peace of mind.

docSAFE also looks the part. We can brand your cloud working client portal to reflect your corporate identity so the client knows they are in the right place.

And amongst many, many other benefits, you can actually sign off on vital documents via the cloud. Imagine not needing to organise meetings for admin tasks and using your client time to advise, guide and support instead. Our reporting system tells you which documents have been opened, signed and which haven’t.

If you’re unsure about taking the next step, just call us – we offer a free trial and docSAFE only costs from £50 per month so it’s not a huge investment when you consider the cost savings and benefits.

Take the next step, call us today
0121 794 0685