Evan Blair
Hardly anything is predictable anymore: Covid-19, remote work, supply chain, social media vulnerabilities, data security, employee retention.
It is tough doing any strategic planning these days with so many fundamental uncertainties and even tougher just managing a business day-to-day.
I just read two articles about the auto industry that emphasize the changing business landscape:
- Toyota sold the most cars in the US of any auto manufacturer in 2021…the first time a non-US manufacturer has ever done that.
- Tesla almost doubled its sales to 962K in 2021 while other US manufacturers saw sales declines, primarily due to supply chain constraints
How do some companies defy industry trends and set new records while most struggle? Sometimes they get lucky and sometimes they have more flexible and smarter processes and products. Tesla avoided the worst of the chip constraints by being able to replace unavailable customized chips with readily available off-the-shelf versions that they adapted to their needs by reprogramming their proprietary software. Toyota was able to tap into their own larger than usual chip inventory they built as a result of changing procedures after a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan during 2011 disrupted their supply chain.
You may be wondering where I’m going with this. In a world of uncertainties, it’s difficult to know what steps to take to achieve your company objectives. Tesla and Toyota both planned for an uncertain future with an impressive payoff in 2021. I’d like to suggest some relatively easy steps in the area of data sharing & collaboration that will decrease your uncertainties and result in payoffs in the future.
With all the problems out there, why should you spend time on your data and communications security?
Because if your company is dealing with any of the following issues:
- High percentage of workforce is remote
- Shadow IT usage growth
- Supply chain disruptions are an ongoing challenge
- Global partnerships are both challenging and key to operational efficiencies
- Traditional infrastructure can't support new operating reality
- Compliance requirements closing in
Then you have existing (and soon to be real) pains that can be addressed by HighSide.
Most businesses these days work in environments that require us to send data back and forth to global suppliers via cloud service providers while satisfying hundreds of data transfer regulations / guidelines established by government and corporate entities they are doing business with. And all of this needs to take place without employee burnout and without increasing overhead costs.
HighSide can ensure that all of your data is end-to-end encrypted, secure, and compliant. HighSide’s file sharing & file transfer capability, available in both the HighSide One E2EE secure collaboration platform and our Microsoft Teams extension (SecureTeams), sends your sensitive documents and files in an end-to-end encrypted state.
HighSide’s distributed Encryption & Authentication Protocol (HEAP) powers all file sharing across the HighSide applications, empowering users to take advantage of E2EE without needing to manage keys, store keys or share them via unsecured channels (ahem Signal).
HighSide, simply put, makes everyone’s life easier when it comes to data sharing – from the end-user to the security & compliance team to the executive risk management group.
So, if it were my company, I would engage with HighSide to implement a state of the art cloud-based file transfer and encryption system that will improve productivity, data security and ease of doing business. Not to mention, remain in compliance with the myriad of international data security laws.
This is what I’d call low hanging fruit. Get it done now so you can focus on all of the other challenges in front of you for 2022.