Predictions for IT security in 2020

How are the risks to IT evolving? Experts agree: IT security in 2020 will once again require a great deal of attention. One expert gives her initial forecasts.

IT security in 2020: which trends will be in the foreground? (Image: Pixabay.com)

Based on security developments over the past few years, conclusions can be drawn about what is likely to happen in cybersecurity over the next twelve months. Here are the most important trends for IT security in 2020, which are Check Point expected.

Technological predictions for 2020

  1. Targeted ransomware - In 2019, ransomware attacks were targeted against businesses, local governments, and healthcare facilities. Attackers spend a lot of time gathering information about their victims to make sure they can ensure maximum damage. The amount of ransom demanded is driven up accordingly. The attacks have become so effective that even the FBI has softened its stance on paying ransoms: The agency now recognizes that in some cases, affected companies must consider paying to protect shareholders, employees and customers.
  2. Phishing attacks go beyond email traffic - While email remains the number one attack vector, cybercriminals also use a variety of other methods to steal personal data, credentials, or even money from their victims. Phishing increasingly includes SMS attacks on cell phones or the use of messenger solutions on social media and gaming platforms.
  3. Mobile malware attacks intensify - In the first half of 2019, mobile banking malware attacks increased by 50 percent compared to 2018. Such malware can steal payment data, access information and funds from victims' bank accounts. New versions are even available on the dark net for distribution by anyone willing to pay the malware's developers - similar to a franchising process. Phishing attacks are also becoming more sophisticated, effective and lure mobile users to click on malicious web links.
  4. The rise of cyber insurance - More cyber insurance policies are being taken out by companies and public institutions. Insurance companies will continue to direct their policyholders to pay ransoms, as this can be cheaper than the cost of restoring systems after an attack. This will in turn lead to more attacks on the one hand and rapid growth of the cyber insurance industry on the other.
  5. More IoT devices bring more risks - With the rollout of 5G networks, the deployment of IoT devices will accelerate dramatically, but at the same time massively increase the vulnerability of networks to large-scale, multi-vector Gen V cyber attacks. IoT devices and their connections to data centers and clouds remain a weak point in security: it is difficult to get an overview of all connected devices. Furthermore, their security is designed to be very complex. All companies need to develop a more holistic approach to IoT security that combines traditional and modern controls. Only then can these ever-growing networks be protected across all industries and business sectors.
  6. More personal data because of 5G - The bandwidths enabled by 5G will trigger an explosion of connected devices and sensors. So-called eHealth applications collect data about users' well-being, connected car services monitor users' movements. Smart city programs also collect information about how citizens live. This ever-growing volume of personal data must be protected from breaches and theft.
  7. AI will accelerate security responses - Most security solutions are based on detection models, designed according to human logic. To make them ready for the latest threats and keep them on the cutting edge of technologies and devices, artificial intelligence (AI) is needed. AI dramatically speeds up the identification of new threats and how to respond to them. It also helps block attacks before they can spread. However, cybercriminals are also beginning to use the same techniques to effectively scan networks for vulnerabilities and develop appropriate malware.
  8. Security solutions with the speed of DevOps teams - Companies already run a large part of their workloads in the cloud, but the level of knowledge about securing the cloud remains low. The principle of shared responsibility has not yet fully penetrated the consciousness of those responsible. Security solutions must evolve to new, flexible cloud-based architectures that provide scalable protection at the speed of DevOps teams.
  9. Enterprises rethink their cloud approach - Due to the increasing reliance on public cloud infrastructures, enterprises are at risk of outages. As an example, Google Cloud's operational disruption in March 2019, enterprises will look at their existing data center and cloud concepts and consider hybrid environments of private and public clouds as well as data centers.

Conclusion for IT security in 2020

No one can really see into the future and actually predict which security threats will be important or which issues will become significant in 2020. But probabilities can be assessed and what is certain is that today's widely connected world creates more opportunities for cybercriminals and every IT environment becomes a potential target: local networks, cloud, mobile and IoT devices. Nothing is untouchable. Therefore, businesses and users need to arm themselves. One tool is to consider already known advanced threat intelligence to build unified security architectures. This allows companies of all sizes to protect themselves against the new attacks, automate defenses as much as possible, specialize, and look forward with more peace of mind to the threats the new year holds for them.

Author:
Sonja Meindl is Check Point Country Manager Switzerland and Austria.

Success Impulse: Your wrong priorities (and the fatal consequences)

Do you and your team always and at all times have the priorities fully under control and are never "externally controlled"? Do you always achieve what you want? Then you don't need to read any further.

Time pressure, urgent, important: it is the subconscious that controls our priorities. (Image: Pixabay.com)

Everyone else (about 99.9%) who keeps getting absorbed by the urgent before the important, and who spends too much time on reactive activities, should definitely check out the following. It can change your life.

Program the subconscious mind

Our brain is a fascinating organ: Put simply, you can use your conscious mind to program your subconscious mind, through strong emotions and ongoing repetition. This is important because our subconscious mind is responsible for over 99% of our daily decisions. This mechanism leads you to do more and more of what you have done in the past. This realization is critical to your success.

Example: If you are used to spending most of your time as a leader solving urgent problems and putting out emblematic fires, you will get more of that in the future. You multiply what you focus on.

Further examples from practice

If you spend most of your time on problem-solving and fire-fighting exercises, you will also get more and more such problems. If you keep doing the urgent before the important, there will be more and more urgent things in your life. If you spend a lot of time in meetings where neither the urgent nor the important is discussed most of the time, you will have more and more such meetings.

Learning to set priorities correctly

How can you change this negative automatism, for yourself and your team? In principle, in three steps:

  1. Know what's important. Most people have a hard time deciding what is really important. You need to have defined your long-term goals and your mission.
  2. Schedule the important stuff. It sounds almost too simple, but you need to schedule what's important on your calendar for each day. Many people already let themselves be controlled by others by filling their calendar with everything possible.
  3. Doing the important thing. Doing the important thing usually requires creative thinking and initiative. If you don't do it, often no one else will. You are often breaking new ground. That is exhausting. You'd rather spend the next few hours in meetings again...

These insights are simple to understand, but painstaking to implement. Winning teams have their priorities in check - and produce corresponding success.

Anyone can take this path. If you start today and gradually shift your priorities with your team, you will dramatically improve performance - guaranteed!

To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch

New fragrances at SME Day

The Swiss SME Day on October 25 in St.Gallen is history: The event, which was once again sold out, was held under the motto "SMEs in Competition - Delivering instead of Lying". The topic was addressed by the speakers in various facets, entertainingly moderated by Fabian Unteregger.

Moderator Fabian Unteregger chats with two startup entrepreneurs Susanne Dröscher and Martin Fengler. Not only the "Inspiration Session" brought new scents to the SME Day on October 25, 2019. (Image: Thomas Berner)

Tomorrow's competition for SMEs are digital companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook & Co, said host Tobi Wolf in his opening keynote. The strengths of these companies - despite their size - are their willingness to take risks, their test mentality and the fact that growth is more important than profitability. They also focus more on customer orientation and less on product centricity. SMEs, on the other hand, have stable structures, trust, tradition and know-how as strengths. If you combine these with those of digital companies with their "startup mentality," SMEs become unbeatable in competition. This simply requires more courage, leadership, the right people in the right place and - especially important - simply taking a first small step. "A small step can have an enormous impact," said Tobi Wolf, using a domino as an example, where a small block was able to topple even the largest block via a chain reaction.

Tobi Wolf during his opening keynote. (Image: Thomas Berner)

SME Day hemp scents

Roger Koch, founder of the only independent Swiss cigarette manufacturer, chose an unconventional approach to his presentation. He made no secret of his frustration with regulations and the increasing obsession with safety and health. This also has an impact on entrepreneurship: "If managers stop living riskily, how can they still take entrepreneurial risks? He himself set a good example as an entrepreneur: with his cigarette manufacturing company, he entered a high-risk market characterized by oligopolies, heavy regulation and declining consumption. But with the innovation of a new type of hemp cigarettes, he found a niche that may have potential for medical applications. Some of the participants tried this product themselves during the breaks - the scent of smoked hemp was for once also unmistakable at the SME Day...

Roger Koch spoke not only about the scents of the hemp cigarettes developed in his cigarette manufactory, but also about a lot of nonsense that our current "risk-avoidance culture" produces. (Image: Thomas Berner)

Customer orientation above all

Marcus Schögel, Director of the Institute for Marketing at the University of St.Gallen, then spoke about the success factor of customer orientation. "The age of the customer has dawned," he said. Today, he said, the focus must be on thinking about new solutions from the customer's point of view. "Investments in customer centricity pay off," Schögel continued. This also involves building up customer knowledge among employees. This must be achieved by motivating employees to "always want to do the best for the customer.

Startups competing in front of the audience

In an "inspiration session" - this had less to do with the THC content of the air we breathed mentioned above and more to do with a newly introduced program item - four startups were then allowed to present their business model in the form of 8-minute pitches. Kilian Wagner of VIU showed how his company is virtually reinventing the distribution channels for eyewear, which translates into attractive pricing for customers. The company Felfel, presented by CEO Anna Grassler, is supplying more and more businesses with healthy food from a "smart fridge" that automatically reorders when something is missing. Martin Fengler of Meteomatics explained how drones can make weather forecasts even more accurate, which will become an increasingly important service, especially for weather-dependent businesses. And Susanne Dröscher founded the company CARU AG two years ago with a partner. This company has developed a device that uses sensors to monitor the living environment of mobility-impaired people and can send out emergency calls if necessary. In the end, Felfel came off best in the public's favor.

Mountaineer Stephan Siegrist: Nothing works in the high mountains without perseverance. (Image: Thomas Berner)

Of trust and perseverance

The last part of the SME Day was given over to speakers Monika Walser and mountaineer Stephan Siegrist. Monika Walser gave an impressive insight into the first phase of her work as the new CEO of de Sede AG. The first days were marked by mistrust and uncertainty, and it was a Herculean task to rally the workforce behind her again. What proved to be a recipe for success was their honest and transparent communication and the decision - financially risky at the time - to bring the core of production, namely the leather tailoring shop, back in-house. Stephan Siegrist, on the other hand, used the first ascent of a granite wall over 1,000 meters high in Kashmir to show what it means not to give up despite adverse circumstances and to believe in the feasibility of a project right to the end - an obviously clear message to the entrepreneurs as well.

www.kmu-tag.ch

SME Day 2019 Book: Fit for Equity in SMEs

An important, but too little discussed topic in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is "equity". The eighth volume in the "Fit for ..." series by the organizers of the Swiss SME Day therefore provides impulses for everyday SME life and poses critical questions to managers.

Already the eighth volume in the "Fit for..." series: Fit for Justice in SMEs. (Image pd)

The quartet of authors - Urs Fueglistaller, Roger Tinner, Walter Weber and Tobias Wolf agree: "This book is essentially about the question of how we can "do justice" to all our stakeholders in small and medium-sized enterprises: the customers, the employees, the owners or shareholders, the competitors, the state, the public, the family".

This already eighth volume of the series brings - as usual compact and reader-friendly - 7×3 questions and answers on "Fairness and perception of justice in SMEs". The guidebook provides tips on how to approach justice in everyday business life and poses critical questions for SME managers, who can use them to examine and compare their own attitudes and actions.

Central role of justice

"Equity," is the authors' main thesis, "plays a central role in small and medium-sized enterprises from their foundation to succession planning. Consciously discussed and reflected upon, the topic is (still and unfortunately) too little." The aim here is not for readers to know exactly what equity is at the end (nor do the authors). Rather, they want to ask the questions that will make it easier for SME CEOs to become fairer to themselves and others in their everyday lives.

Eighth volume of a proven book series

"Fit for Justice in SMEs" encourages entrepreneurs to bring the abstract-seeming but very concrete topic of justice more into everyday life. The book "Fit für Gerechtigkeit in KMU - 7×3 Fragen und Antworten zu Fairness und Verantwortung in KMU" is published by KMU Verlag HSG and can be ordered under www.kmu-tag.ch/buchbestellung be ordered.

Decide - motivate - take responsibility

For the sixth time, the santé & entreprise network hosted the Health LeaderSHIP on Lake Biel. Around 35 network members and guests met on board the Mobicat solar catamaran for an informative exchange on key leadership issues.

Mathias Müller provided practical input on the essence of leadership: deciding, motivating, taking responsibility. (Image: Thomas Berner)

The range of topics was broad: making decisions, motivating, taking responsibility, but also self-reflection, allowing criticism or personal well-being in leadership roles were discussed and debated on the afternoon of October 23, 2019.

Leadership is more than just making decisions

The event began with an input presentation by Mathias Müller. He is a studied psychologist, politician, book author and professional officer of the Swiss Army. In his current function, he is responsible for the annual recruitment of new soldiers. His definition of leadership is also found in the service regulations of the Armed Forces: "To direct the actions of subordinates toward the achievement of a goal." And to do that, it requires the following three duties: Deciding, motivating (by conveying meaning) and taking responsibility. Using various personally experienced examples, he showed that leadership is anything but just giving orders. The personal value compass always plays a role, he said: "Nobody wants to act badly. People always want to do well," Müller said. But, of course, he conceded that what one person thinks is good can also be bad for others. A boss must also know the strengths and weaknesses of his subordinates well. This is another essence of good leadership, he said. And on the subject of "wrong decisions," Mathias Müller advised the audience to allow criticism and to "learn instead of regret.

Variety of topics communicated holistically

Impression from the World Cafés: Leadership needs the right framework conditions - "well-being" is also part of it. (Image: Thomas Berner)

Afterwards, there was an opportunity to find out more about the offerings of various companies from the santé & entreprise network. Beat Rüfli, Managing Director of the network, which now has a considerable number of members in the Espace Mittelland region, succeeded in offering a mix of topics that at first glance seemed unusual. But on closer inspection and in the discussions between the participants, it became clear to what extent these topics are directly related to each other. Those who do not feel well work ineffectively, which influences the quality of decisions and has corresponding consequences. Therefore, not only "leadership" itself was discussed, but also, for example, needs-oriented nutrition or motivation and spirit - the chosen method of World Cafés allowed for a correspondingly lively interaction. The cruise on Lake Biel with the solar-powered catamaran Mobicat provided a correspondingly harmonious setting.

More information about the network: www.santeprise.ch

Working world 4.0: Change is taking place without employees

The study by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW shows that Working World 4.0 (also known as "New Work") is an important part of the digital transformation of companies. 88% of the participating companies are transforming their working world, but only around half of these companies involve their employees in the process.

A new study on the world of work 4.0 shows: Transformation is taking place without employees. (Image: zVg)

Following the first major Swiss study on digital transformation two years ago, the second research volume on Working World 4.0 is now available. Authors from the School of Business FHNW and the School of Applied Psychology FHNW as well as the Future Work Group examined the state of New Work through a broad-based study with 1,144 participants.

No strategy for working world 4.0

Key findings of the study are:

  • Only 12% of the companies surveyed have already reached an advanced stage in New Work; 45% of the companies are in the process of transformation and 43% are still in the early stages.
  • 76% of the companies do not have a strategy on New Work or the employees are not aware of it.
  • 58% of companies do not involve employees in the design of Working World 4.0.
  • The biggest barriers for companies are lack of knowledge/know-how (42%), existing leadership and organizational structures that are sometimes rigid (41%), and conflicts with other company priorities (35%).
  • The top reasons for New Work are pressure to innovate (66%), better internal communication (64%), and gaining more flexibility (55%).

New Work as a Strategic Initiative

The study shows that Working World 4.0 is part of the digital transformation of companies. New Work can be described as a strategic initiative that unleashes the potential of optimized processes, automation, increased collaboration and networking, and the use of technologies in the context of people and especially employees. The three dimensions of people (employees), place (working environment) and technology (technologies) are at the heart of New Work.

According to the head of the study, Prof. Dr. Marc K. Peter from the Institute for Competitiveness and Communication at the FHNW School of Business, each dimension has its own characteristics. In the People dimension, the topics of corporate and leadership culture, collaboration, employer reputation, and employee training and development are highly weighted. In the modern working environment (Place), there is a need for flexible working hours, and in the technology dimension (Technology), targeted hardware and software investments support the transformation to the working world 4.0.

The research project was supported by Health Promotion Switzerland, Sedus Stoll, Sharp Electronics and Lenovo, among others. The study results and the practical guide to the working world 4.0 are available free of charge in PDF format at www.arbeitswelt-zukunft.ch

New course on bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination

The cleaning industry continues to implement its education offensive with great vigor. Corinne Schärer, Vice President of the Joint Commission of the Cleaning Industry (PK Reinigung) and Central Secretary of Unia, explains the importance of education for the cleaning industry.

New course on bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination in the cleaning industry: Corinne Schärer explains the motives. (Image: zVg)

In German-speaking Switzerland, 65,000 people are employed in the cleaning industry. Many employees have a migration background and do not yet have a high level of proficiency in the national language. The cleaning industry offers them the opportunity to gain a foothold in a versatile, but also increasingly demanding profession. They can also take advantage of numerous opportunities for ongoing on-the-job training.

Practice-oriented vocational training

Corinne Schärer is Vice President of the PK Reinigung and represents the interests of the employees. The central secretary and head of Unia's policy department is convinced that education is essential for the cleaning industry, starting with language skills: "Cleaners must be able to communicate and understand what jobs they have to do. Those who have a good knowledge of the job will advance professionally and personally. The entire industry benefits from this, because customer requirements are also increasing in the cleaning sector. Better trained employees provide better service to customers - so everyone is satisfied." The Vice President of the PK Reinigung emphasizes that the way in which education is provided is crucial: "Education must start with the individual - with his or her competencies. Vocational training in particular must be very practice-oriented. Education is very important for the development of the cleaning industry, but also overall for the future of our society, especially the world of work. For individuals, it's the opportunity to advance professionally and do interesting jobs." (Video Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCSVlbwyygE)

"Respect in the Workplace: New course on bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination

The numerous services offered by PK Reinigung are actively used. The German courses alone were attended by around 900 people in 2018. In 2018, PK Reinigung successfully introduced the wage-relevant CLA training course. Starting in October 2019, a new 2-part course on mobbing, sexual harassment and discrimination will be held. In the basic and in-depth module, employees and managers acquire the necessary knowledge to recognize cases of bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination. They learn how to react appropriately and take the necessary steps. They test concrete actions. Social pedagogue Lu Decurtins is one of six experts who developed the course. He formulates his personal wish for the cleaning industry: "Employees should feel strong, have a secure position and stand up for their rights."

More information: www.reineprofis.ch

Practice Dialogue "Emotional Intelligence: Common Denominator of Inclusive Leadership?"

Under the title "Emotional Intelligence", the Practical Dialogue on November 20, 2019, will shed light on what leadership style is needed in today's world.

These are the keynote speakers at the third Female Business Seminars Practice Dialogue: HR strategist Yves Givel, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Nicole Brandes, and top golfer and young entrepreneur Fabienne In-Albon. (Image: Female Business Seminars)

For the third time, Female Business Seminars, a company specializing in gender diversity, is holding its practical dialogue, which will take place on November 20, as it did last year, in the Porsche Centre Zurich (Schlieren) will take place. Around the topic "Emotional intelligence: common denominator for inclusive leadership?" a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Karin Jeker will shed light on what today's times need for a leadership style, what room there is for emotions alongside all the digitality, and whether EQ advances men and women equally and contributes to more sustainable leadership.

Look forward to keynote speaker and book author Nicole Brandes, HR Strategist Yves Givel, Hyatt Hotels Corporation and top golfer and young entrepreneur Fabienne In-Albon. This is a "Welcome Ladies & Gentlemen" occasion, so men are also welcome.

There are still a few places available; ORGANISATOR readers can still register until the end of October at the preferential price of CHF 65.- (instead of CHF 85.-) by calling https://www.femalebusinessseminars.ch/veranstaltungen/fb-praxisdialog-2019 (promotion code: organizer2019)

Mind the gap: synergies between risk and insurance management

Ideally, risk and insurance management should go hand in hand. Practice often deviates from this ideal. However, the combination of both instruments favors a better understanding of risk, optimized risk costs, and more needs-based insurance solutions.

Risk and insurance management: Which risks should be borne by the company itself should be decided on a fact-based basis. (Image: Pixabay.com)

In recent years, risk management has developed into a popular instrument for corporate planning and control. Whereas in the past it was mainly large companies that made use of it, today more and more SMEs are also recognizing and utilizing the added value of proactively dealing with risks. When companies engage in risk management, they primarily aim to create transparency about their own risk situation, according to the results of a study conducted by the Funk Group. After their identification, analysis and evaluation, the most important risks are treated with proactive and reactive measures, which can mainly be assigned to the risk strategies "Avoid", "Reduce", "Carry yourself " and "Transfer".

Depending on the industry and activity, approximately 20-30% of all corporate risks are transferable to insurance companies. Consequently, insurance management should definitely be considered and handled as a sub-discipline of risk management. All the more surprising is the fact that both disciplines are organized in silos in many companies. While risk management is usually anchored at the strategic or operational level and thus falls under the responsibility of the board of directors, executive management or quality management, insurance management is often the joint responsibility of different departments such as finance/accounting, human resources or legal services/compliance. This is a suboptimal constellation that promotes information barriers and makes it difficult to link the two disciplines.

Link importance

The importance of aligning content and insights between risk and insurance management becomes apparent when considering the risks addressed therein. Insurance has its raison d'être due to uncertainties and the cost benefits of collective risk bearing. Most insurance solutions reduce the impact of existence-threatening risks with a high extent of damage and low probability of occurrence (fire, natural hazards, defective products, etc.) or particularly frequent risks with a low extent of damage and high probability of occurrence (illness, occupational accidents, collisions, etc.). For the former type of risk, risk-adjusted insurance solutions are essential. If the actual risk is unknowingly significantly higher than the purchased sum insured or coverage, this is referred to as underinsurance. The occurrence of risks that threaten the existence of a company can put an underinsured company in a serious predicament. Equally unfavorable is overinsurance, where the purchased coverage range is unknowingly significantly higher than the effective risk. In this case, a company pays insurance premiums for a non-existent risk instead of putting this capital to good use in its own business activities. The signals about the actual amount of insurable risks or the effective risk can be sent from the risk management to the insurance management in order to ensure risk-adjusted insurance solutions.

Insurability and multivariate risk assessment as links

The information barriers can be overcome by means of minor changes in the organizational and methodological design of risk management. It is imperative to involve insurance managers in risk analyses and workshops in order to promote risk understanding. At the very least, those responsible for insurance, including insurance brokers, should be included in the distribution list of the regularly prepared risk report for the attention of the board of directors. Also under obligation are the insurance officers, whose responsibilities ideally include reviewing the insurability or insurability of the relevant risks. To facilitate this review, some methodological adjustments in risk management are useful. In insurance policies, insured risks (causes) as well as insured losses and costs (effects) are explicitly defined. Recording and documenting the causes of individual risks as part of risk identification and analysis greatly simplifies the comparison with insurable and currently insured causes and hazards.

Expand risk assessment

Furthermore, it is advisable to extend the classic two-dimensional risk assessment according to probability of occurrence and extent of damage by additional variables. In particular, the impact of a risk can be assessed in addition to financial damage according to property damage (equipment, machines, server rooms, parts of buildings, etc.), personal injury (minor injuries, serious injuries, disability, death, etc.) and business interruption (a few hours to several days or weeks), thus providing important impulses for those responsible for insurance. Other variables - depending on the industry and the company's activities - could be environmental damage, compliance violations or reputational damage.

A data breach may not result in property damage or personal injury, but it may have a negative impact on reputation and cause various additional expenses and costs (e.g., for notifying the affected parties). In contrast, a natural hazard (e.g., flooding) causes mainly physical damage and can also lead to business interruption. Finally, a defectively designed product could result in personal injury and property damage, damage a company's reputation, and result in a business interruption (re-engineering of the product). This multivariate risk assessment allows conclusions to be drawn about the insurability of risks and, in combination with the causes, provides indications as to whether a risk could be covered under cyber, property, business interruption, liability insurance or another insurance solution.

Decide based on facts

In principle, a risk is insurable if it is assessed as critical or relevant and is insurable. Nevertheless, insurable risks are at least partially borne by the company itself on the basis of its individual risk-bearing capacity and risk appetite. It is important that the decision on the extent of self-bearing is made consciously and - if possible - based on facts. The organizational and methodological extensions of risk management described above and the link with insurance management create actual transparency about the risk situation and simplify the decision for or against an insurance solution or a specific coverage module. The reconciliation of the risk assessment and thus the effective risk with the current insurance sums also prevents underinsurance and overinsurance and promotes needs-based insurance solutions.

Author:
Max Keller heads the Funk RiskLab at Funk Insurance Brokers AG.
www.funk-gruppe.ch

Digital Workplace: How to reduce your IT costs

Digitizing the workplace helps reduce your IT costs. We demonstrate the benefits of a virtual desktop concept with an example.

Virtual desktops make it possible to work with any end device such as a laptop or tablet from any location with an Internet connection. IT costs can be kept low. (Image: Pixabay.com)

What is a virtual workstation? This is an invisible desktop computer, i.e. a virtual desktop, which is available around the clock and from any location. All that is required is Internet access and any terminal device with a display and keyboard, such as a laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc. Digitizing the workplace helps reduce your IT costs.

We demonstrate the benefits of a virtual desktop concept with this example:

  1. Some virtual desktop providers charge a fixed price per user and month. Others calculate on the basis of actual usage behavior, which is why the amount varies each month. In the former case, the digital workstation is combined with services such as mail and office products and other applications, which are billed monthly. This makes it possible to determine exactly how much a virtual desktop costs in total per month. This cost transparency creates a high level of added value.
  2. Another advantage is that users can use their own device. Thus, hardware does not have to be procured at a periodic interval. If older equipment is available, one product is particularly suitable for reducing costs: the UD Pocket from IGEL - a small USB stick for changing workspace environments - is an effective means of continuing to use old, already depreciated hardware as a thin client. Companies plug the UD Pocket Stick into any endpoint, launch Citrix applications and are connected to their corporate desktop. With a virtual desktop, performance is delivered in the data center. Therefore, the devices and network nodes in the company get by with little computing power. The UD Pocket is used by companies to implement the security policy; it is exclusively responsible for displaying the desktop.

To the author:
Thomas Bossard is ICT Architect at GIA Informatik AG in Oftringen.

SAP on Azure: What is this public cloud solution from Microsoft capable of?

An inventory of the most important questions about the public cloud solution SAP on Azure by GIA and other SAP solutions.

An SAP on Azure by GIA is available within a few hours and is ideally suited for an SAP S/4HANA sandbox. (Image: zVg / GIA Informatik)

Why is SAP on Azure by GIA from Microsoft important?

The public cloud solution in the form of a managed service, SAP on Azure by GIA, makes sense for companies with a "cloud first" strategy, a broad Microsoft product range and for companies with a global focus and the desire for local support from Microsoft Azure specialist GIA Informatik AG. This SAP solution for Azure is available within a few hours and is ideally suited for an SAP S/4HANA sandbox. There is no need to invest in new hardware.

Three facts about SAP on Azure by GIA from Microsoft

  • SAP on Azure by GIA from Microsoft Azure is globally available and highly scalable.
  • Microsoft Azure has strategic partnerships with German software vendor SAP, Nuremberg-based German software company Suse, and U.S. software vendor Red Hat.
  • All SAP-supported databases - including non-HANA systems - can be migrated to the Azure Cloud.

Four tips about SAP on Azure that I need to know

  • Microsoft's SAP solution for Azure is not a cost-cutting exercise.
  • The costs for this Azure solution are not exactly predictable.
  • The SAP system solution for Azure requires a modern network and security know-how at the companies on the customer side.
  • This SAP system solution for Azure requires specialist personnel for the cloud on the customer side.

What does SAP on Azure offer?

With the services in the Azure Cloud, SAP systems close to other systems - preferably Microsoft products such as Office 365, Active Directory and File Services - can be set up quickly and highly scalable at worldwide locations within a few hours and without investment costs. For SAP Basis operations, there are no significant changes compared to the SAP application from a private cloud or an OnPremise solution. GIA Informatik AG analyzes clients' concerns and puts together a mix of cloud services tailored to them, such as private cloud, public cloud services and on-premise solutions in the SAP and IT environment as a general contractor.

How do I protect and manage SAP on Azure?

The very high security standards of Microsoft data centers offer companies a high level of protection for customer data. SAP on Azure offers global disaster tolerance with its worldwide data centers. The operation of an SAP IT landscape in the Azure cloud is identical to that of an on-premise landscape.

Author:
Roger Lussi is Deputy Head of SAP Technology at GIA Informatik AG. www.gia.ch

 

The good spirit in the company - video series, part 3

A visit with Selina and Ruedi Bauberger, who have successfully passed on their business. A video series in five parts - here now the third part.

Under the title "The good spirit in the company" we follow the story of an ideally regulated company succession. Bruno Aregger, founder and owner of APPLETREE, accompanied Ruedi and Selina Bauberger of Bauberger AG, the Swiss general contractor for industrial relocation, machine assembly and maintenance, during their company succession. In an interview with them, he shows how a generational change can be optimally successful. The third part of the video series deals with the question of how to find the right buyer for the company to be handed over and what Ruedi and Selina Bauberger paid particular attention to in the process.

To be continued. You can find the first two parts of the video series here and here.

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