Cloud Computing

The next time you're at a sporting event, a retail mall, or the airport, count how many cell phones are in use as evidence that design and development should be a mobile-first approach. Some of the people you'll encounter won't ever put their smartphones down, wholly engaged with making in-app purchases, checking their social network accounts, reading the news, and, of course, interacting. Additionally, the mobile device trend extends beyond consumer use to enterprise functionality, providing employees with continual access to the apps and data they need.

The complexity and magnitude of environmental concerns in food systems present significant challenges to building sustainable operations. Global food supply chains, for example, account for one-third of human-produced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions each year. During a product’s lifecycle, processes related to fuel and energy consumption, food production, and transportation continuously emit gasses into the atmosphere. Cargo transportation alone is responsible for 8% of global GHG emissions.

The chief sustainability officer of The Home Depot, Ron Jarvis, said that there are no environmentally friendly companies, and everything we do has an environmental impact with risks across the board, whether by carbon emissions, chemical exposure, or deforestation. 

In a recent article in Forbes, I wrote about how the current labor shortage of 4.6 million workers—the greatest since the World War II era—is plaguing industries from IT services and security, to manufacturing and retail, as well as transportation and the flow of goods in many areas. By having to take on too many responsibilities to fill labor gaps, workers become less efficient, and therefore less productive, which from an IT perspective can leave the organization vulnerable to cyberattacks.

In 2021, ransomware attacks have risen by 62% worldwide, and 158 percent in North America. After Ransomware attacks on major organizations such as Colonial Pipeline, JBS Foods, and others, made headlines last year, more businesses than ever are reviewing their cybersecurity practices to shore up defenses and protect their data.

Most organizations, regardless of size or industry, will be the victim of one or more ransomware attacks. IT systems are the foundation of a business and any downtime from ransomware attacks or viruses can lead to business disruptions, lost revenue, or even lost customers. It’s critical to be prepared for an event such as this, while hoping it never happens.

For companies who are looking to boost their security frameworks, many are turning to cloud-based solutions, such as an ERP software suite of applications, which already offers increased layers of protection and risk mitigation that employs a security-first approach with automated checks and layers to the system. In partnership with the service provider, companies who implement security monitoring and access controls can ensure access to applications hosted in the cloud remain secure. The flexibility of the cloud makes it more functional to connect various networks together and layer in security throughout, rather than having separate systems that are difficult to maintain and track on one centralized platform.