David Krauthamer • Staff Writer

Summer is the perfect time to relax and recharge, and it’s also an excellent opportunity to invest in your professional and personal development. Whether you’re a CIO, CTO, or an IT enthusiast, we’ve curated the ultimate reading list to keep you informed, inspired, and ahead of the curve. Here are our top recommendations for summer reads: 

Top 5 Must-Reads for CIOs 

“Digital Transformation” by Thomas M. Siebel 

Thomas Siebel explores the disruptions caused by AI, cloud computing, big data, and IoT, offering insights on how CIOs can leverage these technologies to drive digital transformation within their organizations. 

“The Phoenix Project” by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford 

A novel about IT management, this book illustrates how to apply DevOps principles to improve IT operations and achieve business goals. This is a must-read for any CIO aiming to align IT with broader business objectives. 

“Measure What Matters” by John Doerr 

This book introduces the concept of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and how they can drive innovation. Doerr provides real-world examples from companies like Google and Intel, making it highly relevant for CIOs. 

“Team of Teams” by General Stanley McChrystal 

McChrystal compellingly argues why adaptability and decentralized decision-making are crucial in today’s complex business environment, providing practical advice for CIOs managing large teams. 

“IT Business Partnerships” by Joseph Topinka 

Focused on building a value-driven IT organization, this book lays out strategies for CIOs to forge effective partnerships within their businesses, ensuring IT initiatives align with company goals. 

Essential Summer Picks for CTOs 

“The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries 

Ries offers a framework for innovation and entrepreneurship within businesses. This book is invaluable for CTOs looking to foster a culture of continuous improvement and rapid prototyping. 

“High Output Management” by Andrew S. Grove 

Written by the former CEO of Intel, this classic book provides actionable insights on managing and scaling engineering teams, making it a must-read for CTOs. 

“The Innovator’s Dilemma” by Clayton Christensen 

Christensen’s groundbreaking work on disruptive innovation offers critical lessons for CTOs looking to lead their organizations through technological changes and maintain a competitive edge. 

“Lean Enterprise” by Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky, and Barry O’Reilly 

This book dives into lean principles and practices tailored to large enterprises. It’s essential for CTOs focused on driving efficiency and innovation at scale. 

“The Pragmatic Programmer” by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas 

A timeless guide that covers practical tips for software development, this book is ideal for CTOs who want to ensure their teams are both productive and innovative. 

Engaging Reads for IT Workers

“Hacking Growth” by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown 

Learn how to implement growth hacking techniques to drive user acquisition and retention, a valuable read for IT workers involved in product development and marketing. 

“Cybersecurity and Cyberwar” by P.W. Singer and Allan Friedman 

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the current cybersecurity landscape and its implications, making it a crucial read for IT professionals focused on security. 

“Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans” by Melanie Mitchell 

Mitchell demystifies AI, explaining its capabilities and limitations. It’s an engaging read for IT workers interested in understanding AI and its future applications. 

“Automate This” by Christopher Steiner 

Explore how algorithms are taking over various industries and what this means for the future of work. It’s a fascinating read for IT workers curious about automation. 

“Clean Code” by Robert C. Martin 

A go-to manual for writing clean, maintainable code, this book is essential for IT workers aiming to improve their coding practices and software quality. 

5 Tips for Making the Most of Your Summer Reading List 

1. Create a Reading Routine. Dedicate a specific time each day for reading. Whether it’s during your morning coffee or before bed, consistency is key to making progress. 

2. Join a Book Club or Discussion Group. Engage with others who share your interests. Discussing books can deepen your understanding and provide new perspectives. 

3. Take Notes and Apply Learnings. Keep a journal of key takeaways and actionable insights. Apply these learnings to your professional life to see real benefits. 

4. Mix Genres and Formats. Don’t limit yourself to just one type of book or format. Mix it up with audiobooks, e-books, and physical copies to keep things interesting. 

5. Set Achievable Goals. Set realistic reading goals to stay motivated. Whether it’s one book a month or a chapter a day, having a goal helps keep you on track. 

Conclusion

Summer is the perfect time to expand your horizons through reading. Whether you’re a CIO, CTO, or IT worker, these books and the knowledge they contain will help you stay ahead in your profession while also providing some much-needed relaxation. 

Remember to share what you learn with your leadership, colleagues, business partners, and teams. Plus, books make the ultimate gift. Happy reading! 

The post Essential Summer Reads for Technology Leaders appeared first on Compucom.

Emma Mak • Staff Writer

Cybersecurity threats are a critical challenge for organizations across all sectors. The constantly evolving threat landscape necessitates innovative and collaborative solutions to protect sensitive data and maintain operational integrity. This is why Cisco’s acquisition of Splunk on March 18 of this year makes so much sense.

Together, Cisco’s networking expertise and Splunk’s observability capabilities provide the most comprehensive security solution for threat prevention, detection, investigation, and response.

A Win for Customers: A Comprehensive Security Framework

Cisco’s acquisition of Splunk represents a monumental step forward in cybersecurity, offering multiple benefits. The most significant is the integration of Splunk’s observability and data analysis capabilities with Cisco’s robust networking and security solutions. This combination enables organizations to have a unified security posture, bridging the gap between networking and security operations for more efficient threat management.

Customers will greatly benefit from enhanced visibility into their IT environments, allowing for better monitoring and faster detection of anomalies. Splunk’s data analytics platforms will now leverage Cisco’s extensive network telemetry, providing comprehensive insights into user behavior, network performance, and potential threats. This holistic view facilitates rapid identification and response to security incidents, reducing the time to mitigate threats and minimizing potential damage.

Moreover, Cisco and Splunk’s combined forces harness the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning, offering predictive analytics that can foresee and prevent cyber threats before they become a problem. This proactive approach to cybersecurity enhances operational efficiency and fortifies the protective measures surrounding sensitive data and critical systems.

The seamless integration of these technologies promises reduced complexity in security architecture for customers. With a unified platform, organizations can lower the total cost of ownership and reduce the need for multiple, disparate security tools – simplifying management and making for more effective security strategies.

Industries That Will Benefit the Most

While the comprehensive cybersecurity solution forged by Cisco’s acquisition of Splunk offers advantages for a wide array of industries, certain sectors stand to gain the most from this alliance. The finance, healthcare, and retail industries will particularly benefit.

Finance Sector: Financial institutions are prime targets for cyberattacks because of the high value of the data they manage. The combined observability and data analytics capabilities equip banks and financial firms with tools for real-time threat detection and mitigation. This protects sensitive customer information and financial assets while complying with stringent regulatory requirements.

Healthcare Industry: The healthcare sector deals with sensitive patient data that is critical to both privacy and clinical operations. Enhanced visibility and security are paramount to prevent breaches that could compromise patient care and data integrity. By leveraging the combined strengths of Cisco and Splunk, healthcare organizations can protect electronic health records (EHRs), ensure the integrity of medical devices, and maintain compliance with health information privacy regulations such as HIPAA.

Retail Industry: In the retail sector, the emphasis is on securing payment systems and safeguarding customer information against breaches. Retailers can benefit from the AI-driven threat prediction and prevention systems offered by Cisco and Splunk, ensuring that both in-store and online transactions are secure. By implementing a unified security framework, retailers can protect customer data and reinforce trust, which is crucial for maintaining brand reputation and customer loyalty.

While many industries can reap the benefits of a comprehensive security solution, the finance, healthcare, and retail sectors stand to gain the most due to their high stakes in data security, regulatory compliance, and the need for real-time threat detection and mitigation.

What Compucom Brings to the Table

We’re a Cisco Master Security Partner, and now a Splunk partner, with multiple certifications in the US and Canada and over 20 years of collaborating with Cisco. What we bring to this alliance is our experience and knowledge of Cisco solutions and observability, as well as our general expertise in IT services and managed solutions. Our knowledge in deploying and maintaining technology solutions ensures that organizations can implement these advanced tools seamlessly and maintain them effectively over time.

This triad of capabilities — networking, observability, and managed services — provides a holistic approach to cybersecurity. Together, our partnership gains organizations a panoramic view of the threat landscape and the tools needed to mitigate risks effectively.

Enhancing cybersecurity requires more than state-of-the-art technology; it demands collaboration and continuous innovation. The partnership between Splunk, Cisco, and Compucom provides organizations with a safer and more secure digital environment. We are committed to delivering innovative, efficient, and comprehensive security solutions that address the complexities of the modern threat landscape for our customers.

The post Partners in Strengthening Cybersecurity: Cisco, Splunk, and Compucom appeared first on Compucom.

Emma Mak • Staff Writer

Amidst the turbulence of recent years, patients have observed how healthcare, a former laggard in providing fast, convenient, digitally enabled experiences, was quick to innovate. And now they’re not easing up — holding providers accountable to maintain that innovation momentum. 

Digital transformation used to mainly refer to turning paper processes digital. Now, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technologies, it often means thinking outside the box (or outside the hospital walls) to create new and innovative ways of improving processes, reducing costs, and delivering better patient care and outcomes to satisfy healthcare’s “consumers.” Let’s explore what consumer patients now expect and how digital transformation can help healthcare organizations deliver. 

The Intersection of Digital Transformation and High Patient Expectations 

Being a patient is stressful, and it just makes sense that they’ll appreciate healthcare providers’ efforts to make processes more streamlined and convenient. According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), provider organizations must work on “developing and implementing a tightly integrated mobile strategy that ties together all consumer-facing digital elements to create a seamless experience throughout the patient journey.”

Studies also show that most patients want to leverage technology to self-manage their care, have telehealth available, and schedule, change, and cancel appointments online. An effective strategy could include the following components:

1. Fast and Convenient Interactions

• AI Chatbots: These virtual assistants can handle routine queries and appointment scheduling and provide some general health information 24/7. They’re a quick way for patients to get answers, reducing the need for phone calls or in-person visits, which allows healthcare staff to focus on more complex tasks.
• Cloud-Based Appointment Systems: Cloud platforms enable seamless appointment booking, rescheduling, and reminders. Patients can access these services from anywhere, making them super convenient. Providers can analyze appointment data for optimization.

2. Digital Solutions

• Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the Cloud: Cloud-based EHRs allow seamless data sharing among providers and easy scalability for growing data volumes.
• Telemedicine Platforms: Telehealth solutions enable virtual consultations, improving access for patients and making a great step towards healthcare access equality for rural and elderly patients.
• Mobile Health Apps: Cloud-based apps support health tracking, medication reminders, and personalized recommendations. Using them can keep patients actively participating in their health management and allow for easy data collection of health metrics to inform clinicians’ decisions.

3. Personalized Treatment Options

• AI-Driven Personalization: AI can help clinicians tailor treatment plans based on the analysis of patient data, including medical history, genetics, and lifestyle. Predictions can be made for optimal drug choices, and risk assessment can help avoid potential adverse effects.
• Patient Portals: Portals on the cloud empower patients to have access to test results, treatment plans, and educational materials. Patients are better able to self-manage their personal information and preferences and can securely message with their providers. 

How an MSP Can Help with Healthcare Digital Transformation 

A managed service provider can play a crucial role in supporting healthcare organizations as they navigate the intersection of patient expectations, digital transformation, and cost-effectiveness.  

Infrastructure and Cloud Services

Healthcare cloud usage is gradually replacing on-premises infrastructure. However, many healthcare providers are still early in the process and have yet to adopt mature solutions that maximize the benefits of the cloud and the opportunities it brings for better patient experience and care.

When selecting the right cloud platform to ensure security, scalability, and cost optimization, an experienced MSP can guide you to the right solution and take care of deployment and maintenance. Ensure the MSP you select has experienced resources who can properly integrate AI for IT Operations (AIOps) platform tools to ensure your infrastructure is properly monitored, optimized, and managed.

An MSP can also help with data center management, ensuring high availability, disaster recovery, and compliance with industry standards such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Security and Compliance

While healthcare organizations must look to innovate and provide consumer-like experiences for patients, this must not be at the expense of losing privacy. Healthcare organizations are a favorite target of cybercriminals due to their data’s high monetary and intelligence value, including intellectual property and patients’ health records and financial information. Staying on top of constant threats can be too much for a healthcare provider’s internal team.

An experienced MSP can help make improvements that will enhance your cybersecurity posture. By conducting vulnerability assessments and designing and implementing robust security measures, an MSP with trusted security partners, such as Cisco and Stratejm, can help protect patient data, ensure compliance with regulations, and coordinate solutions that monitor for ongoing threats. 

Compucom: An Ideal Partner for Elevating Patient Digital Experience

Compucom offers a comprehensive portfolio of services, encompassing Technology Sourcing, Managed Services and IT Support, and Projects and Professional services, including IT staffing, to help you reach your digital transformation goals.

By getting multiple services from one provider, you simplify IT and gain a strategic partner who deeply understands your operations and can add value to all aspects of your business. Look to us for all things IT so you can give your patients great digital experiences while you meet their healthcare needs.

The post Digital Transformation and the Rising Expectations of Patients as Consumers appeared first on Compucom.

Fred Ibrahimsha • Cybersecurity Solutions Practice Lead

The increased pace of digital transformation in healthcare over the past few years, with improvements such as patient record access from mobile devices, has improved patient care and streamlined workflows. However, it has also introduced new data security and privacy risks for electronic health records (EHR). This is especially alarming with the current rate and sophistication of cyberattacks.  

While steps must be taken to protect patients and ensure HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) compliance, it’s vitally important that security measures don’t burden healthcare staff or delay patient care by reducing the usability of their devices.  

Don’t Mess with HIPAA 

HIPAA compliance is not only a legal obligation under federal law but also a business imperative. Failing to comply can result in civil and criminal penalties of over a million dollars per year for each identical violation. Even greater costs can come for healthcare organizations from the resulting reputational damage and loss of business, not to mention harm to the affected individuals whose electronic protected health information (ePHI) may be exposed, stolen, or misused. 

Best Practices to Help Meet HIPAA’s Stringent Requirements 

Users and devices are often the weakest link in the security chain and the most common target of attacks in an industry that is a favorite target for criminals. In 2023, there were 809 incidents involving data compromise in the US healthcare sector — an all-time high.  

Device security is a critical component of HIPAA compliance. With your hardworking healthcare staff already under pressure, it’s unwise to force them to choose between compliance or providing timely patient care, which can happen when staff must jump through hoops for security on their devices.

There are several ways managed services providers (MSP) can help you meet HIPAA’s regulations while ensuring technology is usable and efficient for healthcare staff. 

Modern Device Management

With Modern Device Management (MDM), a healthcare organization can oversee and control all devices within their network so they can ensure the devices are secure, compliant, and optimized. Key aspects of MDM include:

• Configuration management
• Patch management
• Device inventory management
• Remote monitoring and troubleshooting

Effective device management improves security by preventing unauthorized access, enforcing security policies, and minimizing risks. Ensuring devices are well maintained also helps healthcare staff remain productive.

Device Lifecycle Services

While it’s convenient for clinicians and hospital staff to use smartphones and tablets, loss, misplacement, or theft becomes more common with mobile devices. To protect sensitive data, there must be accountability for these devices throughout their lifecycle.

Device Lifecycle services cover the entire lifespan of a device, from acquisition to disposal. Key stages include:

• Procurement: Selecting devices with security considerations in mind.
• Provisioning: Setting up essential security settings and installing necessary software.
• Maintenance: Regularly updating, patching, and monitoring devices.
• Disposition: Ensuring a secure retirement process, including wiping sensitive data and proper disposal of devices.

Compucom can provide a single chain of custody for your assets with services performed in-house at our secure Advanced Configuration Centers, giving you the accountability and peace of mind you need for compliance with requirements like HIPAA.  

Zero Trust

Zero Trust is a security framework that assumes no implicit trust for any user or device, even from within the network. Unlike perimeter-based security, it operates under the assumption that breaches will happen and takes a more cautious approach. Some main principles of Zero Trust include:

• Least privilege access: Providing users and devices with only essential access rights.
• Micro-segmentation: Isolating network segments to limit lateral movement and minimize the damage of any potential breach.
• Continuous authentication and authorization: Verifying user and device identity for every interaction.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) fits into the Zero Trust model. It requires users to provide multiple authentication factors, such as a password, a one-time PIN, or biometrics, to access resources. By combining something the user knows (a password) with something they have (a smartphone), MFA enhances security. 

Modern Device Management

In our five-part AIOps series, we’ve explained what it is, how it works (part 1 and part 2), and offered advice on how to go beyond the hype to get its full advantages (hint: it’s all about the proper integration of toolsets with your IT systems). Finally, we’ve concluded with some real-world examples of its benefits.

To optimize IT operations, your IT team needs to understand the big picture by correlating metrics, events, and logs and then connecting the dots to figure out solutions. AIOps gives them automation and advanced tools to help them achieve that.

Partner with a provider with real-world experience, like Compucom, and go beyond the buzzword to truly effective AIOps. 

Compucom Helps Customers with Compliance and Usability

We’re focused on our healthcare customers meeting their business goals. This usually means helping them meet strict compliance requirements while simultaneously ensuring their staff have a digital experience that will keep them productive.  

For example, we often recommend and help customers implement Cisco Duo to enhance the usability of Multi-Factor Authentication while maintaining robust security and compliance with HIPAA and EPCS (Electronic Prescription of Controlled Substances). Cisco Duo can help achieve this balance through: 

• Non-disruptive and risk-based authentication: A fast and seamless login experience, with increased security for more risky login attempts.
• Quick integration: Easily added to any application on any device from anywhere. This ensures users frictionless access to resources such as Epic.
• Flexibility: Authentication can happen through several methods, such as the Duo Push mobile app, biometrics, or tokens.
• Prescriptions from anywhere: Duo’s MFA allows user to self-enroll and approve e-prescriptions from their smartphones. 

Staying on top of constant threats can be a lot for a healthcare provider’s internal team. Through our partnerships with industry leaders such as Cisco, we can help you stay ahead of the threats. 

A Trusted Partner for Healthcare 

We’ve designed our comprehensive portfolio of IT services to provide the sourcing, integration, and support you need for your technology. Let us be your one-stop shop for all things IT, freeing up time for your internal teams to focus on other critical initiatives that can further improve patient care.  

The post Protect Healthcare Data Without Sacrificing Device Usability appeared first on Compucom.

Emma Mak • Staff Writer

In January 1981, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection was signed. Since then, the extent of the world’s digital interconnectivity has grown exponentially, with individuals and organizations accessing data from almost everywhere in the world. 

In honor of National Data Privacy Week, a celebration of that signing and a call for individuals and businesses to understand and respect privacy and data protection, here are five ways to improve data privacy in your hybrid workplace. 

1. Understand Your Risk Posture

A clear-eyed view of your company’s cybersecurity posture helps identify vulnerabilities and improvement opportunities. An assessment should include quantifying risks, finding gaps, and comparing your overall posture to industry and global standards.

Don’t be shocked if your company falls short. A 2023 Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Report indexed companies on five pillars of security: identity (users), devices, network, application workloads, and data. They concluded that only 15% of organizations globally had a mature level of preparedness to handle the security risks associated with hybrid work. 

2. Implement Zero-Trust Access 

Zero-Trust Access is a security model that requires continual authentication of users, devices, and applications, whether inside or outside the organization’s perimeter. It operates under the valid assumption that breaches will happen and focuses on detection, response, and rapid recovery to limit their consequences. Implementing Zero-Trust Access helps enhance data privacy in a hybrid workplace by:

• Reducing risk to endpoints by ensuring that every access request is fully authenticated, authorized, and encrypted before granting access
• Improving compliance and intellectual property protection by verifying each transaction and asserting least privilege access
• Safeguarding identities with multifactor authentication (MFA) for all user identities accessing the environment, providing an additional layer of security from unauthorized access

Your security model should balance safeguards with good user experience to ensure productivity is maintained and users don’t consider circumventing systems just to get their work done. 

3. Protect Your Last Line of Defense — Your Users

Distributed workers may access your company’s data from any location and be required to manage multiple passwords. This makes users a useful “gateway” for bad actors to exploit, especially for companies using a weak security model that allows attackers to move laterally within the network. 

Having multiple layers of security to protect users is a wise investment. As part of a broader Zero Trust approach, implementing a comprehensive security product like Cisco’s Duo helps protect your users with features including:

• Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
• Device Trust
• Adaptive Access Policies
• Single Sign-On 

4. Educate Employees on Phishing Scams

Implementing comprehensive security solutions goes a long way to protecting your company, but criminals are unrelenting in their pursuit of valuable data. Phishing scam strategies are always changing to get your employees to divulge sensitive information – and generative AI has been a big boost for attackers, enabling more sophisticated phishing campaigns.

Providing regular training to your workforce will set them up to guard and remain vigilant against the latest phishing attacks — and is an essential part of your cybersecurity strategy.

5. Take Care of Old and Decommissioned Assets/Devices

Ensure the safe disposal of obsolete or unwanted IT equipment in a manner that is mindful of your data security and environmental impact with robust ITAD (IT Asset Disposition) policies. These can significantly improve data privacy for your hybrid workforce by completely wiping data from devices before they are disposed of or repurposed – preventing sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands. 

How a Managed Services Provider (MSP) Can Help 

When looking for an MSP to help fortify your company’s privacy and data protection capabilities and keep up with the constant wave of ever-evolving cyber threats, look for one with strong, long-term partnerships with industry leaders like Cisco.  

At Compucom, we can advise you on developing and maintaining a resilient cybersecurity posture, from assessing your current tools and systems to helping you navigate the deployment and integration of best-fit security solutions across your IT infrastructure. 

The post 5 Ways to Improve Data Privacy in the Hybrid Workplace appeared first on Compucom.

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Managed Service Providers Help Protect You and Your Patients

With the high rate of cyberattacks in the healthcare industry expected to continue, it’s more a question of when a provider will be attacked than if. During January 2023 alone, 30 breach cases for healthcare providers were investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

Healthcare Providers are a Favorite Target for Hackers

Healthcare organizations are an ideal target of cybercriminals due to the high monetary and intelligence value of the data they possess, including intellectual property such as research and patients’ personally identifying information (PII), health records, and financial information.

MSPs Provide Partnership and Planning

Since human error is usually the biggest vulnerability in any cybersecurity system, a serious cyber-resilience strategy should include organization-wide buy-in, training, and compliance in the prevention and recovery of data breaches. Purchasing the right set of tools is just the beginning. Careful planning is needed to prevent attacks and ensure a quick recovery.

“Aligning cybersecurity and patient safety initiatives not only will help your organization protect patient safety and privacy, but will also ensure continuity of effective delivery of high-quality care by mitigating disruptions that can have a negative impact on clinical outcomes.“

John Riggi, Senior Advisor for Cybersecurity and Risk, American Hospital Association

Staying on top of constant threats can be too much for a healthcare provider’s internal IT team. Outsourcing the management of cybersecurity improvements to a reliable MSP that partners with trusted names in the industry, such as Cisco® and Stratejm, helps healthcare providers stay ahead of the threats.

Case Study

Compucom Oversees Dramatic Cybersecurity Improvements for a Large Healthcare Service Provider

In 2022, Compucom oversaw a project to improve cybersecurity for a hospital system after it suffered a malware attack. Working closely with the hospital system’s IT team, we moved quickly to review their security posture and develop an incident response plan. This included tabletop exercises with a facilitator to discuss roles and responses in an emergency and for a business continuity plan.

We then partnered with Cisco® and Stratejm to deliver a complete cybersecurity solution. The following steps were taken:

• To quickly protect the hospital system’s users, we rolled out the cloud-delivered Cisco Umbrella suite. This provided the protection and visibility needed to assess the current threat landscape.

• We secured their email system, deploying Cisco Secure Email to handle phishing attacks, business email compromises, and malicious content.

• By implementing Cisco Duo, we introduced zero-trust capability with two-factor authentication (2FA) to users. This was part of our plan to protect remote access, ensure device trust, and consolidate access with single sign-on.

• A user awareness program was created, which included a phishing email simulation.

• To complement the updated security infrastructure, we introduced security-operations-center (SOC) services through Stratejm’s Managed Security Services. SOC services use people, processes, and technology to constantly monitor an organization’s network — preventing, detecting, analyzing, and rapidly responding to cybersecurity threats while continuously improving the organization’s security posture.

With the solution provided by Compucom and Cisco, and the Stratejm service to help guide our customer in the future, the hospital system will now be proactive, aware, and able to get ahead of vulnerabilities.

Compucom: A One-Stop Shop for All Your IT Needs

During these challenging times for healthcare, a Managed Service Provider (MSP) can be your greatest ally for improving cybersecurity posture, optimizing patient experience, and reaching new levels of IT efficiency. 

A recognized MSP such as Compucom, with strong OEM relationships and a broad range of services, including professional services and IT staffing, streamlines and reduces costs for your organization. By getting multiple services from one provider, you simplify IT and gain a strategic partner who deeply understands your operations and can add value to all aspects of your business. Lean on us for all things IT and free your organization to focus on what’s most important — saving and improving patient lives.  

The post Healthcare Cybersecurity appeared first on Compucom.

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Today’s corporate networks are under a lot of pressure. The number of connected devices continues to explode across the world, and more and more of those devices are entering the workplace.

With many corporations shifting to a hybrid schedule, managing everything becomes even more complex.

Employees are bringing their computers (both corporate-owned and personal) between home and work. Visitors also need secure internet access while they’re there. What’s more, innovative Internet of Things (IOT) devices are making corporate headquarters more efficient and enjoyable…but they also create cybersecurity risks.

In many cases, businesses struggle to see, control, and secure it all.

That’s where Cisco’s Identity Services Engine (ISE) comes in. ISE lets you:

• See users, endpoints, and applications
• Secure the network by segmenting and controlling network access
• Share important contextual information with technology partners

What is Cisco Identity Services Engine (Cisco ISE)

Cisco ISE is an industry-leading tool that modernizes network access control. With ISE, you can control access to your corporate network across wired, wireless VPN, and 5G connections.

ISE allows you to provide highly secure network access to a variety of users and devices — using centralized policies to decide if a device is allowed on your network, and which permissions they should get.

This helps connect trusted devices to trusted services, so the right people get access to the right data.

ISE is available on a scalable subscription model, with four licensing options based on your specific use cases.

Cisco ISE for Enterprises

More Visibility and Insight

With ISE, you have greater visibility into what’s happening on your network.

The platform gives a detailed view into every endpoint and device — who is connected, how they’re connected, which apps are installed or currently running, and who is accessing what.

ISE also stores a detailed history of all endpoints and users. This data helps your IT team make fully informed decisions to protect the network and unearth threats faster.

Stronger Security

ISE offers extensive policy management tools so that IT administrators can apply access and usage policies across the entire network. This controls who, what, when, where, and how people can access the network.

ISE also uses built-in authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA), profiling, and posture services to ensure that every endpoint meets your security standards.

To help identify and stop security threats faster, ISE also shares important contextual information with integrated solutions from Cisco or third-party technology partners (like us!), adding an extra layer of protection as those services work together.

Simplified Guest Access

How will you welcome visitors, customers, or contractors? ISE makes it easy to provide visitors with multiple levels of access without compromising your security.

You can customize guest access through a basic hotspot (like a coffee shop), self-service registered access or employee-sponsored access. Of course, IT gets a real-time view to monitoring guests’ access, activity, and device security compliance.

Cost Saving

According to research from Forrester Consulting, ISE helps organizations save big on security and IT staffing costs, too!

By streamlining processes and protecting the business from security breaches, enterprises that deploy ISE could see a 191% ROI over the first three years.

The Forrester study noted that cost savings from improved security were the “single greatest factor in a return on investment.” This was thanks to a 50% reduction in security incidents, plus a decrease in the number of staff resources needed to respond to access-related security breaches, they said.

Getting Started

We help our enterprise clients get the most out of Cisco ISE’s features to align with your priorities—including security, audit, and network teams’ requirements and mandates.

At Compucom, we offer a wide range of professional services and projects that optimize your network and maximize the return on your technology investments.

As a proud Cisco Gold Certified Partner, turn to us to:

• Design, deploy, and implement your technology and infrastructure upgrades
• Create or update your centralized network access policy
• Implement network segmentation to make sure the right people get access
• Plan for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and guest-access needs
• Craft a return-to-office strategy that ensures every endpoint is safe
• Implement turnkey ISE solutions

Book a meeting with us to explore the benefits of Cisco ISE’s technical features—including threat assessment, micro-segmentation, endpoint compliance, and more.

Already using Cisco ISE? We’ll help you optimize your current ISE deployment to meet your unique priorities; complete a network health and best practices assessment to get started.

The post How Cisco ISE Streamlines Enterprise Network Security appeared first on Compucom.

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Happy and engaged employees make for happy customers. Anecdotally we know this, but the research makes it clear too: improving the employee experience drives growth.

A survey conducted by Salesforce and Forbes found companies that prioritize positive employee experience outperformed those that don’t—seeing 1.8 times faster revenue growth.

When you put the right people, technology, and services in place to support your team, you create an environment that nurtures engagement, productivity, and loyalty.

With companies increasingly shifting to a hybrid model, now is the perfect time to optimize the employee experience and gain a competitive edge. So where to start?

1. Thoughtful Digital Onboarding

No matter where the work happens, you must be sure your new hires feel welcomed, informed, connected, and appreciated from day one. Merely shipping a computer in a plain box no longer cuts it.

Think through the expectations and goals for your team members’ first few days and weeks. What do they need to know leading up to that first day?

How will they set up and connect to workplace technology? Which systems do they need access to right away? What will you do to act as a guide?

Consider how confusing it can be to navigate a new role in a hybrid or remote environment! The more guidance you can provide new employees, the more supported and engaged they will feel on their first day—and beyond.

2. Technology of Choice

IT leaders must focus on equipping workers with the best technology for how—and where and when—they work today.

First, ensure everyone has access to the tech they need. HR and IT teams should collaborate to survey employees and determine technology needs based on specific departments, roles, preferences, and demands.

Give teams the freedom to choose the devices that will work best for them, and make it clear which products IT can support.

Wherever possible, reduce friction with collaboration and productivity apps, AI-powered tools, and smart features that streamline processes.

Consider a Device as a Service (DaaS) provider to simplify how you equip your workforce with the latest technology!

3. Tech Support Options

Once your team has their equipment, they’ll likely need help. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to IT support anymore.

David in accounting may prefer to call the service desk to talk through an issue, while Maria from sales wants to visit an on-site support team for help.

Meanwhile, your Gen Z employees are perfectly happy using self-service support options and following up by chat as needed.

What’s the solution here? Let your employees pick what works best for them and their unique work style! Have multiple employee and technology support options on standby around the clock.

4. Security for Every Work Environment

Most data breaches are caused by people making mistakes.

In a report from email security company Tessian, nearly half of the employees cited distraction and fatigue as the main reasons they made a cybersecurity mistake.

With 57% of workers admitting they’re more distracted when working from home, the shift to remote and hybrid work could be opening businesses up to greater risks.

From an employee experience perspective, we have a few areas to revisit.

• Think through scenarios: How will your employees access business-critical data in a remote environment? What about those who move between locations, or spend a few days in the office? The key is to make sure employees feel safe and empowered to do their jobs securely, whether they’re presenting in a conference room, or connecting with customers from home or in the field.

• Knowledge is power: Security awareness training is not a “one-and-done” process! Regularly train all employees on cybersecurity risks, at least twice a year. That should include password security, phishing techniques, malware and ransomware, device security, and other information security best practices.

• Remove the guesswork: Have crystal clear information security policies. Pair them with step-by-step instructions on how to avoid data breaches and how to escalate in case of a problem. Better yet, make reporting a one-step process.

Creating a Seamless Digital Experience

All of this is core to what we do. At Compucom, we are all about innovating the employee experience for today’s hybrid work environments.

From start to finish, we procure, configure, and support all your IT needs to:

• Innovate the employee experience to retain your best talent
• Provide frictionless productivity
• Pair the right device with the right people
• Empower your team with digitally-powered support
• Secure it all, anywhere and anytime

Together, we can support your distributed workers and their technology anywhere the work gets done. Book a meeting to get started.

Want to learn more about transforming employee experience? Be sure to read our blog on experience level agreements and why they’re the future of IT service.

If you’d like to learn more about how Compucom can help your organization, simply reach out!

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