For Supply Chain Management….IT Infrastructure Is Critical

 

You are the weakest link – goodbye.

No business is an island, and companies working in fast-moving supply chains are expected to operate in a more joined-up way than ever before. Information is increasingly their lifeblood: modern supply chains are no longer simply about transforming raw materials into finished goods, but about sending information as quickly as possible the length and breadth of the chain. This information controls the delivery of materials, the size and timing of production runs, the particular geography in which production will occur and every detail of the distribution and delivery of goods. It is increasingly used to tune the chain to customers’ real-time requirements, so that they get what they want, when and where they want it.

“The pressures now placed on any business which works within a supply chain are immense,” explains Gill Hawkins, Marketing Director at Star. “In particular, large multinational companies have more and more power over those who supply them with product.” Such companies play an orchestrating role within their supply chains. They are investing in IT infrastructures which facilitate the flow of information up and down the chain. “As a result,” Hawkins adds, “they are enforcing increasingly high levels of IT connectivity on the people who do business with them.”

The Internet is key to such connectivity. It is transforming the way in which many supply chain processes, such as purchase-ordering, are carried out. Large companies are spearheading on-line procurement initiatives, setting up on-line auctions and e-marketplaces, with which they expect suppliers to connect. They use e-mail, which is fast becoming the standard method of communication among supply chain partners. They are Web-enabling their core business systems, so that their information is available 24/7 to suppliers and customers – and they expect their suppliers to do the same. The expectations which they have of their partners’ connectivity are rising daily.

The goal of today’s supply chain may be the seamless, end-to-end electronic transfer of information over the Internet, but it is not yet the reality. There are numerous supply chain members without the right level of connectivity between their systems and those of their partners. Most companies will have experienced the frustration of having a supplier with a slow, unreliable e-mail system which throws a spanner into the works of their own stock-ordering process or a distributor with an inefficient, off-line logistics system which is unable to inform its customers of delivery delays.

Then, there are the partners with connectivity, but a cavalier attitude to Internet security – risking compromising the integrity and confidentiality of supply-chain information and risking bringing down their customers and suppliers’ systems. Since information is so critical to today’s supply chains, any company which lacks commerce-enabled business processes, supported by good Internet connections, efficient IT systems and the right attitude to security, may find itself sidelined from them.

“Most companies will have experienced the frustration of having a supplier with a slow, unreliable e-mail system or a distributor with an inefficient, off-line logistics system.”

“Smaller businesses are especially vulnerable,” Hawkins points out. Their significant customers are unlikely to wait for the small companies’ IT infrastructure to catch up. In a global market, large companies can always find new partners which have equipped themselves with the right level of connectivity to play. If companies are to survive in the Internet enabled supply chains of the twenty-first century, they require the right IT solutions. “If businesses aren’t careful, they will find themselves making the wrong decisions on IT investment, excluding them from supply chain opportunities,” Hawkins remarks. “Getting the right advice when setting up and maintaining IT infrastructure is a business-critical issue,” Gill adds.

“Making snap decisions internally about what software, hardware and Internet services to use is a high-risk game.” “You know you’ve got the right IT partner,” says Gill, “if it asks about your business, who your customers are and what those customers expect from you, in terms of communications technology. It should understand your business aspirations before suggesting an IT solution. That’s when you can tell whether it wants you as a long-term partner, rather than a short-term revenue win.”

A company may fulfil all of its customers’ connectivity requirements, but still be perceived as the weakest link in the chain, if it doesn’t carry its suppliers with it – helping them to adopt best practice, too. The hard fact is that if a company fails to invest in the right connectivity, it loses opportunities for not only itself, but also its suppliers and customers. No company wants to be viewed as the weakest link by its business partners, because, in today’s supply chain, it can mean commercial suicide.

For FREE assistance in custom designing just the right network architecture and bandwidth solution for your supply chain management application(s)…. including end-to-end network security…. simply ask us at FreedomFire Communications.

How To Get The IoT Network Design And Strategy Perfect For Your Smart Building Project

 

If you are involved in the design, planning, development, or construction of “intelligent buildings” (smart buildings) in any way …. than you are on the cutting edge of innovative facility/property engineering and management.

With this lofty position comes the responsibility of ensuring that the smart technology employed to make the entire project work as designed, and perform as expected, is solidly in place. That can be very stressful, but with the right help it doesn’t need to be.

In order for your smart building project to be successful there is one critical factor crucial to the overall performance of the entire smart ecosystem. That is your overall IoT network design and strategy. Get this wrong and your entire project is at risk.

Your IoT network design must include:

1. Network connectivity – every sensor/device must be connected to a network enabling data collected to be shared where and when it is needed.  Your choices are wired or wireless (depending on your operating environment) including LAN, WAN, WLAN, WWAN, and SDWAN.
2. Sensor Technology – What type of sensors are needed and where. Can they stand-up to the intended work environment?
3. Data Analytics – the software program used to collect, store, transmit, and analyze all of the data must be up to the task, and secure.
4. Network Security – this is critical.  IoT devices are very vulnerable to cyber-attacks and if breached the results can be catastrophic.  Employing Zero Trust or Defense-in-Depth frameworks and protocols is the method of choice.

For FREE help in designing the right custom IoT network ecosystem and strategy that meets all the demands of your smart building project (including network connectivity, sensor technology, data analytics, and network security) simply ask us at:  FreedomFire Communications.

Critical Lessons Learned Every IT And Cybersecurity Professional Must Act On From The Crowdstrike Incident

 

While unintentional in nature, the recent CrowdStrike outage caused disruptions that reverberated throughout the global IT community. And while CrowdStrike and Microsoft were immediately hard at work to rectify an estimated 8.5 million computers affected worldwide, guess who’s hard at play taking advantage of the situation? Cybercriminals and their phishing schemes. Now is the time for IT and cybersecurity professionals in every company to work with their organizations to help them understand the implications of the outage, and the importance of prioritizing resiliency plans to help prevent something similar occurring again in the future.

The Vital Role of IT and Cybersecurity Professionals and Essential Discussion Points

In the aftermath of the CrowdStrike outage, you have a critical role to play as an IT or cybersecurity professional. You can offer your organization much-needed guidance on navigating this type of crisis in two ways: 1) Helping them comprehend the situation, and 2) Advising them on how to strengthen their defenses to avoid a similar disaster from impacting them in the future. (Remember, any sized company is vulnerable to modern cyber threats.)

1) Understanding the Outage

IT and cybersecurity professionals should explain the cause of the CrowdStrike outage and its impact in a sufficient amount of detail. This will help their company grasp the severity of the situation and the need for any immediate action.

It is important to note that the CrowdStrike/Microsoft outage was NOT a cyberattack. The incident began with a software update. As part of its ongoing threat protection, CrowdStrike regularly updates its sensor with the latest threat data. In this instance, the update violated a protected memory address within the Microsoft Windows environment, causing the operating system to encounter a critical error, resulting in the ubiquitous “blue screen of death” where an affected device is unable to recover on its own. The workaround to the issue involved a very manual process, requiring users to log in to each machine under “safe mode” and remove the registry key that contains the faulty code.

This event shows just how connected technology products are within our ecosystem, and one failure can cause a devastating impact on an entire infrastructure. While both CrowdStrike and Microsoft worked diligently to assist in recovery efforts, we all need to be aware of the potential for secondary attacks from cybercriminals based on information collected via a phishing attack.

2) Learning from the Incident: How to Outsmart the Bad Guys

Within hours of the incident on July 19, 2024 CrowdStrike warned of malicious activity trying to exploit the outage. One primary method that cybercriminals were using is to send phishing emails purportedly from CrowdStrike (or Microsoft) using “spoofed” addresses (i.e., somebody@crowdstrikeoutage.com) with malicious attachments or simply to gather information for a later compromise. CrowdStrike and Microsoft worked around the clock to provide guidance as well as potential tools to assist with recovery.

IT and cybersecurity staff should guide their organization on how to prevent falling for such tactics, such as not opening any emails from unofficial addresses posing as CrowdStrike support and questioning any phone calls from CrowdStrike staff; they are likely impersonators.

Additionally, this unfortunate incident opens up the conversation for developing (or revisiting) a robust cybersecurity prevention and recovery plan. With access to a breadth of cybersecurity providers, solution architects, and managed services, we can help your company with your entire strategy – from organization-wide cyber training, to IT outage response plans, to infrastructure automation for disaster recovery, to third-party risk management programs.  Simply tell us what you need at FreedomFire Communications and we’ll make it happen.

Our colleague Koby Phillips reminds us:

“This high-impact event emphasizes the urgency to keep resiliency plans current, communicated, and understood within the organization to avoid the types of customer disruptions experienced since July 19. Like other industry disruptions this year, this event creates conversation opportunities for technology professionals to have with their company about how to best prepare their organization for these inevitabilities.”

– Koby Phillips, VP of Advanced Solutions – Cloud, Telarus

Final Thoughts

While the CrowdStrike outage presents significant challenges, it also offers a reason for immediate outreach to your entire organization (especially senior leadership) while demonstrating further value to them. By offering expert guidance and leveraging essential discussion points, you can assist your organization in navigating this crisis, preventing future similar incidents, and emerging stronger and more resilient.

In the spirit of resilience, it is crucial to ask yourself and your colleagues: “Which components or upstream vendors in our environment are we dependent on? Are we considering resiliency around those as well?” This questioning encourages you and your company to think critically about your dependencies but also underscores the importance of resilience planning.

In every crisis lies an opportunity. For IT and cybersecurity professionals, this is that opportunity.

The Complete List of Why Companies Are Pursuing Digital Transformation

 Leading manufacturers leverage digital transformation to reduce costs, increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and achieve compounding growth. While manufacturing may have more obvious opportunities to improve outdated processes, the examples outlined in this article are relevant to all industries. 

Digital transformation isn’t just about adopting new technologies. It’s about reimagining business processes and viewing IT as a strategic asset rather than a cost center. Organizations that successfully incorporate digital transformation, as part of their company culture, will create a solid foundation for successful AI initiatives (for example) and will find themselves more agile, resilient, and competitive.

Read the complete article here:

The Complete List of Why Companies Are Pursuing Digital Transformation

For FREE help with your organization’s digital transformation journey and developing a custom strategy specific to YOUR needs simply ask us at FreedomFire Communications.