On Air with Pinnacle: Recent Episodes
Pinnacle Business Systems
Cybercrime is accelerating, with over 500,000 incidents reported last year. It costs businesses money, time and their reputation.
However, organizations can act proactively to reduce their risk and stay on top of trends. Sharing some insights on the state of cybersecurity, Rob Greggs, Senior Systems Engineer at Arctic Wolf, joined On Air host Brandy Semore.
“This stuff is real. It’s not just a cyber risk; it’s a business risk, and the statistics bear that out,” Greggs said.
With the attack surface broadening as networks become more sophisticated and more devices connect to it, such as IoT elements. Greggs described the three most concerning risks right now: advance persistent threat (APT), malware and ransomware.
“APT is a group of treat actors that go after an organization to establish a place to carry out threats, moving laterally through the network. The mean time to discover such an attack is 206 days,” Greggs shared.
Via an APT or other means, threat actors can introduce malware, which typically gets inadvertently downloaded by a user. Ransomware is malware to the next level and involves seizing and encrypting data and holding it for ransom.
“The common thread of these is human as an entry point,” Greggs explained.
To secure a company and its data, it needs many tools to prevent and detect. “The problem is not the tools; they are there. It’s the people needed to watch those tools. Bad things are happening, and no one’s watching,” Greggs noted.
To attain this visibility, organizations should take a cooperative approach between IT and application engineers. End-user awareness is also key, but Greggs cautioned that, “You want to educate them, not train them. Make sure they understand the risk and what they should and shouldn’t do.”
Virtualization is a hot topic in IT and, when achieved, can help organizations find new agility, flexibility and scalability for their IT infrastructure, lessen the burden on IT professionals, and generate cost savings.
Fresh off of last year’s much-discussed all-woman spacewalk, we’re looking toward the 2020s as a decade in which women will continue to shoot for the stars. However, the tech field has some significant catching up to do.
We’re all worse off when women are under represented in the tech world. Here’s how we can all work together to shape the next decade into one that includes more women in STEM roles. True inspiration outlasts temporary spectacle, and women need to see real role models recognized for their contributions to science and technology.
One thing we need to do to ensure that the 2020s result in an expansion of women’s representation in STEM is to encourage more women to gain the education they need in order to develop tech skills. We do that by more widely publicizing stories about women in science.
Educational initiatives need to bridge the gap between academic and professional opportunities to encourage more women to make the jump from their college or university into the tech workforce. The last several years have seen a string of high-profile incidents where prominent brands faced accusations of toxic company culture.
Companies need to focus on improving inclusivity and making sure their culture is a safe and supportive space for women. We can get this right, and make the 2020s the decade that closes the gender gap in tech.
There’s no escaping the spread of technology in our everyday lives. Whether we’re using our phones, cars, or credit cards, digital information is all around us. That information, just like physical possessions, is prone to theft. Privacy and security of invisible data are just as important as protecting a home, and yet, many schools and organizations fail to invest in their IT departments, the defenders of the institution’s most prized asset—its users.
What are the real risks of not properly armoring your university, business, or corporation from cyber-attack? Answering that question on this podcast is Jonathan Kimmit, Chief Information Security Officer at The University of Tulsa, and Jack Green, Solutions Leader at Pinnacle Business Systems. As part of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the pair dive into how individuals and organizations can take actionable steps to armor themselves against hacks and data breaches.
Regardless of how much money is spent on cyber-security, Jonathan says “A 30 cent decision of clicking on a link can bypass a $10,000 security control in a heartbeat.” In that regard, privacy and security education is at the heart of strong IT security. Arm students and employees with skill sets and knowledge as the first line of defense against breaches.
“No one person has all the answers, and no one person can do it all,” said Jack of leaning too heavily on a few IT staff for privacy and security defense. Instead, make the IT staff a vital, contributing part of an organization’s higher leadership, rather than “silo,” off the IT department from an organization. By integrating IT into a greater company conversation, the role of security is shared by all those it effects.
Recounting real world stories of security breaches, while delivering insider industry insight, Jack and Jonathan give actionable tips on how IT departments can do better and prepare for the future.
On this episode of On Air with Pinnacle, Host James Kent spoke with Todd Borland, Executive Director of Technology, Union Public Schools, Tulsa, OK, and Dr. Jack Green, Solutions Leader for PK-12 and Higher Education Partners, Pinnacle Business Systems about the evolving role of IT departments in education systems, from helping start eSports leagues in the schools, to issuing electronic diplomas and transcripts via secure data methods like Blockchain. Borland started off the conversation with his experience of starting the first eSports league in the Oklahoma K-12 education system. In a short period of time, the league has grown to over 30 Oklahoma school districts participating, with more than 1,000 kids involved.
What Borland discovered, was the eSports league increased social interaction amongst kids who had traditionally shied away from other sports, even if they participated only as spectators. For other IT departments that may want to help their schools start up their own eSports league, Borland said there were many community resources and vendors available who be more than happy to assist you.
Borland sees his IT role in the education system as more than just keeping the network up and running; it’s to provide solutions to help educate kids, and innovative ideas to make education processes run smoother. One of those ideas Borland discussed was using secure Blockchain technology to provide his school district’s diplomas and transcripts electronically. One of the benefits of this was to provide a quick, and secure way to give students, as early as the sophomore level, access to their transcripts so they could see how their grades fit into the overall picture. If they want to have a conversation with a guidance counselor about their grades, they now have quick access to that information. The security blockchain provides helps protect that diploma and those transcripts from being tampered with.
The business world relies on data; there's no escaping it, and there shouldn't be a desire to. Sophisticated data analysis is making business more efficient across the board. On this episode of the MarketScale Industrial IoT Podcast, Lane Leach, Senior Systems Engineer for Pinnacle Business Systems, sat down with host Sean Heath and they discussed the complex challenge of backing up a company’s critical systems.
The most reliable way to recover from a catastrophic data corruption event is to restore the necessary systems from their backups. As Leach points out, for many companies, those backups simply were not created, whether through oversight or lack of priority.
“It doesn’t take more than a few minutes of having that be unavailable to be a quick reminder of how important it really is," he said.
The stark impact of not having a comprehensive backup plan is clearly reinforced during a crisis, according to Leach.
“It could cripple your business to the point where you may have to go out of business,” he said.
Leach explained that not all dangers are unforeseen. He described a situation occurring in California to illustrate the need to prepare for expected issues, as well.
“Because of fires, you have the major electrical utility provider making a proactive decision, in their case, to have power outages. Well, imagine your business being in one of those impacted and affected counties and not having power for several days,” he said. “Where is your data? Is that something your business can withstand?”
The majority of businesses focus on the wrong side of the data backup equation, offered Leach.
“If we approach high availability and business continuity from a perspective of the data, and not the equipment, let’s start there,” he suggested. “The place to start is: what can I live without?”
Paper and pencils are out, laptops and tablets are in. Today’s students utilize a wealth of technology in the classroom but ensuring that the network and connected devices run smoothly can be a challenge for education IT professionals. On today’s EdTech Podcast, Dr. Jack Green, education & government solutions leader at Pinnacle Business Systems, shared his thoughts on issues within the sector.
For Dr. Green, cybersecurity is at the forefront of his mind. Ransomware attacks on school networks in Oklahoma and Florida have forced districts to pay over a million dollars to hackers. The key to safeguarding against these threats is to reinforce the people part of the equation.
“I think of [cybersecurity] as a triangle of people, processes, and technology,” Dr. Green explained, saying that bad actors target people as they are the easiest to probe. By requiring more rigorous passwords and credentialing, IT teams can better enhance security. Also, both a user-friendly onboarding and off-boarding process can help ensure that accounts aren’t compromised.
From his experience, Dr. Green sees a strain on IT departments at schools. There’s a massive request for their time, and the scope of cybersecurity challenges alone is so large that it’s difficult for teams to manage it all.
So what can help?
Dr. Green said that to make IT work properly, it’s essential for schools to team up with excellent outside IT partners (i.e., gear providers) who can be crucial in delivering timely, efficient and effective solutions.
At Pinnacle Business Systems, Dr. Green and his colleagues focus on meeting the needs of students so that they can fulfill their positive potential. “IT just has to work,” he said. “To compete and win in a global society, we can’t afford downtime; we can’t afford things not working.”
To learn more about Pinnacle Business Systems, you can head to their website or call toll-free at 866-PINNACLE.
There are times in a company's life where it could use a hand from a third-party expert. Whether it’s a complex new system that your company is implementing or a complex problem that you need help seeing the solution for, IT consulting companies exist to ease the burden.
But what if you’re a small company, have a small budget, and don’t really know where to start? Our guest today explained that companies have a misconception that bringing in an IT consulting partner is a luxury for larger, more complex companies. She argues that that's not the case. Host Shelby Skrhak sat down with Brandy Semore, director of professional services for Pinnacle Business Solutions, who shared four solid reasons to partner with an IT consultant.
Unbiased and focused attention, specialization, money savings, and taking on the burden of risk are the top reasons customers seek to partner with IT consultants like Pinnacle Business Solutions, Semore said.
“Offering specialization, I feel, is one of the most impactful benefits of being a VAR, or value-added reseller,” she said. “That way you don’t have to spend the time and money researching these solutions or getting trained because we absorb that burden.”
On the podcast, Semore broke down the importance of all four reasons, gave examples of potential cost savings, explained what she means by taking on the burden of risk for a company, and shared how an unbiased third party can help find solutions to IT headaches.
Few industries change as rapidly as the tech industry. With ever-evolving telecommunications and tech innovations pushing change, tech companies must be prepped to turn on a dime and meet the demands of their customers wanting the stay on the leading edge. So how does an IT company brand itself to be relevant now, and well into the future where the tech landscape may look different? We answer this question today talking with Amber Lawhun, VP of Marketing & Partner Programs for Pinnacle Business Systems.
When Pinnacle began 30 years ago, it was an IBM-only solution for companies. But at the time, this is what businesses needed. Over the course of three decades and the rapid evolution of tech, businesses have grown new demands. Now, clients come to Pinnacle looking for a full-scale solution to their IT needs: Security, speed, and a comprehensive solution centered around their business outcomes. Pinnacle has stayed relevant by listening to its customers' needs and catering its services to meet those new demands.
As Pinnacle rounded its 30 year anniversary, it needed a facelift to reflect the new services it provided, and a tag line that highlighted their core principle and the key to their evergreen success--“Attention you deserve.” This tag line embodies the company’s main feature--a keen ear for listening to its client's needs. Over the years, Pinnacle has remained agile to the needs of its customer base and has put proven solutions in front of them based on their needs.
Amber attributes the key to their success to their ability to listen, as well as staying authentic and true to its client base. “Customers are looking for trust,” she said, and prefer “substance over flash.” As a successful, long-standing IT company, Amber’s advice to other IT companies navigating a rapidly changing marketplace is simply this: “Bring value and listen to the customer’s needs.”
Cloud computing is changing the way that people are looking at their own business needs and how they can scale their businesses, making them more efficient and more profitable. But what are the demands and challenges that come along with this cloud computing climate, and how can we address those changing demands, especially in terms of data management?
Pinnacle Business Systems Solutions Architect Matt Powers sees the market from a data management perspective, as well as how the cloud has opened up a new world of possibilities for business solutions.
This includes lowering capital and operational costs, reducing hardware refreshes, and, possibly most importantly, peace of mind for upper-level managers and IT consultants alike, especially in terms of backing up data.
“Backups and backup and recovery is critical to their business but kind of an afterthought as they’re solving the production, trying to figure out how to get a higher return on their investment and backup is not usually the forefront of that,” Powers said. “Cloud is an easy way to evolve the strategies that they’ve had for years, backup tape, or disk to disk, to an easier approach.”
Powers also discusses how to walk each client through identifying their needs. After all, some clients do not even realize the vast possibilities that are open to them, how to scale their business up or down, and how to leverage existing infrastructure to make the transition to the cloud nothing but smooth sailing.
Ever since the dawn of High Speed Internet, becoming technologically literate has become easier than ever. Need to learn a new skill? Head to YouTube, forum pages, etc. But for a later generation of business owners who either grew up without modern technology or haven’t learned how to engage with it on a major level, explaining to them the benefits of how emerging technology could improve their business can be a real challenge. This "IT language barrier," according to Chad Mantooth from Pinnacle Business Systems, is one of the most difficult challenges that members of the IT field have to deal with when talking to clients. Today, Chad, along with his protégé Scott Courtney, came on the podcast to discuss his mentorship, the IT language barrier, the dichotomy between “needs versus costs”, and what’s on the horizon for IT. “I want to show the customer that what I am doing is customer centric. I’m trying to meet the customer’s specific needs and business goals," Mantooth said.