Welcome to the Aegeus Strategy Blog, the blog and newsroom for Aegeus Strategy LLC., a leading provider of operational and information technology consulting to the insurance, financial, healthcare and manufacturing marketplaces.
Timm Tobin, Principal
By Timm Tobin
By Mark Samuels
The specter of shadow IT continues to cast shade over enterprise technology operations, and chief information officers (CIOs) are in denial about the scale of the problem.
That is the key conclusion drawn from Symantec’s “1H 2017 Shadow Data Report,” which analyzed the main challenges organizations face when attempting to ensure that data held in cloud apps and services remains secure and compliant.
The survey, which evaluated more than 22,000 cloud apps and services, 465 million documents and over 2.3 billion emails, demonstrated how IT decision-makers must keep a watchful eye over the applications their employees use.
Understanding the Threat of Shadow IT
In a blog post, Symantec executive Deena Thomchick said that organizations use more cloud apps than most IT professionals would expect. The average business now uses 1,232 cloud apps, which is roughly one-third more than they did as of the second half of 2016.
Despite this number, the average CIO believes that his or her business uses between 30 and 40 cloud apps. These figures highlight how shadow IT poses a growing risk to the technology department’s ability to prevent data loss.
The survey also found that businesses “broadly shared” 20 percent of all files held in cloud-based file sharing apps and almost one-third (29 percent) of emails stored in on-demand email platforms. Symantec defined a “broadly shared” file as one that is distributed to the whole organization, an outside third party or publicly to any individual who holds a link to the file.
The Dangers of Sharing Sensitive Information
There is some good news, however. Thomchick reported that it was common in the past to find that 10 percent or more of these broadly shared files contained sensitive data. She suggested that security-conscious organizations are doing better today, since just 2 percent of shared files included confidential information.
While the reduction in the proportion of files containing sensitive data is encouraging, it is concerning that the data being shared includes details relating to compliance, such as personally identifiable information (PII), payment card data and protected health records. Of the 29 percent of broadly shared email assets stored in the cloud, 9 percent included compliance-related data. In total, according to SecurityWeek, Symantec found 207 million emails that it considered at risk.
Implementing Measures to Curtail Shadow IT
SecurityWeek noted that the survey results are based on companies using Symantec’s CloudSOC products. These businesses are therefore already striving to keep cloud data safe. Figures for firms not taking a proactive approach could be worse.
With the constant introduction of new productivity and communication tools, users are more inclined to collaborate outside of IT-sanctioned applications. IT organizations must evaluate existing solutions for their adherence to enterprise standards and either embrace them or replace them with viable alternatives.
When it comes to reducing the risk posed by shadow IT, Thomchick advised companies to implement a range of information security measures and implored executives to share threat intelligence across business platforms. She also pointed to the importance of other techniques, such as auditing, real-time detection, data loss protection and post-incident analysis.
Our local health insurance provider client needed to extract data from multiple sources, process it using a diagnostic grouper, then capture the output in a new data mart to be used for predictive analytics.
The broad goals were:
• create a data mart that was user-friendly for predictive analysts
• keep manual processing effort to a minimum
• ensure high data quality
• include 10 years of history for go-live
The main challenges were:
• upstream data quality issues
• multiple heterogeneous data sources that needed to be processed uniformly
Aegeus designed and developed a comprehensive solution centered around the Johns Hopkins ACG System using Microsoft SQL Server, SSIS and C#.NET. The solution provided an automated way to do the following:
1) Extract Transform and Load data from multiple heterogenous sources into the data mart, aggregating, de-duplicating, cleaning and conforming data to improve data quality while providing a uniform representation.
2) Invoke the Johns Hopkins ACG and process the newly formatted data through it using custom configuration options.
3) Load the diagnostic grouper’s output into the datamart, providing easy-to-use monthly snapshots and cumulative roll-ups.
The solution Aegeus delivered provided a stable, efficient platform for predictive analytics, as well as an extensible foundation for future development efforts.
by Brian de Haaff
“I could never work remotely.” A friend of a friend said this to me the other day. We had just met and I was explaining how we run Aha! as a fully distributed team. Despite that declarative statement about “never working remotely,” this person seemed plenty interested in the concept of remote work once I described how we do it at Aha! He then launched into a rapid-fire series of questions:
Frankly, this is not the first time I have been roped into a debate pitting office workers against remote workers. (I am sure it will not be the last either.) And I can understand why. People often reject the unfamiliar.
If you have never been a part of an all-remote team, it might seem hard to imagine that any company with 50 or more people could work this way.
But if you are motivated, a skilled communicator, and can handle a mix of autonomy and teamwork, then remote work may be perfect for you. I think you will find more benefits working remotely than you ever could in an office.
To me, there is no debate for bright people who want more control over how and where they work. Remote workers win every time. And the statistics prove it.
Productivity
Remote workers: People get more done when they have autonomy. According to a nationwide productivity survey, 65 percent said that remote work would boost their productivity. And 86 percent said that working alone allows them to “hit maximum productivity.” Their managers agree, with two-thirds saying that employees who work remotely increase overall productivity.
Office workers: Research confirms what you could have already assumed — the office is filled with distractions. This is especially true for those who are in an open-office space, where they are 15 percent less productive, have more trouble concentrating, and are not too pleased with their sound privacy.
Camaraderie
Remote workers: People are often surprised to learn that remote workers are actually more engaged than in-office counterparts. One reason is that people have to make a greater effort to connect since there is no chance of running into a co-worker in the hallway. So interactions are more purposeful. And yes, video chats are an excellent way to foster these relationships — with 92 percent of workers saying that it improves teamwork.
Office workers: Things are not looking so friendly in the office. According to Harvard Business Review, all that proximity leads to complacency — with people not bothering to go out of their way to connect with people who work just a few feet away. But complacency is not the biggest problem. A recent study found that one in five Americans believe their workplace has a hostile or threatening social environment. (Yikes.)
Health
Remote workers: No commute and more time for family and friends. Is it any wonder remote workers have more peace of mind? One study found that remote workers are also getting more sleep and exercise, and they are eating healthier. They even have a more positive attitude overall and experience less stress.
Office workers: The office is no place for a germaphobe. Research shows that people who work in open-plan offices are 62 percent more likely to take a sick day than those with a separate office. Office workers end up taking an average of 3.1 sick days in a year, compared to the 1.8 sick days for those who work from home. And then there is the “sick building syndrome” — a general feeling of poor health in corporate complexes that can lead to greater absenteeism in the office.
Happiness
Remote workers: Perhaps the greatest benefit of remote work is that it makes the way for sustainable happiness — giving people the chance to pursue their passions both in work and in life. Fifty-one percent of remote workers report that they are able to spend more time with their significant others, which has helped them experience greater job satisfaction.
Office workers: Lack of control over work spaces is making people miserable. Research has long proven that cubicles are a dreadful place — with workers longing for sunlight and more natural environments. And even more telling is the fact that office workers are more likely to quit their jobs than their remote counterparts.
The numbers do not lie. Remote work offers more tangible benefits than you could ever find in an office.
Admittedly, I am biased. But for good reason. I have experienced first-hand what remote work can do — boosting my productivity while giving me more time to spend with my family and pursue other adventures. And I have seen how it has enriched the lives of our team as well.
But the next time someone tells me they could “never” work remotely, I will not get into a debate. I will simply smile and point them to this article.
Follow Us!