I have to confess: I'm a little bit of a tech geek. I love gadgets, and I love to read up on new tech that's around the corner. But even I feel a little overwhelmed sometimes. As soon as I figure everything out, there's a new software update or another article about some new technology that's going to change my life. It's a lot to think about, even on a personal level, and it's even that much more important to keep tabs on how tech will change business in the future. Especially in terms of data security—you can't afford to be behind the times.
Why is data security important to a business? Because it's literally everything—your information, access to your financial records and accounts and access to your customers' information. Data security is vital.
How will technology change business in the future? Let's take a look at some of the future tech you should pay close attention to.
Physical Authentication
No business can afford to ignore data security. We all know that, at least intellectually.
Why, then, do we persist in such lousy password hygiene? It's because we have too many passwords to remember, and we resist steps that make our jobs harder.
Given that one of the biggest challenges businesses having in securing data is consistently restricting access to that data, physical authentication is the logical solution. Rather than trying to come up with yet another password with a capital letter, special character and the secrets of the universe, wouldn't it be much easier to simply use your thumbprint or an employee identification badge?
If you care about the importance of data security in business, consider keeping an eye on physical or hardware authentication.
National Data Privacy Standards
Remember last summer when every website you visited suddenly had new popups about privacy policies that you had to click on? That was when GDPR—General Data Privacy Regulation—was rolled out by the EU. Residents of the EU are now protected by a uniform code that regulates what companies can do with the data they collect and how consumers give consent to have their data collected and used.
Keeping current on new developments and hiring good IT people to manage it for you company can help you remain future-proofed.
The U.S. doesn't currently have protections as stringent as GDPR, but I expect that we'll see those protections created in the near future. That means you'll have to make sure your websites and apps are in compliance, or you could face penalties.
As our data, and data security and protection, continues to become increasingly more valuable, understanding how our information is shared will become even more important, and it's likely to be addressed as it was in the EU. It's worth watching out for on so you're not taken by surprise.
Data Analytics
Even though data analytics isn't new, I'm still amazed at how many business owners appear to be afraid of the topic. Trust me—you don't have to be a mathematician or a tech wizard to benefit from data analytics. All you need are two things:
- a basic understanding of the kinds of questions data analytics can answer and
- tools to aggregate, compile and help you understand the information you're probably already collecting just in the course of doing business.
Examining how tech will change business in the future inexorably leads to analytics. Whether you want to study the effects of an email marketing campaign, examine if you're really getting good ROI for the travel dollars you spend or determine what website background leads to higher sales, data analytics can help reveal the answers.
Seriously, you may be doing yourself a disservice if you ignore data analytics. Two more points on the topic:
- You are probably already using software and apps that have analytical capabilities built in.
- Don't ignore data security. All the data you collect in the course of a normal business day is valuable. Treat it that way.
SOAR
This point may sound really technical, but again, you don't have to be a wizard to use it. SOAR stands for Security Orchestration Automation Response. It means that certain aspects of your company's data security can and will be automated in the future. Particularly for low-level threats, we're beginning to see more automation in data security, and that's a good thing.
SOAR isn't designed to handle all your data security needs without any human intervention, but it is becoming more sophisticated and robust. It's also pointing the way toward more efficient methods of securing valuable company data.
It's not uncommon for even the smartest of folks to feel overwhelmed by the rapid pace at which technology is reshaping the workplace. But the good news is that you don't have to be an IT expert to manage it. Keeping current on new developments and hiring good IT people to manage it for you company can help you remain future-proofed.
You can't underestimate the importance of data security for your business and the role tech plays in helping your business prepare for the challenges of the future.
Read more articles on industry trends.
Photo: Getty Images