Planning for Security

Before and over the Labor Day weekend there were several press releases and articles that rolled in regarding purchases and problems in business software.

INFOR completes Saleslogix purchase: We’ve thought for a while that as some ERP software packages have attempted to sell their companies to other private equity investors, there are others that continue to improve their offerings such as INFOR’s announcement that they had purchased the assets of Saleslogix (click here to see INFOR’s  press release). Infor continues to add to their offering as the next platform to migrate to for distributors. Their offering of ease to convert and open network make the next step appealing as your business grows.

              Data Security issues

Over the weekend the celebrity world went wild with revelations that unclothed pictures that were stored in the Cloud had  been hacked. So that we don’t all get confused, the world of celebrities thrives on headlines and the right photo on the  red  carpet. But the NY Times is seeking answers to who’s fault it is that the pictures got hacked. This is not the same as  business information and customer information being breached at Home Depot.

 Home Depot had a breach in their security that lead to stolen customer payment information. While Home Depot is a  retailer with many locations and lots of credit card sales, your company might become a target.To read more about Home  Depot’s breach click here.

Most distributors other than a very few of the really large distributors, don’t concern themselves with security of their customers information. Many consider that their business information along with customer data is safe on their own computer inside their building. If you sell on the web at your website or at Amazon you could be a target. But is it really safe?

As you start your early planning for next year (In Sept for business year 2015), you might consider a security check on where you are vulnerable to loss of business data as well as customer purchase information.