Risk Management

Conclusion: In the current COVID-19-driven environment, video conference calls have become the stuff of life. They are used for school, family, leisure and even work. Numbers of call attendees have jumped from tens of millions to more than 300 million worldwide. As is normal in technology, there are a plethora of options to choose from.

One of those, Zoom, has made the news repeatedly over the period of April-May, initially because of its popularity but then because security flaws were being discovered. With the flaws seemingly serious, commentators were recommending organisations abandon Zoom. Many organisations did so, given the amount of coverage the flaws received.

But the product was and is popular. It is one of the easiest video conferencing products to use. It works well and is simple to deploy. A valid question to ask is whether Zoom is safe to use for business purposes. Taking a realistic view of the flaws combined with efforts Zoom has made to correct some of them leads to the conclusion that Zoom is safe for general business usage.

Conclusion: Risk assessment tools help protect and support staff and minimise business disruptions by following Australian risk management (and health) guidelines.

Conclusion: A Cloud strategy can take many forms. Whether you select a private Cloud, hybrid Cloud (on-premise with Cloud elements), native Cloud or a multiCloud implementation will impact the framework of your strategy. The success of your strategy will be driven by the motivation your organisation has to elect the move.

If your only motivation is the perceived cost model where you reduce capital in favour of operational expense, and potentially see savings based on usage, you are unlikely to succeed. The need to have a clear business strategy on why Cloud, what opportunities it may bring the business, and how to transition, manage and exit the Cloud is essential to see the true benefits.

Key to a successful strategy is to use an effective framework that allows your organisation to migrate to, operate and govern the engagement, and exit the engagement. A Cloud strategy is a commercial arrangement. Understanding the business benefits of entering into a Cloud contract engagement and being able to measure success factors is equally as important as the selection of providers for functionality and cost. It is important that you step into Cloud with your eyes wide open.