All businesses will have to address new and unimaginable challenges in 2020. Technology companies should be focusing on cybersecurity, diversity, equity, and inclusion, selling solutions, and enabling safe and secure workplaces as we approach the new year. It is no secret that 2020 will require all businesses to address new and unimaginable challenges. Canadian Business Technology Community member-experts and industry leaders discussed the lessons that technology companies can learn from a turbulent 2020 and how to transition smoothly to 2021 at a recent meeting. These are the key takeaways from the meeting, along with the perspectives of community members.
You can watch the entire meeting.
Move the Needle on DEI
Many employees and companies still struggle with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), challenges in the workplace. According to The Conference Board of Canada, Canadian-born members of visible minorities who have been educated at university earn 87.4c per dollar more than their Caucasian peers.
Rita Loncar is the Canadian channel leader for Veritas Technologies. She is also co-chair of Canada’s Business Techology Community. Uchechi Ezurikebosse, founder of My Empowered Living and business strategist/founder, shared their experiences and discussed the benefits and challenges of developing diverse talent.
Eric Sugar, president at ProServeIT, was present at the session. He said that he thought it was a great idea to say, “Everyone has a moral responsibility to move society forward.” Leaders need to foster inclusivity and equity. It is not a sprint to create a society of social change. How can businesses hold their ecosystems responsible for creating an anti-racist environment? And what can we, as business leaders, do to measure this?
The session was about how to identify and understand the strengths and barriers to growth in the tech industry for underrepresented groups and how companies can make an impact following the “LEADER Framework” – Listen, Educate, Accept Responsibility, Develop a plan to create antiracist companies; Implement the plan; Repeat the process.
Let’s not get caught up in the hype surrounding emerging technologies
Seth Robinson, senior director of technology analysis, CompTIA and Dave Sobel (host, Business of Tech Radio), discussed in another session, “The Role of Emerging Technology In Digital Transformation: Cut Through The Hype and Build A Competitive Advantage”. They discussed how companies recognize the importance of digital transform and how emerging technology has become a “catch-all” descriptor for all future technological advances.
Customers aren’t looking for a particular technology or the latest “shiny” thing. They want to find solutions that differentiate themselves from their competitors. Robinson and Sobel believe that the next wave in innovation will be focused on creating custom solutions, or “artisan IT”, rather than implementing individual cutting-edge technology.
“Selling a solution makes it more powerful, and the ‘art of IT’ is to build and create it in a cutting-edge manner. This is a difficult task, but it will bring you greater profitability and value,” Michele Bates, director of product management and business development at SYNNEX Canada, said to attendees.
Prioritize Cybersecurity
It’s not hard to see that cyberattacks, hacks, and cybersecurity breaches are increasing. This makes it more crucial than ever for tech companies to protect their businesses. Jeff Dawley, President and Co-Founder, Cybersecurity Compliance, and Dana Liedholm (Vice President, Sales and Marketing at BLOKWORX) discussed how the pandemic forced experts and businesses to change how they approach cybersecurity. They also discussed how businesses can increase cybersecurity resilience in the session “How Can I Protect my Business in 2021?”. Companies must be ahead of the curve when planning for cybersecurity.
“It seems that cyber-attacks are all around us with so few small businesses taking the time to look at their cybersecurity environment,” stated Krystal O’Riordan (marketing manager, Cybersecurity Compliance). “A better defense against cyber-attacks is a properly trained workforce than any tool.”
Create a trusting work environment
Technology can enable communities and businesses to manage their workspaces in unprecedented ways. This was the main topic of the session, “Enablizing.”
