Successful Client Experience
(more…)Author: seth
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Business is great until a BREACH hits the fan
There’s no better feeling than owning or managing a successful business. You feel on top of the world. Profits and revenue are at an all time high. The economy is booming and the public loves what your business offers. You may even feel unstoppable. The Fortune 500 list is in your line of sight. Then suddenly disaster strikes! Business operations cease and the revenue and profit come to a screeching halt. What could have caused this? You get word that there’s been…a disaster.
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Vala Secure FFIEC Audit Program Update
In June 2021, the FFIEC updated their IT InfoBase Booklets. The Operations booklet was replaced with the new Architecture Infrastructure & Operations (AIO) booklet. An excerpt from the AIO booklet explains the updates to the new guidelines, and the changes you can expect during your next financial organization IT audit from Vala Secure.
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Teamwork – Multiple Benefits
Teamwork! I have always supported teamwork. I believe working as a team we can achieve and accomplish many things. Teamwork is an important part of developing specific processes and programs to help your business be more efficient and productive. Following are some of the reasons I feel teamwork is so important in the work environment.
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Customer Service with S.P.E.E.D
Customer service, this is a term or phase that is kicked around a lot. To many people, it may mean different things, from just getting the job done to being available whenever the need arises. Vala Secure does not take this phase lightly. Vala Secure values every client relationship and works diligently to maintain that trust. This starts not just at the beginning of an engagement, but at the very first contact during the sales process, to the engagement being performed by a highly knowledgeable staff, to the final report being issued at the conclusion of an engagement. Vala Secure’s high level of customer service and ongoing positive experience with the client has led to the creation of the Director of Client Success position. Aside from clients discussing their needs with our team, at various times, the Director of Client Success is always available to ensure everyone has received the high level of service and assistance they deserve.
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Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) once was a luxury to have but is now a bare-bones necessity that all systems need in order to be secure. A survey two years ago revealed that only 57% of organizations use MFA. Unfortunately, more recent research suggests things have not changed much. MFA could have prevented some well-publicized recent breaches, for example, the Colonial Pipeline breach occurred as the result of one breached password. The attackers accessed the system through a VPN (Virtual Private Network) account. A simple MFA requirement would likely have prevented the attack by making VPN accounts more difficult to access.
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BSA/AML Whistleblower Provisions
We are all aware of the great changes which have been occurring over the last couple of years. There have been many changes to our lifestyles, changes to our working environments, and it is true that banking regulations have not been excluded from change as well.
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VISUALIZING THE SLAPPEY PLEDGE: BE PRODUCTIVE [VIDEO]
I WILL BE PRODUCTIVE. I will set priorities, use measurements to track my performance, and hold myself accountable for achieving results. I will consider the opportunity cost of everything I do and add things to the Stop Doing List. I will work with a sense of urgency and get things done.
In the final 2 minutes of the 2015 Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks drove from their own 20-yard line down to the one and Jermaine Kearse made the best catch of any Super Bowl to get there. But this fantastic 79-yard effort did not produce results. A bad call and poor execution resulted in a loss for the Seahawks and a win for the Patriots. Check out the whole play here.
At the center of this pledge is a realization: in order for our work to be effective, it must have results. It must be productive. It can be very easy to slip into a mindset of thinking that just because I put in the hours (or effort) that my work was productive (I did something). The harsh reality is that, in many things in life, getting close doesn’t count (the exceptions being grenades, horseshoes, and nuclear warheads). In some cases—especially sales—your effort is almost completely worthless if you don’t bring it to close.
We must stay focused on being productive. Know where we need to get for it to matter (the goals). Measure where we are (so you don’t miss it by a yard). Use those measurements to make yourself and the team better. This will produce real value we can take to the bank—literally.
credit: Richard Mackson, USA TODAY Sports
When things do not pan out, we have to learn from those shortcomings and improve so that next time we can be better. Malcolm Butler (#21, laying on the ground in the photo above) didn’t give up after having an amazing play made against him. He stayed focused and went in and made an interception to win the game for the Patriots a few plays later.
