Data is a critical asset for any business, and managing it properly can help you make better decisions, improve efficiency, and increase profitability. But with the proliferation of data sources and the rapid growth in technology, managing your business data has become more challenging than ever before. 

Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to ensure that your data is properly managed so that it works for your company instead of against it. 

By following these six tips and taking advantage of available resources, you can create an effective system that helps manage your business’s valuable assets while keeping them safe from malicious actors or accidental mistakes.

Develop a data governance plan.

A data governance plan is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure that your data is appropriately managed. A good plan will set clear guidelines for collecting, organising, and storing data and outline policies on who has access to it and how it’s used. 

For instance, you should set clear guidelines on who can access which data and how and when it should be used. You should also establish a process for regularly reviewing and updating your data governance policies to ensure they remain up-to-date with best practices. 

Process of generating data 

Generating data is the first step in managing your business’s valuable assets. It’s important to develop a process for creating, collecting, and storing data that meets your business needs and complies with any relevant regulations. With these processes, you’re eliminating errors, mitigating risk, and making sure your data is secure. However, you will need to choose the right tools and systems to ensure that your data is properly managed. 

Additionally, you should create policies and procedures to ensure that data is consistently collected and stored accurately and securely, whether by manual entry or automated processes. 

Implement data security measures 

Data security should be a top priority for any business when it comes to managing its data. Implementing the right security measures will protect your data from malicious actors, unauthorised access, and accidental mistakes. These measures can include policies on encryption and authentication as well as technologies such as firewalls and antivirus software. You should also create a data breach response plan that outlines the steps you’ll take in the event of a security incident. 

On the other hand, you should be aware of the potential for data breaches due to human error. To prevent this, provide proper training to your employees on how to handle sensitive data and implement measures such as access control lists and identity management systems. 

Implementing data backup processes 

Furthermore, data loss is one of the greatest risks associated with managing your business’s data. That’s why it’s essential to have a backup plan in place to quickly and easily restore any lost data. You should create policies for regularly backing up your business’s data, whether on-site or off-site, as well as ensuring that backups are tested regularly. 

Additionally, implementing disaster recovery plans will help protect your business in the event of an unexpected outage. 

For instance, you should create a plan that outlines the steps to take in the event of an outage and how your data will be restored. Additionally, you may want to consider using cloud-based solutions for storing backups so that they’re always available even if your local systems are down. 

Optimise data storage 

Data storage is another important consideration when it comes to managing your business’s data. It’s important to choose the right tools for storing your data so that it can be easily accessed and used by authorised personnel. You should also look for ways to optimise your storage solutions so that you can reduce costs and improve the efficiency of your data management processes. 

For example, you may want to consider using cloud-based storage solutions as they offer scalability and flexibility. Additionally, you should look at technologies such as compression and deduplication to maximise the amount of data that can be stored in a given space. 

Analyse, clean, and organize data 

Finally, once your data is collected, it’s important to analyse and clean it so that you can make sense of it. Data analysis tools can help you identify patterns and correlations in your data that can provide valuable insights into the performance of your business. 

Let’s say you have collected sales data from your customers. You should analyse this data to identify which products are the most popular and which ones need to be improved upon. Additionally, you should clean up any inaccurate data so that it’s more accurate and easier to work with. Once the data is cleaned, you can organize it into meaningful categories so that it’s easier to find and use. 

By following these steps, you can ensure that your business data is properly managed and secure. Implementing the right policies and procedures will help protect your data from malicious actors and unauthorised access. 

Additionally, implementing backup processes and optimising your storage solutions will help reduce costs and improve your data management processes. 

Finally, analysing and cleaning your data will help you gain valuable insights into the performance of your business. 

If you want to know more about how Nextro can help to protect your business data, get in touch here.

The post Protect Your Business Data with These 6 Tips appeared first on Nextro.

With the increase in crime across Auckland, local Business Associations are looking for the best way to protect their businesses, staff  and local communities.  

Remuera Business Association has engaged Nextro to manage and support its Genetec & Axis video surveillance and license plate recognition system to enhance safety across the shopping precinct.

The system has unique and frequently-used features such as visual tracking and quick search, which enable security operators and Business Association staff to quickly detect, track and deal with safety or security issues in real-time.

NZ Police are able to access and view the Remuera cameras in an emergency. This allows them to rapidly assess the situation and deploy appropriate resources. Watch the video of Martyn Levy, Nextro’s Managing Director, explaining how this system works and how it helps keep the Remuera community safe.

Interested to know more? Please get in touch here.

The post Video Surveillance is helping Remuera deter, detect and deal with increasing crime appeared first on Nextro.

Keeping people safe in crowded places – New Zealand’s Crowded Places StrategyIt is clear, following the Christchurch attacks, that New Zealand is not immune from the risk of significant terrorist attacks. Within a year of these attacks, the New Zealand Government, via ODESC and the DPMC, published the New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Strategy.  

New Zealand’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy is about “working together to prevent terrorism and violent extremism of all kinds in New Zealand, while ensuring the systems and capabilities are in place to act early and respond when needed.” 

A key pillar of the Counter-Terrorism Strategy is the just-released Crowded Places Strategy. This strategy’s purpose includes ensuring that businesses, communities and local councils have awareness and access to the tools they need to keep people safe in crowded places. You can download a copy of the Crowded Places Strategy here. 

Crowded Places are defined as ‘locations that large numbers of people access easily and predictably. They include sporting arenas; transport hubs and public transport; buildings and offices; schools, shopping centres; restaurants, hotels, theatres and other entertainment venues; community festivals and markets; houses of worship; tourist attractions; and civic spaces. Crowded places also include open spaces like busy urban streets, parks and pedestrian malls’. 

The Crowded Places strategy is intended to define a consistent approach to protecting crowded places throughout New Zealand. It introduces guidelines and tools to help owners and operators of crowded places reduce the chance of an attack occurring, and lessen its consequences, using methods that are proportionate to the threat. 

Generally, the strategy and published documentation helps owners and operators of Crowded Places to: 

1. better understand how to Deter, Detect, Delay and Respond to an attack;
2. conduct self-assessments of the risks of an attack at their location or event; and
3. assess the appropriate level of protective security needed.

The government has released some very useful and detailed guides to assist businesses, communities and councils to enhance their site security. These include:

• Self-Assessment Tool – This tool focus helps you understand how attractive your site might be to an attacker. It lists factors that attackers are likely to consider when looking for a target; 
• Assessing Your Protective Security Tool – This document lists ten areas of focus to help you consider factors that attackers take into account when they are looking for a target. It also helps you consider how to best protect the site from attack and how to make improvements.
• Detecting Hostile Reconnaissance – This guide provides an overview of the potential indicators and protective security measures that could be considered when developing or reviewing security plans and measures to mitigate the tactic of conducting hostile reconnaissance and rehearsals in advance of an attack against a specific target. 
• Security Audit Tool: This document is designed for those with some security knowledge to help them: check which security matters are relevant to the type, size and risk profile of your crowded place, and its attractiveness to would-be attackers; identify any security gaps that you need to resolve at your crowded place; record the actions you plan to take to resolve security gaps. 

The key messages underlying the release of Crowded Places Strategy are that:

1. New Zealand is not immune from terrorist attack;
2. All New Zealanders have a role to play in keeping crowded places safe; 
3. Owners and operators of crowded places have a particular responsibility to ensure protective security measures are in place as part of their emergency planning and health and safety practices; 
4. Now is the time to review your site’s and organisation’s security posture, risk profile, and vulnerabilities – and to make a plan to mitigate those risks.  

The Nextro team is expert at providing solutions that enhance security at Crowded Places. These include video surveillance solutions, as well as secure building services and security operations networks supporting CCTV, access control, panic alarms, and connectivity to NZ Police. 

We have designed, deployed and currently manage security and network solutions for Crowded Places such as shopping & business precincts, hotels, restaurants, and ethnic community centres throughout New Zealand. 

If you need help with enhancing the security at your facility, or would like to discuss the type of security enhancements that you might need, please get in touch.

The post Keeping people safe in crowded places – New Zealand’s Crowded Places Strategy appeared first on Nextro.