What is digital transformation, and what does it mean to my organization? The concept of digital transformation takes on many different meanings. What business you are in will dictate the specific factors involved. For many companies, the pandemic jump-started their digital transformation. Others simply embraced the changes they already had underway. Aspects of digital transformation that speak to all organizations include the need to be adaptive, resilient, and relevant to customers and stakeholders. Here is a look at what it means to adopt digital transformation within your organization.

When interviewing candidates for a position on the Systems Engineering Advisory Services team, I almost always ask, "What is the right way to assess and manage cybersecurity risk?" Even the most seasoned cybersecurity professionals will pause to think about the best way to answer. The truth is, there is no 'right way.' 

In 2020, many organizations pivoted their business models due to the pandemic. If you're one of these companies, you may have developed new processes and procedures that allowed you to safely continue operations and maintain high customer service levels. Now that the dust has begun to settle, it is an excellent opportunity to evaluate or reevaluate any new cybersecurity risks that could have been created by these changes. In this article, we offer practical guidance on how to classify and measure your cybersecurity risks for effective cybersecurity risk management.

At Systems Engineering, employees are our number one resource.  Our success depends on our dedicated and skilled staff who share our values and contribute to our vision.  The Systems Engineering Spotlight gives a brief but revealing look at one of our valuable members.

Dear friends,

In many respects, the year 2020 has been among the most challenging in memory. Undoubtedly many of us will welcome the new year as not just another year, but a reminder that life does move on, we do heal ourselves, and we do get better, stronger, smarter, and more resilient with every challenge met. 

UPDATE FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 21

As you may have seen in the headlines, Malwarebytes recently announced it was targeted by the same threat actor who attacked SolarWinds. After an extensive investigation, Malwarebytes reported their Microsoft Office 365 and Azure environments were targeted, but they found “no evidence of unauthorized access or compromise in any internal on-premises and production environments.”

What would it be like for your organization if there was an IT disaster such as an office fire, systems failure, or ransomware attack? If all your data was lost, how long would it take for your organization to be functional again? Minutes, hours, days, or weeks? How would this affect your customers and your employees? 

Our internship program at Systems Engineering has always played a significant role in building a vibrant tech workforce community in New England. Through the years, our relationships with standout educational institutions, such as USM, Colby, UMO, and UNH, have provided the opportunity to meet exceptional students across New England who have a deep desire to build their skills in the IT Industry. 

It seems we can’t go more than 24 hours without hearing about the latest and greatest data breach affecting millions. These headlines are worrisome and has lead to many sleepless nights for business leaders at small and medium-sized businesses. 

One of the most important documents  your organization can create is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP). This plan is a comprehensive review of how your organization will continue to operate when responding to unplanned disasters that impact business processes, applications, and IT infrastructure. We are all familiar with the burdens that the COVID-19 pandemic placed on businesses throughout the world. Companies that had a BCP in place were much more prepared than those without. The level of response this pandemic required highlighted the importance of business continuity planning and raised some unforeseeable questions that all companies should now ask themselves.