The must-have technologies for a successful small business

For anyone who has ever started a business, you know just how challenging the process can be. Many times, the concept of owning your own business is hugely glamorized. Many dream of having a beautiful office, making your own hours and instantly finding great success with the launch of your idea or product. What people do not think about is the day-to-day grind that can quickly flip a small business to no-business. Which is why over 50% of small businesses do not make it more than 5 years. Below are three technology musts to help make the day-to-day world of small business as efficient as possible.

What is Artificial Intelligence and how can the small business owner benefit from it?

Artificial Intelligence or AI is the “it” technology. Everyone is talking about AI but without fully understanding what it is many think it is unattainable for their business. We see companies like IBM, Facebook and Google using it and believe that it is extremely out of reach for the average sized company. Let’s take a look at AI and debunk that notion and dig into how this incredible technology can benefit companies of any size and specifically, small businesses.

What are they and how do they work?

Security is a top priority in business. Everywhere you turn someone’s data is being compromised. One of the highest recommended tips for security is to use a password manager, and luckily, it is one of the simplest methods as well. Although it is easy, many still hesitate as they do not fully understand what it is and where the passwords are being stored. Let’s take a high-level look at what password managers are and how they work.

Watson...is it one of the robots from Mystery Science Theater or the Smartest Golden Retriever ever?

Watson is Artificial Intelligence. A computer that thinks like you and me but light-years faster and doesn't have the brain-fog from last night's carb-loaded meal. To understand the basis of this, first, take how our search process has worked in the past. Previously, we could do a keyword search that would return a list of content listed in order of relevancy. Watson is different, it is based on Question-Answering technology. Instead of traditional search capabilities relying on computer-based "coding" language, Watson understands actual human languages. According to IBM, more than 100 different techniques are used to understand and analyze natural language, identify sources, find and generate hypotheses, find and score evidence and merge and track predictions. So instead of returning a list of content, it honestly answers your questions.

Keylogging. Is it a new concept or just an updated version of Espionage?

Information and specifically confidential data have always had a price, and someone has always wanted to get a hold of it. Documented spies date back in history from the 1st century. Espionage continues to evolve, and we as users of technology must stay on top of how our data is being hacked. Keylogging is one of today’s modern cyber-crimes but has the same basis as ancient spies.

NIST’s Newest Password Guidelines

Gone are the days of the required monthly password changes. NIST, which stands for National Institute of Standards and Technology, released their new guidelines, almost exactly a year ago to date, for password management. These thoroughly researched guidelines are not only recommended by NIST but have also been approved by the Secretary of Commerce. In the past, the recommendation has been to change our passwords monthly and to use extremely complicated passwords which included upper and lower-case letters and special characters. This process definitely had a tendency to lead a great deal of us down the road to a frustrated log-ins which typically ended as relying on a password manager (check back for our upcoming blog) or having to click on the “forgot password” button. We at Pendello understand that Security is not always convenient, but these guidelines are a win-win. They can help protect against the alternative and also make your log-ins a great deal less cumbersome.

We all know that we need to disconnect from our beloved technology. There are many researched and documented reasons why and although we can all view those outcomes differently we cannot deny that even though technology can help us in most of our daily lives, we all need to step away periodically. I think Anne Lamott said it best, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” The challenge is, where do we start? I personally love the new trend of flip phones and how they can help spark the adventure of disconnecting.