2021 - Descasio

Descasio helps Top Telecomunitcation Company Biswal Limited Improve Collaboration and Productivity During the Pandemic

Biswal Limited is a subsidiary of the R28 group holdings. The company builds, deploys and maintains infrastructures that enable leading telecommunication companies in Nigeria to provide quality service to their end users.

In today’s technology driven world, telecommunication companies play a major role in ensuring that activities in the digiverse continue to run smoothly and people can attain the level of connections that they desire with their families, friends, associates, clients and the rest of the digital community. This highly significant role places a huge responsibility on telcos to maintain quality service provision and stay consistent on the path of innovation.

For over a decade, Biswal Limited has provided the technical support that has enabled telcos to achieve this goal. The company empowers its clients to compete favourably within the telecommunication industry and provide the services that go on to shape the experience of businesses and people within the scope of their far-reaching tentacles.

For a technical service provider like Biswal, maintaining effective communication and collaboration internally is a high priority. Team members need to be in sync at all times to help them attain a height of innovation collectively. This led the company to Descasio’s doorstep.

Average is never good enough for our clients

According to Osas Agbonlahor, IT Manager Biswal Limited, “ Employees throughput and output rate at the time was on an average scale. Teams were only able to achieve half their potential in terms of productivity due to existing issues with our traditional mailing system and the absence of a collaboration tool at the time.”

“This was a major concern for us at the time, especially because we were onboarding more telcos at the time. Hence, there was a pressing need for us to expand our efficiency as a team as well as our productivity bandwidth”, he added.

Descasio takes us from average to high-performing

“After doing some research, we heard of Descasio’s competence in delivering collaboration services that truly work to bring team members together round the clock and so we reached out to them.”

“We were met with a high level of technical expertise and dynamic talents who provided a very clear roadmap for helping attain the position we had envisioned. They were very detailed in explaining what each layer of process will entail and this made it much easier to work with them, trust in their expertise and appreciate the value that they were bringing to the table”.

The Descasio team deployed an effective collaboration solution in the cloud, enabling our employees to access all of its features from different locations. The implemented solution helped to improve collaboration, effective task delegation and monitoring.

The results of these changes was an improved user experience for all employees, increased capacity for innovation, and an upshoot in team productivity.

Walking us through the transition

Moving from our traditional mailing system required a cultural change within the organization and this was not an entirely easy process, understanding that it takes time to build or change culture. However, the Descasio team was instrumental in ensuring that we had a smooth sail into the new module.

They provided step by step guides to heads of relevant departments to equip them to lead their subordinates into this new phase. They also organized and still organize several workshops for all our employees to help us see new values that can be derived from the solutions that they deployed for us, even as these solutions continue to experience upgrades.

Facing the gloomy pandemic situation

The pandemic was clearly a shocker for every business and every individual. We were not in any way exempted from this reality. Our employees had to work from home and we had to get used to being productive without being under any ocular supervision.

However, we would like to think that we were more prepared for the event, culturally, compared to some of our competitors. This was as a result of the transition that we had already made since Descasio’s intervention. with Descasio and the help that they provided to ensure that we mastered the dynamics of the solutions deployed.

Coming through on her promises

Descasio’s brand promise is to transform businesses through technology and for Biswal Limited, this is not just a statement but an experience.

Descasio helps businesses undergo a seamless, positive repositioning journey. With a vast array of solutions needed for effective, efficient, and excellent business processes, Descasio consistently provides tailored solutions focused on delivering sustainable and profitable outcomes to every unique business.

4 Min. Read/December 16, 2021/by Team Descasio

Digital Transformation

Why You Should Automate Your Business Now

cybersecurity software for business

Years before the existence of smart devices and dystopian sci-fi movies like the Matrix and Terminator, a certain individual had stumbled upon a great discovery that has continued to remain a major technology reference till today. Born in the late 1920s just before the great depression (a significant period) to a politically conscious family of European immigrants. Growing up, he had it very tough as his family traveled to different states across the U.S (his country of birth) seeking greener pastures before finally settling in Los Angeles.

As a teenager, he worked 2 different jobs as a Carpenter and a Fisherman to help his family. But one thing that stood out about this individual – aside from inventing the hydraulic orange-squeezer, a beloved device for fitness junkies – was his penchant for brilliance. He was already a Mathematics guru after teaching himself college-level mathematics using textbooks gotten from the California Institute of Technology, Caltech.

He studied Mathematics so much on his own that when he officially enrolled at Caltech to study Mathematics at the age of 16, he was allowed to skip two years of lectures (That’s equivalent to skipping 4 semesters of first degree in a University), a no mean feat! He graduated 4 years later (he briefly served in the US Army during the second world war before coming back to complete his graduate studies) and obtained his doctorate, also in the same field, in 1951 at Princeton University.

Now, back to his great discovery. In 1956, the great Mathematician organized a famous conference called the Dartmouth conference where he first coined the term “Artificial Intelligence” and established in his own words that, “Every feature of intelligence or learning aspects in principle can be so precisely described that a machine can seamlessly simulate it”. In other words, machines can learn and reason like humans.

More than 50 years later and counting, this theory espoused by this individual, who was later credited to be the Father of Artificial Intelligence, has been at the core of every technologically driven research and creation; think Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, etc, making it a game-changer in the world of automation.

Table of Content

What is Automation
Business Processes To Automate
Customer Support
Sales Process
Accounting Reconciliation
The Ripple Effect of Automating Your Business/Organisation

What is Automation

Automation has been around throughout human history. The first tradition of automation dates back to Egypt in the first century AD. The mathematician and engineer Heron of Alexandria created the first vending machine. But the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries heralded the mass creation and use of automated devices which today is now the norm.

Automation describes a wide range of technologies that replace or reduce human intervention to perform repetitive and time-consuming processes. Human intervention is replaced or reduced by programmed decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions.

Virtually everything is automated around us; think of all the endless automated SMS and email messages you receive from your favorite banks and fintech companies and even betting platforms, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Point of Sales (PoS) machines to automate payment processes at banks and supermarkets outlets respectively, airline and car park ticketing systems and other hosts of processes.

Business Processes To Automate

There are a lot of business processes companies can automate today. Here are a few examples of these processes:

Customer Support

Who wouldn’t want to automate customer support? While there is a significant case to be made for personal interaction when a customer has a problem, there is also plenty of value in proactively solving that problem with automation in the form of self-service help centers, chatbots, or other artificial intelligence systems.

Beyond simply speeding the time to resolution with an array of customer-facing features, customer service automation platforms provide insights into your business’s overall customer support process, allowing you to find opportunities to increase operational excellence.

Accounting Reconciliation

Financial statements must line up to the penny and will always require some sort of human input, at the very least at the review and approval stage. But as earlier mentioned, automation isn’t limited to all or nothing—there is a tremendous amount of labour that goes into the reconciliation process, some of which computers are an ideal fit for.

Automating the accounting reconciliation process can eliminate paper-based, manual spreadsheets by adding new ERP accounts automatically, creating segregation of duties, making post-certification view-only records, and providing visibility of the whole process. By the time the process is ready for the human touch, all the hard work is done.

Sales Process

What do salespeople love? Closing deals.

What do they hate? Paperwork, or in the case of modern sales, updating a CRM.

In an ideal world, salespeople would spend the majority of their time on tasks that utilize their talents, such as prospecting and having conversations. Activities like call logging, filing, and handoffs to the implementation team are a necessary part of the job, but they’re also tasks that are ripe for automation. Between connected devices, paperless contracts, and automated call logging, digital workflows between various sales tools allow your sales team to spend more time selling and less time on manual data entry.

The Ripple Effect of Automating Your Business/Organisation

Automation can have a profound impact on any business. Companies with automated processes tend to outperform companies without any form of automation. A distinctive benefit for the former over the latter is reduced costs of lost profits (most companies lose 20-30% of revenue every year due to inefficient processes). Other benefits and effects of automating business processes include an increase in productivity and scalability, better customer experience, higher efficiency, lower errors, and save of work time.

Conclusion

As a 21st century business, automating your work process should be a no-brainer, especially if you wish to reap its benefit. Take that giant step now with Descasio, if you haven’t, to automate your entire business process.

6 Min. Read/November 17, 2021/by Team Descasio

Information Technology

12 Powerful Cybersecurity Software To Secure Your Business in 2022

cybersecurity software for business

As a business owner, the cost of not investing in cybersecurity is huge. It’s like leaving your car keys on the ignition with your car doors open in a car park while shopping a few kilometres away. It is estimated that over $6 trillion will be lost annually to cybercrime from 2021. That’s more than the proceeds made from the global trade of all major illegal drugs combined.

Importance of Cybersecurity Software

You might be thinking that hackers in this clime are not as sophisticated as their destructive peers worldwide. Think again! In the last 10 years, Nigeria has lost up to N5.5trillion ($9.7 billion), that’s an average of N550 billion ($9.7 million) every year! Also, Nigerian companies recorded the second-highest percentage (86%) of cyberattacks worldwide behind India last year.

These staggering and scary statistics show that Nigerian businesses are far from immune to cyberattacks, let alone get attacked. This is why companies must set aside not so large a chunk of money to invest in standard cybersecurity software. It doesn’t just protect your company’s assets and data from being stolen but gives your business a fighting chance to last far longer as 60% of small businesses are expected to go out of business within six months of falling victim to a data breach or cyberattack.

Here are 12 powerful cybersecurity software products you can invest in to secure your business:

Barracuda Spam Firewall

One of the increasingly popular and obnoxious ways to gain access illegally to sensitive information of a company is through malicious emails. This can be prevented by the use of the Barracuda Spam Firewall. Barracuda is one of the most popular cybersecurity companies in the world with a lot of security products geared towards protecting businesses from internal and external threats.

Barracuda cybersecurity software for business

The Spam firewall, connected to the Barracuda security cloud, scans internal and external emails and incoming files using three layers of powerful virus scanning technology. Integrating this security software with your company’s

Fortinet Security Fabric

Most times, hackers attempt to hack into your system simultaneously from all angles. To prevent this, you will need a complex integrated security system like the Fortinet Security Fabric.

Fortinet cybersecurity software for business

The FSF is a complex ecosystem of security networks that continuously assesses the risks and automatically adjusts to provide comprehensive real-time protection across the digital attack surface and cycle. The FSF is a great security solution for large enterprises with a vast and deep system.

Google Cloud Security

One of the most efficient and intelligent means of protecting your entire digital assets is Google Cloud Security. From businesses with a single asset like a YouTube channel to businesses with multiple digital assets, Google Cloud Security guarantees the topmost security.

Google cybersecurity software for business

Google Cloud Security quickly detects and halts cyber threats by deploying different solutions which include Security analytics and operations and Web App and API Protection to protect your business from future attacks. Top organizations like Twitter and Evernote have their assets secured with Google Cloud Security.

You can start with Google Cloud Security for free with $300 free credits available for use.

Intruder

Just as the name suggests, the Intruder software is meant to crash the parties of potential hackers by blocking every pathway to an attack. Used by major brands, Intruder is an online vulnerability scanner that finds cyber security weaknesses in a company’s digital infrastructure, to avoid costly data breaches.

Intruder cybersecurity software for business

It also increases productivity as it frees employees to accomplish other important duties. The cybersecurity company claims to scan as many as 50 potential vulnerabilities delivering comprehensive data that can be used to strengthen the security structure of a company.

The software comes with a 30-day free trial. It also includes three pricing plans; the Essential, Pro and Verified plans.

Syxsense Secure

Another cloud-based vulnerability scanner is the Syxsense Secure which provides end-to-end security scanning and usable insights to prevent cyberattacks from unscrupulous individuals or organizations.

syxsense cybersecurity software

Other features from Syxsense secure include Patch everything; a feature that automatically deploys third-party security patches to secure and support major operating systems, Quarantine Devices to block, isolate and kill infected and malicious processes before they spread, and Collaborate with Ease, a feature that enhances collaboration among the IT and security team.

The key selling point of this cybersecurity solution is the ability to combine all these features into one single cloud console.

Syxsense Secure also comes with a 14-day free trial and two pricing plans which are Syxsense Manage and Syxsense Secure.

Proofpoint Email Security

As earlier alluded to in this article, email remains the most vulnerable source of cyberattack for large and small scale businesses around the world. According to a Trend Micro report, 94% of targeted emails use malicious file attachments as an infection source. Also, 91% of cyberattacks begin with a ‘spear-phishing email, one of the most sophisticated ways cybercriminals steal sensitive information.

Proofpoint cybersecurity software

Hence, the need for a cybersecurity solution like Proofpoint Email Security which deploys Machine Learning enabled technology to catch both known and unknown threats missed by others.

The software also detects and blocks threats that don’t involve malicious payload, such as impostor email—also known as business email compromise (BEC), a favourite for cybercriminals.

There is no visible pricing on its website, but a contact form is available to fill.

Acunetix

Aside from Google Cloud Security which is arguably the most complete web and API security software out there, Acunetix offers a great option for businesses looking to secure their websites, web applications, and APIs. It also offers actionable insights after performing a deep scan of all web pages and complex web applications.

Acunetix cybersecurity software

It is an intuitive and easy-to-use solution with functionalities like scheduling full/incremental scans and seamless integration to other software like Azure and Github.

It can be used by both small businesses and large enterprises. It comes in three pricing plans; standard, premium, and Acunetix 360. A demo can be requested.

Cisco Application – First Security

Most cybersecurity companies tend to offer a one size fits all approach for businesses looking to secure their online and offline assets which might not necessarily speak to the latter’s individual security needs. But Cisco Application – First Security offers different layers of cybersecurity approach that is closer, continuous and adaptive.

Cisco cybersecurity software for business

The different layers or products include Cisco Secure Workload which offers automated protection micro-segmentation based on recommended policies tailored to your applications, Cisco Secure Cloud Analytics which detect and respond to advanced threats across private and public cloud networks, Cisco secure Access which Establish user-device trust and highly secure access to applications, AppDynamics which performs monitoring and deep insight into transaction behaviour and metrics for applications running in public and private cloud environments and finally Cisco Secure Application which prevent and detect application vulnerabilities across your digital business.

The Cisco Application – First security’s adaptability to different cybersecurity needs makes it a go-to choice for big and small enterprises alike.

Netsparker

One of the best cybersecurity automation tools for software companies out there has to be the Netsparker. The tool’s unique dynamic and interactive scanning capabilities are top-notch amongst its peers.

Netsparker cybersecurity software

Netsparker offers features and functionalities for automating the security testing throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC). These features save a huge number of hours for team members, identify vulnerabilities that matter, and help security and development teams get ahead of their workload.

Netsparker claims they consistently identify more vulnerabilities and return fewer false positives than other scanning tools.

Another unique offering from the application is its capacity to perform comprehensive scanning while detecting vulnerabilities within a very short time. It also assists developers with actionable feedback that helps them produce more secure code meaning less work for your security team.

As earlier mentioned, the Netsparker tool is incredible for software companies looking to protect their assets throughout the SDLC.

Sophos

Sophos tagline says it all “Sophos stops Ransomware”. Just the kind of messaging that will get companies chomping at the subscribe button.

Sophos cybersecurity software

The British-based security software company, through its unique security products, offers protection against known and unknown malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, and data leakage and also provides a comprehensive network access control to businesses.

Some of these products include Sophos XDR which can intercept and investigate threats across endpoints, servers, firewalls, and other data sources, Sophos MTR which automatically neutralizes the most sophisticated threats, Sophos Cloud Optix, Sophos Emails, Sophos Phish Threat, etc.

A free trial is available for businesses looking to test the waters.

Vipre

Viper is one of the oldest security software companies out there, and like new wine in an old bottle, they’ve been able to adapt to the changing cybersecurity landscape to remain one of the go-to security platforms.

Vipre cybersecurity software

They offer comprehensive layered protections that cater to both personal and business needs. Some of the features Vipre offer include simplified solutions to protect businesses from online threats and data risks, an all-inclusive package and scalable pricing, unparalleled protection for email and endpoint security with the help of AI technology, and a fully integrated solution that is easy to deploy and manage.

Vipre business protection which is suitable for large and medium and small scale enterprises alike is available in three pricing plans i.e. Core Defense ($96 per user per year), Edge Defense ($96 per user per year), and Complete Defense ($144 per user per year).

Norton Security

Norton has evolved over the years from being seen as just an antivirus software to an all-inclusive cybersecurity company. In addition to the aforementioned Antivirus, the company offers different cybersecurity solutions such as Virus Removal, Malware Protection, Cloud Backup, Password Manager, and Secure VPN. It also offers an extra layer of protection for gamers, an interesting distinction from the rest on this list.

Norton cybersecurity software

Other features include five-layer protection for recognizing and blocking threats, cloud backup services that can store and protect files and documents, a simple, secure, and smart solution for managing passwords, a secure Norton VPN that helps block hackers from seeing what you do online and a series of Norton 360 plans.

Norton is suitable for all businesses looking for top-level digital protection and provides a 30-day free trial for Antivirus while the price for Norton 360 starts at $9.99 for the first 3 months.

Conclusion

It’s digitally suicidal if you don’t have your online assets protected by any of this cybersecurity software on the list. Thankfully, Descasio has got you covered. We’ve partnered with some of these security companies that can comprehensively secure your entire digital assets at the most favourable pricing.

10 Min. Read/October 27, 2021/by Team Descasio

Digital Transformation

5 Reasons You Must Use This Online Tool to Stay Ahead of Your Competition

Throughout the ages in history, humans have relied on varying tools, not just to survive, but to stay dominant and ahead of others. More particularly, some of these tools were used for optimization purposes.

The Stone Age tools of the prehistoric era like the Handaxe (a multipurpose food gathering tool), fire controller (a technological evolution at that period), and Bone tool served as a huge advantage for those who wielded them. Think of them as the Elon Musk and Bill Gates of the prehistoric era.

Table of Content

A Million and One Online Business Tools
DT Assessment Tool
The Future Becomes Your Oyster
Less Money to Spend Based on Available Data
Clearer Picture
Find Your Solution
Rinse and Repeat
Conclusion

A Million and One Online Business Tools

Fast forward millions of years later into a much more digitized world, a million and one online tools have popped up for big and small companies to optimize regular work processes with.

Take, for example, a simple process like sending or exchanging documents internally can be done with collaborative tools like Microsoft teams and Google Workplace (You can read extensively about 21 digital tools to use for your business in 2021. )

These tools have greatly enhanced and reduced efficiency and overhead cost respectively, digitally transforming businesses that have adopted them and giving these businesses the edge to always stay ahead of their competition.

DT Assessment Tool

One tool that stands out in the 21st century is the Digital Assessment Tool, a tool that specifically helps organizations across all industries determine their level of readiness for embracing technology translation – a platform dedicated to positioning your business to be at the forefront of digital transformation. Call it the Houdini of tech solutions and you wouldn’t be firing blanks.

Since the release of the tool a month ago, over a thousand organizations have already used the tool to check their digital maturity, a very useful parameter to determine if your company is technologically driven. The higher your company is on the digital maturity scale the digitally transformed it is.

Below are five lasting effects the DT assessment tool will have on your business to stay ahead of the competition:

The Future Becomes Your Oyster

One of the most transformational effects on your business after making use of the DT Assessment tool is the realization of what it takes to get your business ready for future disruptions.

For example, a modern commercial transportation company with fleets of combustible engine cars will easily be disrupted and rammed into (all pun intended) by a commercial transportation company that has invested in a fleet of electric cars.

Taking the DT assessment will arm the former with the ample information needed to digitally transform its business model to survive the impending tsunami and favourably compete with and get ahead of the latter.

Less Money to Spend Based on Available Data

Here’s a telling stat: According to an Adobe study done six years ago, 82% of companies still very much invest billions in paper usage.

Even the pandemic and the advent of remote working hasn’t slowed down the use of paper as the paper market is expected to see positive growth for the next 3 years.

The good news; this is the biggest opportunity to get ahead of the curve by eliminating paper-based tasks in your business processes, saving huge amounts of money, and investing it elsewhere. An example of an industry that has eliminated paperwork is the Fintech industry.

This essentially is what the DT assessment tool is all about, identifying what your business needs to let go to position it for digital transformation based on data about your business.

Clearer Picture

It’s hard to keep up as a business owner or manager when so many business processes are executed in real-time which can easily lead to broken and dysfunctional processes. This is especially true for large and medium-scale businesses.

The DT Assessment tool can help fix these redundancies by assessing internal work processes and showing you a clearer picture of what your business needs with the right software.

Find Your Solution

As stated earlier at the beginning of this article, there are millions of technology solutions out there in the digital world. The upside is that we get to be spoilt for choice. And the downside? We get to be spoilt for choice.

As a result, many companies find it difficult to determine what solutions are most appropriate for them among the pool of existing solutions.

Do I need to adopt Microsoft Teams because my competitors adopt the same? Or should I use an alternative tool with a different offering in an attempt to outperform them? These are questions that many business owners have been troubled with over the years.

However, with the DT Assessment tool mirroring your business processes back to you in the clearest form, you will be able to determine what solutions are a perfect fit for broken workflows.

You’d also get some recommendations on suitable solutions to adopt in specific areas after completing the assessment.

Rinse and repeat

We live in an ever-evolving business landscape where you have to use your best paddles at all times to move along the current. Those paddles in the form of the DT Assessment tool is your guide to help your business consistently stay ahead in the race.

It is advised you take the assessment periodically. This is also to ensure the tool naturally adapts to your business needs and predicts the right changes for your business to grow.

Conclusion

There is no better time to assess the digital maturity of your business. The tragic Covid19 pandemic has forced quite a lot of companies to take the digital transformation journey, but some has unfortunately found that journey tedious.

The DT Assessment will make that journey less tedious and seamless.

6 Min. Read/September 7, 2021/by Team Descasio

Digital Transformation

How to Use This Important Digital Tool to Increase Your ROI

The Best Digital Tool to Invest in Right Now

Technology has come a long way since we first had a glimpse of what it could do. While that may sound cliche, there’s a whole lot of truth and mind-blowing detail wrapped in that simple statement. At the initial stage of technology’s arrival, we familiarized ourselves with hardware like printers, desktops, laptops, mobile phones, and lots more, and we used them to complete simple tasks with basic software for messaging, keeping time, taking pictures, and saving dates on our calendar. However, with time, the software has evolved massively and that has started an entirely different revolution under which anything can be made possible and easy too.

Today, there are over a billion applications on the different app stores that exist, enabling us all to do just about anything we can think of.

Surviving through the pandemic has been hard, but with technology, businesses have been able to shut the doors to their physical offices and open a wider door online. Teams that have been dispersed across the world have been able to bridge the distance using collaboration software, complete million-dollar projects right from the comfort of a couch and celebrate wins – whether big or small – together.

Riding on the wings of this technological revolution, we at Descasio have continued to create tailored solutions for businesses of all sizes across Africa and beyond. Transforming businesses through technology has always been our goal. To see local businesses gain the digital advantage and begin to play on the global field is all that we live for.

To make that transition process easier, we recently launched a tool that allows business owners to run an X-ray of their business to find out which bones are cracking and which ones could use a little bit of firming up.

Typically, this solution helps businesses conduct a self-assessment, see what areas they need to improve on, see how technology can help them achieve better results in those areas, understand what technology solutions will be more appropriate for them, and get recommendations on the next steps to take in achieving their desired business outcome. In this simple guide, we’ll be showing you how to use our Digital Transformation Assessment Tool.

1. Visit https://assessments.descasio.io/

Our Digital Transformation Assessment Tool can be accessed via your web browser on smartphones and PCs of all kinds, i.e. IOS, Android, and Windows. To access the tool, open your web browser and type in the URL as seen above. Or simply click here to be redirected to the tool.

2. Sign up

Sign up in one easy step by filling in your desired email address and a unique password. We are very big on security. Hence, we’ve done everything possible on our path to ensure that this tool is 100% safe for users. However, we encourage healthy security practices for all our customers and so we advise that you do the following both here and elsewhere;

1. Create passwords with a minimum of 8 characters.
2. Write some letters of your password in uppercase. It doesn’t always have to be the first character, you can mix it up to reduce the chances of hackers guessing your password.
3. Use special characters (*, ‘ , ^, 🙂
4. Do not share your password with any unauthorized or unknown user.

Select the appropriate answer for each question
To make the assessment easier and faster for users, we have provided a set of options for each question. This way you wouldn’t have to spend long hours thinking of the best way to construct your answers and can complete the assessment in as little time as 10 mins. However, we implore users to select the most appropriate answers for each question as it relates to them, as this will impact on the accuracy of the report that will be issued to them at the end of the assessment.

a. Monitor the progress of your assessment

Easily monitor the progress of your assessment by watching the progress bar on the bottom left of your screen.

b. Pause and resume your assessment

Need to attend to urgent tasks right in the middle of your assessment? Not to worry. You can easily hit the “Save & Continue Later” button at the bottom right of your screen to save your assessment and resume later.

Get a report on your business’s digital maturity profile

Now to the main tea – the report. After ticking your way to the end of the assessment, hit submit and do a little stretch. Your digital maturity report should be waiting on your screen as soon as you look back down.

Get recommendations on how to improve your business across critical pillars

In combination with actionable insights into your business’s current position on the digital maturity scale, you will also be getting recommendations on how to improve your business processes, customer experience, and products to help you meet your business target.

Now you know exactly what you need to do, so don’t gamble. Don’t hesitate. Take your digital transformation assessment today.

5 Min. Read/August 6, 2021/by Team Descasio

Featured Success Story, Success Stories

How Wakanow Partnered with Descasio to Cut Down Cost By 45% in 18 Months using Azure.

Wakanow is a leading online travel agency founded in 2008, with locations scattered across Nigeria and an office also in Ghana. Their services include Hotel, Rides, Travel Sim and WakaCargo.

With a YoY consistent growth rate (except for last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Wakanow has remained the top online travel agency in Nigeria. This steady and continuous growth has created a need for an affordable, secure and scalable cloud solution for real time data storage of the company’s files and applications for easy access. Descasio in collaboration with Microsoft has been able to offer this service to Wakanow for the past 18 months.

The Cost of being on the Cloud

Prior to adopting Microsoft Azure provided by Descasio, Wakanow operated a hybrid technology, partly moving to the cloud in late 2015. But 5 years down the line, the company couldn’t handle the cost.

“The cloud was and is a great option until we realized the cost was eating away our pockets. We were on an Enterprise Account subscription however, due to limited knowledge at the time it wasn’t a suitable plan for the organization.”
Amechi Ayegbusi, Head IT Infrastructure, Wakanow

This caused a great strain on the company’s revenue and its overall operational process.

Our Primary Aim is to Optimise Cost

In 2020, Wakanow partnered with Descasio as its Cloud Solution Provider as a cost saving measure.

“Since our primary aim was to optimize cost in the cloud and not to move away from it, we reached out to Descasio. They helped us to move to a more sustainable plan.”

This has greatly reduced the cost of cloud services and enhanced the efficiency of the online travel company.

“After we signed with Descasio, We had one on one sessions where we had a breakdown of each resource and their cost implications. Thanks to this in-depth analysis we were able to cut down costs by 45%.”

Some of the cloud solutions Descasio offer include Cloud Database Management, Cloud Compute, Cloud Foundry (a software that lightens the operations team’s workload by freeing up resources and minimising human error), Application Modernisation and Azure Stack.

These cloud offerings have made Descasio the number one go to Cloud Solution Provider.

Bar Set High

For Wakanow, Descasio has set the bar high as a Cloud Solutions Provider

“Working with Descasio has been magnificent, the service has been nothing but pleasant. Right from day one, migrating our resources, the relationship felt natural and harmonious. Descasio has set the bar high.”

3 Min. Read/June 29, 2021/by Team Descasio

Digital Transformation

10 Things You Need To Know About Digital Transformation

It is unimaginable to start a business right now without thinking of its digital journey. In today’s world, going digital is the only way you can stay ahead of the competition as the world continues to move swiftly in the digital direction.

Before taking that leap from the traditional mode of business operation to digital, business owners must understand what it all entails. In this blog, we will be sharing with you ten things you need to know about digital transformation. But before we get into that, let’s lay some foundations and start with the definition of digital transformation.

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is the cultural, and operational change of an organization, industry, or ecosystem through smart integration of digital technologies, processes, and competencies across all levels and functions in a staged and strategic way. Simply put, it is all about strategically using technology to enhance internal business processes, products, and ultimately consumer experience.

A typical example of an aspect of digital transformation that we all witnessed recently was businesses switching from working from a physical location to working remotely and using different cloud-based software to collaborate and keep the workflow going.

Want To Learn a Little About the Cloud? Read Our Article on Top Companies Using Cloud Technology Including Netflix

In that scenario, we notice two major factors; a change in operation, the use of technology to support the operational change. These two factors combined is what digital transformation is all about.

Why Digital Transformation?

Our lives are being transformed daily using technology. We once trooped into banking halls to perform one form of transaction or the other, that process has been digitally transformed with the advent of banking apps, PoS and other digital payment tools.

This is just one amongst diverse examples of the huge impact of technology on processes. With digital comes convenience, ease of access, reduction in latency, increased return on investment (when properly deployed), scalability and many other values that businesses and their customers can benefit from. Hence, its importance.

Here are the 10 things about Digital Transformation you need to know.

The Future is not Digital

Going digital belongs to the past. Digitally transforming your entire business process is what determines the survival of your company/business in the future.

But digitally mature companies that have embraced and invested in technology in their early stages are more likely to transform quicker than the companies with little or no digital awareness.

Luckily, most businesses across all spectrums especially in Nigeria have woken up to the reality of a complete digital transformation.

Gen Z want to associate with Digitally inclined Brands

The major driving force behind the adoption of digital tools by brands are the Gen Z (people born after 1996). This digitally savvy demographic has made organizations to completely overhaul their business strategies in order to target and satisfy them, invariably making the demographic the biggest push for digital transformation.

Customers are the front and center of Digital

For most organizations, their journey into the digital world is mostly based on the parallel switch of a lot of their customers from offline to online. We can clearly see this shift from the Digital 2021: Nigeria report released by DataReportal which revealed that Nigeria’s increasing internet penetration rate currently stands at around 50%.

As more customers switch on that online bulb, more businesses will have little choice but to start their transformative digital journey to ensure that they are right where their customers are at.

Assessing your digital readiness is important

If it’s so important, then what exactly is it? Simply put, Digital readiness is defined by the level at which an organization or its workforce is prepared to transition into digitized workflows that are enabled by software and technology. To know this, organizations will usually have to sit through a consultation session.

Thankfully, with Descasio’s soon to be released solution, businesses will be able to complete this process faster and without having to interface with anyone.

Data is everything, or at least almost

Brands and organizations in the past hardly get any insight on their marketing campaigns and other initiatives. But with digital, organisations can turn to analytics and media monitoring tools to get better insight through data, insight that can help businesses to scale. It’s a total game changer for businesses.

Social Media is the new customer service desk

Listening and responding to customers across all social media channels (except for twitter currently) sounds daunting if you’re just getting started with some of the social media apps – like LinkedIn – on your own phone.

But a host of tools designed for social service makes it easy to highlight customer needs, integrate social channels into your service workflows, and start measuring brand sentiment and activity across social media.

Meeting your customers where they already are is a big part of winning business in our digital world. Approaching social service with a digital transformation mindset can really spell the difference between struggling to keep up with customer needs and turning service calls into opportunities to grow your brand.

AI is the go to digital tool for Businesses

Artificial intelligence systems can be incredibly helpful in their ability to comb through vast amounts of data in search of useful patterns and other insights and it’s no wonder big organisations and small and medium scale enterprises are in love with it.

The right skill set is needed

In considering undertaking the digital transformation journey, you must be aware of the fact that you might need to bring on digitally savvy people to the team in necessary areas and train existing staff members to use adopted technology in order to ensure a smooth run.

Any Businesses Can Be Transformed Digitally

Regardless of size or industry, every business can and should take steps to transform their operations through the use of technology. The most important thing is for the business to be able to pinpoint the areas where transformation is needed and plug in the relevant tech solutions that can bring about that needed change.

When this is done, the company can then monitor results and optimize as they go on.

Like Cryptocurrency Digital Transformation is Here to Stay

The world is currently bitten by the cryptocurrency bug. Most financial institutions are threatened by its whirlwind with some partially or outrightly banning it. This has only fuelled the push and acceptance for digital currency.

A lot of parallels can be drawn between cryptocurrency and digital transformation (the former is seen as the next frontier of digital transformation), the more business and corporate organisations delay the inevitable – the adoption of digital transformation, the faster they lose out.

Conclusion

It has become more apparent than ever that business owners and corporate organisations need to infuse digital transformation into their company/brand’s DNA as quickly as possible.

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6 Min. Read/June 10, 2021/by Team Descasio

Lifestyle

Thriving in Tech: 5 Hacks to Prevent Mental Health Issues

Mental Health Awareness Month

The month of May is set aside for raising awareness on mental health issues. A lot of people are prone to masking their mental health issues. Many of these people refrain from seeking help due to the stigma that comes alongside. Ask a random person a question about mental health and they are either misinformed or ignorant. The gross misinformation and high level of ignorance on the subject have been identified as major influences on the unpleasant remarks and jibes thrown at victims.

Here’s what people aren’t taking cognizance of; 1 in 5 adults live with mental illness such as, depression,bipolar disorder,anxiety disorders, or ADHD. Yet, most employees are hesitant to open up about their mental health issues out of the fear of being judged or facing discrimination. Which when you think of it, is the last thing that they need.

With the ever-increasing pressure, deadlines, and sleepless nights in the tech industry, workers within the space can easily develop some mental health issues without the adoption of proper preventive measures. To join in driving awareness for mental health this month, we have put together this shortlist of preventive tips to guide all parties within the fast-paced tech environment into managing their mental health.

Break big tasks into bits:

Knowing that you have a lot of work to do could increase the rate of your heartbeat. This could cause an anxiety attack, as you are most likely wondering where to start from. If you can, first make a list of what you have to do, then create a smaller list from those tasks. This helps you keep track of your progress, avoid distractions and stay motivated.

Start your day early:

With remote work, it can be quite difficult getting out of bed early, especially as you don’t need to catch a bus or make a long drive down to work. At the same time, having an early routine helps you kick start your day and check off a lot of tasks before work pressure sips in and your energy wanes.

Exercise:

Experts have said that engaging in a workout routine helps release endorphins (the feel-good chemicals). They are basically chemicals produced naturally by the nervous system to cope with pain or stress.

Eat at least once a day:

Eating too little causes fatigue and that could be linked to mental illness. Hence, it is advisable to not starve yourself all in the name of work. Hunger could also be a demotivating factor in starting your day and ultimately getting work done.

Seek professional help

This can be the change you need in your mental health as therapists are trained to help you process your thoughts, your feelings and help you function better as an individual.

In celebration of mental health month, we hope that this article was helpful to you. Don’t forget to leave a comment and share it with a friend.

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3 Min. Read/June 1, 2021/by Team Descasio

Digital Transformation

Five Efficient Ways of Preventing Data Breaches

We all get reminded of the importance of data security when reports of organizations losing millions to data attacks make the headlines. Based on recent reports, these attacks seem to be increasing rapidly. According to 2021 Data security report by Deloitte, SMEs, health institutions, public, private, financial, and non-financial institutions in Nigeria suffered massive hits from cybercriminals towards the end of last year and are expected to experience more of such attacks with higher magnitudes this year.

Major contributors to this have been the increase in mobile penetration in Nigeria and the adoption of new IT solutions which when not properly managed could create a premise for cyber-criminals to launch more attacks.

While some organizations still bear the notion that they are too small to be targets, others are learning to embrace the truth that data security should be a priority for every organization regardless of their size.

Data breaches, no matter how small, can ruin business processes and make customers doubt the credibility of an organization’s systems. Hence, Organizations today are expected to be strategic and practical about their approach towards securing their data. While this might sound like a huge task to take on, there are simple steps that organizations could take to strengthen their security posture.

These are five efficient tips for preventing your business from data breaches.

Make preparations ahead of time.

The most important step to preventing a data breach is to set up a defense before the attack is initiated. Making preparations ahead of time could involve carrying out a periodic vulnerability assessment to verify which of your assets are vulnerable to attacks. This will then inform the decision to tighten up loose ends that could be exploited by malicious actors. Preparing should also involve setting up a data recovery system to ensure that lost information can be restored in the event of a successful attack.

Avoid clicking unknown links

One of the most popular methods of launching cyber attacks is called phishing. It involves the use of a malicious link embedded into an email that is feigned to be sent from a reputable organization. This technique is usually used to steal sensitive data like credit card and login information or to install malware on the victim’s machine. A 2019 report by Verion established that 78% of cyber-attacks involve phishing. So, as simple as staying your hands and having a second look might be, it could go a long way in saving you and your company.

Educate your staff on security measures

Hold periodic training sessions on preventing data breaches with your team. Ensure to bring up point number two in those meetings and emphasize it. Ensure that each team member is up to date on security and privacy rules. Remember that you are just as strong as your weakest line of defense. It might take a while for the information shared during these sessions to stick. So, ensure to make the training sessions periodic.

Update software regularly

Updating your software on time could make your network less vulnerable. You can be on the lookout for updates or use products like Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer to confirm that all programs are up to date. This is a cost-effective and easy approach to preventing cyber-attacks.

Employ the service of a security optimization agency

With a security optimization agency, you can leverage the expertise of a team of industry specialists in managing security issues and maintaining a more secure posture in the cyber world. Let them focus on the work of keeping you safe, while you focus on your revenue generation and expansion goals without worry.

Want us to take care of your data security needs, send us an email @hi@descasio.io contact us on 01 912 5048.

4 Min. Read/May 20, 2021/by Team Descasio

Digital Transformation

5 Major Causes of Data Breaches

Somewhere around the world, someone is punching their keypads real fast, or maybe slow – although I really like to picture it fast like in the movies – and here’s what they’re doing. They’re writing up codes and setting up malicious links just so they can slide behind your online security and steal away your personal data or that of your employees, or clients. Sadly, with new techniques, hackers are able to do this without raising any suspicions.

Now the big question is, how can you stop this? Here’s our answer to that. You first need to know what the major causes of data breaches are. How do hackers get in? Who or what can give them entry? Providing answers to these questions will help with creating a line of defense against attacks on your data. To help you with that, we compiled a list of top causes of data breaches and we’re going to share it with you in this blog.

Here’s our shortlist of top causes of data security breaches.

1. Weak passwords

You should be a little familiar with seeing those two words side by side. Basically, 90% of sign-up pages give you that “weak password” notification when you attempt to register a short and simple password. Bless the heroes behind those pages. Some even go as far as stopping you from moving to the next page until you create a strong password. However, some other pages give easy passes and we embrace it to our own disadvantage.

Weak passwords create a loophole in your security system and hackers are always ready to exploit that vulnerability.

2. Human Error

According to a Statista report, human errors are the second most popular cause of data breaches. Another report by Verizon revealed that one in five incidents are often caused by a mistake made by an employee.

Human errors could involve sending private information to the wrong recipients. It could also involve leaving a database of information online without any password or restriction. On this note, you might want to ensure that when using software like Google forms or sheets to collect user info, only a few trusted people can access the form. It’s a lot safer to give authorization to a few people within your organization than to make the form available to anyone with the link.

3. Misuse by authorized users

This might sound like a repetition of the previous point but it’s not. The major difference here is that this is usually intentional. Employees who have grudges with their organizations often seek to get back at them and see leaking company data as the best way to do that. In other instances, it might not be as a result of a grudge. However, employees can stumble on some inside information and decide to share it with an outsider for different reasons.

4. Malware

Fun fact; malware is a mix of two words – malicious and software, just like ransomware is a mixture of ransom and software. There are different types of malware and they can be used for different purposes. One prominent type is called RAM scrapers and it is used to scan the memory of devices to collect sensitive information.

POS systems are particularly vulnerable to this type of Malware and this could lead to huge financial losses as a result of the compromise of financial data.

5. Hacking

Sitting at the top of the chart for causes of data breaches is hacking. 45 percent of data breaches are attributed to hacking. It encompasses many activities like phishing or social engineering, ransomware injection, and so on.

You can’t prevent hackers from attempting a data breach but with a proper security system set up, you stand a good chance of safeguarding your data from them or at the very least, recovering stolen data.

To find out about the strength of your security system and optimize for a better chance against threats contact us for a cyber threat vulnerability assessment today.

4 Min. Read/May 12, 2021/1 Comment/by Team Descasio