#Third-party App for Salesforce Data Backup

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Cloud Computing Tutorial for Beginners

Introduction Think of a world where you can use your files, run applications, or even write software without carrying around a high-end computer. That's cloud computing magic — a revolutionary technology that's redefining the manner in which we interact with computers and the web. Be a student, an entrepreneur, or a geek; learning cloud computing opens doors to endless possibilities. In this simple-to-get-start tutorial, we'll de-mystify what cloud computing is, how it works, the main models and services, and why it matters in today's digital age.

What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is the provision of computer services — including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence — over the internet ("the cloud") to provide faster innovation, elastic resources, and economies of scale. In straightforward terms, rather than executing software or storing information on your local computer or server, you use a distant system that you access via the internet.

Key Features • On-demand self-service: Compute resources can be provisioned by end-users without human intervention. • Broad network access: Services are made available from anywhere on internet-enabled devices. • Pooling of resources: Cloud providers employ multi-tenant models to host several customers. • Rapid elasticity: Resources can be scaled up or down rapidly depending on demand. • Measured service: You only pay for what you use.

Why Cloud Computing? • Economical: No investment in costly hardware or infrastructure. • Scalable: Simply scale your resources as your needs expand or contract. • Reliable: Cloud providers offer strong disaster recovery and backup solutions. • Accessible: Work anytime, anywhere. • No maintenance: Cloud providers handle updates, security patches, and so forth.

Types of Cloud Deployment Models There are three primary deployment models in cloud computing: 1. Public Cloud • They are offered on the public internet and are used by numerous users. • Examples: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

• Suitable for: Small and medium-sized businesses, start-ups, or individuals who need instant access to assets. 2. Private Cloud • Reserved for a single organization. • Either on-premises deployed or by a third-party provider. • Provides greater control and security but is expensive. 3. Hybrid Cloud • Ties public and private clouds together for greater flexibility. • Businesses can have sensitive data on a private cloud and use public cloud for less sensitive processes.

Cloud Service Models Cloud computing services are mostly classified into three models: 1. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) • Provides virtualized computing resources over the internet. • You control the operating system, applications, and data. • Example: AWS EC2, Google Compute Engine. Usage: Storing web site hosting, running virtual machine executions, and backup data storage.

2. PaaS (Platform as a Service) • Provides a platform to customers to write, run, and host applications without the burden of infrastructure management. • Example: Google App Engine, Heroku. Use case: Developing apps fast without worrying about the hardware or operating system. 3. SaaS (Software as a Service) • Delivers software applications over the internet on a subscription model. • Example: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Dropbox. Use case: Having access to software like email, file storage, or CRM without installing it locally. Real-World Examples •Netflix uses AWS to provide videos to hundreds of millions of customers across the globe. •Dropbox allows users to save and share documents through cloud storage. •Salesforce offers a cloud-based CRM application to manage business relationships. •Zoom hosts its video conferencing website on the cloud with high availability. Main Cloud Providers Some of these companies own the marketplace in the cloud: •Amazon Web Services (AWS): Most used and veteran cloud platform. •Microsoft Azure: Biggest in hybrid cloud and enterprise cloud. •Google Cloud Platform (GCP): Focused on data analytics and machine learning. •IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud: Other prominent ones. Everyone provides similar essential services but differing tools and cost structures.

Getting Started with Cloud Computing Follows is a step-by-step way in which you can begin to try cloud computing as a beginner: Step 1: Sign Up for a Free Tier Free tiers are provided by all the big cloud providers. For instance: • tAWS Free Tier provides EC2, S3, Lambda, etc. • tAzure Free Account provides $200 credits. • tGoogle Cloud Free Tier provides Compute Engine and BigQuery. Step 2: Explore Basic Services • Install a Virtual Machine (VM): Start a minimal server using EC2 (AWS) or Compute Engine (GCP). • Install Cloud Storage: Store data in S3 (AWS) or Google Cloud Storage. • Test a SaaS App: Mess around with applications such as Google Docs or Trello. Step 3: Learn by Projects Mess around with small projects such as: • Serving a static web page. • Creating a to-do application with Firebase. • Hosting a chatbot on Azure.

Step 4: Study and Certify Cloud certifications can give your career a boost: • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner • Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals • Google Cloud Digital Leader These beginner certifications prove your grasp of cloud concepts.

Security in Cloud Security is top of the mind for cloud computing. Even as providers put huge investments in security, end users have some responsibilities too. Shared Responsibility Model: •Cloud provider secures infrastructure. •Customer secures user access, data, and application-level settings. Key Practices: •Employ strong authentication (e.g., multi-factor). •Encrypt data in transit and at rest. •Monitor activity on a regular basis and audit it. •Set proper permissions on users.

Challenges of Cloud Computing The cloud is wonderful, but it's not all sunshine: •Downtime: Disruptions may occur in accessing essential services. •Vendor Lock-in: It is complicated and costly to switch vendors. •Security Risks: Erroneous configuration can compromise security. •Cost Overruns: Pay-as-you-go arrangements become prohibitively expensive if left unmonitored. It's great to be aware of these challenges in order to make smart decisions. The Future of Cloud Computing Cloud computing just keeps improving with fascinating trends such as: •Serverless computing: Code is the focus for developers, while the infrastructure is handled by the provider. •Edge computing: Processing data close to the source (e.g., IoT devices) for enhanced performance. •AI and ML Integration: Cloud platforms allow for powerful tools for model training and deployment. •Multi-cloud strategies: Organizations use multiple providers to avoid dependence on a sole one. Final Thoughts Cloud computing is not a fad buzzword — it's actually the backbone of contemporary digital life. Whether streaming entertainment and smart homes or business applications and mobile phones, the cloud permeates nearly all aspects of everyday life. By learning the basics now, you're setting yourself up to take advantage of one of the greatest technology shifts of the 21st century. If you love development, data, or infrastructure, the cloud has something for you.

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Unlock Success with Salesforce CRM Solutions Today - Yantra

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, customer relationship management (CRM) has become a critical component for organizations looking to streamline their processes and enhance customer experiences. Among the various CRM solutions available, Salesforce stands out as a top choice for businesses across industries. In this blog, we’ll explore why Salesforce is the ultimate option for CRM and how it can benefit your business.

1. Comprehensive Functionality

Salesforce offers a comprehensive suite of CRM tools and features that cover every aspect of customer management. From lead generation and opportunity tracking to sales forecasting and customer support, Salesforce provides a seamless workflow for managing customer interactions at every stage of the sales cycle. Its customizable dashboards and reports empower businesses to gain valuable insights and make data-driven decisions.

Here are two common CRM use cases in Salesforce, illustrated with flowcharts:

Lead Management Process:

Capture Lead Information: A lead is generated through a website form, social media interaction, or another source. Their information is captured in Salesforce.

Qualify Lead: The sales team assesses the lead’s potential based on specific criteria.

Yes (Convert to Opportunity): If qualified, the lead is converted into a sales opportunity for further nurturing and deal progression.

No (Add to Nurturing Campaign): If not qualified yet, the lead is enrolled in a nurturing campaign with targeted emails and content.

Opportunity Management: The sales team actively works on qualified leads, tracking progress and interactions within the opportunity record.

Send Nurturing Emails & Content: Automated emails and personalized content are sent to nurture unqualified leads and keep them engaged.

Close Deal: The sales process culminates in a successful sale.

Customer Service Case Management:

Customer Submits Case: A customer contacts support (phone, email, web form) with an issue. The case details are logged in Salesforce.

Case Categorization: The case is categorized based on the nature of the issue (e.g., billing, technical problem).

Assign to Agent: A qualified support agent is assigned to handle the case based on expertise and workload.

Initial Response & Investigation: The agent acknowledges the case, gathers further information, and begins investigating the issue.

Resolution Provided?: The agent determines if a solution can be provided.

Yes (Case Closed): If resolved, the case is closed, and a follow-up satisfaction survey might be sent.

No (Further Investigation/Action): If not resolved, the agent takes further action (e.g., escalate to a specialist, request additional information).

The cycle continues until the issue is addressed and the case is closed.

2. Scalability and Flexibility

Key advantages of Salesforce is its scalability and flexibility. Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, Salesforce can scale according to your business needs. You can easily add or remove users, customize workflows, and integrate third-party apps to extend functionality. This scalability ensures that Salesforce grows with your business, offering a long-term CRM solution that adapts to evolving requirements.

3. Cloud-Based Accessibility

Being a cloud-based CRM platform, Salesforce offers unmatched accessibility and collaboration capabilities. Users can access Salesforce from anywhere, at any time, using any device with an internet connection. This enables remote teams to collaborate effectively, access real-time data, and stay productive on the go. The cloud infrastructure also ensures data security, backups, and automatic updates, relieving businesses of IT maintenance hassles.

4. AI-Powered Insights

Salesforce leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies to provide predictive analytics and actionable insights. Through features like Einstein Analytics, Salesforce analyzes data patterns, identifies trends, and predicts customer behavior. This empowers sales teams to prioritize leads, personalize interactions, and optimize sales strategies for better outcomes.

5. Community and Support

Salesforce boasts a thriving community of users, developers, and experts who contribute to its ecosystem. The Salesforce Trailblazer Community offers forums, knowledge resources, and networking opportunities for users to learn, share best practices, and seek help. Additionally, Salesforce provides comprehensive support through documentation, training programs, and dedicated customer success managers, ensuring that businesses maximize the value of their CRM investment.

6. Hesitate to switch to Salesforce

Cost Concerns: Companies may worry about the upfront and ongoing costs associated with implementing Salesforce. As a consultant, we can conduct a cost-benefit analysis to demonstrate the potential savings and ROI that Salesforce can offer in terms of increased efficiency, productivity, and revenue generation.

Data Migration Complexities: Migrating data from existing systems to Salesforce can be a daunting task for many companies. We can eliminate concerns by developing a detailed data migration plan, ensuring data integrity and accuracy throughout the process. Additionally, offering training and support to help employees navigate the new system can ease the transition.

Employee Resistance to Change: Employees may resist switching to Salesforce due to fear of the unknown or concerns about job security. To address this, we can involve employees in the decision-making process and communicate the benefits of Salesforce in terms of streamlining processes, improving collaboration, and enhancing job satisfaction. Providing comprehensive training and ongoing support can also help employees feel more confident and empowered with the new system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Salesforce is not just a CRM platform; it’s a strategic advantage for businesses looking to drive growth, improve customer relationships, and stay ahead of the competition. With its robust functionality, scalability, cloud accessibility, AI-powered insights, and supportive community, Salesforce remains the ultimate choice for modern CRM solutions. Embrace Salesforce and transform your business into a customer-centric powerhouse.

To read full blog visit- Unlock Success with Salesforce CRM Solutions Today - Yantra

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Integrating Salesforce for Effective Project Management

Integrating Salesforce for Effective Project Management

Project management in the digital era is about adaptation to remote and flexible work arrangements, agile methodologies, data-driven approaches, heightened collaboration, and focus on cybersecurity, continuous learning, and adaptation. Salesforce offers customizable solutions for task tracking, resource allocation, and workflow management. It integrates with various project management tools and apps available on the Salesforce AppExchange, extending its functionality and allowing seamless project management within the Salesforce ecosystem. Its analytics and reporting capabilities provide valuable insights for project tracking, performance assessment, and decision-making.

Role of Salesforce in Project Management

Let's review how Salesforce enhances project management and its key features and benefits: - Customization and Flexibility: Salesforce allows customization of workflows, dashboards, and reports to fit specific project management needs, including creating custom fields, objects, and rules that align with project goals and processes. - Collaboration Tools: Platforms like Salesforce Chatter provide social collaboration features, enabling team members to communicate and collaborate effectively, share documents, and update project statuses in real time. - Integration with Project Management Apps: Salesforce's AppExchange offers a range of project management apps, like Asana, Trello, and JIRA, to integrate with the Salesforce platform. - Real-time Analytics and Reporting: Salesforce's analytics tools allow project managers to track project progress, monitor key performance indicators, and generate real-time reports for informed decision-making. - Task and Resource Management: Salesforce enables efficient tracking of tasks, deadlines, and resources, ensuring optimal allocation and utilization of resources throughout the project lifecycle. - Customer-Centric Approach: For projects focused on customer engagement or service, Salesforce's CRM capabilities ensure that customer needs and interactions are centrally managed and integrated into the project workflow.

Data Management and Salesforce

If you want your project to be successful, you need efficient data management, impacting decision-making, productivity, risk management, resource optimization, collaboration, quality control, compliance, and customer satisfaction. Salesforce offers a comprehensive approach to data import and management. It provides the foundational CRM structure and tools for data management. Still, you may enhance these capabilities with Skyvia's easy-to-use data integration, synchronization, backup and import data into Salesforce services. This synergy ensures the CRM operations' accuracy, efficiency and security.

Salesforce for Project Planning and Execution

Salesforce offers a comprehensive suite of tools for setting project objectives and milestones and monitoring project progress and execution, ranging from task management and collaborative communication to advanced analytics and customizable reporting. - Salesforce Tasks and Activities: This feature allows for creating and tracking tasks and activities related to the project. Users can set due dates, assign tasks to team members and track completion status. - Dashboards and Reports: These can display key project metrics, such as task completion rates, milestone progress, and overall project status, in a visually intuitive format. - Chatter: Use Salesforce Chatter to share ideas, files, and real-time feedback and collaborate on project objectives with your team, ensuring everyone is aligned and informed about the project's progress. - Project Management Apps on AppExchange: Salesforce's AppExchange offers a variety of third-party project management applications that can be integrated with Salesforce. These apps extend the native project tracking functionalities with additional features like Gantt charts, advanced resource planning, and more. - Custom Objects and Fields: Salesforce allows the creation of custom objects and fields to track specific project data, including custom metrics, project stages, and other unique data points relevant to the project. - Workflow and Approval Processes: These features enable the automation of project workflows and approval processes. They ensure that project tasks move smoothly from one stage to the next and that critical checkpoints are reviewed and approved. - Einstein Analytics: For more advanced needs, Salesforce Einstein Analytics provides AI-driven insights and analytics. It can analyze project data to identify trends, forecast potential issues, and offer predictive insights. - Calendar and Scheduling: Salesforce's calendar and scheduling features help plan and track project timelines, deadlines, and meetings, ensuring the project stays on track. - Mobile Accessibility: With Salesforce Mobile, project managers and team members can track and update project progress on the go, offering real-time project management capabilities. - Cloud-based Integration: Salesforce's cloud-based platform allows for integrating various tools and systems used in project management, ensuring a unified view of data and progress.

Analyzing Project Data with Salesforce

Salesforce empowers businesses to analyze project data effectively through customizable reporting, advanced AI-driven analytics, real-time data processing, and collaborative tools for a deeper understanding of project performance, resource allocation, and potential areas for improvement, leading to more informed and strategic project management. With Einstein Analytics, users can build customized applications tailored to specific project needs, focusing on the most relevant KPIs and metrics. Except for this, Salesforce offers advanced data visualization tools, allowing project managers to create interactive dashboards and reports, ensuring project managers and team members can stay informed and make decisions regardless of location.

Integrating Salesforce with Other Project Management Tools

If your company needs to create a more comprehensive and efficient project ecosystem oriented on streamlined workflows, more informed decision-making, and a strong customer focus, just integrate Salesforce with other project management tools. Here are a few methods of such integration: - AppExchange: Salesforce's AppExchange offers many pre-built integrations with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, JIRA, and Microsoft Project. These integrations can be easily installed and configured. - API Integrations: It allows custom integrations with various project management tools. - Middleware Platforms: Third-party middleware platforms like MuleSoft (owned by Salesforce), Skyvia, or Jitterbit can be used to facilitate the integration between Salesforce and other tools, especially when direct integration is not available. - Salesforce Connect: This tool allows Salesforce to access and manage data stored in external systems (like other project management tools) in real time without replicating the data in Salesforce. Examples of Salesforce Integration in Diverse Projects Marketing campaign management - In a project to launch a marketing campaign, Salesforce can track customer interactions, manage leads, and measure campaign effectiveness while using integrated marketing tools like Pardot or Marketo. Sales and customer service enhancement - In projects focused on sales process optimization, Salesforce can be integrated with tools like Sales Cloud or CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software to improve the sales pipeline management process, from lead generation to closing deals and post-sales service. IT and software development - For software development projects, Salesforce can integrate with platforms like JIRA or Trello, aligning development tasks with customer feedback and priorities stored in Salesforce. Event management - In organizing events, Salesforce can integrate with event management tools like Eventbrite to efficiently manage attendee data, event marketing, and post-event follow-up. Human resources projects - For HR-related projects, Salesforce can integrate with HR management systems like Workday to track employee information, recruitment processes, and employee engagement initiatives within Salesforce. Financial services projects - In projects within the financial services sector, integrating Salesforce with financial management tools like QuickBooks or financial planning software helps manage customer portfolios, track financial transactions, and provide personalized financial services. Healthcare projects - In healthcare projects, Salesforce can integrate with electronic health record (EHR) systems to help healthcare providers manage patient relationships, track patient interactions, and deliver personalized care. Retail industry projects - Integrating Salesforce with e-commerce platforms like Magento or Shopify for retail projects enables businesses to manage customer interactions, track online sales, and personalize the shopping experience. Nonprofit fundraising projects - In nonprofit projects, Salesforce can be integrated with donation management tools to manage donor relationships, track donations, and organize fundraising campaigns. Educational projects - In education sector projects, Salesforce integrates with student information systems or e-learning platforms to manage student relationships, track academic progress, and effectively engage with students and alumni.

Conclusion

Integrating Salesforce into project management is a good idea because it brings efficiency, collaboration, customization, and insightful data analysis into the PM’s realm, enhancing the ability to manage projects effectively and deliver successful outcomes in each business area. Read the full article

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What is Microsoft Azure Cloud Services?

Microsoft Azure is an cloud computing service offered by Microsoft. Azure provides a variety of services including software as a Service (SaaS) and platform as a platform (PaaS) as well as infrastructure as an service (IaaS) options for the deployment of applications and services using Microsoft's managed data infrastructure of the data center. The 50 regions that Azure operates in exceed those of any other cloud service.

What do I need be aware of about Microsoft Azure Cloud Services?

Microsoft Azure has more than 100 services that can assist you in solving the toughest problems. Azure's flexibility and built-in Development Operations (DevOps) let users to quickly iterate and release code with an all-in-one cloud development platform. Whichever language you choose to use such as the Microsoft Azure's Visual Studio Team Services or an open-source program such as Chef or Jenkins You will be able to solve problems faster and more easily than before.

Microsoft Azure supports private cloud as well as public cloud as well as hybrid cloud implementations. Azure's powerful Information Security (InfoSec) services offer general storage databases, networking, and security identity and access management, backup, and disaster Recover (DR).

Can I use Azure?

Microsoft Azure supports any tool or language or framework: Node.js, Java, .NET and many more. Microsoft's best-in-class development tools help you write great code. Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code are both supported to increase your productivity. Azure DevOps Training helps you learn & master Azure from the best instructors. Azure will offer us virtual machines, rapid process of information, analytic and monitoring tools, and many more to help us work more efficiently.

Microsoft Azure offers more than 100 services that are turn-key, with the most recent AI and data that can bring the latest in intelligence to your business. Over 150 Azure Logic Apps connections are immediately available with a variety of popular applications such as Office 365, Dropbox, Google Services, Salesforce, and Twitter.

What is Azure and why should I choose it for my Business?

Microsoft Azure runs on both PC as well as Mac. Azure supports applications that are as complex and large as you'd like to build them. Continuous integration as well as continuous delivery (CI/CD) can cut down your development time. Transfer your test environments to the cloud, so that you can create, spin up and tear down environments quickly.

Tools for managing your application such as Azure portal Power Shell, Bash as well as REST APIs, are readily available to satisfy your requirements. Concentrate on your application and not the infrastructure by providing support for monitoring your application log analytics and patching, backup and site recovery.

Microsoft Azure cloud services are used by a wide range of industries. Over 90% of Fortune 500 companies run on Azure together with startups and government agencies. The built-in security control and analytics can help you to respond to patterns, close gaps and quickly respond to any changes in your security requirements.

Microsoft has world-class certifications regarding security and privacy. security. Azure is compliant to standards like those of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), HIPAA, HITECH PCI-DSS, IRS-1075 SSAE 16 FedRAMP, SOC 1, SOC2, and ISO 27001. Azure also meets regional-specific standards like Australia and IRAP as well as UK G-Cloud, as well as Singapore MTCS. It is also certified by the British Standards Institute and other third parties have confirmed the strict compliance with these guidelines. Microsoft has adopted the first global code of best practice to protect cloud data, ISO/IEC 2718.

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The pandemic has driven How to reduce the threat of cloud ransomware will top $20 billion in 2021

How to reduce the threat of cloud ransomware

The pandemic has driven significant digital transformation efforts among enterprises looking to adapt to the new normal and effectively support growing remote workforces. As a result, SaaS platforms and services have become critical for business success. Unfortunately, with this growth, organizations and employees are becoming more prominent targets for ransomware. In fact, according to a recent report, ransomware attacks increased by 150 percent in 2020. As this threat continues to evolve, businesses are increasingly facing what’s referred to as cloud ransomware – a new generation of attack that explicitly spreads through the cloud and encrypts SaaS data associated with cloud services.

Ransomware has gotten so pervasive that, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, it’s estimated the cost of ransomware will top $20 billion in 2021. These costs include a wide range of variables, including ransom fees, forensics, legal work, fines and penalties, data recovery requirements and more. The costs are rising, and unfortunately, so is the volume of effective ransomware attacks. In fact, in 2020, 73 percent of ransomware attacks were successful, which was an increase of 600 percent over the previous year. And every 11 seconds, a new organization falls victim to ransomware, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. Today average downtime from a ransomware attack is 16 days. And as an example, healthcare organizations pay out more than $8,851 per minute of downtime. The reality is that ransomware has become a multibillion-dollar industry for cybercriminals. Like any other successful business, ransomware schemes want to show positive revenue traction year over year.

But what exactly are criminals targeting with these attacks and why? First, cybercriminals are looking for new market opportunities. Many offline businesses remain closed due to Covid-19, which has somewhat narrowed the traditional “playing field” for cybercriminals. As a result, they’ve increased their focus and efforts toward phishing attacks to compensate. Last year alone, more than 75 percent of organizations worldwide experienced some sort of phishing attack. During this same period, as the global pandemic forced organizations to transform business operations, cloud services and applications have become even more mission-critical for businesses. The data shows just how significant a cloud has become. According to Synergy Research Group, worldwide spending on cloud infrastructure services increased by 35 percent year over year, and Flexera’s State of the Cloud Report shows that most companies spend more than $1M a year on cloud services. In addition, companies are now fully committed to using services such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, Dropbox and Box, to name a few. This culmination of critical cloud service adoption and phishing attacks is creating a perfect security storm.

Securing data in the cloud As cloud services accumulate vast numbers of users in a single ecosystem, they become prime targets for criminals. Just imagine the damage a well-designed ransomware attack can inflict on a large segment of enterprises that all use Microsoft Teams or Salesforce. The economic impact has the potential to be devastating. And protecting against ransomware is becoming more and more challenging as cybercriminals release increasingly sophisticated algorithms each year. For example, new ransomware attacks block on-premises antiviruses and backup agents, delete backed-up data, and download sensitive information. They steal a victim’s saved credentials from web browsers and email clients (and threaten to upload it to public view if the victim doesn't pay the ransom), and more.

Here’s a simple cloud-to-cloud example of a ransomware attack targeting SaaS data. First, a user gets an email that appears to be from their cloud service provider. It requires the user to click a phishing link to update an application. Second, a user installs a malicious OAuth app or a Chrome extension that requests a scope of permissions to access Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 SaaS data. Third, once permissions are granted, the app starts encrypting data directly in the cloud.

The bad news is that there’s no miracle solution that can help you to keep your business data 100 percent secure in the cloud. But the good news is that a combination of best practices can help you significantly reduce the impact of a ransomware attack on your organization.

You need to continually (24/7) monitor your SaaS environment using a third-party provider. The provider can identify new ransomware attacks in real-time, remediate them, alert you immediately and provide an advanced incident response plan. One of the critical components of such a solution should be machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms that can minimize false-positive rates and automate the process to reduce the human factor significantly.

Data backup Data backup is incredibly important as well. Use an independent cloud-to-cloud backup provider to back up your sensitive SaaS data to secure cloud storage. AWS, GCP and Azure are the most secure and trusted cloud storage services. Daily backup is a vital part of this process.

Since the majority of phishing emails represent the first stage of a ransomware attack, you need to protect yourself with an anti-phishing monitoring solution.

Additionally, you must monitor and assess all third-party apps your employees install. This includes marketplace apps, Chrome extensions, add-ons, iOS apps, Android apps, non-marketplace apps and any others that have access to your SaaS data. Some apps can be time bombs designed to launch ransomware attacks when you least expect it!

And finally, you should be educating your employees by implementing security awareness training on a quarterly basis. There are many online tools that can help you with this. Continue doing all the necessary data security work like managing files’ permissions and access, outlining clear security policies and more.

At the end of the day, you need to evolve along with the changing ransomware landscape. In the past, cybercriminals have either broadly targeted every end user in hopes of receiving a small payment, or focused in on a single approach that used social engineering tactics targeted at specific organizations that are more likely to pay a higher ransom. That’s no longer the case now that we’ve entered the cloud ransomware era. The mass adoption of cloud services by a broad range of business sectors has created an attractive aggregation point for both approaches. And they’re successful because cloud providers have lagged when it comes to addressing security concerns. Don’t let your organization be the next victim. Use the information above to close potential security gaps and shut out cloud ransomware before it’s too late.

Ransomware is a widespread threat to organisations across all sectors in 2021. According to The State of Ransomware 2021 report by Sophos, 37 per cent of organisations around the world were hit by ransomware in 2020 and the average cost of recovery from such an attack has more than doubled, from $0.76m in 2019 to $1.85m in 2020.

The average ransom paid was $170,404 – and almost a third of victims paid up. In addition to the significant financial cost and resource demands of recovering from an attack, ransomware can destroy brands and reputations, especially when personal data and other confidential information is involved. The annual Sophos survey, which polled 5,400 IT decision makers in 30 countries around the world, (mainly from mid-sized organisations) shows how not all industry sectors have been impacted as adversely by ransomware attacks.

Media, leisure and entertainment along with distribution and transport topped the list of sectors able to block an attack before their data was encrypted – with 47 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively, able to do so, compared to a global average of 39 per cent. In local government, which can have limited IT resources, only 28 per cent managed to avoid encryption, while healthcare (28 per cent) and oil and energy (25 per cent) also struggled.

The threat landscape for ransomware is changing. At one end of the spectrum there are unskilled criminals using off-the-peg ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) software, such as Dharma, in a spray-and-pray approach. At the other end there are advanced, targeted and manually orchestrated attacks that involve innovative tactics, techniques and procedures as well as tools that are often also used by IT administrators and security professionals for everyday tasks. These advanced attacks involve the highest ransom demands, often running into millions of dollars. In addition, such attacks can combine encryption with the theft of data, which the attackers then threaten to make public unless a ransom is paid.

Some adversaries are skipping the data encryption stage altogether and are simply demanding a ransom to delete, or agree not to publish, the stolen data. A small, but significant 7 per cent of respondents to the global survey had experienced such attacks – double the 3 per cent affected in 2019. Anecdotal evidence suggests that central government and retail organisations may be particularly vulnerable to this kind of approach.

Does it pay to pay a ransom? The universal answer is no, but not everyone feels they have a choice. If you don’t have up-to-date offline backups, a decryption key provided by the attackers may be the only way of getting your data back. But it is rarely that simple. The survey found that of the organisations that pay a ransom, fewer than one in ten (8 per cent) get all their data back, while 29 per cent recovered no more than half.

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Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist at Sophos, says: “This could be in part because using decryption keys to recover information can be complicated. What’s more, there’s no guarantee of success. For instance, as we saw recently with DearCry and Black Kingdom ransomware, attacks launched with low-quality or hastily compiled code and techniques make data recovery difficult.”

Some attackers remain in the victim’s network after launching the ransomware, to see if the attack succeeded, but also so that they can threaten a repeat attack if the victim doesn’t pay. Identifying and removing any trace of the intruders is vital to prevent this from happening.

What did the survey respondents expect from ransomware in the future? Of the 62 per cent of organisations that had not been hit by ransomware in the past year, nearly three-quarters expect to be targeted at some point. Around half of them (47 per cent) said this was because of the increased sophistication of attacks. The good news is that 6 per cent of those that had escaped attack – and felt they were unlikely to be a target in the future – said this was down to the expertise of their IT teams.

[emorphistechno]

Salesforce Consulting Services: 9 Tips to Keep Your Data Secure with Salesforce

Nowadays, we always hear about the news of data leaks, data hacks, and security breaches. So, companies’ priority is to offer overall security to the data. During this pandemic, remote working has become widespread a little sooner than anticipated, and CRM users across the world are now accessing Salesforce and its data on their gadgets.

In the face of increased remote working, businesses need to step up their efforts to protect their data from internal or external threats. For most companies, data is the most valuable asset, and to prevent its misuse, Salesforce gives their customers the tools to safeguard it with great efficacy. Besides, Salesforce is built with so many capabilities and provides robust features to the enterprises.

To prevent any kind of data leaks, Salesforce users must prohibit sharing their logins through emails. Recently, Pony’s Vawtrak malware had stolen user credentials and tried to access and take data from Salesforce by making unauthorized logins.

Salesforce offers a single cloud-computing resource to serve its customers by assigning a unique identifier number to each customer. This ID is further associated with each session of the companies to access the cloud and thus ensure effective data security.

Moreover, Salesforce has a health check feature that tells security scores that show the robustness of the configuration, and this security health score is based on Salesforce’s recommended baseline settings.

As a Salesforce customer, you always need to take significant steps to secure your Salesforce environment by following practices that are considered as your mantras.

Knock-Knock! –Who’s there?

Prevent unauthorized access by turning two-factor authentication for your business. It is an extra layer to ensure the security of Salesforce accounts.

To access their Salesforce account, users can download an app like the Sales authenticator, or they can receive a text message. Afterward, they may be required to have a unique identification number to confirm their identity before accessing the accounts. TFA is more effective than passwords that can be lost or guessed.

Data Encryption

Data encryption is a method where information is encoded and can only be accessed or decrypted by a user with the correct encryption key. Consumption of platform encryption should accompany the regular generation of a new tenant secret.

Recall re-encrypting the encrypted data with the new critical irrespective of whether they are currently used or archived and not destroyed.

Use Virus Scanner

Any kind of virus can lead to unexpected data loss or cause computer crashes and to avoid such circumstances, Salesforce needs extra data security, preferably through a virus scanner app with the help of third parties. There are numerous security vulnerabilities through insecure devices, calling for the need to connect the Salesforce virus scanner app to the Salesforce environment. Install firewalls and antivirus software and ensure they are updated and working properly.

Custom Logins flows:

To protect a Salesforce account, Salesforce provides a tool called customer login flows, which directs users through a login process before accessing the Salesforce account. Users can use it to control the business processes that users follow when they login Salesforce accounts.

Custom login flows enable you to include additional authentication procedures when they seem unusual login attempts.

Strict user access controls

As this pandemic has forced everyone to work from home, the Salesforce data is more likely to be attacked by online intruders. Organizations need to work along with their employees to ensure regular system updates because remote employees delay updates.

When they are in the office, instruct the employees to change passwords frequently and encourage them to cover protection procedures.

Security Health Check

As the name implies security, health check tools’ main focus is security. Health check improves the Salesforce organization’s overall security and the ability to keep the bad ones out. This can help to address security weaknesses fast. Any vulnerability detected is classified as low risk, medium risk, and high risk.

The Salesforce is required to run a health check into their organization to identify any vulnerabilities and settings out there. The tool itself describes the setting, its possible impact, and tutorial material regarding how to fix issues.

Shield Platform Encryption

With shield platform encryption, you can encrypt all kinds of sensitive data at rest on the Salesforce platform. Shield platform encryption builds on the data encryption options that Salesforce provides out of the box.

Here, the data is stored in many customs fields and standards. Moreover, the attachments are encrypted using an advanced HSM-based key derivation system. Therefore, it is highly protected even when other lines of defense have been compromised. Your encryption keys are not sharable to other users of your organization. The Salesforce can be allowed to generate the key material, or downloads are available.

Salesforce Application Programming Interface

We all know that Salesforce is integrated with other apps and services, thus facilitating data sharing and boosting functionality. Though all apps which are integrated with Salesforce are completely safe, yet it will be the best option to seek a security model of API to connect to Salesforce before giving access to it. As a Salesforce user, you should enhance data security and integrity. Look at the companies who can help to backup and restore the data.

Activate Clickjack Protection

Clickjacking names sound like unfamiliar jargon for those who never heard of it. But here you can clear your mind. Clickjacking is a hack that tries to attract users into clicking a link or pressing a button they perceive to be safe. This hacking is held by the cybercriminals to perform malicious operations.

With Salesforce, the technique can be used to ease instant and data modification. Salesforce can tailor data protection against possible clickjacking by restricting the iframes uses on-site pages. This page may be protected by default, but it is better to install additional protection.

Recapitulation

All organizations should keep an eye on their data sharing and security model even when some employees are working remotely. When you show your Salesforce data to unauthorized users in a community, you need to lockdown records and permissions. Unauthorized data access may result in data manipulation and thus affect the decision making processes.

Salesforce also has their in-house features to keep your data safe, secure and you only need to follow these best practices to stay safe from malicious attack. For any further assistance, you can hire the best Salesforce consulting companies who can do all these activities on your behalf.

Originally published at – https://medium.com/emorphis-technologies/salesforce-consulting-services-9-tips-to-keep-your-data-secure-with-salesforce-ff2eb8bf5072

[yantainc]

Unlock Success with Salesforce CRM Solutions Today - Yantra

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, customer relationship management (CRM) has become a critical component for organizations looking to streamline their processes and enhance customer experiences. Among the various CRM solutions available, Salesforce stands out as a top choice for businesses across industries. In this blog, we’ll explore why Salesforce is the ultimate option for CRM and how it can benefit your business.

1. Comprehensive Functionality

Salesforce offers a comprehensive suite of CRM tools and features that cover every aspect of customer management. From lead generation and opportunity tracking to sales forecasting and customer support, Salesforce provides a seamless workflow for managing customer interactions at every stage of the sales cycle. Its customizable dashboards and reports empower businesses to gain valuable insights and make data-driven decisions.

Here are two common CRM use cases in Salesforce, illustrated with flowcharts:

Capture Lead Information: A lead is generated through a website form, social media interaction, or another source. Their information is captured in Salesforce.

Qualify Lead: The sales team assesses the lead’s potential based on specific criteria.

Yes (Convert to Opportunity): If qualified, the lead is converted into a sales opportunity for further nurturing and deal progression.

No (Add to Nurturing Campaign): If not qualified yet, the lead is enrolled in a nurturing campaign with targeted emails and content.

Opportunity Management: The sales team actively works on qualified leads, tracking progress and interactions within the opportunity record.

Send Nurturing Emails & Content: Automated emails and personalized content are sent to nurture unqualified leads and keep them engaged.

Close Deal: The sales process culminates in a successful sale.

Customer Service Case Management:

Customer Submits Case: A customer contacts support (phone, email, web form) with an issue. The case details are logged in Salesforce.

Case Categorization: The case is categorized based on the nature of the issue (e.g., billing, technical problem).

Assign to Agent: A qualified support agent is assigned to handle the case based on expertise and workload.

Initial Response & Investigation: The agent acknowledges the case, gathers further information, and begins investigating the issue.

Resolution Provided?: The agent determines if a solution can be provided.

Yes (Case Closed): If resolved, the case is closed, and a follow-up satisfaction survey might be sent.

No (Further Investigation/Action): If not resolved, the agent takes further action (e.g., escalate to a specialist, request additional information).

The cycle continues until the issue is addressed and the case is closed.

2. Scalability and Flexibility

Key advantages of Salesforce is its scalability and flexibility. Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, Salesforce can scale according to your business needs. You can easily add or remove users, customize workflows, and integrate third-party apps to extend functionality. This scalability ensures that Salesforce grows with your business, offering a long-term Salesforce CRM solution that adapts to evolving requirements.

3. Cloud-Based Accessibility

Being a cloud-based CRM platform, Salesforce offers unmatched accessibility and collaboration capabilities. Users can access Salesforce from anywhere, at any time, using any device with an internet connection. This enables remote teams to collaborate effectively, access real-time data, and stay productive on the go. The cloud infrastructure also ensures data security, backups, and automatic updates, relieving businesses of IT maintenance hassles.

To Read Full Blog Visit- Unlock Success with Salesforce CRM Solutions Today - Yantra

[digital2shivam-blog]

Best CRM Software for Scale and Startup This Year

The key to the success of any business is its customers. If customers are happy and satisfied with the company's services, it flourishes. A company whose consumer is always growing will continue to climb the ladder of success.

The same is true for startups; In fact, it is more important for them to have a great customer relationship. This should be a priority for them and doing so takes a lot of time and effort on parts of the startup.

But in recent times, customer relationship has become easier to manage. All thanks to CRM software for the startup.

An efficient customer relationship management software helps a startup to organize important data in a single location. It retrieves data from various sources and stores it in one place.

All data related to consumers are stored on custom CRM software. Anyone can access, track and analyze all the interactions transpired between the company and the customer.

This helps them increase consumer engagement and satisfaction which in turn leads to higher conversion rates.A study conducted by Archiz Solution (the leading CRM company) stated that the best CRM solutions have a 29% increase in sales.

Therefore, if you are a startup, you have to integrate CRM software for your business. In this blog, you will learn about the Best CRM software for small business.

Statistics that show the importance of CRM

A survey shows that people are willing to spend more on a product with a CRM system:

Sales have improved a lot by being a mobile CRM solution:

Why CRM is suitable for software development startups?

Here are some points to remember when a startup invests in CRM software development.

Cost

A startup relies on investments by other companies to develop its business. Therefore, they cannot afford software which is expensive. Thus, invest in CRM software for Startups that can easily manage customer data and make with long term relationship.

Simplicity

Startups are usually run by passionate people who may or may not have technical knowledge. This is why it is necessary to select a CRM software solution that is simple and easy to use. Otherwise, learning complex software will cost them money and time that they cannot.

Stability

CRM software developer that create simple, consistent and stable software with minimal issues. A startup CRM department has a lot of things to deal with; Adding CRM-related issues will not help anyone.

Insights

Make sure the solution is really useful for your business. This should provide useful insights about the customer that the business can use to analyze them. Only then can they improve their services for a better customer experience Software.

Features

Develop custom CRM software that has the necessary features that you need from such software.

Best CRM Software for Startups

Now, we know what CRM software is best suited for startups. Let's take a look at some of the best CRM solutions available in the market for startups:

HubSpot CRM

HubSpot is a leading CRM that currently lets the sales team start their work quickly without disturbing the rest of the workflow.

Using HubSpot CRM, you can create a profile of contact with companies. Then, the CRM solution will store each detail in an organized manner. The data is in a single dashboard that owners can track. It contains statistics about the performance of each deal and agents.

HubSpot offers a variety of features and is easy to use. Even in the free scheme, it has many features for both startups and small businesses.

In addition, it has powerful automation capabilities. This helps users close deals faster. Furthermore, there is no problem due to human error because there is no documentation.

HubSpot has authentication for Google and is in partnership with the search giant. That's why CRM integration is possible with many applications such as Google Chrome, SugarCRM, Base CRM, and others.

It has two plans - paid and free. The features you will get with this CRM software are:

Drag and drop communicator

Profile

Integration with websites

Email connection

Templates

Tracking and scheduling

Integration with social media

Website visitor

CRM description and so on.

Archiz CRM

The best and top CRM solution. It is the best and most used because it provides a wide range of features and allows CRM integration with other Archiz products.

The Archiz CRM solution tracks all data consumer interactions and organizes them with customer data. It stores the entire data in one place where you can easily manage it.

Some unique benefits of using Archiz CRM are:

Tracking and viewing of entire history, communication, discussion and social mention related to any activity.

It has a collaboration module that rapidly follows data deals and research.

With Archiz, you can increase sales productivity from anywhere. It has a mobile application that runs on Android and iOS and allows the user to access real-time data via dashboards and custom reports.

Features

Contact management

Sales Automation

Sales Forecast

lead generation

Call center Integration

Cloud-based CRM & with Mobile CRM

Marketing and Sales Leads

Dashboard

Workflow automation

Acceptance

Social Accounting and Liaison

Real-time data analysis

Whatsapp marketing integration

Email & SMS Marketing integration

SugarCRM

Another popular and best CRM solution is SugarCRM. It is used by more than 5,000 businesses, and its app has over 7 million downloads. This is great for startups and businesses to handle their sales.

The reason behind its popularity is that it is highly customizable. Startups and firms can customize it so that it can easily integrate with their organization's workflow.

It has all the basic and necessary features that CRM software must-have but it has a unique feature, and that is- it provides eight persons in its system.

These individuals begin with the main administration and end with support staff. They all work on the same platform and can communicate, pull data from a central location and so on.

The biggest drawback of SugarCRM is that it is not free. It has a free trial, and even the paid version is not cheap. The paid version starts at $ 40 per month. But the reason for including it in the list is that it has the best customer support which can make a lot of difference.

Features

Sales automation

Sales forecast

Support automation

Sugar exchange

Cloud or on-premises deployment

Unlimited studio customization

Advanced workflow

Reporting

Dashboard

Insightly

Insightly is one of the best CRM software for small businesses. It has over 50,000 users globally.

Insightly CRM is a cloud-based CRM software with an exciting range of features with reasonable prices.

A CRM solution developed using it can track deliverables, provide a business overview and improve communication with customers with others.

Insightly has mobile apps that work on multiple platforms such as Android, iOS and Kindle. In addition, it allows integration with third-party apps such as Gmail, Evernote, Outlook, MailChimp and MS Office.

Its free plan includes 2 users, 2500 record limit, 10 mass emails and other basic features required for a startup.

Features

· Automatic backup

· Work

· Customer Support 24 * 7

· Fast search

· file-sharing user

· Dashboard

· linking up

· Automatic email reminder

And more such as Salesforce, Oracle, including its Oracle Siebel, PeopleSoft and Oracle On Demand products SAP CRM , Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The conclusion

These are so many CRM Software provider in th the market. As per your startup requirement, choosing the best CRM Software. But establish one, because customers are the key to a successful and long-lasting business. And customer relationship management software can help you engage more customers and retain them as well. Get FREE Consultation to select best CRM Software, Lets talk an expert call on this number 9717963903.

[mooreoliver]

How can Cloud help in your Digital Transformation Journey

In our technology-driven times, organizations that do not have an online presence risks going obsolete or lose credibility. Going digital has become a necessity for enterprises to remain viable, provide good customer experiences, and stay up the competition curve. Since success is generally measured in terms of customer experience, digital transformation becomes a key business requirement. And among the many proven technologies driving digital transformation and offering great customer experiences subsequently is cloud computing. This technology enables enterprises to have robust vision for the future, accelerate digital transformation services, and provide better experiences to the customers.

Businesses have begun to realize the inevitability and benefits of going the cloud way. In a technology-driven world with growing competition, the focus is on garnering transformational benefits rather than settling for the incremental ones. To achieve this, businesses require to set up a robust technology infrastructure. However, for any enterprise digital transformation initiative, the focus should be on remaining flexible and embracing the industry trends.

What is cloud computing?

The process involves the storage, maintenance, management, analytics, processing, and security of data by leveraging a network of internet-based servers. It is in sharp contrast to the data stored on a personal computer or a local server. The distributed storage and management of data help enterprises to make more informed and accurate decisions. Further, this helps them to improve productivity, streamline processes, save costs, innovate, accelerate time to market, enhance customer experiences, and achieve ROI.

Types of cloud computing

The cloud consists of three types of services viz., Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). In SaaS, a third-party cloud provider hosts software applications and delivers them on demand to customers over the World Wide Web. Some examples of SaaS are Google Apps, Dropbox, Salesforce, BigCommerce, MailChimp, Hubspot, and DocuSign, among others.

In PaaS, the third-party provider delivers software and hardware tools, operating environments, database, or computing platforms that are needed to develop applications, over the internet. The examples include Windows Azure, Force.com, Apache Stratos, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Heroku, among others.

Similarly, in IaaS, a third-party vendor offers access to computing resources viz., storage, data centre space, security, scaling, network components, or servers, among others. The examples include Linode, DigitalOcean, and Rackspace, among others.

 How the cloud can play a role in digital business transformation

To disrupt the status quo and stay competitive, enterprises embrace digital transformation services wherein they need to upgrade their legacy IT infrastructure. Also, to enable digital disruption, enterprises, besides streamlining their business processes, need to leverage advanced technologies. These include Augmented Reality, AI and ML, Big Data Analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), among others. Since these technologies demand heavy computer power and storage space, cloud computing comes as a savior. The benefits to be accrued from cloud during the digital transformation process are as follows:

Flexibility: To ensure the success of any digital transformation strategy, the business processes of enterprises can be changed many times. The cloud allows any organization to save costs by not investing in setting up and maintaining costly IT resources in-house such as software or hardware. This way the organization can remain flexible and agile as it can leverage cloud-based resources based on its requirements. For example, if a project needs greater computing and storage power, the organization can scale up its on-demand cloud requirement by paying an extra amount. The reverse can also hold true leading to the optimization of resources and cost savings.

Security: Any information stored in-house can be vulnerable to situations like security breaches, unexpected system downtime, and natural or man-made disasters. Since all data including backup are contained within a singular IT system, any security-related issue can wipe it clean. On the other hand, cloud hosting can maintain multiple backups of data in a distributed system. So, even if one node gets affected, the data in other nodes can remain unaffected. In cases of big data analysis where big chunks of data are involved, any system failure or security breach can have devastating consequences.

Quick prototyping: Any digital transformation implementation entails continuous innovation, testing, and delivery of products or services. This is where the cloud can help enterprises with platforms to build, test, and deliver/deploy applications bypassing the need for a complex IT architecture. So, if an enterprise builds multiple products, then the cloud platform can allow quick prototyping of such applications, saving cost and time in the process.

Seamless collaboration: Implementing digital transformation solutions would require every stakeholder in the organization to embrace a culture of collaboration. This is congruous to the requirements of DevOps that aim at breaking hierarchies or silos to achieve creativity, quality, innovation, efficiency, and glitch-free delivery. With cloud computing, different teams can work seamlessly in parallel to develop, test, and deliver applications. It allows access to computing resources, anywhere and anytime. Also, the optimal delegation of authority can be assured by controlling the level of user authority.

Cost-effective: Cloud services are highly flexible to user requirements. They offer a scalable model wherein enterprises only pay for services that have been used. Thus, there is no need to set up and maintain a costly IT infrastructure (hardware and software) thereby saving CapEx in the process.

 Conclusion

The need to enable digital transformation has become imperative given the cost of setting up and maintaining a robust and functioning IT infrastructure. As business processes become agile with the inclusion of new technologies and the need to uphold greater user experiences, migrating to the cloud environment becomes a necessity. It helps enterprises to bypass the challenges of legacy systems and build-test-deliver quality software applications consistently.

[kelsusit]

Google Apps for Work (G Suite) 2016 review

[Editor's Note: What immediately follows is a rundown of the latest developments and features Google has added to Apps for Work (G Suite) since this review was first written.]

October 2017

Add-ons for Gmail were launched, which let users access certain features of popular apps right from within their inbox, including the likes of Asana, QuickBooks and Trello.

Google Calendar on the web benefited from a redesign to make it look more like the mobile app, and some new features including the ability to manage multiple calendars side-by-side.

Google made it easier to compare and contrast different G Suite editions, and the firm also made it simpler for users to switch their subscription between these different editions.

A new version of the Google Contacts app emerged on Android, which introduced action buttons under a contact’s photo to start a chat or make a call, among other new features.

Hangouts Meet now allows G Suite Enterprise customers to use a dial-in phone number to join a meeting (audio-only) when out and about, if they don’t have an internet connection.

September 2017

Drive File Stream is now available to all G Suite customers, a desktop app which allows for easy and convenient access to all your Google Drive files on demand.

Google improved the Jamboard app to make it easier to use on your mobile device, and to allow users to present a jam to a meeting directly from their phone.

Google Sheets users have gained the ability to customize their headers and footers, and to choose from a range of predefined options (such as page numbers, dates and so forth).

Google Slides got some nifty tweaks including a new range of add-ons, plus integration with Google Keep, allowing you to drag notes directly from the latter into the former.

Gmail’s Email Log Search feature in the Admin console now allows admins to track the delivery of emails sent by users in their domain, and see the current status of those messages.

Google’s Jamboard finally went on sale in the UK (after being available in the US and Canada) with an asking price of £3,999.

August 2017

Google made its Contacts app available to a wider range of devices – basically to all hardware running Android 5.0 or better (including Samsung, LG and Motorola devices).

Google’s collaborative whiteboard, Jamboard, is now on sale in Canada for CA$6,949 (as opposed to just the US). With any luck it will come to the UK soon, as well.

Google boosted the collaborative powers of Docs, Slides and Sheets with the introduction of a new system that clarifies which version of a document collaborators are working on.

Following the introduction of anti-phishing security measures in the Gmail app for Android, those same capabilities that warn of suspicious links have arrived in the iOS app.

Google has made data loss prevention (DLP) functionality available for content stored in Team Drives (this feature came to Google Drive back at the start of this year).

July 2017

Google has tweaked the default apps which appear in its app launcher, so it will highlight more useful apps off the bat, such as Gmail, Google Drive and Docs.

Google Drive has been tweaked so employees can share files stored in Google’s cloud with folks who don’t have a Google account, providing admin permissions allow this.

Google’s Jamboard (collaborative digital whiteboard) now allows for duplicating objects, offers easier object selection, and boasts a new keyboard that supports ‘glide typing’.

G Suite benefited from the introduction of a new recruiting app: Hire lets employers keep tabs on potential candidates and allows for scheduling interviews and the like.

Hangouts Meet now offers a live chat function, so meeting participants can send messages or links in real-time, with a chat history available for the duration of the meeting.

June 2017

Google announced the imminent launch of a Backup and Sync app which automatically backs up files and photos from a PC onto Google Drive. The enterprise version will follow later in 2017.

G Suite admins benefited from the introduction of automatic provisioning for six new apps: Asana, Dialpad, Freshdesk, Lucidchart, RingCentral, and Smartsheet.

Google has extended the ability of G Suite admins to restrict certain users from creating Team Drives, and this functionality will be available indefinitely (instead of expiring in 2018).

Gmail admins received the ability to notify internal mail senders with an informative warning when a message gets quarantined due to an issue with compliance policies.

Google Vault was graced with a number of new features to make retrieving data a more accurate process, including detailed metadata for files exported from Google Drive.

May 2017

Google’s Jamboard, the massive collaborative digital whiteboard, went on sale in the US on May 23. You need a G Suite plan to use the 55-inch board which costs $5,000 (£4,100).

The Quick Access feature, which attempts to intelligently highlight the files you might need before you’ve even searched for them, arrived for Google Drive on the web.

Smart Reply – Google’s nifty system which automatically suggests quick responses to emails, in order to save you the effort – is coming to Gmail for Android and iOS.

Google added pre-integrated single sign-on support for 9 more third-party apps, including Asana, Dialpad, Evernote Business, Expensify, Keeper, Pagerduty and Trello.

Gmail on Android received a boost in security with the introduction of anti-phishing checks to warn users when they click on a suspicious link in a message.

April 2017

New settings were introduced in the admin console to allow for better management of users’ offline access to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides files.

Google Sites was improved with the introduction of the ability to add a logo to your site, which the app will intelligently scan for colours, and offer to use them across your theme.

For those firms that use Google+, which became part of G Suite last autumn, admins now have access to improved enterprise-focused reporting on adoption and engagement.

Google Cloud Search is now available as an iOS app (it was already on Android). The app offers a machine intelligence-powered, unified search experience across G Suite.

Google began the rollout of a refreshed Google Accounts login page, which has a new look and feel that’s designed to be consistent across phones, tablets and PCs.

March 2017

Gmail on the desktop has been improved so that when you receive a message with a video attachment, you’ll be able to preview the clip from right inside your inbox.

As part of an effort to better integrate G Suite with Salesforce, Google made it possible to export a Salesforce Opportunity List View directly to Sheets in order to bulk edit data.

Google announced that Jamboard, its giant digital whiteboard – billed as the ‘ultimate freeform collaboration experience’ for G Suite users – will be out in May costing $5,000.

Google launched a fresh app, Meet by Google Hangouts, a videoconferencing solution for businesses that allows for video calls with up to 30 group members.

G Suite saw the addition of the Google Keep app, an Evernote-style note-taking effort which you can now access from a sidebar panel in Google Docs.

February 2017

Google clarified that Hangouts users won’t be able to make video/audio calls in Firefox 52 due to plugins being disabled for security reasons, but it’s actively working on a solution.

Google Drive users can now view password-protected Microsoft Office documents in Drive, in read-only form – and this works for Gmail attachments, too.

Sheets (and its mobile apps) now supports the ability to rotate text within a cell, plus Google introduced new border styles and improved accounting number formatting.

Google also changed Sheets on the web so users can link to specific cell ranges, so for example it’s now possible to create a linked table of contents for your spreadsheet.

Want to insert videos directly from Google Drive into Google Slides presentations? You can now do exactly that, with a number of options to pick from such as autoplay.

Google Cloud Search was brought to G Suite, offering bolstered search functionality across the productivity suite, and machine intelligence-powered recommendations.

January 2017

Google added enterprise-grade controls and visibility to G Suite, including improved data control with Data Loss Prevention measures, and more scope for analytics.

It became easier to create documents and the like from templates, as the latter can now be accessed directly from Google Drive (rather than having to go into the G suite apps).

The mobile apps for both Google Docs and Sheets got a number of new features, including the ability to insert headers/footers, plus improved manipulation of images.

On the security front, Google made the decision to block JavaScript (JS) file attachments in Gmail (alongside the already barred EXE, BAT and MSC attachments).

Google made it easier to create group chats for teams in Hangouts, allowing for the easy creation and naming of ‘placeholder’ group chats which can be swiftly shared.

 December 2016

Basic Mobile Management was introduced to G Suite, which lets admins implement basic security on iOS devices with no need for the user to install an MDM profile.

Google Sheets received some tuning, including a new setting to keep a limit on iterative calculations, and some interface improvements were made with the Android app.

Gmail has been improved to make ‘bounce’ messages – the notifications users receive when an email fails to be delivered – more easily understandable and informative.

Google bolstered the Explore feature (introduced in September) by making it dead easy to insert citations as footnotes in Docs, Sheets and Slides.

Finally, this past month, we discovered that G Suite is only half as popular as Microsoft’s Office 365, at least according to one survey of European enterprises.

November 2016

The mobile apps for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides had a ‘trash view’ introduced whereby you can now see and restore previously deleted files.

Google opened up applications for the Early Adopter Program for the Team Drives feature in Google Drive, a new and more robust way of sharing files between teams.

Slides was tweaked to enable users to be able to save in the OpenDocument Presentation (ODP) file format for compatibility with the likes of LibreOffice and OpenOffice.

G Suite has introduced custom templates for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms, so you can set up your own specifically tailored templates for colleagues to use as needed.

The overhauled Google Sites has been rolled out to all G Suite users, boasting a refreshed design, six new themes, and the ability to track performance with Google Analytics.

Google pushed out a new Gmail app for iOS with major changes including an improved design, better search functionality, and an ‘undo send’ option to retract email mistakes.

October 2016

It was announced that the Google Drive desktop app won’t be supported by Google for Windows XP, Vista or Server 2003 as of the start of next year, January 1, 2017.

The voice features of Docs got a serious boost, with the introduction of new commands to format text, and do things such as inserting links and comments.

Google teamed up with Slack so users of the team-focused messaging solution can directly import files from Google Drive, or create new documents from within Slack.

Google also announced that those using aged versions of the Google Drive desktop app should note that support for versions 1.27 or older will be discontinued in February 2017.

Google Docs now lets you include page numbers in the table of contents you can create for a document.

Google introduced integrated search functionality for Gmail, Calendar, Groups, and Drive on the web, meaning that search results will be pulled from across all of these.

September 2016

Google has renamed Apps for Work as G Suite, which the company says better reflects the software's mission in terms of putting the emphasis on real-time collaboration.

Docs, Sheets and Slides witnessed the introduction of a new Explore feature consisting of intelligent assistants that help you craft better documents.

A new Quick Access capability was brought to Google Drive. It uses machine learning to automatically surface files it thinks you'll need next based on your usage patterns.

Google rolled out a new offer for users of its productivity suite, with a free 60-day trial of Chrome device management which is good for up to 10 devices.

Google Drive made searching easier with the introduction of natural language processing, meaning that you can phrase your search in everyday conversational terms.

Google announced a partnership with Box whereby the latter will be integrated with Google Docs, allowing users to edit documents directly from Box's cloud storage.

August 2016

A new Google Hangouts Chrome extension was pushed out allowing for multiple chat windows to be incorporated into one, and making more chat content readily visible.

Google introduced a 'Cast…' function in the main menu of Chrome, and this can be used to share the contents of a browser tab – or the whole desktop – into a Hangout session.

Forms received a new feature which allows the insertion of images into surveys, so you can now do things like have a multiple choice question with pictures for answers.

The Android apps for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides were improved to make it easier to create tables and better looking charts.

A couple of security tweaks were applied to Gmail, the most important of which is that the webmail service will now issue a warning about a link if it leads to a known malware site.

Inbox got integration with Trello and GitHub, so Trello users will receive a summary of what's new with projects, and GitHub denizens will get a summary of code changes.

Google Drive's preview feature was improved to make viewing previews of stored files a slicker experience, with a cleaner UI and better zoom functionality.

July 2016

Google introduced a new scheme to help train employees on its productivity suite, with the system designed to act like a 'virtual coach' to help users learn when IT staff aren't around.

Google tweaked the Admin app for Android to let delegated admins (and not just super admins) use the software to access functions while out and about.

Google gave the Admin console some attention in terms of two-step verification, allowing admins to view the real-time status of where each user is in the 2SV enrolment process.

Apps for Work is apparently being muscled out by Microsoft's Office 365, at least if sentiment from Redmond's Worldwide Partner Conference is on the money.

Google launched the new Quizzes feature in the Forms app, designed to allow teachers to easily create and mark assessments for students.

June 2016

Google Springboard was announced, a search tool (currently being tested) that can be used to quickly find things across Google Apps, plus it makes proactive recommendations.

Google Sites got revamped with a new preview version boasting a simple drag-and-drop design which is more intuitive, and support for real-time collaboration was introduced.

A 'new and notable' section was introduced to the Google Apps Marketplace, in order to highlight the best third-party apps available to businesses.

The Android and iOS apps for Google Docs and Sheets gained the ability to edit content in Print layout view, and to edit existing conditional formatting rules in Sheets.

Google tweaked Docs, Sheets and Slides so notifications of comments made not only arrive via email, but you can also get a notification on your Android device or web browser.

May 2016

Google announced its new Spaces messaging app designed for small groups – but there's no news as yet on when (or indeed whether) it will come to Apps for Work.

At Google I/O new APIs were introduced for Sheets, giving developers a "new level of access" to some of the most popular features in the app.

New APIs were also brought to Slides allowing developers to easily push data from other third-party apps into Slides for maximum convenience.

Google revealed that Android apps will be available for Chromebooks, and this opens up more productivity possibilities including using the Android version of Microsoft Word.

Google integrated its BigQuery service with Google Drive, allowing users to query files directly from Drive, and save query results from the BigQuery UI directly to Google Sheets.

Google Slides benefited from a new Q&A feature that lets audience members submit questions to the speaker directly from their mobile devices during a presentation.

The Synergyse service was fully integrated with Google Apps, a virtual assistant that helps train users in the various apps and was previously a Chrome extension.

Google Drive and Evernote were integrated, allowing Evernote users to seamlessly access any file on Drive.

April 2016

Google Apps for Work received two new certifications: ISO 27017 for cloud security and ISO 27018 for privacy.

A new 'Find a Time' feature arrived in Google Calendar for Android, allowing mobile users to find convenient times for meetings when they're on the go.

Google's scheme of providing Apps for free to medium-sized firms who want to migrate over but are locked into an Enterprise Agreement was extended until the end of 2016.

Reminders pitched up in the web version of Google Calendar, and said reminders will sync across browsers and mobile devices.

March 2016

The Google Admin app received bolstered mobile device management capabilities, allowing for admins to handle security breaches even when they're out and about.

Research into the most-used business apps on the web ranked Google Apps for Work in fourth place – behind Office 365, Salesforce.com and Box.

Google launched its #maketime website, which aims to help you prioritise how you spend time during work hours, and highlight how Google Apps for Work can save you time.

Google expanded support for its Identity Platform to cover logins for far more third-party apps in the Google Apps Marketplace, including Office 365 and Facebook at Work.

A whole bunch of new templates were added to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.

February 2016

Gmail's existing Data Loss Prevention features got a boost with the addition of OCR for scanning attachments and additional predefined content detectors.

Google also gave Gmail the ability to flag email accounts that it deems 'insecure'.

Google Docs was enhanced with voice typing, allowing users to dictate to their word processor, and also access editing and formatting commands.

Google Forms gained support for add-ons and the ability to edit Apps Scripts, plus work and education-related templates were introduced to the home screen.

The Gmail for Android app received support for rich text formatting, and an option for one-tap instant RSVPs was introduced.

January 2016

Instant comments were introduced to Google Docs, allowing users to click a simple icon to add an immediate comment to a document.

The ability to add comments arrived in the Sheets and Slides apps for both Android and iOS.

Google further bolstered the Sheets Android app with the ability to open and edit CSV and TSV files, along with additional files supported for import and export.

Google Calendar for Android and iOS apps was graced with smart suggestions that pop up suggested event titles, places and people.

Search became more powerful across Google's productivity suite, so when users search from Docs, Sheets, and Slides home screens, they get results from across all three apps.

Google rejigged device management in the Admin console, categorising the various settings to make everything easier to find.

Now move on to Page 2 for our full review and detailed look at what Google Apps for Work offers, including an evaluation of features, pricing, and ease-of-use.

Also check out our guide on how to achieve 'Inbox Zero' in Gmail (and Outlook)

Darren Allan contributed to this article

For decades, the gold standard of office productivity software has been Microsoft Office – it inherited IBM's status as the technology nobody got fired for buying. But while Office is undoubtedly powerful, many of its users don't use many of its features. So why pay for things your organisation doesn't use?

That's the rationale behind Google Apps for Work, or G Suite as it is now known. Where Office tries to do everything imaginable, Google's suite is much more basic. That said, it's much more powerful than it was when the package debuted in 2006, but the emphasis on simplicity and speed remains.

Apps and pricing

Google Apps for Work (G Suite) is organised into four categories spanning eleven products. Under Communicate you'll find Gmail, Hangouts and Calendar; under Store there's Google Drive; under Collaborate there's Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides and Sites; and under Manage there's Admin and Vault. That final one is designed to archive corporate email in organisations that have to retain data for regulatory compliance.

And as ever, the pricing is refreshingly simple. The base product is £3.30 ($5.66) per user per month, and the Premium version is £6.60 ($11.32) per user per month. If your organisation is an educational establishment, Google also has a version for you: Google Apps for Education is free.

While we're on the subject of free apps, you can of course get Gmail, Docs, Sheets and other Google apps for free – so why spend money? The short answer is that the paid-for version gives you more storage, management, and the ability to use your own domain – so emails come from @yourcompany.com instead of @gmail.com.

Users on the base version of G Suite get 30GB of storage, which is twice the amount of the free products, and users on the Premium version get unlimited storage, while you also get improved admin controls and the Vault email archive. Both the base and premium versions come with HD videoconferencing via Hangouts and 24/7 phone, chat and email support.

Slides, Google's presentation module, covers the basics well enough

How does it compare to Office?

Google's main rival here is of course Microsoft, and Redmond's Office 365 comes with a number of price tags attached depending on which version you want and how many users you're planning on giving it to.

Microsoft has cut the price of Office 365 to make it more competitive, and it now comes in four tiers: Office 365 Business Essentials, which is £3.10 per user per month; Office 365 Business, which is £7 per user per month; Office 365 Business Premium, which is £7.80 per user per month; and Office 365 Enterprise E3, which is £14.70 per user per month. The first three plans are limited to a maximum of 300 users per year.

The most basic version of Office 365 offers web-based versions of Office apps, 1TB of storage per user plus a 50GB email inbox, unlimited online meetings and HD videoconferencing, plus business-focused social networking for collaborating across departments.

The next step up, Business, offers full Office apps for desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone along with 1TB of storage, but not the extra 50GB email inboxes. If you want that and the desktop/mobile apps too, you'll need Office 365 Business Premium. As with Google there's 24-hour web support and phone support for "critical issues".

One deal-breaker here might be compliance: Microsoft's compliance tools are limited to the Enterprise product, which is twice the price of Google Apps for Work Premium.

Setup

The sign-up process takes mere seconds and once you've created your account you'll be taken to the Admin Console. This has eight key options: users, company profile, billing, reports, apps, device management, security and support.

It's possible to add users in two ways – manually, or by uploading a CSV file containing multiple user details. Once you've done that you can then specify which apps they can use, so for example you might want to let users access email but not Google Hangouts. You can also disable unwanted apps globally.

One of the most interesting sections here is Mobile Device Management, which enables you to mandate passwords and Google Sync on user devices, to encrypt data, configure Wi-Fi and to enable or disable automatic syncing and the device's camera.

You can also remotely wipe devices either manually or automatically if they haven't been synchronised for a specified period.

Sheets is Google's equivalent of Excel

The Admin Console also contains some additional tools: group creation, third-party apps, domain management and settings for other free Google services such as Google Analytics, AdWords, Google+ and Google App Engine.

The optional Vault, which doubles the per-user price from £3.30 ($5.66) per month to £6.60 ($11.32), is designed for organisations that need to retain email and chat data and other digital information for regulatory compliance.

You can set data retention options globally or based on particular dates, groups or search terms, search the archive using the familiar Google search field, and you can audit the data and export it for further analysis. It doesn't store all communications, however – any chats marked off the record aren't stored.

If you're not sure whether you require Vault or if it isn't currently necessary, it's possible to upgrade to the with-Vault version from within your Google Apps for Work (G Suite) Admin Console.

Create: Docs, Sheets, Slides and Sites

Google's apps come in two forms – cross-platform, browser-based apps and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Microsoft's mobile OS isn't supported beyond Google Sync for mail, contacts and calendars.

It's worth noting that the browser apps only use local storage if you're using the Chrome browser or Chrome OS, although the standalone Google Drive desktop app keeps everything in sync if you prefer a different web browser (and of course Gmail is widely supported by desktop email software and mobile email apps). The features available offline differ from product to product and platform to platform.

Docs, Sheets and Slides are Google's equivalents of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, although a more accurate comparison would be to Apple's most recent iWork apps – the emphasis is on simplicity and ease of use rather than power features.

That's particularly apparent in Slides, which also appears to prize simplicity over making presentations that don't look absolutely awful.

We wouldn't want to craft a massive, complicated manuscript in Docs, but then that isn't what Docs is designed to do. It's a fast and user-friendly way to create everyday documents and to share them with colleagues and clients. The companion Drawing app adds functions such as WordArt-style text effects, simple image creation, diagrams and flow charts.

It's a similar story with Sheets, which covers the most common Excel functions (including pivot tables) but doesn't have the power of Microsoft's offering. It is improving, though, and now that it supports Google's App Script add-ons it's possible to automate workflows and develop custom apps – although it's still way behind Microsoft here.

There are two additional apps for creating content: Forms, which as the name suggests is for creating and completing online forms, and Sites, which can be used to create shared pages on the intranet or public internet. Sites is a template-driven affair and while it won't give professional web designers any nightmares, it's an effective way to publish web content without any knowledge of web content creation.

Docs is a fast and user-friendly way to create documents, and share them with no fuss

Collaboration and compatibility

Online collaboration has been baked into Google Apps from the outset, and sharing documents with colleagues or clients is effortless. The Revision History panel tracks changes and there's a separate panel for comments, which can be notified via email as well as in the app.

Sharing is a one-button affair, with options including public, anyone with the correct link, anyone within the organisation, or sharing only with a specified group of people. These options only apply to unpublished documents, however – anything published via the Publish to the Web option, which makes an online copy of the current document, is publicly available.

In addition to the obligatory Microsoft Office formats, Google Apps also supports documents including Open Document Format, Rich Text Format, PDF, plaintext and zipped HTML. Spreadsheets can be saved as CSV and tab-delimited files, and presentations can be output in SVG and PNG formats.

The big selling point here is importing rather than exporting, however – it's useful to be able to bring non-Google documents into G Suite and make them editable and collaborative.

Google Apps also includes Google's Hangouts service, which you can make available for text, voice and video calls with anybody or limit conversations to just those people who are members of the same organisation. Hangouts can be shared with up to 15 people and used for video chat, presentation sharing or screen sharing.

We liked

Google Apps for Work (G Suite) is very competitively priced and easy to administer. While the various apps aren't quite as fully featured as power users might like, they're more than adequate for most everyday office work.

We disliked

The apps may be too simple for some organisations, and not everybody loves Google's software interface – although it's much better than it used to be. You also might not be comfortable with the thought that your company's communications are being scanned by Google.

Final verdict

Rather than be all things to all men and women, Google's suite is content to cover the basics and to cover them well. It's fast, lightweight and works on a wide range of devices, and it's both easy to use and easy to administer.

If Google's apps cover the features your users will need every day, it's a very compelling product for SMEs – and with 30 days to put it through its paces without providing any billing details, it's a product you can test risk-free.

Google Apps for Work (G Suite) 2016 review