Safety guide: What to know before integrating business workflow systems

July 31, 2018 AppWright News

We've reached a point at which cybersecurity is no longer an esoteric concern, or one that only befalls companies engaged in the most sensitive kinds of work – government-contracted aerospace design or microelectronics producers building components for espionage hardware. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, nearly 18 million records have been exposed through 522 data breaches in 2018, with a fair number more likely to occur before the year is out. The majority of these breaches – 62.1 percent of them, per the ITRS – befell general private businesses, as opposed to those in specific sectors such as financial services or healthcare.

"Security and accountability are both pivotal for organizations across all industries."

The bottom line is this: Security can't be ignored, and as such it's important to keep it in mind throughout all aspects of your company's operations. Workflow systems are no exception. With this established, let's take a closer look at how best to emphasize security in workflow management – and how a solution like AppWright JobCenter stands out among the pack due to its various protective measures.

Ensure comprehensive security

Not all data breaches occur because of malicious hacks perpetrated by unauthorized individuals from outside the affected company. Some result from simple human error during routine processes, or as the result of flaws in a given software solution that went undetected until a data leak occurred. Whatever cybersecurity policy your organization ends up developing and adopting, it's critical that the guidelines it lays down cover all bases. CSO Online recommended using an established standard as the baseline for your company's policy, like ISO 27001 or the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, which provides detailed instructions for protecting vital company information as well as third-party data entrusted to you by customers.

As far as workflow management is concerned, it's important for any security measures involved to match the scale of the company and its operations. A plan that works well for a large conglomerate with multiple verticals won't be relevant to the needs of a small services business with one location and two dozen employees. This is one of the areas in which the AppWright JobCenter stands out, due to the platform's layered security features. Users can engage the basic security features if only low-level protection is needed, whereas larger-scale organizations may find it necessary to enable complex protocols regarding access to different tasks within JobCenter.

Allow for ease of access and integration

As vital as it is for organizations to protect valuable data, keep in mind that security should never be a hindrance to operations. Reacting appropriately to the sobering data-breach statistics noted above doesn't necessitate creating a point of inefficiency.

JobCenter addresses these issues simultaneously through its broad integration capabilities. Companies can activate any level of security they deem necessary, and the AppWright platform's multiple input and output APIs will ensure compatibility and information-sharing with all essential line-of-business applications. Ultimately, this balancing act helps maintain security and operability for any tasks managed in JobCenter.

Add a layer of accountability

Security isn't just about preventing access to data or operational capabilities from unauthorized employees or outside individuals. Mistakes that cause serious detriment to a particular project or bring about its termination aren't necessarily (or even often) malicious acts, and they might have nothing to do with data protection or a lack thereof –  but they're still security concerns. The success or failure of operations puts the company's well-being and bottom line at risk in a way similar to the damage caused by a leak, and thus must be considered when focusing on protective measures.

Implementing standards of accountability becomes pivotal in any plan to address these matters, and this area is one of the most notable ways in which AppWright JobCenter distinguishes itself. Supervisors using the platform can use JobCenter's comprehensive auditing features to track the chain of completed tasks in a particular job. This way, they can find out exactly who accessed what files and when, and therefore deduce the chronology of events leading to the problem. That knowledge, in turn, helps leaders determine optimal corrective actions and lets them begin to plan contingencies so that the issue doesn't recur. All of this – and much more – is possible with AppWright JobCenter.