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Training.I've worked in tech, retail sales and real estate, mostly in operational roles, either as an owner or as a manager role. I was also a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps with two tours in Iraq. I feel qualified to answer this question.What I have noticed most outside of the Marines was that the rest of the world doesn't actually put any investment into training. Sure, they might get convinced to allow their associates to go to a conference a few times a year, mostly to get drunk on the company dime and three days away from their tool of a boss, but they have no clue what the real value of training is.Consider this, a new employee is going to be hired. You know that every report you read talks about the importance of the search for new talent, because it is so impossibly expensive. Add to this is that the search could take four or five months to find a right fit for some jobs. That's opportunity costs of an employee not being productive. I've seen companies spend tens of thousands in this process.Now, a new employee is hired. Woohoo! A lot of companies welcome you aboard for a two week honeymoon phase, then you better knock down walls in the next month or you just aren't good enough. You failed, better cut our losses. They will then spend the next six months giving impossible tasks to build a case for the failure's dismissal and then out the door you go with a modest severance package so that you won't blab company secrets or bad mouth it to the outside. In the civilian world most people, at least most people I've dealt with, think they did a good job by giving you a chance and then sink or swim. This sounds brilliant and hardcore, so it has to be good strategy. Keep only the strong and we will be strong. Kill the weak! Rawr! Yeah, tell that to the Marines. That isn't how they work.So you think your startup that created a social network for dog lovers is really hard core because you just fired your sixth receptionist in 12 months. Well bravo, you just blew maybe two hundred thousand on a series of failed investments, for a position only paying maybe $35,000 annually, have lost a year of productivity and are nowhere closer to the finish than you were when you started. Don't forget that you have also lost countless hours yourself, replacing said employees and "training" them. How in the world is a receptionist worth what amounts to hundreds of thousands in straight loss over the course of a single year? All of a sudden, sink or swim is starting to look pretty stupid, huh?So would you like a better solution? Now consider this, the United States military has to work, obviously, one of the most difficult jobs in the world. They have world wide responsibility over trillions of dollars worth of equipment and oversee what amounts to the world's largest logistical support network. Every one of them is a master in their specified field by year two and are responsible for some of the most advanced technological systems on the planet. And management? By the time many are twenty three years of age they have already been promoted to a leadership role, responsible for a team of trade veterans. Also, their average age is 20. And you know what? I haven't even mentioned anyone shooting at you. What's most surprising? Almost none of them are degreed. Virtually all the labor force is made of only high school grads and not even the best and brightest of them. Still, they are somehow made ready to do the missions that are world scale and never lose. Wars may be lost, but that is mainly due to political decisions, yet you have never heard in the last 30 years, "The Marines were pushed out of X." How do you explain that?Training. Look, in the military, people aren't expendable. It's a contradiction of the stereotype we get from movies and such, but a front line troop is a valued and irreplaceable asset and an investment to the United States military. It's odd to think that the military places a higher value on people than you would treat an Ivy League Summa Cum Laude in Computer Science, but business views everyone as temporary, and only worth a certain economic value. The military doesn't. In the military, you have this person and that is all you get. You can't hire another. You can't replace them with someone else. You can't fire him. You're stuck, and so is he. He has to make the grade. The training, the discipline, the yelling and the constant rehearsals are all part of making sure that that Marine or soldier succeeds in his mission and returns home. In business, the attitudes are much "nicer", but motivations are much more selfish. An employee is only as valuable to you as the money he can make for you.ROIDidn't realize how shallow the business world really is, did you? So here is my advice. The following list are things that are all taken very seriously in the military and when you are in your quiet time as a leader, you need to think about how to implement them in your company or area of responsibility:1) There needs to be a very detailed process to track progress and development and know how well a person is being integrated into the company.In the military, this is boot camp and the next six months of training that usually follows before you ever even join your real team. For you, this is onboarding. It's also the first few months after entering a unit. More than a full year. If a manager can't really set goals that are achievable and teach the path to reach those goals, he isn't that integrated himself. He's just winging it, which means that that new employee is swimming in the open ocean without even a lighthouse.And I know that you are all saying. We can't exactly send everyone to boot camp. I know, I know, but your onboarding sucks, regardless. What's your excuse now Stanford dropout CEO? Literally, onboarding is the most important part of the hiring process after vetting. And that thing you have your receptionist or office manager do to get their paperwork in the system, walk them around the office and show them their desk? You think that is onboarding? Of course you don't, but that is all you do. I was at one company where the onboarding was made up of what basically was just a club of concerned employees, junior employees, who wanted to make it easier for new people based on the problems they had. There was no leadership involvement whatsoever. It obviously wasn't a concern, and I bet it isn't a concern for your company either.You can have great talent show up, but feel completely overwhelmed, lost, confused, without any idea how to navigate your systems (or even your office) and in fear of not knowing who to ask. What ends up happening a month later? You label him a failure and show him the door. You recite that tired trope about how you as a manager failed, but really you just blame him, when really, surprise, surprise... it was your fault. You dropped him in the deep end and you both sank together. Hope you're happy.One thing that many people don't seem to understand is that, in most places, an employee doesn't truly pull his weight until after his first year at a job. They might surprise you with bits of awesome from time to time. The smart ones are just geniuses of misdirection, but they are all still mostly just helping out while others do the heavy lifting. If you fire a person before that date, you never gave him a chance. More importantly, depending on your priorities, you just wasted a lot of money, lots of your time and possibly ruined someone's life.Have an onboarding plan that extends throughout the year. Make every part of the process a routine, practically a religious routine. They are interruptions to the work needing to be done, but they are investments in the individuals ability to do it, which is much more valuable moving forward.And in the event that you see that one of your managers has fired someone with less than one year on the books, you need to seriously question that manager's capabilities in guidance. Perhaps they were once marvelous workers, but doing and leading are two very different skill sets. It may not have been an appropriate choice to promote someone to a role requiring a completely different series of abilities on the premise that they showed a great deal of other abilities. If the problem continues, you have a detrimental cancer to your company's ability to grow in the future because your manager is the problem.2) Follow this process up with regular job specific training.Periodically, Marines would get pulled from the unit for all sorts of different trainings. You might have a week's training on crew served weapons with a couple guys from the shop, or a two week class session where a few dozen Marines from the Squadron learning Arabic and Middle Eastern customs, or a three day "camping trip" to learn field survival. These are great at improving the knowledge, survivability and mission accomplishment of the Marines in a unit. It also builds lasting relationships with the members within it.Seminars, grouped with employees of different work groups so that everyone learns from each other and builds new valuable skills are invaluable. I don't mean those "teamwork workshops" by the way, where everyone shares feelings and falls down so that other people can catch them. That's moronic and tells your employees that you think they are third graders. Did they say they loved the training? Of course they did. People lie to you, because you fired Sarah after three months. Send your people to real training so that they feel you value them enough to actually invest in them as a part of the future of your company.Ask your employees and the supervisors underneath you to suggest training that they would want to go to in the hopes of progressing their career. Weed out those that you think may be an opportunity for shenanigans and little else, but create a list of the best external training courses within your budgetary and operational scope and send them as often as is possible.3) Create an annual schedule to ensure that certain standards in education are met.Every Marine is a riflemen. That means we have to train for two weeks and qualify to prove it. That is a major investment on the part of the United States Marines, especially considering only about 1% will ever fire a weapon in combat. Think about that. There is also dozens of annual trainings that must be met. You do this already with the federally mandated sexual harassment, HIPAA law briefs for you in healthcare, and dozens of other industry specific seminars you must do every year depending on who you are. Well, you're probably treating these as obligations because they don't make you money. You shouldn't. Good events that bring the company together for training allow you to spread your culture and vision while reinforcing company values of excellence and learning. You need to do them as often as you can because, for the few hours of time you give up, you increase individual and group efficiency from that point on throughout your area of responsibility for the life of the company.4) Find and reward teachers.When I was a young Marine I was trained as data network specialist. Basically I took care of the base's internet capabilities with my shop. At the end of the first tour in Iraq, as you will remember, we all had to go back to the rifle range. Well something interesting was that of all the other computer nerds (yes the Marine Corps has those) I was the only one that could shoot. So they pulled me to be a coach, because shooting is kind of important in that culture. They didn't just throw me out to make Marine's shooters. Nope, you guessed it, I went to more training. I spent a month in another school to get deep level understanding of weapons manipulation, ballistics and how to train Marines. Yes, training was part of my training. The Corps made such an investment in my education that they gave me a secondary occupational specialty to be a teacher of Marines. I did so well at that, that they even made me the trainer for officers and senior enlisted in the pistol, too. Think about this, in the first nine months I trained, at a cost of hundreds of thousands to the Marine Corps for my first job. Then, a little over a year later, they gave me another job, just because quality educators are so important for that thing that only 1% of Marines will ever do.All that to say this, did you know that individual leadership isn't everything? Sometimes teachers are more valuable. Teachers are those people who are able to spread knowledge to dozens, even hundreds of people at a time. They encourage learning by individuals even when they are not at work. They are also masters of getting individuals over the tough obstacles and increasing their potential as employees and as people. But they don't have to have a deep attachment to the people they are training or direct responsibility for their work (like Managers). Find these people. Give them special recognition and special responsibilities. Most of the time, whatever you have them doing is not as valuable as if they were to capable of improving the performance of hundreds of others.Don't make this mistake: Managers or Leaders aren't Teachers. It isn't that they can't be, but don't make the mistake of only looking at your most senior leadership as being able to teach because they can do. Doing and teaching are two very different skills, the same as leading. Some are masters of their trade, but couldn't explain it if their life depended on it. Put them in front of an audience and they look like fools, and now their confidence is shot. Broken goods. I liked one company that did small seminars between members of their engineering staff to all other members. Most of the time it wasn't the managers doing this, just the regular button pushers. You'll find good teachers by sitting in on these classes. Like I said, pull these people and give them responsibility to disseminating information. It will be an important job that improves many aspects of your organization without even hiring a soul.5) Ignore the "training them to leave" myth"Training them to leave," you say? Whatever dude. Make it worth their while to stay. Unless you are a moron, you will know a person's worth (or cost) is far more than the amount you pay them. If they leave, it is rarely about pay and compensation. It is usually because they are unhappy with the culture, their boss or team, or they don't feel safe working for you. Train them and you eliminate most of that.I knew one boss who had a marvelous realization. He said that everyone is only here so long as it suits them. As soon as they get an opportunity for a better life, they are going to take it, and he encouraged them to. He knew he was going to if handed the chance, so why punish that behavior?Accept it, but remember, there is a thing called loss aversion. People who love their job don't want to risk getting a new one because most of us are more afraid to lose a good thing than gain a better one. If you make your people happy, they'll stay. So make the right choice, invest in them as a way of investing back into your company. The whole system will work better in the end, so much so, that the increased value in everyone else can afford to lose the few that leave. Whatever the case, you should be happy for them and in either case, they will leave thankful for having worked for you and maybe even be your business emissaries outside to potential contacts.6) DisciplineI'm laughing as I write this. I know you can't make your employees run around the building for three hours because they were late like we did at Camp Pendleton. I know that filling sandbags isn't really an option, but discipline is a lost artform that I wish was still existent in the real world. And I know that all you are thinking right now is about some drill instructor yelling at Marine recruits. Some think that is barbaric, others take joy in the idea of it. Well that is a little bit of what I am talking about, but you need to understand why. It may be the hardest thing for you to accept on this list, but you need to consider this... There is a reason that "Discipline" falls under "Training" and there is a reason that it is the largest section of my list. It is the most important. Second, you followed this question for a reason. Think about that. You knew there was something the military does that you want to learn. Everyone knows that the number one thing in the military is discipline. You need to be strong enough to make it the number one thing in your organization too.To begin, I'd like to tell you about a time in the Marines when I once yelled at a PFC for half an hour because he told me, "Hang on a sec." Exact quote, no exaggeration. I mean screaming at his face, for a solid 30 minutes. That may sound extreme, it is, but there is a reason for it. What most people reading this don't understand, is that yelling was the nice option compared to some punishments I was entitled to give.Here is the deal, and it is so important that I am going to break my all caps rule so that you understand it clearly. DISCIPLINING YOUR EMPLOYEES SAVES THEIR JOBS! That is the intention of discipline. To save people from much worse punishments down the road. To make it clear, did you know that for that Marine who told me to hang on, I could have filed a Page 11 entry? A page 11 is a formal reprimand that will stay in his permanent record jacket that will follow him for the rest of his Marine Corps career. He will be labeled from the moment he moves to any command from that day on. Was it worth damaging his career? No, but for reasons you might not understand, he had committed a serious infraction, disrespect and insubordination of a non-commissioned officer. Instead I yelled. It left no permanent mark on his record jacket, but left a lasting impression. I didn't have to have that talk a second time.Maybe another example that is more applicable to the civilian world would be better. I once managed a store right after college. I was young, but I had my experience from the Marines. One of the employees was late. He was a senior employee, but had had a lot of problems lately. I chewed him out and he became belligerent and started yelling back at me in front of the other employees. I sent him to the back office. There I filed our store's standard write up form that is part of the firing process. It's an early step, but the process is beginning. Compare it to a three strikes rule. I had him sign it after I asked if he knew what it was. He did. I asked him if he understood why he was signing it."Because I was late." he said."No," I replied in a calm voice, "I yelled at you because you were late. You didn't accept that form of punishment. Instead you talked back and made a scene in front of the other associates. You didn't allow me to protect you from this for being late. Instead you forced me to do this so that the discipline and morale of this store doesn't become damaged by you. This is the first step I have to ensure that you don't work here and become a poison to the team with your declining attitude. As much as I would like to, for your sake, I don't intend to yell at you anymore. Do you understand?"He did. I didn't want to do that, to put him on that track, but the message made its way through the store. He was never the model employee, but he didn't give me problems anymore.How does this apply to you? As I mentioned, discipline saves jobs. You apply painful punishments as a means to avoid official ones. A lot of managers I knew, in fact most, were basically always creating a list in their heads, or literal ones of their employees' mistakes and, "building cases" for their dismissal, even if they had no intention of firing them. It was just the only method they knew of how to improve their work. "Well, Smith, you know you weren't doing a good job. So you are one step closer to being fired. I still love you though. Have a great day!" That's ridiculous. I would rather be yelled at than told that by someone smiling with flowers and candy.So how do you discipline your employees? You have to discover that one for yourself. I can't tell you that (legally). You have to talk with your managers and other leaders to discuss a set of discipline norms of acceptable behaviors for your leaders that fits with your company's values and culture. I'm not asking you to scream and yell, or to beat someone to death with hammers for every infraction. What I am telling you to do is something that conveys disappointment and reestablishes expectations in a way that doesn't put them on the track to dismissal. One example might be assigning extra duties or assigning them to the crap assignments no one wants. (It's also a great insensitive for the good employees to get to skip those crap tasks that someone has to do.) It sends a message, but the employee isn't in danger of being fired.Bring in HR and even Legal. Good ideas can have very negative consequences. Another story I will share is of an employee I had who wasn't shaping up. She was pretty and well liked, but from my point of view she was spoiled and used to getting her way. She managed to figure out how to not come to work about 30% of the time she was being paid for. She would say things like she had an appointment tomorrow, or whatnot, once, then twice a week. I had no idea what these appointments were. She have a cold? Cancer? Getting her hair done? When she wasn't there, I had to cover her job. It was obvious she abusing a friendly employee perk to help employees when they needed it. This was unproductive and made the office run poorly. It got to be too much. I was still young so I didn't quite know the best way to handle it. I asked if these appointments were health related and told her that she didn't need to make all these appointments during business hours and needed to focus on her work. A good HR person will see my mistake. I had the nerve to ask what these appointments were for. That's a violation of privacy and I got in hot water. Worse she found a way to manipulate the system and knew she had me. That relationship ended toxically and there are many things I would do differently if given a second chance. Safe to say, I had no discipline over her. I still insist I was doing the right thing, but good motives and bad execution will land you on the street as fast as downright abuse will.So learn from my mistakes. Come up with plans to discipline that saves good employees from losing their jobs. It will echo throughout the company, and remind people of their responsibilities. It will also, if you're doing it right, remind them that they are not expendable, and that this is your way of providing them training rather than showing them the door. Work with your managers and HR to determine a good system for your team. The order, structure and regularity it provides creates a feedback loop.SummaryThe Marines have a saying, "The Marine Corps is a perfect organization made of imperfect people." A lot of companies today want to be a perfect organization of perfect people. That just isn't possible. No one is built for the hole you have that you need filled. You have to mold them. You have to teach them, grow them, and you have to train them. More importantly, you have to have a culture in your organization that encourages them to learn and grow into it. I don't know a lot of companies that accept that people come into the organization flawed and focus on making them better rather than spending millions in recruitment. For all I know it may not be the best idea for your company, but it works for the Marines.Thanks for reading!Everything I write is completely independent research. I am supported completely by fan and follower assistance. If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more like it, follow my blog War Elephant or you could show your support directly by checking out my support page here:Support Jon Davis creating Short Stories and Articles in Military, Sci-Fi and Life.

The cloud computing technological revolution is in progress, though undergoing some evolutionary changes. When an increasing number of individual users and businesses are moving their data and whole IT infrastructures to the cloud, it is natural to start wondering how secure this cloud computing data is.Cloud computing is an approach that covers a wide spectrum of cloud tools and models. To be more specific, it is a mechanism that can be presented as a threefold system of software, platform, and infrastructure delivered as a service. The technology has a lot of potential and promises its users a boost in efficiency, agility, and profitability. The cloud offers many benefits but, like any other technology, it has its weaknesses. And one of its softest spots is security.What is data security in cloud computing?Essentially, security in the cloud does not differ much from the one in the traditional on-premise data centers. In both cases, the focus is on the issues of protecting data from theft, leakage or deletion.Due to its nature, however, the cloud gets highly susceptible to security threats. Data that is stored with a third-party provider and accessed on the web does not sound too reliable. Besides, the more data is transferred to the cloud, the harder it is to maintain its integrity, which is the basic requirement lying behind data security. In fact, the cloud allows operating at scale and still staying true to data integrity. But ensuring that the cloud is secure takes a multitude of security measures surpassing the number of those taken within the area of traditional IT security. So, with cloud computing, you will have to keep an eye open for new areas of concern.Another issue to think about is your cloud service provider. Basically, you as a data owner don’t take full responsibility for cloud security. So, yet in the beginning, you should ask yourself if a cloud services provider of your choice is ready to take all the appropriate security measures.Top security risks of cloud computingThe cloud has its beneficial power but if you have a strong mind to migrating to the cloud, take a focused security approach, review and determine what changes will be needed for your future cloud operations to remain secure. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a position where you have no control over your data. These are the primary risks associated with cloud computing that you must thoroughly analyze in the first place:Data loss.Compromised accounts.Malware infection.Regulatory violations.Insider threats.1. Data loss.security risk in cloud computingCloud Adoption and Risk Report by McAfee discovered that 21% of files in the cloud contained sensitive data. Obviously, it is very undesirable that it gets lost. One of the biggest fears is losing data at rest, in-transit, or on endpoints. As the security breach may involve the theft of confidential data, the cloud security breach may cause the loss of sensitive data, So, data loss prevention must constitute a key part of the data management strategy. Although the loss of data in the cloud is less likely, it still may happen to anyone. To substantiate the statement, we will give you an example. GitLab, a successfully growing startup that provides release automation services had some security “hiccups” in early 2017. As a result of the admin’s fault, 300 GB of user data was lost. Though some of it was then restored from a backup database, the other part was gone forever. So, it will never hurt to take some extra measures and consider addressing back-up and disaster-recovery services providers.2. Compromised accounts.risks of cloud computingCloud account hijacking as a process of compromising or stealing individual or organizational cloud accounts is another risk a user may face. Cloud computing consists of distributed systems of diverse networked devices with a variety of connectivity and as a result, these cloud networks are vulnerable to network attacks. Thus, hackers can monitor and manipulate data by stealing account credentials with weak vulnerability. The password-key compromise can also happen through hackers’ guessing a weak password, phishing or spoofing attack.Cases of personal data like marketing data, health records, election data and more being compromised are not that rare. Thus, the industry giant Amazon Web Services that offers cloud computing services has fallen victim to an attack. Hackers logged into Uber’s AWS account, gained access to their private GitHub repository and downloaded personally identifiable data of app users. Though appropriate steps to strengthen controls on Uber’s cloud-based storage accounts were taken immediately, the company’s reputation was deteriorated anyway.3. Malware infection.risk cloud computingThe cloud not only offers scalability and speed in handling data but also allows delivering super scalable malware very fast. And malware authors are always looking for new ways to infect. The cloud has recently become this new way, as cloud apps are a great asset for spreading malicious attacks on a large scale. For instance, there was a case when malware was received via email as a resume file and, after having been moved to a folder that synced with a cloud app, it was delivered to other users. So, instead of infecting one device, it easily spread to cause greater harm.Though cloud apps are rarely directly infected with malware and data running on virtualized hardware is less likely to have vulnerabilities potentially leading to an attack, it still may happen. Malicious actors infect the cloud with the viruses that are responsible for bringing harm to cloud systems like hijacking accounts and more. The most common outcome of such attacks is the theft of data from a cloud application or data hosted in cloud infrastructure. Another example is a “fan-out” effect which means that malware infects one user’s device and is spread further through cloud services quickly.4. Regulatory violations.security risk of cloud computingMost companies have to operate under certain regulations now. This compliance is usually a pillar of security in the cloud. Under HIPAA and HITECH for private or sensitive health information, FERPA for confidential student records, and GDPR for personal data relating to data subjects in the European Union (EU) to name a few, companies should know where their data is stored, who has access to it and what measures are taken to protect it properly. A cloud service provider is a third party that upon receiving data for processing becomes liable for the appropriate care of it. So, before cloud services can be used by organizations processing personal information, a risk analysis should be performed and risk management policies must be established. Thus, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center that used a cloud-based file-sharing application without ensuring they handle data compliant with HIPAA put their clients’ personal data at risk and paid $218,400 fine for it.5. Insider threats.Insider threats in cloud computingThe human element of data security has many faces and many sources. Sometimes, insiders can pose more of a threat to companies using the cloud than attacks from the outside. This kind of threat can both have malicious and careless nature. One way or another, this harm is easier to do as attackers do not have to break in, they are already inside. User error and resulting data leakage or loss are not the worst part. The rogue insider is what companies should be prepared for. Especially, when the cloud has expanded the scope of insider threat by offering more ways to access data. No company wants to believe they may have a rogue employee on their payroll. That is why insider-threat risks are usually related to a lack of control. Therefore, organizations should establish and keep evolving their data security policies to minimize the risk.How to safeguard data in the cloud?It seems a lot to handle and providing complete security in cloud computing may start turning into a complex task. But no worries here! Cloud computing remains a modern technology with its numerous advantages. In order to enjoy them all, you just have to take as many cloud security measures as possible. Thus, we advise you to consider these four steps when working with the cloud:Data encryption.Access control and strong authentication.Separate data.Avoid storing sensitive and high-value data.1. Data encryption.How to safeguard data in the cloud?Comprehensive encryption at the file level must form the foundation of your cloud security efforts. Although cloud service providers and third-party cloud security software vendors may offer tools for protecting your data, users must be responsible for their data security, too. Data that is sensitive or subject to rules and regulations needs the highest level of security. Strong encryption, or data encoding, is a surefire way to do it. In the cloud, encryption is applied to data in transit and data at rest to protect digital data confidentiality as it is transmitted via the Internet or other networks. Besides, it is effective to encrypt data yet before syncing it with the cloud. Now, encryption algorithms drive security by encoding data so that it can be viewed only upon decrypting it with the correct encryption key. Some cloud services providers manage keys for their customers, the others allow clients to take the fullest control over their keys. Then, it is a customer who controls the key and manages the data.2. Access control and strong authentication.data security and cloud computingIt’s essential to provide secure access to applications. Cloud systems are exposed to the Internet, so strong authentication can be a great solution to resist unauthorized access. Strong passwords, two- or three-factor authentication can be used whenever and wherever possible. The username-and-password method has prevailed for a long time due to its convenience for an end user.Yet, with the advance of computing power and cryptography algorithms, the username-and-password method is not secure anymore. Multi-factor authentication is a simple and secure way to authenticate physical users of cloud-based applications. It consists of two to three elements: a secret password, biometrics like a fingerprint or face authentication, and less frequently, the user’s physical possession like his or her device from which the cloud is accessed. Normally, this approach mitigates the password-related vulnerabilities. For example, customers using the AWS platform may take advantage of the authentication tool AWS Cognito that is responsible for ensuring the security of access to the cloud-based apps.3. Separate data.Separate data - data securityIt is a good idea for companies to create data classification policies that would help separate data in accordance with the level of its sensitivity and adopt a common set of terms to be able to start classifying data and communicate clearly what data should, in this company, be referred to and handled as public, private, and sensitive.Public. It is non-sensitive data that can be disclosed without restriction and be open to the general public. Public data is available to all employees as well as to various external to the company individuals and entities.Private. The confidentiality of this data is preferred. Information associated with the private data, however, may be subject to open records disclosure. Usually, it is guarded for privacy considerations and can be exemplified as email correspondence, budget plans, employees’ IDs.Restricted or sensitive. Confidentiality of sensitive data may be required by law, policy, or contractual obligation. It may need strict security protection and special authorization. This type of data is intended for limited and specific use by certain individuals or groups of people. Examples of sensitive data include patient health data, financial data, information protected by non-disclosure agreements or other private contracts, critical infrastructure information, information about credit card transaction or cardholder data.4. Avoid storing sensitive and high-value data.data cloud securityWhen you store data in the cloud, it gets very similar to storing it on other computers. Somebody can recommend to give up the idea at all. It is simple but not workable advice to avoid keeping information in the cloud as a matter of principle. In the first place, before transferring your data to the cloud, be it public, private or sensitive, you need to ensure that you understand the chosen cloud services provider’s policies concerning the issues of how it will be backed up, who and how will be able to access different data types and how the alleged breaches can be prevented and punished. And another good piece of advice will be, if possible, to opt for keeping your high-value data away from the cloud infrastructure. Otherwise, you must be sure your provider seeks compliance with industry standards.ConclusionKnowing data security soft spots in the cloud, you stand a good chance of succeeding in addressing all the cloud computing security issues. The cloud offers many opportunities to enterprises of different sizes and you should not miss out on them. To get started, investigate the conditions of cooperation with the cloud providers and go over the top risks and key safeguarding measures beforehand. Then, your experience with cloud services is bound to be positive.Source: The Right Way to Address Cloud Computing Security Issues | VilmateLearn more about Cloud, Cloud Security and related topics from this blog page Data Security In The Cloud | Experfy.com | Experfy Insights

What Are The 21 Best Free Project Management Software?Here are the 21 best free and easy to use project management software to help you start managing projects right away.1. ClickUpWhat if you had one project management tool that the whole organization could use…for free?And what if the tool were one of the most highly rated project management software tools…for free?Let us introduce you to ClickUp!What you get in the free version of ClickUp:Most companies demand premium prices for what ClickUp delivers for free.You enjoy access to unlimited users, tasks, and multiple product features in the Free Forever plan. There are no limits to which task management options or which project management features you can use!The result? An effective project plan, every timeCustomized views: Do you prefer to see your tasks on a Scrum board or a list? Organize and view your tasks in a List, Box, Gantt chart, Board, Table, or Calendar view. Additionally, you and your team can switch between different views with just a click. Select a view that works best for you, and quickly find the task you’re working onWorkload Management: Easily allocate resources using the Box view and Pulse to gauge your team’s current workload. If you’re running a remote team, this can instantly boost your team productivityDashboards: Access high-level views of everything in your Workspace. With Dashboards, you can use Customizable Widgets to gain important insights on people, Sprints, projects, tasks, and more. Dashboards are also great for Agile project management and Agile product developmentAssign Comments: Do comments slip through the cracks? Assign Comments as a task, and set up specific dates and times to follow up. This feature makes remote project management super easyPriorities: Is your team unsure of which tasks are most important? Set up custom priority levels and collaborate on various tasks based on their urgencies and importanceReminders: Don’t let important tasks, start dates, and due dates slip from your memory with ClickUp’s Reminders. Need to save time? Create Recurring Reminders insteadGoals: Set Goals for your whole team. Track Targets like numbers or a simple yes/no. You can also use this to set weekly sprint goals for your Agile and Scrum software projectsMind Maps: Visualize your thoughts and ideas with Mind MapsCustom Fields: Set up project management the way you want it. Add columns for contact info, notes, budgets, etc.Custom Task Statuses: Create Custom Task Statuses to track project progressGantt Chart view: Create effective project plans and manage dependencies with ease. Using Gantt Charts, you can also quickly schedule multiple small and complex projectsDrag and Drop: This is a key feature, especially if you have multiple teams in ClickUp. Drag, drop, move, and re-assign tasks to people, clients, or Teams in just a few steps, no annoying menus required.ClickUp is conscious of how work actually gets done, which sparked our motivation to obsessively create features to enhance productivity.And because ClickUp interacts with so many essential team collaboration tools, your team will hum along as it’s always done… just faster and more efficiently on multiple projects.It doesn’t matter if you’re an individual user or project manager, ClickUp has you covered.There’s a free plan available to your team, along with an upgrade to unlimited storage for just a few dollars more a month. Feel free to try out the free version with all the features, and upgrade to unlimited storage at any time.Learn how to import a CSV file of your tasks into ClickUp.What people think about managing projects with ClickUp:“The ClickUp team is amazing. I have used just about every project/list management software in the market, and ClickUp blows them away.” – G2Crowd“I love ClickUp! I did a TON of research on different project management platforms and tried them all out. ClickUp was by far the best. I then had to convince my team to switch over from our previous tool, and they all love ClickUp. Even my team member who thought Trello was the best system has been convinced. It’s a really nice tool and has helped my team to be more efficient and organized with all the various projects we have.” — G2Crowd“Click up is highly customizable, which allows me to adjust the view according to my team’s needs. The interface is very contextual and intuitive. Despite the high complexity of the tool and the variety of options it gives, it is easy to use from the very first time. I like the ability to filter, the micro-interactions, the tone of voice and it is clear that the product designers of this tool were thinking out of the box when creating it.” — G2CrowdReady to try ClickUp? Get it for free here.2. MeisterTaskAny Kanban board fanatics in the house? MeisterTask is the way to go for you guys. This project management software tries to make Kanban boards more practical.Your tasks, comments, notes, due dates, etc, are all set up like Kanban boards in one place. It’s a flexible project board and cloud-based project management tool.But is it flexible enough to fit your workflow?Well, in MesiterTask’s free version, you can’t create any timeline or agendas.*project management has left the chat*What you get in the free version of MeisterTask:Unlimited projects and unlimited usersTwo integrations (Slack or Zendesk)Checklists, comments, tags, task and time tracking featuresUser-friendly interfaceFile sharing and attachments (up to 20MB)What people think about managing projects with MeisterTask:“The one thing I’m not really happy with is the inability to batch move tasks from one section to another. I don’t know why we can do that! You can only move one task at a time. Also, the scroll bar is pretty small and hard to click on because it’s pretty skinny. The free version doesn’t support recurring tasks, so that’s something to be aware of if you are not going to pay for it.” – Capterra Verified Review3. TeamWeekAre data visualization and Gantt charts your thing? Then say hello to TeamWeek.You can see important deadlines and due dates in a calendar form right when you log in.What else?You can use it as a resource management tool. If you’re curious about who’s overloaded or what someone’s schedule looks like, then TeamWeek will clue you in.But here’s the thing, project management is so much more than planning. Once you start executing, you’ll need to conduct video conferences, create task templates, and jam with your colleagues in group chats.And that’s when you’ll need something more than what TeamWeek offers.What you get in the free version of TeamWeek:Unlimited projectsUnlimited tasksFree mobile appUp to 5 team members/usersWhat people think about managing projects with TeamWeek:“Good Project Management Tool that could use a bit more functionalities.” – Capterra4. TrelloTrello has become a popular free project management solution in the last few years by introducing the Kanban board approach to the masses. And you can use it even if you don’t use Agile or Scrum project management methodologies.However, Trello isn’t perfect.Not a fan of Kanban boards?Sorry, but you have nowhere to flee since Trello doesn’t have any other kind of views.Check out why in our Trello and ClickUp comparison. And learn how to import from Trello into ClickUp.What you get in the free version of Trello:Unlimited boards, task lists, cards, users, checklists, and attachmentsOne integration per boardUp to 10MB for filesWhat people think about managing projects with Trello:“So far Trello is doing a great job. What is advertised is done as expected. The only thing I will like to mention is the modern user interface. I would really like to have a new and fresh look for this software which will make the user experience more effective.” — G2Crowd5. WrikeWrike is a simple project management tool that works well for small teams.They also have an activity stream dashboard that helps you see who’s working on what. Their issue tracking can help a range of development teams too.But can its free version solve all your project management issues?Unfortunately, no. Wrike’s free version is quite limited. You’ll lose out on their best features and a ton more until you upgrade to their premium plan.What you get in the free version of Wrike:Tasks, folders, projectsFile sharingTable viewInboxiOS and Android appsWhat people think about managing projects with Wrike:“Sometimes changing some options will affect all the folders; other times you want an option to be applied to the sub-folders, but it will only be applied to your main folder. Setting up the tool can be quite a long process without adequate training” — Technology AdviceNot sure about Wrike anymore? Take a look at our Wrike and ClickUp comparison!And for good measure, here are the top 9 Wrike alternatives.6. Bitrix24Be a master of none or a niche player? That’s an age-old question.Bitrix24 is an intuitive free project planning software and project management solution that tries to solve multiple business needs at once. Great for some businesses, especially small businesses, but it kind of depends on both your personality and your team’s habits.The annoying bit is, you’re probably using several of these tools already. In that case, integrating may be better than going all out for a one-stop-shop solution that’s confusing!But as a free project planner, it offers you tasks, Gantt charts, and task dependencies. The only cap is with the number of users and storage.Need more insight? Check out our detailed Bitrix24 review.What you get in the free version of Bitrix24:Task managementKanban boardsResource management5GB of storage12 usersWhat people think about managing projects with Bitrix24:“Bitrix is riddled with whimsical graphics that smooth over the transitions from page to page. They ultimately slow down the experience and draw the eye away from the more critical business elements of the page. On top of that, helpful reminders reminiscent of ‘Clippy’ show to block key functions of the page, making them hard to ignore and, at the end of the day, frustrating.” — G2Crowd7. Teamwork ProjectsTeamwork Projects is a very well-known project management system or software geared more for the enterprise audience with single sign-on, HIPAA compliance, and premium support.Their paid plans have many feature options for teams and offer a suite of tools such as billing and invoicing.However, their free tier is quite limited.Many clients and teams will pony up for those advanced features, but it’s a risk if you don’t want to be locked into a long-term pricing plan. For instance, in the Pro plan, you get lots of integrations such as Dropbox and Slack, way more storage, and up to 50 users.What you get in the free version of teamwork projects:Two active projectsLimited task boardsSubtasksColor themesWhat people think of Teamwork Projects:“The software seems to be popular just in Europe, so there are a few third-party apps which have developed something connected to Teamwork, but it has access to the API and webhooks to compensate.” — G2Crowd8. AsanaAsana is a very well-known project management software tool that’s used by a lot of teams.Users generally like Asana because it’s a visually appealing tool that utilizes projects and sections to keep work organized and gives the team clarity about who’s in charge of what in your project planning.This project management software is simple to use compared to most other project management software solutions. You can quickly move your task and assign work with their drag-and-drop feature.What bothers us is Asana’s reliability with its rapid growth. And all we want for Christmas is less downtime!Unsure whether you should commit to Asana for the long-term? Check out these Asana alternatives.Here’s what you get in the free version of Asana:Unlimited tasks, projects, and conversationsBasic dashboardsBasic searchWhat people think about managing projects with Asana:“Asana’s feature set and complexity require a relatively steep learning curve for the uninitiated. That hampered roll-out efforts in my organization, along with the fact there is no desktop app for Asana. After nearly a year, I’m still figuring out all the features and best uses, so it would be nice to have a variety of case studies/examples from which to glean best practices.” – CapterraTake a look at our Asana and ClickUp comparison!9. TodoistIn Todoist, it’s easy to quickly capture thoughts and ideas on your phone and then get reminded about them later.You can plug in deadlines, like pay bills in three days, and the project management app will automatically remind you.However, you don’t get any real-time collaboration features in the basic free version.Also, did you know Todoist was built as a personal task management app and not as a project management app for businesses and team collaborations? So to easily manage your teams and their tasks, you’ll have to opt for the paid plan or a different tier version.Read our take on Todoist vs. ClickUp and learn how to import from Todoist into ClickUp.Here’s what you get in the free version of the Todoist app:Access on 10+ platformsRecurring due datesSSL secured connectionSub-tasks & sub-projectsTask priorities (four levels)80 Active projectsFive people per projectWhat people think about managing projects with Todoist:“I haven’t found a way to get integration with Google Calendar in a way that works for me. It syncs tasks, but the manner in which it does so isn’t fluid with the way that I work, so that is probably due to user error or my personal preference and less likely a reflection of the program.” — G2Crowd10. AirtableAirtable is a beautifully designed, table-meets-database solution. It takes what you love about Excel and Google Sheets and puts a modern web-based project on it.Think of Airtable as a fancy spreadsheet that helps you track inventory, lists of reference items, or as a bootstrap CRM.Essentially, Airtable is a super-friendly, non-intimidating database for the 21st century, disrupting traditional database management systems that rely on SQL or other complex languages.If you’ve used Excel as a project management tool in the past, then you may want to look at Airtable. However, we don’t recommend spreadsheets for project management.Why?Because dedicated top free project management tools do the job better!Take a closer look at the tool in our Airtable review.Here’s What You Get In The Free Version of Airtable:Unlimited basesUnlimited scheduling viewsRich field recordsCommenting2GB of storageTwo weeks of historical dataWhat People Think About Managing Projects with Airtable:“I hate that it doesn’t have reminder/follow up capabilities especially knowing they advertise as a team collaboration tool that’s used for customer service.” — G2CrowdCompare Airtable and ClickUp for project management.11. TeamGanttLike how Gantt charts make everything clear as day?Then TeamGantt is made for you.It’s a free project management software with a sole focus only on Gantt charts.This software tool is impressive at building out and visualizing Gantt charts so you can see what tasks may overlap and who’s responsible for what.It’s also a great tool for measuring team and individual progress against project milestones.The funny thing is for a software that takes pride in their Gantt charts, you get just ONE Gantt chart in the free plan. Yikes!Here’s what you get in the free version of TeamGantt:One projectBasic project planning and collaborationThree usersTeam availability and workloadWhat people think about TeamGantt:“The free version only allows one project. The next step up is not that expensive though.” — G2 Crowd12. FreedcampFreedcamp gives you multiple views, including a list, Kanban board, and Gantt chart view.It also has a wall for social communication and private tasks, along with white labeling for client spaces, invoicing, and CRM capabilities.But here’s the thing, the free plan is very limited, and the paid plans begin at $1.49 per user per month.And in their own words, it’s a “minimalist” plan!We wish that they went even more minimalist with a free plan, though.Here’s what you get in the free version of Freedcamp:Unlimited users and tasksTime trackingDiscussion boardsPassword managerPersonal task managerSubtasksWhat people think about Freedcamp:“I don’t like the fact that it has no mobile application. That would be great to communicate and manage tasks straight from the mobile.” — G2Crowd13. RedboothNeed to streamline your team’s work and to help them focus on your most important tasks? Redbooth has you covered.It features a simple, user-friendly interface that helps teams feel comfortable right away. Managers feel empowered to change workloads and resources very easily.On the downside, Redbooth doesn’t let you assign tasks to multiple people.Clearly, the fact that there’s no “I” in “team” doesn’t apply here.Here’s what you get in the free version of Redbooth:Assigned usersTasksGantt chartsConversations2GB of storageCommunity forums/email supportWhat people think about managing projects with Redbooth:“File storage is extremely unhelpful. When you upload attachments to tasks, they are just stored as files within a master file, and it takes significant time to organize them separately. We wound up ignoring this feature altogether.” — CapterraCheck out how ClickUp compares to Redbooth.14. BasecampBasecamp is a popular project management and team communication software for easy team collaboration.If you’re looking for a simple task manager with real-time communication features for your team members, then Basecamp can be a great pick.But for a free tool, it’s quite…stingy when it comes to other features.Take a look:Here’s what you get in the free version of Basecamp:20 usersThree projectsStorage space of 1GBThat’s itReallyThat’s itNeed more details? Check out our comprehensive Basecamp review.What people think about managing projects with Basecamp:“When it was used for a small team to collaborate, it was great. When I started using it for client communication and deliverables, it frustrated both me and my team.” — Capterra15. PaymoPaymo is a great option for single users and team managers looking at resource management. It also offers Kanban boards and time tracking that allows freelancers to keep track of time tracked for every client easily.What’s the biggest downside?Paymo’s free plan can only cope with a single user.What happens when your team grows?You either need to start paying or migrate to an entirely new platform.Here’s what you get in the free version of Paymo:One user1GB of spaceReportingTime trackingAPIWhat people think about Paymo:“Absolutely love the granular control on the reports and ability to manage users, projects, tasks and more.” —Capterra16. PodioPodio is almost like a cocktail of project management and messaging software. It offers conversations in the app, and you get an overview of all your tasks.It supports numerous integrations with popular software like ZenDesk, Evernote, and Google Drive.What it doesn’t support is workflow automations in the free plan.No automation in the world of tech.How do we feel about that?Here’s what you get in the free version of Podio:Five usersIntegrationsUnlimited workspacesChat capabilitiesWhat people think about managing projects with Podio:“Reliable communication with the team through the chat function. Good personal task management and also knowledge management. Even though we stored our files in a cloud service, we ‘indexed’ and sorted our knowledge through Podio.” — Capterra17. HitaskIf your team isn’t large and don’t want to pay for project management, take a look at Hitask. This simple project management software is free for up to five users and gives you unlimited tasks and projects.You’ll also get half a gigabyte of space.Any downsides?Hitask’s free plan doesn’t allow any sharing.Clearly, sharing is caring isn’t one of their mottos!Here’s what you get in the free version of Hitask:Up to five usersUnlimited tasks and projectsShared task lists, projects, and calendars0.5 GB of spaceWhat people think about Hitask:“This product is very easy to use, but the user interface is not very intuitive. The pricing is fair, considering what you will get in return. If you plan to use this for a personal reason, then this tool may be sufficient.” – Capterra18. ZenkitWhen looking for the best free management software, consider Zenkit. With Zenkit, you’ll get a decent spread of features and templates for easy workspace setup.While they do make setup easy, the 5000 item limit can be a barrier to entry for most busy teams.What you get in the free version of Zenkit:Unlimited collections3 GB of storageUp to five membersUp to five teamsWhat people think about managing projects with Zenkit:“It is easy to use from day one since most tools are structured very user-friendly. I like the efficiency it provides for sharing information and tasks with my team.” — Capterra19. Toggl PlanToggle Plan is one of the best free project management tools for effective team planning and task management.The software is very easy to use, and suits project managers managing small teams.However, had you any idea there is a Toggl Track integration (for time tracking) available for Toggl Plan?Guess who doesn’t get to use the integration? You, a free plan user.To get Toggle Track on your Toggl Plan, you’ll have to cough up $8 per user per month!What you get in the free version of Toggl Plan:Up to five usersUnlimited tasksUnlimited milestonesShared timelinesWhat people think about managing projects with Toggl Plan:“I felt the mobile experience was lacking. It’s amazing for long term planning, even weekly planning, but gets awkward when it comes to daily planning or planning in fine detail for timetabling. It’s great for regular arrangements, but gets messy when it comes to extraordinary events.”— Capterra20. Zoho ProjectsZoho project is another efficient project management solution. Whether you need to manage documents, collaborate with your team conveniently, or have bugs fixed with an issue tracker, Zoho can handle it.What it can’t handle is being a bit generous with the features on their Free Forever plan.On top of that, some people also think it’s not the easiest to understand, especially when it comes to the setup.I mean, shouldn’t the setup be the easiest step of all?What you get in the free version of Zoho Projects:10MB file storageTwo projectsViewer for Gantt chart10 usersWhat people think about managing projects with Zoho Projects:“User interface can be a little confusing (difficult for newbies).”— Capterra21. YodizLast on this list of free project management software is Yodiz. This software aims to simplify project planning and project tracking with smarter insights.Yodiz is a great option for teams who use Agile and Scrum methods. You can also use Yodiz’s Zapier integrations to connect with apps like Slack and GitHub or calendar apps like Google Calendar.But for a tool that aims to simplify project planning, Yodiz doesn’t offer Gantt charts even on their starter paid plan.You really don’t get what you paid for!What you get in the free version of Yodiz:Unlimited projectsUp to three usersWhat people think about managing projects with Yodiz:“Help documentation is basic – Comparatively Fewer integrations, but with Zapier integration – now it is possible to connect hundreds of applications.”— CapterraGet All-in-one Project Management At No CostYou want the best. And you want it for free.Possible?Absolutely!However, don’t forget, ‘free’ isn’t the only thing that matters.Your chosen free project management software should be able to do the job. At the same time your whole team should be able to get on board and use its advantages without even considering opting for the paid plan.The worst situation is when you enthusiastically embark on a new project tool, only to be stymied by its lack of features and functionality, baiting you into the solution’s paid plan.So why not try ClickUp?It’s got more free features than any other best free project management apps we listed here.Whether you want to Assign Tasks, create Goals, Time Tracking, use Automations, the possibilities are endless.Sound like a sweet deal for zero dollars?Then get ClickUp for free today because you deserve efficient and easy project management that doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket.