The ability to remotely monitor employees and ensure data theft prevention measures are strictly adhered to are two critical issues that should be on the forefront of every manager’s “must-do list”.
With the recent upswing in cloud-based SaaS monitoring software and services, there’s simply no reason for a modern business to use old school methods for user activity monitoring. This pertains in particular to what they’re doing with their time, and when they’re accessing important company and/or client data.
One must also consider worst-case scenarios, such as a disgruntled employee seeking revenge after being dismissed and even “moles” infiltrating the company to steal your client lists or other important data.
Increasing productivity: Monitoring employee user activity and enhancing overall cloud security
This is an easy step for medium and large sized businesses to implement. They’ve seen what happens when you extend too much trust to employees. Smaller business owners and managers often worry they’re creating an unhappy environment for employees by monitoring and recording their every move.
Unfortunately, this mentality is what leads to wasted company time, horseplay and even worse; money and data theft. Prevention, in this case is nothing more than realizing that as much as you love them, you don’t really know your employees as well as you think you do.
Without proper monitoring systems in place, you never know what’s happening when your back is turned.
Always ensure your cloud monitoring system is setup to record everything your employees are doing including:
- All applications being used including time opened and time closed.
- Websites being accessed through the company servers.
- Each and every file accessed and/or downloaded and uploaded.
- Every keystroke made on company devices.
- The signature of each approved device used to access the company cloud and physical servers.
- Printed document tracking including what’s been printed, how many pages of each, and which printer was used.
This kind of monitoring is further bolstered by requiring employees to fill out a task completion worksheet as they finish individual tasks, so you can use the analysis tools provided by the SaaS to break down every conceivable cost associated with keeping individual employees and departments on the payroll.
Additional SaaS Features Should Include:
- In compliance with current AES specifications to ensure bulletproof cloud security standards.
- Set up alerts to allow you to be notified immediately when security violations occur.
- Ensure management is able to remotely seize and disable a user device that’s been compromised.
- The ability to access and playback history in the event a problem or data breach isn’t noticed right away (this is where most free SaaS programs and cloud storage providers fail, as live desktop monitoring alone can eat up thousands of gigabytes of storage bandwidth every month).
- Customization services in case you require monitoring or security measures that aren’t included by default from the service provider.
When considering whether to go in-house or external, it’s important to consider the time spent creating and refining a monitoring and cloud security system of your own versus putting it in the hands of companies who employ the best IT specialists in their field and whose reputation hinges on providing the utmost in data integrity and employee management solutions.
Few businesses are equipped to handle the behind the scenes grunt-work required to keep the backend of such a system functioning flawlessly.
Look for a Provider Willing to Grow With Your Company
SaaS providers like Teramind are committed to helping small businesses grow too. If you think you can’t afford to employ a paid SaaS in your company right now, think again.
Most reputable services will offer free user activity monitoring and data theft prevention services for 3 – 5 users while you start and/or continue to control your business.
There’s absolutely no reason to go it alone anymore. SaaS providers are constantly improving their offerings and the cost of creating and deploying an internally-maintained system is just far too great for most companies to justify.
