Our Thinking

Privacy and protection of personal information has almost always seemed like it should be a basic human right everywhere in the world, not only in the European Union where it has long been acknowledged as such. Within the last 10 years, however, that notion has been blurred by social media, the rise of online shopping, and subsequently the hacking of just about everything that lives on the Internet. For the longest time people have sort of just accepted this overreach and misuse of their personal information as the price you pay for using the Internet. Sure, maybe they delete Facebook for a while or change their passwords, but now that is starting to seem like it is not enough and governments from around the world are beginning to step in, in a big way.

Hi folks, my name is Tim McCreight and I’m a new member of the Risk, Security & Privacy practice here at Online. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to a new audience and write about one of my favourite topics in the security industry – Risk!

Over the course of the last decade business owners and entrepreneurs have found themselves dealing with a set of problems that they have never had to address in the past.

By now, most of the world has heard about the alarm pertaining to a zombie alert in Lake Worth, Florida.  Do we think that zombies were getting their day in the sun, or could it possibly be that whomever was responsible for writing the power alert application (or for testing it) was in some sort of zombie state at the time?

Is your organization aligned and positioned for success? According to author and speaker

Simon Sinek (www.startwithwhy.com), organizations that inspire have at their cores an understanding of why they exist. This understanding of purpose or cause manifests itself in how these organizations operate and is front and center when they and their leaders communicate.

Neighbors, babysitters, handymen, even family members; your backyard, upstairs deck, even your own front door…

Statistics show the vast majority of burglaries and theft, especially identity theft, are perpetrated by a household acquaintance or family member. The US Department of Justice says that “Offenders were known to their victims in 65% of violent burglaries; offenders were strangers in 28%.” Similarly, any Google search yields countless articles listing front doors, backyards, and ground floor windows as the most common points of entry for burglars. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is disrupting how companies operate. AI represents a foundational change in the way systems will be architected and delivered, and ultimately is a trend that is rapidly becoming a priority for Online’s clients and for Online.

Creating a foundation in artificial intelligence allows businesses to truly transform their partner ecosystems, business models, and customer experiences. Organizations that can uniquely combine architecture and technical innovation will play a major role in leap-frogging the competition, gaining true market advantage. But creating this foundation requires having the right skills at your disposal – and you need to get access to those skills now.

With CX18 in the books, we asked Onliner (and conference attendee) Jay Gunnell to share some of his thoughts on what he observed at the conference.

Having been a Business Analyst (BA) for many years, I was given the opportunity in 2015 to step into a role that I considered new territory. I accepted a project assignment as an OCM Practitioner/Analyst for a multi-year program, with multiple projects, that was introducing massive changes to the client. There were both enterprise-wide changes and cultural shifts that were required to support the future growth of the company.

It’s no surprise that our workforce is changing. If your workplace is like most, a quick glance around the office will likely reveal that there are fewer Baby Boomer workers than in the past and more Gen X and Millennial workers. Canadian Business reports that Millennials are becoming the most sizable working generation in Canada, completely overtaking the other generations of employees.