The ACCENT Learning Hub

Each day when Shantae’ Hansen arrives at Accent Computer Solutions, she fills her work with a passion and drive that allows her to tackle her goals head-on and not stop until she’s achieved them. For her clients, that means they can depend on her to focus on their needs and follow up until the job is done.

Technology gives us the ability to market our businesses in many ways. One way that has been around for decades is the “on-hold” recording for your phone system. It’s one of the most underappreciated methods for showcasing your company and making sure callers have a good experience.

The signs that IT is holding your business back can be blatant or subtle. On the blatant side, you could actually see your people struggling. They’re slowed down by technology tools that crawl instead of hum. Operations stop with unexpected downtime. Then there’s the subtle side, where you might just be looking at your numbers and wondering why your business isn’t as profitable as you think it could be.

It can be hard to know if you have the right people working on IT for your company because IT problems look like… well... IT problems. You might have issues that aren’t getting solved; disappointing results from technology investments; or complaints from employees that their technology tools are slowing them down.

Unless you stop to think about it, you probably won’t recognize all the ways that you’re interacting with artificial intelligence (AI) in your everyday life. AI is what personalizes your social media feeds and search results. AI makes your virtual assistant seem like “she” really knows you. AI reads your messages and emails giving you suggestions on what to reply based on the content of the message you received. While AI makes us faster, more accurate or seemingly smarter, the bad actors in the cyber crime ecosystem are also maximizing on this evolving technology, making it increasingly necessary to fight fire with fire.

If you ask Cheryl Carlson’s co-workers to describe how she goes about her work, you’re going to hear words like – focused, thorough, accurate, and fast, all wrapped up in a can-do attitude. And if you ask Cheryl why she takes such pride in what she does, and why she is driven to do her best for clients and teammates, you’ll find out that what’s on the outside is totally guided by what’s on the inside. 

When you think about getting a better handle on data management for your manufacturing, distribution or logistics company, your train of thought might take you immediately to getting new software. While this is a step in the process, putting it at the front-end is the wrong place because data management isn’t about the software. It’s about changing the way that your employees and your business operates on a day to day basis.

As you look at your numbers, do you feel like there’s a disconnect with how much business you’re doing and how profitable your company is? It might not occur to you to point your finger at data management when you’re trying to figure out why your bottom line isn’t responding as it should be. If you aren’t capturing the right data, or if you have to grab data from disparate locations, there could be important questions that you can’t answer, or that you aren’t answering accurately, and this could obstruct your success.

Your company database isn’t exactly a sales tool, yet if you’re not managing your data properly in your manufacturing, distribution or logistics business, it can be a reason why you fail to land a big prospective customer. It can also be the reason why you lose customers, or employees for that matter. You may have never thought that data management could have such an impact on your business but the truth is, getting a firm grip on the way that information flows through each department and process can improve your whole business. See if you have any of these five signs that you might need better data management.

When Accent Computer Solutions created a position totally dedicated to cyber security, Sean Sharifi was a natural choice to fill the role. Sean had long been attracted to the practice of cyber security and had spent much time and effort developing his knowledge and gaining certifications to validate his expertise. His credentials include the highly regarded CISSP and CompTIA Security +, as well as an MBA with an emphasis in Cyber Security.