Tag Archives: Chief Administrative Officer

The Importance of Third Party Vendor Assessments

Lessons learned from Cyber Incident Response

We are finding many companies that have experienced a Cyber Incident are not performing even the most basic Third Party Vendor Risk Assessment.

It is absolutely imperative that if you engage with a vendor you understand the associated risks.

5 simple questions can lead you to be a better understanding of your Vendor risks and a quicker recovery from an Incident:

 

  1. Is there an identifiable Leadership team?
    • Who is accountable?
    • Would you be able to escalate or contact them?
    • Where are they located?
  2. Do they have an Incident Response plan and Reporting Structure?
    • Do they have a response plan?
    • Are there dedicated phone numbers or emails for reporting incidents?
    • Are ticket numbers assigned and tracked?
  3. Who is responsible for security within their Organization?
    • Is there someone who is responsible for security?
    • Is there a defined role or is it an off the side of the desk of another role?
    • Does the company reside in a country that has Breach Reporting responsibilities?
  4. Do you have a Service Level Agreement for responding to incidents?
    • Do you have a defined Incident/Severity matrix with set response times?
    • How do you escalate an Incident?
    • What is your communication cadence?
  5. Can they demonstrate their current level of Cyber Security Compliance?
    • Can they demonstrate the framework they adhere to? (NIST/CIS)
    • Do they disclose if and when they do vulnerability/penetration testing?
    • Do they have any risk reports (SOC 1, SOC 2, PCI or DSS) they can share?
    • Do they have patch management?

It is important to develop a Third Party Cyber Security Screening Assessment before engaging in a new contract. We can walk you through the process and helping you to understand your Cyber Risks.

 

Let’s talk Cyber!

http://www.mi613.ca

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You will never change my mind in a negotiation

I’ve been negotiating contracts for so long now that it’s impossible for me to remember every moment in every negotiation

 

But there’s one thing I remember vividly from every single negotiation, because it’s probably the one thing that’s remained constant through all these years

 

I’ve never had my mind changed in a negotiation

 

I’ve agreed to things and made compromises, all for the sake of getting a deal done, but no one’s ever convinced me that they were right and I was wrong…about anything

 

And likewise, I’ve never changed anyone’s mind in a negotiation, because that’s not the purpose of a negotiation

 

Our goal as negotiators is to compromise, give and take, until we arrive at a deal that’s mutually beneficial…that makes good business sense for both sides

 

However, too often I see negotiators become preachers who start lecturing the other side on the “truth of the matter”

 

Well the truth of the matter is that if I come into a negotiation believing a supplier’s software was worth no more than $10K, there’s absolutely nothing they can say that’ll convince me it’s worth a penny more than that

 

Now I may agree to pay more than $10K, but not because I’ve seen the error of my wicked ways and repented for doubting the honesty of a software vendor

 

I’ll pay more because there’s other factors impacting my decision

 

Maybe I know that they’ll never sell me the software for $10K so I’ll try to get other things thrown into the deal…longer warranty period, better indemnities, a cap on annual increases

 

The point is, I’m not focused on convincing them that I’m right and they’re wrong in a negotiation

 

The “truth of the matter” is that I couldn’t care less what they believe, as long as I get everything I need to make this a good deal for my organization

 

And I realize that’s a lot easier said than done. We’re human beings and we’re constantly looking for validation of our beliefs

 

Just turn on the news and see what’s going on in the world…right vs. left, liberal vs. conservative, republican vs. democrat

 

People yelling and screaming, lying and acting violently…just to show that they’re right and the other side’s wrong

 

Thankfully no one’s ever been violent with me in a negotiation, but I’ve been yelled at and I’m constantly being lied to

 

But none of that’s going to change my mind

 

I may walk away from a deal if I find out I’m being lied to, but more often I’ll use that as leverage in the negotiations

 

And the minute someone raises their voice it’s like they flipped on a flashing neon sign that says “I have no more valid arguments so I’m just going to start screaming like a petulant 5 year old”

 

So how do we achieve that zen-like state where we can just tune out the noise and focus on getting a good deal?

 

Well, the first thing you need to do is define what a “good deal” means for your organization…what’s your BATNA?

 

Is it driven by price… does have to be less than a certain dollar amount or you’ll walk away from the deal?

 

Is it driven by timelines… does it have to be done by a certain date or you’ll walk away?

 

Is it driven by features and functionality… it has to do these things or there’s no deal

 

Next, you need to set your threshold of acceptability, like how much you’re willing to compromise on certain terms and conditions

 

Or how much screaming and lying are you willing to put up with

 

All of these things create the foundation for a strong negotiating strategy and, when you have that, the rest is just noise

 

Now all of the things I’ve just talked about, and much more, are covered in the Sourcing Essentials Course my colleague, Mark Morrissey, and I launched a few months ago (https://oneviewnow.com/training)

 

And I truly believe that anyone who gets involved in Procurement, Vendor Management or Negotiations for their organization would benefit from this course

 

But it doesn’t matter what I believe, it only matters what you and your organization need right now

 

So I’m not going to try convincing you to believe me…instead, I’ll show you

 

In January of 2020 I launched a course called the “7 Skills of the Elite Negotiator” and I made it free

 

Almost 250 procurement professionals, legal professionals and senior executives took the course

 

I’ve reopened that course for 90 days, you can sign up here -> https://mop.mykajabi.com/7-skills-signup

 

So if you’re on the fence about the Sourcing Essentials Course, sign up for the free one and decide for yourself whether or not this type of training is for you

 

And when you’re ready to take the Sourcing Essentials Course, feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected] to learn about our corporate group rate

 

Mohammed Faridy

CEO, OneView

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Key Considerations for Local Government Software Adoption

When it comes to adopting new software, local governments have historically been somewhat cautious. And you can understand why. Government authorities face a number of unique challenges and must operate under certain constraints that do not always apply to others.

For instance, local government systems that are public-facing must be highly reliable because they have to be online 24/7/365. They must also be private and secure, particularly where personally identifiable information for residents comes into play.

Furthermore, they must have the ability to serve a large number of users. Unlike commercial businesses, a local authority’s target audience is the entire population of a region. Meaning systems have to be capable of supporting multiple languages and accessibility needs and be able to withstand unexpected surges in demand.

Civic Pulse recently conducted a survey asking local officials what they look for in government software. In order of importance, their top criteria included affordability, low “total cost of ownership”, and local government fit. Ease of use was important too, as were strong service and support.

The results indicate a clear pattern. Local governments are not averse and, in fact, are looking to implement better software. But successful solutions must easily adapt to existing processes, constraints, and practices. Otherwise, most local officials will be reticent to implement them.

Local Government Fit

Local governments want software that provides them with extra “capabilities” but that doesn’t necessitate massive changes to existing processes. However, unless they are built from the ground up with municipalities in mind, off-the-shelf solutions rarely mesh well with existing municipal operations and often fail during implementation. And even if they can be customized to do what is necessary, the amount of work, risk and cost usually increases to the point of being untenable – particularly for smaller municipalities.

The problem is this: local governments can’t make do with one-size-fits-all software anymore. As the Civic Pulse research shows, local authorities differ from each other significantly across multiple dimensions.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

More than ever, municipalities are dealing with severe budget constraints. COVID-19 continues to affect our communities in terms of public-health, socially and economically, and local governments are bearing the brunt of this. Reduced revenues coupled with the need to maintain existing services and direct more money to public health have come at a significant cost.

Not surprisingly municipalities are looking for ways to control their expenses, including how they are choosing to implement new software solutions.

What is TCO?

Simple: it’s the sum of all direct and indirect costs associated with buying, implementing and managing the software over its duration of use.

There is a wide range of factors that impact TCO. For instance, easy-to-use software lowers TCO because staff time to learn and use the software is reduced. Software with exceptional vendor service and support also has a lower TCO because resolution of software issues or response to user queries happens quickly.

Software vendors that will appeal to local government brands feature comprehensive knowledge bases for self-help, online training, and dedicated remote support capabilities. Increasingly, vendors are moving to show government departments their return on software investments in real-time. Measuring the TCO against labour-saved by the solution gives local governments the data they need to justify continued spending.

Affordability

Affordability is perhaps the biggest constraint for government departments looking to purchase software. Local governments need to keep their infrastructure costs low to continue providing high-quality, front-line services to the public.

Consistent with what is happening in the private sector, local governments are embracing cloud-based solutions that minimize large capital purchases and the need for additional in-house IT resources. This has the added benefit of allowing the infrastructure to scale with demand, ensuring that any unnecessary spend on infrastructure is avoided. Flexible pricing models that allow local governments to choose the capabilities they need a la carte are also attractive.

AccessE11 – Built for Local Government

A large number of local governments have selected AccessE11’s citizen request software precisely for the reasons described above. With AccessE11, local governments get a solution that is:

• Created with municipal operations in mind

• Extremely simple to adopt and use

• Adaptable to each municipality’s unique needs without costly software development

• Cloud-based and accessible from anywhere on any device

• Affordable for municipalities of any size

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Free Webinar – Customer Service Excellence – Maximizing Efficiency and Improving Customer Service

Customer Service Excellence – Maximizing Efficiency and Improving Customer Service

March 23rd  12pm – 1pm EST

AccessE11 Citizen Issue Management – Municipal 311 Software Designed for Local Government

Is your municipality looking for ways to improve your complaint and service request management? Do you want to better understand the issues citizens are bringing to your municipality? Would you like for your citizens to be able to view and update the issues they bring to your municipality?

Would you like valuable reports for your department heads and council? How about collaborating with staff on the issues they are managing? Want to streamline services requests and effectively manage them?

AccessE11 is a cloud-based, easy-to-use software solution to assist municipalities in better managing, tracking and reporting citizen inquiries, issues and complaints impacting your community.

Register for our March Webinar to learn about all of this and more!

Presented in Partnership with The Ontario Municipal Leadership Institute

                 

 

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Free Webinar- Up Your Game: Choose to Challenge Yourself

In Celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8 – Prism Group Int’n presents:

IWD2021 “Up Your Game: Choose to Challenge Yourself”

You likely seldom question your attitudes, perceptions and beliefs. It’s difficult and challenging to see the world through a lens that is not of your making. Yet, sometimes your biases and lenses get in the way of your own fulfillment and success because of the level of “fact” you place on them either consciously or unconsciously.

So, Up Your Game: Choose to Challenge Yourself!

Learn More about this special complimentary webinar, in celebration of International Women’s Day!

Join me, Sophie Mathewson, PCC, Strategic Advisor & Coach – on Monday, March 8th at noon (EST) for a virtual Brown Bag Lunch n’ Learn

Register Here!

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How have the pandemic adaptations affected your Physical Security?

Well into the COVID19 pandemic, organizations, governments big and small have had to take measures and make changes to their environments to adapt to the needs of their staff, customers, their service delivery model, requirements of health science, government agency regulations and perhaps “new” industry best practices and of course the ever-changing virus.

These measures have evolved into many different things. We’re going to specifically focus on physical security devices.

Two of the pervasive items that have been introduced in many environments are plexiglass and signage.

Organizations have installed plexiglass barriers at intersection points of personnel as they have the potential to interact with other personnel, customers, vendors, etc.

Informative signage itemizing physical distancing rules, self assessment health protocols have been placed all around in both strategic and random locations within the environment to ensure every opportunity for personnel and visitors to be informed.

Funny thing about all of this plexiglass barriers and signage.

In some cases, not all, we have inadvertently defeated some or many of the installed security devices functionality and purpose. That is, their ability to monitor, detect and alert (alarm).

  • Motion detectors blocked, unable to provide proper coverage
  • Cameras experiencing sun flare reflection off plexiglass
  • Nuisance alarms due to swinging signage on the increase
  • And other unforeseen affects

There are incidents where this is enough of this added material, that areas, although devices are active and functioning as per specifications, are unable to detect properly – leaving areas with no security detection or proper monitoring.

We have the answers.

Let’s go for a (physically distanced) walk and have a conversation.

Your security risk plans are more than just a motion detector or even a strategic camera placement.

We can Help.

Plan the Work. Work the Plan.

Should your Municipality need assistance, contact Michael White Group today, and we will be happy to answer your questions or provide quotations.

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Canada Healthy Communities Initiative Webinar

Canada Healthy Communities Initiative Webinar – March 5

The Government of Canada has announced that the Community Foundations of Canada, along with the Canadian Urban Institute, are now accepting proposals for access to $31 million under the Healthy Communities Initiative. Please join us on Friday, March 5th at 1 p.m. EST for a hands-on webinar as we walk through how to apply and share ideas from communities that use Penelope software to assist those most affected by COVID-19.

Mar 5, 2021 01:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Learn more by viewing our recent article.

Register here

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Customer Service Excellence – Maximizing Efficiency and Improving Customer Service  

Customer Service Excellence – Maximizing Efficiency and Improving Customer Service

AccessE11 Citizen Issue Management – Municipal 311 Software Designed for Local Government

Is your municipality looking for ways to improve your complaint and service request management? Do you want to better understand the issues citizens are bringing to your municipality? Would you like valuable reports for your department heads and council? How about collaborating with staff on the issues they are managing? Want to streamline services requests and effectively manage them?

AccessE11 is a cloud-based, easy-to-use software solution to assist municipalities in better managing, tracking and reporting citizen inquiries, issues and complaints impacting your community.

Register for our February Webinar to learn about all of this and more!

Presented in Partnership with The Ontario Municipal Leadership Institute

         

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Supply Chain Strategy For Manufacturing Leaders

Are you leading the Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade for Your Region?  This is for you.

ARE YOUR TEAMS AND CLIENTS READY WITH A STRATEGY THAT ADDRESSES THE EVOLVING MANUFACTURING LANDSCAPE?

Supply Chain Strategy For Manufacturing Leaders – An Initiative By Supply Chain Canada, Ontario Institute in Collaboration With NGEN

Date: March 02 – March 04, 2021

As the economic landscape evolves, customer expectations shift and the role of supply chain becomes more integral to economic growth, this course offers relevant practices that can help build a scalable and actionable strategy.

Learn how you can take advantage of NGen’s 50% subsidy to pursue this course.

Learn More 

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Responding to Complex Social Issues: Municipal Roles and Promising Solutions to Homelessness, Addictions, and Social Disorder

CAMA’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES – FREE WEBINARS

As part of our ongoing commitment to our members we are pleased to introduce the CAMA 50th Anniversary Professional Development Series for 2021. This new program will be comprised of various webinars that are coordinated for the CAO/City Manager, senior managers and their employees.   Along with our own webinar series, CAMA Partner companies will be providing educational and informative learning opportunities that showcase innovative services and products relevant to municipal management.  

Free of charge to all CAMA members this will be a wonderful way to provide an eclectic selection of resources to all your employees. Please forward to your staff members.

Webinar: Responding to Complex Social Issues: Municipal Roles and Promising Solutions to Homelessness, Addictions, and Social Disorder

Hosted by: Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA)
Date:  Thursday, February 11th, 2021
Time:  2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST
Virtual Zoom Platform

Speakers:
Dr. Alina Turner, HelpSeeker/Turner Strategies
Dena Kae Beno, Housing and Homelessness Coordinator, City of Abbotsford, BC

Who Can Attend this Webinar?: CAMA Members and Their Employees. Non-Members are also welcome to attend.
Who Will Benefit from this Webinar: CAOs and Senior Management

Registration Cost: FREE but registration is required 
Registration Link
Click here for more details about the session

Municipalities of varying sizes across Canada are struggling to respond to the increasing visibility and velocity of complex social challenges. The visibility of the drug crisis, compounded by housing affordability challenges, and convoluted health and social response systems have highlighted the need for new ways of approaching these issues.

What are promising approaches within the municipal purview and sphere of influences? This session will provide a practical overview of the national landscape to ground emerging promising approaches and learnings from diverse communities. Rather than a silver bullet, the focus will be on untangling the current complexity involved in social challenges into actionable, systems responses that balance diverse community needs. 

Contact Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director at [email protected] if you have any questions about this opportunity.
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