Like the Industrial Revolution and the Information Technology Age, this year we started a new Wave headlined as the Golden Wave of the SMB - (the age of the Artisan). Enterprises have already commenced reducing their workforces. Craftflows will be handed off out to artisans, specialists, and in particular SMBs. Robotica and automation technology join and the accepted notion of the FTE will disappear. The way we work today will start to change, no job will be safe or long term. Millennial's may never work in the way we perceive work now. The age of the four-man company is here: the Boss, the IT guy, the Specialist, and the Robot. Leisure time will increase and a return to cottage industry and artisans will rise. De-urbanisation will be ignited by the Rich/Poor divide gap widens where only the wealthy can afford city housing and prices. Everyone will rely on the Internet. The Internet cannot cope with this in its current design. Cyber security may degrade the Internet so badly to be unworkable. This book sets out a new way for SMBs to prepare for the change and start Innovating. Cyber Security is the linking of technologies, risk management, people and business continuity practices that protect networks, computers, programmes and information from perpetual unauthorised attacks, damage or access. Information Security is the term associated with managing and control of the SMBs' information assets (Intellectual Property, Financial, and Customer Data). We are in a cyber security war! An SMB needs to be fleet of foot, to be fast you need to travel light, to ease the burden you need automation, if you need automation you need the right tools, to get the right tools you need people to deliver them, if you can't afford the tools use the free ones, and if you can't find the people, buy them in. Reliance on IT will be the key to survival so shore up your security posture. Words, Processes, Regulations, and Frameworks written, drawn, and devised do not prevent you getting hacked - only Technology, Tools and Team Members can do this. The systemic disintegration of the Internet will continue and is spiral out of control unabated! Governments cannot stop this wave of cyber insecurity. The Internet will not get fixed anytime soon, and our privacy and credentials have already been stolen. Confidence in the Internet is declining and compounded by subscribers paying our Governments to carry out surveillance on us. Its not about our Freedom of Speech anymore - it is the Freedom to Respond. The Combat Ready IT model describes how to put up the defences, deploying new technology, tools, and team members. Empower the workforce using Perpetual Improvement Everywhere to add quality to the Security culture and stance. This guide should help you understand and leverage technology to support a business from One Man Bands to Thousand Strong Choirs
About the Author: My experience has been grounded in Management Consultancy, IT Operations and Security for thirty plus years. As an engineer, at the age of 22 I developed the Message Waiting Lamp on telephones. I have held various CIO and CTO positions from the age of 24! I have had two strikes at pioneering and still enjoy the cutting edge of technology and still retained as an advisor to several start-ups and enterprise boards. Clients believe my five strengths are: humour, honesty, technical leadership, communicating and strategy. They also say I have uncanny super caster abilities. I travel a great deal and have held operations, project management and process consultant roles in several companies and tenures in forty-four countries. I have spoken at numerous conferences and also educate graduates as a visiting lecturer. I have been engaged by Banks and Venture Capitalists, Credit Card Providers, Military, Government, Telecoms, Cloud Service Providers, Mobile and Technology sectors. My Architecture skills were honed by designing forty-two global reach Internet and VOIP networks. I have project managed billion dollar projects and crafted and managed IT Service outsourced contracts. I turn around ailing companies and as the son of s Scots accountant have saved organisations half a billion dollars in realised cost savings! Pictures on the wall; sixteen IT Certifications for IT Security, ITIL, VOIP, IPTV, Fibre Optic and Cable Networks, Database and Application Design, Systems and Storage, Mobile Coding and Development, ERP and Business Intelligence. Recently I have designed Cloud and Hybrid Data Centres in six countries and become an IOS mobile developer! My mother has no idea what I have been doing for the last quarter of a century!