How does your business handle communication? Does it struggle to properly use its technology and collaboration tools? If so, we have some tips that can help you avoid the most common collaboration mistakes, particularly those related to data security. Read on to learn how you can ensure you’re not putting your data at risk needlessly with inappropriate collaboration security mistakes.

File Sharing Needs to Be Secure

Collaboration platforms are not necessarily secure by default. Despite many developers building encryption right into their platforms, you should still ensure that your solutions are using end-to-end encryption to keep your data safe—especially if these platforms are located in the public cloud. Your email is a great example of this concept in action. You’ll want to make sure that your messages are safe so as to keep their contents protected from prying eyes.

Do Your Research on Solutions and Providers

Depending on the vendors you work with, you might find yourself asking questions about whether their solutions are ideal for your organization. Sometimes businesses encounter challenges with integrations and configurations that leave their data vulnerable or at risk. You’ll want to work with your providers to ensure that whatever you choose to implement is secure, properly configured, and compatible with the rest of your business tools and systems. Of course, it helps to know what you are looking for in a system before implementing it, too, so take some time to assess your own needs first.

Centrally Managed Collaboration Tools Are Ideal

If you implement a collaboration tool, you want to ensure that it is centrally managed and maintained so that you have full control over any and all data hosted within. The reason for this is simple; if your team uses a system that you don’t manage and maintain, there is a chance that they could be putting the data at risk due to using a potentially insecure collaboration tool. Make sure your team has access to the tools needed (you can host them in the cloud to guarantee this), and train them on how to properly use them, to mitigate the risks of shadow IT becoming a thing.

Your Staff Also Play a Part

How your employees access the data they need throughout the course of the workday also matters, and you should equip your team with the means to securely access what they need no matter where they try to do it from. You can do this through the use of end-to-end encryption in the form of a virtual private network. This will help to ensure that your team is fulfilling their duties and keeping your data safe.

Apex Technology can help your business implement tools that improve productivity, collaboration, and security. To learn more, call us today at (704) 895-0010.