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The use of the Internet in the daily life of companies generated a great transformation in business: distances were shortened, tasks that took hours in minutes, communication became cheaper and information made more accessible, as well as other benefits.
This change has spawned a host of new challenges for businesses, most of which are associated with security and productivity. In this sense, the challenge is focused on maintaining control over the use of the internet and boosting employee deliveries, providing all necessary technological input.
In some companies, the positive impact of the internet is easily perceived, in others, especially those working with sensitive or high-risk data, the culture of access to the Internet and management of the information cycle, is extremely different. For these, it is complex to flexibilize the policy of access, without losing control.
The Internet consists of a set of services and protocols, but one of the most used points is the web; from content pages of various types to relatively complex systems that operate completely online.
While companies tend to gain a lot from the advancements offered by the internet and its associated services, many unfortunately have their work potentially impacted when freedom is not used properly. Distraction and declining performance are signs that should be evaluated to prevent major problems.
Unfortunately, there is no common rule that allows companies to make the most use of the Internet for their business, motivate and comfort their employees, without having any kind of loss with this process. Internet usage policies, or even security policies, for much of the business, must defend interests often opposed.
The most important thing, however, is to have mechanisms that offer visibility to the company, directors, managers, coordinators, and so on, of what is being consumed from the internet, and how much this is positively or negatively impacting on business.
Content management in the corporate environment
The term content managementcan lead to a large number of meanings, but within the information security market, it is closely associated with URL classificationbased on the content it offers.
With content managementtools, generally URLs are categorized into interest groups, allowing rules to be applied more appropriately to the various sectors of a business, which is known to have different needs.
The flexibility offered by Web content management tools, or category-based website controlis a great power for managers. Besides visibility, there is possibility to control what can and cannot be accessed.
Visibility on the contents accessed
Knowing what is used by users, analyzing the type of consumption of certain sectors, and other facilities, gives managers much more knowledge for decision making, rather than simply blocking certain accesses.
In addition, the correlation of events, when possible, brings more assertiveness to identify the lack of productivity associated with the misuse of the internet. Reports should be analyzed with monthly seasonality, or according to the need of each business.
Managers and interested people are often surprised when a tool is placed only to classify the access profiles, industries and the company as a whole. Usually the reaction, in these cases, is to request the blocking of the websites, which have no relation with the end of the collaborators’ activity.
However, blocking is not always the best action, this will depend a lot on the business, but it is known that having access to social networks and other content, in some cases can boost employee productivity, be it as a decompression strategy, or even to seek insights.
Visibility, therefore, gives a great power to companies to define how they will treat the use of the Internet in their environments in order to increase their business potential, respecting as much as possible, the interest of all parties involved.
Control over internet usage
Before making controls, it is interesting to gain visibility, because in this way the application will be aware, and more importantly, the results can be confronted. Controls, when applied without a clear purpose, can cause unnecessary resistance within the business.
The fact is that with content managementtools, you can align the type of access to the industry’s needs. For example, a financial sector may be linked to categories that refer banks, financial institutions, stock exchanges, foreign exchange markets, while a marketing sector may have access only to social media, blogs and the like.
This provides customization of Internet usage, which respects the labor needs of a particular sector, but also meets the basic principle of a company that is to generate excellent results, optimizing its resources.
The crucial point, and the contribution of this post, is associated with the importance of managers’ knowledge of information security solutions that allow the classification of URLs into categories and the like, offering greater visibility on the use of the Internet, and allowing generate change to ensure more business adherence.
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