Business Tools

What Business Owners Need to Know About the Latest Technologies

By Michael Hart

  education
  

Larry Blair had one simple thing to say to business owners thinking of heading to one of the SEMA Show conference sessions in the business technology track. “Don’t worry,” Blair said, “I’m not going to geek out on you.”

However, Blair, from Goals HQ, and Bob Corwin of Alliant Insurance do have important lessons for business owners or those who make the long-term purchasing decisions for their companies. They’ll be at the SEMA Show to explain “in business-owner terms” what you need to know to make informed decisions about when and how to invest in the latest business technologies.

In his session on “Cloud Computing—Is It Right for My Business?” Blair plans to tell business owners what they need to know to understand whether it’s the right technology for their companies and how much it might cost them.

“More and more, business systems will be cloud-based going forward,” he said, “and that’s nothing to fear.”

And, as Blair said, while top executives can leave the technology details to others, they’re still the ones who need to make the decisions about when it’s the right investment for their companies—and that’s the kind of information you’ll leave his session knowing about.

It’s the same with Corwin. He doesn’t plan to scare anybody to death in “Get the 411 on the 911 of Cyber Security Hackers,” but he does want business owners and executives to know what to do to protect their data from intrusion.

“It’s probably one of the biggest issues in business commerce today,” Corwin said, “and anybody who uses a computer in their business, which is everybody, is vulnerable.”

He said United States businesses probably experience 40,000 to 50,000 “hacks” (instances of data intrusion) each day. Corwin said there are three options a business owner can take to deal with the threat:

  • Eliminate it. In other words, never use a computer in your business, which isn’t going to happen, according to Corwin.
  • Transfer it. That is, buy enough insurance to protect yourself against liability.
  • Do the best you can to improve your data security, which is what Corwin will talk about in his conference session.

Register now to attend these two business technology sessions. View a complete list of SEMA Show education sessions available.