by Mike Walsh | Feb 28, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Every so often, we run into a client or potential client who has real hesitations about moving their data onto the Salesforce cloud. Usually, these are businesses who have been using in house servers and data storage for quite a while and the idea of having their most sensitive data floating around “in the cloud” (wherever that is), seems not only foreign but untrustworthy.
Our answer to that is simple, provided you follow Salesforce’s guidelines and best practices for security, your data should be well protected in the cloud!
What’s more, in many cases, your data may actually be safer in the cloud than it would be stored on an in house server!
Keeping that Data Safe
When most companies or people have concerns about storing their data in the cloud, it really isn’t based on many facts, but more on general comfort. It’s only naturally really. As humans, we feel safer when we keep our important items close at hand – even if we are actually worse at protecting them than professionals might be.
Cyber-crimes are a real threat, but the surprising truth is that 60% of all cyber attacks are carried out by insiders, with three-quarters of attacks involving malicious intent, and one-quarter relying on inadvertent participants. In this case, your data will actually be safer stored offsite, where security is handled by another company and can’t be sidestepped internally.
In-house data servers also have physical concerns and dangers, such as flooding, fire, office break-ins, clumsy employees and general upkeep. All of these issues do not apply to cloud servers. To be properly maintained, internal data storage require a significant internal investment. This investment not only includes expensive hardware, overhead for storage and maintenance, but also investment into IT and professional cybersecurity.
Which brings us to what is probably the biggest security problem for in house data storage – the in house security practices, protocols, and management. Worldwide, there is a shortage of qualified cyber-security professionals, and most companies that have in-house security, either can’t invest in it fully or don’t have the knowledge/resources to fully secure their servers. So, if you have sensitive data stored in-house, but aren’t properly protecting it, is it really safer than being in a cloud?
Salesforce Cloud Security
As a billion-dollar enterprise CRM solution, Salesforce has more than a couple of reasons to provide customers with the best options in cyber-security. Simply put, the security options available through Salesforce are significantly more advanced than what many small to mid-size businesses can afford on their own. What’s more, Salesforce has the added benefit of building compliance standards into their network, making everything they do transparent and accessible.
Salesforce uses some of the top industry professionals, to craft a world-class security system, with some significant security certifications.
With Salesforce, you get the following security features, built right in:
- Stateful packet inspection (SPI) at the perimeter firewall
- Bastion stations (highly secured computers) to defend against cyber attacks
- TLS/SSL data encryption for all network data transmissions
- User profiles and permissions
- Object-level security
- Field-level security
- Record-level security
- Abilities to enable 2-factor integration or have third-party biometrics installed
For businesses who need an added level of protection, there is Salesforce Sheild, which provides:
- Platform encryption for all Salesforce metadata
- Event monitoring – visualization, reporting and analysis of all tracked events within the CRM
- Audit Trail expansion of up to 10 years, and 60 fields per object
Salesforce also has a dedicated a webpage just for security – https://trust.salesforce.com/en/security/
From this page, users can access trailhead tutorials for security, best practice info, event and warning monitoring, compliance data, security advisories and plenty of other resources to help all Salesforce users keep their most important data safe on the cloud.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Oct 18, 2018 | Salesforce Tips
At CloudMyBiz, we like to say that we speak the language of lending. We know how the industry works from the inside, and so, we are always keeping up with the trends and news in the Alternative Lending and FinTech. This allows us to keep abreast of new developments, better understand what our clients are experiencing and then better tailor and develop our solutions to meet the changes of the future.
Alternative Lending and FinTech have been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. The industries move quick, and so staying on top of things is essential to keeping ahead of the competition.
There have been a number of articles written in recent months detailing the top FinTech trends of 2018 and, after reading our share of content, we wanted to share some of these trends in our own blog.
Interestingly (and not really surprising), many of these trends mimic the developments and growth that Salesforce is taking as well. So, we will not just be looking at the current trends in the industry, but also how Salesforce is enabling this growth, and providing companies with better tools and solutions to keep up with the trends.
So without further ado, our list of Top FinTech Trends of 2018
More and More Automation
Automation has come to just about every industry, and so it should be no surprise that FinTech is not an exception. For financial companies, increased automation means faster transactions and smarter processes. Interestingly, McKinsey & Company predict a second wave of automation in banking, that will increase capacity and free employees to focus on higher-value projects.
How Salesforce Enables Automation
Not much needs to be said here. Salesforce was built to bring companies streamlined processes and all around better functionality through automation. The idea has always been to empower administrators through “clicks-not-code”, so that smart workflows and automation can be built by anyone, regardless of any programming knowledge.
More Data. Better Data
Data and big data have been getting a ton of attention in the last few years. In regards to the finance industry, how data is collected and used is changing. Credit scores are no longer the only driving factor, as many creative loan options look at a large variety of factors to determine eligibility. Having access to large volumes and more precise metrics are changing the way financing is done
How Salesforce Enables Data
Reporting. Cough. Reporting. It shouldn’t be news to anyone that Salesforce routinely touts the power of their reports and dashboards to give users deeper insights into their data. And it’s for good reason. The reporting in Salesforce is robust, and when used properly, can provide valuable info on all sorts of important business metrics.
In addition, with Salesforce’s ability to add on various apps, risk and decisioning tools can be integrated directly to your CRM. For example, FUNDINGO’s LexisNexis or Experian integrations give lenders, brokers and funders direct access to these online credit services.
Increasing Regulation
Finance is certainly one of the most regulated industries and as financial technology continues to change, financial regulations are constantly struggling to keep pace.
10 years ago, Bitcoin hadn’t even been invented, let alone understood in such a way as how to regulate it. As companies are relying on digital tools more and more to handle money, security concerns are just one of the things that come along with it. For the FinTech industry, more regulation by and large means that companies simply have to keep aware of what is happening, and do everything they can to remain compliant.
How Salesforce Handles Regulation
As a cloud-based system, Salesforce has always had to worry about regulation and security. Protecting sensitive customer data has always been essential, and with a Sales platform that can be used in just about any vertical, Salesforce has had to be ironclad to be used so broadly. How did they do it? Say hello to Salesforce Security and Salesforce Shield, which protect your data and help you remain compliant.
Blockchain and Bitcoins
Speaking of Bitcoin there could hardly be a discussion about new trends in finance without Blockchain. Yes, this year’s markets have been volatile, but regardless of how the individual coins fare in trading, the Blockchain technology is here to stay.
While we can’t really say how much blockchain will infiltrate financial systems, it does provide the opportunity for a more efficient and more secure way of doing business.
Because blockchain works in real time, and on an unchangeable digital ledger, both paper transactions, and large amounts of fraud can be avoided. Not only that, but wires and transfers will be less necessary. Bitcoin can clear and settle instantly, and with digital wallets, credit applications or funds queries can be run in real time.
How Salesforce Enables Blockchain
When you think Salesforce, you probably don’t immediately think blockchain. However, Salesforce has begun this year to get involved in blockchain to improve transportation. Then there is the AppExchange, which has something for just about everything out there, including a couple of Blockchain integrations for fund storage and transfer, such as PencilDATA and Blockchain Explorer.
Artificial Intelligence
What’s that? You didn’t know that robots are taking over the planet? Well its true, but not in an apocalyptic way. FinTech is in the early stages of investing and embracing AI where, according to a report by Econsultancy and Adobe, 20 percent of financial services organizations are already using AI, while 41 percent are planning to use it within the next 12 months.
For FinTech AI is set to do a number of things in the near future, including facilitating customer interactions with chatbots, offering financial advice based on customer’s habits and spending, detecting fraud and being able to automate data analysis tasks.
How Salesforce Handles AI
If you spent any time in the Salesforce network or blogosphere this year or last, you have definitely heard about Salesforce Einstein. Einstein was developed to plug directly into the heart of the CRM, and the AI analytics can then be applied to just about any of the clouds you or your team use. AI is getting better all the time, and so using it to guide your business might very well be one of the best investments you can make.
Everything Goes Mobile
Banking and financing ‘on-the-go’ is pretty much a given for the future. With the ever-increasing efficiency of our mobile technology, customers are going to expect to be able to do just about everything from their mobile devices. Currently, about 45% of banking customers use mobile payments while banking interactions on laptops and desktops are expected to decrease by 63% by 2022
So, for any company in the FinTech industry, providing quality mobile services will be more and more essential going forward, and those that get there first may win a lion’s share of potential customers.
Salesforce and Mobile Usage
For mobile CRM usage, there is Salesforce1. While it’s true that FinTech is going ever more technology-heavy, in particular with all sorts of mobile applications and devices, Salesforce is right there to keep pace. With a mobile version of your CRM, anyone who is routinely on the go, can continue working and remain plugged in no matter where you are.
Wrap Up
Keeping up with the latest trends in the industry is not just something we do for work, it’s also something we are genuinely interested in.
This is not just because we specialize in loan management solutions for Alternative Lending and Merchant Cash Advance industries, but also because many people on our team, used to work for Alternative Lenders. In fact, that’s how the idea of CloudMyBiz came to be, as our founder recognized a gap between the technology available on the market, and the systems that were commonly being used by lenders, brokers, and funders. So, where there is a gap, there is a need, and where there is a need, there is usually a solution.
And that solution as we see it, is Salesforce and our FUNDINGO Loan Management Solution.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2018/07/03/exploring-5-trends-driving-the-fintech-revolution/#548bc6ff12c7
https://rubygarage.org/blog/biggest-fintech-trends-for-2018
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CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | May 9, 2018 | Salesforce Tips
Using the Salesforce Data Loader is pretty much mandatory when you are working with large numbers of records, and need to perform a mass upload or update. To get optimal results, Salesforce recommends Data Loader usage when you are working with 50,000 to 5 million records. If less, regular batch tools work perfectly, and if you are working with more, 3rd data apps are the best way to go.
Nonetheless, when running Data Loader, you can schedule these big loads into batches, and let automation process them in the background. There is a catch though: the larger the batch size, the greater the chance of running into issues, like CPU timeouts from lack of memory or query limits in orgs with lots of automation. Basically, errors that are the result of too much data being processed all at once. Considering how essential it can be to use a Data Loader process when working with a large volume of records, how can you avoid hitting these errors and still process your uploads?
One solution is to manually drop the Data loader batch size from the default 200 to 1. Whoa, that’s a big leap, right? By dropping your default batch size you can easily avoid the above errors from large data batches and the resulting lack of bandwidth. However, this solution does have a few drawbacks to consider.
First, there are daily batch limits, and for larger datasets, you may not be able to process all records without reaching that limit. Second, it smaller batch sizes mean your total upload time will take a bit longer. How much longer varies depending on automation and the number of records, but it generally won’t be a crazy large time increase. In the end, if you have a lot of processes running every day, lowering your batch size is a handy trick to help you avoid overloading the system, but still being able to process all of your data.
Read the: Data Loader Guide from Salesforce
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
