Luxury vs. Need: What is more important to your business?

Some companies out there take pretty elaborate measures when it comes to outfitting the workplace with all the modern toys, gadgets and knick-knacks; and many of them do it all in the name of workforce productivity.

A company in Denmark is known for having created an egg-shaped conference room, which is composed 100% of whiteboard – floor, walls and ceiling – in which employees can meet and write their productivity ideas, literally, anywhere. A London office is renowned for having created a shiny, white viaduct-like slide that employees can use to ‘slide’ down, on their fannies, from floor to floor; and then there are other businesses that put special attention into the quality and craftsmanship of all of the furnishings in the office – resulting in the presence of high-priced, fancy-pants chairs, desks and couches that look like they would feel more at home in an art museum somewhere…

And while there certainly is not anything wrong, in the least, with keeping up appearances and/or ‘pimping’ out the workplace, you have to wonder if most organizations are paying enough attention to some of the other important elements that comprise their business.

Let’s address this by setting aside workplace toys and ‘luxuries’, for a moment, and talking about business needs…Our SafeConsole USB management application does not come outfitted with Corinthian leather; it does not swivel on ball bearings; and it cannot brew a cup of espresso in seven seconds. However, it was born of a need – a need that is increasingly prominent (even as many companies continue to make room in the budget for adult-sized bounce houses, 7-seat ‘conference bikes’ and other expensive, New Wave add-ons that are intended to increase productivity) and, yet, continually ignored.

Now, you don’t have to be a tablet-toting techie to know that the realm of office productivity has been turned on its head with new technologies that make it easier for employees to transport, transfer and access work files. The USB flash drive is as disruptive a technology as has ever come along; and, once again, you don’t have to have a byline on Mashable to know that the company-wide usage of USB drives comes with a price. A heavy price…

A recent study of 743 IT security professionals and security experts, conducted by the Ponemon Institute, revealed that, on average, each company represented in the survey had lost 12,000 customer, consumer and employee records as a result of lost, stolen and/or misplaced USB flash drives. The average cost of each record lost? $214.00. In other words, the potential loss for each and every organization represented in the Ponemon study is upwards of $2.5 million USD.

Considering these alarming numbers, the fact is that SafeConsole is the REAL luxury you cannot afford to be without.  With SafeConsole, your business can achieve complete and granular control, 24/7/365, over every single USB flash drive within your network. That means that you will know, without fail, if a network drive has been lost or stolen; you will be able to, without fail, perform a remote, password reset; and you know, if need be, you can perform a remote, automatic kill to prevent anyone from accessing the information contained on said drive. The features that comprise SafeConsole are not fancy-pants add-ons that add kitsch and style to your overall image; they are needed safeguards that protect you, your data, your customers, your employees AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE!

So, by all means, go out there and get all the $3,250 arched-back leather chairs you need; outfit your workplace with all the bells and whistles; get the latest high-tech tablets for all of your workers; and buy a bunch of desks made out of solid blocks of granite. But somewhere along the way, please take the time to recognize that what truly deserves, perhaps more than anything, to be protected, pampered and coddled (and spared no dime) is the confidential and sensitive data that it is your job to process and protect.

SafeConsole is not a ‘cool’ thing to incorporate within your organization; it serves a specific, and critical, need… If you are a CEO who sits in a hydroelectric-powered swiveling chair that costs more than a minivan, but you fail to understand the importance of protecting the USB drives in your network with our SafeConsole USB management system – then you are missing something.