Perhaps you’ve noticed it in your email inbox or text messages: there is a recent uptick in the number of attempts to gain private information that compromises your personal and financial security, as well as that of organizations and corporations. According to a recent report from Proofpoint, email-based phishing attempts became increasingly successful in 2021, as did ransomware attacks. As many as 83 percent of organizations said they experienced a successful email-based phishing attack in 2021, compared to 57 percent in 2020. These upticks appear to be continuing in 2022. Across a variety of industries, phishing attacks are becoming more prolific and targeting employees from entry-level to executives. That means it’s more important than ever to protect yourself and your business by exercising vigilant technology safety protocols and learning best prevention practices. The U.S. Cyberinfrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) offers the following tips that can help you and your organization avoid these attacks. Understand the threat. Phishing is a form of a social engineering attack, which means that common social norms are used to gain and compromise information about a company and its technology systems. Messages claim to be legitimate communications from vendors, banks, employees and other business contacts, but are really fraudulent attempts to obtain confidential information from recipients. The imposter may even offer information that claims to support their identity. Be skeptical, even when a message appears to be from a trusted source. An attacker may send email seemingly from a reputable credit card company or financial institution that requests account information, often suggesting that there is a problem. They could also pose as a vendor who needs account information changed or even an internal employee who claims to need verification of information. When users respond with the requested details, hackers can...
Changes in the Clouds
CIO + CFO Role Shifts
Cloud services have changed the roles of executives. CIOs implement fewer on-premises applications. Their technical infrastructure needs have evolved within the Internet of Things. CFOs now mold their capital expenditures pitches to address operations. In the center of those changes floats the cloud, and with it, the continually evolving roles of executives. The Balance Sheet caught up with Shawn Cardner, executive VP, multifamily operations and IT, Grubb Properties, to discuss the evolution on leadership. “The real estate industry, which arguably was slower to adopt technology, now can’t escape its influence,” explains Cardner. “Almost all multi-family marketing is digital, and big data now plays a role in many firms’ daily decision-making and long-term asset strategies. Firms that wish to remain competitive must integrate the CIO role into their overarching business strategy in order to reduce costs and increase revenue.” Benefits of the cloud for CIOs and CFOs The cloud offers several benefits for CIOs and CFOs, specifically. Scalable Solutions Through the cloud, CIOs can capitalize on features and services for small and medium-sized companies that were previously available to large companies. “Being able to play in the same sandbox as the largest of our peers allows us to be competitive in spaces where we might not otherwise be able,” says Cardner. Faster Implementations Finance teams are not dependent upon IT for support. As a result, implementations are rolled out with less friction during office hours and more work can be accomplished, faster. Specialized Software Support When using Yardi Cloud Services and Yardi Voyager to manage the general ledger, for example, the IT team does not invest resources in maintaining the accounting software. Updates and security are managed off-site by Yardi. Finance owns the application but supports the business processes in a more specialized manner. Cardner adds, “It’s worth noting that different challenges exist. There are fewer technical skills required of my team with a full-service solution like Yardi. There are, however, more nuanced soft skills and relationship skills required of us, which are sometimes difficult to find within technology circles.” Shorter Queues for IT With Cloud-based applications, there is less demand for IT to manage hardware or software. This often results in lower on-premises infrastructure costs. CFOs and their departments experience improved time to value, greater autonomy, and maintain ownership of software without being hampered by implementation or management during office hours. CIOs and their teams reduce hardware and software support, may decrease total cost of ownership, and can focus on specialized tasks. Addressing the risks Conversations about the cloud inevitably include risk management, security, and compliance. CIOs, CFOs, and COOs must collaborate proactively mitigate risks. “There is a tendency to recoil from the cloud when news of breaches occurs because of the bad press and notoriety. I’m reminded, however, of an IT saying, ‘The cloud is just someone else’s computer.’ An open port on a firewall turns an entire network into an unwanted cloud service, so diligence and thoroughness are necessary, regardless,” explains Cardner. He continues, “Modern security technology is quite robust, whether on-premise or in the cloud. The weak link of security in today’s age is people. Malware, ransomware, phishing and much of all data theft and loss are a result of improper employee conduct or inadequate employee training. When vetting a new cloud provider, that’s where my focus lies.” The future of leadership The value of infrastructure continues to be an integral part of CIO responsibilities. Even with available outsourced and cloud-based solutions, CIO’s still need to consider infrastructure and its strategy fundamental to the job. Yet now more than ever before, CIOs are becoming strategists. The emphasis shifts to discerning which services an organization needs to thrive rather than focusing on infrastructure. “Traditionally, CIO’s were strictly service providers and, in many organizations, didn’t sit at the table where strategy decisions were made. However, the proliferation of digital technology across and within organizations now mandates a level...
New Tech Era
Realcomm Webinar
For decades, commercial property managers regarded information technology as a support function, one that was almost always isolated from the strategic direction of the business. Today, with virtually all property stakeholders expecting greater operational control and transparency, relegating IT to a peripheral or firefighting role is no longer an option. The consensus among Yardi’s Dhar Sawh and other experts who participated in a recent Realcomm-hosted webinar holds that IT, as a company’s technology implementation gatekeeper, should command status as a full partner and value generator. Sawh defined the purpose of a technology strategy as satisfying owner and investor expectations for favorable revenue, cost and risk mitigation outcomes. Performing the business operations necessary to achieve them requires visibility into revenue, occupancy and other indicators that spans the organization. That, in turn, requires connected solutions that unify people and resources, from vendors and employees all the way up to investors, in a common vision. He also pointed out that extracting cost and revenue benefits from current operations, rather than actively pursuing new yields, is the most reliable generator of investor returns late in an economic expansion cycle such as the current one. IT drives those results with technology that’s scaled across the organization and empowers stakeholders with automation and self-service capabilities like online invoice processing, payments and work orders. Another example of technology occupying a place at the core of a business is active sensors that monitor a space and preheat or precool the area before it’s occupied. This allows building owners to avoid charges for utility usage at peak times. “This is an example of integrating technology for the benefit of business objectives,” Sawh said. Once invested as a full partner in the business, IT can create positive experiences for owners and occupants by elevating...
Pace Setters
Realcomm Tech Forecast
Appropriately for the “acceleration” theme of its global conference this week, Realcomm recently hosted a webinar in which several experts, including Yardi’s Alex Stanton, commented on the rapid pace of change in commercial real estate and new data management technology entering the marketplace. Stanton, regional director of commercial sales, said the movement toward an integrated concept of information management is so profound that it’s altering the very concept of the lease. “Client,” for example, no longer means a single entity but instead a broader category of people to be managed with increasingly granular information. “Space” encompasses coworking, parking and amenities as well as traditional offices. “Tenants” are morphing into “guests” whose service expectations require the collection and management of an expanding body of information including such non-real estate sources as weather and traffic information. Companies are creating digital twins of everything from their buildings to their tenants and the environment surrounding them. The best prescription for managing change, he said, is aligning IT resources with a company’s strategic direction. “When there’s a nice marriage of business and IT, there’s stronger direction and execution on investments, efficiencies and other actions,” Stanton said. Other participants and their thoughts on managing change included: Sam Wong, head of analytics and data science for global real estate manager QuadReal Property Group. When building its data platform from scratch, QuadReal focused on gaining insight and action, not just reporting, and its attention to the information management and database portions of the solution stack equaled that devoted to business intelligence and analytics. “We also sought a platform that could grow in capability and size so we don’t just worry about what we need to do in the next year or so,” said Wong, who managed both the business and technical teams...
Modular Data Centers
All the details
Modular data centers are one of the latest innovations in the IT world. In many cases, they are capable of increasing business productivity while reducing costs. We went looking for answers to some common questions about these data centers and what implications they have for the future. So, what is a modular data center? A modular data center, unlike a traditional data center, can be defined as a portable method of deploying data center capacity anywhere and everywhere it is needed. It incorporates contained units and standardized deployment options that give you flexibility and scalability. What’s so important about these ‘mobile facilities’? Modular data centers are designed for rapid deployment, are energy efficient and high-density computing systems that deliver services at lower costs than traditional construction methods, as well as reducing the construction time from years to a matter of months. In what kind of shape or form are these data centers available? Modular data centers typically come in two forms: The more common type, referred to as containerized data centers or portable modular data centers, fit data center equipment into a standard shipping container, which is then transported to a desired location. Containerized data centers typically come outfitted with their own cooling systems. For example, Cisco’s Containerized Data Centers fit in to this category. The other form of modular data center fits data center equipment into a facility composed of prefabricated components that can be quickly built on a site and added to as capacity is needed. HP’s version of this type of modular data center, Flexible Data Center, is constructed of sheet metal components that are formed into four data center halls linked by a central operating building. Modular data centers can be defined as more of an approach to a design...
Cybersecurity
NMHC Best Practices
If you think cybersecurity is “just an IT issue,” better think again. Experts agree that cyber risk in the multifamily industry is largely underestimated, given the volume of personal and financial data multifamily companies collect and maintain about their prospects, residents and employees. And the fact that many real estate organizations rely on third-party service providers to collect and protect data further increases exposure to damaging cyber incidents. What are some of the common risk factors? Using disparate software solutions and multiple vendors with various interfaces and logins elevates exposure to breaches. To further complicate matters, information security programs in the multifamily industry tend to be relatively less sophisticated compared to more heavily regulated sectors such as banking and retail. Since cyber criminals will always take the path of least resistance, this poses a major threat to the industry as a whole, which maintains information about tens of millions of Americans. And after a well-publicized breach in 2014, the multifamily industry is — or should be — on high alert. To not only reduce risk but also to increase operational efficiencies, many companies have made the move to a single platform — and now consider it a best practice to consolidate core property management and accounting along with ancillary products in one database supported by a single vendor. And while no business can expect to achieve perfect security, in the current cyber threat landscape with so much at stake a comprehensive plan — and one point of contact for software and services — can mean a direct line to better peace of mind. At the NMHC 2016 spring board meeting, panelists emphasized that cybersecurity is not simply an IT problem, but rather an enterprise risk management issue. Developing a strong cybersecurity program is not...
SubTropolis
Technology goes underground
SubTropolis is the “World’s Largest Underground Business Complex,” developed by Kansas City Chiefs owner and real estate developer Lamar Hunt. The excavated mine, located in Kansas City, Mo., is approximately the size of 140 football fields. The underground city, 160 feet beneath the earth, was created through the mining of a 270-million-year-old limestone deposit which began in the 1940s. It wasn’t until 1960 that the owners realized they had a gigantic area they could rent, sell and lease for business operations. Now, 14 million square feet of the 55 million square-foot cave is an industrial park with illuminated, paved roads and several miles of railroad track. SubTropolis is home to over 50 national, international and local companies in the fields of e-commerce, automotive and storage industry. Approximately 1,700 employees work under the “World’s Largest Green Roof,” with the facility storing everything from postal stamps to the original film reels of Gone With the Wind. Currently more than 6 million square feet is occupied with 8 million more to move into. The eco-friendly underground campus also houses a state-of-the-art data center; SubTropolis Technology Center. STC, an underground data center carved out of 18,000 to 24,000 pounds per square inch solid limestone which is six time stronger than concrete, provides a level of security and strength unmatched by any other traditional data center facility. Armed security, 24x7x365 patrols, monitoring, key card, gated barriers and biometric readers make the technology center an indestructible and impenetrable fortress. STC also has a six-acre equipment yard on the exterior surface for future infrastructure. SubTropolis Technology Center has the advantage of space, with millions of square feet available for IT and raised floor area. The facility provides customers with data center suites ranging from 5,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet,...
Ask IT
Four key questions
There’s no doubt that 2014 is going to be another big year of exciting enhancements in technology. Improved software, systems and products really came on the scene in 2013, and more improvements are sure to make our working and non-working hours more efficient, secure and fun in the months ahead. Last year we talked a lot about business intelligence, moving to the right type of cloud for your company, and ensuring adequate security for your valuable business data. These will continue to be important considerations in 2014. To find out what smart companies are thinking about for the year ahead, we checked in with Scott Wiener, Yardi Senior Vice President and head of our Clouds Services division. He’s a longtime technology veteran with his finger on the pulse of the latest enhancements and innovations. Scott helped us come up with these four key questions that any smart company – not just Yardi clients and real estate-related businesses – should be asking in the year ahead. 1. If I haven’t moved to the cloud, what am I concerned about? The options for cloud users are nearly endless, with service providers offering a wide range of options for network configuration, security, replication and access protocols. But some firms have resisted going cloud-based, despite myriad benefits. Partner with a company who has the experience and history of delivering the service; don’t trust the source ask what their safeguards are; how personally identifiable information (PII) is handled are just a couple of items you should be thinking of. You’re holding out, it might be time to get on the phone with your technology service provider and ask the hard questions. Fears about access limitations and being able to directly connect to your database aren’t good reasons to pass...
