In my work with CDW customers, I often come across technology leaders who want to improve their cybersecurity posture but aren’t really sure where to start. They might recognize that their organizations need to improve their cybersecurity controls but don’t know where their investments will pay off the most.

When I hear concerns like this, I immediately look to the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While there are many different cybersecurity standards out there, I prefer this one because it uses plain language to describe the five most important activities in cybersecurity. I’d like to walk you through this framework using two different examples.

Many organizations struggle with IT asset management even during the best of times. In fact, according to a CDW survey, nearly 1 in 5 businesses incorporates Post-it notes as part of its asset management strategy. Now, add a worldwide crisis that has forced organizations to roll out countless laptops and software licenses in a matter of days to enable remote work (often outside of their normal procurement and budget processes), and you have a recipe not only for massive inefficiency, but also huge software license compliance liabilities.

It’s important for organizations to get in front of this now by applying appropriate asset management tools and practices to their new environments. At CDW, we have four main ways of helping customers to better manage their IT environments.

Most clients, if pressed, will say that the most valuable Software Assurance benefits they receive from Microsoft are Planning Services Vouchers and Training Vouchers. If you’re not an Enterprise Agreement customer, and these are unfamiliar terms to you, here is a quick rundown: 

I talk with the IT departments at different organizations about their Microsoft solutions – the ones they have deployed and the ones they plan on rolling out. Inevitably, the conversation turns to collaboration solutions and SharePoint, specifically. Typically, companies have a narrow vision of SharePoint and they think about it as an intranet, file sharing…

Software licensing today is complex. But certain publishers and licensing programs take complexity to a higher level.  SAP would have to be one of the publishers in the latter category.  Within the SAP licensing scheme, there are multiple categories which include developer, professional, limited professional, employee and employee self-service.