Build IT Together wants to say thanks to everyone who made the Detroit event so engaging and fun. Build IT Together’s speakers and attendees brought so much insight and collaborative spirit to the event, so here are the top 5 takeaways from the conference.
1. Be humble and show empathy
Don’t get married to solutions, instead get to know the expectations and goals of your teams. From there DESIGN a process and choose a solution that best meets the user expectations rather than IT desires. Don’t be surprised or offended if the end result isn’t what you had in mind to begin with.
2. Simple security solutions are the ones that’ll save you
The key to strong security is in the simple day-to-day defenses like two-factor authentication & strong passwords—if you wash your hands often, you’ll be better off than worrying about choosing the right hazmat suit.
3. Reducing your “attack surface” will dissuade attackers
Map out all the entry points to your network, secure them, and find ways to eliminate the unnecessary ones—think of your IT security as the “receptionist” that screens people trying to enter your office.
4. Reduce security solution complexity
Expanding on the previous point, the more solutions that are in play, the more complex your system will become. With more dashboards to review and issues to resolve, you’ll run into more questions about whether or not solutions are actually working. Tip: Don’t bring on a new solution unless it eliminates 2 others.
5. Know what success looks like
New projects are fun. Ideas that sound good are exciting to launch, but how do you know they are valuable? Before starting on any new project, define success metrics and what you should look for in launch or mid-point success. If you don’t hit it, scrap the project.
Keynote Slides Available Soon
Jon and David packed so much into their keynote talks that they couldn’t possibly fit it all into a list like this, so soon you’ll be able to find their slidedecks here on the Build IT Together blog.
Last, but not least, Build IT Together was made even better by Hopcat and Datto, who set the stage (literally and figuratively) for the day’s events.
Didn’t make it to Build IT Together, but want to see what it was like? Check out event photos on Facebook.