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AUGUST 2018
RTS Tech Journal ‘ADULT SUPERVISION’
The Value of a Mentor
run into Duff at the airport and we started chatting. In the moment, I decided to ask him if he would be my advisor. To my relief, he gladly accepted. That was seven years ago, and I am not exaggerating when I say that Duff became and continues to be a critical pillar for the growth and success of RTS. We are still a relatively young company, and there are a lot of traps we could fall into because we don’t know what mistakes to avoid. Duff’s advice and guidance has helped us navigate many of those traps. This is why we called him our “adult supervision.”
In the early days of RTS, one of our first clients was a man named Duff Young. Duff’s company was a great customer at a time when we were still trying to figure out what a good customer for RTS looked like. At the time, I was of the mindset that the technology a business has should come first. What’s most important is that the technology be better, faster, and more advanced than anyone else’s. The reality, however, is that technology can be as fast as you want, but if it doesn’t align with the business’s goals, then it’s not worth it. Working with Duff taught me the value of business-centric software development.
was, every company would be exactly alike. So business owners and CEOs need to be on the lookout for smart, experienced people who can give them advice and feedback when they need it. I strongly believe that if you cannot build a board for your company, then you should at least have a mentor who has your best interests at heart. Duff doesn’t just give me good advice when I need to make a decision — he also puts me through the ringer when I need someone to grill me and make sure I’m doing the right thing. Sometimes you get so used to your train of thought, you aren’t able to see the bigger picture. The truth is that being a business owner and CEO is a lonely job. Most people aren’t comfortable challenging authority. In addition to pushing us to succeed, mentors also serve to keep us from becoming our own worst enemies. Duff Young has been a big influence on RTS as a company and on me as a CEO. He’s the kind of person you can count on, and I consider myself fortunate to have him as one of my mentors. -Jyot Singh
I strongly believe that if you cannot build a board for your company, then you should at least have a mentor who has your best interests at heart.
There’s no way one person can know it all, and there’s only so much you can learn by reading books and watching videos — trust
The project ended and was well-received, and I continued to call Duff for advice about various matters. He’d been in the business for over three decades and had filled all sorts of positions, from the bottom of the ladder to the CEO of a giant, publicly traded company. He knew all the gaps that I, as an entrepreneur new to the industry, couldn’t yet see. The advice he offered was always spot-on, and I was eager to seek it out at any opportunity. Sometime after we finished that first project, I happened to
me, I’ve spent plenty of hours trying to learn as much as I can. The reality is that there’s no playbook for a business. If there
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FINDING YOUR PASSION
And What You Can Do to Protect Yourself
A Word From Sandhya Ramamurthy, Business Intelligence and Data
Today’s small businesses are woefully unprepared for digital threats. Cybercrime is at an all-time high in 2018, and yet a frightening number of small-business owners assume that their organization is too small to ever warrant the attention of hackers. From the perspective of cybercriminals, most small and mid- sized businesses (SMBs) represent the low-hanging fruit of the digital world: a modest pile of cash guarded by outdated or easily circumvented barriers. That’s why 71 percent of cyberattacks are directed at SMBs, according to Verizon’s annual Data Breach Investigations Report, and a huge number of those strikes actually succeed. If you’re hoping to protect the business that you’ve built from the ground up, it’s important to be vigilant. Here are three steps you can take right now to drastically improve your chances at scaring off the wolves at your digital door: Back up your data. A large majority of data breaches today come in the form of ransomware, which locks users out of everything on a company’s network. Hackers then threaten to delete the data forever unless the company forks over thousands of dollars. But if you have all of your files automatically backed up to an alternate location (that can’t be accessed on your ordinary network), you can skip paying the ransom, let the criminals wipe your system, and make it through the crisis unscathed. Train your employees. It’s easy to imagine a team of evil geniuses typing at lightspeed to try to penetrate your business’s defenses, but 60 percent of the time, it’s a simple mistake by one of your employees that leaves the company wide open to attack. To combat this, you need to ensure that every single one of your employees is on board with strong cybersecurity practices. That means building a comprehensive cybersecurity policy that all members of your team must sign (including provisions such as password strength requirements) and supplying extensive training on the biggest digital threats. Use firewall, antivirus, and encryption software. Firewalls, which are usually included with your operating system, block unauthorized access to your network. Antivirus software serves as a watchdog, sniffing out malware and spyware before they become a problem. And encryption ensures that the data on your system is unreadable to anyone who doesn’t have the encryption key. All three of these powerful protections are inexpensive, user-friendly, and essential tools for businesses of all sizes seeking to stave off cybercriminals.
It can be difficult to identify exactly when a passion entered our lives. When you find something you love doing, eventually it feels like it has always been part of your identity. Sandhya Ramamurthy, who manages our business intelligence and data teams, can attest to that. Sandhya has always been in love with the tech field. Her interest started as a teenager in high school, and she went on to major in computer science at Anna University in India. After graduating, Sandhya jumped right into a position as a performance tester at Cognizant Technology Solutions, a large company in India that happens to exist in a similar space as RTS. After getting married, Sandhya and her husband moved to the United States, and she started looking for a new job.
“When I first heard about RTS Labs, I thought it sounded like a good fit to get started,” Sandhya says. “I never thought I would stick around for seven years! But I love the fact that we get to work with different clients on different
projects all the time. It’s not the same thing year after year. And because we work with so many different industries, there’s always something new to learn and opportunities to solve new problems.” The role Sandhya plays at RTS comes with many responsibilities. She’s involved in working with our sales team, getting to know a client’s business, identifying the problems that clients need to solve, and working with the various teams to see those projects implemented. In short, her plate is always full. “It’s a challenge, but I like being challenged. At RTS, I get to manage my own time and make my own decisions on how to best take care of our clients. Plus, the team members I get to work with are just as passionate about tech as I am. We have people who come from all different backgrounds — some who got into tech at school, like me, and others who come from non-tech backgrounds — but we all love the challenge. It’s rewarding to work with people who share my passion and aim to prove themselves every day. We’re able to do some great work as a result.”
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STARTING ON THE WRONG FOOT? 3 Tips to Get Salesforce Right the First Time
3. Get the support of your executive team.
of what it’s going to take and what you need to do right from the start and you’ll find the process is a lot smoother. 2. Move your data over correctly. One of the most attractive features of Salesforce is the ability to keep all your data in one unified dashboard. No more clicking through an endless wave of tabs for a single client! But to get to this point, you need to
You’ve finally done it. After hearing everyone talk about how amazing Salesforce is and how it can revolutionize your customer relationship management, you’ve decided to make the leap and integrate Salesforce into your company. While this powerful tool can streamline your business processes, it’s not a silver bullet to cure all your problems. If you fail to implement the Salesforce software properly, you’re in for a world of unnecessary trouble. Here are three tips to keep in mind when getting started with Salesforce. 1. Don’t underestimate what you need in order to implement Salesforce. There is a reason Salesforce offers training programs, communities, and MVPs. While Salesforce makes things a breeze once it’s up and running, the front end demands an investment of time and resources. Properly implementing a customized Salesforce solution doesn’t happen overnight — or even in two weeks. Set realistic expectations
As you may have guessed, implementing Salesforce isn’t something that should be done on a shoestring budget. In order to make sure you have the resources you need, you should have buy-in on the executive level and keep your executives engaged throughout the implementation process. Good leadership helps unify the team.
weave all your data together and make sure everything is in the same format. If you don’t prepare your data, you could find yourself
Salesforce is an amazing software, but it’s not immune to human error. For more resources on how to make sure implementing
with a huge mess to clean up later. Unless you already have experience in this field, we recommend hiring someone with
Salesforce is the best decision you’ve ever made, head over to RTSlabs.com/blog.
expertise to make sure all your data gets handled the right way.
Sudoku
CHANA MASALA
This classic Indian dish of chickpeas in tomato sauce is a great vegan main course. It’s perfect for weeknight dinners. Serve it with basmati rice.
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1 28-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes, crushed
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1 onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, sliced 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil
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1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed Salt and pepper, to taste
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1 teaspoon curry powder
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Chopped cilantro, for garnish
1. Over medium heat, cook onion, garlic, ginger, olive oil, and curry powder for 8–10 minutes, until onion is soft. 2. Add chickpeas and can of tomatoes with juice. Simmer 25–30 minutes. 3. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice and top with cilantro.
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INSIDE This Issue
We Need an Adult
3 Easy Cybersecurity Steps for Small Businesses Seven Years Strong Don’t Make These Salesforce Mistakes Chana Masala
Have You Played the Oldest Games in the World?
GAME NIGHT GOES (REALLY) RETRO
The Oldest Games You Can Play Today
from this game. Snakes and Ladders made its way to England before being brought over to the United States, where it was introduced as “Chutes and Ladders” by none other than Milton Bradley in 1943. Backgammon A blend of luck and strategy, backgammon originated in the Middle East around 5,000 years ago. Possibly an evolution of the ancient Mesopotamian game, the Royal Game of Ur, backgammon has players take turns rolling the dice to move their pieces off the board while trying to outsmart their opponent.
the virtues of balance, discipline, and focus. Two players go head-to-head, placing their pieces on the board to claim as much territory as possible while simultaneously capturing their opponent’s pieces. Go is likely the oldest board game still being played today, with an estimated 40 million players worldwide. Though the rules are simple, the strategies take a lifetime to master. These are a just a few games that people have been playing around the world for centuries. If you’re ready to add something new to family game night, try something old instead!
People love to play games. When you play Angry Birds while waiting in line at the grocery store, you are actually participating in a long history of gaming that dates back to the earliest civilizations. Through the discovery of ancient game boards, archaeologists learned that the ancient Egyptians played a game called Senet in 3500 B.C. The rules were lost to time, but fortunately, there are plenty of other ancient games we still have the rules for! Snakes and Ladders Sometime during the 2nd century A.D., people in India started playing a board game associated with aspects of traditional Hindu philosophy — namely, the contrast between karma (destiny) and kama (desire). A dice was rolled to navigate a game board where good virtues, represented by ladders, allowed players to move up on the board, and evil vices, represented by snakes, would drag pieces back down. The phrase “Back to square one” is believed to have originated
Backgammon grew in popularity, spreading from the Middle East to the rest of the ancient world, and is still played by many today. Go Originating in China around the 5th century B.C., Go — or “weiqi,” as it’s called in China — focuses on
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