TECHNOLOGY
ECI Software Solutions | October 13, 2023
ECI Software Solutions, Inc., a prominent cloud-based business management software and services provider, has recently announced that it has been recognized as a Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion by the National Cybersecurity Alliance. This underscores ECI's unwavering commitment to delivering reliable cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), empowering them to operate and expand their enterprises with confidence and security.
As a member of the distinguished group of Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion organizations, which encompasses businesses of varying sizes, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and government entities, ECI Software Solutions is dedicated to the promotion of a safer, more secure, and trustworthy internet landscape.
This significant development underscores ECI's ongoing dedication to fostering SMB growth through technological innovation. A noteworthy achievement is that over 12,000, constituting more than half of ECI Software Solutions' global clientele, have successfully transitioned their operations to the cloud. This migration has resulted in cost savings of up to 40%, achieved by streamlining operational expenses and reducing manual workloads. Such savings have assumed increased importance over the past few years, marked by persistent labor shortages and disruptions in the supply chain.
ECI's cloud-based ERP solutions play a critical role in enhancing transparency and mobility, eliminating silos and tribal knowledge within SMBs. This approach positions SMBs for growth, enables accurate forecasting, and fosters the emergence of the next generation of leadership. At ECI Software Solutions, cloud ERPs are crafted for and by those who have traversed the journey of SMB growth.
About ECI
ECI Software Solutions specializes in providing cloud-based business software solutions designed to cater to the specific needs of small and mid-sized enterprises. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the company features a team of experts with deep knowledge in manufacturing, residential construction, field service management, building supply, office technology, and wholesale/retail distribution industries. ECI's industry-specific software connects businesses with their customers, enhancing visibility, operational efficiency, and profitability. Its comprehensive suite of services seamlessly integrates sales and marketing, business intelligence, CRM, data and analytics, e-commerce, mobile applications, and payment processing
Read More
FINANCE
PR Newswire | October 04, 2023
Camino Financial and Fundation will combine to create a new, full spectrum SMB lender providing credit solutions to fund the growth of small businesses. Camino Financial, a community-driven lender offering credit solutions to overlooked or minority-owned businesses is acquiring Fundation, a premiere, tech-enabled lender to small-and-mid-sized businesses ("SMBs") and specialist in bank channel partnerships.
LL Funds, a Philadelphia-based private equity, direct lending, and asset-backed securities investment firm, led the deal and will be the financial sponsor of the company during its next phase of growth. Shivraj Mundy and Putnam Coes, both Partners at LL Funds and current Camino directors, will continue as Directors of the combined company, with Shivraj Mundy serving as Chairman of the Board. Community Investment Management ("CIM"), a leading impact investment firm and funding partner to both Camino Financial and Fundation, played a pivotal role in facilitating the merger.
"The small business lending space represents a vast opportunity to serve a critical but underrepresented section of the U.S. economy. With $250 million of combined equity and debt capital, the combination of Camino and Fundation is ideally positioned to provide a broad set of credit solutions to serve this segment," Shivraj Mundy, LL Funds.
"In an environment of tightening financial conditions and higher interest rates, innovating better solutions for small businesses is essential for US economic growth and employment. The talents of the combined company and the ongoing commitment of its partners Community Investment Management and BankUnited will accelerate this progress." Putnam Coes, LL Funds.
"As long-term capital providers to both Camino and Fundation, CIM is pleased to have worked closely with LL Funds to enable this transaction and the continued progress in SMB lending the combined company will lead." Jacob Haar, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of CIM.
The merger brings together two strong leaders in their respective market segments to address the pressing need for accessible and inclusive financing solutions for small businesses. Both firms have been pursuing this mission independently for over 10 years, collectively funding tens of thousands of small businesses and growing rapidly post-Covid. The Company will offer best-in-class lending solutions and will be one of the few independent, full-spectrum, multi-channel financing providers in the SMB space.
"I want to thank LL Funds and CIM for giving us an opportunity to build upon our current business models to responsibly serve small business owners. Beyond the synergies of channels, products and customer operations, the merger of Fundation with Camino will set the stage for innovating in the credit ecosystem. I could not be more excited to work with all our stakeholders towards creating substantial value for the small business community." Sandip Nayak, President & Founding Member of Fundation, LLC.
Mickey Konson will become CEO of the combined entity and join the Board of Directors. Konson brings over 25 years of experience in finance, technology, and small business lending. Previously, he served as a senior executive at Capital One, and co-founded SMB lender and SAAS platform StreetShares Inc., which was acquired in 2022 by Meridian Link. More recently, he was a Senior Advisor at 2nd Order Solutions, where he consulted globally with Banks and FinTech companies.
About Camino Financial
Camino Financial is a leading community-driven fintech company dedicated to providing affordable credit and wealth building solutions. With a mission to promote financial inclusion, Camino Financial is a government certified Community Development Financial Institution ("CDFI"), offering innovative financing solutions designed to support the success of overlooked entrepreneurs and minority-owned small businesses.
About Fundation, LLC
Fundation, LLC is a leading tech-enabled SMB lender specializing in digital lending solutions for small businesses. They collaborate with over 25 financial institutions, helping them access digital lending capabilities and provide cost-efficient, customer-focused services tailored to the unique needs of small businesses.
About LL Funds
Founded in 2009, LL Funds makes opportunistic investments in asset-backed securities ("ABS") and the companies that originate them. Based in Philadelphia, PA, the company manages approximately $2.3 billion for institutional and individual investors.
Read More
TECHNOLOGY
GlobeNewswire | October 06, 2023
JumpCloud Inc., the leading open directory platform provider, and Electric, the leader in IT management software for small businesses, today announced a joint partnership to bring secure and affordable enterprise-grade technology to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Electric, serving over 55,000 end users, is one of the latest large partners joining JumpCloud’s managed service provider (MSP) program, which spans 60 countries. JumpCloud enters the Electric Partner Program, bringing enterprise IT tech to the SMB market. Both companies are actively evaluating new partnerships for each of their programs.
Electric is in R&D with JumpCloud’s device and identity management technology, preparing early access to a select group of customers to test the financial and accessibility benefits of the two companies’ integration. JumpCloud’s enterprise-grade identity, access, and device management capabilities, bundled with Electric’s seamless IT support and management capabilities, allow SMBs to focus on their mission rather than IT.
JumpCloud reimagined the directory to fit the modern world with an open, cloud-based directory for secure, frictionless access from any authorized device to any resource, anywhere. Electric makes technical and often complex initiatives such as security standardization, device management, software provisioning, and employee IT support manageable in one easy-to-use platform.
“The JumpCloud and Electric partnership pairs the best of both for SMBs with limited or no in-house IT teams with affordable, progressive IT capabilities — enabling a whole new generation of companies to take advantage of the cloud,” said Antoine Jebara, co-founder and general manager of MSP products, JumpCloud. “We’re excited to have Electric join our partner program and design their next-generation offerings around the JumpCloud platform. Our partnership will enable SMBs with enterprise-level security, allowing them to focus on their mission and scale their companies.”
“Electric and JumpCloud are teaming up to start R&D on a cutting-edge enterprise-level identity, access, and device management system specifically designed for SMBs,” says Joe Fahrner, Chief Revenue Officer, Electric. “Combining our strengths, both commercially and through our product development, brings crucial enterprise security systems within reach of businesses that previously lacked the internal resources to handle them.”
About JumpCloud
JumpCloud® helps IT teams Make Work Happen® by centralizing management of user identities and devices, enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt Zero Trust security models. JumpCloud has been used by a global user base of more than 200,000 organizations, including GoFundMe, Grab, ClassPass, Beyond Finance, and Foursquare. JumpCloud has raised over $400M from world-class investors including Sapphire Ventures, General Atlantic, Sands Capital, Atlassian, and CrowdStrike.
About Electric
Electric’s IT platform makes IT easy for users who want to be something other than IT managers. Its technology simplifies the management of employees, devices, applications, and networks while providing compliance-ready reporting. This all-star team of investors backs Electric: Bessemer Venture Partners, GGV Capital, 01 Advisors, Primary Venture Partners, Bowery Capital, Slack, Atreides Management, Vintage Investment Partners, Greenspring Associates, and Harmonic Growth Partners.
Read More
TECHNOLOGY
PR Newswire | September 29, 2023
Norton, a leading consumer Cyber Safety brand of Gen™ (NASDAQ: GEN), today announced Norton Small Business, the all-in-one cybersecurity solution to help entrepreneurs and small business owners protect their financial futures. While nearly 90%1 of businesses globally are small businesses - 99.9% in the US2 - many lack the means to protect their digital environments. Norton Small Business makes triple-lock protection accessible for small businesses to safeguard their team's online activities, devices and customer data in an easy, all-in-one cybersecurity solution.
"Owning a very small business often means each member of the team wears different hats, and usually cybersecurity expert isn't one of them," said Massimo Rapparini, General Manager & Head of Small Business Safety at Gen. "Unfortunately, cybercriminals are aware of this and often target such businesses – more than half (57%) of small businesses experienced a security, data breach or both in 20223. For entrepreneurs and small businesses, falling for just one phishing email can have a devastating impact."
Scams Taking Down Small Businesses
Small businesses face a barrage of scams and phishing threats, just like consumers. In fact, they are targeted more than large companies. Companies with fewer than 100 employees face an average of 350% more social engineering attacks than larger enterprises4, and according to data from Gen, cyber threats that rely on manipulating people account for 85% of attacks on small businesses in the US. Of these threats, phishing – for example, emails trying to trick you into clicking a link or transferring money – is the most common way cybercriminals try to access small business systems, private data, financials and intellectual property.
Businesses with under 10 employees often lack IT support, putting companies at great risk if cybercriminal attacks are successful – and many are. In 2020 alone, there were more than 700,000 attacks against small businesses totaling $2.8 billion in damages5. Norton Small Business helps small businesses disaster-proof their critical data to minimize the risk of financial loss.
Entrepreneurs Pursue Financial Freedom
Entrepreneurs often start their own businesses in pursuit of financial freedom and invest significant time, energy and personal savings to build their business. In fact, 61% of Gen Z small business owners believe entrepreneurship will lead them to retirement earlier than if they had gone straight to the corporate world6. Yet, small businesses are being heavily targeted by cybercriminals, leaving them at much higher risk of collapsing compared to larger firms when hit by a cyberattack.
With heightened risk and so much at stake, it's surprising that about half of businesses with under 50 employees have no cybersecurity budget at all7. The effects of a cyberattack extend beyond financial consequences, and it's time cybersecurity is pushed to the forefront of small business priorities.
Setting Up Your One-Person IT Department
Norton is your go-to partner to make small business cybersecurity simple with an all-in-one solution that provides 24/7 cybersecurity protection and a variety of features, including:
Secure Browser, Password Manager and VPN (virtual private network) to help secure day-to-day online activities
Automated PC cleaning and optimization to keep healthier PCs for longer
Secure Cloud Backup for PCs to help reduce the risk of loss of business data
Software and driver updaters to help keep software up to date, so there are fewer vulnerabilities for cybercriminals to exploit
IT coverage and maintenance for up to 20 devices
A 100% Virus Protection Promise8
"We've built our small business products and services with the same approach in mind as we do with our consumer portfolio, so entrepreneurs don't need to worry about becoming cybersecurity experts," said Rapparini. "Norton is here to make cybersecurity accessible and easy so they can focus on building thriving businesses."
Norton recommends these top 10 tips to protect your small business:
Learn tospot signs of phishing andteach your employees
Only click links or download attachments from known sources
Avoid sharing personal information or private company data over email
Alwayskeep your operating system, applications and drivers up-to-date
Make sure yourWiFi network is protected with a strong password
Regularlyback up your data
Require employees to use aVPN when doing company work on a public WiFi network (think airports and coffee shops)
Alwaysuse multi-factor-authenticationfor an extra layer of protection
Don't neglect mobile devices – make sure they are password protected and use security software
Invest in a cybersecurity solution such as Norton Small Business
About Norton
Norton is a leading Cyber Safety brand of Gen™ (NASDAQ: GEN), a global company dedicated to powering Digital Freedom through its family of trusted consumer brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and CCleaner. Gen empowers people to live their digital lives safely, privately, and confidently today and for generations to come. Gen brings award-winning products and services in cybersecurity, online privacy and identity protection to more than 500 million users in more than 150 countries.
Read More