Preparing for the Future: The Value of Safe Systems’ NetConnect Customer User Conference
Safe Systems hosted its 2018 NetConnect Customer User Conference October 2-4 in St. Simons Island, Georgia. The three-day conference was designed to bring customers, employees, and vendor partners together to exchange ideas and learn about key technology, compliance, and security best practices and solutions. Banks and credit unions from around the country attended to listen to inspiring keynote speakers and attend sessions designed to educate, motivate, and drive success. The event also included a tradeshow made up of a dozen vendor partners offering additional products and services to Safe Systems’ customers. One of the most critical meetings held during the event is the customer advisory meeting, where the Safe Systems management and product development teams gather feedback from a subset of customers on existing and future products and services.
A key goal of this year’s conference was to provide our banking and credit union customers with the necessary tools and guidance to develop comprehensive cybersecurity programs; meet stringent regulatory demands; and build successful institutions. The event began with an entire day of pre-conference training focused on information security threats, including cyber threats. As these threats continue to evolve, the need for effective IT management and efficient risk management increases. This professional development opportunity helped cultivate the skills needed to effectively create and maintain a comprehensive information security program; communicate effectively with the board; and improve vendor management processes.
This year’s keynote speaker was Bill Treasurer, CEO of Giant Leap Consulting, and author of numerous books about courageous leadership. His speech, “Leading with Courage”, focused on practical strategies for building courageous workers that seek out leadership opportunities, how to step up to challenges, offer innovative ideas, passionately embrace change, and become more productive.
In addition, one of the guest speakers, Erich Kron, a security awareness advocate, led a session on “Hacking the Users: Developing the Human Sensor and Firewall,” which focused on how banks and credit unions can turn people into effective attack sensors and human firewalls. He discussed the real goal of security awareness training, the politics of phishing your users, and how to deal with repeat offenders.
NetConnect provided an atmosphere where customers could exchange ideas and learn more about the latest technologies and trends in the financial services industry. Safe Systems’ product managers led educational sessions, focused on the company’s solutions and services customers use every day, to provide expert training and share tips and tricks to help streamline processes. Safe Systems’ compliance and security teams also led informative sessions and interactive workshops on relevant compliance topics and trends, including how to manage or push back on examiners; steps to take after completing the cybersecurity assessment tool (CAT); and how to respond to and recover from a cyberattack.
During the conference, Safe System’s employees and customers celebrated the company’s 25th anniversary. For more than two decades, Safe Systems has worked with more than 600 financial institutions and managed more than 20,000 network devices. Safe Systems has found great success in helping community financial institutions significantly decrease costs, increase IT performance, enhance cybersecurity processes and improve their compliance postures. With our expertise and experience in the industry, we have a solid understanding of what is coming down the pipeline, how to anticipate trends and have gained a unique perspective into what our customers need. Our talented employees work hard to build strong relationships with our clients and pride themselves on the quality customer service they provide.
Safe Systems strives for the NetConnect event to be an engaging and educational experience where bankers and credit union professionals can gain valuable knowledge on technology, compliance, and security. The company values the customer partnership and the opportunity to seek their direct feedback on current and future services which will ensure success for both parties. Safe Systems continues to provide products and services to help community banks and credit unions strengthen their institutions and build success. Our solutions, combined with our customer service and advisory, arm our customers with the resources they need to succeed in today’s financial environment and beyond.