If you’ve developed a website for your business, chances are you’ve heard of Sitecore. After all, it’s what many of the world’s most recognizable brands use to power their websites. But if you’re only aware of Sitecore because of brand recognition, you may not be aware of what it has to offer. We’ll enlighten you on some of the details.

Let’s start with the basics: what is Sitecore, and how does Sitecore work?

What Is Sitecore?

Sitecore CMS (content management system) is a web hosting service that lets organizations create websites and publish digital content, like product listings and blog articles. It is powered by the ASP.NET network.

Sitecore also can create specialized and unique digital experiences, more so than many other CMS platforms. This is made possible by a combination of its content management system and automation features that streamlines customer data; the more you know about your customers, the easier you can tailor your brand experience to their expectations.

How Does Sitecore Work?

Sitecore utilizes several systems to make its program work as intended. While we don’t have the space in this article to go over every single system, here are some of the important ones:

Databases

Sitecore uses three databases to create and store content. Those three are:

• Core: Where the website is built, and custom settings are configured

• Master: Where content is created and stored before publication

• Web: Where content goes once it is published

Item Folders

Within the web database is a series of item folders. You can organize and place your web content using these folders. These folders include:

• Content: Data and pages are stored here. The structure of the data within the folder will determine how it is structured on the website.

• Layout: This folder is where the ASPX layouts are declared—layouts unique to ASP.NET-powered websites.

• Media Library: This is where you will store the multimedia files that will display on your website. These are things like photos, graphics, and videos.

• System: The system item folder contains the standard settings for Sitecore’s content editor and web application. You would add additional coding languages into this folder.

• Templates: If you create a web design template for a specific web page, you can store it here. For example, if you have a specific template for product listings, you can save time by creating a template, storing it in this folder, and using it whenever you release a new product.

Real-Time Customer Insights

Using machine learning, Sitecore can gather data and insights about your customers as they visit your website. It then offers recommendations and actionable items based on those insights so you can develop a more optimized user experience.

6 Benefits of Sitecore

So, how do Sitecore’s functionalities work together to create measurable advantages? Here are some of the benefits of Sitecore you can expect from using it as a CMS:

• Ample storage for multiple webpages and website designs
• Streamlined organizational structure
• Simple integration for other programs (including Salesforce)
• Higher cybersecurity standards
• Complete customization possibilities
• Robust customer analytics

Use Sitecore for Your Website

Sitecore can be one of the most versatile and helpful CMS platforms—if you know how to use it. We encourage you to learn more about the possibilities Sitecore can offer your business. If its service offerings align with your business goals, start using it to improve your digital user experience.

Navigating Threats In The Modern World 

Making sure your business is protected against the many threats that lurk online is a time consuming and complex process, but it’s a responsibility that you have to fulfill. Cybercrimes and those who carry out such acts are constantly evolving and adapting, and it can be hard to prevent these dangers while still maintaining standards across the board elsewhere in your business. That’s exactly why many businesses are choosing to team up with a dedicated managed service provider who boast technological expertise surrounding patching and updating, subsequently offering a level of protection that they may never achieve independently.

Why You Need To Protect (& Patch) Your Network

Failing to acknowledge the true scale of the threats your business faces by enforcing minimal security measures could have a catastrophic impact on your brand as a whole, because without a detailed maintenance program that focuses on patching and updating your network, you will soon find that your security system is totally ineffective leaving you as vulnerable as ever. 

Experiencing a data breach will lead to serious recovery costs and an untold amount of inconvenience for your business (and your reputation), and you may even fall victim to a substantial fine for failing to maintain your security systems, too. A cyber criminal could gain access to all of your data stores and steal your business and customer information, which would no doubt lead to lost trust to say the least. 

Good patch management must always be a priority, as unpatched systems are essentially the digital equivalent of leaving your back door wide open for all to gain entry. 

These implications alone should prove just how vital it is to regularly patch and update your network, but you need to ensure that you have the skills and technical knowledge to complete such a task properly. If you don’t, then you can find a trusted managed service provider like the Iron Edge Group in Sugar Land who can take over the responsibility for you. A bad patch or a low quality update might do more harm than good, so don’t make the mistake of trying to do complex tasks without the right knowledge or equipment. 

What Is Patching?

It’s more than likely that at some point in your lifetime you will have turned on your laptop or computer only to be greeted with a pop up window informing you of a new software update that is available and ready to install. These are commonly known as ‘patches’ and they exist to keep your systems safe in between full upgrades,  protecting your device against risks that have evolved since your last installation. 

Patching makes sure your security is working as it should be, so choosing to hit ‘remind me later’ could compromise your systems safety. Patches provide crucial updates that exist to fix holes and keep your business as protected as possible from the many dangers that await you online, filling in the gaps that might have been missed in any larger update which developers noticed after publication. 

It’s important to note that patches must be applied correctly in order to serve their intended purpose. Working alongside a managed service provider will help you to make the right decisions for your unique business system. 

Security is a huge issue for all businesses, and if they do not have the right procedure in place, they open themselves up to a whole range of problems and issues. Unfortunately, cybercrime is becoming more and more of a problem, with around 4000 ransomware attacks daily. Clearly, this is a massive problem for all Internet users, not to mention organizations that are more likely to be targeted. However, with the right processes and procedures in place, an organization can secure itself from all security issues.  

1. Create a Cybersecurity Strategy 

You need a focused strategy to truly understand the risks involved. Only that way can you begin to secure your organization. You need a thorough risk assessment carried out to enable you to devise a proper security strategy. Cybersecurity should be a priority for any organization due to the level of risk. Upper management needs to understand these risks so they can implement the changes and support required.

2. Privileged Password Management

Every secure system has passwords. At the user level and at the level of protection of sensitive data. Limited numbers of people should be able to access certain areas. You also need to apply short-term access protocols for people not generally allowed to access certain data streams.

3. Network Administrator

The Network Administrator is generally the first port of call for any cyberattacks, and they play a vital role in security. The Network Administrator needs a detailed list of daily tasks to ensure that the network is secure and running as expected. By having a task checklist every day, potential threats will be spotted and dealt with quickly. 

4. Security Audit Checklist

A security audit will identify vulnerabilities within the network and highlight that they need to be fixed. The audit checklist has to include all hardware, software, training, and all procedures. Risks come in two main forms, human and technological, so the audit needs to capture an entire overview of all inherent risks.

5. Firewall Audit Checklist

This is a specific approach to dealing with issues inside the network. By reviewing policies, assessing the strength of servers, removing redundant data from the rules procedure which exists in the firewall itself, you can change and develop the firewall protocol with a targeted approach to improving security.

6. Train your Staff 

Staff will not automatically know how best to protect your company, so you must train them. Work out what is most important to your company and go from there. Things like phishing scams are clearly going to be part of the list. Think also about file attachments and plugging in unsolicited flash drives.

7. Monitoring

By constant monitoring, you can detect attacks and any form of abnormal behavior from inside and outside of the network pretty much instantly. This means that you can react to the attacks and stop the damage. You will also be able to block future attacks of this sort.

8. Testing

If you are doing the right level of testing, you will know for sure if your system is as secure as it should be.