What Is The Role of Operations In a Business?

The operations division of a business works closely with the field area. The field is where the warehouse or manufacturing area is and where the product is made. The main job of the operations is to monitor, gather, store and analyze the data of the process of the product. 

The field plays an important role in a business as this is where your service levels and customer experience can improve. When this happens a company can generate significant gains in labor costs, productivity, and other performance metrics.

There are several ways in which the changes in technology have helped improve the field service. Advanced analytics give companies steps on what to do once information has been tracked, this is done through an intelligent dashboard. It can follow up on customers who are unsatisfied or visit facilities to sort through service-level agreement misses. 

Before we proceed to what Fortinet’s role of operations in a business find out the roles of operations in different industries.

Operations in Different Industries

Retail

In every business, you need to monitor and analyze your users’ behavior. You must understand their behavior to make adjustments that meet their demands. In retail, your goal is to have all the products available which your customers are interested in and would pay for at an affordable price.

The job of operations is to keep on improving your inventory. You would need to ask yourselves these questions: what is your best seller? What is no one buying? When no one is buying a product on your shelf this is called deadstock. You will need to contact your supplier and ask to sell your products for a cheaper price. You may even ask for better credit terms. Another factor you would need to look into is how much your customers are willing to pay. Will they be willing to pay more? There are more questions to be asked to help your retail business. But for now, gathering data to answer these questions can give you a head start and what you need to do to improve your sales. Operational technology can help in updating your processes to help in reaching your goals. 

Restaurants

Similar to most businesses, restaurants also have inventories. However, it can get complicated for restaurants because they can not keep food stocked for too long. The operations part of your restaurant needs to make sure food is prepared and handled well. They also need to list down the cost of food, raw materials, beverages, and more. 

Manufacturing

The most important thing to consider when creating a product is that not only should it be of good quality but the cost of materials and labor add no value to the finished product. To accomplish this you need to plan your production. Ask yourself how the products will be produced, where they will take place, and how the manufacturing facilities will be laid out. When the product starts the operations division must monitor the process and make adjustments based on what needs to be improved. In this stage of operations, you will need to check the purchasing of raw materials and inventories. Lastly, it is important that the operations are meticulous when it comes to quality control to ensure the final product meets your company’s standards. 

Challenges the Operations Team Can Encounter

In the operations division, they are responsible for storing data for the company. For them to analyze and understand their customer’s behavior it is important for them to store the data and keep it safe at all times. Your business also relies on numerous connected endpoints, this can bring about challenges for security. 

If your network is not secure there is a possibility that malicious attackers can gain access and move around causing damage without anyone knowing. This kind of threat leaves you with high exposure to data breaches.

There are multiple types of network attacks to look out for, here are the different types:

Distributed Denial of Service (DDos)

DDos attacks are when networks of botnets – malware-compromised devices are linked to the internet. This results in your servers having high volumes of fraudulent traffic. Time-sensitive data will be the main target of malicious attackers. 

Man-in-the-middle-Attacks (MITM) 

This type of attack is when the traffic between the networks and external data sources is intercepted by malicious attackers. MITM refers to attacks made through weak security protocols. They can disguise themselves as a relay of proxy accounts and will manipulate data in real-time transactions. 

Phishing

You’ve probably come across this type of network attack before or even heard about it. It is the most common kind of technique where an email is sent but has an infected link. When someone clicks on the link a virus or malware is released and infects your device or is spread throughout your network. That is why it is always important to check the sender before opening an email. If it seems suspicious, delete it right away. 

Structured Query Language (SQL)

An SQL is a standardized programming language that’s used to manage relational databases and perform various operations on the data in them. Websites can be manipulated using SQL applications. Hackers specifically look for ways to exploit sensitivities in SQL applications. They can play around with databases and cause grave damage, which will then cause havoc to related websites. 

How can Fortinet help?

Fortinet’s role in the operations of a business is that they help protect your enterprise. They have a range of products that can deal with all of your security concerns, no matter the type of business you have or the size. You can find the most suitable solutions that meet your security requirements. 

In the operations division, they understand the importance of keeping your data and network safe that is why Fortinet has the FortiSwitch™ Secure Access. This device provides security, performance, and manageability. It is simple and scalable and is designed for installations of any size of business. 

The FortiSwitch™ device is linked with FortiGate by FortiLink. With these three together you can get complete visibility and control of users and devices on the same network.  FortiSwitch™ gives you centralized security and access management. It is ideal for SD-Branch deployments. This device enables voice, data, and wireless traffic to be delivered across a single network.

FortiSwitch™  is managed by the FortiGate interface. FortiGate provides a secure SD-WAN solution with Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) capabilities. This device identifies applications inside the network traffic and protects your systems against malware, exploits, and malicious websites in both encrypted and unencrypted traffic. 

Fortinet’s role in the operations of a business provides you with a range of solutions for your operational technology needs. For the operations division, the most preferred applications are FortiSwitch™ and FortiGate™. They can help you set up secure and reliable networks in simple steps. 

Ardent Networks Inc. is an IT distributor and solutions enterprise and focuses on providing its clients and partners with the latest trends in technology. If you want to learn more about what they do and what they have to offer you can visit their website.