With the adoption of the DevOps culture in agile development teams, the time to deliver a project has been significantly reduced as problems across different teams are now resolved as a single team. Team boundaries that existed in the waterfall development approach are removed and collaboration across Developers and Operations take off to work together towards a shared goal. As development and operation teams start working together, it is important to integrate automation technologies to eliminate repetitive processes and deliver predictable results over and over.

How can the build, test, and deploy processes be automated? Using continuous integration, automated testing, and continuous delivery, the core of the development process is automated and the end result is consistent.

Continuous Integration (Build)

In the practice of continuous integration, developers commit code changes in the project into a shared repository every day or several times a day. Each time a change is committed into a branch an automated build is triggered to build the code binaries. This automated integration tied to every code change facilitates the detection of coding issues as soon as they are introduced and helps backtracking issues in earlier releases.

Test Automation (Test)

The next step after implementing and using a continuous integration solution is to incorporate test automation to improve the quality of the code, detect human errors, and test the user interface against multiple browsers. Test automation can be added as part of the continuous integration to run a number of tests along with each build with minimal overhead in the build process.

Continuous Delivery (Deploy)

Following the principle of “build your binaries once, but deploy and promote them many times” provide a consistent end result that has been tested during the build process and in a parallel environment. The practice of continuous delivery ensures a successful build is packaged once and promoted through multiple environments until it reaches production.

Automation tools in software delivery increase the confidence in the team to release more often and better quality software without having to sacrifice time or budget in the project. Each release consists of a repeatable process to ensure the version that was just released from development and passed thru QA is ready to be released to production.

Using automation technologies like continuous integration, automated testing, and continuous delivery to automate the development process increases efficiency and accuracy. If you’d like to learn more or discuss this with our DevOps team, reach out today.

Chicago – Oct. 19, 2020 – Centro (https://www.centro.net), a global provider of advertising technology, announced that it has been honored by Fortune and Great Place to Work as the No. 52 Best Medium Workplace in 2020. In the previous month, Centro was named the No. 15 Best Small & Medium Workplace for Women. The lists are part of a series of rankings by Fortune and Great Place to Work based on employee feedback from certified organizations. Earlier in the year, Centro was named the No. 4 Best Small & Medium Workplace in Chicago. These rankings are based on confidential survey feedback representing more than 189,000 employees working at small- and medium-sized businesses in the United States.

Great Place to Work, a global people analytics and company culture research firm, evaluated more than 60 elements of team members’ experience on the job. These included the extent to which employees trust leaders, the respect with which people are treated, the fairness of workplace decisions, and how much camaraderie there is among the team. Rankings are based on employees’ feedback and reward companies that accumulate responses from a high percentage of total employees.

“Best Workplaces like Centro have built dynamic, flexible, and transparent workplaces founded on trust,” said Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. “This gives companies on this list a powerful opportunity not just to do well for their people, but also to do well for their businesses.”

The companies among the Fortune Best Medium Workplaces stand out for excelling in the nation’s most competitive marketplaces. Overwhelmingly positive survey responses from employees was a significant contributor to Centro’s standing in the various Great Place to Work categories. Notably, 96% of employees at Centro say it is a great place to work, compared to 59% of employees at a typical U.S.-based company.

“From the onset of Centro, we believe that the happiness of employees is a key tenet for a successful business,” said Emily Barron, EVP of Talent and Development, Centro. “The accolades from Great Place to Work and Fortune validate how we support our team. The positive energy and resources we dedicate to our employees drives them to take care of customers, partners, industry peers and colleagues.”

About the Best Small & Medium Workplaces

To determine the 2020 Best Small Workplaces list and the 2020 Best Medium Workplaces list, Great Place to Work® gathered and analyzed confidential survey feedback representing more than 189,000 employees working in small- and medium-sized businesses in the United States.  Employees responded to over 60 survey questions describing the extent to which their organization creates a great place to work For All™.

Eighty-five percent of the evaluation is based on what employees say about their experiences of trust and reaching their full human potential as part of their organization, no matter who they are or what they do. Great Place to Work analyzes these experiences relative to each organization’s size, workforce make up, and what’s typical relative to their peers in the industry.

The remaining 15 percent of the rank is based on assessing how consistent employees’ daily experiences of innovation, the company’s values, and their leaders’ effectiveness are.

After being in a digital marketing-specific sales role for the past 7 years, I have truly been asked just about every question you can imagine when it comes to vetting an agency during the sales process. Some questions are fair, some questions are borderline crazy, and some questions seem to come up more frequently than others. Although I always have an answer to every question and am more than happy to field them all, I get excited when the same consistent line of questions come up in my conversations. When this trend happens, I can tell that the prospect has done their homework and the sales process will be seamless for both parties. When the sales process follows a similar pattern with these 5 questions listed below, it leads to a clear understanding of expectations on both sides and the beginnings of a mutually successful partnership. Which leads to a faster sales cycle and happier clients!    1) Does your agency work with similar companies as mine, both in industry and in overall size? There is no need to waste each other’s time, so let’s get right to the point! Although it can appear to be abrupt and dismissive at times, there first needs to be a clear understanding that the digital marketing agency you are speaking with works with similar companies as yours, and they will be an ideal fit as a partner. Some agencies specialize in specific industries, some agencies work with enterprise sized clients, some agencies work with SMB clients, and the list goes on. The first step needs to be a crystal-clear understanding that both parties on the phone are having a conversation that will lead to a potentially positive result at the conclusion. A lot of this can be learned from viewing their agency website and published information, but that will not always tell the full story. Time is a very valuable commodity (especially salespeople’s time, haha!) and people need to be conscious of this fact before taking additional steps, so get it out there in the open. I am sure the salesperson will ask some questions to “vet” you as a qualified prospect, so turn the tables on them and “vet” them as a qualified agency as well!  2) What services does your agency specialize in and what percentage of your business does it represent? The jack of all trades, but master of none. How many actual services do they list on their website? If we are getting into the double digits, be weary. Some agencies will tell you they can do it all…. Branding, sure! Web Design, you know it! Search Engine Marketing, you betcha! Market Research, absolutely! Custom software development, yeah let’s go baby! But the simple reality is that if you are not speaking to one of the major agency players, for the most part that is just simply not going to be true. Press a bit to get an understanding of the services that they specialize in, other services that they offer, and then simply services just listed on their website to make them appeal to the masses.  3) Would you be willing to audit my existing digital marketing performance and provide specific recommendations on how your agency would approach our strategy better to achieve our goals? All agencies are really GREAT at talking about themselves, go ahead and ask them! They will talk at length about all the services their agency offers, the clients, the awards, the case studies, and the beat goes on… But what does that mean to your company and does it solve your problem? Sure, it is helpful to get some general knowledge on their background and what they do as an agency, but do not get fooled by the smoke and mirrors! All agencies excel at that stuff, cool presentations, amazing graphics, fancy buzzwords…. I mean that is what they do and talented salespeople can be super persuasive! But make them back up all that fast talk, ask for the data to support it. If the agency is truly interested in earning your business, they should be more than willing to provide a free comprehensive audit/analysis of your existing performance and tactical recommendations on their agency’s strategy to improve results. And make sure these conversations revolve around your specific goals (traffic, leads, ROI, ROAS, ACOS, CPA, etc.), what will make this partnership with the agency successful? It is not enough just to be comforted that they can perform the services in question, ask them to showcase what their plan is to implement their strategies for your company to reach the set goals for digital marketing!  4) How does your account management model work and can I meet the team that I will be working with daily? Whenever I get asked this question by a prospect, I always have the exact same response. “Yes absolutely, our client services team at Logical is the best and they are the true experts in what we do!” I would have to say, this is the one question that gets missed the most but is so critical to ensuring a successful relationship. Again, salespeople are good at selling, that is what they do for a living. They will tell you exactly what you want to hear to seal the deal and earn that commission. Also, salespeople commonly will have enough general knowledge to be dangerous at explaining the services being offered and in a way that might be just enough to gain your trust. But once those contracts are signed, the salesperson is off to selling the next prospect and out of your lives. It is really a simple question to ask, “can you explain how your account management model works and would I be able to meet the team I would be working with?” First off, you want to get a handle on the team’s skill level to assure that they can perform the actual work. And once that fact is determined, how do the personalities and culture match? That aspect can be so important too, these are people that you will be speaking with very consistently and handling an extremely vital part of your company’s success, be sure that you will have an enjoyable experience working with them and it doesn’t end up being a team of people that you cringe every time you see a scheduled meeting with your agency on the calendar!  5) Would you be willing to provide customer references that I can speak with? The grand finale. This one is super simple. Ok, so you like what we have heard so far, both sides seem to be a good fit for each other, they specialize in the services you need, the audits look great, the account team is awesome, but let’s make sure of one thing first before we sign on the dotted line. Do their clients have positive things to say about the agency, are they ultimately happy with their experience working with this agency, and are they getting good results? Get an outsider’s perspective! It is the ultimate way to validate that this agency is providing good work and a valued partner. Now clearly, they are only going to introduce clients that have positive things to say… But throw a few curveball questions to their clients, ask about some challenges that have arisen, what would be one piece of criticism you have to share, could they do anything differently that would be appreciated. I have found most of our clients are very honest in these conversations and we expect them to be. So get that final stamp of approval before making the decision to ultimately move forward.  So, there you have it. Other questions will obviously come up in your conversations and are also critically important based on your company’s specific needs, but make sure to check these five boxes before deciding to move forward on working with a digital marketing agency. And if you want to ask our sales team any of these questions or others, please reach out to us at sales@logicalmediagroup.com – happy vetting!

October 15, 2020 – Comcast announced today that it has built an additional mile and a half of fiber to reach over 200 downtown Chicago businesses in the Loop, South Loop and West Loop. This follows an extensive proactive fiber build in 2016 across the Loop and several adjacent neighborhoods.

With these latest buildouts complete, Comcast Business can give even more businesses in the area access to Internet speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) – and up to 100 Gbps on a case-by-case basis – along with a wide range of services, including Ethernet, Internet, cloud solutions, business phone and TV services, as well as its SmartOffice video monitoring system.  In addition, as a result of the network expansion, Comcast can bring new customers online quickly.

“Comcast shares our vision for the City of Chicago and we applaud them for continuing to invest in its advanced technology infrastructure in and around downtown and the neighborhoods. In doing so, our businesses can run more efficiently, and their employees are able to work better remotely, which has never been more important,” said Jack Lavin, president & CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.  “Connectivity has taken on new importance during the current public health crisis, and this additional investment will help Chicago’s business community continue to provide services the city and its residents rely upon.”

“Our advanced network provides increased bandwidth and that means businesses can do more, like accommodate large numbers of employees working at home, access more applications and services in the cloud and exchange large amounts of data,” said Sean McCarthy, Comcast’s Regional Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Initiatives.  “Comcast already has a major network presence in the city, and we’ve been expanding it significantly through strategic proactive investments designed to help spur economic growth in emerging and growing development corridors.”

Since 2011, Comcast has invested $4.2 billion in technology and infrastructure in Illinois alone.  As part of this investment, Comcast has been adding fiber to reach city, suburban and Central and Northern Illinois business and industrial corridors and employment hubs including: Goose Island, The Old Post Office and 600 W. Chicago Ave.; Chicago’s Englewood, Back of the Yards and Bridgeport neighborhoods: the Peterson Pulaski Business and Industrial Park; near Midway and O’Hare airports, the Elk Grove Technology Park; Interstate 88 in Chicago’s west suburbs and Interstate 90 in Chicago’s northwest suburbs and the southwest suburbs; Morris, IL; West Chicago and Elgin and South Elgin, IL, among others.

Comcast also offers an Internet service that provides download speeds up to 1 Gbps to homes and businesses in all of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods using a technology called “Docsis 3.1.”  Launched regionally in August 2016, Comcast provides the service using the company’s existing network.

The extent of Comcast’s network also has made it possible for the company to build the largest WiFi network in the nation.  Xfinity WiFi includes more than 19 million WiFi hotspots in locations across the country and more than 1.9 million in the region.  Comcast has placed hotspots in or adjacent to locations ranging from restaurants, retail stores, salons and doctors’ offices to parks and universities, according to McCarthy.

About Comcast Business

Comcast Business offers Ethernet, Internet, Wi-Fi, Voice, TV and Managed Enterprise Solutions to help organizations of all sizes transform their business. Powered by an advanced network, and backed by 24/7 customer support, Comcast Business is one of the largest contributors to the growth of Comcast Cable.  Comcast Business is the nation’s largest cable provider to small and mid-size businesses and has emerged as a force in the Enterprise market; recognized over the last two years by leading industry associations as one of the fastest growing providers of Ethernet services.

Forte Group hosts an “ask me anything”: Shifts and trends in digital product development

In a year where things haven’t gone to plan, wouldn’t it be great to get a second opinion on your shifting priorities? This month, Forte Group, a custom software development company in Chicago, is hosting an “ask me anything” session to give you just that.

Have questions about product engineering, team management, testing, or product strategy? Ask Alex Lukashevich, Director of Managed Services at Forte Group. With more than 20 years of experience working in various product development roles, Alex looks forward to answering them.

Unsure of what to ask? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• What do you think the top product development challenges will be for 2021?
• What digital tools should I use to enhance product development?
• Our business would like to lean toward testing automation, but we’re not sure if the outcome is worth its cost. What should guide our decision?
• We introduced Scrum, but adopting Agile hasn’t shown any tangible results so far. What should we be doing differently?
• How do I create a better communication strategy with my team, now that they’re completely remote?
• What are some ways my company can improve the cost-effectiveness of our software delivery? 
• Uncover the insights you can leverage to find the right mix of digital tools and accelerate product development. 

Head over to Forte’s AMA page and submit your question. You’ll be notified when Alex answers. Check it out here: https://fortegrp.com/ask-us-anything-digital-product-development/

About Forte Group

Forte Group is a full-spectrum custom software delivery partner for enterprises looking to accelerate their business and evolve their engineering practices. Forte works with software engineering departments, business leaders, and technology companies to consistently achieve valuable business outcomes. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with delivery offices in Belarus, Ukraine, Colombia, and Argentina.

Looking for help with your product strategy? Get in touch with Forte at https://fortegrp.com/contact-us/

Does the company you founded have a written mission statement and the steps required to achieve it? If you are running a successful startup, the answer is most likely yes.   

Now be honest, do you have a similarly written plan for your personal finances? Have you taken a close look at where you are today, what you are spending now, and how your financial plan will determine your future lifestyle?  

The truth is that most entrepreneurs simply do not have time to manage their personal finances.  You are probably confident that a life-changing sum may be coming your way upon exit.  But with all the work needed to reach this goal – long hours, personal investments, overseeing your team – it is hard to find any time to manage and prepare for your financial success.  

Founders like you face a unique set of challenges. It is no surprise that many find themselves at the cusp of realizing their dream of a liquidity event only to realize that, “wait… I have not prepared for this at all!”

The good news is that you are not the first entrepreneur to come to the realization that planning your personal finances will lead to the lifestyle you want.  Others have already experienced these challenges before you, leaving a framework of solutions we can apply to your specific needs.  

Four major challenges: Time, Team, Tax, and Trust(s)

By applying the solutions covered in this guide you can: have more time, pay less tax, rely on a team of specialists, and trust that your legacy will be secured.

Here are four challenges faced by entrepreneurs and impactful solutions. 

Challenge #1: Time

One of the modern facts of life is that nobody has any time.  In theory, new technology should help us save time.  But better technology means higher expectations, and higher expectations create more work.  This is even more true for a busy entrepreneur like yourself who is constantly at work building your company.

You can gain back control of time via one of the oldest technologies: your money.  Imagine you could invest in a way that allowed you to wake up every morning and say: “I can do whatever I want today.” Personal financial planning gives you options.  Retire early, build another company, live without financial stress; any of these goals can be achieved once you get started. 

Solution: Your financial planning relationship 

The financial planning process begins by clarifying your goals with a financial planner.   A good planner will learn about your values and aspirations.  They will guide your progress and help bridge the gap between where you are financially and where you would like to be.  You will no longer have the burden of second-guessing every financial decision; or the risk of not making any decisions at all.  

For many entrepreneurs, the financial planning process begins by addressing three core needs: 

• Liquidity – your cash flow needs to maintain or improve your current lifestyle
• Longevity – your ability to grow and protect assets from a successful exit with strategic tax and investment planning
• Legacy – your wish to improve the lives of others, such as family, friends or charity 

Along the way, good financial planning will also help entrepreneurs manage equity compensation, stock diversification, risk tolerance, investing behavior, education planning, and even team building.  

Financial planning will help you spend less time worrying about your money and more time on what’s important to you and your family.  The playbook works, as it has for many others.  The next step is to identify the right person to quarterback your team and execute.

Challenge #2: Team 

Most entrepreneurs are hyper-confident.  You know how to build a business.  Conviction in yourself and your abilities enables you to execute your vision.  But while you may be skilled at constructing a company balance sheet, managing a personal balance sheet is daunting. 

You probably could manage your own finances if you had the time, desire, and training.  But the fact is, most successful entrepreneurs and professionals simply do not.  It is also important to understand that investing is not all about skill. It is about emotion.  And it is extremely hard for “anyone” to maintain objectivity and not make emotional decisions about their own money.

Just like you have done in your company, you will want to get the right team in place to meet these challenges.  

Solution: A financial quarterback for your team  

Think about building your personal financial team in the same way as you would with your company. You hire outstanding managers to own different parts of the business and increase its valuation. The only difference is we are working together to grow assets for you and your family.     

Key members on a personal financial team include an accountant, attorney, private banker, and insurance specialist.  In many arrangements, these advisors work individually, placing an added burden on you to organize and delegate. That is why we recommend finding someone who can act as the quarterback to manage your team. This is the role of your Wealth Advisor, ideally a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, who is also the individual that knows you and your goals best.

Your trusted advisor will sort through your financial needs and collaborate with your team, bringing all the specialists onto the same page and adding tremendous value.  

Challenge #3: Taxes

Imagine paying millions of dollars in tax upon a successful liquidation event from your company stock… only to learn that you did not have to. There is a saying that failing to plan is planning to fail. In no subject is that wisdom more appropriate to entrepreneurs than in taxes.  

Entrepreneurs face multiple tax challenges in each stage of their financial journey. Early on, taxable income may be lower but future stock compensation must be strategically planned for. Following a liquidity event, larger pools of assets must be managed properly to minimize taxable gains and income. All along the way, solid deduction strategies can help lower a founder’s tax bill.  

Solution: A Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) Case Study 

One tax planning strategy for entrepreneurs delivers the greatest impact of all: Qualified Small Business Stock planning. The QSBS exemption was created to reward risk-taking entrepreneurs and investors who create jobs with significant tax benefits.

The impact of these benefits is tremendous: QSBS exemption rules allow a company’s founders, employees, and early investors to exclude up to 100% of their capital gain on a sale of company stock, up to $10 million or 10x their initial investment.

While the tax-saving benefits of properly understanding QSBS can be measured in millions, QSBS can be difficult to plan for early on. As a company nears or begins contemplating an exit, making a QSBS analysis to plot out the right moves to reap the QSBS benefits makes obvious sense. 

To help you navigate the maze of QSBS rules, we have created a flow chart for download: “Does Your Stock Sale Meet the Qualified Small Business Sock (QSBS) Exemption?”  Follow the arrows to see if you qualify. 

Challenge #4 Trust(s) and Estate Planning

Many entrepreneurs are young and perhaps have yet to even consider basic estate planning. There is no need until wealth is achieved post-liquidity, the thinking commonly goes. This thinking is incorrect. In fact, it is before paper wealth turns into real wealth when estate planning techniques can be the most powerful to preserve your family’s legacy.

An entrepreneur still building their company faces basic estate planning needs. Having a will and term insurance can mitigate financial disaster for a family in the unfortunate event of death before a company’s valuation has truly been executed. Estate planning is more than worst-case scenario planning, however. The real solutions to preserving a family’s legacy relate to planning for positive events.

Solution: A Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) Case Study 

How you plan your estate will have a significant impact on how much your family must pay in taxes, especially if you own assets like company stock that you expect to appreciate substantially. 

Currently, estates above $11.58 million held by an individual ($23.26 million for a married couple) are subject to federal estate tax. These limits will expire in 2026 down to approximately half of current levels. At a hefty Federal tax rate of 40%, and many states adding additional state tax, a substantial portion of a wealthy family’s assets are likely to go toward taxes rather than to their heirs

Strategic estate planning can allow entrepreneurs minimize estate tax and preserve family history. One example of this strategy is the creation of a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust, or GRAT. 

A GRAT can freeze the taxable value of a business in its early stage, allowing you to limit future taxes. You can retain control and continue to receive cash flows upon exit.     

Assets with a low current valuation compared to their expected future value (such as stock in a privately held firm) are particularly well suited to putting into a GRAT. This is because assets with the potential for great appreciation also have the potential for triggering large estate tax liabilities, and a GRAT allows you to bypass these future taxes.

In conclusion: Your opportunity is also a responsibility  

An entrepreneur does not have the security of the benefits that come along with being employed by a large company. What you do have is enormous financial upside. This opportunity comes with a responsibility to plan for future wealth. We commonly see entrepreneurs who are very successful in their professional lives yet are disappointed that their skills have not transferred to their personal finances.  

The four main challenges of time, team, taxes and trust(s) are a natural hurdle for laser-focused entrepreneurs busy building their company. The good news is that there is a financial planning process that can help solve each of these challenges. Ultimately, we hope that financial planning will help you spend less time worrying about your money and more time on what’s important to you and your family. 

Find the article here.

Falls Church (Oct 23th, 2020) — Kastle is featured in this month’s issue of The Silicon Review® as one of the 50 Innovative Companies to Watch in 2020. The Silicon Review® is the world’s most trusted online and print community for business & technology  professionals.

Haniel J Lynn, Kastle Systems CEO, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review® about “Managed Security,” which describes Kastle’s end-to-end approach for servicing clients’ security needs by taking full responsibility for their security package and operations.

The interview references Kastle’s “Managed Security” model, where security is not a transaction that ends with the delivery of the superior systems; but rather, it ensures that the ongoing protection or “security as a service” including  monitoring and maintain of the security and systems, is provided to the clients indefinitely, thereby forging a long-term relationship with the client. It also speaks to how the company has embraced cloud technology that offers superior security to the conventional on-site servers because security data is stored remotely, avoiding any intermingled of access data to the on-site network for hackers infiltrate. The cloud technology also enables Kastle to “push” software updates to the client system without disruption.

Mr. Lynn also discusses how during the Coronavirus lockdown, Kastle clients could rest assured that their “empty” facilities were still under the continuous watch and in-person upkeep by Kastle Systems, even when they couldn’t be on-site themselves.

Click Here for the full article.

As we’ve stayed in lockstep with large employers throughout the challenging stages of the COVID-19 crisis, we continue to do so as the next stage comes upon us: return to work. Companies are now entering this transitional period where they have to navigate how to re-open the workplace, so we’ve taken the same efforts we applied to COVID-19 communications and are now applying those to support return-to-work strategy.

In addition to the recent national survey we conducted on employee readiness regarding return to work, we held an exclusive Q&A with an infectious-disease expert to get professional recommendations. We’ve taken our survey findings and the wisdom from this expert to assemble a set of 10 best practices for return-to-work strategy. They culminate to achieve the following mission: “Helping employees feel heard, supported, and safe”.

Below are the best practices, each one listed under an accompanying piece of that mission:

Feeling heard

• Communicate often to inspire confidence and loyalty in your employees
• Segment messaging strategically to high-risk members and other key groups

Feeling supported 

• Inform employees of preventive measures, evolving COVID-19 circumstances, etc. 
• Boost accessibility of various COVID-19 testing options 
• Display CDC recommendations with prominent signage
• Use daily status questionnaire to enable contactless screening

Feeling safe

• Create an infection-control taskforce, ensuring some employees are owning the involved initiatives
• Monitor employee health by greeting them at the door to perform temperature screenings, hand sanitizer, etc.
• Provide PPE to employees
• Provide safety protocol checklist for designated inspectors—and allow employees to submit suggestions

By consolidating this collection of best practices, our goal is to continue to help employers in this complicated journey. These practices will be enabled by our existing platform, as well as new, embedded features—daily symptom surveying, safety checklists, and more—that will give employers valuable insight, inspire employee confidence and comfort, and help keep the workplace safe.

Learn more!

Centro Joins Nonpartisan Movement to Increase Voter Participation in 2020 General Election; Time to Vote is a Coalition of 950 U.S. Companies Collectively Employing Millions of Workers

Chicago – Oct. 1, 2020 – Centro (https://www.centro.net), a global provider of advertising technology, announced a policy to provide paid time off for employees on Election Day in the U.S. This action is a renewal of its commitment started in 2018 when it declared Election Day a holiday that year. This aligns with Centro’s participation in Time to Vote, a coalition of 950 U.S. companies that form a nonpartisan movement whose goal is to increase voter participation in the general election on Nov. 3, 2020. The companies within the organization employ millions of workers collectively.

“In the U.S., there are many hurdles to voting and one major deciding factor is choosing between one’s commitment to work or casting a ballot. Centro believes that businesses should empower workers to commit to both. We feel the right thing to do is to ensure that each Centro employee has the requisite time to vote on Election Day,” said Emily Barron, EVP of talent and development, Centro. “When U.S. businesses collaborate and coordinate to give our employees time to vote on Election Day, we are strengthening our economy and our country.”

Centro has added an Election Day paid time off benefit into its employee time tracking system so that its team has ample time to plan and cast their ballot. This policy will also apply to its team in Canada, Europe, and Latin America for future national elections.

Time to Vote companies support their employees’ ability to register to vote, review their ballots and perform their civic duty. In joining Time to Vote, Centro is committing to making accommodations for workers that enable them to vote more efficiently. Time to Vote is nonpartisan and there is no cost for companies to join. Companies with employees in every state in the U.S. have signed up. Members include American employers in industries such as retail, technology, finance and more. The coalition originated during the election season of 2018, in which fifty-three percent of the citizen voting-age population voted—ultimately, creating the highest midterm turnout in four decades.

About Centro

Centro (www.centro.net) is a provider of enterprise-class software for digital advertising organizations. Its technology platform, Basis, is the first of its kind SaaS advertising solution unifying programmatic and direct media buying, along with workflow automation, cross-channel campaign planning, universal reporting and business intelligence. It boosts media, team and business performance by enabling advertisers to plan, buy and analyze real-time bidding (RTB), direct, search and social campaigns in a single platform. Headquartered in Chicago with 40 offices in North America, South America and Europe, Centro has received numerous accolades for its commitment to employees and workplace culture.

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Logical Media Group has been awarded as a Top Digital Marketing Agency for B2B Companies in Illinois by Clutch and our clients! Our mission is to craft an exceptional digital experience for people to transact, connect, and explore. We are a full-service digital marketing agency with specific teams dedicated to online channels such as SEO, PPC, Amazon Marketing Services, Social Media, Web Design, and Email Marketing. Logical partners with companies within all different industries including healthcare, software & technology, real estate, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, and many more. Clutch is a B2B market research firm and review resource that connects service providers and buyers through data and verified research. Central to their process is client reviews. In this unique process, analysts at Clutch have spoken directly with many of Logical’s clients to learn more about the services that we have provided and the results generated. With an overall 4.9 rating out of 5.0, we have seen strong results from Clutch’s extensive research process. We are thrilled to be recognized as a top search engine marketing service in 2020.“Logical has made a concerted effort to fortify our B2B experience, knowledge, and process for digital marketing over the past few years,” Director of Business Development Matthew Murlas said. “It is very rewarding to be recognized by Clutch for this achievement and also from the great reviews provided by our clients!” Our clients’ participation made this award possible, and we want to thank them for their time and honest feedback. Below is an excerpt from a recent review (which is anonymous based on the Clutch platform), along with a project summary from this client: “Logical Media Group truly is a member of our team, and they have taken the time to understand what drives our business.” As part of our ongoing digital marketing efforts, our team drove brand awareness and increased visits to the client’s physical locations. We also improved their website structure, evaluated backlinks, and provided content as part of an overall SEO and paid search strategy. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to Logical’s success and helped us win this award, particularly our clients who spent the time to provide us this valuable feedback! Check out our Clutch profile page here and please reach out to Logical Media Group for assistance on your digital marketing needs.

Effort combines best in class use of building security technology with the latest thinking about public health preparedness for COVID-19 and Flu

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 30, 2020) — Building on its widely recognized KastleSafeSpaces health safety and security platform, Kastle Systems announced today it is partnering with some of the nation’s leading public health and medical institutions to provide safe and efficient returns to the workplace for their tenants and clients in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Kastle Systems will work with a multidisciplinary team from the George Washington University (GW) to enhance its existing platforms and implement state-of-the-art public health and building technologies to support their clients in achieving this goal.

GW’s multidisciplinary team includes public health experts from Milken Institute School of Public Health, as well as pathology, infectious disease, and emergency medicine specialists from GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the GW Medical Faculty Associates.

The partnership will also look at ways that Kastle’s access control and video management technology solutions can be used to help public health officials as they begin implementing health screenings and contact tracing to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Securing more than 41,000 businesses, 3,600 buildings, and 1.3m cardholders, Kastle is the nation’s leading security managed services provider.

“We are pleased to partner with GW and two of the leading schools of public health and medicine in the country,” said Kastle CEO Haniel Lynn. “We both share a common belief that for America to successfully return to the office, we need to work together in unprecedented ways across all stakeholders in the building, from owners and operators, to tenants, to visitors. We look forward to sharing work from our collaboration in real time to help building owners and tenants.”

“We are impressed by Kastle’s commitment to public health. They have already integrated a lot of public health measures into KastleSafeSpaces,” said Gene Migliaccio, DrPH, associate dean for applied public health at Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW. “We look forward to working with Kastle to bring the latest thinking about a safe return to the office to stakeholders all over the country.”

Public health and medical experts recommend that building owners, managers, and operators as well as employers work to create a healthy workplace environment before resuming normal business operations.

“The Covid-19 pandemic necessitates that clinicians, public health specialists, and business leaders innovate and collaborate to find meaningful and actionable solutions to the problems faced by our communities,” said Tenagne Haile-Mariam, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. “The Kastle-GW collaboration is emblematic of such a collaboration and underscores the commitment of both institutions to craft and implement programs that increase the health and welfare of the communities that they serve. We are honored to be part of such a collaboration.”

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About Kastle Systems

Kastle Systems has been leading the security industry since 1972 with advanced managed security solutions and services, protecting commercial real estate, multi-family residential, global enterprises, educational institutions, and critical government facilities. Kastle’s state-of-the-art security solutions include access control, video surveillance, visitor management and identity management, as well as a suite of mobile security applications, all integrated on an open, standards-based platform and supported by a team of experts 24x7x365. Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, Kastle is on CIO Review’s 2019 List of Top 10 Physical Security Providers. For more information about KastleSafeSpaces or any of the other advanced security innovations from Kastle Systems visit https://www.kastle.com.

Remote work was a hot topic before many of us had no choice but to spend 6+ months  working from home.  Prior to March 2020, 3.6% of Americans worked from home >50% of the time and 43% worked from home some of the time. Those numbers paled in comparison to the numbers that wanted to (80%) work remotely. 

Fast forward six months and plenty of employees are enjoying the freedom and flexibility they get working from home.  Things have escalated quickly – dozens of major companies have announced partial or complete remote working policies.  And they are aggressively targeting your employees.  Especially if your policy is antiquated or ambiguous.  HR / Business leaders have some big decisions to make. What are they going to do when we finally can work in the office?

We’ve been getting A LOT of questions about this from clients and job seekers. What should they do? What are other companies doing? So we put together a survey and we’d love your input. It is quick and painless – I promise.  

Stay safe, healthy, and continue to wear your masks!

Click here to take the survey. 

There’s a saying about products and brands on the internet and it goes something like this…if your brand or product isn’t online then it doesn’t exist. This has become even more true as the years have progressed, as the buying age of shoppers has widened, and as a new generation of wealth is up-and-coming. But where are these buyers shopping? More importantly, are your products displayed where they’re looking?

The history of online shopping is rich with change from how websites were built, who hosted them, search engine wars (I think we know who won that), to marketplaces allowing anyone to sell just about anything on a website they don’t even own. These marketplaces aren’t new and examples include Ebay, Amazon, Wayfair, Walmart, etc. They’ve made many millionaires over the years and have become a vital part of most brands and products’ online strategy in terms of marketing, brand awareness, and sales. So let’s talk about strategy and which marketplaces you should be on.

The question we get the most on this marketplace topic is, “Which one should we be on”? It’s an interesting question because it asks which “one” should you be on. The answer is not just one. The answer is, you should be where your customers are searching for your products. Seems obvious, but you don’t see any used cars on Amazon so why try and sell them on there. If you want a marketplace you likely can’t afford to not be on, it’s Amazon. There’s a reason nearly 66% of all product searches start on Amazon according to Emarketer. Amazon has become THE place to find products, read reviews, and compare pricing. Further, according to Episerver, nearly 68% of shoppers use Amazon as a source to compare products found on other websites and/or in retail stores. So, if you had to choose just one marketplace to be on, our answer almost every time is Amazon.

So what does that mean for these other marketplaces, is there even a market for them? The resounding answer is, yes. A recent statistic came out about consumer behavior and where they are shopping. According to consumer research from Tinuiti, 57% of those who buy on Amazon, also shop on Walmart.com. The reverse is a much more staggering statistic…91% of Walmart buyers also shop on Amazon. While Amazon is certainly the 800 pound gorilla, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has showcased other marketplaces and set them up for extreme growth. Now that we know there is a market outside of Amazon, let’s take a look at some of the advantages of being on multiple ecommerce marketplaces.

Spread Sales Risk Between Multiple Marketplaces

You’ve heard the phrase, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. A marketplace strategy shouldn’t be any different for your company’s strategy. Picture this, your only selling channel outside of your website is a nationwide retailer that just filed for bankruptcy. Doesn’t sound unlikely, does it. But, thanks to COVID-19, Hertz, JCPenny, Neiman Marcus, Chuck E.Cheese’s, and Pier 1 all filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. These are just a few of major companies in the US that have filed. Now imagine your only other channel is Amazon and you’ve just been deemed nonessential. This likely means your sales just plummeted because Amazon has deprioritized your products. Unfortunately, this was the reality for a lot of sellers out there. How can one combat this potential risk? Diversification.

Advantages of a multi-marketplace strategy:

• Spread the sales dip risk across multiple marketplaces. If one takes a hit, it’s likely the other(s) won’t. This goes back to not putting all your eggs in one basket. COVID-19 forced Amazon to re-prioritize products and devalue non-essential goods. Those that were on two or more marketplaces didn’t see the massive sales loss that those did who were only on Amazon. In fact, many saw an increase in the other marketplaces because they weren’t deprioritized.
• The ability to reach buyers loyal to that “other” marketplace potentially leading to increased sales and brand and product awareness. Understanding and being visible on these other marketplaces will open your products and brand to new customers and markets. Taking it a step further and advertising on multiple platforms will further increase your exposure.
  Being on multiple marketplaces allows you to leverage advertising knowledge from one marketplace to another. While the advertising platforms aren’t identical, nor are the search terms and phrases customers are using, you’ll be able to glean new insights as to how consumers are searching for your products.

Now that we’ve had a chance to review a few of the advantages, let’s take a look at some of the hurdles you may encounter.

Things to keep in mind for a multi-marketplace strategy:

• The additional cost is the obvious one. Remember it’s not just the cost of selling the item or monthly marketplace fee, but also the time involved for your internal staff to manage each. From account setup, to taxes, to order and product management, it all takes time. If done right though, it can net you some serious sales gains.
• Multiple places to manage product data. If your internal resources are limited this may stretch them even further. To help with this strain, consider investing in a multi-channel listing software like Sellbrite or Channeladvisor. If you’re using the Shopify platform, they have integrations with most of the major marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart making listing, managing products and orders quite simple.
• Inventory management could become an issue. If you choose to use Amazon’s FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) program and Walmart’s WFS (Walmart Fulfillment Services) then you’ll have inventory in not two but three places – your warehouse, Amazon’s warehouses and Walmart’s warehouses. Rest assured, brands and companies are doing this now it just takes a bit of planning and practice to make it efficient.

If I told you, according to Sellbrite, brands that sell on their own website and at least two other marketplaces sell 156% more than those brands who just sell on their website, would you consider a multi-marketplace strategy? So the question now is, can you afford NOT to be on multiple marketplaces? If you’re going at it alone, our suggestion is start with one, the one you know where your customers are looking for your products or products like yours. Get really good at it, then branch go after another. If you want to tackle more than one because you’re the ambitious type, then go for it! Don’t be afraid to ask for help though. There’s a lot of support systems out there in terms of software, forums, and agencies that can help you navigate these marketplaces.

If you’d like to learn more about which marketplaces you should be on or just have questions about the ones you’re currently on, please let us know by emailing sales@logicalmediagroup.com. We’d be happy to chat and see how we can help.