Convene is trusted by housing associations all over the UK, who rely on our software to protect their confidential data. Working with tenants means that housing associations cannot afford to take risks when it comes to security.
Though there are numerous advantages to Convene, security stands out as one of the most crucial. With many clients in the housing sector, our state-of-the-art system is designed to guarantee the highest level of compliance and data protection.
Here are a few of the reasons our clients benefit from our advanced security system.
Convene Maintains Legal Compliance
Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it is the law for housing associations to have an adequate level of security and meet regulatory requirements. According to the GDPR, organisations must ensure they process data with integrity and confidentiality.
Convene is designed to protect top-level documents and maintain full GDPR compliance.
In addition to this, not all cybersecurity measures are equal. The highest level of encryption is AES 256-bit standard so you should look out for this when using any software. You should also check for validation such as ISO 27001 for the software and CMMI-Level 5 accreditation for the company – as these demonstrate the software meets external requirements.
Convene Improves Meeting and System Security
Convene’s advanced permission settings allow you to control who has access to what information during the meeting. Convene provides full ownership to users which allows them to minimise data risk – as they understand what is being done with their data.
System administrators can assign roles to limit who can view, download, forward, export and print specific meeting agenda items or documents.
With these granular access controls, housing associations are able to feel confident that their documents are protected.
Rachel Wickenden, Head of Executive Support at Newlon Housing Trust, explains why they chose Convene. “We needed the assurance of a secure system due to our strict rules and regulations. Convene is great because it ensures that the right data is visible to the right people.”
Convene Improves Admin Processes
Convene is designed to help Boards ensure appropriate security throughout the entire process. Our software supports institutions as they move towards more secure processes and become more secure by design. Risk management becomes far simpler with effective governance.
From the moment your admins begin to compose the agenda, they can be sure documents are protected. Working on a consistent, reliable system means housing associations can do their due diligence and protect their tenants interests.
With features such as multi-factor authentication, Convene’s software saves time and energy in risk assessments. It is so simple that even the most technophobic employee will have full control of their data.
We spoke to Julia Wiles, Assistant to the Chief Executive & Governance and Performance Manager at HouseMark about how Convene has helped them. “From a security perspective, we like that document access can be changed to only allow the intended audience. This also works really well if we hold a confidential board meeting.”
Convene Creates a Secure Audit Trail
When you move to a secure solution like Convene, everything is documented. The automated voting information and attendance registers make audit trails simple. Tracking and recording the actions of users, particularly concerning sensitive information, means they cannot misuse this data.
Unlike paper documents, which can be picked up and read by anyone, advanced cybersecurity improves your organisational standards. This means housing associations can benefit from Convene’s security to prevent threats, before they have even materialised, and eliminate human error.
Convene Ensures Long-Term Data Protection
Even in the most secure systems, data breaches are a possibility. It is crucial any security system includes appropriate contingency measures to deal with those who have gained access.
We are committed to supporting your organisation through your journey to better information security. Monitored 24/7, Convene’s detection mechanism alerts the Support Team to any incidents that are then forwarded to the System Team for immediate resolution. Users can also report any incidents via chat, email or phone and our team will be ready to support you.
We spoke to Scott Hyde, Senior Governance Manager at Clarion Housing Group, who told us about how Convene “increased levels of document security” ensured their data was well-protected.
Convene’s dedication to security is important for housing associations due to the fact that the sector has suffered from a number of cyber-attacks in recent years.
Cyber-criminals have marked the housing sector as an easy target. Due to their relatively lower levels of budget provision towards IT security, housing associations are perceived to have weak defences.
Inadequate, ineffective and insecure software can provide access points for cyber-attackers. Your association needs a system that it can trust, and ensures that security is top priority. By establishing strong cyber security measures from the start, housing associations can be confident in their defence against cyber threats.
Convene: Your One-Stop Security Hub
Convene is an all-in-one Board Portal, designed to digitise and streamline your meeting processes from start-to-finish. Our certified security will ensure your confidential data is protected at every stage of the meeting process.
Our security measures include, but are not limited to:
- AES 256-bit encryption and secure storage
- Granular access controls and role-based permissions
- Document security and digital rights management
- Device security
- Secure user authentication
- Security governance
- 24/7 intrusion detection and prevention
Convene’s Award Winning Board Portal was designed and developed to enable your organisation to respond to today’s pressing security challenges.
Equipped with advanced security features and end-to-end encryption, Convene’s multi-layered approach offers users high levels of data protection, access control, availability, and application security.
Our Board portal also comes fully integrated with Microsoft Teams, meaning your Board meetings can all occur seamlessly and securely in one place.
To learn more about how Convene can help your housing associations, book a demo today.
