Frequently Asked Questions
Team Workspaces and Cybersecurity
The European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to organizations that process data about individuals in the context of selling goods or services to citizens in EU countries. GDPR also applies to organizations located outside of the EU if they offer goods or services to, or monitor the behavior of, EU data subjects, including EU resident employees. In Menawat™ Teams all information and data are property of the respective organization. We do not process any personally identifiable data.
Cybersecurity is a core element of overall organizational security. Cybersecurity standards are constantly evolving to address volatile threats. They vary by industry and country. Menawat™ Teams is designed for compliance with NIST 800-171 and other cybersecurity standards. All U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contractors that process, store or transmit Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) must meet these Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) minimum security standards. We believe that everyone benefits from having this level of cybersecurity out of the box.
Buttons appear or are hidden depending on your role in a workspace. For example, Edit and Delete buttons are visible for workspace managers, but not for others.
No. Automatic inheritance introduces the risk of granting unintended access rights and can also be more difficult to manage.
No. Workspaces are logically isolated from each other as required by cybersecurity standards. Thus, you must configure membership for each workspace individually. This forces managers to make a conscious decision on membership.
A connector is a one-way software subscription that allows two organizations to collaborate directly with each other. Both organizations must agree to establish collaborative ties. Each then configures the external connection from the other organization, including naming authorized users. Both organizations maintain full control over their information and data at all times.
Use team workspaces to segment information and control who has access to it. Workspaces are completely isolated from each other, regardless of where they are in the hierarchy. We call this logical isolation. You only know that a team exists if you created it or are a member in someone else’s team.
There are two ways to securely add someone outside of your organization into your workspace. First, your organization can provide them with a user subscription on your license. Second, if the other organization has its own subscription to Menawat™ Teams, both organizations can link their licenses with a connector. In both instances, only the Manager role on a workspace can invite or uninvite users.
Common Workspace Functions
We find that the use of traditional email drops significantly as people transition into the software. Comments and messages are communicated directly within relevant workspaces and linked to specific workspace elements. Thus, communications are always organized in the workflow context, easy to find and secure.
Proactive risk and opportunity management are important for many organizations. That is why we have included them as standard elements in every workspace. They replace the need to use external spreadsheets. In fact, our risk and opportunity elements are more capable than spreadsheets for several reasons:
- Unlimited assessments and updates for each risk/opportunity
- Built-in value types including: Rank, Count, Currency, Percent, Measurement
- Measurement types include: Angle, Apparent Power, Area, Current, Digital, Energy, Frequency, Illuminance, Length, Mass, Pace, Parts Per, Power, Pressure, Reactive Energy, Reactive Power, Speed, Time, Voltage, Volume, Volume Flow Rate
- Intensity levels
- Create and assign tasks for specific risks/opportunities
- Upload supporting digital files, and so on
Sorting works the same way for all workspace elements. The top-level items within an element are sorted first, followed by the next-level items, and so on. Click on the Sort button located above the item list for sort options.
On-screen notifications indicate when there are new comments, messages and information. Notifications are visible for individual workspaces as well as overall.
Status information is always visible for workspace elements and their details.
- Plan and Actual start and end dates
- Unlimited percent complete updates
- Text summary of time such as “in 2 days” or “2 months ago”
- Color coding: (Blue = Done), (Green = In process, not overdue), (Red = In process, overdue), (Orange = Should have started, but did not)
Every workspace includes the following common functionality which we call elements: Tasks, Documents, Events, Issues, Risks, Opportunities, Checklists, Polls and Messaging. We continually refine elements and add new ones per our product roadmap.
Documents
Not directly due to cybersecurity compliance. However, other approaches include: Upload a copy of the file into the other workspace. Create an internal document that describes the information contained in the other workspace. Add the information about the other workspace in an item’s description. Post the information in a comment describing the other workspace/document.
Not directly. Workspaces are logically isolated from each other for cybersecurity reasons. Thus, there is no direct way to copy files between workspaces.
Yes. Click on the Lock version button to lock the selected file version. Others in the team workspace can still view or download the file and add new versions. However, they cannot overwrite the locked version.
There are many proprietary file types that require licenses from the respective software providers. Assuming an organization has the required licenses, the central issue is cybersecurity standards compliance. Opening an external file typically sends unknown information to a third party. You may not know what information is sent, where it goes, where it is stored, or how it might be used. These are all cybersecurity threats. We understand it is desirable to be able to edit external files directly in our software. Thus, we are constantly exploring ways to integrate this functionality in a safe and secure way.
You can view any HTML 5 web standard document type directly in the browser including PDF, MP4, JPG and PNG files. Click on the View version button, which opens the file in the browser. These types of files are not stored on your computer when viewed—unless you specifically choose to download them. They “disappear” when the browser session ends.
Working in a Browser
Menawat™ Teams operates solely in a browser, with no additional software installed on your machine. We recommend:
- Closing the browser when you finish your work. This empties the browser cache. Prolonged use in the same session can confuse a browser’s cache over time.
- Regularly installing all system updates for your computer. Non-updated systems are not only a security risk, but they can also lead to problems in browser operation.
We recommend the latest versions of Chrome and Firefox for the best performance and security.
API Integration
Yes. We support webcast software integration. We can provide webcast capability directly in the software or connect to your organization’s existing webcast platform.
Yes. We support API-level integration. Please contact us to discuss your specific needs.