Sometimes it's hard to know when you might need a particular service, especially when it comes to running a business. There are obvious needs of course:
- When your copier breaks, you call someone for copier repair
- To run payroll, it's easy to outsource rather than DIY
- No one wants to clean their office, you hire a cleaning service
But how do you know when your IT planning isn't all the way up-to-speed? You're not an expert. As I've written at length, you should be concerned about information and network security. That said, what weaknesses in your current strategy should you be looking for?
It's hard to find the right solution when you don't know what the right questions are.
Here are 14 questions to ask yourself. If you don't know many of the answers, it could be time to consider talking to someone about doing a risk assessment for your business.
- What would happen if your biggest competitor obtained all of your customers' information?
- How would your business respond if you came into work tomorrow and were unable to access all of your files because they were locked? Read more about ransomware here.
- Do you have a plan to continue business operations in either of those cases?
- Have you done any kind of security planning? Do you have a security policy in place for your network and information?
- Do any of your employees bring personal devices to work? Do they use those devices FOR work? Is there any plan for securing your business' information when accessed by employees on their personal devices?
- How do you maintain compliance with HIPAA requirements?
- Are you confident that your organization could pass a PCI audit?
- Do you have a physical security system set up in your office? Is it easy to physically access your company servers?
- Have you implemented any security processes to integrate with current business processes?
- What are you doing to protect yourself against burglary and employee theft? Paper documents can be easily copied and stolen – it's not just digital documents at risk.
- How much are you currently spending on your IT security solution? Think about cost of any software and supporting equipment, continuing maintenance, and IT staff time and salary.
- What do you get for that spend?
- How much time/week do you devote to cybersecurity?
- Are you equipped to handle potential security issues on your own? To consider what those costs can be, read 7 Hidden Costs of a Data Breach.
If you have solid answers to those questions . . . congratulations, you're ahead of many SMBs. You don't need us or another managed IT partner unless you decide to outsource the hassle and expense of doing this all yourself.
If you didn't have good answers to these questions or had never even thought about these questions, consider contacting us for a network assessment. We can identify any glaring gaps in your network security and gather information to see if a managed IT partnership makes sense for your business.
For more information on everything to do with Managed IT Services, check out our resource page, here.
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