The image source is Pexels.
Instituting a proper information technology (IT) policy for your business can be tough. This is regardless if you’re a startup or have reached several bursting points. Yet, without some form of IT, your business is likely to run into problems. Today, 60% of companies don’t have policies instituted. This is especially true when it comes to cybersecurity. They feel it’s better to take the risk and see what happens. Don’t be like these organizations. To help you put a solid technology plan together, here are a few IT tips & tricks you should consider for your business.
Perform a Risk Management Audit
Before anything is changed or purchased you need to consider running a risk management audit on your IT infrastructure. This process provides an opportunity to review the current security holes and the consequences of cyberattacks. From there, the team that works on the audit comes up with solutions to minimize the risk. These tend to be related to hardware upgrades and the implementation of new security protocols. The successful solutions are kept while others are replaced to tightened access. To ensure the safety of your company’s data, a risk management audit must be done on an annual basis.
Outsource Your Team
There are a lot of issues with bringing in your own IT team. You have to find the right specialists, train them on the equipment, and make sure they’re aware of your security needs. If one person leaves you need to start again. A tip to prevent these steps is to hire managed IT services in Dallas or your own city. You can find a great company available to support your hardware infrastructure, software, and security. Furthermore, a few have a full staff of subject matter experts that can help you out. This can be very beneficial to your business.
Move to the Cloud
An IT model still in effect across the business world is to either own or rent local servers. These are maintained within the corporate headquarters or external server farm. Not only is this an expensive way to store data. It’s also ripe for cyber extortion or other malicious attacks. Furthermore, the equipment becomes obsolete long before its natural end of life. The result is a cluster of servers that can’t handle increased data loads. The solution is to spend thousands of dollars to replace everything. Avoid this by moving your data storage operations to the Cloud. There are a few advantages to this. First, storage costs are far less than owning or renting a physical server. Second, space can quickly be increased so it grows with your business. On top of this, the Cloud is far more secure.
Implement Multi Factor Authentication
Standard passwords no longer work to secure a user’s access. The ways to break into accounts these days are numerous. As a result, the personally identifiable information (PII) of your customers is always at risk. A tip to counteract this is to implement multifactor authentication (MFA). This is a second layer validation used to signify that the person who wants to access the account is legitimate. The way it’s done is through a passcode. Normally, this is sent through a short message service (SMS) text to a customer’s smart device. Though this can be attacked by cyber extortionists, it’s a lot harder for them to accomplish. Especially when the smartphone or tablet isn’t in their possession.
IT Tips: Select Applications that can be Accessed from Anywhere
You don’t want to use PC-only applications to maintain your company’s productivity. Since more people work remotely these days they don’t have the ability to come into an office. The trick to maintain solid operations is to select applications that can be accessed from anywhere. Additionally, they should be accessible from any device. For example, customer relationship manager (CRM) applications are now available through a desktop, laptop, or smart device. This is possible because some of these packages are available through the Cloud. This is one of many great IT tips.
Conclusion for IT Tips
The items above are a small number of IT Tips & Tricks you should consider for your business. Needless to say, don’t implement them all at once. Look at your existing IT infrastructure to determine what needs to be applied first. You can even try different ways to improve your business such as social media. If you take it slow, you’ll find your company, its workers, and your customers are happier.
