Do you need help with IT? Probably more than you think.

Small business owners, if you aren’t sure whether your business needs an IT Service Provider, you are not alone. In a recent poll, over 41% of executives don’t think their security initiatives have kept up with digital transformation. Every business has its share of information technology (IT) challenges, which range from losing a document or collaborating with clients to suddenly the network coming to a standstill. IT challenges can happen to anyone, at any time and usually at the worst time possible, and you usually need them to be resolved quickly. Are you prepared or are you more vulnerable than you think? Let’s find out.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. When is the last time you had an IT problem?

2. How did you resolve the IT problem? Google your way out, call customer service, or find a temporary break-fix solution?

3. Were you overwhelmed by the process?

4. Do you find the break-fix IT approach created even more problems?

5. Does a dedicated professional IT support sound too expensive?

If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, it’s probably a good sign to consider hiring a professional IT provider to assure your business operates efficiently. Handling IT challenges without qualified help can lead to larger problems. Growing a business is challenging enough, and time spent on a break-fix IT approach often leads to a loss in revenue. Key areas you should not compromise:

01. Cybersecurity

• Are you well protected from ransomware and breaches?

• Are all your devices, applications, and operating systems fully patched?

• Do you have a remediation plan?

Cybercriminals track the same information the good guys follow to determine threat vectors in hopes of gaining access to your data. It’s always been a cat and mouse game, and now, more than ever, not patching software, firmware, and updating outdated applications in a timely manner increases the chance of a breach by 92%. Bad actors look for vulnerabilities that the public is made aware of and attack unpatched targets. They know the frustration SMB owners face managing IT themselves and rely on missing patches so they can exploit known vulnerabilities.

 We automate patching and rigorously push updates as needed so your business remains secure.

02. Backups

• Do you know the status of your backups?

• What copies are where and how accessible they are?

• Is one immutable?

A backup solution is always critical and ideally with three copies of data, known as the 3-2-1 backup plan. 3 copies, 2 on-site, and 1 offsite. In addition to the 3-2-1 plan, one must be immutable, to protect against ransomware and assure it cannot cause harm to the data.

 We’ve scaled our backup solution over time as technology has changed and ransomware continues to increase. Our solution protects your most invaluable asset, company data. Which allows you to focus more on your business.

03. Cloud computing and Data Management.

• Is your data secure?

• Who has access to it and when?

• Is the data backed up, cloud computing is not a backup solution.

Cloud technology increased productivity while at the same time has introduced many risks, likely the greatest is online threats against confidential data. Placing your entire business in the cloud without mitigating the hazards is a sure way to end up with a major security breach. Cloud environments were once believed to offer better security than on-premise however research shows this is no longer the case. Both on-premise and cloud platforms are equally at risk, the truth is anything facing the internet is acceptable to an attack. Is your data not only secure from external attacks but is it secure internally? One example is isolating departments. How is business data mixed in with personal? What about the Finance department, Sales, and HR? If one is compromised, will it affect others? Not only separating data is critical, but protecting user access, and permissions is equally important. We’re experts assisting you with your cloud design and ongoing management to assure your data is secure and always accessible.

Allow us to review your business needs and provide an assessment to help you understand how we can eliminate the break-fix approach and manage all the necessary IT tasks your business needs to grow. We know these tasks can seem daunting, and we’re here to help provide the best fitting IT solution and service for your business.