Tag Archives: Risk Management

IT Support, Managed IT Services, MSP

Why changing your IT service provider is stressful

Why changing your IT service provider is stressful

For a business, IT is stressful, hence why they pawn the entirety of their systems to an IT service provider in the first place. Just the knowledge of that past stress and what changing providers could mean, even when the business is receiving fluctuating service, is enough to put most businesses off. We know as many of our new clients have told us that they wished they’d transitioned sooner (2 or 3 years). It was just the time and trouble of changing that put them off. Once you’ve chosen a new managed service provider (MSP), the actual transition is incredibly fast and seamless, usually taking a few days to a few weeks and with no downtime to your staff.

There are several reasons why companies may wait a long time before changing MSP:

  • Fear of disruption: Companies may be hesitant to switch MSPs because they fear that the transition process will be disruptive and could result in downtime or other issues. They may also be concerned about the potential for data loss or security breaches during the transition.
  • Contract obligations: Many MSP contracts have specific terms and conditions, including minimum contract lengths and penalties for early termination. Companies may be reluctant to pay these fees or may not want to risk damaging their relationship or loyalty with the current MSP.
  • Lack of alternatives: In some cases, companies may feel that they don’t have any viable alternatives to their current MSP. They may believe that no other providers can offer the same level of service, expertise or cost-effectiveness.
  • Internal resistance: Changing MSPs can be a complex and time-consuming process that requires buy-in from various stakeholders within the organisation. If there is resistance from key decision-makers or IT staff, the process may be delayed or postponed indefinitely.
  • Lack of awareness: Some companies may simply be unaware of the benefits of switching MSPs. They may not realise that other providers offer better service, pricing or technology, or they may not understand the true cost of staying with their current MSP.

Tips for a hassle and stress-free switch

  • Take your time to research and gather testimonials of different MSPs. Sit down and have a chat with them to make sure they are covering your needs without pushing impulsive features on you to force you to pay more. A great managed service provider will ensure the transition is seamless, is not disruptive to your business and is stress-free.
  • Document all the problems and positives of your current MSP so that when you go to them to end the contract, you have grounds to stand on for wanting the change, as well as positives to say thank you to them for.
  • Take control of the change where you can and communicate with your MSP throughout the journey to ensure they are doing or implementing what they promised. Make sure they provide you with a plan so that you know exactly how they will manage the transition so your business operations are not affected.

During the proposal and initial assessment stage, you still have time to opt out of using the MSP. What’s beneficial in this stage is that the MSP will give you a fresh perspective on your IT systems and what’s normal in outsourced IT services. Since you’re at the point of wanting to switch IT service providers, this reaffirms your previous thoughts of wanting to switch as now you can actually see where your current MSP has not been providing you with the level of service or benefits you need. Similarly, a comprehensive audit of your IT systems by a different MSP can identify flaws and inefficiencies that your current MSP has been ignoring.

We never advocate switching MSPs for cheaper prices, but if a different MSP is offering better services than your current MSP at a similar price — managed IT services will generally be similar anyway — this means your budget goes further. You should always receive a return on your investment in your business.

Many businesses refrain from switching IT service providers too hastily due to perceived hassles with the switch and while risk management is essential for businesses, being too wary and worried can be detrimental to your business if the quality of your current IT service is not up to scratch. Remember, change can be positive.

Choosing a reputable and professional MSP mitigates these stresses and risks. Do your research and when receiving proposals and during the initial assessment stage, you will generally be able to gain a feel for the type of relationship you will have with the MSP in the long run. Like you, an MSP doesn’t want to be coming and going from a client’s systems, so they will do everything they can to maintain a great relationship with your business, as that’s what keeps them clients.

Why change can be stressful for business

Change is normal in life and for business to grow, your business needs to be prepared to take on change. When you’re unsure of the change, it comes down to the resources you have to cope with the stressful situation, i.e., the MSP transition. By doing your research and going through the first few stages with a prospective MSP, talking to them in person, having them assess your systems, and hearing their recommendations and how they can help you, this can significantly reduce the stress from changing IT providers.

In reality, stress and change all come down to psychology and perception towards the change. Learn everything you can about the MSP, do your research, contact testimonials of the MSP and read blog posts on their website to see if they have a diverse array of knowledge of the IT industry. Do what you need to feel comfortable with your prospective MSP and while you might keep telling yourself you don’t have time for this, it is a necessary step, especially if you’re becoming increasingly frustrated with your current provider.

Overall, changing MSPs can be daunting, but in many cases, it can result in significant improvements in service, technology and cost-effectiveness and can be incredibly beneficial to your business in the long run. Companies should carefully evaluate their options and consider the long-term benefits of switching MSPs.

If you need guidance about any step of the process and would like to learn about how Pronet Technology can help both manage your IT systems and improve your business’ Cyber Security measures, give us a quick call and we’ll have a chat!

Cybersecurity, MSP, Technology

How does encryption work?

How does encryption work?

Did you know that by 2025, globally, the amount of data generated in the cloud or connected servers will reach around 463 exabytes, each day? One exabyte is one billion gigabytes!

This figure from SeedScientific highlights just how much data businesses collect and store and is the reason why data must be kept safe from breaches and other cyberattacks. One of the ways to do this is through encryption which is already used in many of our daily online activities without you thinking about it, like in our online banking, shopping and browsing.

Encryption is the digital equivalent of an unsolvable jigsaw puzzle. It’s a way of scrambling information so that only the intended recipient can understand it. Encryption is an essential part of modern communication and commerce, allowing us to send sensitive, confidential or personal information over the internet without fear of it falling into the wrong hands.

With businesses storing their information in the cloud or on servers with an ongoing connection to the Internet, your data is most likely going to end up on another organisation’s systems, so it’s important to keep this data private.

What is encryption?

At its most basic level, encryption involves taking a message or piece of data and scrambling it using a mathematical algorithm. This algorithm is designed to be extremely difficult to reverse, meaning that anyone who intercepts the message will not be able to read it without the encryption key, which the recipient has, which then unscrambles it back into plain, readable text.

Encryption protects the data you send, receive and store on devices, whether it be text messages, running logs saved on your Apple Watch or banking information sent through your online account.

How does encryption work?

Think of encryption as a secret language between two people, the language being called, cipher text. Imagine you and a friend agree to use a secret code where each letter of the alphabet is represented by a number. You can use this code to send messages back and forth without anyone else being able to read them, as long as they don’t know the code.

In the digital world, encryption works in much the same way. When you send a message or data over the internet, it’s first encrypted using an algorithm that generates a unique key. This key is a long string of random numbers and letters that is used to scramble and unscramble the data in a process called decryption. Without the key, the encrypted data is unreadable.

This key can be generated through a couple of methods. Through Bit Sequence, or key space, where it specifies the units for the number of possible key combinations, with the bigger the key space, the stronger the encryption; as well as through Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2) which creates keys from a random string of passwords which then goes through Bit Sequence.

Types of encryption

There are two main types of encryption:

Symmetric encryption: where the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt the data. With symmetric, both the sender and receiver must have access to the same key.

Asymmetric encryption: this uses a pair of keys, one public key and one private key. The public key can be shared with anyone, while the private key is kept secret. When someone wants to send a message to you, they encrypt it using your public key. Only you can decrypt the message using your private key.

Encryption is used in a wide range of applications, from online banking and shopping to secure messaging and file storage. It’s also used by governments and military organisations to protect sensitive information.

There are different types of encryption algorithms, such as the now-obsolete Data Encryption Standard (DES) established by the U.S. government in 1977; Triple DES strengthens the DES through encryption, decryption and another round of encryption; RSA is popular for its key length; Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) was developed as the U.S. government standard in 2002 and is used worldwide; TwoFish is one of the fastest algorithms used both in hardware and software and is free to use.

One of the most common encryption protocols used on the internet by reputable websites is SSL or Secure Sockets Layer. This protocol is used to secure connections between web browsers and servers, allowing you to safely enter sensitive information like credit card numbers and passwords. SSL works by establishing a secure connection between your browser and the server using a combination of symmetric and asymmetric encryption. You can tell a website is using this technology by looking for the padlock icon in the URL bar and the ‘s’ in the ‘https://.’

Ensure you and your staff are only using sites using SSL when you’re storing or sending sensitive data, like purchasing something, filing taxes or doing other business-related tasks. Most email clients also come with an encryption option in the setting menu, so check that this is available so that your emails are being sent over an encrypted connection and that each email is then encrypted.

Encryption and Cybercrime

Encryption can also be used by cybercriminals to attack you, such as in ransomware attacks. Other than ransomware breaches that steal your organisation’s data and demand a ransom to prevent them from releasing that data, another attack involves hackers encrypting computers and servers of businesses and then demanding a ransom to provide the key to decrypt the data.

To protect yourself and your business from ransomware attacks, install and use security software on all your devices and make sure these are up to date. Update your operating system and other software you use as these often patch vulnerabilities found by the vendor. Be incredibly wary about email attachments, never opening any you’re not specifically waiting for. If an email tells you to enable macro settings to open attachments, doing so can cause macro malware to infect your files. Make sure your data is backed up in multiple locations, such as on the cloud, so that you can simply go back to the unencrypted form if in a ransom attack and above all else, don’t pay the ransom. The Australian Government states not to as there is no guarantee the criminal will release your data back to you.  

Why is encryption important?

In our digital age, encryption matters. The internet comes with a magnitude of privacy concerns, both nationally and globally, and encryption is another layer of online privacy you can use to send your personal information securely. Government regulations also require industries to implement security measures that protect customers’ information, such as healthcare providers protecting patients’ sensitive information that is stored online and higher education institutions protecting student records. Any breach can cause an organisation to violate The Privacy Act 1988 and can see businesses facing hefty fines, data loss and loss of trust and reputation.  

Encryption is an essential part of modern communication and commerce. It allows us to send sensitive information over the internet without fear of it falling into the wrong hands. Whether you’re shopping online, sending emails or storing files in the cloud, encryption is there to keep your data safe. So, the next time you use the internet, take a moment to appreciate the technology that’s working behind the scenes to protect your privacy and security.

Cybersecurity, Data Recovery, MSP

Is my company’s data recovery system fail-proof?

Is my company’s data recovery system fail-proof?

Have you ever lost important data due to a system failure and wondered if your data recovery system is fail-proof? Losing valuable data can be a frustrating and emotional experience, so it’s important to ensure that your data recovery system is reliable and effective.

When a company loses data that can be recreated or easily regathered, then data loss might not be a major issue for your business, but when data critical to your business is lost and unable to be reobtained quickly, this can cause devastating problems for your business, including possible fines.

Some business owners have the idea that they live in an area safe from disasters, or they’ve never had a disaster, so they don’t need to invest in a disaster recovery plan for their business. For those business owners or stakeholders, it’s time to start rethinking what disaster recovery means.

When something goes wrong on one of your or your employees’ devices, or even in your IT system infrastructure, a strong recovery plan can mean the difference between getting back up and running in minutes or struggling to recover your information for days, weeks or ever. 

What Constitutes a Disaster?

A disaster doesn’t just have to be natural, like a fire, flood, cyclone or earthquake. In business, disaster also includes ones caused by human error, like an employee failing to save a document or clicking a phishing link. Data backups and recovery in your business means protecting your business from human error, corrupted files, fraud, ransomware, Cyber Security breaches, IT system failures and power outages.

Importance of a Disaster Recovery Plan

Other than protecting your business and its long-term operations, having a disaster recovery plan is important for many other reasons, including:

  • Protecting your business’ data
  • Protecting sensitive information of customers
  • Protecting your business’ reputation
  • Removing longevity worries and allowing your business to focus on more important matters
  • Cost-effective as it reduces possible financial loss and business disruption

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule

If you are not relying on an external provider to look after your systems and data recovery, businesses should use the 3-2-1 rule. All precious data should be stored 3 times, once on the original data storage place, like your computer, and then on two other different technologies, like on disks and the cloud.

Why do backups fail?

  • Your backup software didn’t work
  • There’s not enough space on the storage device for the backup
  • The backup didn’t cover the entire device
  • Backups are done manually, not automatically
  • The computer or storage device was not on when the automatic backup was scheduled
  • Files were lost before the backup was created

Backup tips

Here are some tips to determine whether your data recovery system is fail-proof.

Firstly, consider the type of data recovery system you have in place. If you’re relying on a basic backup system like an external hard drive or USB drive, it may not be enough to protect against all types of data loss. These systems can also fail, so it’s important to have a backup of your backup or consider using a more sophisticated data recovery system.

Secondly, consider how often you’re backing up. If you’re only backing up your data occasionally, such as once a week or once a month, you may be at risk of losing important data that was created or modified since your last backup, so if you received a large amount of customer data or analytics during that time, it’s all gone. Ensure your backup system runs automatically regularly so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to back up your data.

Thirdly, test your data recovery system regularly. It’s important to ensure that your data recovery system is actually working and can recover your data in the event of a system failure. Test your backup and recovery processes regularly and ensure you can restore all of your important data.

Fourthly, consider using cloud-based backup and recovery systems. These systems are designed to be highly reliable and secure and can protect against all types of data loss, including natural disasters, theft and cyberattacks. They also allow you to access your data from anywhere, at any time, making it easy to recover your data in the event of a system failure.

How an MSP helps

Your managed service provider should offer data continuity as a service and it is a service you should most certainly be using. The MSP will regularly back up your data and test these backups to ensure your business will be back up and running no matter what happens.

Pronet Technology’s disaster recovery solution provides several layers of redundancy to ensure that your essential data is backed up and recoverable. Our backup systems are also regularly ‘stress tested’ so that we can ensure your backups are ready and able to function in a real situation.

Ensuring that your data recovery system is fail-proof is essential for protecting your valuable data. Consider the type of backup system you’re using, the frequency and reliability of your backups, regularly test your data recovery system and consider using a cloud-based backup and recovery system. By taking these steps, you can ensure that your data is safe and secure and that you won’t have to worry about losing important data due to a system failure.

Businesses are full of data and while this data may not be 100 per cent safe from threats and losses, as long as you’re prepared for such emergencies, you will be able to pick up and keep business moving.

Like anything in the IT industry, risks and solutions are constantly changing, so keep up to date with different strategies to incorporate into your data recovery plan. Contact your MSP to see how they are adequately keeping your data safe and to see if there is anything else your business can do to keep itself safe.

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight, Strategy

Does my business need to implement every aspect of Essential Eight?

Does my business need to implement every aspect of Essential Eight?

Essential Eight aims to get organisations to achieve a varied Cyber Security framework that spans the eight strategies so that they can improve their maturity of whichever strategy they are lagging. It’s an initiative that helps businesses understand the importance of Cyber Security within their organisation and gives them a framework on how to improve.

As the strategies are varied and quite specific, a business will not reach the maturity level it needs without any dedicated effort. We understand it can be a struggle to navigate the challenges of Cyber Security, especially since the higher the maturity level you reach, the more costs involved and the inconvenience it can be on yourself and your staff. It’s necessary though, as any cyberattack that occurs can be detrimental to your business, including unproductive staff, downtime, data breaches, ransom attacks, lost customer trust and reputation, high expenses plus any legal fees that may occur, and potentially could even see the closure of your company.

Does my business need to implement all eight strategies?

If you’re unsure what the eight strategies are, read this article here to learn.

Originally when Essential Eight was introduced by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), now part of the Australian Signals Directorate (ADS), it suggested all organisations should aim to reach Maturity Level three. Businesses had to implement only four of the strategies — application control, patch applications, restrict administrative privileges and configure Microsoft Office macro settings — with the remainder being optional, and they were also able to self-assess their compliance.

With the updated version released in 2023, it aims for businesses to reach the same maturity level across the strategies before moving up to the next. What this means is that each of the eight strategies needs to be improved and lifted to your needed level. If seven of the strategies are at Level Two and one is at Level One, then your organisation’s Maturity Level is One. The newer version also introduces audits to check proper compliance.

For that reason, yes, your business needs to implement every strategy in Essential Eight. It’s the target level that determines how intensely you then implement these strategies.

Your business may not need to reach Level Three. This will be determined in your initial risk audit and assessments that you complete alongside a Cyber Security audit. Business owners and stakeholders must understand the risks that your business faces, as well as the costs associated with these and the consequences if they happen.

Is Essential Eight enough to protect my business?

Other than Essential Eight, your business should also have other Cyber Security practices in effect, including proactive monitoring of your networks and devices for malicious activity and regularly testing data recovery solutions so that when a cyberattack occurs, you can get your business back up and running. Essential Eight also doesn’t approach the task of the initial risk assessment that your business must undergo before implementing any Cyber Security strategy.

Essential Eight is simply a starting point for businesses to protect their digital assets. At current, the framework is about to become compulsory for all non-corporate Commonwealth Entities (NCCEs) so that Australia conducts business securely in the future to protect the country and its citizens. Now that so much of our lives and information is online, action needs to take place to protect this information. The government will be auditing NCCEs for compliance and, as part of their contracts, the NCCEs may require businesses they work with to also comply, meaning businesses may lose opportunities if they do not comply.

The framework is also highly recommended by the Australian Government for all other businesses, but we believe this will change soon to become mandated. Cyber Security attacks are growing, both in number and complexity. Criminals are using social engineering to trick staff into believing they are legitimate actors which then leads to disaster for businesses. Your business needs to aim to decrease as many of these opportunities, plus other complex threats, from reaching your staff, which Essential Eight can help achieve.

The ACSC themselves mention that:

“While no single mitigation strategy is guaranteed to prevent Cyber Security incidents, organisations are recommended to implement eight essential mitigation strategies as a baseline. This baseline, known as the essential eight, makes it much harder for adversaries to compromise systems.”

What now?

Implementing Essential Eight is something we, as an MSP specialising in Cyber Security, have been working with our clients to do and is something we do with every new client we take on board. Cyber Security can ruin businesses, so it’s something that must be applied.

The maturity level your business requires depends on your business and circumstances, so during the assessment, make sure to ask questions like ‘What is the risk of an attack’ and ‘What does my business have to lose.’ Once you’ve determined the level, it’s then time to achieve this through implementation, reviewing and monitoring.

If you’re unsure where to go from here, we can help you along the journey. In addition, Pronet Technology can also help with broader and stronger Cyber Security strategies and offer services with advanced threat protection and detection.

Contact Pronet Technology today to learn how prepared your business is for Essential Eight and how we can improve your Cyber Security.

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight, MSP, Technology

Essential Eight and why your business needs to Integrate Cyber Security

Essential Eight and why your business needs to Integrate Cyber Security

In today’s world, IT systems are an essential part of any organisation. They help in improving efficiency, communication and productivity. However, with the increasing use of technology, the risks associated with IT systems have also increased.

You must know what Essential Eight is if you’re an Australian organisation. It’s a cyber self-assessment security maturity tool to help organisations reduce Cyber Security incidents caused by cyber threats

The government currently recommends that organisations implement the eight essential mitigations as a baseline but we believe this will change in the future to be mandated so it is something we advise our clients and prospects to implement.

Developed by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) to protect Microsoft Windows-based internet-connected networks, the framework has four maturity levels for each business’ risk category.

  • Level Zero: not aligned with strategic objectives.
  • Level One: partially aligned with the objectives.
  • Level Two: mostly aligned with the mitigation strategy objectives.
  • Level Three: fully aligned with objectives.

The levels depend on your business’ risk status and data sensitivity. Level One businesses, for example, are not commonly targeted specifically, so they just receive the typical mass scam emails. Level Two has the potential to be targeted but criminals will often move on if they find the security systems to be too hard to breach. Level Three are where attackers primarily focus as they have high dollar value data, such as banks and telecommunication companies.

Why should your business measure against Essential Eight?

Essentially, Essential Eight is all about Cyber Security and can be seen as a baseline for businesses to measure their maturity against, but it should be just one part of a wider framework that you should have in place. Cyber threats are constantly evolving, so businesses need to adapt to disruptions caused by Cyber Security incidents so that they can maintain business operations. This includes detecting, managing and recovering from incidents. We have other articles on our blog relating to these, so please read those to understand what your business should be doing to protect itself.

By measuring your business against the framework, your business can increase its knowledge of Cyber Security in business and identify company risks and how to control them. It allows your business to create a roadmap going forward that you can tick off to know that your company is becoming secure, and it gives you something to assess your service provider with to ensure they are integrating the Cyber Security processes within your business.

Limitations of Essential Eight

As mentioned, Essential Eight should not be used in isolation to protect your organisation. It’s not a fully-fledged Cyber Security framework and will not protect you from ever having cyber threats. For example, if you’re at Maturity level Three, this will not stop adversaries with the time, money and effort to compromise your business.

The Essential Eight is currently just a loose framework for your business to get started with implementing Cyber Security strategies to protect your businesses. When data leaks can cause your business to be in breach of laws such as The Privacy Act, you need to ensure that you are adequately covered.

The framework is also primarily designed for Microsoft Windows-based businesses, which represent the majority of public sector organisations’ corporate environments, hence why it was introduced by the government. So, while it’s not specifically designed for other operating systems like Mac, Cloud, Operational Technology (OT) or Linux, you can still use it to support your organisation’s Cyber Security development.

So, what are the Essential Eight strategies?

The Essential Eight strategies are designed to address the most common types of cyberattacks that businesses face. They are practical, actionable and cost-effective. Here’s a brief overview of each of the Essential Eight strategies:

  1. Application control: This strategy involves creating a list of approved applications that can be executed on a system. By doing this, organisations can prevent malicious software from running on their systems.
  2. Patch applications: Regularly patching applications can help businesses fix vulnerabilities in their software. This reduces the likelihood of cyberattacks that exploit these vulnerabilities.
  3. Configure Microsoft Office macro settings: Cybercriminals often use Microsoft Office macros to deliver malware. Configuring the macro settings in Microsoft Office can help SMEs prevent this type of attack.
  4. User application hardening: Blocks or removes common software used to download or run malicious software and prevents malicious software from running on business’ networks.
  5. Restrict administrative privileges: Limiting administrative privileges can help businesses prevent malicious actors from gaining access to critical systems.
  6. Patch operating systems: Similarly, regularly patching operating systems can help organizations fix vulnerabilities in the underlying software. This reduces the likelihood of cyberattacks that exploit these vulnerabilities.
  7. Multi-factor authentication: Using multi-factor authentication can help organisations prevent unauthorised access to their systems. It involves requiring two or more forms of authentication before granting access.
  8. Daily backups: Regularly backing up data can help businesses recover from cyberattacks. In the event of a ransomware attack, for example, businesses can restore their data from a backup rather than paying the ransom.

While you might not understand the technical processes of each of the Essential Eight, your IT service provider should be implementing these strategies to help your organisation protect itself against cyber threats. Talk with your MSP to see how and if they’re implementing these into your business.

Does my business need to implement Essential Eight?

While it is not mandated to do so, the framework is highly recommended by the government for Australian businesses to follow. At Pronet Technology, we recommend your company start integrating the framework as soon as possible. Even though we’re an MSP, over the last five so years, we’ve been doing all we can to learn more about and specialise in Cyber Security as we believe it plays an integral role in the longevity of businesses.

While ACSC recommends all businesses be at maturity level 3, each organisation’s Cyber Security level depends on its business need, size and complexity. As a business, conduct a risk assessment alongside your IT service provider to determine, analyse and prioritise the gaps in your business that can be strengthened and then act on those.

There are always going to be some challenges to improving Cyber Security within your business. It could be that you lack the staff and funding or that you don’t have the knowledge to successfully implement Cyber Security. You could have other organisational priorities or believe ad-hoc security is enough. Some people in the business might not yet be on board or you just don’t know how to improve. Cyber Security runs throughout the business so it’s something that everyone needs to understand and come on board with.

Most companies these days outsource their IT systems to service providers. Make sure you know the cyber maturity of your MSP in relation to Essential Eight so that you can build a strong working relationship with the MSP to ensure your business is protected.

By implementing these strategies, SMEs can significantly reduce their risk of cyberattacks. Essential Eight is not a silver bullet, but it’s a great starting point for any organisation looking to improve its Cyber Security posture. It’s important to note that Cyber Security is an ongoing process, and businesses should continually assess and improve their security measures.

IT Support, Managed IT Services, Strategy

What would be the true cost of disaster to my business if my IT failed?

What would be the true cost of disaster to my business if my IT failed?

As a business owner myself, I know the importance of keeping my business’ IT systems running smoothly, which I’m sure you are also aware of in your own company, but have you ever thought about the true cost of a disaster if your IT systems fail? The truth is that it can be catastrophic.

Imagine your business losing all of its data or being unable to access critical systems for a prolonged period. The impact on your business can be devastating, resulting in lost revenue, damage to your reputation and even the closure of your business.

So, what is the true cost of a disaster for your business if your IT fails? Measuring the cost of failure is complicated as there are so many different areas that factor into this, like direct costs and indirect costs.

Direct costs include costs of repairs or replacements of damaged hardware and software, as well as any business interruption. There is a range of indirect costs that IT system failures can create that can actually be higher than the direct costs. Let’s take a look at some of these:

Lost Revenue

The first factor people generally think of when they think of costs is lost revenue. Lost revenue occurs when a business is unable to continue normal business operations which can be incredibly devastating for businesses who heavily rely on technology. If your IT systems are down, your business may not be able to operate at full capacity, resulting in lost revenue.

Downtime also creates impatient customers and if other stores are selling similar products, customers will go there instead, to which they may find they like that store better, and therefore may continue using their products or services instead. Businesses need to understand the lifetime value of lost customers and when IT failures can cause your business to seem unreliable, this can tarnish the business’ reputation and therefore, lose customers.

The exact lost revenue from unplanned system outages depends on the type of outage and the size of your business. For a small independent store, an IT outage could result in no card payments for a few hours, leaving you relying only on cash — which not many people have on them these days. This is even more devastating for businesses that rely on every sale to stay afloat.

To calculate potential annual lost revenue, you can use a simple formula:

Lost Revenue = (G/T) x I x H

G = gross annual revenue

T = total annual business hours

I = percentage of revenue lost during an outage

H = number of annual outage hours

Reputation Damage

An indirect cost that occurs if your business experiences a significant IT failure can be a damaged reputation. Reputational damage occurs when customers and other stakeholders lose confidence in the organisation’s ability to effectively manage risks and protect their interests. Suppliers may also be hesitant to work with a business that has suffered a data breach, leading to potential supply chain disruptions and delays. If you’ve noticed the business’ reputation has been damaged, an entire marketing campaign may be needed to repair this, further incurring your business costs.

Customers may lose trust in your ability to provide reliable services or products, resulting in lost sales, and, as mentioned, lost customers occur when customers become frustrated with the disruption that occurs to businesses to which they then switch to a competitor, resulting in lost revenue.

Recovery Costs

Another direct cost associated with IT failures is the cost associated with fixing the issues. In the event of a disaster, you may need to hire IT professionals to restore your systems. This can be a costly process, especially if you need to pay for emergency services or if you don’t have a managed service provider.

Part of this also includes recovering or repurchasing hardware and software or services, which can differ in their severity. For example, a company’s email server not working is less severe than customers being unable to place orders. In this way, it’s the exact nature of the loss or outage that will determine the costs.

A factor that many people don’t think of are the costs surrounding overtime to catch up on missed work during downtime. Not only that, but IT failures may have forced your staff to keep paper records of transactions or notes during a system outage, which then need to be manually input when systems go online again, leading to overtime and other labour costs.

IT failures can also cause your staff to miss deadlines or follow through on contractual obligations with projects, meaning more money will be spent on projects that should have already been finished or you will have to reimburse customers.

Data Loss

Direct losses also include losing data, which has an even bigger impact on your business than the loss of an application or service. Data loss can be permanent and can have financial and legal implications beyond the direct losses on your company. The costs surrounding data loss can even lead to the closure of a business. Data loss ties into every other factor on this list and has a direct link to cyber threats like phishing, malware and ransomware. If your IT systems failed and cybercriminals had easy access to your network and data, this can also lead to ransom demands or costs related to recovering lost data.   

Legal Costs

Depending on your industry, you may be subject to legal or regulatory requirements that mandate the protection of sensitive data. SMEs that suffer a data breach can face lawsuits and government fines, especially if they’re not in compliance with data protection laws. These legal battles can be expensive and time-consuming, and can also cause damage to your reputation.

Time and Productivity Loss

If your IT systems are down, your employees may not be able to work as efficiently. This can result in lost productivity and increased costs.

A Dunn & Bradstreet survey found that 59 per cent of Fortune 500 companies experience 1.6 hours of downtime per week or more. If this is a company-wide failure that prevents all employees from working and that company has 5,000 employees, with an average labour cost of $30 per hour, the labour downtime for that week is $240,000 in lost productivity. Per year, that’s $12,480,000. Even if you had one-thousandth of that amount, that’s still $12,480 per year just for outages.

In 2004, Gartner led a survey that found the average hourly cost of downtime for a mid-sized company was $42,000. They conducted the survey again in 2014 and this number had risen to $300,000 per hour. If they do the survey again next year, who knows how high this figure will have increased.

Keep in mind that this varies by industry, with financial organisations losing the highest amounts for every hour of downtime and these averages are heavily skewed by large organisations. In a recent survey of IT managers, only 20 per cent of companies had costs higher than $12,000 per hour.

Emotional Toll

Continued downtime, while affecting employee productivity, also affects morale, as when overtime is needed, this means more time away from families and their hobbies, and if this happens too often, staff will start looking for a new job. 

IT failures and data loss also cause immense stress and anxiety for both business owners and employees. Cyberattacks that cause important business information to be lost, like customer details, financial information and inventory records can feel like a personal attack, especially when you’ve put so much time and effort into building your business. Disaster carries with it an emotional toll that takes a long time to recover from.

How to reduce the costs of a disaster to your business’ IT systems

So, what can you do to mitigate the risks of a disaster and protect your business? The answer is to invest in a comprehensive IT support plan that includes disaster recovery and business continuity. This type of plan can help ensure that your critical systems are backed up and can be restored quickly in the event of a disaster, and will help you and stakeholders understand how affected your business will be if anything occurs and also give you a path forward for how to reduce these risks.

In addition to disaster recovery, your IT support plan should include regular system maintenance, security updates and proactive monitoring to prevent issues before they occur. Partnering with an IT service provider that specialises in data security can also be a wise investment. These providers can help identify vulnerabilities in your system and implement security measures to protect your business from data loss. They can also provide ongoing support and monitoring to ensure that your systems are secure and up-to-date.

It’s also important to educate your employees about data security and implement security measures such as firewalls, antivirus software and multi-factor authentication, as well as by implementing the Australian Government’s recommended Essential Eight Cyber Security measures. By investing in a comprehensive IT support plan, you can help minimise the risk of a disaster and protect your business from the potentially catastrophic costs of an IT failure.

There’s no point in pretending your IT systems will never fail. Over the years of using a personal computer, we all know that’s not possible, and this is the same for IT systems in business landscapes. No organisation will experience no downtime, but as long as practices are followed that keep downtime to a minimum, then you can feel reassured that everything will be okay in the long run.

An IT service provider can be monumental in helping with preventing risks from occurring within your business. Your business probably already has one, but make sure you’re constantly keeping in communication with them to ensure they’re properly looking after your business’ interests.

If your business is not with a provider or you’re looking to switch, give us at Pronet a call to see if we’re the right fit for you.

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight, IT Support

Who is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment for?

Who is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment for?

As we move towards a more digitised world, the importance of Cyber Security continues to increase. Cyberattacks have become more frequent, sophisticated and damaging over the years. It’s essential to ensure the safety and security of your organisation’s information and technology assets. One of the best ways to achieve this is by conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment.

A Cyber Security Risk Assessment is a process of identifying, analysing and evaluating potential risks and vulnerabilities in an organisation’s digital environment. It involves evaluating the security measures in place and identifying any weaknesses that can lead to data breaches, cyberattacks or other security incidents. The ultimate goal of a Cyber Security Risk Assessment is to develop a comprehensive security plan that minimises risks and protects an organisation’s digital assets.

Why is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment important?

The world is witnessing a surge in cybercrime activities. Hackers and cybercriminals are always looking for ways to infiltrate an organisation’s digital environment and exploit vulnerabilities. A Cyber Security Risk Assessment helps organisations identify potential risks and vulnerabilities in their digital environment, enabling them to take proactive measures to mitigate such risks.

A Risk Assessment also helps organisations to comply with various regulatory requirements such as The Privacy Act 1988. Compliance with such regulations is crucial, as non-compliance can lead to hefty fines, legal liabilities and reputational damage.

Who is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment for?

A Cyber Security Risk Assessment is for everyone, irrespective of the size or nature of the organisation. Any organisation that stores, processes or interacts with information over the internet is at risk of cyberattacks. Therefore, every organisation needs to conduct a Risk Assessment to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities and develop a comprehensive security plan.

Small and Medium-sized businesses (SMBs)

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often assume that they are not at risk of cyberattacks because they are small or don’t have much valuable information. However, this is not true. Hackers often target SMBs because they have weaker security measures in place, making them easy targets. Another fact that SMBs should be aware of is that most cyberattacks are non-targeted. It is likened to a fisherman casting a wider net to catch as many fish as possible instead of spending the time and resources to catch the ideal fish. Also, some criminals would prefer not to target high-profile companies for fear of being the centre of an investigation by government enforcement agencies like the Australian Federal Police. A Cyber Security Risk Assessment can help SMBs identify potential risks and vulnerabilities and take proactive measures to mitigate such risks.

Enterprises

Enterprises often have a complex digital environment, making it challenging to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities. A Cyber Security Risk Assessment can help enterprises assess their security posture and identify potential risks and vulnerabilities across their entire digital environment.

Government Agencies

Government agencies often store sensitive information such as citizens’ personal information, national security secrets and confidential data. A Cyber Security Risk Assessment can help identify potential risks and vulnerabilities in government agencies’ digital environment, enabling them to take proactive measures to protect sensitive information.

Healthcare Industry

The healthcare industry is one of the most targeted industries by cybercriminals. Electronic Health Records (EHR) and other digital healthcare information are extremely valuable to hackers. A Cyber Security Risk Assessment can help healthcare organisations identify potential risks and vulnerabilities and take proactive measures to secure their digital environment.

How is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment conducted?

A Cyber Security Risk Assessment typically involves the following steps:

  1. Scope Definition: Defining the scope of the assessment, including the digital assets to be evaluated, the assessment methodology and the expected outcomes.
  2. Asset Identification: Identifying all the digital assets within the scope of the assessment.
  3. Threat Identification: Identifying all potential threats and vulnerabilities to digital assets.
  4. Risk Analysis: Analysing the likelihood and impact of potential risks and vulnerabilities.
  5. Risk Evaluation: Evaluate the risks and vulnerabilities to determine the most critical ones.
  6. Risk Treatment: Developing and implementing a plan to mitigate identified risks and vulnerabilities.
  7. Risk Monitoring: Continuously monitoring the digital environment to identify any new potential risks and vulnerabilities.

It’s important to note that conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment is not a one-time process. The digital environment is continually changing and new threats and vulnerabilities can emerge at any time. Therefore, it’s essential to conduct regular assessments to ensure the digital environment remains secure.

A Cyber Security Risk Assessment is a critical process that every organisation must undertake to protect its digital assets. It helps identify potential risks and vulnerabilities, enabling organisations to take proactive measures to mitigate such risks. It also helps organisations comply with regulatory requirements, minimise legal liabilities and protect their reputation.

No organisation is immune to cyberattacks and the consequences can be devastating. Therefore, it’s essential to conduct regular Cyber Security Risk Assessments to ensure the digital environment remains secure. Don’t wait until it’s too late; conduct a Cyber Security Risk Assessment today and protect your organisation’s digital assets.

FAQs

  • What are the benefits of conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

Conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment helps organisations identify potential risks and vulnerabilities, enabling them to take proactive measures to mitigate such risks. It also helps organisations comply with regulatory requirements, minimise legal liabilities and protect their reputation.

  • What happens if an organisation doesn’t conduct a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

An organisation that doesn’t conduct a Cyber Security Risk Assessment is at risk of cyberattacks, data breaches, legal liabilities and reputational damage. It can also face hefty fines for non-compliance with regulatory requirements.

  • Can small businesses benefit from conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

Yes, small businesses can benefit significantly from conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment. Hackers often target small businesses because they have weaker security measures in place, making them easy targets. Conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment can help small businesses identify potential risks and vulnerabilities and take proactive measures to mitigate such risks.

  • How often should an organisation conduct a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

An organisation should conduct a Cyber Security Risk Assessment at least once a year or whenever there is a significant change in the digital environment.

  • What are the steps involved in conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

The steps involved in conducting a Cyber Security Risk Assessment include scope definition, asset identification, threat identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation, risk treatment and risk monitoring.

  • How long does a Cyber Security Risk Assessment take?

The duration of a Cyber Security Risk Assessment depends on the size and complexity of the digital environment being assessed. However, it typically takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months to complete.

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight, MSP

10 Benefits of Performing a Cyber Security Risk Assessment

10 Benefits of Performing a Cyber Security Risk Assessment

You’re not alone if you feel concerned about the security of your business. In today’s digital age, cyber threats are a constant concern for businesses of all sizes. One way to protect your business is by performing a Cyber Security risk assessment. While it may seem like a chore, especially when you have plenty of other business issues or projects to work on, there are many benefits of conducting a risk assessment, and completing one can actually save your business.

What is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

Before we delve into the benefits of a Cyber Security risk assessment, let’s define what it is. A Cyber Security risk assessment is the process of identifying, evaluating and prioritising potential security risks to your business’ technology systems, networks and data. This assessment is crucial in understanding the vulnerabilities of your business’s digital assets and how they could be exploited by malicious actors.

The Benefits of Performing a Cyber Security Risk Assessment

Performing a Cyber Security risk assessment can provide many benefits to your business. Here are 10 of the most significant advantages of conducting a risk assessment:

Identifying Vulnerabilities

A risk assessment can help identify vulnerabilities in your business’s technology systems, networks and data. By identifying these vulnerabilities, you can take proactive steps to mitigate them before they’re exploited by cybercriminals. This also allows you to improve the Cyber Security stance of the business and create a Cyber Security culture within your company.

Prioritising Risks

Conducting a risk assessment can help prioritise risks to your business’s technology systems, networks and data, and allows your business to introduce the appropriate response strategies to the vulnerabilities you have identified. By doing so, you can allocate resources to address the most significant risks first, ensuring that your business is protected where it matters most.

Complying with Regulations

Many industries have regulations that require businesses to perform Cyber Security risk assessments regularly. By complying with these regulations, you can avoid hefty fines and penalties, and safeguard your business from legal troubles. In Australia, all businesses need to comply with The Privacy Act 1988, meaning they need to have some sort of measures in place to protect consumers’ information. For public sector organisations, the Australian Government has also brought in Essential Eight, a Cyber Security framework that they must implement. This is highly recommended for all other businesses in Australia too, and we predict it will be mandated for everyone soon.

Reducing Downtime

Cyberattacks can cause significant downtime for your business, resulting in lost productivity and revenue. Downtime can cause customers to go elsewhere and can cause staff to halt projects or start working manually which they will then have to fix later on when IT issues are resolved. By performing a risk assessment, you can identify potential threats and implement preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of a cyberattack and minimise downtime.

Protecting Your Reputation

A data breach can damage your business’s reputation and erode customer trust. When customers lose trust in your business’ ability to protect their information or even just in your ability to protect yourself, they will stop using your business or bypass your services altogether even if they’ve never used them before. As for stakeholders like suppliers, they may be hesitant to work with an organisation that has suffered a security breach, especially as this will disrupt the rest of the supply chain. By performing a Cyber Security risk assessment and implementing preventative measures, you can safeguard your business’ reputation and show customers that you take their data security seriously.

Improving Security Posture

A risk assessment can help you understand your business’ security position and identify areas for improvement. By addressing these areas, you can improve your business’ overall security posture and better protect against cyber threats in the future. You may find your position is actually better than you thought, giving you the reassurance that your IT team or managed service provider is doing their job and looking after the interests of your business. Overall, a risk assessment allows you to ease your fears about cyberattacks as well as the potential loss of your business.

Keeps Stakeholders Informed

A comprehensive Cyber Security Risk Assessment allows you to keep your stakeholders informed and educated on vulnerabilities as well as allows you to inform them of how you’re going about protecting the business and their interests. It also allows you to provide an executive summary to help executives and directors make informed security decisions.

Reduces Long-Term Costs

A Cyber Security risk assessment allows you to fully understand the justification behind costs being made around security, which, as a business owner or decision-maker, you need to fully comprehend just how important this additional expense is. By knowing the vulnerabilities in your IT systems, you can then spend the proper amount of time and money in fixing these issues and mitigating risks, which will ultimately save your business the costs of downtime and of dealing with cyberattacks when they occur. That’s not to say that they won’t occur even with a fantastic Cyber Security posture, but the majority will be able to be prevented and you should be able to stop the worst of the attack in its tracks when one does. You will also be able to get your business back up and running quickly and seamlessly with data recovery responses.

Prevents Data Loss

Data loss can and has destroyed businesses. It has both financial and emotional impacts on businesses of all sizes, not just large enterprises. This includes stress and anxiety due to losing customer records, financial information and key documents; financial impact surrounding the cost of lost business, lost reputation with customers and suppliers as well as with data recovery and breach response; the impacts surrounding legal consequences of not complying with data protection laws.

Improves Communication

This benefit comes from different avenues. First, a risk assessment requires information from different parts of an organisation, so this improves communication between both leaders and departments. It also breaks down barriers between management and IT staff, whether that be internal and/or external, as it allows the two groups to come together to make decisions that relate to the implementation of security requirements for systems, data and access, while also thinking about the security of the organisation as a whole.

Performing a Cyber Security risk assessment is a crucial step in protecting your business from cyber threats. It allows you to safeguard your business’ digital assets and ensure its long-term success. So, don’t wait until it’s too late. Invest in a Cyber Security risk assessment today and reap the benefits of a secure and successful business.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How often should I perform a Cyber Security risk assessment?

It’s recommended that businesses perform a Cyber Security risk assessment at least once a year or whenever there’s a significant change to their technology systems or infrastructure.

  • What are the key components of a Cyber Security risk assessment?

A Cyber Security risk assessment typically includes identifying assets, threats, vulnerabilities and controls. It also involves assessing the likelihood and impact of potential threats and prioritising risks.

  • Who should perform a Cyber Security risk assessment?

All businesses need to conduct a Cyber Security risk assessment, not just large enterprises. It’s also recommended that businesses hire a qualified Cyber Security professional to perform this assessment as it ensures the assessment is thorough and accurate and that all potential risks are identified and addressed.

  • How long does a Cyber Security risk assessment take?

The length of a risk assessment depends on the size and complexity of the business’s technology systems and infrastructure. Typically, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to complete a comprehensive risk assessment.

  • What happens after a Cyber Security risk assessment?

After a risk assessment is completed, a report is generated that outlines potential risks and recommended actions to mitigate them. The business can then take these actions to improve its overall security posture and protect against cyber threats.

  • Is a Cyber Security risk assessment worth the investment?

Absolutely. The benefits of performing a cyber security risk assessment far outweigh the cost. By identifying vulnerabilities and implementing preventative measures, you can protect your business from cyberattacks, reduce downtime, comply with regulations and safeguard your reputation.

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight, Strategy

How to Restrict Who Accesses Certain Folders or Programs in Your Business

How to Restrict Who Accesses Certain Folders or Programs in Your Business

If you’re concerned about the security of your business’ data and want to restrict access to certain folders or programs in your organisation, keep reading.

As businesses become more digital, the need for data security has increased. It is crucial to prevent unauthorised access to sensitive information and protect it from potential cyberattacks. Restricting access to certain folders or programs is an effective way to secure your data as it allows you to control who has access to what data and ensures that only authorised personnel can access sensitive information.

Certain users or teams within your business may need a higher level of access than others, as giving someone access to change permissions and install updates to apps and the device is necessary, but when someone within or outside your business gets access to this, they can accidentally or intentionally cause immense damage.

By restricting who has access, it makes it difficult for malicious users to affect certain applications, obtain sensitive information or change privileges to prevent staff from being able to work effectively.

Restricting administrative privileges is also one of the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) Essential Eight mitigation strategies against cyber threats, so if you’re currently looking at implementing this framework, keep reading to learn about how to do this.

How to Restrict Who Accesses Certain Folders or Programs in Your Business

To restrict who accesses certain folders or programs in your business, you can follow these steps:

  • Identify Tasks: Start by identifying the tasks that require administrative privileges, then work out which staff members are required and authorised to carry out these tasks as part of their roles.
  • Create User Accounts: Create user accounts for each employee in your organisation. Each employee should have a unique username and password to access the system.
  • Assign Access Rights: Assign access rights to each user account. You can set permissions to read, write or execute files in specific folders or programs. Make sure users have the least amount of privileges needed to carry out their roles.
  • Use Encryption: Use encryption to protect sensitive data from unauthorised access. Encryption ensures that only authorised personnel can access the data, even if it falls into the wrong hands.
  • Implement Access Control Policies: Implement access control policies to restrict access to certain folders or programs. You can set policies based on job roles, departments or projects.
  • Monitor Access Logs: Monitor access logs to identify any unauthorised attempts to access sensitive data. This can help you identify security breaches and take corrective measures to prevent future incidents. Make sure to revalidate staff requirements to have a privileged account frequently so that when their role changes or they leave the business, you can remove these privileges.

What is Not Effective?

The ACSC advises that there are a number of approaches that do not qualify as restricting administrative privileges and which can actually increase the risk to an organisation.

  • Only minimising the total number of privileged accounts
  • Allowing for shared non-attributable privileged accounts
  • Allocating administrative privileges to users temporarily
  • Placing non-admin users in groups with users that have administrative privileges

Benefits of Restricting Access to Certain Folders or Programs in Your Business

Restricting access to certain folders or programs in your business can provide several benefits, including:

  • Improved Data Security: Restricting access to sensitive information can improve data security and prevent data breaches.
  • Compliance with Regulations: Restricting access to certain folders or programs can help you comply with regulations and standards, such as The Privacy Act and Essential Eight.
  • Reduced Risk of Cyber Attacks: Restricting access to sensitive data can reduce the risk of cyberattacks and protect your business from potential threats.
  • Increased Control: Restricting access to certain folders or programs can give you increased control over who has access to what data.

Restricting access to certain folders or programs in your business is a crucial step in ensuring the security of your data. By creating user accounts, assigning access rights, using encryption, implementing access control policies and monitoring access logs, you can prevent unauthorised access to sensitive information and protect your business from potential cyberattacks. Don’t neglect this important aspect of your business security, act today and protect your data!

Remember, the security of your business data is essential to your success and you must take all necessary measures to protect it from unauthorised access. With the right security measures in place, you can rest assured that your data is safe and your business is protected.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the best way to restrict access to certain folders or programs in my business?

The best way to restrict access to certain folders or programs in your business is to create user accounts, assign access rights, use encryption, implement access control policies and monitor access logs.

  • What are the benefits of restricting access to certain folders or programs in my business?

The benefits of restricting access to certain folders or programs in your business include improved data security, compliance with regulations, reduced risk of cyberattacks and increased control over who has access to what data.

  • Can I restrict access to certain folders or programs based on job roles or departments?

Yes, you can restrict access to certain folders or programs based on job roles or departments by implementing access control policies.

  • How can I monitor access logs to identify unauthorised attempts to access sensitive data?

You can monitor access logs to identify unauthorised attempts to access sensitive data by using software tools that track user activity and notify you of any suspicious activity. This can help you identify security breaches and take corrective measures to prevent future incidents.

  • What are the consequences of not restricting access to sensitive data in my business?

Not restricting access to sensitive data in your business can result in data breaches, cyberattacks, financial losses, legal liabilities and damage to your business’ reputation.

Cybersecurity, IT Support, Technology

IT solutions for SMEs with limited budgets

IT solutions for SMEs with limited budgets

As a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) with a limited budget, it can be challenging to invest in IT solutions that can improve your business operations. However, several cost-effective IT solutions can help SMEs streamline their processes and remain competitive.

To decide what is best for your business, you need to understand your business’ needs, the people who work there, your budget and how staff need to work to meet the company’s objectives. When it comes to your staff, think about what they really need and if you’re unsure, ask them. Do they all need the same level of licences for the Adobe Suite or other software? Can you work from anywhere or do you need a traditional office setup? Identify what your business constraints are; if that’s a technology solution, direct your limited budget there.

One of the best ways to save money as a business is to make sure your initial investments are quality ones. For example, make sure your Wi-Fi network is properly set up, don’t purchase outdated, subpar equipment, make sure to update and maintain all your devices, invest in a web or mobile presence, install, update and regularly use anti-malware programs and most importantly, work with an IT service to manage your IT systems for you.

Managed service providers are cheaper than hiring an in-house IT team and they ensure your systems are working properly. An MSP is a way to reduce costs in your IT systems as it consolidates your technical support with one IT service. MSPs can provide businesses with access to experienced IT professionals who can help manage their IT systems, monitor for security threats and provide ongoing support and maintenance. A good MSP can help you determine what IT your unique business needs without pushing services on you that won’t benefit your business.

Low-budget IT Tools

Software can quickly become expensive, especially if you rely on multiple, complex systems to run your business and smaller businesses often turn away from investing in good software which can be detrimental to your business.

One of the most popular and cost-effective IT solutions for SMEs is cloud computing. Cloud-based solutions, such as storage and software-as-a-service (SaaS), can be accessed through the internet and can help businesses save money on IT infrastructure and maintenance costs. If you have one, ask your managed services provider to transfer your systems and data to the cloud.

Another IT solution that SMEs can consider is open-source software. Open-source software is software that is freely available to use and modify and can help businesses save money on licensing fees. Popular open-source software includes the operating system Linux, as well as productivity software such as LibreOffice. SMEs can also consider using open-source CRM (customer relationship management) software to manage their customer interactions and sales processes. Open-source CRM solutions, such as SuiteCRM or SugarCRM, can be customised to meet the specific needs of a business and can help SMEs improve customer engagement without breaking the bank.

Keep in mind, however, that open-source software does not come with support and is normally not as stable and reliable as commercial software. If you run into issues with open-source, you’ll need to rely on the goodwill of the community to assist you. As long as you understand this risk, then open-source is a low-cost solution. We generally would not recommend companies with more than five employees rely on open-source software as the risk of business interruption can be costly.

Virtualisation is another cost-effective IT solution that can help SMEs optimise their IT infrastructure. With virtualisation, businesses can run multiple virtual machines on a single physical server, which can help save money on hardware costs and reduce energy consumption.

Cyber Security

When times are tough for business, it might be tempting to cut costs in areas that might seem unnecessary, such as Cyber Security, but it is a decision that can see customers, clients and employees being exposed to cyberthreats.

There are a range of steps a business can take to create a defensive posture around Cyber Security that does not cost a fortune.

Your company should start with procedures and policies to create a Cyber Security culture within the business. This outlines how you will protect your employees, clients and customers. An incident response plan is essential to mitigate damage and protect your business operations, and even more so, training your staff about Cyber Security threats is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce threats as most attacks occur due to human error. Regularly provide tips and refreshers, or ask your MSP to help with training.

There are certain budget-friendly security software you can use to help protect your business and its data. For example, to secure your digital assets and control them when they might be at risk, you can use a software called DriveStrike that can remotely locate, lock and wipe devices.

It’s also a good idea to invest in encryption. Many devices already have some sort of encryption options built into them, so take the time to configure these. Also, if you’re heavily reliant on email, there are security email services that encrypt your information while in transit. Make sure you encrypt your backups too and that these are stored in multiple locations.

While it might seem a hassle, using two-factor authentication adds an extra step of security when logging into accounts, such as emails, bank accounts, work machines or software. Many services and accounts already have this option built-in, so check if yours do and if not, make sure to use a program that does this as it increases the difficulty of cybercriminals accessing your data.

A way to protect your business freely is by making sure your software and applications are up to date. If a vendor notices a security risk in its service, it will fix the issue and release a security update. Make sure you immediately install these to prevent criminals from taking advantage of these risks. This goes with older software too. If you’re not already, make sure you are using Microsoft 365 rather than an older version as these older versions are not updated anymore. This gives cybercriminals the time to build complex threats that they can then use to infiltrate your business as they have no time constraint as they’re no longer being updated.

If your workforce is hybrid or remote, ensure employees know how to secure their home routers as they are usually only using consumer-grade ones compared to a more secure one in the office.

Make sure you’re educating yourself on the technology your company needs so you can understand the value you are receiving from the technology, hardware or software you are using or buying.

There are several cost-effective IT solutions available for SMEs with limited budgets. From cloud computing and open-source software to virtualisation and outsourcing IT support to MSPs, SMEs can take advantage of these solutions to optimise their IT infrastructure and improve business operations. By considering these IT solutions, SMEs can remain competitive in today’s fast-paced and technology-driven business environment.

Do keep in mind though, that to maximise your business’ collaboration, processes, Network and Cyber Security, and long-term growth, businesses should be investing in their IT systems. As your business grows, so do your IT needs, so if you’re trying to cut back on costs, your business might not reach the potential it possibly can. Investing in your IT systems can actually save you time and money, help you stay competitive, inform better decisions and increase revenue.

Well-thought-out IT solutions for SMEs can make the difference between thriving or barely surviving.