The challenges of running a productive and secure company are more difficult and trying than ever before. When it comes to IT stability and security, whether you’re running a small business or a large corporation, it’s more important than ever to take responsible and proactive steps toward “running a tight ship.”
Unfortunately, there are more than few CEOs and C-level management teams (many working at some of the biggest companies in the world) that still just don’t get it. One look at Target’s recent episode of IT negligence and the picture becomes clear: your technology security is one of the most important (if not THE most important) facets of your business. Period. Mismanaged IT security and systems can not only cost billions of dollars in damage, but these serious IT problems can also end careers.
We’ve highlighted this hard, yet valuable lesson to prove an important point: there is no single business—no matter how big or small—that is immune to this harsh reality. Here we discuss 3 common, yet major IT issues that every CEO and business leader needs to know about yesterday.
Issue #1: Your Data Security Isn’t Airtight
As much as you need your sensitive data to remain secure and protected, the reality is it just isn’t. Computer hackers are continually coming up with tons of new ways to get past your system security. No matter how good your IT security may be today, tomorrow is a new day. The Internet has made our world incredibly small, and also incredibly vulnerable.
Long-gone are the days when all sensitive data was stored in a locked room deep inside the vaults of an undisclosed location. Sooner or later, your business systems and databases will have to contend with these IT security challenges—so you’d better be prepared to deal with these threats immediately. It’s not just your company that ends up at a loss when you suffer a data breach—your customers stand to lose as much or more, and, in turn, you stand to lose those customers.
Your salvation lies in three simple but vital areas of proactive IT data systems security: monitoring, prediction and prevention. This forms the safety net needed to guard against and recover quickly from all forms of data attack.
Proactive monitoring of your data systems makes it much harder for data breaches to occur. With proactive monitoring, when something is out of the ordinary, correct measures can be implemented to avoid major loss. Watchdog systems, services and specialists are meant to guard and patrol—utilize them or ignore them at your peril.
Prediction means your IT systems and services don’t just hang around waiting for problems to happen. Instead, a proper IT security system is constantly updated to follow the most important and current technology trends so it can predict potential problems before they cause any damage.
Prevention addresses your big-picture concerns. Great IT security goes above and beyond to ensure all the proper measures are taken so your systems are protected from start to finish: from data entry to data retrieval and everything in between.
Issue #2: Slow IT is Killing Your Productivity
Trying to save money in the technology department by not updating your old, slooooow IT systems? You’re probably costing your company a lot more in the long run. Think of your employees and the technology they use to do their jobs as one big machine. A well-oiled machine works exactly as it should, but take away the lubrication and that machine quickly begins to have problems, starts to break down and eventually doesn’t work right at all.
Trying to cut corners by running day-to-day business on old technology is unacceptable from both a security and a productivity standpoint. You’re in danger of sparking a destructive chain reaction. If your employee’s can’t do their jobs efficiently because of old IT, then productivity and workflow can never be streamlined or improved in any way. Your customers will begin to search elsewhere when they need the job done faster and more efficiently.
Think of technology improvements as a long-term investment in the well-being of your business and your team. Their increased productivity when completing their day-to-day business processes will mean the difference between business success and the road toward mediocrity and failure.
Issue #3: Technology Infrastructure Blues
Another major IT problem may be the mismanagement of your company’s technology infrastructure. Consider again the well-oiled machine—how can you expect the machine to work properly if it isn’t built correctly? The better the craftsmanship, the more regular the standard maintenance, the more effective the machine.
Like many IT systems, yours was probably built from the ground up. You may have an old server as your foundation, then you added more tech over time as your company and IT needs grew. Maybe it was more desktops one year, then new switches and routers, then a VOIP, then tablets and mobile tech. Yikes! All that conflicting technology is unstable, just waiting for a bug or an incompatible application to take out your entire system. Talk about productivity loss!
It’s time for a system cleanup and a shift toward IT stability.
Threats to your company’s sensitive data and risks to your IT systems are constantly changing. As a business leader, you’re the one your people will look to when disaster strikes. If you take proactive and preventative measures to improve your IT security and stability NOW, then you’re likely to survive the storm.
