As the New Year has arrived, it's the perfect time to plan for the future of your small business in San Mateo, CA or Burney, CA. As most organizations begin the year with the hope of growing and improving operations. Today, so much of how a company operates depends on its use of technology. So, it makes sense to look to IT for areas of optimization.
A technology review provides an opportunity to look at several areas of your business. The goal is to take time to focus on improvements you can make to boost your bottom line. As well as the tactics to reduce the risk of a costly cyberattack.
A recent study by Deloitte looked at digitally advanced small businesses. It found that small businesses that use technology were well ahead of their peers. Here are some of the ways they were different:
- Earned 2x more revenue per employee
- Consistently experienced year-over-year revenue growth of nearly 4x
- Had an average employment growth rate of over 6x
The bottom line was that companies that use technology do better and are more secure. Additionally, according to IBM, organizations with an incident response plan reduce the cost of a data breach by 61%. In addition, using AI and automation can lower costs by 70%.
With the start of the New Year, take some time to review your use of technology with your IT team or Managed Service Provider. This will ensure success and increase your cybersecurity for the new year.
Considerations When Reviewing Your Technology for the New Year
A technology review aims to look at all areas of your technology. Security, efficiency, and bottom-line considerations will be the critical drivers for future initiatives.
Technology Policies
Are your technology policies outdated? When this happens, people stop following them. Include time to review all your policies to see if they need updating to reflect technology changes. For example, if you now have staff working remotely, ensure your device use policy reflects this.
When it's time to update policies, let your employees know and ask them for input. Then, when completed, please give them a refresher on the critical information.
Disaster Recovery Planning
When was your company last doing an incident response drill (even a tabletop discussion)? Is there a list of steps for staff to follow in the case of a natural disaster or even a cyberattack?
It's time to look at disaster recovery planning in the new year. You should also set dates for preparedness drills and training in the coming months.
IT Issues & Pain Points
You don't want to undergo an IT upgrade without considering the employee and customer pain points. Otherwise, you might miss an opportunity to improve productivity and everyone's well-being.
Please discuss with your staff how they use technology. Ask questions concerning their favorite and least favorite technology. Ask about their struggles and let them tell you how they feel about the technology. It could improve their jobs because you are asking them for input. This, in turn, benefits your business and can also help you focus on the most impactful improvements utilizing their feedback.
Privileged Access & Orphaned Accounts
Do an audit of your accounts (applications and users) as part of your year-end review. Over time, permissions can be misapplied. So yes, this leaves your network at a higher risk of a significant attack.
Ensure only those that need admin-level permissions have them. The fewer privileged accounts you have in your business, the lower your overall risk. Compromised privileged accounts can open the door to significant damage and may not be easily discovered until the damage has already been done.
When going through your accounts, look for orphaned accounts, and it would be best if you closed these accounts since they're no longer being used. Leaving them active poses a security and data risk.
Create IT Upgrade & Transformation Plans for the New Year
If you make IT upgrades\decisions "on the fly," it can bite you. Therefore, it's best to create an organized strategy ahead of time.
Perform a vulnerability assessment. This will give you a list of potential problems your company should address. Minimizing these vulnerabilities will improve your cybersecurity. In addition, planning allows you to budget for your upgrades and avoid unplanned expenses.
Monitor Cloud Applications & Shadow IT
Review your use of cloud applications. Are these applications used? Do you have duplication already in your cloud environment or with on-premises systems? A review can help you cut waste, save money, and increase security.
Also, look for Shadow IT. These cloud applications are used for work but have not been approved. As a result, management may not even be aware of them or the data sprawl that has occurred. Again, removing security risks by either closing the accounts or officially approving them and adequately configuring them.
Customer-Facing Technology
Don't forget to look at your technology as a customer would when using it. For example, go through your website and how customers interact with your company.
If you get frustrated with website navigation and its appearance, your customers and potential customers may be. So, include optimizations to your customer-facing experience in your new year plans.
Schedule a Technology & Security Assessment Today!
At Where To Start we get frequently asked if we can help with reviewing technology and to giving you a roadmap for tomorrow. Contact us today for a free consultation and to discuss your options.
