Essential IT Practices Your SMB Can't Afford to Ignore

There are a lot of regulations out there that businesses need to follow, both for their own good and that of their clients, customers, and associates. Many of these regulations—like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)—are relatively well known and critical to follow.

That said, these regulations dictate many basic practices that, to be completely frank, should already be a priority for every business that cares about its security and efficiency.

What You Need to Prioritize for Your Business

Data Privacy and Security Measures

Naturally, you need to keep your business secure through all means possible. Not only is it critical to protect your customer/client data from unauthorized access, but you also need to protect the same forms of data for your employees and business partners.

Actively protecting data helps you avoid and prevent theft, which circumvents a litany of operational challenges. It also helps you avoid losing the trust of your customer base and eliminates potential legal issues you could face as a result of a breach. 

Password and Access Management Policies

Passwords are, admittedly, a topic that has been beaten to death… but it is no less critical to acknowledge them and their importance. The same goes for access management. You need to be sure that you have robust rules surrounding each and that they are regularly adjusted to ensure they keep up with current security advice. Multi-factor authentication is also critical to implement, as it helps eliminate unauthorized access to various accounts.

This is essential because excessive permissions and weak passwords open doors for attackers, so locking down access to only those authorized and actively needing it is a great preventative measure.

Software Licensing

Software is a critical element of your business’ operations, enabling all your processes to happen efficiently. That said, it is incredibly important that you have properly licensed software received through an official vendor agreement.

Doing so is paramount because pirated, unofficial software opens you up to various risks, such as security issues, legal penalties, and a lack of proper support or updates. 

Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Preparations

Your data is incredibly fragile, meaning that various circumstances could easily wipe it from existence… hardware failure, accidental deletion, cyberattack, natural disaster, or otherwise. Frankly, too many circumstances. This is what makes it so critical that you regularly back up your data (automatically, in multiple locations, at least one offsite) and have a tested strategy to restore it as needed.

Without these preparations, you effectively have no recourse against any interruptions to your operations… and, by extension, legal issues or financial losses. These preparations are also essential for many broad compliance mandates.

Why are These Priorities So Essential?

As we’ve said, falling short in any of these preparations can open up your business to significant risks:

• You will be less resilient against data breaches, losing your critical data and public trust.
• Your operations will be more easily interrupted, plunging your business into downtime.
• You open up your business to various, very expensive legal issues and disputes.
• You are effectively assured to lose money through fines, lost business, and remediation costs.
• Your business may fall short of essential compliance requirements, leading to additional consequences.

However, addressing these facets proactively will only help keep your business safer. It really is as simple as that.

We’ll Help You Attend to These Needs, and More!

Our role as an IT provider is to help the businesses we work with stay compliant, secure, and productive, and these four aspects are a great place to start. We can help you manage your essential technology and address the challenges that you’re sure to encounter.

Learn more about what we can do for you! Reach out to us at (804) 264-9339 to learn more!