Most business owners are now beginning to appreciate the competitive advantage that technology can bring, especially the cloud, even if they aren’t highly technical themselves. Apart of this appreciation is understanding that a business needs more than just tech support. A business needs a trusted advisor who has the ability to translate their business objectives into re-engineered processes, new technology solutions with a sound security foundation.
So what technology do we recommend you focus on this year?
1. Adopting the “as-a-service” model (aka The Cloud)
With today’s economic environment, as a business owner you may be hesitant about significant capital expenditures on new software and hardware. So, perhaps consider the “as-a-service” model which enables you to convert up front capital expenditures into pay-as-you-go operating expenses. You can even spread these costs over affordable monthly payments. Here are some services that can be offered as a pay as you go:
IT Management-as-a-Service (ITMaaS) for your IT operation and management. This is commonly referred to as “Managed Services”.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for your business applications. Well known examples are Xero, Salesforce and Office 365.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) for your server and data storage platform. You can choose from public cloud such as the Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS or your own private cloud in a data centre.
Security-as-a-Service (SECaaS) for your cyber security and threat protection.
Collaboration-as-a-Service (CaaS) for your unified communication needs including voice, data and conferencing.
2. Work smarter not harder
If your business has yet to convert to Office 365, then you should definitely consider making the move in 2018. Not only is Office 365 a far better way to access emails, you will also have access to a bunch of tools that will help your employees work smarter and more efficiently.
Already on Office 365? You should start using these tools, they are part of your subscription:
- SharePoint
Teams
Skype for business
3. Staff Security Awareness Programs
You’ve heard the saying, you’re only as good as your weakest link. That’s true for cyber security too. What if we told you there was a way to pinpoint your weakest link? Well there is. ITConnexion have programs that are designed to not only help educate your employees but also to test their understanding of Cyber Security. Your organisation can now be fined for Security Breaches – we can help you find weaknesses within your business and then implement solutions ASAP.
4. Create An Actionable IT Security Plan
Unfortunately Cyber Security is growing more complex and couple this with security breaches in full force as of February. It’s time to get serious about protecting your critical data. To help you start, the Australian Government has provided a guide called the Essential Eight which contains a list of practical actions you can take. The Essential Eight is designed to be customised to each organisation based on their risk profile and concerns. Make an appointment with ITConnexion to create your IT Security Plan.
5. Ransomware Protection is a MUST
Ransomware are notorious for being extremely damaging. The recommended recovery procedure is to either pay for the ransomware or perform a full system restore from available backups. As you can imagine, the process is often as costly as it is lengthy and most likely involves out of business hours work for your service provider and your business. ITConnexion’s ransomware warranty covers all our costs in recovering your data from backup in the event that a ransomware gets through your line of defense.
At ITConnexion we pride ourselves in offering our expertise to help you choose the right technology path for your business.
