6 Steps to Insure That Your IT Partner is Protecting Your Data

If your SMB is outsourcing its Business IT Support, you need to insure that critical data is secure and backed up correctly. You also need to make sure that sensitive is safely protected from the prying eyes of hackers. Failure to protect your company’s data assets is a recipe for disaster.

There are 5 common mistakes that IT departments make in their data protection.  Unitrends points out that 94 percent of SMBs who experience significant data loss are out of business within 24 months. Almost half of these companies are out of business for good.

Data is the lifeblood of your organization. Protecting your digital assets is the primary job of your IT Department, whether you outsource, or have an IT department in-house.

Here are some common-sense approaches to data protection.

1. Employees don’t always follow company policies. Don’t rely on your workers to follow your Information Technology guidelines. Many data loss events are caused by employee carelessness. This can be a result of inattentiveness, human error, or blatant disregard. Best practice is to rely on automation and strictly enforced data retention policies at the IT department level

2. Cybercrime is rapant, both in the US and from abroad. Every company needs to invest in Firewalls and Antivirus protection as a first step. Web monitoring software provides another layer of protection. A new source of data-loss is employee provided handheld devices. Create a BYOD policy, and invest in software to insure that every endpoint is protected.

3. Test your DR plans at least twice per year. Don’t become a cautionary tale as a company that religiously backed up their data, only to find that their backup systems are flawed or their tapes are defective.

4. Pay close attention to hardware failures. Every backup medium is capable of failure. Tapes, NAS, SAN, and online backups all have a high rate of failure. Redundant backup systems are paramount, and disk-to-disk systems are the most reliable medium. Make sure that your data gets offsite.

5. Keep your DR plan up to date. Make it a priority to perform DR plan reviews at least twice a year. Business circumstances and threats change constantly. A well thought out and executed DR plan is the best insurance policy your company can have.

6. Don’t rely on your cloud provider to insure that your data is secure. Your recourse in the event that they drop the ball is extremely limited. In the words of Ronald Reagan, “Trust, but Verify”.

Contact CSM to Find Out if Remote Tech Support Makes Sense for Your Business

CSM has over 30 years of experience helping the world’s most challenging companies solve their most difficult technology challenges. We offer free IT Assessments and 100% Risk Free Trials. Contact us today to learn more!

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