When you outsource your company’s Information Technology, you should expect to bring on a skillful partner dedicated to helping your company succeed. This person is tasked with keeping you apprised of IT budget needs, of industry threat levels, of monthly productivity, and he or she should be in on your mid-year planning sessions about goals for 2020. After the first 2 quarters of 2019, can you name your company’s critical IT advances? I can offer you a list of 7 critical IT advances I think are of utmost importance for your business network health and for your company’s growth and development.

7 Critical IT Advances–Are You There?

1. Are you working with someone you feel you can call at any time and with any question you may have about your computers and your network? Choosing a trusted IT management company is a major advancement.
2. Is your IT company keeping score and letting you know where things stand? Do you know if there have been recent attempts to hack your data, or if your network went down even briefly during the last 30 days? Owning and ultimately solving your IT challenges is an advancement.
3. Do you have budget numbers for what you might need to spend before end-of-year? Are you expecting to see budget projections for your IT before fiscal 2020?
4. Have you implemented 2FA (2-factor authentication)? It’s so critical in protecting your business systems and data from malicious attacks.
5. Did you make the switch to using a password management app? Again—a tool that can be a lifesaver when you have employees accessing your business data.
6. Have you had your IT management people come in for employee cybersecurity training? Are your executives and staff members fully invested in the part they play defending the company against the bad guys? Good technology solutions can only take you so far. Often the greatest threat to your network are the employees using the technology. Without in-house training, you can be compromised in an instant. Cybersecurity training with your executives and staff is a significant IT advancement.
7. Is your down time less and have your related technology tickets dwindled? If you know those numbers from month to month—that’s an IT advance. It’s a practice similar to knowing who is working and who is off. It gives context to your current business momentum.

It’s Easy To Get Started

I’m hoping you have already incorporated at least some of the above protection. I hope you’ve forgotten any inconvenience your employees have crabbed about when you added password management and 2FA. I’m hoping you have a plan for continuing education for your executives and staff and their role in your business-related cybersecurity. Finally, I am hoping you understand that excellent IT management doesn’t necessarily create profit but does go a long way in preserving it. If you need help with any of this, give us a call at Aptica. We can tell stories of how these advancements have benefited businesses like yours.

Jason Newburg, 260.243.5100, ext 2101, is the founder and owner of Aptica LLC. This IT management and support company has been serving small to medium sized businesses for 16 years in the region that includes Angola, South Bend, and Fort Wayne, IN, Battle Creek, MI, and Toledo OH.