How well an IT infrastructure is put together is reflected in the operational efficiency of a business.
If you have weaknesses in your technology plan, it’s like having an office building that’s poorly built. For example, if you have thin metal walls, you have to deal with being too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. You may also have issues with roof leakage. These are all things that can negatively impact how your business operates all the time.
Having a poorly built technology infrastructure is no different. It can mean that you’re plagued with virus infections throughout the year, have data privacy compliance violations, and have IT that gets in the way of your workflow instead of powering your productivity.
Most business owners aren’t IT experts. That’s why they work with IT pros for cybersecurity, equipment maintenance, strategic cloud planning, and more.
Another way that it’s important to work with a technology professional is by having them do a third-party review of your IT infrastructure. This ensures you’re not left with vulnerabilities you aren’t aware of. It can also help you find opportunities for efficiency improvements.
How Can a 3rd Party Technology Review Help Your Company?
There are several areas of any Toronto area company’s technology infrastructure that need to be optimized for the company to operate well. This includes IT security, compliance, on-premises equipment, your cloud environment, and more.
If you’re trying to handle this all yourself, you may miss things that an outside perspective could bring. And those “things” could end up costing you both in security incident costs and loss of forward motion.
It’s important to regularly have your IT reviewed by a trusted third-party technology expert. Here are several reasons why.
Reduces Cybersecurity Risk
Just one ransomware infection can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in downtime for a business. The average downtime costs for a company due to a ransomware incident is over $374,000.
A cybersecurity review by an IT professional can help you uncover areas of risk that you may not have realized where there. This could include mobile devices not being properly updated or lack of a detection system for zero-day attacks.
Third-party reviews of your IT security can also help you stay one step ahead of the cyber criminals by putting proactive systems in place.
Improves Customer Service
54% of consumers have a higher expectation for customer service than they did just a year ago. Creating an excellent customer experience is an ongoing requirement if you want to retain your clients and see repeat business and referrals.
A third-party review of your technology can help you identify areas that may be causing you to lose leads and customers, such as an outdated phone system that keeps callers on hold too long.
A review can also offer technology solutions to improve your customer service and the experience your customers have when interacting with your business.
Reduces Your Downtime & Related Costs
Do you have issues with your internet cutting out from time to time? Have problematic servers that seem to go offline at least once a week?
These are operational issues that result in cumulative downtime that can have a big impact on your bottom line.
Just 20 minutes of downtime on any part of your technology infrastructure each day, means over 6.5 hours of total downtime each month. A majority of businesses (98%) say an hour of downtime costs them over $100,000.
So those 20 minutes per day can add up to over $600,000 in downtime costs in a month due to an inefficient IT infrastructure.
Having a third-party review of your IT systems can locate issues that may seem small but are adding up to big costs for your business and help you find solutions to mitigate that downtime.
Improves Your Compliance
Whether you have to comply with HIPAA, PCI, or another data privacy requirement, being able to show a good faith effort to reduce your risk of a breach can save you from penalties should an issue occur.
A compliance audit of your IT security reveals areas of vulnerability and helps you address them before they result in a compliance violation or costly breach. Such as a need for better employee training, weaknesses in remote employee security, or other potential breach areas.
Having a review of your compliance efforts is also considered a best practice because an IT security expert will have the expertise to find things you may have missed or been unaware that you needed to do.
Need a Review of Your IT Infrastructure?
Data First Solutions offers full reviews and audits of IT to improve cybersecurity, lower costs, and improve efficiency.
Contact us today to schedule an expert third-party review of your technology. Call 416-412-0576 or contact us online.
