Abstract

In business, the worst thing you can do is take your eye off the prize. Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to do. There are a litany of reasons that business owners can get distracted and lose focus. In this week’s blog we thought we would go through three technology-related issues that many businesses run into that can put your business in jeopardy.

Security Problems

Nothing can railroad your business as quickly as a data breach. Not only do you have to deal with the terrible panic and strife of trying to successfully mitigate perilous situations such as a (successful) phishing attack or man-in-the-middle attack, you also run the risk if you aren’t able to gain control quickly of alienating your customer base. In order to keep from having some very awkward conversations with the people your business depends on, you need to put together a strategy to keep your information systems secure. 

The best way to do this is to implement tools and strategies that actively work to mitigate the inherent risk. Going to the limit to ensure that your employees understand their role in your organizational cybersecurity is just as important. That means that there has to be some serious conversations about how to best create a cybersecurity program that is both comprehensive and flexible. Not only will this work to mitigate situations in which you are confronted with active cyberthreats, it will also allow your organization to meet any regulatory mandates that are overwhelmingly tied to your organizational cybersecurity.

Employee Turnover

You may not think that employees leaving and you onboarding new employees is tied with technology, but it most definitely is. Today, the lion’s share of employees are using digital resources to find the jobs you offer, and many organizations have found that a digital transformation of HR has some major benefits and allows for the inevitable cost reduction of the department. 

The thing is: some employee turnover has to be expected. Not all employees are good fits and some will leave of their own volition. The thing you can do to limit this costly problem is to invest in technology that will allow the people that do work for your business to have the best chance to succeed. Many younger workers, in particular, demand that your organization has technology that isn’t going to cause them a lot of technical problems that result in downtime. In their minds, if you can’t be bothered to invest in technology to improve your business, why would they work for you?

Business Continuity

Things go wrong more than anyone would like and sometimes those things can stop a business in its tracks. That’s why every business should put together contingencies, even if only for common issues (even though businesses should have a contingency plan for nearly every major scenario that could interrupt their operations). This will allow the business to react quickly, limit downtime, and stay in business during situations that threaten that reality.

One of the core assets a business has nowadays is its data. We talked above about the nightmare scenario of a data breach, but as bad as they are, it can get worse. You’ve probably seen videos of extreme weather on the Internet that decimate whole communities. What do you think happens to the business that has set up shop in that community after a hurricane knocks a tree onto their building or a flood wipes out its entire infrastructure? This is where the business continuity plan comes in. Having a failover plan in place, such as utilizing tools like the BDR (backup and disaster recovery), can quite literally save your business from doomsday scenarios that are completely out of your control.

NetMGM works with many regional entrepreneurs and business owners to help them realize their dreams of running a successful business. If you would like to learn how we can help you get the most out of your business and help you protect operations, give us a call today at 888-748-2525.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Protect Your Tech to Protect Your Dreams of Success

Rafiq Masri

With over 25 years of experience in Information Technology, Rafiq is one of the most accomplished, versatile and certified engineer in the field. He has spent the past 2 ½ decades administering and supporting a wide range of clients and has helped position Network Management, Inc. as a leader in the IT Managed Services space.

Rafiq has built a reputation for designing, building and supporting top notch IT infrastructures to match the business objectives and goals of his clients.

Embracing the core values of integrity, innovation, and reliability, Rafiq has a very loyal client base with some customer relationships dating back 20+ years.

Rafiq holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and has completed graduate programs in Software Engineering and Business at Harvard and George Mason University. Rafiq is a former founder and CEO of Automation, Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan as well as a valued speaker on entrepreneurship and technology at industry events such as ExpoTech and others.