How to choose the right computer equipment for your business to increase your productivity and efficiency without it costing the earth.
Business software helps you complete a range of tasks. Choose the right software, provide support and train your staff with our introduction.
It is highly likely that you depend on the internet for some aspects of your business. Find out how you can use the internet more effectively.
Good communication with customers, partners and suppliers is vital for business success. This summary explores business communication methods.
How would you cope if your IT system failed or was breached? We cover the main IT security issues and how to protect against them.
Good IT management can help you choose, use and implement IT. Our overview helps you manage IT in a way that maximises the return on your investment.
IT support is vital if you rely on your IT system. But how can you set up an effective safety net in case things go wrong? We explore the options.
Getting the right IT is just the first step. Appropriate training, policies and working practices can help you maximise return on your IT investment.
Technology is at the heart of every small business, with everything from business accounting to marketing and customer support able to be done online. As we do more on mobile, and shift processes to the cloud, ensuring you have systems and processes in place to protect you, your customers and your data are more critical than ever. It’s crucial that you recognise the potential IT security threats that your business faces – and develop plans to tackle them.
In 2019, almost half (47%) of all small businesses had to cope with at least one security threat. Every connection, every device and even every customer could be a danger to the integrity of your IT systems.
Common IT security risks your business is exposed to include:
The potential losses you could face if your systems are compromised are enormous. How would you cope if your business lost its entire customer database, or couldn't send or receive emails?
Your IT system is only as secure as the people who use it. As well as developing and maintaining robust IT security systems that can secure you against all known threats, you need to ensure that everyone in your business understands the importance of IT security – and is committed to keeping you protected.
To support local businesses, the Government offers "Introduction to Cyber Security", a free online course for IT professionals and individuals. It aims to raise awareness of cybersecurity and help people improve their knowledge and skills. Completing the course will give you useful skills to help your business stay safe online.
Creating and enforcing clear and simple IT policies outlines to staff what behaviour is, and isn't, acceptable. By signing up to a safe use policy, your team are taking responsibility for their role in IT security and digital protection.
Finding the right balance between freedom and control is a challenge. If your processes and systems are too restrictive, your staff may seek shortcuts to get the job done. However, if your processes are not rigorous enough, sloppy security processes could provide easy gateways for cybercriminals and hackers to target your business.
Although your legal obligations - most notably data protection and the GDPR rules - are important, don't focus solely on these. Your obligations under the law tend to reflect good business IT security. In most cases, information management is about exercising common sense.
Implementing rigorous IT security controls can give you a competitive edge, helping you win new contracts and communicate to existing customers that their protection is your priority. For example, the Government requires all suppliers of contracts involving personal information and some ICT products and services to hold a 'Cyber Essentials' badge.
IT security should be an integral part of your business' approach to purchasing and using IT equipment and services. Consider IT security issues and risks from day one. If you wait for a problem to occur before taking action, it's far too late.
There are many preventative measures you can take to build up your business IT security, including installing security software, using a firewall and keeping all software up-to-date.
A security plan lists all the potential risks your business faces, the likelihood of them happening and the damage they might cause. Having a plan forces you to consider the risks methodically and plan your IT security provision properly, ensuring that no danger is missed or ignored.
As well as taking steps to stop IT security problems occurring in the first place, think about how you'd cope if something did go wrong. Having backup options is vital - in the event of any IT security issues affecting your business, you'll want to get up and running again with minimal disruption.
In the world of IT security, planning for failure is the key to success.