4 Steps to Reduce Risk to your Network and your Business

1. Create written documentation of your network. If you were to lose your data or your network went down, written documentation helps to rebuild it. The following items are important to note:

a. Record the software licenses you own.
b. Store and secure the critical passwords for administration accounts.
c. Map the set up of your network.
d. Record the hardware you own and when their warranties expire.
e. List the cloud vendors you use.f. Ensure you have a copy of this information separate from your IT provider

2. Understand your back up protocol. Knowing how much data you can lose and how long your company’s network can be down before your business operations stop is crucial. Knowing this will determine how to set up your back up. Here’s what can help:

a. Learn how long your business can operate without data before critical business functions cease.
b. Look at how much data you could lose before critical business functions cease. In other words how much of your data is critical to your business and difficult to recreate.
c. Using the metrics above ensure your back up solution is meeting these requirements at a minimum.

3. Have your IT department or provider write a disaster recovery plan. More and more it’s when your network will go down not if. When this happens a lot of time can be saved if your IT department or provider knows the step by step process to getting you up and running again. You should test how long it takes to restore your network to ensure it’s matching the above backup protocol metrics. Your disaster recovery plan should be updated with any changes to your network.

4. An IT maintenance plan will help reduce risk to your network. Having a scheduled and reoccurring up-keep to monitor your routers, check your internet speed, ensure new updates and patches are installed and keep track of workstations will better protect you from cyber security attacks and address any quality concerns with your equipment. The goal is to protect your investment and your company.