If IT security is a painful topic in your organization, then you need to do something about it. In practical terms, this means that you either put together an effective in-house IT team and give them all the support they need, or you reach out to a managed IT security services provider. Alternatively, you could do both. If you’re trying to work out what approach to take, here is a list of issues to consider to help you decide if you’d benefit from security services in Sacramento CA.
1. How hard is it for you to recruit and retain IT, and security staff?
The single biggest driver of managed IT security services may be the fact that there is a global shortage of skilled IT security personnel. This means that recruiting and retaining them can be a headache even for large corporations and specialist IT security services. It can be close to impossible for the average SMB.
Not only are most SMBs less likely to be able to afford top-level salaries IT security professionals expect, but they are also less likely to be able to offer the same sorts of opportunities for further professional development. This is a massive issue for IT security professionals as IT security may well be the fastest-moving industry in the world today and so anyone who wants to make a career in it has to keep updating their skills so that they continue to be relevant.
Going down the route of managed IT security services means that you get guaranteed access to skilled IT security professionals with both breadth and depth of expertise without the pain of having to try to recruit and retain them yourself. Similarly, staff absences from holidays to sickness to the likes of jury duty, all become someone else’s responsibility to manage.
2. How much are you struggling with data security?
Data security is another major driver behind the growth in IT security services. The bad news is that if you’re struggling with it now, you’re probably going to be struggling with it even more as time goes by. All indicators suggest that data security is going to be one of the biggest topics in IT for the foreseeable future and where there is a public concern (as there is here), regulations tend to follow.
In regulated environments, not only do companies need to do the right thing, they need to be able to demonstrate that they did the right thing and this is where managed IT security services can help.
3. Do you need to get ahead of the curve instead of always being behind it?
The essence of security amounts to making it more hassle than it’s worth to attack you. This can be difficult for SMBs as they can struggle to find the resources to keep up with the latest and greatest in technology (or even to know what genuinely is the latest and greatest and what is just astute marketing). When you use managed IT security services, you can not only get access to cutting-edge technologies and, just as importantly, to people who understand how to use them effectively, but you also get access to guidance as to how you can deploy your IT-security budget to best effect.
On a similar note, working with a managed IT security services partner can also get you access to cutting-edge intelligence, which is every bit as important as it informs, or should inform, every IT-security decision you make. To give an example, even a few years ago, ransomware was effectively a non-issue, even now it’s still a fairly minor threat, but it’s growing at an alarming rate and all companies (and individuals) need to take it seriously.
4. Are you worried that you’re a sitting target?
A solid defense is a prerequisite for effective security, but if you focus on defense then you’re basically asking to be attacked as the worst that can happen is that the attack will fail and the best that can happen is that it will succeed. In other words, you’re creating a situation where attacks have no potential downside and high potential upside, this is exactly the opposite of what you want to do.
This, in turn, is why modern cybersecurity places a high degree of emphasis on proactivity and of hunting for threats instead of just waiting for threats to find you. There is, of course, a strategy to this, and a good managed IT security services partner will help to guide you through it.
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