5 Ways To Protect Your Network
Many small businesses are unaware of (1) how dependent they are on their networks and (2) how vulnerable they are to losing them. But, there are some simple principles business owners and managers can apply to help their network remain fast and reliable.
Here are 5 areas where business owners can improve their network reliability:
1.) Deploy a solid network design
Every business is different. Even companies in the same business operate in different ways. Your network has to be designed to support your unique operations. While there are general principles that a good network follows, there are always unique issues to your own needs. Have a trusted professional complete a design that will give you the reliability and speed your business needs. Plus, a good design now will save you money replacing the wrong hardware down the road.
2.) Minimize the number of manufacturers you utilize
So, let’s say your network stopped working right now. You don’t know why. You just know you can’t connect to the internet and therefore your business operation is on pause. If you’re like many small businesses, your IT closet is filled with a potpourri of various product manufactures. And when you contact support to try to figure out what’s wrong, the finger pointing begins. Everyone says it’s not their fault. It’s the other guy.
Minimizing the brands in your closet reduces or eliminates the other places the fingers can be pointed. Therefore, you call one guy, it’s his fault, and he knows it. Then he fixes it. Additionally, products designed in families already know how to work together, making them more reliable and simpler to work with.
3.) Place equipment in an appropriate environment
The IT closet is a highly overlooked issue in a small business’s computer network. The area where you place your servers, routers, phone systems, etc. must, at a minimum, be:
- Constantly temperature controlled to the comfortable temp for your systems
- Highly secure and used only for operating IT network equipment. Only a select group of people should have a key to this area.
- Always, always, always dry.
If you’re having trouble justifying the costs to build an appropriate IT closet, just review this simple formula:
Cost to replace over heated equipment
PLUS cost of a service provider to try to recover lost data from damaged equipment
PLUS cost of services to install and configure replacement equipment
PLUS lost revenues for services that can’t be performed during down time
PLUS lost operations cost for lack of employee productivity during down time
EQUALS you can’t afford to not have a solid IT closet
4.) Put appropriate network security measures in place
The days of no one wanting to hack your computer network are gone. Everyone is a target for one reason or another. You don’t know what information you have that someone else wants. Even small non-profits can be targets for their information on the individuals they serve. And you don’t know when you’re going to be a training session for an up and coming hacker.
A secure network needs to control not only what is coming in, but also what’s going out. Employees from inside the network can unknowingly undermine network security by utilizing popular web sites and services that create holes in your network security. These holes can be exploited by outside threats to gain access to your network.
5.) Only allow trusted professionals to make changes to your network
There are two ways you extend trust to a service provider that works on your network: (1) By becoming intimate with your network, they also become familiar with your vulnerabilities. (2) Your network is critical to your everyday operations. The quality of the work done to it can directly impact your business’s daily operations.
Make sure you trust the integrity and skill level of the companies you choose to touch your network.
Want to learn more? Check out USA Today’s recently published an article pointing out how small businesses neglect their computer networks and what one equipment manufacturer is doing to help.
