Risk Mitigation through IT Planning

By the DynaSis Team

As a company focused on IT solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), we generally think of risk reduction in terms of technology―either reducing the risk to the business if it experiences IT outages (for any reason) or reducing the risks if its security is breached. Nevertheless, we have always assumed that most businesses―and business writers―consider technology risk a part of the general topic of risk reduction and management.

While perusing the Internet recently, we were surprised to learn that many general risk reduction articles do not address technology, at all. We found discussions of a wide array of topics, from reviewing internal controls to practicing better worker safety. We also found numerous IT-related risk management articles, but most of them centered around either cyber security or disaster recovery.

Both of these discoveries were unsettling to us. The reality for SMBs is that technology risk is part of their general business risk, and it is a function of daily operation. It does not take a cyber attack or a major storm for a firm to be hobbled by inadequate IT risk management.

Consider the consequences if an employee accidentally spills coffee all over the back of his PC (or even worse, one of your servers) and it shorts out the internal logic boards. Alternatively, if one of your departments suddenly suffers several PC failures because you have not been able to plan for appropriate replacement cycles. Even something as minor as a mild summer storm can cause an IT mess if lightning hits your building, and you are not properly prepared.

Many companies lose business―and potentially customers―if they suffer an IT outage of even a few hours in a single department. Some that rely on the Internet can lose thousands of dollars in minutes if their site―or its connection to their inventory database―goes down.

Technology has enabled SMBs to do more with less―to look and operate like the “big guys” without having a global network of locations, warehouses all over the country, and other criteria that used to separate large enterprises from small ones. However, when technology replaces traditional operating methods, it also requires more attention.

Solid IT planning and administration can mitigate many of the “non-specific” risks associated with technology―the ones few people consider until they hit home. Working with IT experts to plan for replacement of aging equipment before it fails, for example, or planning for and implementing a remote access solution for your personnel to access corporate data and assets, are just two examples of how businesses can plan for and mitigate IT risk easily and at a reasonable cost.

At the end of the day, IT risk mitigation is a cost of doing business. Companies that embrace this reality and proactively work to achieve it save money, time and headaches, in the long run. As part of our IT support services, DynaSis has been helping its customers mitigate all nature of IT risks in their business. We’d be happy to help you create a workable plan to bring all your IT risks under control. We’ll begin with a simple technology assessment, which will pinpoint risks you did not even know you had. To learn more or get started, please give us a call.