IT failure is no longer an internal inconvenience, but can have a significant impact on the ability to trade, can damage reputations and lead to loss of competitive advantage. Why then do so many SMBs put their business at risk by leaving themselves vulnerable to IT failure?
The two most important assets for many firms are employees and information, the latter being mostly managed using IT these days. About 40 per cent of SMBs have just one location and about 90 per cent of these use that one location to house both their employees and IT department.
Consequently, if that building becomes unavailable because of a fire or flood, for example, the SMB has nowhere to house either of its key assets. However, if the two are separated and linked electronically, the problem would be halved.
But while there is abundant network capacity and third-party data centre facilities to support safe separation of users and core IT facilities, the majority of SMBs do not make use of them. Co-location providers that lease third-party data centre facilities offer service level agreements that promise to considerably lessen the likelihood of losing access for core IT infrastructure.
And even in the event of employees being unable to get to their normal place of work, if the IT was still up and running many could access it remotely and get on with their jobs from home. Some 20 per cent of SMB employees are now issued with laptops for accessing the company's IT and a smaller but growing number are using handheld devices.
The fact that SMBs increasingly understand the benefits of and allow such remote working means that many are able to carry on working even when their normal place of work is closed. But it also means that in a time of crisis SMBs have the means to provide support to other users who do not normally work remotely, for example, by allowing them to access IT from home over secure sockets layer virtual private networks using home computers.
For most SMBs, managing end user devices, security and network access is a daily headache. Having good management tools in place and automating tasks where ever possible is essential for keeping overheads to a minimum.
And this is where confidence levels need to be improved. Quocirca research shows the SMBs that are most nervous about mobile device security are the ones most reticent to allow their use.
However, this means that not only are they missing out on the flexibility and business efficiency offered by remote access, but they are also not putting in place the foundations for business continuity in the face of disaster.
Nearly all SMBs can do more to ensure better information security and improve their ability to survive a crisis, but some have a lot further to travel than others.
Quocirca's report, Information Security for SMBs, is free to readers.
