Information technology (IT) is not yet a regulated industry. Similar to the trades, you can choose those that belong to a professional body or those that don’t. Much like those instances – Caveat Emptor, buyer beware applies.
Having a technology partner that is associated with a professional body, that has the experience, continued qualification and development and that can ask peers and like-minded people about current trends, issues and solutions can prove very valuable before times of crisis hit.
Like Chartered Accountants who undertake more training and experience than just an accountant, trusted IT professionals for your home or business can offer more education, benefits, insight and long term savings for you.
IT suppliers and vendors are dealing with your data, privacy and potentially your livelihood.
If you have downtime in your business, this can be very costly to you and your family, it is important to note who is assisting you and your business in the technology landscape. We have come across many businesses that are limping along, have high risk, frustrations and are struggling to make technology work for them. These businesses also see technology as a cost and not an investment in their future and stability. They could be doing so much better with the right tools and solutions in place.
No matter what location you work from; home, office, beach or farm there are some key items that every business across multiple industries should have to minimise risk and to ensure they have good technology practices.
WiFi management
Many times we have seen a business run from home or small office and have one network that covers staff, guests, work computers and private devices.
This is a security risk especially if you are holding private information of clients and the kids are watching Netflix, while the partner is on Facebook on the mobile. Multiple devices to one connection can easily be separated and should be.
Backups
Businesses that have no backup or think the data on Dropbox or Google is safe or rotating a couple of USB external drives be warned. Those are better than no backup solution but are still not the standard option preferred. A hosted automatic backup solution that increments backup on a regular basis, is tested often is actually cost-effective.
The best part is you don’t have to worry about it! This can be backed up to a cloud storage provider (such as Google or Dropbox) or another office location.
Antivirus
Having a 3rd party antivirus, not just a default one is also recommended.
Password Management
Having a password management system and with Two Factor Authentication at a minimum for key platforms (email, accounting, data storage) is recommended.
IT professionals of New Zealand (ITP) is one organisation that is bringing its own regulations to the new Zealand market and there are a number of alliances that also peer review or assist in the manner.
It pays to ask what professional body your IT partner belongs to before engaging in
their services.
