Reach your IT peak: Essentials for start-ups

Albert Einstein once said, “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” – and in many ways, this philosophy is easily applied to starting a successful business.

When a company is in the start-up stages, it’s important that the foundations – especially where IT is concerned – are solid, so that operations are smooth, productivity is at its best and corporate headaches are minimised.

So, when it comes to establishing a secure and effective IT infrastructure, it’s crucial that your start-up has all of the necessary equipment, software and support to keep it streamlined.

But if you’re a little stuck and wondering where to start your outsourced IT support journey to reach your IT peak, it may help to bear the following points in mind.

Don’t underestimate the power of the basics

When it comes to computers and an ideal cyber set-up, it’s easy to think that the basics – desktops, software and hardware, for example – can take care of themselves. But this isn’t always the case, and small business owners should feel reassured that a team of dedicated experts are monitoring the firm’s core essentials, to ensure they’re working as efficiently as possible.

Whether this be desktop-related issues with Windows or Microsoft Office, or errors with third-party software support – such as printers and scanners – having a team on hand to diagnose and rectify any problems, and liaise with the necessary providers, is key for achieving seamless business operations.

Be serious about security

In an age where UK SMEs experience on average five cyber-attacks each year, safeguarding your start-up’s data and IT systems should be high on your business agenda. But just because you have antivirus software installed, doesn’t mean that it’s fulfilling your business’s security needs…

Firstly, implementing a powerful and up-to-date antivirus software is pivotal, as it supports the ongoing detection of known viruses or virus-like activity within a computer. This, coupled with regular and comprehensive system scans, are key in identifying any dormant or rogue applications that could be embedded in your IT infrastructure.

But it’s important to remember that security goes much deeper than antivirus protection. There’s also anti-spam – to prevent email clutter and safeguard against potential malicious attachments – and something called patch management, which is a process that keeps systems running smoothly and reduces security vulnerability risks.

At the end of the day, arming your systems with all the necessary security applications and updates significantly reduces the opportunities for hackers and zero-day exploiters – so why wouldn’t you?

Keep an eye on your Wi-Fi

Flexible internet connectivity is a given in today’s cyber-connected world, but while Wi-Fi is a great business asset, if not managed correctly, it can also be a firm’s biggest downfall.

As a potential gateway to hackers and unauthorised devices, monitoring your network traffic plays a vital role in quickly identifying any possible breaches and, above all, allows you to stay in control of your organisation’s cyber operations.

Always have a contingency plan

Sometimes, no matter how well you plan, disasters can happen – think power cuts and device loss. So, to avoid a frantic state of panic if something doesn’t go quite as planned, having regular and remote desktop back-ups scheduled will enable important documents to be easily recovered.

The same goes for emails – billions are exchanged between businesses across the globe on a daily basis, but what if you accidentally delete one? As a start-up owner, you should therefore think about how an email archiving service could offer protection and peace of mind for your organisation.

If you’d like some advice on how to reach your IT peak, or if you’d like more information about our free IT audit for start-ups, get in touch with the friendly Q2Q team to discuss your options!

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