Well, it’s that time of year again. Whether you have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighborhood kids, or if you just see the big yellow school buses on your commute, you are probably aware that the school year is beginning for most children. There is a lot of preparation that goes into back to school from clothes shopping to supply shopping to computer shopping, etc…From the time children start Kindergarten, up until they graduate, you develop habits and routines around back to school. So what in the heck does this have to do with your business?
I just took my son into the doctor for his yearly physical. I do this every year right before school starts. When is the last time that you performed a physical on your network? Is it something you faithfully do every year? Network health check is a must for any organization regardless of their size or industry. Networks are continuously changing. Every day new devices, software, or hardware may be added to your network without your knowledge. Are these changes safe and secure or are they leaving you vulnerable? Your data is critical to your business and you should do everything in your power to protect it. We apply that thinking when we get yearly physicals for ourselves and are children don’t we?
There are countless ways a network can be compromised and a yearly network audit check can help identify these. Some common compromises could be:
- Firewall may not be properly configured
- No firewall protection
- Wireless network is not secure
- Vulnerable email services
- Inactive or missing anti-virus protection
- Unsecured devices on your network
These are common factors that can inadvertently cause your organization costly network issues. There can also be some benefits to a network audit:
- Vulnerabilities. The security of your system is tested and items can be detected such as unapproved services, weak passwords, non-secure connections, etc…
- Patch Management. An audit shows what systems need patched and provide you with confirmation those patches have been deployed successfully.
- Asset Inventory. Doing a complete hardware inventory lets you know what you have and what you may need. Doing a complete software inventory lets you know what software is running on your workstations and servers.
- Compliance. Ensures all systems are compliant with your internal policies.
An organization, like a person, can change so much in a year. Some changes can be detrimental to your business if they are not uncovered and handled in a timely manner. If you are proactive with the maintenance of your network, it will save you both time and money. All this requires is to schedule and maintain the schedule of yearly network audits. It is helpful to align it with something you already have scheduled yearly, like preparing for back to school.
If you don’t have an internal IT staff or if your IT staff doesn’t have the bandwidth or expertise to perform this yearly, contact 2W Tech today. We have IT Consultants on staff that specialize in network systems and can help conduct your yearly audit.
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