For a business with multiple offices in Lakeland, Florida, or in Polk County, the State of Florida, or even another state, secure networking between offices is essential. A local waste equipment company recently learned just how important. They contacted Alltek for solutions to resolve its networking challenges and got it. Here’s why this local waste equipment company -- with multiple offices -- needs secure networking and why your business needs it, too, especially if your business has one or more satellite offices.
What are common network challenges facing businesses with multiple offices today?
All businesses today have some network challenges. The IT world is ever-changing and ever-advancing. With these changes and advancements come the challenges. Knowing what the most common network challenges are -- specific to a company with satellite offices -- is your starting point for meeting the challenge and overcoming it.
Network Challenge #1: Security Risk
IT network security is the number one challenge facing almost any company, whether or not the business has one location or multiple locations. But this challenge increases with each additional office site, especially when the satellite office is across town or in another state. The more connections your business has to the internet, the more your company is exposed to security risk. Security risk materializes in different forms for companies with multiple locations, both externally and internally.
External Security Risk
There can be any number of external security risks, like weather-related events that shut down your system. But one external security risk that exceeds all others is the risk of being hacked.
Hackers seek confidential information. Unfortunately, so many small businesses believe they are not a target of hackers because they believe hackers are more interested and likely to target big companies, like Target, Yahoo!, and other major national and international corporations. The problem with that belief is: it just isn’t true. Hackers will hack you, too, to steal your confidential information. And they do so because often smaller businesses are more accessible to hackers.
Internal Security Risk
Internal security risks is something many small businesses fail to consider and, therefore, plan for. Like external security risks, internal ones can materialize in different ways, but your number one internal security risk is almost always going to be your employees, whether it is intentional or not -- and in nearly all cases it is not intended.
Employees pose a serious security risk, especially to small businesses with multiple sites. Some employees are unlearned when it comes to using computers and security risks. They may share information they should not. They may use unsecured websites during work. They may create simple, easy passwords that are easily hacked. A recent study as reported by Security Magazine found that employees’ negligence is a top information security risk to U.S. businesses. But it does not end at negligence. Some employees may even become disgruntled for one reason or another and purposefully do something to expose your network to risk.
Network Challenge #2: Risk Management
Risk management is a network challenge that is aligned directly with security risks. Managing your network is the key to securing your network, but many small businesses, especially those with satellite offices, fail to provide their business with a network management plan to effectively and comprehensively address, prevent, and counter risk. Failed risk management often materializes because there is no central strategy or central management of the company’s network, and this poses serious problems.
Examples of failed risk management include:
- Security Breaches
- Failure to identify risk
- Failure to counter the risk
- Software failure.
Identifying risk is the first step to risk management of your IT network system. The National Institute of Standards and Technology provides a thorough overview of risk management, its problems and its solutions for businesses.
Network Challenge #3: Connectivity
Connectivity is a problem for many businesses with multiple locations. And this is the one network challenge that is always on the minds of the business owner and its employees because it is the most prevalent and in-your-face network challenge. When you are not connected or when your offices are not connecting, you know it, you feel it, and so does your company and its clients or customers. The network challenge of connectivity is the most basic and most real challenge that connects you to the world and to the network challenges of security risks, which is directly linked to the network challenge of risk management.
Solve your connectivity issues is often your first step toward solving other network challenges. Preventing connectivity issues, likewise, is your first step to preventing and addressing other network challenges.
How can these network challenges be solved?
Addressing and solving your network challenges is fundamental to a successful business with multiple sites -- it’s the same even if you do not have a satellite office. But how do you do it? The answer does not need to be complicated. The answer lies in finding the right IT services and support company -- one that offers options.
First and foremost, as noted above, you need to make sure you are connected and that that connection is safe, secure, reliable. From there, you want to make sure you know how to manage your risks, particularly security risks. Alltek provides you with services and support to ensure you are connected and stay connected. Structured cabling, which makes sure you have the connection you need and managed IT services, which takes care of network planning and security, are provided -- and this can be ideal for any business with one or more satellite locations throughout Florida and beyond. If you are located in Polk County or Hillsborough County and have network challenges that you need to be addressed or solved, contact us. We make it our business to make sure your business is connected and connected securely.