Below is part 1 of our 6-part series aimed at helping you understand the key trends that Small and Midsized Businesses need to consider investing in.
The key trends Small and Mid-sized Businesses (SMBs) need to invest in.
In the past three years (2019 – 2022), we have seen several trends that have become more central to the budgets of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Chalk it up to the pandemic, dynamic changes in the stock market, a cosmic shift in what employees expect from a work-life balance, or perhaps this is a natural evolutionary moment in the technology-driven business world continuum, no matter the reason(s) it is clear that SMBs need to worry more about outside factors than past generations.
These trends are centered around the essential need to stabilize a small or mid-sized business at a time when there are more risks, vulnerabilities, and uncontrollable circumstances around every corner. This means investing in the processes, technologies, and solutions that help ensure your business can weather the worst storms.
Series outline
1. Stabilize your Business – Part 1 of 6 (this post)
2. Stabilize your Business – Business Continuity – Part 2 of 6
3. Stabilize your Business – Disaster Recovery – Part 3 of 6
4. Stabilize your Business – Remote Workforce Strategy – Part 4 of 6
5. Stabilize your Business – Security Assessments – Part 5 of 6
6. Stabilize your Business – Enterprise IT Assessments – Part 6 of 6
We will delve into the following five trends in a separate blog post per topic.
Business Continuity
Business continuity refers to the measures that organizations put in place to ensure that they can continue to operate in the event of unexpected disruptions, such as natural disasters, power outages, or cyber-attacks. These measures include backup systems, fault-tolerant systems, failover and disaster recovery systems, disaster recovery plans, and business continuity plans. The goal of business continuity is to minimize the impact of disruptions on the organization and ensure that critical business functions can continue as smoothly as possible. This may involve switching to a backup system, relocating operations to a temporary location, or implementing contingency plans for key processes.
Disaster Recovery
Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity that focuses specifically on the measures taken to restore systems, processes, and infrastructure after a disaster or other major disruption. Disaster recovery plans outline an organization’s steps to recover from a disaster and return to normal operations as quickly as possible. This may include restoring data from backups, setting up temporary locations or systems, and coordinating with outside organizations or vendors to assist. The goal of disaster recovery is to minimize the impact of a disaster on the organization and ensure that it can resume critical services to customers and operations as quickly as possible.
Remote Workforce Strategy
A remote workforce strategy is a plan that outlines how an organization will manage and support employees who work remotely, either full-time or part-time. A remote workforce strategy includes policies for communication, collaboration, and productivity; guidelines for technology and equipment; and processes for onboarding, training, and supporting remote employees. The goal of a remote workforce strategy is to ensure that remote employees have the resources and support they need to be productive and effective in their roles while also maintaining the necessary level of control and oversight for the organization.
Implementing a remote workforce strategy requires careful planning and consideration of various factors, including the nature of the work, the needs of the employees, IT governance and security policies, and the available technology and resources. It may also involve adapting business processes, policies, and culture to support remote work. A successful remote workforce strategy can help organizations attract and retain top talent, increase productivity and flexibility, and improve overall business operations.
Security Assessments
Security assessments are evaluations of an organization’s security posture conducted to identify vulnerabilities and risks and to determine the effectiveness of existing security controls.
There are several types of security assessments:
Vulnerability Assessments
These assessments identify and prioritize vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems, applications, and infrastructure.
Penetration Testing
Also known as “pen testing,” this type of assessment simulates an attack on an organization’s systems to identify vulnerabilities and assess the effectiveness of security controls.
Risk Assessments
These assessments identify and evaluate risks to an organization’s assets, including physical assets, data, and systems.
Compliance Assessments
These assessments determine whether an organization complies with relevant laws, regulations, and standards, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, and SOX.
Security assessments can be conducted internally by an organization’s security team or externally by a third-party consultant. The results of a security assessment can be used to develop a security plan or to improve existing security controls.
Enterprise IT Assessments
Enterprise IT assessments evaluate an organization’s information technology (IT) systems, infrastructure, and processes. These assessments are typically conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses in an organization’s IT environment and to identify opportunities for improvement.
There are several types of enterprise IT assessments:
IT Infrastructure Assessments
These assessments evaluate an organization’s IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, networking, and other hardware and software components.
IT Security Assessments
These assessments evaluate an organization’s security posture, including its policies, procedures, and technical controls.
IT Process Assessments
These assessments evaluate an organization’s IT processes, including change management, incident response, and problem resolution.
IT Capacity Assessments
These assessments evaluate an organization’s IT capacity, including its ability to handle current and future workloads.
Enterprise IT assessments can be conducted internally by an organization’s IT team or externally by a third-party consultant. The results of an enterprise IT assessment can be used to develop an IT roadmap or to improve existing IT systems, processes, and controls.
How StrataNorth can help.
Are you thinking about investing in the stabilization of your small or mid-sized business? Do you have a Business Continuity strategy defined and the technology roadmap to get you there? Let us help you. We can help you go from an idea to execution. StrataNorth is an IT Advisory Consultancy. We help businesses of all sizes adopt the right technology to help them grow, work smarter and stabilize their business. Our consultants have decades of experience in the industry. We are cost-competitive and fiercely independent in our analysis.
If you are ready to transform your business’s operational efficiency and are looking for experts to guide you, StrataNorth has Security and Technology consultants with decades of experience. We can help you reach Operational Stability and give you a roadmap for success. Reach out for a no-cost, no-obligation chat with an IT Consultant or Security expert today.
