How to improve your bottom line and security with a 2023 ICT Strategy

It is hard to believe we are nearly at the end of 2022, but it is a perfect time to take stock and plan for the future. Most businesses start a new year with some clear goals, whether that be growth plans, making organisational changes and/or improving operations. With so much of how a business operates depending on technology, it makes sense to review how your ICT can be optimised.

An end of year technology review offers an opportunity to look at several areas of your ICT. The goal for this activity is to focus on improvements you can make that will add to your bottom line. As well as what tactics you will deploy to reduce the risk of a costly cyberattack.

A recent study by Deloitte reviewed small to medium businesses with great technology. They found businesses that make smart use of ICT were ahead of the game compared with similar organisations that didn’t have a strong technology focus. Here are some of the ways they excel:

• They reported twice the amount of revenue per employee
• Their revenue growth was nearly four times higher year-on-year  
• Their rate of employee growth was over six times higher

The main finding - companies that use technology well, perform better and are more secure. Need more statistics? According to IBM, businesses that have an incident response plan reduce the costs of a data breach by 61%. Finally, using security AI and automation can lower costs by 70%.

So how do you get your business ICT up to speed? Schedule some time to do a technology review with your IT team or managed IT provider like Integrated ICT and get your business set up for success and security in the coming year.

What to consider when reviewing your ICT

Integrated ICT’s Technical Sales Manager Joel Newey says, the goal of a technology review is to look at all areas of your ICT infrastructure. Security, efficiency, and the bottom-line will be the key drivers for future initiatives.

“When technology policies get outdated, people stop following them. You need to review all your policies to see if any of them need updating to reflect new conditions. For example, if you have some staff working from home or remotely, make sure your device use policy reflects this.”

“When you update policies, you also need to let your employees know. This gives them a refresher on important information that they may have forgotten since onboarding,” said Mr Newey.

Disaster Recovery Planning

Do you have a Disaster Recovery Plan? Have you tested that plan? Do you have a list of steps for employees to follow in the case of a natural disaster or cyber-attack?

Take time to look at disaster recovery planning for the new year and schedule time to run some drills and vigorously test your plan.

ICT Issues & Pain Points

Before implementing any ICT upgrades, review your employee pain points, this will help to improve staff productivity and wellbeing.

Survey your employees on how they use technology, what helps them succeed and what impedes them. Give them the opportunity to tell you how they feel technology could improve and help them do their jobs better. This will benefit your business and can help you to prioritise improvements.

Privileged access & orphaned accounts

As part of your review, do an audit of your privileged accounts. Over time, permissions can be misused leaving your network at a higher risk of a major attack.

An ICT provider like Integrated ICT will ensure that only those that need them have admin-level permissions. The fewer privileged accounts, the lower your risk of an attack on your business.

While reviewing your accounts ensure that any orphaned accounts are closed as leaving them active poses a security risk.

ICT transformation plans

Planning well in advance for your digital transformation will enable you to budget and avoid unplanned expenses.

“We recommend an ICT strategy session to our clients, (in these sessions) we assess vulnerabilities which gives a list of potential problems. By eliminating vulnerabilities in a business cybersecurity is immediately improved,” said Mr Newey.

Schedule a technology & security assessment today!

Integrated ICT can help you with a thorough review of your technology environment to give you a roadmap for your ICT transformation.

Call 6374 8200

Email hello@integratedict.com.au

Or complete a form here.