Half of US businesses have been hacked.
To avoid joining them, you need to keep your network secure and well maintained. But many businesses neglect their network, and it can be hard to tell when you need to give it a health check.
We are here to help. Read on for 5 of the signs that you should schedule a network evaluation.
1. You’re Afraid to Look
You won’t do yourself any favors by avoiding a network assessment.
You probably you have machines on the network that need software updates or patches. Though, you don’t know how many and this seems overwhelming. It’s understandable to be afraid of what you might find but that isn’t an excuse not to do it.
No matter how overwhelming it might seem, do that assessment. It’ll help you work out those kinks and be better organized for the future. It’ll also put your mind at rest, too.
2. Your IT Is Always EOL
Do you find that you are always reacting to software going end of life? If you are always migrating off outdated hardware and software, then your network has gotten away from you.
If you leave it too long between network evaluations it is easy to lose track of the lifespan of your software. It is also likely that you are missing important updates to the software that is still supported.
3. Complaints About Performance and Issues
Are your users always pointing out problems with slow internet speeds or applications? It’s likely due to the design and configuration of your network infrastructure.
A lot of the time slowdowns are due to inefficient connections between the servers and your users. By doing a network assessment you can detect the root cause. This will help you look at solutions to resolve or improve it.
4. You Have Had a Data Breach
Even a small data breach can have large consequences.
An event as innocent as an employee losing their company mobile phone could expose company records. If such an event occurs, you need to be able to immediately lock down the network and track down the root cause of the breach. You also need to know your legal responsibilities towards your staff and customers.
Most breaches are the result of poor network or physical security, so they should act as a wake-up call to check your firewalls and network health.
5. Your Network Isn’t Documented
Keeping your network documented is an important task, but IT teams often fail to do so.
The IT department is often working to full capacity in their tasks. If everything is working fine then documentation is often at the bottom of the to-do list.
If this is the case, all it takes is a bad update or a vital employee to leave for the network to come to a standstill. If you don’t have up to date documentation, then fixable issues can become serious IT disasters.
Schedule a Network Evaluation
If you are showing any of these signs, then you are overdue a network evaluation. It is easy for a network to become neglected until it is too late, so regular network assessments are essential to your ongoing maintenance.
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