Small and medium businesses often lack specialised IT resources, making them particularly vulnerable. (Federation of Small Businesses Technology Report; Cyber Essentials Case Studies)
Here’s a valuable lesson from one SME’s experience:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲: A Midlands-based manufacturing SME with 45 employees narrowly avoided catastrophic data loss after conducting their first comprehensive IT health check.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The review uncovered alarming issues:
– No tested backup system despite believing backups were running
– Critical production systems running on hardware 7+ years old
– 80% of staff using the same password across multiple systems
– No disaster recovery plan for core business systems
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: They immediately implemented:
– A 3-2-1 backup strategy with verified restoration testing
– Critical hardware replacement prioritisation plan
– Password manager deployment and basic security training
– Simple disaster recovery documentation for key systems
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀:
– When their server room experienced water damage 3 months later, recovery took hours instead of weeks
– Avoided estimated £85,000 in potential business interruption
– Improved system performance increased staff productivity
– Successfully passed cyber essentials certification
𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗪𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Run a basic backup verification test today. Attempt to restore several random files from your backups. Many businesses discover their backups aren’t working properly only when it’s too late.
What’s your biggest SME technology concern? Share below for practical advice tailored to limited budgets and resources.
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