5 Security Compliance Policies Your Business Needs to Have
5 Security Compliance Policies Your Business Needs to Have The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history. Not only has the outbreak claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, but it has also weakened the economies of several countries and territories. Amid all the frenzy, organizations are facing another threat: an astronomic increase in cyber attacks. Well-implemented cybersecurity and Information security protocols and policies are vital for combating cyber threats and protecting an organization’s data. Unless your organization makes information security a top priority, you will be vulnerable to data breaches and information leaks. The first thing to understand about devising and implementing security compliance policies is that length and complexity have no bearing on policy effectiveness. The more concise and clear your policy is, the better. It must capture all the core elements that are of value to the organization while assigning clear-cut responsibilities, roles, and remediation guidelines. In this piece, we will go over all the crucial security compliance policies your business must incorporate. Policy 1: Response to Security Incident The odds are that your business will have to deal with a security incident at some point in time. With that in mind, your staff must know and understand their responsibilities, reporting procedures, communication protocols, and containment strategies in order to limit and minimize the damage. This policy is the foundation upon which all other security compliance policies will be devised. Policy 2: Asset Management In order to understand the technological footprint of your organization, you need to be able to effectively and efficiently manage company assets. Once you’re apprised of the status of your assets, you will be better equipped to create security protocols. Policy 3: Acceptable Use All company employees, third parties, and contractors must possess a proper understanding of how resources and assets are to be used before they are granted access. Your policy should clearly define how each resource, network, and system can and cannot be used. Policy 4: Device and System Minimum Security Before your devices, networks, and systems are used, they must be configured with baseline security measures. Most frameworks require this policy to be implemented. Policy 5: Accounts and Passwords Everyone who is authorized to create an account on your systems must be made to follow a set of account creation protocols. These should include the kinds of accounts they can create, how they are used, and how they are managed. Create a baseline length and complexity for passwords and include multi-factor authentication and one-time password measures. If you’re looking to develop robust security compliance policies for your organization, it’s best that you consult professionals to do the job. At HEM Innovative Solutions, we understand the critical importance of strong information security policies for businesses of all sizes. Our managed IT security services in Mississauga, ON, have helped numerous businesses develop a secure defense system against the increased threat of cyberattacks. Connect with us at HEM Innovative Solutions online to get a quote, or call us at (905) 362-9371.
3 Convincing Reasons Why to Outsource IT Support
3 Convincing Reasons Why to Outsource IT Support As the business landscape evolves, so do IT budgets. Maintaining digital systems is more crucial than ever for a business to stay afloat, let alone be successful. A report by Spiceworks found that 44 percent of businesses plan to increase tech spending in 2020, and about 88 percent expect their IT budgets to remain the same or increase in the same year. Companies are looking to incorporate several managed IT services, such as storage and backup, hosting, and IT support to complete their increasing number of projects and maintain their systems. In this piece, we’ll discuss why outsourcing IT support is a great option that your business should consider. Expertise and Specialization If you begin hiring employees to maintain every IT service, you won’t have the cash flow necessary to run a business. On the other hand, if you don’t have employees who have specializations in specific IT specializations, you’ll end up compromising your system significantly. By outsourcing IT, you can avoid both of these issues by hiring people who are not only trained in the intricate workings of specific technologies, but are also experienced in using those technologies. Cost-Effective As mentioned above, it’s costly to hire and train in-house staff. Not to mention that you have to invest in constant training to keep staff members’ knowledge of different security, networking, software, and hardware solutions up-to-date. What’s more, managers will have to take out time from their busy schedules to interview and train new staff members. If that weren’t enough, you’ll also have to deal with attrition. As your IT support employees improve their skills and gain more experience, their value will increase. If the salaries you’re offering them don’t meet their demands, they’ll simply turn to someone else. Once they leave, you’ll have to repeat the cycle once more. Improved System Implementation Speed IT projects tend to stall because organizations lack the time and resources to implement systems that are necessary for their completion. By outsourcing IT support, you are afforded the time and space to begin projects as soon as you’re ready. Once you and your project manager have decided how to approach the project, your IT support partner will provide the staff needed to work on the project on time. If you’re looking to hire a reputable organization for managed IT services and consulting, look no further than us at HEM Innovative Solutions. At HEM Innovative Solutions, we understand that businesses require specialized IT expertise to begin and complete their projects on time and within budget. That’s why our managed IT support services in Mississauga, ON, are efficient and affordable. All our staff members are highly trained in their respective fields. Connect with us online to get a quote, or call us at (905) 362-9371.
What COVID-19 Teaches About the Importance of IT for Your Small Business
What COVID-19 Teaches About the Importance of IT for Your Small Business The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a colossal shift in the way we work, forcing organizations all over the world to adopt a remote work model. However, the transition to a work-from-home model has left many IT professionals concerned about security breaches. A recent report by Fugue found that 96 percent of cloud engineering and IT teams are working remotely, and 84 percent are concerned about the security vulnerabilities arising from remotely managing cloud infrastructures. The Importance of Building and Securing a Remote Workforce Increased COVID-related Cyberattacks The effects of the outbreak of the coronavirus were more than enough to negatively impact the economy—small businesses in particular. However, increased vulnerabilities due to large-scale changes in workplace practices led attackers to take advantage of the situation and make it even worse for businesses that didn’t have robust IT systems. Work-from-home technologies, online cloud services, and customer-facing networks have all been exploited by cyber attackers. Between February and March 2020, hacking and phishing activity increased by 37 percent. In March and April 2020, there were more than 192,000 coronavirus-related cyberattacks reported every week: a 30 percent increase from pre-COVID levels. What Businesses Can Do to Secure Their Remote Workforces Most companies aren’t very experienced when it comes to managing a fully remote workforce and the unique challenges it presents. Organizations’ IT infrastructures are struggling with the increased number of unmanaged and unsecured personal devices. Most businesses employ a fragmented IT infrastructure, with on-premises equipment and workloads that are hosted in both private and public clouds. For a complete and holistic array of security measures deployed across these IT environments, companies will have to: If you’re looking to hire a reputable IT infrastructure and consulting firm for managed IT security services and Azure Cloud managed servicesin Mississauga, ON, for your business, look no further than us at HEM Innovative Solutions. At HEM Innovative Solutions, we understand that businesses require specialized IT expertise to begin and complete their projects on time and within budget. That’s why our managed IT support services are efficient and affordable. All our staff members are highly trained in their respective fields. Connect with us online to get a quote, or call us at (905) 362-9371.
3 Distinctive Ways to Engage Customers and Visitors to Your Stores
Blog 3 Unique Ways to Engage with Customers and Visitors to Your Stores Whether you operate a brick-and-mortar store, an online store, both, or sell in any other format, it is absolutely crucial to keep your customers engaged and invested. As we’re all bombarded by stimuli, it’s important for businesses to understand the importance of grabbing and sustaining customer attention. With that in mind, we’ve created this piece to give you some creative and unique ideas to engage with customers and visitors to your store. Invest in Digital Signage for Physical Stores If you operate a physical store, consider trading out your static signs for engaging, and even interactive, digital signage solutions. Digital signage refers to the screens that display content.You can have your screens feature branded graphic slides, videos and animated ads,and menu and price items. Digital signage makes store displays far more dynamic and eye-catching and is sure to keep your customers engaged in what you have to say and offer. Build a Group or Community One of the most effective ways of interacting with your customers is to build an online community. The great thing is that you have several ways of doing this. You can consider forums or various different social media platforms. Like, share, and comment on users’ posts when they engage with your business or purchase products. Moreover, consider using platforms like LinkedIn Groups and Facebook Groups for your customers. Create Custom Content to Address Customer Questions While content marketing strategies are aimed at driving leads to gain new customers, creating custom content is mainly used to engage with and nurture existing customers. Understand some of the most common questions customers have about your products, business, or industry, and create custom and personalized content that addresses them. According to Demand Metric, 78 percent of Chief Marketing Officers see custom content as the future of marketing; 60 percent of consumers enjoy reading relevant content from brands. For premium digital signage & IPTV solutions, IT services and consulting, network cabling infrastructure services in Mississauga, ON, get in touch with us at HEM Innovative Solutions. We are a trusted name in the world on managed IT solutions and digital advertising. Our company helps small businesses in Mississauga build better ways to engage with theircustomers online and offline with digital signage& IPTV services, managed IT support services, Azure Cloud managed services, and network & connectivity services. Get a quote or call us at (905) 362-9371.
How to Choose the Best Managed Cloud Service Provider?
Table of Contents: As more and more IT systems are externalized, it’s important to ensure that you choose the appropriate cloud providers for long-term success. However, the market access is huge, with a variety of suppliers providing even more services. How can you choose the appropriate cloud providers? The solution is a precise selection and procurement procedure that is properly weighted against your specific requirements. Timing – When should a cloud provider be selected? You need to understand your particular company requirements before you can successfully choose a competent supplier. It seems relatively simple, but defining your specific criteria and minimal expectations makes sure that you compare them all against your checklist before evaluating suppliers rather than comparing one against the other. This is the fastest method to go from long to shortlists. With clarity on technical, service, security, data management and service management needs, you may question your selected group of prospective providers in a more effective way. Also noteworthy are the particular environments and services provided by your Cloud service provider when migrating apps and workloads to the cloud, the settings you need to do the job and the assistance you may receive from your cloud service provider to accomplish it. Ideally, it would help to choose your providers after your cloud migration candidates have been identified but simultaneously analyzed and prepared those migrating workloads. Certifications & Norms Providers who meet recognized standards and quality frameworks show respect for best practices and standards in the industry. Although criteria do not decide which service provider you select, they may be of great assistance in identifying prospective providers. Eight things to consider when choosing a cloud service provider When selecting a cloud provider, the requirements you have and the evaluation criteria you use will be unique to your organization. However, there are some common areas of focus during any service provider assessment. We have grouped these into eight sections to help you effectively compare suppliers and select a provider that delivers the value and benefits that your organization expects from the cloud. Benefits of a managed cloud service provider Working with an expert cloud consultant at the business level removes the guess from your cloud integration. Experienced cloud providers will help you arrange your cloud infrastructure, and they may also assist you in saving substantial expenses. A managed service provider helps to build realistic plans of digital transformation to successful cloud implementations. Their vast cloud expertise allows them to assist companies with state-of-the-art technology, centralized networking services and apps and a highly scalable IT architecture. Depending on your IT requirements, you may cover various gaps in your everyday operations and cloud integration procedures with a managed service provider. The following are the benefits of working with a managed cloud service provider (MSP): Looking at these advantages, will your company profit more than the others? You may prioritize your requirements based on which advantages you can benefit most. Do you have questions regarding cloud services managed? Contact us to talk to one of our cloud experts.