Most businesses and organisations make cybersecurity too hard because “you should do it either way.” This isn’t a good reason. Every day, business owners hear a lot of “have to” statements. It’s very hard to sort through all the fluff and figure out what’s important and what’s just nice to have.

We try to teach the community about cybersecurity so that they can make a good choice for their business.

See our full guide to cybersecurity for executives here (Link to E-Book)

This guide shows exactly what kinds of threats a business faces and which of the many layers of cybersecurity cover each one. Because we know you’re busy, we kept it short.

So, once you know which layers are recommended and WHY, it’s important to know the three main things an IT company should look at when deciding which layer is the best fit. It’s important to look over this information so you can figure out why prices might be higher or lower, why your employees might be affected or not, and if these layers are working or not.

We will look at how well it works, how it affects the user, and how much it costs.

Effectiveness

Without a doubt, this is the most important thing to think about. Does the layer actually do what it says it will do? For example, does the service that filters spam catch spam? If so, how much?

This is shown by the following: Microsoft 365 already has a spam filter built in, so why would a business pay for another one?

The answer is that it works.

Some spam gets through the built-in spam filtering, but not as much as your IT provider would like. So, they say you should add another layer of protection. It’s not because they want to sell you something else; it’s because it’s their job to keep your business safe.

Every recommended layer goes through a standard check list and review process to make sure it works in the current environment. I say “current environment” because cyber security is always changing. So, we have to keep doing this over and over to make sure our suggestions are up-to-date.

Productivity of Users

This one doesn’t get enough attention, but it’s often the biggest problem an organisation has. What’s the point of having a lot of security layers if they slow down your users and cost more money than if you didn’t have them at all?

A good IT provider must look at how it affects the user. But this isn’t always the case. Again, they may say, “But this is the only way to be completely safe!” but that’s not true at all. Our clients don’t have to deal with constant roadblocks, but they are just as safe as businesses with MSPs who don’t put as much thought into their work.

In some situations, you can’t get around this thought.

For example, multi-factor authentication is a layer that requires a second form of authentication or “login” to get into an account. This can be hard for the end user to understand, but it is a very important layer.

So, we figure out how to make it simpler. A few quick ways we can make this easier for our clients:

The Authenticator app will send a quick push message to your phone. You only have to click “Yes.” You don’t have to remember and type in a code.

Safe devices: We mark as safe the computers and phones you use most often to log in. This will limit how often you are asked for a second way to prove who you are.

The effect on users is huge, and if your IT provider hasn’t thought about this, please get in touch with us today so we can get you working quickly and securely.

Price

Price is another thing that many IT providers don’t want to talk about. We work with small and medium-sized companies. It’s important that our clients can afford our suggestions, because cheap and done is better than expensive and not done.

When figuring out the best cybersecurity package for our clients, we have to make sure that price is one of the things we look at so that we can protect all of them. It’s not reasonable to think that our clients can pay the same price for the same service as, say, a public company.

But that doesn’t make them any less safe! Extra reports, the ability to make a lot of changes, and the number of users often come with big price tags. We can offer enterprise-level security at a lower price because we can buy in bulk and save money.

Conclusion

We appreciate that you took the time to read this. If you want to learn more about how cybersecurity can protect your business, you must take it very seriously. Check out our Executives Guide to Cybersecurity and get in touch with our team if you want to learn more.

We would be happy to give your business a free assessment of its cybersecurity and look at these three important things to make sure you are in the best position possible.