It’s not uncommon for each of us to see our doctor once or twice a year—even if we’re feeling healthy. It’s simply a matter of maintenance to ensure we stay well. These checkups also allow physicians to discover potential problems early, taking a proactive approach to health and offering a better chance of receiving treatment and cures to any illnesses. If we skip these checkups, a problem could arise that puts us in a reactionary mode, and sometimes by then it’s too late for treatment. An IT health assessment, or IT security review, is a lot like this. It enables IT experts to assess the entire IT environment, from the technology to the operational processes, to ensure everything is running smoothly and the infrastructure is virus-free.
It’s tempting to think that if you’ve had your IT infrastructure examined once, you’re in the clear. But complex technology environments are always evolving, and if these changes are not addressed regularly, it can leave gaps within your infrastructure. These gaps put your organization in jeopardy and at risk for disaster, whether in the form of outages and performance disruptions, or malware, which is always looking to exploit weaknesses in infrastructure.
What Does an Infrastructure Health Check Entail?
To keep your infrastructure in ship shape, it’s best to have everything examined, from the largest piece of physical hardware, to the tiniest software package. Organizations should look at each of the following:
Physical Hardware
Probably your most expensive resource, this includes all desktop machines and servers. Some of the questions you’ll want to ask include:
– Am I spending too much on server maintenance and upgrades?
– Is there anything I can do to extend the life of my equipment?
– Do I need to consider new equipment to better support my business?
Software
Software is often where the bugs find their way in, so it’s important to review all packages.
- Am I using outdated software that’s hurting business efficiencies and making my staff less productive?
- Are there upgrades, or newer versions with patches available to put me at less of a risk for a security breach?
- Should I consider moving away from traditional software packages and adopt a cloud-based strategy?
Security
Approximately 50% of small businesses never reopen following a disaster;
for larger businesses that can recover over time, disasters can still
compromise data resulting in the loss of customers, customer trust, and money.
Whether a threat comes in the form of a data breach, natural disaster,
human error, or power outage, an organization’s security should be a top
priority.
- Do I have a solid business continuity plan?
- How quickly can my organization get back up and running in the event of a disaster?
- Are my employees knowledgeable about the threats of malware and viruses?
- Do my teams have adequate IT support and expertise, or should I consider a managed IT services provider to offer additional help and security?
All too often organizations wait until there’s a problem to call in the professionals. This reactive approach to infrastructure health can be potentially devastating. Some of the warning signs that an infrastructure health check is needed
