Many of us set off into the new year with goals and ideas for self-improvement in the coming 12 months. Whether changing diet, building a new exercise regime, or boosting productivity and focus; we aim to create better versions of ourselves for the coming new year. The same should be true of goals for our business too.

With a fresh start on the calendar, there's never a better time to clear out last year's problems and put your best foot forward in the new year. Tightening up security, increasing business productivity, and finally getting to those long-standing tasks will put your organisation on a flying start and prepare you for new opportunities.

Use Modern Security For Modern Threats

Ever year a number of cyber attacks, large enough to make headlines in mainstream media, have disrupted small and large businesses and stolen valuable data. Many companies have been left counting costs and working hard to patch financial gaps left by these hard-hitting attacks. Security exploits have damaged both IT systems and reputations beyond repair.

Similar attacks are expected to happen with even more frequency in the future. As hackers gain access to better tools and resources, cyber attacks are predicted to become more sophisticated and far more damaging too. Modern companies, particularly those with a large online component, are required to do far more to keep on top of the latest threats in IT.

Maintaining strong security against continually strengthening attacks is a significant challenge for every business. Traditional tools are essential, but these alone aren't enough in the modern world of IT. In order to remain secure and protected, organisations require layered security which includes prevention, detection, monitoring, and incident response.

Each layer of security works to strengthen the other, resulting in a complete system many times stronger than standalone solutions. A comprehensive system will protect against threats originating inside the network as much as those coming from external sources.

Even the most conscientious employee could accidentally introduce malicious software to the network. Simply plugging in a device, seemingly lost or abandoned, can allow attackers to load malware onto the company network. Such attacks have been used frequently by hackers in the past.

Modern security monitors for and prevents just these types of unexpected and devious events. There's never a better time than now to protect your business, update your security, and ensure your work doesn't get knocked off track.

Update Security Policies

Almost all businesses experience massive and sometimes surprising amounts of change over time. Whether caused by periods of intense growth, change in structure, staff turnover, or including additional external resources; the shape of a company can be almost unrecognisable to the way it started. For growth, management, and sustainability, it is crucial that your IT and security reflects the latest picture of your business.

For many companies, updates to IT and security policy can lag far behind changes to the business itself. Employees transferred to new departments commonly retain full access and permissions to their old 'home' department. Updates to IT and security can be low down on the list of priorities and sometimes forgotten altogether.

Even seemingly small, simple inconsistencies can cause major issues when dealing with audits, check-ups, and certifications. An out-of-date picture of the business, misplaced permissions, and unclear structure can raise instant red flags and open the system to security vulnerabilities.

A fresh start and a new year is the ideal time to take stock of your IT, keep your policies up to date, and make sure the picture you have fully reflects your business today.

Back up your Data

One of the most valuable, simple, and yet most commonly overlooked steps a business can take to secure its data is to maintain an remote backup. Moving essential data offsite protects businesses against a vast number of potentially catastrophic events.

Data is as open to attack from hackers and criminals as much as natural disaster and accidental damage. Whether impacted by fire, flood, extreme weather or deletion; without a reliable remote backup, the impact on your business from any cause can be completely devastating. The key to a good offsite backup, whether stored on a physical medium or the cloud, is total reliability.

You have to be confident you can restore your working environment fully to enable your business to continue following adverse events.

Ensuring reliability and reducing impact means testing your backup in 'fair weather' conditions to know it’s available when things are stormy. With good systems knowledge and patience, this can be done routinely and frequently to give complete peace of mind.

The ideal IT backup should be simple to restore, quick, and up-to-date with the most recent picture of your system. Each of these can be met with excellent cost efficiency using modern technology.

If there's one resolution you don't want to miss, it's employing a strong remote backup. Reliable and secure protection keeps your business running, your deadlines met, and your reputation spotless; regardless of the environment around you.

Work Better In The New Year

Every business owner in the world wants to be more efficient with their time and money. Adding flexibility to your workplace, the ability to scale a business up or down as needed, is a low-cost way to achieve precisely that.

Adopting cloud infrastructure as part of your new year business plan can allow you to scale business resources to exactly what you need. Adding people, storage, or computing power to a project is as simple as the flick of a switch; while scaling back on changing requirements can be done at a moment’s notice.

Using the cloud over traditional desktop packages increases opportunities for extra collaboration and improved communication within a team.

Modern companies with cloud infrastructure have the chance to move out of the dark ages, where emails back and forth containing files, file revisions, and revisions to revisions were considered normal.

Today the same process is faster, uses less resources, and happens transparently. Employees are free to focus on work productivity instead of wasting time tracking down the most up-to-date file, managing redundant copies, and managing communication within and between teams.

Remote Opportunities for More Efficiency

Along with scalable resources, cloud packages provide the opportunity for staff to work from outside the office. Employees are free to log in from anywhere in the world, unlocking even more efficiency from your business practices. Only a suitable device and internet connection is required to progress projects, update systems, or manage finances.

Cloud-based accounting packages, for example, allow your accountant to log in using just a web browser. Long gone are the days where access to your own, typically huge, database is needed to work with complex finances.

Cloud resources empower you and your employees to work remotely whenever required.

Whether collaborating on the same file, managing independent projects, or meeting in a virtual space; everyone always remains on the same page.

Make IT Issues Last Year's Problem

The most important thing to take into the new year is a strong business focus. With your mind on the firm and your head in the right space, there are almost unlimited opportunities for growth and improvement.

Don't let IT distractions knock your plans off track. Make your technology issues a thing of the past by allowing us to handle the IT, while you build your company to fresh heights in the new year.

Contact Swerve on it.help@swerve.nz.

New Year’s Resolutions for Businesses