Choosing the right IT investments can feel like walking a tightrope. You don't want to overspend on technology you don't need, but you also don't want to risk a tech disaster by doing nothing.
When it comes to IT systems and security risks, the stakes are high. From annoying slowdowns to full-blown crises like data breaches or system crashes, your choices matter.
With over 25 years of experience, WEBIT Services has seen it all, and we want to share our insights with you.
By the end of this article, you'll learn about various IT risks, their potential consequences, different approaches to handling them, and how to have meaningful discussions about these risks with your IT team.
What Are IT Risks?
Your IT provider or internal IT team should perform a risk assessment every quarter. This assessment ranks all the potential IT hazards in your organization by their potential damage and likelihood.
These rankings fit into four risk levels: critical, high, medium, and low. Critical risks are the ones you should lose sleep over - they're highly likely to strike, and when they do, they can wreak havoc on your IT systems.
These risks can come in many flavors:
- Cybersecurity Incidents: The bane of the digital world, these can be anything from phishing attacks to full-blown data breaches.
- Viruses and Malware: Malicious software that can steal or damage date or lock up your IT system.
- Software Updates and Patches: Neglecting these can leave your software vulnerable to exploits.
- Hardware Aging: Older hardware can start acting up or fail, causing massive disruptions.
- Backup System Woes: If your backups fail, you could be in big trouble in a data loss scenario.
Does Hardware Risk Matter?
Let's look at one of these risks: hardware aging.
Imagine you have a server that's seen better days. Its warranty is long gone, and it's been officially labeled "end of life" by the manufacturer. That's a red flag.
In this scenario, it's not a question of if the server will fail but when. The risk assessment will likely put this in the "critical" category. Now, it's up to you to decide: replace it or wait it out.
For a low-risk server, waiting might seem reasonable because the chances of failure are slim. But for a critical-risk server, waiting could be a disastrous decision.
If the server crashes, it can take your entire IT system down. And if you don't have a backup plan or a spare server ready to go, you're looking at days, or even weeks, of downtime.
Downtime means lost productivity, lost profits, and a tarnished reputation.
Navigating IT Risk: Three Paths
When faced with a risk, the ball is in your court. While IT experts and internal teams can provide advice, the final call lies with company leadership. This is when you need to ask yourself, "What happens if I do nothing, and can I live with that outcome?"
Here are three common paths:
1. Take Action (Usually by Investing in New Technology)
Sometimes, the risk of inaction outweighs the investment in new tech.
Let's revisit our server example. If you ignore the aging server issue, it's a ticking time bomb. If it fails, your system goes offline, and data loss could be catastrophic.
In this case, the cost of new technology pales compared to the potential losses from downtime and data loss.
2. Stay the Course
There are instances where new technology costs more than the risk.
Consider our trusty server again. If it's under warranty and unlikely to fail soon, it might be more financially responsible to wait it out.
The same logic applies to making significant IT system changes.
Sometimes, sticking with what you have, even if it's not the latest and greatest, is the right call.
The key here is to weigh the cost of change against the potential losses (risk) and make a well-informed decision.
3. Decision Paralysis
Occasionally, there are too many choices and unknowns, and getting lost in the decision-making process is easy.
When faced with overwhelming options, clients often suffer from the "paradox of choice" - they can't decide because there are too many paths to consider.
If you find yourself in this situation, reach out to your IT provider or internal IT team. Ask them:
- "What's the precise risk, and what happens if I do nothing?"
- "What are the potential outcomes?"
- "What are the top two or three options for my business?"
- "What's the estimated cost for each of these options?"
Narrowing down the information and choices can help you evaluate the situation better and make an informed choice. Remember, even not making a choice is, in essence, choosing to stay the course.
Next Steps: Tackling IT Risks
In the face of potential risks, business leaders must always ask, "What happens if I do nothing, and can I live with that result?" Based on this question, organizations typically fall into one of these categories:
- They recognize that the risk far outweighs the cost of new technology, so they make investments and changes.
- They find the cost of new technology isn't justified by the risk, so they choose to continue with their current technology.
- They're overwhelmed by choices and outcomes and don't make a choice, effectively opting to maintain their current setup.
Collaborate with your IT provider or internal IT team to navigate these choices. Share insights about possible outcomes, solutions, and budgets. Armed with this information, you can make informed decisions to reduce risk and make positive changes.
WEBIT Services has been a trusted partner for managed IT services, IT strategy, and cybersecurity for over 25 years. We've helped countless clients enhance their IT systems and overall efficiency. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to see how WEBIT Services can help your organization.
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