Five Reasons Why You Need An IT Partner On Your Side

Keep your business safe and running smoothly with the help of a managed IT service provider.

Articles published January 5, 2022 by Ben Killion

Imagine this: you become aware of a security vulnerability in your business network or IT infrastructure. If you don’t patch and update the system or application right away, it could significantly increase your risk of an attack.

If this situation were to occur, does your organization have a business continuity plan in place and a designated person or team to fix the issue right away? Or is that something you’ve never thought of before?

Either way, it’s imperative that you have a process in place to quickly and effectively resolve such security issues. Data breaches and cyberattacks happen all the time, and if you aren’t prepared for them, they can have a drastic impact on your organization. How drastic? A report by IBM found that in 2021 the average cost to businesses affected by a data breach in the United States amounted to 4.24 million dollars.

So what can you do to be prepared and proactive about defending your organization from a costly breach? One way is to have an IT partner that understands data security from all facets of your business and network, including technology within the building, such as your local network, switches, workstations, and firewalls, as well as those outside the building, such as cloud and internet services.

Five Reasons for an IT Partner

According to a 2022 report by Spiceworks, organizations are spending nearly 21% of their IT budget on managed service solutions, and with good reason. Proactive management of a company’s data platform is an excellent solution to the threat of cybersecurity failures, and keeps you and your organization focused on your day-to-day operations. With proactive management, an IT service partner consistently monitors the platforms and applications you use to run your business on a daily basis. This includes cloud and hosted services.

1. SIEM Monitoring with Proactive Management

To do this monitoring, many IT partners will use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), which is an effective strategy that delivers a centralized view of all network data. From that data, it can identify any threats and track them throughout your organization’s system. SIEM consolidates all logs and provides a clearer picture of what’s happening in your network.

Fortunately, SIEM isn’t something that you have to handle on your own. Managed security service providers (MSSP), offer 24/7 security monitoring that’s affordable and effective. These services let you know right away when security incidents occur, and include log monitoring reports and network analytics, to help you see exactly what’s going on in your organization’s network.

2. IT Service Partners Bring Expertise

When you work with a dedicated IT service partner you receive the benefits of their expertise. A third-party IT team makes it their job to stay on top of changing industry trends and technology best practices. With a knowledgeable team working on your business’s behalf, you can rest assured that the experts are keeping your IT solutions are up to date, so you can focus on what you do best — running your business.

3. Reseller Relationships

Another advantage of partnering with an IT service partner is leveraging the partner’s relationships with other technology providers. Many IT service providers offer additional services with preferred partners at a discounted or bundled rate through a technology partner program.

4. Reliable IT Infrastructure

Working with a managed IT provider means you don’t have to worry about the costly maintenance of your hardware and software systems. A reliable managed IT provider will oversee the maintenance, security updates, patches, and upgrades of all of your hardware and IT services and then continue to provide regular monitoring.

5. IT Partners Enhance Security

To protect your data, IT partners can also implement an in-depth defense, which properly secures your network by constructing a layered security approach through segmentation. Think of it like an onion: there are many security layers that keep peeling back to eventually reveal the core. These layers could include technology services such as anti-virus, firewall protection, network monitoring, wireless security, encryption, and Unified Threat Management solutions.

Having a plan in place for patching applications and operations systems and handling breaches is essential. Of course, no one can eliminate all threats to your company or your data, but finding a reliable IT partner is a great strategy to make sure that vulnerabilities don’t impact your business and reputation.