Disaster does not care about the size of your business. Without notice, hackers can access your network and copy or destroy your data. Natural threats, including fire, can also impact your company. Large corporations have dedicated teams and expensive equipment in place to protect their data, but you can’t afford that type of operation. Before you make the mistake of thinking your business is too small to prepare for a disaster, you need to know the following six things.
Firewall
Customers trust you will keep their data safe at all times. Meanwhile, hackers from all over the world make a game and a business out of stealing data from companies just like yours. A firewall provides a primary defense against external attacks, by making your network harder to find and by blocking unauthorized access.
Backup plan
Your business might smoothly operate under normal conditions, but if fire, theft, natural disaster or hardware failure strikes your computers, things could change. By implementing a robust backup plan, you have the assurance that comes with knowing you have a recent copy of all your business data. Ideally, you should have a system that performs periodic full-scale backups and incremental daily backups, to provide the most protection. Many experts suggest keeping a copy of your system backups off-site or online to protect you in case your backups get lost, damaged or stolen.
Anti-virus software
The proliferation of viruses has become a grave concern for businesses of every size. Viruses can do everything from stealing usernames and passwords to harnessing your company’s computers into a global “bot” network that attacks sophisticated targets. For your protection, you need an anti-virus and anti-spam solution that will keep most threats away from your network.
Network and server administration
Computer systems don't take care of themselves. Someone needs to define user access to make sure employees can access the resources they need. Similarly, you need to make sure you prevent access to sensitive information such as payroll data.
Help-desk services
Employees occasionally get stumped by computer or software problems that kill their productivity. When they know who to call for help, they can get back to their work.
Managed IT services
Most of the work performed by managed services requires little or no physical presence at your company. Available managed services in Ottawa include firewall protection, anti-virus and anti-spam services, desktop support services and network administration. By using managed services offered by a professional provider, you can get all the protection your company needs at an affordable cost. Best of all, knowing your business has access to the best available IT services, you can have peace of mind.


Protecting your business involves protecting your network. Small businesses and large corporations alike need to be proactive about keeping their information secure at all times. By taking these steps, you can help keep your business secure.