Are you making these 3 scary IT mistakes?

IT Expert, Stu Lees, uncovers the most common scary mistakes that small businesses make.

Background

Running a business can be tough. There are so many things to cram into your day that the simplest stuff often slips past. This month, I’ve outlined 3 of the scariest and most common mistakes that we see time and time again with small businesses.

Scary Mistake #1. Your backups might not be working

Whenever we bring on board a new client, we always review their backup situation. Invariably we find that the customer is happily taking home their backup tapes with the assumption that their businesses critical data is safely tucked away somewhere on the tape. When we ask the business owner the question, “Has anyone proven to you that the data can be recovered?”, The answer is often “No, I just thought that the IT guy would have done it”.

Lesson: Run a backup restore test and ensure that all of the data is there. Do this regularly.

Scary Mistake #2. Your server could be a ticking time-bomb

In the last year, we’ve had to rescue several small businesses from avoidable situations. The scenario is as scary as it is avoidable. These businesses have their trusty old servers running in a cupboard somewhere and they are usually over four years of age. Both the hardware and the software on the server are out of date and no-one has ever fully backed up the system configuration and tested a restore. The result? When these servers finally give up the ghost, there aren’t any compatible parts available and, what’s worse, the software is nowhere to be found so you cannot use alternate hardware to recover from.

Lesson: If your server is old, plan for replacement and talk to an expert about Full System Imaging and Restore.

Scary Mistake #3. You are getting advice suitable for only small businesses

As businesses grow they often evolve the type of advisory partners that they use. A typical example of this is moving from a transactional focused accountant to a full-service accounting firm. This is a very logical transition that is usually the result of a business owner wanting to leverage off the knowledge and service availability that a larger firm offers.

In IT, we often find that businesses have neglected to consider the advice that they are getting. This usually results in the advice that they are taking leading to costly investment in the wrong areas and a reactive approach to IT management. If your IT support is only looking after small businesses, how can you plan your growth into a medium sized business?

Lesson: If you are not sure about the advice you are getting, seek independent advice from an industry expert before you waste another dollar on IT.

How do you stack up?

I’d love to hear from anyone who has all three of these mistakes covered off – you are being well looked after.

If this article causes you concern, you need to take some action and talk to your IT support person before it’s too late. If you want some independent advice, give me a call or send me an email and I’ll discuss the situation with you in complete confidence.