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As a business owner, budgets are a mandatory part of any successful enterprise. Perhaps more than any other, the IT budget is likely the most misunderstood of all line items. Getting the best value from your IT spend requires a little bit of knowledge, trust, and an outstanding IT partner to help.

After years of analyzing company IT budgets, it’s apparent that many businesses don’t spend enough time planning their IT spend for the year. Instead, companies opt to spend money in a reactive way, due to changes in business or internal needs. One budgetary line item that absolutely must be included from the start is IT security.

There are many ways to secure a company’s network – from firewalls to applications to user policies. With budget constraints ever looming, it makes fiscal sense to develop an outstanding security plan that can fit within a company’s budget. Effective planning allows for the proper security to meets the needs of the organization without breaking the bank.

Minimum-security items that need to be in every company’s budget include:

• A secure firewall with Intrusion Detection and Intrusion Prevention Services – with real-time IDS and IPS updates
• A software based application on servers and user devices that blocks all kinds of malware, viruses, and malicious downloads
• User training and monitoring to help employees recognize and avoid bad websites and to keep them protected

Fortunately, none of these security items has to be costly. They only get expensive when the company does NOT take preventative measures. These three items need to be planned and executed without question, in every business. As an estimate, a small company with 30 employees could spend less than $4000 per year – $133 per user per year – (less after the initial hardware purchase) to really improve their IT security level. Compare that with the cost of a malware infected drive or a Wanna Cry infection, which could cost tens of thousands of dollars to recover data – not to mention the lost productivity of the employees.

Implementing these solutions requires the expertise of an experienced IT partner and service provider. Our engineers and technicians have seen it all and can certainly provide your business with the security it needs.

So be smart about your IT spend – begin with planning and focusing on the basics to be sure you are getting the best value for each IT dollar. You’ll be glad you did!

IT Resource is providing IT security services to clients from Grand Rapids to Traverse City, and everywhere in between. If you have questions on your business’ IT security procedures, contact us today.