Security professionals should be beefing up your network security, implementing advanced firewall software, and identifying risks for possible breaches. In reality, they spend a huge chunk of their time troubleshooting issues on individual personal computers (PCs). That workflow is not ideal, but that’s what normally happens in many organizations.

Cost of fixes

According to a survey of technology professionals, companies waste as much as $88,660 of their yearly IT budget as a result of having security staff spend an hour or more per work week fixing colleagues’ personal computers. The ‘wasted amount’ was based on an average hourly salary of IT staff multiplied by 52 weeks a year. Other than knowing how much time is wasted, what makes things worse is that IT security staff are among the highest paid employees in most companies.

The fixes have mostly to do with individual rather than department or company-wide computer problems that don’t necessarily benefit the entire company. The resulting amount is especially staggering for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) whose limited resources are better off spent on business intelligence tools and other network security upgrades.

Other Costs

All those hours spent on fixing personal computers often means neglecting security improvements. The recent WannaCry ransomware attacks, which successfully infected 300,000 computers in 150 countries, demonstrate the dangers of failing to update operating system security patches on time. It should be a routine network security task that, if ignored, can leave your business helpless in the face of a cyberattack as formidable as WannaCry. It didn’t make much money but had it been executed better, its effects regardless of size.

Profitable projects could also be set aside because of e would have been more devastating to businesses, employees’ PC issues. For SMBs with one or two IT staff, this is especially detrimental to productivity and growth. They can easily increase their IT budgets, but if employees’ negligible computer issues keep occurring and systems keep crashing, hiring extra IT personnel won’t be very effective.

What businesses should do

The key takeaway in all this is: Proactive Miami IT support eliminates the expenditure required to fix problematic computers. Bolstering your entire IT infrastructure against disruptive crashes is the first step in avoiding the wasteful use of your staff’s time and your company’s money.

Even if your small business has the resources to hire extra staff, the general shortage of cyber security skills also poses a problem. Ultimately, the solution shouldn’t always have to be increasing manpower, but rather maximizing existing resources.

Having experts proactively maintain your IT eliminates the need to solve recurring small issues and lets your staff find a better use for technology resources. If you need Managed IT Services in Miami, contact us here for advice or call 305-935-3876 now.

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Back in October 2016, United States Federal Officials approved a set of privacy rules designed to prevent large communication companies, such as Comcast, AT&T, etc., from collecting and selling out the information of individuals who are their customers. Examples of such information are browsing habits, specific websites their customers have visited, internet connected applications, etc.

These privacy rules were basically shaped to protect consumers from large Internet Service Providers. Even though the F.C.C. had already provided consumer protection rules in the past, those were shaped to rule regular phones and cable television. However, up to that point, there were no rules protecting consumers of high-speed internet products.

It is needless to say that those rules were a blow to Internet Service Providers and huge cable companies; who wouldn’t think twice about selling the private customer information that is transmitted through their networks. The rules specifically obliged ISPs to request permission from their customers every time they wanted to start tracking or recording their internet habits.

Fast forward to 2017 and the rules of the game are changing once again. On Thursday, March 23^rd, 2017 United States senators scrambled to start dismantling the internet privacy protection rules that had been established a year prior.  Allowing for future deregulation that will strip away consumers off their privacy rights. The Senate’s 50 to 48 vote on Thursday is the first step which will probably be followed by a similar decision at the House.

If the decision is finally signed by POTUS, telecommunication conglomerates will be able to continue recording and sharing their customer’s information and browsing habits without permission. This is obviously a blow to consumers.

According to lawmakers and the new chairman of the F.C.C., the previous set of rules strapped unneeded regulations on telecom carriers. Their perspective is that the regulations were unnecessary and confusing, thus hindering innovation. Telecom and broadband providers expressed satisfaction yesterday; stating that the new ruling will allow for competitive neutrality.

On the other side of the spectrum, consumer protection groups are warning that internet services consumers will suffer as a result of the changes. “Senate Republicans just made it easier for Americans’ sensitive information about their health, finances, and families to be used, shared and sold to the highest bidder without their permission,” Senator Edward J. Markey expressed after the ruling.

Visit the Telx Computers blog for the latest news and tips regarding IT support and IT services.  For information on Managed IT services in Miami or South Florida, call 305-935-3876 today or live chat with one of our representatives.

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