IT security is must for any business or organization operating with an open line on the Internet, which is practically a given with today’s communications. However, the demands of modern digital security threats and cyber attack are not easy to keep up with, and not every organization has staff or internal resources to keep up with the latest changes coming over the horizon. It was only a few years ago that IT security was essentially keeping a firewall in front of the server and running anti-virus scans on a regular basis. Now, organizations are looking at how to manage cloud, digital and physical security assets as well as how to blend intuitive online defenses with physical firewall hardware and legacy software. No surprise, internal management can become easily overwhelmed.
Seeing the Writing on the Wall
There are classic signs leadership can pay attention to that signal it is time to consider outsourcing IT security as a managed service. Many times, the issues are not a negative reflection on the internal IT team; they are likely working at full-tilt trying to keep a lid on everything. Unfortunately, organizational tech security can become a very unwieldy beast very quickly, especially when personal devices start getting attached. Here are the classic areas that usually flag it is time to outsource:
- Security Seems to be Taking Up Everyone’s Time – This symptom indicates that the day to day workload for your security team has outpaced them, and there’s not enough hands on deck to address it. You could hire more full time staff, but that might be cost prohibitive and comes with delays training people up. Outsourcing gets expertise in the door right away to the scale that is needed.
- Data Breaches and Identified Gaps are Increasing – A common sign of security issues outgrowing the skill and capacity of your current defenses, an increase in breaches usually means the playing field has changed and you’re not prepared. Ransomware is a vivid example of this problem with new tools tricking folks into exposure and defenses unaware of what the problem packages look like.
- The IT Team is Falling Behind – When you have major security issues being backlogged, again, this is a classic sign not enough help is on deck. Again, bringing in ready experts who know how to apply tools to your system cuts down backlog, delay, and avoids costs for damages and disaster recovery.
- Your Competition is Drawing Business Away With a More Secure Platform – What happened when eBay developed its history view on sellers? It wiped out other auction sites because people could see effectively whether a buyer was reputable or a likely risk. When a competitor starts using a gamechanger that makes business more secure, they will pull your business away from you if security is an issue. You will need outside VE experienced experts to identify what is being used and how to get up to pace. Your own team probably won’t be aware or trained on it.
- Your IT Budget Bleed Keeps Increasing on Security – if your IT security spending seems out of control and eating up more of your operation budget, it’s time to evaluate what you’re doing and get a top-down review. An outside expert team can come in, compare what you’re doing to industry standards, and identify where money is being spent inefficiently.
- Training Is Sporadic – Unfortunately, the security world is constantly changing with new threats, so training on new risks has to occur. When your team can’t keep up or is not training at all, that’s a huge risk associated with lack of awareness to new dangers. Training costs money, but the investment pays off dividends when a new risk is effectively blocked. To get the right intrusion detection skills fast, you will need to bring in outsourced company experts who already have the requisite skills to fill the gap.
- Your Compliance Findings are Increasing – Audits are performed to find problems before they become problems. When your security breach audits start realizing an increase in risks that should be addressed already, that’s also a solid sign your network monitoring is falling behind. The reasons vary, but the fix is clear – you need expertise in to get things cleaned up quickly.
- Exponential Business Growth – Many companies try to hold back on their administrative functions when the company grows, which is a mistake, especially in a high risk industry. As market share grows, your company functions have to grow commensurately. If you’re still trying to run your IT security for a middle-size company on an IT team the same size you had as a startup, it’s a serious recipe for failure. An efficient alternative can be had with outsourcing your security services without the hard, sunk costs of additional labor expansion and new facility needs.
- It’s Time for Fresh Faces and Thinking – Your team has served you well for a good amount of time, but they keep trying to solve problems with the same toolbox. A new perspective can frequently breakthrough paradigm problems by simply approaching things differently. This is an automatic benefit when outsourcing your security.
- Your Tech People Keep Leaving – Burnout. When people feel chronically overwhelmed and can’t see the end of the tunnel, their either leave sick or quit and go somewhere else. If you’re realizing unreasonable turnover on your tech team, the work demand has to be reconsidered. The current approach is not working at all and leaving your company exposed.
- The Security Side is Working Against Your Core Business – Microsoft security felt it was a great idea to apply MFA second-level password authentication, but they forgot to update their sales teams and blocked sales operations. One day’s business loss was a huge sign security wasn’t doing it’s job well. If you’re seeing the same kind of problem with your security system, it’s time to change things fast with outside help.
Help is Available Versus Struggling
For nimble small businesses, fast-growing companies, or operations that can’t afford to staff up a stable of brand-new technical expertise, outsourcing IT security is not a negative option. In fact, it is a very smart management and business owners play when a company already knows it’s own team is becoming overwhelmed with even basic functions. Your security system should support your business, not work against it. And when budgets, training, necessary current expertise or a new perspective are needed, outsourcing can produce some very viable security systems for all sizes of companies. Contact us today for more information on how to outsource your IT security.
