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Making Dollars and Cents of IT Efficiency and Cyber Security for Your Business

• Posted: 9.28.2023
• Topics: Internet, Data Center, Networking

Read time: 8 min.

As a business, you understand the value of looking at the bottom line. It’s a tool you use monthly, maybe even daily, to measure the inputs and outputs of the company such as ROI, productivity and efficiency.  

While many line items on your master spreadsheet are easy to calculate and typically taught in Business 101, have you stopped to assess the costs associated with IT efficiency? 

In this article, we’re going to talk about IT efficiency in relation to internet uptime and downtime, and how you can partner with the right provider to ensure your business experiences up to 99.999% uptime so that you can maximize IT efficiency.  

Why IT Efficiency Matters  

Most of the programs, services and infrastructures small to mid-sized businesses (SMB) rely on today are in some way shape or form connected to the internet.  

• Cloud services for in-house and remote workers 
• VoIP phone systems 
• Websites for traffic and online sales
• Payment processors 

Like it or not, your business relies on the internet to generate revenue, making IT efficiency a top priority to consider. In order for these programs to be efficient, your business needs to maximize uptime and reduce downtime.  

When your business is experiencing uptime, things are running smoothly. The plan is going according to plan. You’re bringing in revenue, assisting customers and employees are getting their work done. Websites are working, payment processors are making transactions and employees are able to access necessary programs. Things are working as expected, and the various systems of your business are operational.  

There are hidden costs in every business and downtime is one of them. Downtime is what happens when unexpected scenarios unfold. Equipment breaks down, pieces go missing and stuff stops working. The systems within your business are interrupted causing your operations to be inefficient. Your time and attention are taken away from serving your customers to fixing the problem, which is costing you.  

Here are just a few scenarios of what happens when IT efficiency is not reached and your business experiences downtime: 

• Web orders can’t be placed because your site is down 
• The VoIP phone system is offline so customers aren’t able to place orders 
• Personnel, including remote workers, are unable to perform their job yet they’re still getting paid 
• Any form of digital marketing – emails, ads, etc. – you were working to finalize has to stop 
• Payments aren’t being processed, transactions are failing which leads to extra management with banks and other third-party providers 
• Cloud services become unavailable, eliminating the autosave feature losing, and any updates you were working on in those programs 

There is a cost to downtime, and when it comes to running a business, it’s one of the most important factors to consider when setting up your internet and communication services.  

As a business, you want to reduce the chances of experiencing downtime because it’s an expense most can’t afford. Maybe they aren’t hard costs you instantly see in your bank account, but the impact of downtime or lack of IT efficiency is exponential.  

The Biggest Threat to IT Efficiency  

While the desired outcome of most businesses is to be efficient, operating a business also requires looking ahead for potential risks and being prepared to protect your employees, customers and bottom line from IT inefficiency.  

More and more businesses are operating on cloud services, a.k.a. over the internet. Because of this, it’s essential your business is aware of the risks associated with this move. 

The biggest threat to your businesses IT efficiency are malicious attacks, which are any threats that affect the performance activity towards your network.  

Nearly 43% of all malicious attacks are targeted at small and medium-sized businesses.¹ 

One of the most common malicious attacks are DDoS attacks. 

A DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack is when a cybercriminal (attacker) sends too much traffic to your system, overwhelming it and essentially closing the doors to your internet circuit. Think of it as a traffic jam – lots of traffic trying to go in one direction and the highway isn’t big enough to manage it all so it essentially shuts down. This drops services and capabilities on all programs, websites and products that utilize the internet to function.  

The costs associated with not addressing IT efficiency will exponentially impact your business’ bottom line as it can shut down communications, applications, infrastructure and other vital services. But even more than that, your reputation.  

The impact of a DDoS attack can be ongoing. It’s a rabbit hole you don’t want to go down. 

This information is being shared not to scare you, but to make you aware about cyber security and how it impacts your businesses’ IT efficiency. Solutions can only be found if we understand an opportunity exists to fix and improve them.  

How DDoS Protection Can Improve Efficiencies  

One of the best ways to improve and protect your businesses’ IT efficiency is through cyber security.  

Cyber security has many layers, but as a small to mid-sized business, one solution to consider when looking at cyber security and IT efficiencies is DDoS Protection. It can mitigate risk and malicious attacks causing downtime within your organization. 

With Midco, we have standard DDoS protection automatically built into our internet connection. This means all Midco customers receive standard DDoS protection the moment they sign up for our services. Our DDoS protection provides dedicated resiliency and redundancy to your networks, providing up to 99.999% uptime. 

Midco customers also have the option to upgrade to enhanced DDoS protection for an extra layer of protection.  

Either way, having DDoS protection means your business experiences less downtime which equates to a decrease in revenue loss and expenses based on malicious attacks. 

When your networks are efficiently running, it saves you time and money, because you can focus on operating your business, not your internet.  

While the purpose of DDoS protection is to prevent malicious attacks toward your system, it’s important to mention that DDoS does not prevent data loss nor does maximizing uptime equal guaranteed security. Think of adding DDoS as a layer of security protection for your business like you would any additional insurance policy.  

As with most insurance plans, you need protection from things that you don’t even know exist. DDoS protection provides a level of preparedness for your business that proactively manages potential threats and risk.  

Finding a partner that can handle and mitigate the risk of downtime is essential in keeping your business running uninterrupted and creates efficiencies in your business because you can now focus on what matters most: your employees, clients and customers.  

Midco: Your IT Efficiency Partner 

According to a recent study, only 14% of SMBs are prepared to handle malicious attacks.¹ 

This statistic highlights the urgency with which businesses need to look at their IT efficiency and find a trusted partner and expert when handling cyber security.  

We understand the complexities involved with cyber security. It’s an ever-evolving industry, which is why it’s so important to partner with someone who is knowledgeable and dedicated to protecting your business from malicious attacks.  

If you own small to mid-sized businesses, or have products with a higher complexity, we highly recommend connecting with us to find a business solution to meet your IT efficiency needs.  

Partnering with a provider like Midco can help make you and your business more efficient because we provide the insight and visibility to potential threats and problems for your business, allowing you to focus on what you do best.   

As a small to mid-sized business, you can’t afford to take your eyes off of your customers. Your focus needs to be on having services, applications and networks that are consistently operational, which is why having a trusted partner to manage and handle IT efficiency in your business is vital to your bottom line. 

Link arms with a provider that can take the stress and mental energy of making sure your internet is protected, which ultimately means your customers, employees and revenue are as well.  

Now that’s something we can all make dollars and cents out of.