What is an IT Health Check and When is One Needed?

With more companies setting up shop remotely, plus a range of security risks facing small businesses daily, it’s vital that companies are taking the appropriate steps to protect their users, employees and reputations, especially considering recent years have shown hefty fines being dished out for cybersecurity malpractice by authority organisations like the FCA!

What is an IT Health Check?

Regular IT health checks are a must for any company. They provide your company with a range of tests to assure that your internal systems (such as networks, internal gateways, servers and PSNs) and external systems (such as web servers, email servers, antivirus software, VPNs)  are protected from unauthorised access or changes.

Checks need to be carried out to ensure that there are no easy points of access or significant weaknesses that exist in your IT infrastructure or computer systems. Without regular IT health checks, you could be left open to a world of consequences and cyber attacks, which could prove to be a costly mistake, especially if data compliance is compromised in the wake of a cyber attack.

Why Get an IT Health Check For Your Business?

With the rise of remote working, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and the impending rise of quantum-technology, IT health has never been so important. IT health checks allow you to drastically minimise the potential cyber risks your company faces from online attackers, malware or ransomware. An IT health check (ITHC) is a smart idea for a range of reasons and can have many benefits to your business. A great IT health check will:

• Identify Potential Problems and Vulnerabilities in both your internal and external systems.
• Improve Company Cyber Awareness by raising staff awareness around the benefits of IT health checks as well as cybersecurity best practices
• Test If Your Security is Effective so know what changes need to be made and where your weak points lie.
• Minimise Future Losses caused by downtime due to attacks or system compromises that rely on mistakes and vulnerabilities.

When is an IT Health Check Needed?

Though the general rule of thumb is that you should have at least one health check annually, with the rise in cyber threats and other malicious malwares we recommend a more regular ITHC. With our Small Business IT Support Services we offer monthly IT health checks with extensive and insightful reports that are invaluable to your business.

How Does an IT Health Check Work?

As mentioned before, IT health checks consist of both internal and external assessments and checks. External systems such as web servers, email servers, antivirus software, VPNs and other systems such as the firewalls that are in place to prevent unauthorised access to your data and systems from the internet. 

A good ITHC should ensure that external testing includes any systems you have in place to allow staff to remotely connect to your organisation. All VPNs involved in remote access solutions should be checked as part of the external assessment.

Analysis of your internal servers like networks, internal gateways, servers and PSNs should consist of at least these features and checks:

• Build and configuration checks of desktop and servers alongside network management security.
• Operating system and application patching
• Wireless network configuration
• Remote access solutions configuration (including solutions for both managed devices and Bring Your Own Devices or BYOD)
• Any devices such as phones, tablets or laptops used for remote access should have build and configuration checks.
• Internal security gateway configuration (including the PSN gateway)

How Will I Receive the Results of My Business IT Health Check?

After all the internal and external systems checks are complete, you should receive a report which clearly lays out: 

• Any weaknesses identified, as well as expert recommendations on how to proceed with resolving these vulnerabilities.
• How your company’s awareness and best practices can be improved.
• Action plans to help stop the problems recurring in the future.

Who Should You Trust To Carry Out Your IT Health Check?

IT health is an absolute priority for any business, so don’t risk weaknesses going unnoticed and vulnerabilities left wide open for attackers. You want to make sure you do your research and choose an ITHC partner you know you can trust. A great IT support service is one that provides regular, targeted IT health checks, amongst a range of other IT support services. These frequent IT health check reports should include all of the features listed above.

One of the best ways to research is to check out their client history, as well as reviews and testimonials! Trust what other people say about their experiences, and look out especially for verified customer reviews and in-depth testimonials that can help you out. 

Get Monthly IT Health Check Reports and More For Your Business Today with Proactive & Expert IT Support at Binary Blue!

We know that tech can be stressful, especially when it comes to something as important as business. Our clients choose to work with us because we take care of everything for them, meaning no hassle and no confusion. We’re here to help. By utilising expert IT support services and at Binary Blue, you have the opportunity to:

• Make More Money with reduced system downtime!
• Save Time as our expertly trained team will fix your issues fast.
• Work Stress Free as we handle everything on your behalf.

Contact Us Today To Find Out More!