Whenever we talk about security, we focus on protecting our organisations and reducing risk. And, for many, this is a key driver in implementing advanced security functions. But what else do you get? Are there benefits beyond risk management and disaster recovery? Absolutely.
According to Travis Carter, Director at Retrac Business Solutions, three key benefits are employee happiness, productivity, and increased management-level insights.
“There is a lot of fear around security, people think if they get it wrong their business will be destroyed but we never hear people talking about when they get it right. The right security solution can add significant value far beyond avoiding common IT threats,” says Travis.
So, what does it look like when you get it right and what are these lesser known benefits?
Happy employees reportedly experience 31% higher productivity, so it is logical to want your staff to be content. By deploying suitable security, you can reduce the amount of stressful situations that staff are subjected to. By identifying issues before they happen, and through active monitoring, staff are happier without the fear of a breach occurring.
“Worrying about, and working through manual processes to prevent, the what-ifs can be a drain on staff time and definitely a drain on morale. However if you work in an organisation with advanced, managed security, this worry and workload is removed,” notes Travis.
This peace of mind can extend from being able to share documents securely to participating in a Microsoft Teams call knowing that all the necessary authentication is correct, and the meeting is contained within a secure environment.
As well as morale boosting productivity, having a secure and safe environment can also increase efficiency. Secure modern workplace technology enables staff to quickly get answers, find files or check version history. There is no need to waste time searching through share drives.
“By having a secure and modern ecosystem, staff can collaborate much more easily. In addition to this, the ease of finding and sharing information, without needing to consider security, results in more confident and collaborative staff which, as we all know equals greater productivity,” adds Travis.
In order to understand your risks, where they occur and why, you need to have visibility across your business. By implementing modern workplace security, you gain management level insights into the security of the entire organisation. This allows you to see how you are working and identify opportunities for improvement.
“By using Power BI, you view key data and build confidence in the Board. You can’t do this without the right security solution in place. Microsoft 365 offers tools like Secure Score which actually generates a tangible action list to boost your security,” says Travis.
In addition to this visibility, Microsoft 365 updates are automatically applied as they are released, resulting in a better work environment for employees whilst giving managers and owners more confidence and control.
“It’s hard to put a value on confidence but it is the most important part,” adds Travis.
Travis and the Retrac team have supported numerous businesses to improve their security and reap the benefits of working in a secure environment. For some, this has occurred as a result of experiencing a breach.
One such case is Australian Growing Solutions (AGS), who had the misfortune of facing a serious ransomware attack.
“Our fundamental failure was that all backups were online. There were no offline, cold storage backups,” says Andrew Chessum, CFO, AGS.
An upfront challenge was that the current AGS systems weren’t maintained to Retrac’s standards. This, therefore, entailed a significant new set up and investment, including upgrading the network, desktops and mobile devices.
The benefit was a new ICT environment that was as secure as it could be from a technology perspective and which was functioning at a high level right from the get-go. Retrac rolled out an overhaul including Office 365, OneDrive, SharePoint, new backup systems and a Complete Cloud Security Bundle.
The solution gives AGS visibility and certainty around security, confidence in their work and in their IT partner, support with training and the ability to focus on their core tasks instead of IT.
So there you go. It’s not all doom, gloom, and risk avoidance. Security is a powerful and integrated component of a modern workplace and one that offers much more than just the necessary protection.
“At Retrac, we have improved all of our customers’ secure scores to now sit well above the benchmark. We understand the value of a secure environment and we are keen to ensure all our customers see this,” concludes Travis.
If your security is holding you back instead of driving your organisation forward it may be time to explore a more positive and proactive solution. To understand where there may be room to improve and how to get started, contact Retrac today.