It is important for any business, regardless of size, to have properly documented policies. These policies provide protection for the employees as well as the business itself. Just like with technology, it is important to keep up with the changing times. All too often business develop a handbook and it sits around collecting dust over the years. These handbooks should be regularly reviewed and updated.
In terms of IT policies, technology is continually changing as are the threats that businesses face. Having strong Internet Acceptable Use policies and ensuring new employees sign off as having read and understood the policies is a great first step to protecting your critical business data. How your employees access and protect your data on mobile devices also should be addressed. This is a good example of a policy that did not make it into many handbooks five years ago but is important today. These policies should clearly define consequences for failure to comply with company policies.
In the disaster recovery arena, one of the areas that has been getting a lot of attention is having an Active Shooter policy. According to a 2016 study by Everbridge, active shooter situations were the number one threat that concerned businesses thought they should be preparing for. Employees should know how to react and what to do in these situations. Of course, the safety of the employee is always the first priority. Notifying police should occur once safe and finally notifying other employees. This last statement comes with some questions. How do you best do that? There are Emergency Notification Systems (ENS) which can provide text alerts to all employees in such an event that may be lifesaving. These systems are worth consideration when developing your policy.
Is your business keeping its IT policies and company handbook up to date? If not, give us a call at (888) 600-4560 or email us, or visit us on Facebook or Twitter.