Information technology (IT) risk management is a critical part of your IT infrastructure. A robust IT risk management process can help your organization comply with regulatory requirements, assess cybersecurity threats, and streamline IT operations. Implementing an overarching IT risk management framework can be very costly, with too many threats, too little funding, and too few staff. It can potentially exhaust your IT department. This article explores how leveraging managed services can help your organization reduce risk and safeguard your IT infrastructure.
Common IT-Related Risks
As your organization continues to adapt to new technological advances, it’s critical to acknowledge the necessary changes needed for your IT operations. Many organizations struggle with the following challenges when it comes to implementing and sustaining a successful framework:
- Staffing Concerns: Many companies find themselves understaffed or with limited knowledgeable personnel. This can create a productivity risk because the loss of just one resource can significantly impact a department and make it more costly and difficult to have a dedicated function for internal IT risk management.
- Inadequate Skills: With the rapidly changing IT landscape, organizations often find themselves lacking the skilled resources necessary to address current issues and future business plans simultaneously. This often leads to one or the other being neglected, causing a negative impact to the business.
- Budget Strains: IT budgets are often under pressure and an IT risk management framework can be expensive to implement. This can sometimes be overcome by allocating managed services resources for unexpected issues.
- Vendor Obscurity: Organizations with many vendor products and technology solutions can experience muddled visibility and poor tracking across their systems.
- Threat Complexity: It can be extremely overwhelming to define, prioritize, and triage an abundance of IT threats with real business impact.
These common challenges are a few of the many setbacks organizations can experience when a strong framework isn’t in place. As organizations work toward compliance requirements and find infrastructure vulnerabilities, utilizing experienced external resources can help safeguard weaknesses and provide continued support.
Managed Services for IT Risk Mitigation
IT risk management and mitigation can be outsourced to a managed services provider to help you streamline your operations. Managed service solutions can include assistance with your IT operations, cybersecurity, and business applications, reducing IT-related risks. Managed services also can provide continued support across technology solutions through ad-hoc projects, related independent software vendors (ISVs), help desks, software update(s), and more. Your IT operations can be revolutionized with managed backup and recovery, coordinated server and desktop systems, a network operations center (NOC), a 24x7 cybersecurity operations center (SOC), vulnerability management, and accurate detection and response.
Our holistic approach to Managed Services at Forvis Mazars includes a variety of tailored resources to help mitigate IT risks and support you as you work toward achieving your business goals. Below are a few key differentiators to our approach:
- Service Manager: We provide you with a single point of contact for your needs and concerns.
- 24x7x365 Coverage: Continued, consistent, and constant support for your IT operations, cybersecurity, and business application needs.
- Predictable Costs: With a structured subscription fee plan and scalable plan levels, you can expect to accurately budget resources for your IT risk management.
- 360° View: We provide a Unified Client Portal for better visibility and management with monthly account status reviews and secure messaging.
- Vulnerability Management: Our vulnerability management process provides a robust and proactive approach for 24x7 security operations with the goal of security program maturity and overall risk mitigation.
Best Practices in IT Risk Management
An important practice is to have a strong IT risk management framework and response plan. Having suitable procedures in place can help mitigate risks and cut potential costs. Here are a few more best practices to help reduce IT-related expenses:
- Risk Assessments: Conduct regular risk assessments to help identify new risks and vulnerabilities within your IT network.
- 24x7 Monitoring: Implement continuous monitoring to help proactively detect threats and reduce downtime.
- Employee Training: Educate your employees about IT risks and bring awareness to various IT scams.
- Automation: Leverage AI-driven tools to help streamline the identification and response process of IT-related risks.
How Forvis Mazars Can Help
There are many factors to consider when deciding if outsourcing is right for your organization. Our experienced technology consultants are ready to discuss your needs and best-fit services for your organization. Connect with us today to learn more about how the Managed Services team at Forvis Mazars can help you strengthen your IT risk management and streamline operations.