REDMOND – Reduced IT budgets often means less spending on even the most important elements of technology, including security. However, Microsoft offered several tips on how to keep security up even in a down economy.
Even with smaller budgets, security is still a necessity, and it’s perhaps even more important in a down economy as cyber-criminals try to capitalize on people’s mistakes, said Mohammad Akif, security and privacy lead at Microsoft Canada. Although most businesses agree about security’s importance, it’s just a simple fact that budgets are being reduced and IT departments are being asked to do more with less. Security is just one of the many casualties in this economy, but Akif said it doesn’t have to be.
In talking about security strategies with customers, Akif said there are three main components — people, processes and technology.
“In all three of these areas, for example, starting with people, in general you want to make sure that the people do have a threshold level of your security,” he said.
One way to cut costs is start making more use of online training and less use of more expensive classroom training, he said. A lot of online training can be had for little or no cost, including some of the online training seminars offered by Microsoft, he said.
If classroom training is still a must, it may make sense for several small businesses to get together and pool their resources to hire a trainer, Akif said.
Additionally, there is a lot of free material online that can be read and studied. Microsoft offers various security development lifecycle resources free of charge on its Web sites. It’s knowledge that Microsoft itself benefited from, and the technology giant’s customers can benefit from its own lessons, he said.
Microsoft Protect Web site is also filled with role-based guidance for various different types of people (from IT professionals to consumers) on how to become more proficient when it comes to security, he said.
“You can continue to invest in processes and not spend a lot of money on it,” he said.
However, when it comes to technology, spending less can mean a bigger hit to the total cost of ownership than just dropping the necessary cash on a tried-and-true solution, Akif said. Technology that doesn’t protect properly can mean higher costs down the road when, say, a virus infects an environment and causes a loss of productivity.
Saving money on technology is possible with the right licensing agreements, though.
The real message is that businesses need to creatively invest in security while budgets are reduced, Akif said.
“I think most of the time, one of the things we find is in general it’s more of an awareness issue rather than an execution issue,” Akif said.
So as it is in a good economy, security really comes down to education. According to Akif, there has to be a top-down commitment and a bottom-up interest when it comes to security for it to be effective.
“It is the key factor. It’s where everything starts from,” he said.
This column was written by Chris Talbot of ConnectIT, an IntegratedMarCompany
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