Like companies everywhere, Connecticut small businesses are struggling to contain operating costs, and computing infrastructure can be one of the most difficult expenses to manage. The enterprise infrastructure is essential to business operations, but it’s usually a cost center, so balancing outlay against returns is a continuous challenge. Staffing is a big part of IT operating expenses, so the question becomes: Is it more cost-effective to hire or to outsource? How do you assess managed service provider pricing against in-house staffing costs?
Company data security is not just the responsibility of the IT department. No matter what the size of your CT business, Human Resources needs to stay on top of securing employee and corporate data. Data security isn’t just a technical issue, it’s a people issue, and unsuspecting employees account for most corporate data breaches. In fact, 66 percent of data security professionals point to employees as the weakest link in corporate data security.
Nothing seems to go out of fashion faster than the latest technology. Long before television sets stop working, computers crash, or smartphone batteries give out, they become obsolete and need to be replaced by the latest and greatest hardware with the new features. Even at your average Connecticut small business, obsolete computer hardware tends to clutter up the storeroom as monitors, workstations, and network equipment are upgraded.
With all the concerns facing CT business owners, cybersecurity does not top the list for most. However, cyber threats and data breaches are on the rise, and hackers and cybercriminals are focusing their attentions on smaller businesses that are less likely to have robust security measures in place. In fact, cybercrime has become so commonplace that the question today is not whether your systems have been breached, but when they were last breached.
Every business needs to protect itself from cyberattacks, and understanding more about the nature of data breaches is the first step.
Connecticut Yankees always have been innovators. Ethan Allen built the first blast furnace in Lakeville in 1762, which launched Connecticut’s cannon industry. Additionally, the Colt factory in Hartford is credited with the birth of mass production of firearms. Moreover, former Colt mechanics Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney were the first to develop precision manufacturing techniques when they created Pratt & Whitney. In short, Connecticut has a long history as the birthplace of invention and innovation. And today’s Connecticut innovators are still at work launching tech startups and creating next-generation products.
