When it comes to IT support, most business owners assume “good enough” is just that - good enough. But what if your IT provider is actually putting your business at risk with slow responses, poor communication or a lack of proactive solutions?

The truth is, you might not know how bad your IT support is until you see what great IT service looks like.

This year has been a busy one for cybercriminals, with some massive data breaches making headlines and costing companies millions. From health care giants to project management platforms, no industry is immune to the risks. But what do these breaches mean for small to midsize businesses? The same vulnerabilities exist for you, and the consequences of not addressing them can be catastrophic.

It’s a special kind of relentless attack all business owners and managers face: the persistent, crazy, chaotic assault on your time and attention. No one is immune, and every business deals with it.

Some leaders handle the constant pressure on their attention brilliantly, keeping the team organized and highly productive.

What if you discovered that all of the hard work, investments and time you’ve put into growing your business is at risk due to a failure of your outsourced IT company, or possibly even your well-meaning (but overburdened) IT department? If you were exposed to that level of risk, wouldn’t you want someone to tell you about it?

This article is that wake-up call.

When you run your own business, it feels like there are never enough hours in the day. Even when you start early and end late, there’s always something else, another e-mail or task, nagging for your attention. If you want to be productive, and ultimately successful, it’s important to prioritize what tasks you’ll allow to fill your schedule.

There is one extremely common threat to our security that nearly everyone has witnessed but hardly anyone talks about – bad bots. These silent attackers are often thought of as annoying spam accounts posting computer-generated comments online. They are so common that most of us tend to scroll by them without noticing, but in reality, bad bots are much more dangerous, particularly for business owners.

Every business needs the right tools to get the job done and to keep your team on track. But juggling multiple apps and software can be a nightmare when trying to keep information streamlined and easily accessible. That’s where Microsoft Teams for small businesses comes into play.

“The biggest risk is the one you don’t take” is a mantra you’ll hear motivational speakers deliver in their presentations to make the argument that you should throw all caution to the wind and go for it (whatever “it” is).

And while that may be a good piece of advice to get someone to take action on an idea (and get the speaker applause at the end of their presentation), truly smart, experienced entrepreneurs and business executives NEVER throw “caution to the wind” and take wild risks.

Once upon a time, you could install antivirus software and go about your merry way online and in your inbox, opening, clicking and downloading files without a care.

Today, antivirus alone cannot and will not protect you, especially if you INVITE the hack by downloading a file that is infected with a piece of code designed to circumvent your security protocols.

Anyone active on social media has seen those seemingly harmless quizzes that someone in your newsfeed takes and then shares…the ones that ask you to enter your first name, your middle name, and the street you grew up on to create your “new name.