
How do you choose the right IT solutions for your SME?
January 6, 2025
Why Cybersecurity is More Important than Ever for Small Businesses
February 3, 20251. Security Above All: Protect Your Company Data
In an increasingly digital world, protecting corporate data is no longer an option, but a necessity. Every organization, large or small, stores undeniable amounts of sensitive information in databases, cloud environments and networks. From customer data and financial records to business strategies and innovations – all of this data is at the heart of your business. The loss or exposure of this information can cause not only financial damage, but also loss of trust, legal repercussions and reputational damage.
That’s why security is paramount when it comes to protecting your corporate data.
The Threat of Cyber Attacks
With the rise in cyber attacks, such as ransomware, phishing, and data breaches, securing corporate data is more of a priority than ever. These attacks can include both internal and external threats, and they can harm your business in a variety of ways:
- Financial damage: Ransomware attacks can hold your business files hostage, resulting in a significant ransom payment or even loss of valuable data.
- Reputational damage: Companies that leak data or give unwarranted access to customer data risk losing customer trust and image.
- Legal implications: Especially for companies that process personal data, as under GDPR legislation, data breaches can lead to large fines and legal complications.
Advanced Security Measures: Proactively Protect Your Data
A secure cloud environment allows companies to guard against these threats with advanced security measures. Companies using cloud solutions such as Microsoft 365 or Acronis can count on the following key layers of security:
Encryption of Data
Encryption is the most important technique for protecting data from unauthorized access. It encrypts sensitive information, making it readable only to authorized users. Both during the transfer of data and when it is stored, encryption provides additional protection, preventing hackers from gaining access to valuable information.Two-factor authentication (2FA)
Two-factor authentication is an additional layer of security on top of traditional passwords. It requires the user to enter a second form of identification in addition to their password (for example, a code sent to your cell phone). This makes it much more difficult for hackers to gain access to systems, even if they have obtained the password.Detailed Access Control
Access control is crucial in a secure cloud environment. Companies can strictly control who can see and edit what data. By using role-based access (RBAC), your organization can ensure that employees only have access to the data relevant to their work. This reduces the risk of data breaches by internal employees and makes it easier to detect anomalies.Real-time Monitoring and Detection
Continuous monitoring of systems is essential for early detection of potential threats. Modern cloud security offers built-in real-time monitoring, which can identify suspicious activity and generate immediate alerts. This allows you to quickly respond to incidents before they escalate.Automatic Backups
Even the best security measures cannot always eliminate all risks. So it is essential to make regular backups of your data. Cloud-based backups, such as those from Acronis, provide protection against data loss from both physical and digital incidents. Automatic backup systems guarantee that you always have a secure copy of important files that can be quickly restored in the event of an attack or failure.Compliance with Laws and Regulations
Companies that process personal data must comply with strict laws and regulations, such as the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). The cloud offers advanced compliance solutions that help ensure compliance with these laws. By using cloud solutions that meet GDPR standards, companies can show their customers that they prioritize protecting personal data.
The Added Value of a Secure Cloud Environment
By choosing a secure cloud environment, your organization empowers itself to not only protect against cyber threats, but also ensure business resilience and continuity. The cloud offers the perfect balance of security, accessibility, and scalability. Businesses can securely access their data anywhere, anytime, without worrying about the vulnerability of physical servers or local storage.
But it’s not just cloud security that matters. It’s also essential to properly train your employees in proper security practices, such as recognizing phishing attacks and handling passwords correctly. Together with the right technology, you create a culture of security within your organization, where everyone does their part to protect company data.
2. Reliable Backups and Recovery Options.
In a digital world where data is the foundation of your business, it is essential to ensure not only the protection of that data, but also the ability to recover it quickly in the event of loss or damage. Whether it’s human error, hardware failure, a cyber attack or a natural incident – data loss can have disastrous consequences for your business. That’s why reliable backups and fast recovery options are critical.
Why Backups Are Essential
Backups are like a safety net for your data. They ensure that you always have a secure copy of important information so you can restore it when needed. It is important not to wait until you have to deal with an incident, but to proactively set up backups. There are different types of backups you can do, such as full backups, incremental backups and differential backups. Choosing the right backup strategy depends on how much data you have and how often it changes.
The Risks of Insufficient Backups.
Without a reliable backup system, your business faces significant risks:
- Loss of Crucial Data: In the event of a failure, attack or human error, irreparable data loss can occur, leading to delays, lost productivity or even business failure.
- Time-consuming Recovery: If you don’t have reliable backups, it can take hours, days or even weeks to recover lost data – with huge implications for business operations.
- Compliance Problems: For companies that must comply with laws and regulations (such as the GDPR), data loss can have serious legal and financial consequences.
Acronis: The Solution for Reliable Backups and Recovery
At Network-IT, we work together with Acronis, one of the most reliable solutions for data backup and recovery. Acronis not only offers backups for workstations and servers, but also provides you with automatic and flexible backup options that protect your organization from data loss.
What makes Acronis so powerful and reliable?
Full Automation of Backups
Acronis provides an automated backup process, so you don’t have to worry about starting backups manually. This ensures that your data is always up-to-date and secure without you having to constantly chase after it.Encryption of Data
Acronis provides advanced encryption to protect your data during backup and storage. This means that even if the backup files are stolen or hacked, the data will not be readable by unauthorized individuals.Simple Recovery
What makes Acronis so powerful is its easy and fast data recovery. Whether you need to restore a single file or entire systems, Acronis offers a user-friendly interface that allows you to get back up and running quickly. This reduces downtime and allows your business to continue working quickly after an incident.Cloud-based Backups
Acronis offers not only local backups, but also cloud-based solutions, so you can always access your data no matter where you are. This makes it easier to restore data remotely and provides additional protection through redundancy.Security and Compliance
For companies that need to comply with regulations such as the GDPR, Acronis offers backup solutions that are fully compliant. You can rely on the security of your data, knowing that it meets the strictest data protection and privacy standards.
3. Access to Your Data, Wherever You Are
In today’s business world, flexibility is essential. Employees increasingly work remotely, travel frequently or work from different locations. This requires them to have access to company data, documents and applications no matter where they are. This is possible thanks to cloud technology, but with increasing mobility also comes greater responsibility for securing your data.
Fortunately, Microsoft 365, Windows 365 and Acronis provide the right tools to both improve access to your data and ensure its security, so your business can continue to work productively even when employees are out of the office.
The Power of Microsoft 365 and Windows 365
Microsoft 365 offers businesses a range of productivity and collaboration options through cloud-based applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and OneDrive. Employees can perform their work anywhere, as long as they have access to an Internet connection. But access is only part of the solution – securing data and applications is essential, especially when employees access company files through insecure networks or devices.
With Windows 365 you can offer a virtual desktop to your employees, who can access a secure, standardized work environment anytime, anywhere. This offers the flexibility of working from any location, while your company maintains full control over the configuration and security of those workstations.
Data Security and Protection with Acronis
Acronis plays a critical role in ensuring the security of your data, no matter how and where it is accessed. While Microsoft 365 and Windows 365 provide the access and productivity you need, Acronis provides the robust backup and recovery solutions you need to protect data from loss, cyberattacks or human error.
Here are some key security features Acronis offers in conjunction with Microsoft 365 and Windows 365:
Data encryption
Acronis ensures that all your data is encrypted, both during transfer and storage. This means sensitive business information is always secure, even when accessed over insecure networks.Automatic Backups
Acronis provides automatic backups of Microsoft 365 applications and Windows 365 desktops, so your data is always safe and up-to-date. This ensures that you can recover quickly if something goes wrong, such as a cyber attack or system failure, without losing important information.Real-time Monitoring and Detection
Acronis provides continuous monitoring of your cloud-based data and systems. Suspicious activity is detected in real-time, so you can react quickly and protect your data from attacks before they can cause damage.Flexibility and Access to Data
Thanks to Acronis you can always access your backups no matter where you are. This is particularly valuable for companies with remote teams or employees who travel. You can easily restore files even when you don’t have access to your primary systems, ensuring the operational continuity of your business.Compliance and Legislation
Acronis offers solutions that meet the strictest standards for data security and privacy, such as the GDPR. This means that your data is handled and stored appropriately, which is crucial for businesses facing regulations around data protection.
The Benefits of Accessing Your Data and Security.
The combination of Microsoft 365, Windows 365, and Acronis offers businesses not only the flexibility to access data anywhere, anytime, but also the peace of mind that this data is safe, even when accessed remotely.
- Flexibility and Productivity: Employees can work from any location, which increases productivity and contributes to today’s modern work style.
- Seamless Security: Data security remains assured even when employees access company files through unknown or insecure networks.
- Preventing Loss of Data: With Acronis backups are managed automatically so your data can be restored quickly after incidents such as a cyberattack, technical error or human error.
- Cost savings: With the flexibility of remote working and the reduced need for expensive office equipment or spaces, companies can save significant costs.
4. Scaling by Need
In today’s dynamic world, businesses must not only be able to meet their current needs, but also be able to adapt to future growth and changing market conditions. This means that the IT infrastructure that businesses use must be flexible and scalable. Instead of being stuck with traditional, rigid systems, cloud technology provides a solution that gives businesses the freedom to scale up or scale down depending on their needs – without having to make large investments in physical hardware or resources.
What is Scaling by Need?
Scaling by need refers to the ability to flexibly adjust your IT resources based on demand. This can mean needing more storage capacity, computing power or software licenses as your business grows, or being able to temporarily reduce these resources as your demand decreases. In traditional IT infrastructure, this often required significant investment in hardware and managing new systems, which was both time-consuming and costly. The cloud, however, offers the ability to manage this process easily, quickly and cost-effectively.
Benefits of Scaling by Need
Cost savings
Traditional infrastructures often require companies to purchase too much capacity at once, even when the actual needs are not always that great. This leads to unnecessary costs for unused hardware or software licenses. Cloud solutions such as Microsoft 365 and Windows 365 offer the ability to pay for your IT resources only based on actual usage. This means you don’t have to make large investments in infrastructure that you may not actually need for months or years.Flexibility and Adaptability
Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a larger organization growing, scaling as needed allows you to respond quickly to changes. For example, when there is an increase in the number of customers or a project requires that you need more resources, you can easily expand your cloud capacity without the long lead time of buying and installing new servers. When demand decreases, you can easily reduce resources, saving costs.Enhanced Business Continuity
Cloud solutions are designed to enable businesses to respond quickly to unexpected events, such as spikes in demand or sudden drops in activity. By scaling as needed, you can ensure that your business always has the right amount of capacity regardless of market conditions, and you can easily cope with spikes in demand without running into problems due to overloading your systems.No Management of Physical Infrastructure
With traditional IT infrastructure, you are responsible for managing hardware, servers and networks, which can lead to significant costs for maintenance, updates and replacements. Cloud-based solutions such as Microsoft 365 and Windows 365 take this responsibility off your hands. The cloud provider provides the necessary hardware and maintenance so you can focus on your core business without worrying about the technical aspects.Better Resource Planning
Through the cloud, you can always quickly and easily allocate the resources you need, whether it’s storage capacity, processing power or software licenses. This helps you plan for the growth of your business without worrying about running out of resources or anticipating future needs.Easy Integration of New Technologies
The cloud also makes it easier to add new technologies and tools as needed. For example, if your company decides to take advantage of new AI tools, analytics platforms or other advanced software, you can quickly integrate them without making any major changes to your IT infrastructure.
Scaling to Need with Acronis
In addition to cloud solutions such as Microsoft 365 and Windows 365, offers Acronis also scales as needed for your backup and disaster recovery solutions. Acronis’ cloud-based backup services allow you to flexibly expand your storage capacity when you need to store more data, and shrink it when storage needs decrease. This prevents you from overpaying for backups you don’t need and ensures that you always have enough capacity to store your data securely.
5. Cost Savings and Efficiency.
In a competitive business environment, cost reduction is critical to the success of any business. Cloud solutions such as Microsoft 365, Windows 365 and Acronis offer an excellent way to reduce IT costs while increasing efficiency.
Cost savings
With the cloud, you don’t have to purchase or maintain expensive physical infrastructure, such as servers or storage devices. You only pay for the resources you actually use, eliminating unnecessary spending on unused capacity. This allows you to better manage your IT budget and save costs on hardware, maintenance and energy consumption.
Efficiency
Cloud solutions offer streamlined operations by providing automatic updates, backups and security. This reduces the cost of internal IT management and allows your teams to focus on their core tasks. In addition, the cloud provides quick access to data and applications, increasing overall productivity.
With cloud technology, then, you can both cut costs and make your business more efficient, contributing to better business operations.
6. Compliance and Legislation
In an era where data protection is increasingly important, it is essential for companies to comply with applicable laws and regulations. Especially when it comes to sensitive information, such as personal data, the consequences of non-compliance can be severe, both financially and for your company’s reputation. Fortunately, cloud technology offers a powerful solution to help businesses meet these requirements.
Compliance with Legislation
Many countries have strict legislation around data protection, such as the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe. This legislation requires companies to take strict measures to protect personal data, be transparent about the use of data, and act quickly in case of a data breach.
Cloud providers such as Microsoft 365 and Acronis help companies meet regulatory requirements by offering advanced security measures and certifications. These platforms offer encryption, automated backups, access control and monitoring tools that meet the strictest data security standards.
The Benefits of Cloud Solutions for Compliance
- Secure Data Storage: Cloud solutions offer secure and certified data centers, where your data is encrypted and protected from unauthorized access.
- Automatic Updates: Cloud platforms ensure that your systems are always up-to-date with the latest security patches and compliance requirements.
- Detailed Access Control: You can control exactly who has access to sensitive data, which is essential for compliance.
- Compliance Certifications: Cloud providers such as Microsoft and Acronis have key certifications, such as ISO 27001, that ensure they meet international data protection standards.
Thus, with the right cloud solutions, you can not only ensure the security of your data, but also comply with laws and regulations, which is crucial to the success of your business.
7. Continuity of Your Business
In a rapidly changing world, business continuity is essential. It can range from a power outage to a cyber attack or even a natural disaster. The loss of data or the unavailability of key systems can severely disrupt a business, leading to lost productivity, financial loss and loss of reputation. It is therefore crucial that businesses prepare for unexpected disruptions to ensure they can recover quickly and continue operations.
The Cloud as a Solution for Continuity
Cloud technology provides companies with the tools and infrastructure to ensure business continuity even during unforeseen events. Platforms such as Microsoft 365 and Acronis offer built-in redundancy and backup capabilities that protect businesses from data loss and system downtime.
With Microsoft 365 employees can always access their email, documents and apps, regardless of their location or the state of their physical systems. This makes it easier to continue working even when there is an outage or when employees are forced to work remotely.
Acronis ensures that business-critical data is always safe with automated backups and fast recovery of files, systems or entire servers in case of loss or damage. This minimizes downtime and gets your business back up and running quickly.
Benefits for Business Continuity
- Redundancy: Cloud solutions offer a high degree of redundancy, so your data is always available even if there are technical problems.
- Fast Recovery Times: Automated backup and recovery options allow businesses to quickly recover from incidents without long delays.
- Access to Data and Applications: Cloud technology allows employees to continue working anywhere, even if their physical workstation or devices are unavailable.
- Cost-effective: Instead of investing in expensive physical infrastructures for disaster recovery, the cloud offers a cost-effective solution for ensuring business continuity.
8. Easy Management and Monitoring
In today’s complex digital world, managing IT systems is a critical part of a company’s success. From managing data to monitoring applications and systems, it’s important for businesses to be able to efficiently manage their IT infrastructure and respond quickly to any issues. Cloud solutions allow businesses to easily manage and continuously monitor their systems, improving the overall efficiency and security of the IT environment.
Management and Monitoring with Microsoft 365 and Acronis
With Microsoft 365 companies can centrally manage their IT infrastructure through the Microsoft Admin Center, where administrators can easily manage users, apps and security settings. It provides a user-friendly interface that allows companies to easily configure, customize and control their cloud-based products and services.
Acronis also offers advanced monitoring and management tools for backup and disaster recovery. You can monitor your systems and data in real-time, detect suspicious activity and take quick action if a problem is detected. Acronis also provides detailed reporting and insights, so you’re always aware of the status of your data and backups.
Benefits of Simple Management and Monitoring
Centralized Management Platforms: Both Microsoft 365 and Acronis offer centralized platforms that simplify the management of different systems and applications. This saves time and reduces the complexity of IT management.
Real-time Monitoring: Built-in monitoring tools allow you to continuously track the status of your systems and data. This allows you to quickly detect problems and take immediate action, minimizing downtime.
Security and Compliance: You can easily manage security settings and ensure your systems meet the latest compliance requirements. Automatic notifications of suspicious activity or security threats allow you to take immediate action.
Cost savings: By using cloud-based management and monitoring systems, companies can reduce the cost of physical hardware and the need for an extensive in-house IT department.
















