Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) often find it difficult to select an appropriate security solution because of the obvious intricacies involved. Information security threats, risks and regulations are the major hurdles which these entities have to face before they can zero in on a reliable solution. With the availability of a lot of solutions to address the issues like confidentiality of information, integrity as well as concerns of availability, the task becomes all the more demanding because it makes selection of the right solution a complex issue. However, by considering and weighing the advantages offered by certain factors, SMBs can effectively select a robust security solution that integrates with their business on a long term basis.
- Flexibility: An ideal security solution for an SMB should be flexible enough so that it can be scaled as the need arises. By scaling we mean that the pricing model should be such that the SMB should not be made to pay extra for administrative consoles without compromising on its functionality. Most of the security solutions today have successfully integrated with popular applications from large organizations. However, if they cannot do so by scaling down for the SMBs, then such solutions cannot fit easily into the SMB.
- Ease and Simplicity: A piece of advice from the CEO of Avecto, Mr.Mark Austin is that, SMBs should give priority to those solutions which are simple and easy to set up as well as maintain. This can be done by employing the existing services like Active Directory.
- Effortless integration: Austin also stated that those solutions which can make full use of existing infrastructure will have a better capability of integration as they have a shorter learning curve. This can prove to be of additional value for the SMB
- Automatic updates: As the threat environment is constantly changing, it becomes essential for the SMB to have a solution that can automatically update not only the consoles but also the software on the end users desktop.
- Compliance: This is the last and very vital issue. There are a number of software’s which claim compliance with HIPAA/HITECH, PCI etc without proper explanation of its meaning. SMBs must rely only on those software’s which provide adequate guidelines of configuration that completely explain about these regulations and also about the various issues which the solution can address.
