All businesses require technology in some shape or form. Yet too many small businesses take their IT for granted: your computer will power up every morning, your emails will all get sent, your website will load, your data on your laptop is there for you to access.

We don’t notice our technology until it becomes a headache – it’s not until it goes wrong and we can’t work that we realise the simple mistakes we have failed to prevent.

Top 10 IT Mistakes Businesses Commonly Make:

Free Lunch: You’ve all heard the expression that there is no such thing as a free lunch – the same applies to your technology. It may seem an unnecessary business expense to pay for an anti virus when you can just have a free one – but the premium antivirus packages are there for a very good reason – they offer a more comprehensive security. A virus could potentially cripple your business and free security options won’t protect you against all nasties.

No Wingman: Your wingman is there to offer you support when you need it – but is of no use if he’s not there when required. Too many businesses still rely on external backups that they need to manually do, and to remember to do. Having a cloud based fully encrypted automated backup in place ensures that your wingman is by your side every step you take.

Make do and mend: All this talk about the demise of the latest version of Windows – it’s just a way of making you change your computer when the system you have is working fine isn’t it? Unfortunately not – older systems are more vulnerable, and whether you are using Windows or an alternative, updates are essential for keeping your business IT secure.

On The Cheap: You saw a brilliant deal on a printer so you went ahead – without looking at how much replacement cartridges would cost. Or that cannot refuse offer on a laptop – without realising it didn’t have enough memory for your ever expanding business requirements, nor could it be upgraded…buying cheap will often backfire on you.

Making Assumptions: is there more than one person working with or for your business? If so, are they aware of your company’s privacy policy? Of their responsibility with company data? Is there a policy for BYOD – are they using their own smart phone/tablet/laptop or does it belong to the company? Everybody within an organisation should be aware of their rights and responsibilities.

Erratic Habits: Where is that email you sent a customer twelve weeks ago? They have called the office claiming they didn’t actually place an order with you and therefore won’t be settling their invoice. Where is the agreed plan of action that you obtained from them in writing? Can you find the documents a client swears they sent over to you? Our computers store a vast amount of information, but it is down to you to organise and file it.

Leaving Holes: You get to your desk, you turn on your computer, you need to get cracking, tic toc, time is running out – and the blasted machine says it needs to do updates! As frustrating as they might be, ignoring or cancelling updates will leave your business IT vulnerable – these updates are a necessary evil; so step away from your desk, let your IT do its thing and grab a cuppa.

Public Profile 1: Who owns your website? Who owns your website’s name? Your domain? If you needed to access your website, would you know how to? What if the company who is responsible for your website folded? Where would that leave you and your online presence?

Public Profile 2: Social media is so easy to do, just leave it the new girl. You are, of course, aware of exactly what the new girl is posting on your company Twitter/INstagram/TicToc/Facebook/LinkedIn pages aren’t you? And if you needed to log into any of those accounts, you know the usernames and passwords and can guarantee the log in details haven’t been changed don’t you?

It Won’t Ever Happen: Do you have such a thing as a disaster recovery plan? What if your computer systems went down? What if your offices were flooded? What if you lost access to the internet? What if there was an online campaign against your company? Would you be able to ride out the storm without adversely affecting your customers?

If all our technology is working as we require it to, it is easy to take it for granted. But could your business really survive without all that you rely upon on a daily basis? Ensuring that you have a safety net around you, that your business IT is fully Cyber Secure, will enable your business not to survive but to grow and to thrive.