These days, you’re looking to cut costs everywhere you can. Business Internet usage is one area where most companies can uncover hidden costs – usually driven by their staff’s non-work-related browsing.
We’re not saying that they’re intentionally trying to cheat you out of a day’s work. It’s a lot more subtle than that.
Staff practices dictate most of your network’s efficiency
It usually starts out with a work-related project, say, doing research on legal cases involving your industry, new industry-impacting legislation, the latest developments in your field of expertise, or any one of a thousand work-related topics – and then it happens.
They remember that colleague halfway across the country who’s an expert on the topic. Then, they head over to social media to chat with that person about their questions and concerns.
Unnecessary browsing takes resources away from other business-critical apps
A bit of juicy gossip – or even news about an intriguing study in their field — pops up on their notifications. And down the browsing rabbit hole they go.
You’ve probably done it yourself. But something else goes down the rabbit hole with your employees. Your bandwidth.
All those resources that your staff consume with their non-work-related browsing rob from apps that are essential for doing business.
That’s not all. When your employees download other apps or bring in software outside of your IT department’s knowledge or approval. This practice – shadow IT – can also eat up a lot of your company’s bandwidth.
Like browsing, these outside apps and software often start with good intentions. For instance, someone in your marketing department downloads an app to edit your company blog posts. That app, unfortunately, sucks up some of the bandwidth that you need for more business-critical applications.
There’s more. Without your IT department’s involvement, shadow IT can pose a major network security risk, run afoul of your company’s regulatory requirements, and, worse, risk confidentiality.
Don’t end up a business bandwidth statistic
According to a recent Everstream white paper, 70 percent of all digital transformations fail, mainly due to a lack of support and accountability. That kind of digital laxity, in turn, gives rise to workplace laxity.
Like digital rabbit holes. Like unapproved shadow IT.
The same paper also reports that fifty-eight percent of chief financial officers worldwide expect that they will process 50 percent more data by the end of 2020. Along with that rise, they’ll need more bandwidth to handle it.
More efficient network management is a must to stop the bandwidth bleed-out. Managed IT can help you eliminate unneeded apps, detect shadow IT, and keep your staff focused on only the digital tasks they need to perform to do their work. Security training, too, can help educate your staff to be more aware of activities they think will help them do a better job, but actually put your organization at risk.
With robust digital management products, such as Meraki’s application visibility tool and their smart camera-powered heatmaps, you can keep track of where your staff go online and off – and even block their ability to use specific apps or conduct specific activities, such as watching videos when they should be working.
If your company has a bring your own device (BYOD) policy, consider mobile device management (MDM) to ensure that data stays secure – even when your staff work from home – with 24/7 monitoring.
Reach out to the team
With robust monitoring protocols and better training in security and bandwidth concerns, you can cut your IT costs and boost your security level. To discover more about ways to make the most of your organization’s bandwidth and increase your security, we can help. Get in touch with our team to learn more.