ANTenna Blog -- Business & E-Business

The second half of 2008 has already been brutal for business. The prospects for early 2009 aren't glowing, but now's the time for business owners to think hard about the strategy and decisions that will carry the company through next year.

Recently, Symantec released 5 resolutions focused on improving management and data and IT infrastructure that it predicts small and midsize businesses will make for the coming year. As with all resolutions, the list is aspirational. Nonetheless, with today so bleak, resolving for a better tomorrow holds more appeal than usual. Here are Symantec's suggestions for 5 ways to manage IT better in the coming year:

1. Reduce Complexity -- The average small and midsize business manages four or more different data protection methods to meet backup and recovery requirements. Growing companies can implement simplified approaches for data protection to reduce the management of their backup infrastructure, increases reliability, and provides the resources to help them maximize their investment.
2. Maximize IT Resources -- Small and midsize business are challenged with limited resources to manage rapidly increasing amounts of data, which can lead to increased data security risks, more downtime, and less regulatory compliance. Improving data availability, recovery, and storage utilization will be among the top concerns for growing companies in 2009.
3. Stop Wasting Server Space -- Many small and midsize businesses are experiencing a strain on their existing servers. Growing companies can ease this strain by focusing on consolidating space and lowering costs -- can you say virtualization?
4. Minimize Risk Of Downtime -- The cost of downtime can be devastating. Studies show that after the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City, 70% of firms who could not access their data within three to five days went bankrupt. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions can help small and midsize business mitigate possible downtime due to a disaster or employee mistake.
5. Reduce Threats To The Network -- Endpoints can be a huge liability if not properly secured. Small and midsize business face a threat landscape that involves stealthy, targeted, and financially motivated attacks aimed at exploiting vulnerabilities at the endpoints. New threat protection technologies can help growing companies manage and secure their endpoints.

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