10 Warning Signs of Medical Fraud and How to Protect Yourself

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Health insurance is meant to provide access to essential treatments, preventive services, and emergency care for individuals and families. Unfortunately, it has also become a lucrative target for scammers.

The worst part? Some victims are finding out in the most shocking ways. Some face tax or mortgage fraud, but others discover it when they go to the doctor for a procedure. Instead of getting a surgery date, they receive a rejection letter from their insurance provider, claiming their benefits are exhausted due to multiple procedures this year—procedures they never had. Someone else used their medical ID for those procedures.

Earlier this year, Change Healthcare, a major player in the health care industry, was hit by a cyber-attack that affected thousands of health care providers, insurers, and policyholders across the nation. Alarming reports suggest that up to 50% of all U.S. medical claims could be compromised! To put that in perspective, if you’re in a waiting room with nine other people, there’s a good chance that five of you could become victims of medical identity theft within the year. The fallout from this type of fraud is severe, with countless individuals finding their access to health care compromised. Once your medical information is leaked online, identity thieves can use it to file false claims, purchase expensive prescriptions, and more—all of which will be billed to your account.

And it’s not just individuals who are at risk. Manipulative organizations can use your medical information for fake billing schemes. These scams involve submitting false claims for medical services you never requested or received. They pocket the money and leave you with the bill. Just last month, 193 defendants, including 76 doctors, nurse practitioners, and other licensed medical professionals, were charged for their involvement in various health care fraud schemes totaling $2.75 billion in false billings to federal programs. Medical fraud is a real threat!

How Do You Know If You’re a Victim?

Here are 10 signs that your medical ID might have been stolen and is being misused by cybercriminals:

  1. Unexpected Medical Bills: Receiving bills for medical services you never received is a major red flag.
  2. Collection Notices: Being contacted by debt collectors for unpaid medical bills that aren’t yours.
  3. Errors in Medical Records: Discovering inaccuracies in your medical records, such as treatments you never had, incorrect diagnoses, or unfamiliar medical histories.
  4. Insurance Issues: Your health insurance claims are denied because your benefits are maxed out, or you’re told you’ve reached your coverage limit despite not using the services.
  5. Notification from Your Insurance Provider: Receiving alerts from your health insurance provider about claims or services you don’t recognize.
  6. Unknown Accounts: Finding new health insurance accounts or medical records under your name that you didn’t create.
  7. Discrepancies in Your Explanation of Benefits (EOB): Your EOB statements list medical services you didn’t receive.
  8. Being Denied Insurance: Difficulty obtaining life or health insurance due to medical conditions listed in your records that you don’t have.
  9. Calls from Medical Providers: Receiving calls from doctors or medical facilities about appointments or follow-ups for treatments you never had.
  10. Unfamiliar Prescriptions: Notices about prescriptions being filled in your name that you did not authorize or receive.

How Can You Prevent Becoming a Victim of Medical ID Fraud?

Don’t let yourself become the next victim of medical ID theft. Here are a few steps you can take to protect yourself:

  1. Check for Health Care Breaches: Use a searchable database to find out if your health care information has been compromised.
  2. Secure Your Records: Store paper copies of medical records in a safe or lockbox to prevent unauthorized access. If your health care provider’s system is compromised, you’ll be glad you did.
  3. Shred Documents: Shred any documents with personal information before disposing of them.
  4. Monitor Your Medical Records: Regularly request and review your medical records for unfamiliar treatments, diagnoses, or other discrepancies.
  5. Review Insurance Bills: Carefully review EOB statements from your insurance provider for any services you didn’t receive. Report any unfamiliar charges to your insurer and to the credit bureaus at IdentityTheft.gov.
  6. Dispose of Prescription Labels: Remove labels from empty prescription bottles before discarding them, as they may contain information that could be used to steal your identity.
  7. Monitor Your Credit: Use AnnualCreditReport.com to get three free credit reports per year to keep an eye on any suspicious activity.

Health care will always be a critical service and, unfortunately, a prime target for hackers. Attacks on hospitals, doctors’ offices, and other medical facilities are likely to continue. It’s crucial to take proactive measures to protect yourself. We can help you assess your risk with our FREE Dark Web Scan. This technology quickly identifies if your information has been put up for sale on the dark web or if you’ve been a victim of a data breach. To book your Dark Web Scan, call us at 214-550-0550 or click here.

Leveraging your business data to drive better business outcomes

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Leveraging your business data to drive better business outcomes

Smaller firms may hear about AI and how data is driving the big corporations of the world, but they often don’t realize that they can do the same. The size and age of your business doesn’t have to be a limiting factor in whether you use data. Today’s blog is a quick look at data management for the small firm.

The first lesson is: don’t take your data for granted. The basic business model for some large IT companies is monetizing the data that they collect. While this may not be your goal, you probably collect a great deal of data about your customers, prospects, and operations. An MSP can help you make better use of that data. Here are just three examples:

Marketing

Data tells you who is interested, when they’re interested, and in what they are interested. Data can tell you where each individual prospect sits in the sales funnel, so your marketing messages reach them exactly where they are. It can also track the performance of your online marketing initiatives.

Forecasting and Sales

Customer Relationship Management applications exist because of the data that can now be collected. They monitor sales efforts, nurture leads, and work to improve customer engagement.

In-house and Operations

Data can track all manner of things in your production of goods or services, identifying where resources are being spent in each step of the process. Data can also be used in scheduling and pricing, although these tools can have human resource and customer relations implications that need to be carefully considered.

Planning and the Future

Technology is more than just something to run your business today. It can be a source of innovation for the future of the business, pushing it in new directions. You should be taking a proactive view of technology as a strategic tool for the long-term growth of the business. How can new technology help with in-house software development, infrastructure upgrades, digital transformation, and product innovation? Questions to ask in this context would be “can technology improve the delivery of products and services, or improve qualitatively the nature of the product or service itself?” As part of C-suite plans to stay competitive and thrive in the market, leadership needs to understand what new technologies are available for future innovation. However, that means you need technology support that is focussed on strategic planning; understanding new technologies that can move the business forward. For an SMB, Managed Service Provider can be the CIO/CTO that understands your business and helps plans for the future.

In summary, most SMBs are limited in how they can make use of technology in their strategic planning. As a result, this may compromise their capacity to remain competitive in the long-term. Consider using an MSP as a strategic partner in your long term planning.

Roadmaps for Data Security and for Strategic Planning

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Roadmaps for Data Security and for Strategic Planning

It is time you were encouraged to stop looking at the technology you use to run your business as just some reliable piece of invisible infrastructure that hums along in the background.

Instead, business owners should look at technology from a strategic perspective. What can technology do to support business in the future? How can new technology help your present business evolve and adapt to new market demands and customer expectations? For instance, AI is a new technology that may create serious disruption in many industries. Failure to think into the future could put a business at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, most small businesses face two challenges that make it difficult to incorporate new technology into their strategic plans.

  1. In-house staff focus more on maintaining existing technology – For many SMBs, in-house IT staff resources are limited. As a result, much of their time and attention must be focused on putting out fires and handling emergencies. Beyond that, day-to-day maintenance and support of your IT infrastructure is probably stretching them past the breaking point.

  2. Leadership expertise in SMBs is concentrated entirely on running the business and growing revenues. Very simply, SMB leadership’s skills are in their specific industry. Management needs to be focused on the product or service and driving revenues. The issues get back to “core competencies.” A business that gets distracted from its core competencies may damage its focus on quality and meeting customer expectations.

Because of these two challenges, SMBs tend to not integrate technology into long-term strategic planning. They simply don’t have the luxury of devoting resources to IT planning. There is a solution, however. An MSP has the depth and breadth of resources that you could never hope to build and manage internally. To do so would drain management focus and be financially unsupportable.

What can an MSP bring to a small business? Here are six areas where an MSP can help a small business act strategically and integrate technology into long-term growth plans.

Building a Technology Roadmap

At the heart of a technology roadmap is this question: “Can technology improve the delivery of products and services or improve qualitatively the nature of the product or service itself?” A technology roadmap works to develop a complete, concrete answer to this question. It is a long-term planning document that defines how and what technology should be incorporated into the growth of the business. Individual parts of a roadmap will address specific aspects of the company’s technology such as software development, infrastructure upgrades, digital transformation, and product innovation. A technology roadmap that includes product innovation is especially important. The roadmap may also include research and development initiatives.

Creating a Security Roadmap

A security roadmap is the result of a risk management analysis. By analyzing the vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure, including cyber security threats, an MSP can create a security roadmap that identifies all the actions that need to be taken to fortify your IT infrastructure as much as possible. Like a technology roadmap, it is a specific plan for ensuring that your data, network hardware and software remains safe from cybercriminals. Data is critical to your business. It is proprietary and it is also very vulnerable to theft. A data breach can be a real threat to the viability of your business. The legal and reputational consequences can take down a small business. A security roadmap can include:

  • Determining what regulations govern your data (HIPAA, GDPR, FERPA, etc.)
  • Developing access protocols
  • Training employees about human vulnerabilities to cybercrimes, such a phishing
  • Creating effective backup procedures, which are a particularly important defense against ransomware attacks

The Hidden Risks of Taking Shortcuts in IT Security

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A recent study by the National Cancer Institute in Maryland analyzed data from three significant US health studies, revealing a surprising statistic: people who took daily multivitamins had a 4% higher mortality rate than those who didn’t. This unexpected finding brings to mind a scene from the movie Grumpy Old Men, where a character, despite his unhealthy lifestyle, outlives many who followed strict health regimens. The takeaway? Shortcuts to achieving meaningful goals often lead to unintended consequences.

In various areas of life, including diet, we see that easy solutions can result in serious problems. For example, labels like “fat-free” or “sugar-free” might encourage people to overindulge, negating any potential benefits. The Atkins diet, which promises easy weight loss by cutting out carbs, has been linked to numerous health issues due to an unbalanced diet. Similarly, weight-loss drugs like Ozempic have led to serious health complications, reminiscent of the dangers posed by quick fixes like Fen-Phen in the 1990s.

In the IT world, shortcuts are equally dangerous. Many businesses try to meet compliance requirements or protect themselves from data breaches by taking the easiest, cheapest routes. It’s common to see companies relying on free antivirus or firewall software found through a quick online search, underestimating the risks involved. Small businesses often think they’re too insignificant to be targeted by cybercriminals, but in reality, these businesses are prime targets precisely because they tend to have weaker defenses.

Another common mistake is entrusting IT management to someone with basic tech knowledge but lacking professional expertise. When businesses eventually upgrade to professional IT services, they often discover numerous inefficiencies and vulnerabilities that had previously gone unnoticed. The problem isn’t the intent but the lack of necessary skills and resources, which significantly increases risk.

However, not all shortcuts are bad. Handing over IT responsibilities to an experienced managed services provider can be the ideal “easy button.” By partnering with professionals who understand your industry and its specific requirements, you can achieve compliance, security, and operational efficiency without the associated stress.

Choosing the right IT provider is crucial. History has shown us that even experts can be convincingly wrong, as evidenced by past medical practices like lobotomies or financial scams like Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. That’s why it’s essential to thoroughly vet potential IT partners, ask the right questions, and seek testimonials from other clients.

When selecting an IT provider to manage your network, take the decision seriously. You don’t need to know every technical detail, but it’s your responsibility to ask questions, request client testimonials, and hire someone trustworthy. Your company’s security, reputation, and future could be at stake if the wrong person mishandles your business. To help with this, I’ve created a FREE guide that outlines 16 essential questions you need to ask before letting anyone touch your network. It’s a valuable resource for every business owner.

If you’re ready to entrust your IT to a reliable team of experts, we’re here to help. Our team is ready to manage your network, allowing you to focus on growing your business while we focus on what we do best: protecting it. Check out our website for real client reviews!

To get started, give us a call at 214-550-0550 or click here to book your FREE Cyber Security Risk Assessment today.

An MSP can help you prepare your business for tomorrow’s market

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An MSP can help you prepare your business for tomorrow’s market

Many small businesses tend to view an MSP as the local fire truck. Available when an emergency happens, they rush in, put out whatever tech fires broke out, and then leave. This is also known as the “break-fix” approach to technical support. However, an MSP can bring many types of value to a small business. In particular, an MSP can function as a strategic partner for a small business. Technology needs to be part of your long-term strategic planning. MSPs have the ability to devote energy to understanding emerging trends that can help your organization develop a “technology roadmap.” This is a long-term strategy document that outlines how and what technology should be used going forward. The roadmap takes a proactive view of technology as a strategic tool for the long-term growth of the business. Individual parts of a technology road map will address specific aspects of the company’s “technology” such as software development, infrastructure upgrades, digital transformation, and product innovation. A technology roadmap that includes product innovation is especially important. Questions to ask in this context would be “can technology improve the delivery of products and services, or improve qualitatively the nature of the product or service itself?” The roadmap may also include research and development initiatives. As part of C-suite plans to stay competitive and thrive in the market, leadership needs to understand what new technologies are available for future innovation.

Here are just a few examples of how an MSP’s specialized staff with expertise can help.

Software Development – Strategic IT should be evaluating the present software applications and addressing improvements and re-designs that will address potential customer demands.

Infrastructure Upgrades as the Business Grows – There are many examples, but a simple one is redundancy. As a business grows, it becomes increasingly important to address redundancy. The larger the business, the more complex the infrastructure becomes. It is important that businesses look throughout the infrastructure and identify the single points of failure that need to be addressed and developing real-time work arounds and disaster recovery plans is an increasingly complex task that requires significant resources and attention.

Digital Transformation – Digital transformation refers to taking tasks and using digital tools to improve efficiency and response. This can mean anything from moving from in-house servers to the cloud, using SaaS, creating online portals for sales and marketing, to just about anything you can imagine. A new example is the use of AI, especially machine learning which can be used to develop more effective inventory planning and offer more precise marketing responses to individual prospects.

Security Roadmaps – A security roadmap is similar to a technology roadmap, but with a very tight focus. Ensuring your data remains safe from cybercriminals, internal error, and software or hardware breakdowns is the goal of a security roadmap. Your data is critical to your business. It is proprietary and it is also very vulnerable to theft. A data breach can be a real threat to the viability of your business. The legal and reputational consequences can take down a small business. A security roadmap can include:

  • Determining what regulations govern your data (HIPAA, GDPR, FERPA, etc.)
  • Developing access protocols
  • Training employees about human vulnerabilities to cybercrimes, such a phishing
  • Creating effective backup procedures, which are particularly important defense against ransomware attacks

Data Management: Everyone knows that data is valuable. The basic business model of some of the largest IT companies hinges partly on the value of data for advertising. But for even the smallest business, significant amounts of data can now be collected. An MSP can help an SMB use that data to tighten inventory, for example. Three ways data helps your business succeed.

Marketing – Data tells you who is interested, when they’re interested, and in what they are interested. Data can tell you where each individual prospect sits in the sales funnel, so your marketing messages reach them exactly where they are. It can also track the performance of your online marketing initiatives.

Forecasting and Sales – Customer Relationship Management applications exist because of the data that can now be collected. They monitor sales efforts, nurture leads, and work to improve customer engagement.

In-house and Operations – Data can track all manner of things in your production of goods or services, identifying where resources are being spent in each step of the process. Data can also be used in scheduling and pricing, although these tools can have human resource and customer relations implications that need to be carefully considered.

In short, there are a lot of areas where technology can be used to not only run your business today but can propel your business forward. Technology that is viewed strategically, not just as a tool to get things done today, can drive revenues and help a SMB remain competitive as the market changes. An MSP has the deep experience and resources to understand your business and contribute to your strategic planning at the C-suite level without requiring the resources necessary to build it up from within.

Recent Cyber-Attacks Highlight the Urgency of Strong Cybersecurity for All Businesses

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Imagine if the software your organization relies on to close deals and pay employees suddenly went down, and you had no idea when it would be fixed. Could you continue doing business? How much money would you lose? Unfortunately, in June, this scenario became a reality for over 15,000 US- and Canada-based car dealerships when two cyber-attacks targeted the popular industry software provider, CDK Global.

These attacks shut down sales, financing, and payroll systems for thousands of dealers, forcing them to either halt business or revert to old-fashioned pen-and-paper methods. This incident is a wake-up call for all small business owners, emphasizing the importance of robust cybersecurity measures.

What Happened?

The initial attack occurred on the evening of Tuesday, June 18. Once it was detected, CDK Global immediately took the system offline to investigate the issue. The system was back up and running the following day until a second incident occurred, leading the company to take the system offline again. It’s believed the system was brought back online prematurely, before all compromised areas were discovered, resulting in the second attack. Cybersecurity experts predict it could be weeks before the system is fully operational again.

While some businesses reverted to manual processes, this incident highlights the vulnerabilities that come with relying on digital systems. In our ever-advancing digital world, where most transactions are just a few clicks away, significant issues arise when systems go offline. Critical parts of the business process, such as completing transactions, managing payroll, and interacting with financial institutions, can come to a standstill. Until the systems are back online, many business operations cannot be fully completed, leading to delays and potential financial losses. Business owners know that there is no sale until the check clears the bank!

So, What’s Next?

CDK Global didn’t disclose the exact cause of the attack. Whether that was intentional or they are still unsure remains to be seen. Their security team will need to meticulously comb over every area of the business to determine exactly what was compromised. It’s often difficult for large companies to get the details about cyber-attacks 100% correct after the first review because they may not be able to determine the extent of an attack’s network penetration if there are multiple points of vulnerability.

In the meantime, businesses need to take a hard look at their systems for selling and operational continuity. Will they be prepared to continue doing business if and when this happens again?

This incident should serve as a wake-up call for all business leaders. If you don’t have a business recovery and continuity plan in place, you’re putting yourself at risk. And if you do, you need to ask yourself if it is high-quality, tested often, and able to handle a large-scale attack where multiple operational systems are disabled. If the answer is no, it’s time to do something about it.

What You Can Do

We offer a FREE Security Risk Assessment that will achieve two important things:

Analyze Your Network for Vulnerabilities: We’ll show you if and where an attack can occur, and offer solutions to patch vulnerabilities so you’re not setting yourself up to be the next cyber-attack victim.

Determine a Continuity or Recovery Plan: Cybersecurity is an essential and necessary element of doing business, but even the most robust security solutions are not 100% foolproof. This means you must have a plan to bounce back and continue doing business if something should happen to your network or to a third-party piece of software you rely on, like CDK.

To get started, call our office at 214-550-0550 or click here to book your FREE Security Risk Assessment now.

Vacation Travel Scams Are Up 900%

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Summer is a popular time for vacation travel. If you’re looking to squeeze in any last-minute trips, there is a scam circulating that you need to be aware of. As costs for everything from food to travel continue to increase, the logical step is to search for the best deals online to book a memorable trip without breaking your budget. According to Booking.com, cybercriminals have decided to capitalize on this need and are now using one scarily convincing, AI-generated phishing e-mail that can cost victims way more than their vacation fund. Booking.com’s CISO, Marnie Wilking, shared that the organization has seen a 500% to 900% increase in travel-related scams in the past 18 months using this malicious tactic.

How Are These Scammers Doing It?

Phishing e-mails have existed since the dawn of the Internet, but AI tools like ChatGPT are making it increasingly easy to create realistic and professional scam e-mails that are more likely to trick readers. In the past, phishing e-mails were riddled with red flags such as spelling and grammatical errors. With the rise of AI, it’s easier for cybercriminals to pump out dozens of seemingly legitimate e-mails that often go undetected by software and readers.

Here’s how they work:

Scammers will use sites like Booking.com or Airbnb.com that allow people to list their places as short-term rentals. The scammers send out e-mails offering incredible rates or time-sensitive deals on nonexistent properties. After someone pays, the cybercriminals will either disappear with the money, leaving the renter without a place to stay, or use follow-up e-mails to collect additional “fees” or “charges” before vanishing.

To be clear, these vacation-focused phishing scams are NOT new. The problem now is that, with AI, more people are falling for them because these e-mails are becoming more convincing.

What Can You Do?

Vacationers can take several key steps to ensure they’re not being duped.

  1. Use Two-Factor or Multifactor Authentication: Having a confirmation code sent to your phone every time you log in will help prevent phishing attacks and credential theft.
  2. Avoid Clicking on E-mail Links: If you receive an e-mail promoting a too-good-to-be-true deal, remember, it is likely too good to be true! Go to the website and search for the special. If you can’t find it, there is a chance you will avoid a scam.
  3. Verify Contact Information and Reviews: Before booking ANY property online, make sure contact information and reviews are readily available. Have other verified users stayed at the property? If so, it’s less likely to be a scam.
  4. Use Credit Cards for Online Purchases: Using debit cards that are linked directly to your bank account is dangerous. When theft occurs from your debit card, it is difficult to get your money back – if you get it back at all. Using a credit card provides an additional layer of protection.

The most important thing is to stay vigilant. Analyze every e-mail offer you receive and follow cybersecurity best practices. Standard security software can help detect some of these scam e-mails, but often not all of them, so it’s important to be cautious and look for red flags.

Personal scams may ruin a vacation, but business breaches can cost you and your family their livelihood. To keep your network secure, call us at 214-550-0550 or click here to book a FREE 10-minute discovery call with our cybersecurity experts, who can help you create a plan that protects you. We are here to help! Enjoy a well-deserved break this summer and remember to be cybersmart.

Cybercriminals Are Faking Data Breaches: How AI Is Fueling This New Scam

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Just when you think cybercriminals will run out of new ideas for how to scam people, they find a way to get creative and surprise you. Now they’re faking data breaches, hoping to steal money from unsuspecting business owners and dark web data buyers alike.

Earlier this year, Europcar, an international car rental company from France, discovered a cybercriminal selling private information about its 50 million+ customers on the dark web. The car rental company immediately launched a formal investigation, only to find that the data being sold was fake. The information was falsified, most likely done with the help of generative AI.

How Did They Do It?

With AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, it’s easy for cybercriminals to generate realistic-looking data sets quickly. Smart cybercriminals do their research and design data sets that look complete, with correctly formatted names, addresses, and emails, and can even include local phone numbers to match. They will also leverage online data generators that can quickly create large, fake data sets designed for software-testing purposes to develop authentic-looking data sets. Once they have these, hackers choose the target they claim to have stolen the data from and post the information on the dark web.

Why Are They Doing It?

Why would a hacker fake a data breach? There are a couple of reasons, besides reaping the same benefits without the work of hacking a network’s security system.

  1. Creating Distractions: One of the best ways to get a company to let down its defenses is to focus on something else, like finding a breach in its system. The company will be so intent on finding where a hacker was already able to get into its network that it will likely miss an attack from a different angle.
  2. Bolstering Their Reputation: Reputation is highly valued within the hacker community. Targeting a well-known brand publicly is a way for them to earn notoriety and get noticed by other hacker groups.
  3. Manipulating Stock Prices: For publicly traded companies, a data breach can cause a rapid 3% to 5% (or more) drop in the stock. This can cause widespread panic, allowing cybercriminals to manipulate stocks for financial gain.
  4. Learning Security Systems: Faking a data breach can allow cybercriminals to gain insight into the company’s security processes to prevent, detect, and resolve attacks. Knowing threat response time and security capabilities can help them fine-tune their attack strategy.

Why Is This Bad For Businesses If The Data Is Fake?

By the time the public is made aware that the information is fake, the damage is already done. For example, in September 2023, Sony was targeted by a ransomware group that announced it had breached the company’s network and acquired its data. The breach was all over the news, where reporters repeatedly dragged Sony’s brand through the dirt, and by the time the investigation concluded that the hacker’s claim was false, irreparable damage had been done to their name.

What Can You Do To Prevent Fake Data Breaches?

If you want to avoid being the victim of a fake data breach, these are good steps to follow:

  1. Actively Monitor The Dark Web: You or your cybersecurity team should routinely monitor the dark web. If you encounter an attacker selling your data, investigate the claim immediately to prevent extensive damage.
  2. Have A Disaster Recovery Plan In Place: Don’t let your team wonder what they should say if a data breach occurs. This communication plan needs to be developed in advance and fine-tuned if or when a breach occurs.
  3. Work With A Qualified Professional: You are in business to do what you love to do, not deal with IT-related issues. Working with a cybersecurity expert who knows what to look for, how to resolve issues, and how to prevent breaches takes tasks off your plate and gives you peace of mind. They will ensure #1 and #2 are taken care of.

Data breaches can create enormous problems for your organization. Get ahead of the issue and have someone proactively monitor your network and the dark web to keep you secure. If you want a no-obligation, third-party opinion on whether or not your network is vulnerable to an attack or properly secured, we’re happy to provide one for FREE. Call us at 214-550-0550 or click here to book your FREE Security Risk Assessment with one of our cybersecurity experts.

MSPs can focus on issues you don’t have time for

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MSPs can focus on issues you don’t have time for

Every business relies on technology to function. From simple things like email, VoIP, and the internet, all the way to predictive analytics for inventory and sales, digital technology is at the root of every business. Unfortunately, no matter how much small- to medium-sized businesses may rely on their IT infrastructure to operate, they often try to “get by” with their in-house IT staff to keep things running. In this blog, we will discuss the value a Managed Service Provider brings to an SMB: a value that cannot be replicated in-house.

First, it is important for a business owner to realize that an IT infrastructure is not a static entity. Nothing is “plug-and-play” in today’s business environment. There is no “build it and forget it.” Because everyone relies on technology that must be running 24/7, businesses need to be proactively monitoring the performance and availability of critical infrastructure, such as servers and networks. There are just so many things a business has to worry about. Cyber criminals are always coming up with new threats, so anti-virus software isn’t enough. Consequently, active endpoint monitoring needs to be happening around the clock.

So, why is an SMB limited in its ability to meet all of its technology needs in-house? One reason is management focus. Business owners need to focus on core competencies. They need to focus on running the business and producing revenue-driving goods or services in their area of expertise. Diverting focus to managing an IT team in-house may not be an ideal use of their time. It may also not be an ideal use of their skills. Additionally, resources are limited, and an SMB loses the advantages of economies of scale when it tries to do everything in-house. In a smaller operation, IT staff often need to focus on day-to-day functions, including putting out fires. This limits their time to think strategically and determine ways that technology can innovate and keep the business competitive in the longer run.

So what can an MSP offer that the in-house IT staff cannot?

A Managed Service Provider is staffed by IT practitioners whose sole focus is technology. Many focus only on specific industries. This means that your MSP organization is composed of individuals who have specialized experience and training in one specific area of technology such as cyber security, cloud computing or network infrastructure. MSPs also have the resources to invest in continuous training and professional development. That means keeping up with the latest developments in technology and emerging trends. If focused on one industry, they analyze competitive changes in that industry and how technology can provide strategic advantages for their clients. MSPs also can set aside time for attending conferences, webinars, and networking events to share knowledge and stay ahead in their field. They are also more likely to have the resources to provide their consultants with access to professional publications and newsletters.

Why is this so important? First, analyzing present problems and performing routine maintenance tasks isn’t necessarily “routine.” New threats and changes can create disruption in existing configurations. (Anyone who has downloaded a new software upgrade is aware of that!) Secondly, in-house tech staff, except for those in the largest organizations, are more task focused than strategic. This isn’t due to a lack of awareness of the value of planning and development. It is primarily a resource problem that is inherent to SMBs. Unfortunately, the result is that in-house staff may not be able to contribute at a strategic level, thus limiting the ability of the organization’s leadership to incorporate new technology into long term plans.

Outdated Technology Is Costing Your Organization Money

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Is your organization currently bleeding money due to its reliance on outdated technology? The answer is likely yes. A recent survey by Deloitte revealed that a staggering 82% of companies failed to meet their cost-reduction targets last year, with an inefficient technology infrastructure being the primary culprit.

The 2024 poll of nearly 300 business leaders on business margin improvement and technology transformation efforts revealed that challenges with their technology infrastructure are the biggest barrier to organizations seeking to improve margins by cutting costs. This same study found that over 50% of the respondents reported that leveraging data and generative AI strategies for improving margins would be their focus for 2024.

What does this tell us? Organizations are looking to adopt new, automated, AI-powered ways of doing business to save money and improve efficiency but are held back by antiquated technology.

Why Should Businesses Upgrade Their Technology?

Legacy systems, typically categorized as technology that’s at least a decade old, can quickly become expensive to maintain. They are slower, need constant updates and patches, and don’t leverage new features as they’re developed. As a result, businesses struggle to keep up with their tech-savvy competitors in every area of the organization, from scaling and cloud usage to human resources and customer service operations.

But that’s not the only issue. Outdated technology increases your risk of cyber-attacks. Old technology typically cannot keep up with the rapidly changing world of cyber security. As new, more malicious threats emerge, older technology eventually becomes incapable of keeping up with the latest updates required to keep your network secure.

So, why do business owners put off updating technology when the data clearly shows that it will positively impact productivity and the bottom line? There are a couple of reasons, the main one being sticker shock. Seeing the price of updating technology infrastructure can feel overwhelming. Smart business leaders run through risk-related questions like “What if something breaks?” or “What if it doesn’t work like they say it will?” However, the data shows that maintaining old technology could be more costly. A separate Deloitte study of CIOs in 2023 found that respondents spent an average of 55% of their technology budget on maintaining their existing systems.

There’s also the cost of switching. What will bringing systems down and transitioning to a new system cost? What will the cost be to train employees to use the software? These are all questions your IT team can help you answer BEFORE you start upgrading your technology. An experienced technician will help you analyze your system to see what needs to be updated and when, and map out a plan to upgrade your system in the most efficient way possible. It’s easier than most business leaders think and pays off in increased productivity and profitability.

If you’re looking to upgrade your technology or are just tired of slow, outdated tech and want to see what the next step could look like, we’ll do a FREE Network Assessment. Our techs will dig into your system and determine what you need to get technology that helps you run your business better. To book your assessment, call us at 214-550-0550 or click here to schedule now.