Is your server secure enough? Seems like a tricky question. In an age where spam is ubiquitous and the risk of viruses, malware, and hackers is ever present, is it possible to be too secure? If you are navigating a SMB through a tough economy, the answer can surprisingly be yes.
The problem is two-fold. Every layer of security added comes with two price tags – the actual cost of delivery and the cost in user experience. Either of those can carry hidden expenses that take a serious toll on your bottom line.
The cost in dollars is fairly straightforward. There’s the price of the actual software and hardware for such things as a firewall, intrusion protection, anti-virus, and even load balancers to mitigate the impact of traffic based Denial of Service attacks. Then there are the personnel and training costs needed to manage that technology. On top of all that are the ongoing costs of operation in upgrades, license renewals, patches and more. Unless you have really deep pockets, you’re going to have to pick and choose your options carefully, balancing what you need against what you can afford. Time will tell if you’ve made the right decisions.
Now consider the cost in the user experience. Without expert configuration and maintenance, every layer of security can add latency and slowdowns to customers and employees using your server applications. No one would debate the security of a server that’s been unplugged from the network. That sounds like an extreme comparison, but if legitimate users can’t reach your server due to a badly configured firewall or IPS, is there a difference?
The solution is a three way compromise, factoring together the level of security needed to deliver a quality user experience at a price that fits the budget. Unless you have existing skill sets in your organization and a lot of hardware lying around, it’s likely the best way to achieve this is through outsourcing to a managed web services provider. This is due to three primary reasons-economies of scale, the level of support, and pay as you go pricing.
Having an enterprise class provider allows you to leverage high end services at a very low cost, because those services are already in place for their largest customers. They have expertly trained, technology certified staff on site day and night. The best provider will also have a good understanding of the services an SMB needs, and will offer flexible, scalable service plans that can grow as you do.
There are two ways to look at the question “is your server secure enough?” One way would be to determine if you’ve met the minimum security requirements for your application. A more responsible way might be to consider if you’ve reached your maximum security requirements. If you do the hard work of calculating your security needs against the up front and hidden costs of delivery, you can maximize profits and not have to second guess those decisions down the road. Outsourcing security to a managed dedicated hosting services provider let’s you confidently answer that question in the affirmative.
