4 (Fairly) Quick Ways to Tighten Up Your IT

By David Stidham, Operations Manager

As a business owner, IT issues probably aren’t your primary focus each day. But they also can’t be ignored. And, if you’re like many of our clients, when you start to think about what you should be doing, you get really overwhelmed.

That’s why we’ve come up with a list of important-but-doable things you can tackle to freshen up your IT infrastructure without a ton of fuss.

1) Make (or review) your emergency plans

Cybersecurity is increasingly important to your business — and not just to your IT department. When cyberattacks hit, they affect the entire business. The first step is prevention, but they’ve become so common that you also need a plan for what you’ll do if one does occur.

Review your business continuity, disaster recovery and cybersecurity incident response plans. Making sure all three of these are up to date will help you act fast in nearly any circumstance, cybersecurity-related or not.

• A business continuity plan lays out what you’ve done to prepare for a business disruption, such as where you’ve backed up data.
• A disaster recovery plan defines the steps you’ll take to get back on track (based on what you set up in your business continuity plan) when an incident like a weather event or major power outage occurs. (In Kansas City, think ice storm or tornado!)
• A cybersecurity incident response plan outlines what you’ll do if you suffer a data breach or cyberattack like ransomware or phishing. 

2) Fix your password problems

Most people are pretty bad when it comes to password security — and it’s no wonder, considering the average person has 120 personal and 67 work-related passwords to wrangle. Going with something easy to remember isn’t the solution, but recent research shows that the most common password is 123456. (No, really! And the sixth-most-common is “password.”)

No matter how solid you think your password is, not protecting it properly can spell big trouble for you personally and for your business. The 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report shared that the vast majority (88%) of cyberattacks on web applications used stolen credentials (passwords).

To boost your company’s password protection efforts, require the use of multi-factor authentication using biometric data in addition to a strong password. Encourage them to go beyond familiar, memorable (and hackable) passwords and use a string of four or more random words separated by punctuation — such as “Correct.horse.battery.staple.” That makes it both complex and easier to remember. (Get more password management tips from our experts!) 

3) Update firmware across your network

Get the latest and greatest firmware installed on all the devices in your network — including PCs, servers, smart switches and VoIP phones. Getting the newest updates ensures that you have the latest security patches and that your devices will function at their best. Also consider whether any equipment is nearing end of life and should be replaced.

For example, Windows 10  no longer receives security updates, bug fixes or technical support from Microsoft as of October 2025. Using equipment without these crucial updates could spell disaster for your business. (If you’re a current Corporate Technologies client, we handle all this for you.)

4) Stop using workarounds

We see this a lot when we work with a new client — little things they deal with because “it’s good enough.” Whether it’s a glitchy camera that’s ruining your Zoom meetings or a dying laptop battery that means you can’t work on the go easily, making do with bad tech isn’t the way to achieve your goals.

Start investing in new technology before it becomes a big problem. Our team monitors our clients’ networks to watch for more than 100 different issues, including servers and devices that are about to become inoperable. Regularly backing up data and replacing technology has saved our clients from days of downtime. Take stock of tech debt that’s holding you back and upgrade.

Get things your IT house in order

Don’t let yourself get too busy to make smart decisions. Take care of the nagging issues that stand in the way of your productivity and add frustrations to your day. Of course, the easiest way to clean up these issues is to call in a little help from the pros.

Corporate Technologies is ready to help you tackle issues large and small and keep your team working safely and efficiently. From setting up incident response plans to replacing that wonky laptop battery, we want to hear about it. We have the experience to help your Kansas City business.