How A Tech Discovery Audit Will Improve Your Business

Technology Audits. The word audit makes it sound like a daunting thing, but actually, having an IT audit could be one of the best things you do for your business this year.

At P1 Technology, we like to call our process a Discovery Audit. This is because when you discover things about your business that you didn’t know before, it will empower you towards growth, efficiency, productivity and a better, healthier, more sustainable business.

Sounds good doesn’t it?!

In this article, we’re going to look at what a technology audit is, when you should do one, and how it will improve your business.

What is a Technology Discovery Audit? 

Put simply, a Technology Discovery Audit is a chance for you to discover how to get your technology to work harder for your business.

IT audits range from very simple to very complex and can answer many questions.

You need to be clear on your reasons for doing an audit and what you hope to gain from it.

Do you want to have an understanding of your security risks so you can close them? Do you need to start scaling your business using technology and want to consider your options? Are you interested in knowing whether you’ve got too much technology (which is costing you a small fortune)? Or perhaps you’d like to know if there’s a way to consolidate your technology so it works more seamlessly?

All of these things are possible, within an IT audit.

What sort of things are looked at in an IT audit?

What a technology audit will cover is often guided by what your concerns are.

It might be a simple site visit to check that your IT foundations are solid, that your backups are working and to get a general idea from a specialist of areas for improvement.

It might be that you deal in client data, and so you want to include a full penetration test. This will help you understand if your systems can be breached, if you can be hacked, can someone break into your systems via open remote access or weak passwords?

In some cases, Managed Service Providers will have what’s known as an ethical hacker available. This is a reputable person who will attempt to hack your systems using tools that are typically used by non-ethical hackers or criminal syndicates. 

Why your business should do a Tech Audit.

If you’re already with a Managed Service Provider (or even if you’re not), you should be undergoing some sort of review of your technology once every 12 months.

There are two main reasons to have a regular technology audit.

1.    To find out where technology could serve you better

By working with an IT provider to deliver your audit, you’ll likely uncover some ideas that you hadn’t thought of before that will give you new or different solutions to old problems.

Things move fast in the world of tech – if you leave things too long between audits, you might be missing out on opportunities for your business to benefit from new technology.

Even if your existing tech solutions have only been in place for a couple of years, there might be alternatives that save you and your staff time as well as money.

There might also be risks that have arisen since your last audit that need to be addressed, or tackled in a way that’s different to how you’re currently doing things.

2.    To identify areas for growth

It’s always good to look to the future and what plans you have for your business in the coming months and years. How will technology have an impact on those plans? What strategy and solutions will you need to implement to achieve the changes or growth you have in mind?

Perhaps new users are going to come on board. So, you can start planning hardware requirements and thinking about how best to allocate new equipment. Maybe it doesn’t have to go to the new people? Maybe it goes to existing people and their equipment is repurposed for the new people? Perhaps additional software licenses will start to get too expensive and a different software solution might be more cost effective as the business grows?

When should I do an IT Discovery Audit?

I’ve already emphasised the importance of a regular IT Discovery Audit in helping you to grow your business or find out how your technology could serve you better.

If you have a Managed Service Provider, then they should be suggesting that you do a regular technology audit with them each year.

But there are other times you might want to do an audit. 

1.    You don’t currently have an IT Managed Service Provider

Don’t have a Managed IT Service Provider at the moment?

Interested in interviewing some?

Then get a couple of MSP’s in to do an audit and see what they have to say.
What do they recommend? What do they have in common? What are they saying that’s different?

Review the audits and decide which MSP is best for you.

Just make sure that you get your audits from reliable MSPs in the first instance. Asking around your network will usually pull in a few good recommendations.

And if you aren’t sure whether you’re ready to make the move to an MSP, you might like this article, which will help you decide

2.    You want to do an MSP Health Check

We get it. If you have a good relationship with your existing provider, then there’s trust and there’s inherent knowledge. You don’t really want to move. BUT you want a 2nd opinion.

Or maybe you haven’t been happy at all.

Whatever your reason for wanting to do a health check, an audit is a great way to do it.

Asking a competitor to do an audit and then addressing any gaps with your existing provider can work to your advantage. If there are glaring holes then you may decide that it is time to make a move. 
But if there are just a few things that could be done differently or a few questions that should be asked, it may enhance your relationship and level of service from your existing MSP.

If you do decide it’s time to make a move, you might like read our article about the easy way to transition your business to a new MSP. 

Is it time for you to do a technology audit?

If you’ve never done one, or you can’t remember the last time you did, then NOW is the time for you to book in a technology audit with your trusted IT Partner.

A P1 Technology IT Discovery Audit will help you uncover how technology can work harder for your business and its people. And you can book an audit with us here. 

« Back to News