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Any IT executive would qualify the following as critical requirements: robust security, continuous operability, total flexibility to adapt to business needs, updated functionalities to ensure competitiveness and efficiency, and full integrability in changing tech environments.
The Mitel team strives to meet those growing needs and delivers them across our products and solutions through the Mitel Software Assurance (SWA) program. In Part 1 of our three-part series on SWA, let’s dive into security, a requirement that goes far beyond the superficial needs of IT and finance departments.
Losing Sleep Over Security
If you’re wondering what keeps CEOs up at night, you might be surprised to learn the answer. According to PwC’s 2022 Global CEO Survey, CEOs identified “cyber risk” as the top threat to their business. And the numbers support that concern. In a 2021 report, the Ponemon Institute found that a single data breach costs companies an average of $4.24 million. That’s not the average cost for billion-dollar businesses, by the way, but the average cost for all businesses, large or small.
Cybercrime is a big problem, and not just for big businesses. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting small businesses because these businesses are often more vulnerable to attack. Unfortunately, small businesses can’t afford to hire a team of security analysts or the most advanced threat detection systems. The best they can do is to minimize their attack surface, and the best thing they can do to reduce that attack surface is to ensure their software is up to date with the latest security features.
Software Updates Provide the Best Protection
One of the most common ways cybercriminals penetrate business systems is by exploiting known vulnerabilities in business software. The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security asked businesses to make software updates their number one security priority. Business owners should take immediate action whenever a new security patch or update is released. If you’re working in an application and an update notification pops up on the screen, stop what you’re doing and take care immediately – it’s that important. Software developers often work around the clock to identify and patch vulnerabilities; delaying those updates can give cybercriminals the window they need to breach your network.
In today’s mobile-centric workplace, it’s not just computers and laptops you need to worry about. Smartphones, IP phones, and tablets are also vulnerable to attack—after all, they run on software and should be updated regularly. That said, it’s unreasonable to expect employees to take the initiative to update their devices when new updates are released. It’s so crucial for businesses to automate this process where possible. With software assurance programs, companies can receive automatic updates across their organization simultaneously as new updates are released, helping to ensure that their business is protected from attack.
Mitel Software Assurance Has You Covered
Communication systems are the backbone of almost every business. You're literally out of business if you can’t communicate with customers and collaborate with colleagues. That’s why ensuring your communications system is protected against a cyberattack is critical. Mitel offers a software assurance subscription that provides automatic security updates to your communications platforms and devices, including desktop IP phones and softphones running on a desktop or within a mobile app running on a smartphone or tablet. With Mitel software assurance, businesses can avoid downtime that costs them productivity and revenue, produces negative experiences that lead to customer dissatisfaction, and even put their business at risk of regulatory non-compliance.
Now, more than ever, businesses need to be prepared for cyberattacks. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has even put firms on a “Shields Up” alert for cybercrime activity—and you know things are bad when the government needs to reference Star Trek to get IT teams to act. But you’re not in this alone. Mitel is here to help. If you don’t have a software assurance subscription, don’t wait. Call your Mitel partner and find out what you need to do to safeguard your business and your business communications. You could save yourself millions of dollars of trouble down the road.
