What Is The Difference Between A Security Assessment And A Security Audit?

It was a normal morning for Michael McGowan. An IT tech at NSK Inc, McGowan had just sat down at his desk when he received a phone call from one of his clients. The client was calling to report that his iPad® had been stolen. While waiting for the Red Line of the MBTA, he was typing an e-mail on his iPad. In the middle of composing the e-mail, someone grabbed the iPad right out of his hands and took off.

I was having a chat session with one of our IT Consultants; he mentioned that a large part of provider/client relationship is the willingness of the client. Due to their size, smaller organizations (where IT issues arise more sporadically) don’t fully understand what they need from an IT provider. Instead, they usually put things off until they become an issue.

Iron Mountain just announced it is considering selling off its digital storage and online back-up services. According to the news release, the company will still offer its customers digital back up alternatives, but through partnerships with other organizations. Statistics from a Boston Globe article about Iron Mountain’s announcement show that of the $3.1 billion in revenue Iron Mountain took in from 2010, only $284 million came from their digital storage offerings.

With the business of IT management there are two types of methodologies.

1)      Reactive – based on a break/fix model, the IT professional responds to service calls to fix issues.

 2)      Proactive – with proactive IT management, the IT provider anticipates events and makes sure to have a plan in place. Through continual monitoring, the technicians can be notified of potential problems before they arise.