6 Important IT Policies Your Company Should Have in Place

It is important to have certain policies in place for how your technology is used regardless of the size of your company. Policies provide guidelines to keep you from suffering from a network security breach, being hit with a compliance violation and other issues.

When you put policies and procedures in place, they can also help your organization run more efficiently because everyone is following the same playbook.

What do we mean by putting a policy in place?

This simply means to put down “on paper” rules and guidelines for how certain things are to be done. This becomes your company policy and can be referred to by your team for direction and serve as a teaching tool for new employees to ensure that they know what is expected when they use any type of technology at your company.

What are the most important IT policies to have?

We will go through some of the key policies that you will want to consider putting into place to keep your company secure and operating smoothly.

Cloud Use Policy

Most businesses now rely almost entirely on cloud applications for their workflows. The use of cloud applications can easily get out of hand if you don’t have a policy in place that restricts employees from using any app that they like for business data.

Approximately 80% of employees admit that they use SaaS tools without getting company approval first. It’s no surprise that this has led to a doubling of cloud waste over the last year and about 3.6 redundant apps on average per company.

A cloud use policy provides an outline for employees by indicating which cloud tools they are allowed to use for business data and how they will use them. It restricts users from “going rogue” and using their own apps for work.

Your cloud use policy should also include a way that employees can suggest cloud apps that they like. This helps reduce the risk that they will just begin using them on their own and provides a way for you to continually optimize your cloud infrastructure with good suggestions. It also keeps the employees engaged which makes for a better company culture.

Acceptable Use Policy

An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) governs how your employees are to use company technology. For example, it might state that remote staff members that are issued company devices cannot allow anyone else to use that device.

You can also include certain security safeguards in your AUP including:

  • Users should not turn off cloud backup applications.
  • Users cannot install unapproved software on company devices.
  • Company devices are to stay connected to Wi-Fi so they can be properly updated as needed.
  • Users are to contact the company’s IT provider should they have any technology problems instead of trying to fix the issue themselves.

When creating your Acceptable Use Policy, you will want to think about how you want employees to treat the technology that you’ve entrusted to them and give them direction.

Security Awareness Policy

A security awareness policy dictates things like how often security awareness training will be held for the organization. It can also include expectations for employees to maintain their security hygiene through provided videos or other ongoing training information.

Keeping employees trained on cybersecurity can reduce company risk by 70%.

Mobile Device Use Policy

Mobile devices make up a majority of a company’s endpoints. They help make teams more productive. However, they also increase the risk of a cyberattack if not properly monitored and protected.

It is important to have guidelines in place for how company data is used with mobile devices. This should include both company-issued devices and personal mobile devices owned by employees.

Include any mobile device management app requirements, the types of data that can be stored on mobile devices and backup policies for these devices.

Password Security Policy

People often adopt poor password habits because they have too many passwords to manage. They will use weak passwords, create passwords that are too short and reuse the same password over multiple accounts. They may also save the password to the browser so that they don't have to keep track of different passwords.

You should have a policy in place that governs the use of passwords for company accounts. This includes what is considered a “strong” password and how passwords are to be stored.

Some of the other things to include in a password security policy are:

  • Passwords need to be unique.
  • Do not share passwords.
  • Change your password often.
  • Utilize the company password manager.

Incident Response Policy

The costs of a ransomware attack or other major incident can be significantly reduced if you have an incident response plan in place.

This policy lays out the steps that employees are to take in the event of a cyberattack, natural disaster, server crash or other major downtime events.

When you have an incident response policy, employees will know what to do and can execute it quickly in the event of a crisis. They won’t be spending valuable time trying to figure out those steps in the heat of the moment. 

Get Help Putting Together Comprehensive IT Policies

Let us help you put those important IT guidelines in place! Sound Computers can assist your Connecticut business with smart and comprehensive IT policies that will keep you protected and improve efficiency.

Contact us today to schedule a free consultation. Call 860-577-8060 or reach us online.

October 12, 2021
Sound Computers Admin