As a worldwide IT outage hits Microsoft users, how can we manage IT when we can’t give a 100% guarantee that it will ‘always be on’?
The outage impacting Microsoft platforms, caused by an update from third-party software Crowdstrike, is a sobering example that IT ‘robustness’ is not just a B2B problem.
With the outage spreading from airports to supermarkets to GP practices - even Sky News’s ability to broadcast - thousands upon thousands of people will have their daily life disrupted.
While we use Microsoft technology at Advancetrack, we haven’t been affected. There is no gloating or backslapping at all from our end – no system, whatever the checks and balances, is failproof. And we’ve had downtime in the past.
From an IT robustness point of view, what can we do as an accounting outsourcer to control that? Secondly, and as importantly, what happens if IT systems go down?
It’s difficult to cover all the ins and outs of our IT plan in a blog – and our accountancy practice clients wouldn’t want us to air all the details in public anyway.
What we can do is point to our ISO accreditations. These cover a breadth of key areas that you would expect of an outsourcer: quality systems; data privacy and security; and business continuity.
These globally recognised standards are audited yearly by the BSI. It is a thorough external audit across several days. Their sceptical approach keeps us on our toes and, quite frankly, makes us a better business.
We’re also not standing still. As our business continues to grow, then extra investment is required. We are moving onto new IT support provision.
No business, whether an outsourcer or supermarket or airport, can guarantee zero outages. But they should set a high bar in reducing the likelihood of that happening, and mitigating for when it does happen.
More details about our accreditations can be found by clicking here.
Vipul Sheth is founder and MD of Advancetrack
