Are you sure that is a risk you are willing to take?
That’s the question my sister used to ask me every time I went for her stuff. She wanted me to do a risk-benefit analysis. But in all honesty, I was way too young to care.
But in business, you cannot afford ignorance. Every risk must be calculated and loss mitigated.
Are you looking for ways to understand risk-benefit analysis for your network? Continue reading for a deeper overview.
What Is Risk-Benefit Analysis?
A risk-benefit analysis is a process that allows business owners to weigh the benefit over the risk in their businesses. It enables business owners to make informed and calculated moves in their business operations.
There are a lot of risks businesses face, but doing a risk to benefit analysis allows CEOs to consider the consequences of every business risk they encounter.
This system allows businesses to be prepared to weather risks that would otherwise sink their business.
Before we go any further, let’s first outline that risk assessment is not the same thing as risk analysis. Risk assessment is part of risk analysis and falls in the class of preparing for a day of risk.
Different Types of Risk Analysis
Risk analysis is a huge umbrella that covers different risks businesses need to consider. A few different types of risk-benefit analysis are:
- Business Impact Analysis
- Failure Mode and Effect Analysis
- Need Assessment
- Root Cause Analysis
Network Risk Assessment
A network risk assessment should be at the top of your priority list when conducting your benefit-risk analysis. Technology risks faced by businesses leave them vulnerable to data loss and cyberattacks.
A network risk assessment analyzes your systems, data, and everything connected to your network.
When conducting a network assessment, your IT department will look over all your servers and business devices like laptops and routers. Or instead, your managed IT service team could conduct the network assessment for you.
A managed IT service can work hand-in-hand with your in-house team and help you leverage expert tools that your in-house team may not have.
While conducting your network risk assessment, your sensitive data, intellectual property, and client data shouldn’t be missed. Go into all the storage spaces and ensure they are up to compliance.
Having your managed IT service do the network assessment will also enable you to fix the vulnerabilities as they occur.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Of course, when conducting your risk-to-benefit analysis, you cannot forget a risk cost analysis. When doing your cost-benefit research, you have to weigh the projected price tag against the benefit.
The key factor to consider is whether your benefit greatly outweighs the costs. A quick example, as a lawyer, is outsourcing an IT department more beneficial to your data security?
Conducting a Risk Assessment
Once you have identified the risks, it is time to conduct your assessment. Here are a few quick steps to follow:
Step 1: Document business risks
Put your business risks to paper. Which risks are you most prone to as a business? What are the chances or the likelihood of occurrence?
Step 2: Plan to Mitigate the Risk
Once the risk has occurred, what will you do to remedy the situation? Do you have an insurance plan for such instances? Or a standby team to assist your recovery?
Maybe you are a vet; do you have a team that will help you with data recovery after a bad storm fries your servers?
Your Risk to Benefit Analysis
Some business risks are hard to avoid, as starting a business in the current economy is a risk. But doing a risk-benefit analysis can help you better prepare and ensure your business survives.
Pegasus Technology is a managed IT services provider with industry know-how to help your business mitigate the risks and plan for a secure network.
Contact us to learn how we can help your business with network risk assessment.
Pegasus Technologies is the IT Team for organizations that don’t need a full-time IT department. Our technology experts build you a technology plan to keep your business running at its best. We have offices in Kennett Square, PA, Media, PA, and Wayne, PA to provide better computer support and IT services to you.
