Back in March of 2013, I wrote a blog post on IT security and budgets: Maximize IT Security Regardless of Budgets. That article referenced a CIO report and emphasized how businesses could strengthen security even with limited resources. Now, over a decade later, a new CFO study sheds light on what has changed—and what has stayed the same.
The study, Grant Thornton survey: Despite cost and hiring challenges, CFOs reach highest level of optimism in nearly three years, highlights two top expense priorities for CFOs in the next 12 months:
- IT/digital transformation (64%)
- Cyber risk/security (62%)
In the history of this survey, these percentages have never been higher.
A New Reality for All Businesses
Mike Notarangelo, partner and private equity audit & assurance leader at Grant Thornton LLP, noted:
“Cybersecurity is an area that every company has to continually address. There’s a sharpened focus on it in the public markets given the recent SEC cybersecurity rules and some notable breaches in the past few years.”
This heightened focus is vital for large enterprises. But at Lead IT Consulting, where we work primarily with small to medium businesses (5 to 50 employees), the implications look a bit different.
What This Means for SMBs
For smaller businesses, IT security isn’t just a technical matter—it’s about people and workflows. Teams already run lean, so there’s little extra capacity to absorb disruption when technology changes. That’s why we emphasize planning ahead and integrating improvements into existing processes.
We’ve found that success comes from building trust and empowering employees to be subject matter experts. After all, they’re the ones living and breathing the workflows every day. By making staff part of the process, security measures stop feeling like “extra work” and instead become tools that make their jobs easier and safer.
A Practical Example
Right now, many of our customers are implementing stronger security measures:
- Baseline: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) with an app.
- Next Step: Introducing password managers and hardware-based authentication, especially for accounting and management staff.
These measures not only strengthen security but also reduce employee anxiety in the face of constant breach headlines. To ensure success, we roll out changes gradually, aligned with staff availability, and pair them with internal education campaigns that explain why the changes matter.
Twelve Years Later—The Core Goal Remains
Since that first blog in 2013, one thing has not changed: the need to regularly analyze each customer’s state of security. What has evolved is how we implement affordable, realistic solutions that balance cost with efficiency.
Today, we often partner with in-house IT teams, helping them free up time and deliver measurable results. Whether it’s adopting MFA, training employees, or streamlining workflows, the principle is the same: make security improvements practical, sustainable, and trusted by the people who use them.
Get REAL Help
We can help you navigate the IT security planning process by recommending solutions that fit your unique business needs. 👉 Book a meeting with me or complete our contact form to start the conversation.
