5 Business Benefits of Password Managers for SMBs
What’s the one thing that businesses say they’re most worried about?
Cyber security.
Why? Because unfortunately today, a cyber security breach (or at very least, a threat) isn’t “if it happens” – it’s “when it happens”, and it can be devastating.
While there are a whole host of cyber security protection solutions and services to help defend against digital threats, one of the most practical ways to start is with team passwords.
Passwords are the keys into your systems, and if you secure them, you can mitigate the risk of unauthorised access, reputational damage, business disruptions, reduced productivity and more.
How to protect your team’s passwords in a business
Most employees understand the importance of strong passwords.
They (should) be creating longer, more unique combinations of passwords as it’s best practise to keep their passwords from being guessed or hacked, which helps keep your systems safer.
If they’re not, then address that first.
However, while it’s a smart idea to ask everyone to do this, it can lead to serious password fatigue.
With employees logging in and out of systems all day, trying to remember long passwords and typing them in over and over can really slow things down, not to mention frustrate them.
This can cause people to fall back into bad password practises, by using all the same passwords or making them simpler. Unfortunately, this then increases the cyber security risk to your business and it’s really NOT worth the risk.
What’s the answer?
A Password Manager. They make business security easier, simpler and faster.
What is a Password Manager?
Quite simply, a password manager is a piece of software or program that allows you to add, store, manage and access a database of your own login details and passwords for multiple applications.
Through this, you simply access your main account, and then, all of your stored platforms become a click-and-enter situation, because the password manager auto-fills the credentials for you.
Of course, you have to be careful that the password manager itself is secure, but when you choose the right one, they can be integrated easily into daily workflows through systems like Microsoft Windows.
Business benefits of integrating a Password Manager in your organisation
- Strengthen your cyber security stance
Strong passwords need to be complicated to reduce potential vulnerabilities, and yet, if they are all stored in a password manager, it means that your team can get instant access without the hassle of finding and entering each password, individually, each time.
The result is good security practise without slowing your team down.
- Improve your team’s overall access
The majority of businesses use multiple software platforms and portals, like Office 365, Azure, XERO and more. Each of these should have different passwords for each.
Having a password manager means that each employee can jump between each easily without having to remember, re-enter or reset passwords.
- Centralised Permissions
Most businesses have different teams and internal hierarchies who all require different levels of access to different systems.
Having a business-wide password manager means that upper management can have full transparency over employee access to ensure everyone is adhering to security policies. It also means that access can be revoked or access can be restricted or segmented, as the business needs.
- Integrating Multi-Factor Authentication
MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) provides another level of protection to businesses, beyond just a password alone.
This can be combined with a password manager to further reduce cyber security risks while also making it easier for staff to gain access.
- Cost-effective Scalability
Most password managers can expand easily as your team does, without much effort or cost. So, you may start with a smaller team, however the password manager continues to store and protect passwords as you scale.
How do Password Managers integrate with business systems?
Fortunately, most quality password managers seamlessly synch with popular systems like Microsoft, and all of their products, including Office 365, Teams and OneDrive.
They are also typically compatible with Windows security features, like Windows Hello for Business, which enables biometric access (like fingerprint or retina scanning).
As most businesses already are using Microsoft, adopting an effective password manager isn’t overly difficult – and all of the benefits are worth it.
Steps on how to implement a Password Manager in your business
To show you how straight-forward it can be, here are the steps we recommend at Centrix:
- Select a relevant Password Manager: review your current systems and software platforms first. Then investigate which options are best suited.
- Educate your team: to be effective, your team needs to be onboard. So, ensure that, when a Password Manager is selected and adopted, your team understand how it works and also, why you’ve implemented it.We find that people are far more likely to use it correctly when they understand how it keeps the business safe while making access really easy for them.
- Monitor and Control: password managers have reporting and management features that allow the business to check compliance and identify any cyber security issues.
Password Managers protect while supporting operational efficiency
It truly is a win-win for any business, especially today when cyber security is a real risk.
If you still have questions, you’re not sure which password manager to choose or you’re ready to implement more robust cyber security measures in your business, we can help.
Centrix are experts in helping businesses adopt password managers to improve their processes, productivity and cyber security.
Our team at Centrix is always ready – we help small businesses up to large corporate organisations succeed by managing, supporting and protecting critical IT infrastructure with cyber security systems like password managers.
Backed by our extensive knowledge and expertise, Centrix is here to support your organisation with comprehensive tech tools and solutions, as well as IT Connectivity and Collaboration Service Packages, Cloud IT, Cybersecurity Protection, Managed IT Services and other IT Solutions.
We also offer specific guidance around business password managers and would love to help you find the right option for you or your business.
To learn more, contact us today.