Kaspersky’s IT Security Calculator reveals budgets lower than average in 45% of SMBs and 50% of enterprises

Data released by the Kaspersky IT Security Calculator shows that budgets at 45 percent of SMBs and 50 percent of enterprises are below the average spend at US$205,000 for small to medium, and $8 million for enterprise businesses. This is despite a Gartner report announcing cybersecurity spending is growing year-on-year with almost 9 percent growth this year.

The Kaspersky IT Security Calculator is a free web tool that allows IT security managers to view the average budget for cybersecurity in their region and industry, as well as to compare budgets within their organization. The tool is becoming increasingly important as it allows companies to understand their position in the market and also gives them the ability to compare their budget with competitors and improve planning.

Globally, IT security budgets are demonstrating positive dynamics with a number of analyst reports showing that budgets continue to grow year over year. 

Kaspersky’s own survey of almost five thousand organizations across the world confirms this trend with 70 percent of respondents showing they expect their IT security budget to increase in the next three years. However, statistics from usage of the Kaspersky IT Security Calculator in October 2018- 2019 revealed that some businesses are not keeping up with this trend, as their IT security spending is lower than average.

Overall, budgets for SMBs were reviewed more actively (46 percent) than for enterprises (38 percent) and very small companies (16 percent). For small and medium businesses, the budget issue proves to be complicated as it’s not only about finances but also the alignment of the budget planning process. Another challenge to consider is the demands on human resources to hire experts in relevant cybersecurity risks and the protection methods needed for different business services.

“Budget planning is a very important process for companies to carefully consider as the proper investments ensure a company is ready to meet current cybersecurity challenges and threats,” said Sergey Martsynkyan, head of B2B product marketing at Kaspersky. “Though it may be a complex task which demands a deep understanding of business needs towards cybersecurity, it is important to understand how to address them and how much it can cost. At Kaspersky, we do our best to give organizations insights to help them with this process. Along with the report on IT security economics we prepare annually, the IT Security Calculator gives a glance on average cybersecurity spending as well as specific threats and advice on protection measures.”

The Kaspersky IT Security Calculator website with threat statistics and recommended protection is available, and free to use.

Toshiba expands e-STUDIO MFP line with A3 models, ideal for small-to-medium businesses

Toshiba America Business Solutions expanded its e-STUDIO multifunction printer (MFP) line with the introduction of five ledger-size (A3) models addressing the document management needs of small-to-medium-size businesses (SMBs).

Toshiba’s monochrome product family (the e-STUDIO2822AM, e-STUDIO2822AF, e-STUDIO2823AM, e-STUDIO2329A and e-STUDIO2829A) offers several models with the print, copy, scan and fax functionality small workgroups need.

Delivering documents at up-to 28 pages-per-minute (ppm) in razor-sharp 2400 x 600 dots-per-inch resolution, these products also scan color documents at up to 22 ppm presenting vibrant digital materials at a moment’s notice.

Busy environments with space constraints such as logistics, manufacturing and retail that demand all the functionality of a full-sized MFP, including A3 support, will appreciate the compact letter-size (A4) footprint of the e-STUDIO2822AM or fax-enabled e-STUDIO2822AF. The systems conveniently provide ledger-size support via the 50-sheet built-in bypass for jobs requiring larger media.

Users may customize these models even further by adding the Wi-Fi option that turns the networked MFPs into an access point. When coupled with the new e-BRIDGE Print & Capture Entry app, Apple iOS and Android users may print-to and scan-from Toshiba MFPs to their mobile devices.

Kaspersky research finds top executives make cybersecurity decisions in two thirds of SMBs and enterprises

A recent Kaspersky study revealed that in about 65 percent of SMBs and 68 percent of enterprises, top tier management actively contributes to decisions regarding how their business protects against cyber threats. These statistics support the larger upwards trend of IT security managers being a part of IT decision making discussions. 

Additionally, C-suite involvement directly correlates to the size of IT security budgets, as companies who invest more heavily in IT security are more likely to have their executives involved in decision making processes.

The survey also reveals that there is a distinct correlation between cybersecurity budgets and top management involvement across organizations of all sizes. 

For companies with a budget of more than US$5 million, the majority (72 percent) have executives take part in the financial aspect of IT security. For companies with smaller budgets, up to $25,000 for enterprises and up to $2,500 for SMBs, the percentage of those with C-level executives involved in budget decisions is around 50 percent.

In regards to specific budget size, companies in which C-level executives are involved in cybersecurity decision making are better suited to the global cybersecurity budget pace. 

In these companies, cybersecurity spending reaches $264,000 for SMBs and $18 million for enterprises. These figures are almost equal to the average spending across all surveyed companies. For SMBs, budgets reached $267,000 in the present year compared to $256,000 in 2018, and for enterprises figures reached $18.9 million in 2019, up from $8.9 million last year.

StorMagic introduces Lightweight “Edge in a Box,” its redundant hyperconverged offering to simplify edge computing

StorMagic announced availability of its all-inclusive “Edge in a Box” solution, optimized to run edge or small data center onsite applications with 100 percent uptime. “Edge in a Box” includes Schneider Electric’s innovative 6U Wall Mount EcoStruxure Micro Data Center, any two x86 servers and StorMagic SvSAN software for less than $12,000. 

Enterprise customers with hundreds or thousands of sites as well as SMBs (small to medium sized businesses) with less than five sites can begin processing, managing and storing data in minutes, on the leanest, most lightweight solution on the market.

“Edge in a Box” is simple to install and manage without requiring onsite IT staff, making it ideal for both edge computing sites and SMBs. The solution can be tailored to meet exact customer requirements and includes Schneider Electric’s 6U Wall Mount EcoStruxure Micro Data Center composed of a unique wall-mountable low-profile enclosure, APC Smart-UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and customizable physical security, remote management and servicing options.

The solution supports servers from manufacturers like Dell, HPE and Lenovo with any combination of disk drive, memory and processor.

Customers can choose from VMware, Microsoft or open-source KVM.

SvSAN provides storage virtualization, high availability and a lightweight remote witness that can manage up to 1,000 edge sites.

“StorMagic’s ‘Edge in a Box’ is designed for edge computing environments not optimized for IT systems, and leverages Schneider Electric’s self-contained, secure, wall-mountable EcoStruxure Micro Data Center for hyperconverged architectures,” said Jim Simonelli, SVP emerging businesses, secure power division, Schneider Electric. “Industries such as retail, manufacturing and SLED are all looking for ways to lower the cost of IT at smaller locations, deploy standardized, pre-integrated systems faster while still ensuring resiliency. ‘Edge in a Box’ with our EcoStruxure Micro Data Center complete with remote management is an ideal solution to meet these requirements.”

“StorMagic’s ‘Edge in a Box’ is a very lightweight, budget-friendly offering that allows any edge site or SMB to deploy a simple IT solution optimized for fast onsite integration,” said Bruce Kornfeld, CMO and GM-Americas, StorMagic. “SvSAN is compatible with any x86 server, with any configuration and the leading hypervisors, so customers have the ultimate flexibilty to deploy only what they need, keeping costs to a bare minimum.”

StorMagic’s “Edge in a Box” is currently available with pricing starting below US$12,000. It is available from a global network of joint StorMagic and Schneider Electric channel partners.

Uplevel delivers SD-WAN to small business; gives high-quality VoIP, reliable Internet and 75 percent savings

Uplevel Systems now offers software-defined Wide Area Network or "SD-WAN" capabilities optimized for small to medium businesses (SMBs). SD-WAN traditionally involves replacing costly telecom services with cost-effective Internet connections between sites. 

Smaller companies find SD-WAN cost-prohibitive because most offerings include advanced features and other "bells and whistles" they must pay for but do not need. In practice, the prospective cost savings also may be compromised by poorly performing Internet connections or call quality between sites.

The Uplevel solution optimizes SD-WAN for small business in four critical ways, including ensuring call quality for voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Phone systems are still the lifeblood of many small businesses and voice call quality is highly sensitive to delays of mere tenths of a second. 

Uplevel's integrated managed service platform includes built-in VoIP quality of service (QoS) mechanisms that ensure voice calls always receive priority over data and other "best effort" transactions and also eliminate packet loss that can lead to poor call quality. 

Uplevel delivers a targeted and reliable small business SD-WAN solution that removes both cost and complexity to deliver the features and benefits SMBs need. Uplevel eliminates traditional upfront costs of approximately $1,000 per site and reduces ongoing costs by 75 percent or more versus traditional solutions. 

Along with adding failover and load balancing optimizing quality and reliability, the Uplevel solution reduces upfront equipment costs by up to $3,000 per site. Users can log in safely using secure virtual private network (VPN) services and cloud-based management allows MSPs to manage multiple sites in real time from anywhere on the device of their choice. 

The Uplevel solution enables two SD-WAN mechanisms for improving and maintaining reliability: "Failover" whereby companies purchase a second Internet connection to provide backup, and "load balancing" in which two primary Internet connections remain in use at all times with traffic distributed to achieve the desired bandwidth at the lowest possible cost.