As companies become more dependent on technology and threats from different sources-both natural and man-made-increase, IT security becomes more and more paramount to success. Partnering with a PEO management group expands IT's ability to protect a key component to the company's human resources.
First, consider the implications of a disaster impacting a particular geographic area such as an event similar to the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. For a company who may have their HR processing impacted by a disaster, using a PEO management group mitigates the impact to the company and its employees by being able to provide uninterrupted service through redundant systems located in other sites.
PEO groups have strategically planned the location of their multiple sites to limit the impact of an event. For example, fault zones are considered to ensure the same earthquake does not impact multiple service centers. The same goes with hurricanes and other weather related events. So while a provider may have a service center in the Southeast, another will be geographically located away from any hurricane threats.
Next, the client's data is protected by the industry best practice of parallel SQL servers. Should a service center be impacted by an event, the HR data will still be immediately available to the client who works in a virtual cloud without interruption-another way a PEO management group is committed to providing uninterrupted service.
Also, these parallel servers are backed up regularly to guarantee no data is lost. The risks of a system crash or the loss of data is eliminated. Concerns about incorrect payrolls or missing employee data are diminished.
Beyond the natural disasters, IT must also combat cyber-attacks on a regular basis. HR data contains so much sensitive information including home addresses and social security numbers, which makes it vulnerable to identity thieves. To protect the data, access to the information is password protected, permissions are limited and all transmissions are encrypted. Also, the network is regularly monitored, watching for potential infiltration, taking the pressure off the client IT.
For the PEO management group, handling a crisis is a core competence with success based on their ability to seamlessly support the virtual cloud under any condition. Only when a PEO group is committed to providing this level of superior service will the client reap the full benefits of uninterrupted IT solutions.