Olena Kurylo is our client and the founder of IT24, which has been managing technical support processes for small and medium business for 17 years. Olena told us how she got acquainted with the IT security and how Ukrainian entrepreneurs are doing with data protection.
DUE TO DATA FAILURE I LOST MY DIPLOMA
My history in data protection began in my 4th year at university. My computer crashed and I lost my thesis. Then I had to look for new material for a diploma, and I got an internship at a startup, where on the basis of “field work” I made a diploma and became a partner, and then the owner of the company.
Even then, I understood that a business would not be able to function without IT. Everywhere there is accounting, finance, warehouses, logistics, service, planning, and all this requires working without failures computer infrastructure so that the business and its employees can do their jobs.
It is obvious to me that there are only three cardinal risks in the IT infrastructure - business downtime due to computer failures, loss and leakage of data, which can lead to fraud, theft or loss of reputation. Moreover, data loss and leakage is the most painful for a business. For a long time, a person's laptop or phone can store documents, the loss of which is more expensive than the gadget itself. And a data breach can affect many people and the reputation of a business. In addition, as recent events show, there is always a risk of unforeseen threats - pandemic, war, etc.
OUR MOST EFFECTIVE PROMOTION TOOL IS WORD OF MOUTH
At first, our company was called “Computer Ambulance”. We worked at the city and regional level, but over time weexpanded to the whole of Ukraine. We were looking for an association that our clients could understand. And since our focus has always been smooth operation in IT sphere, the brand name was born by itself - IT24.
At first we worked in an office in a computer store, and our first clients were people who bought computers by bank transfer as legal entities. We helped them set up computers and taught them how to use them.
M's to advertise in newspapers, distributed leaflets, but most customers come to us for advice. The business grew slowly but steadily. A sales department has appeared, a client base has accumulated. We started taking on large projects.
Why do clients turn to us? They are constantly faced with the fact that some tasks are not completed due to problems with computers. And when they get bored with constant problems, they find us. And we make them happy and give them the opportunity to deal with the main tasks of the business, and not extinguish fires in IT. This is how we started - introducing backup and helping to minimize downtime for those who are already tired of constant problems, calling one or other specialists.
In 2017, a company with 200 employees and 50 branches in Ukraine contacted us. They came and reported that fired their system administrator and are fully prepared to give technical support to our autsorSGD ifwe could take their case in three days. It was extreme, but we did it.
COVID MADE PEOPLE WORK REMOTELY
When the pandemic began, companies had an urgent need to go online, and we had a boom in downloads. At the same time, some of our clients closed their business, so we were left with about the same volume of work.
In addition, companies are emerging who want to audit their infrastructure and ensure the safety of data. Recently, most large clients are increasingly interested in cybersecurity, and small and medium-sized businesses - in mobility and business continuity.
DATA PROTECTION CULTURE IS NOT DEVELOPED IN UKRAINE
Everyone is afraid of losing data, but at the same time they are not ready to follow the simplest security rules. The problem is that the more complex the password and the more security levels the device has, the more difficult it is for the user to get to his workplace. And many are not satisfied with this. Of course, I am also annoyed when, for example, the bank requires you to first confirm the entrance from a new device, then take the call, then log in, etc. But I understand that this is all for the sake of safety.
We are focused on maintaining security so that no viruses or hardware failures can interfere with your work. We are proactive and focus on preventing hardware and software failures in the IT infrastructure.
I can boast that in 2017 we saved all our clients from the Petya virus. Even the few who did contract it were not affected, because we had backups of all their data.
We have two global goals - increasing the number of clients and the quality of services. And we plan to achieve this by solving various problems of our clients: complex configuration of IP telephony for sales departments, moving to new servers without stopping the work of an entire plant, setting up secure access to databases in a large company without interrupting the work cycle.
In the near future, we want to launch an updated website on the UA domain and launch a new package service for IT support for small companies, which will include software rental and our support for smooth operation. We are also introducing new types of services together with partners - for example, UBER IT.
It is important for us to convey to the business the importance and reality of the task of data safety and business continuity. And here our trademark works for us: IT 24 is support 24 hours a day.
