7 Questions to Ask Before Signing With a Managed IT Provider

by Ellie Shaw | May 20, 2026 | Informational Articles

Before you sign with a managed IT provider, ask seven questions: how the helpdesk is staffed, what’s actually included in the monthly fee, how contracts and renewals work, how the provider plans for projects and budget, how they handle compliance, what response times they commit to in writing, and how their contract terms and renewal process work. The right answers tell you whether you’re buying a partner or buying a problem.

At a glance: Managed IT services in the Peoria area typically run $100 to $200 (can be higher for risk-heavy or highly regulated industries) per workstation per month, with the range often driven by what’s included rather than provider quality. A trustworthy MSP can explain exactly what’s in the monthly fee, what triggers additional billing, and what happens if you need to leave. Most disputes between businesses and their IT providers come from unclear contracts, vague SLAs, or unspecified scope, not from technical failures. Industry research consistently shows that unclear contract terms and undefined scope drive the majority of unexpected IT costs in the first year of a managed services relationship. The seven questions in this guide work as a framework for evaluating any managed IT provider, not just Facet.

A managed service provider, or MSP, is a company that takes responsibility for some or all of your IT environment on a flat monthly fee. The right provider becomes a long-term strategic partner. The wrong one becomes an expensive lesson. The difference usually comes down to what you ask before signing, not what you discover after.

This guide walks through seven strategic questions any business owner should ask. For the deeper, line-by-line evaluation, our 11 Questions guide covers tactical details like firewall replacement cycles, trip charges, email migration fees, and hardware repair policies.

What Should You Look For When Evaluating an MSP?

Use this table as a quick reference while you’re talking to providers. Either column can describe a real, professional MSP. The red flags are the ones to walk away from.

1. How Is Your Helpdesk Staffed and Where Is It Located?

This question reveals more about an MSP than almost any other. Your helpdesk is the day-to-day relationship. If the people answering the phone don’t know your network, your team, or your business, every support ticket starts from zero.

A reassuring answer describes a specific team. Where they sit, how many technicians, whether they’re employees or contractors, and what happens when you call after hours. The best providers maintain documentation on each client environment so the technician who answers already knows your setup. An offshore call center reading from a generic script, or a ticketing system with no human contact, is a different product entirely. Industry research from CompTIA consistently identifies first-call resolution as a top predictor of customer satisfaction in managed services. Ask whether your prospective provider tracks this metric and what the number is.

At Facet, our helpdesk is 100% in-house in our Peoria office. Live answer during business hours, on-call technician access 24/7/365, average response time under 15 minutes. The technicians know your network because they have direct documentation on it.

2. What Is Actually Included in the Monthly Fee?

This question separates transparent providers from ones who count on confusion. The monthly fee should map to a specific list of services. Anything not on that list is an additional cost, and you should know what triggers those costs before signing.

A reassuring answer comes in writing. Specific services included: helpdesk, monitoring, patching, security software, backup, and so on. Specific services excluded: typically remediation projects, hardware purchases, major migrations, after-hours emergency work beyond what’s in the SLA. A red flag answer treats the question as if you’re being difficult for asking it. The harder a provider works to avoid itemizing what’s included, the more likely you are to see surprise charges later.

Managed IT services in the Peoria area typically cost $100 to $200 per workstation per month. The range exists because providers bundle different things into that price. Always compare what’s included, not just the headline number. The 11 Questions guide walks through 10 specific line items that buyers often overlook in MSP quotes.

3. How Do Your Contracts Actually Work?

Contract structure is where most disputes between businesses and their MSPs originate. The question is not whether the provider uses contracts. Everyone uses contracts. The question is how they’re structured and whether the terms are clear.

A reassuring answer explains the agreement structure plainly. Most professional MSPs use separate agreements for different services: a managed services agreement with its own term and renewal, a separate voice or phone services agreement if applicable, and individual statements of work for project engagements. This separation protects both parties. You know exactly what each service costs and what changes when one piece of the relationship shifts. A red flag answer involves vague verbal commitments, a single master contract that bundles everything together without itemized pricing, or unclear scope that creates room for surprise charges down the road.

The strongest providers structure their agreements around accountability rather than control. You have one accountable team and one point of contact, but the underlying agreements stay clearly separated so each service can be evaluated on its own terms. That structure is more transparent for the client and more sustainable for the provider, which is why serious MSPs use it.

4. How Do You Plan and Budget for Projects?

A managed service plan covers day-to-day operations, monitoring, and support. Projects, server replacements, network upgrades, cloud migrations, major security implementations, are almost always priced separately. The question is whether the provider plans these in advance or hits you with them as surprises.

A reassuring answer describes an annual IT roadmap. Your provider walks your environment at least once a year, identifies infrastructure that will need to be replaced or upgraded in the next 12 to 36 months, and gives you a budgetary forecast so you can plan for it. Quarterly business reviews keep that roadmap current. A red flag answer involves no forward planning at all. Projects appear when something breaks, quotes show up with no budget context, and “essential” work gets discovered six weeks into the relationship because there was no real assessment before you signed.

Facet’s strategic IT advisory services include annual roadmapping and quarterly business reviews so projects are planned and budgeted in advance. We do not promise “no projects,” because that would be dishonest. Every IT environment needs projects. The promise is that they are planned, not surprises.

5. How Do You Handle Compliance Requirements?

If you operate in healthcare, defense contracting, financial services, payment processing, or any other regulated industry, this question is essential. Compliance is rarely included in a base managed services agreement. It almost always requires additional scoping, specialized expertise, and sometimes third-party validation.

A reassuring answer names specific frameworks the provider supports: HIPAA, PCI DSS, CMMC, SOC 2, NIST, and so on. It distinguishes between compliance support (helping you meet the requirements) and compliance auditing (independent validation that you do). The best providers partner with separate auditing organizations rather than serving as both the provider and the auditor, which avoids conflicts of interest. A red flag answer claims “we’re compliant” without explaining what that means, or offers to provide both the implementation and the audit, which is not how compliance frameworks are supposed to work.

Facet provides compliance support across HIPAA, PCI, CMMC, NIST, ISO 27001, and FedRAMP. For independent validation, we work with third-party auditing partners so the organization implementing your security is not also serving as your auditor. Compliance remediation, when an audit finds gaps, is always scoped as a separate project.

6. What Response Times Do You Commit To, In Writing?

A service level agreement, or SLA, defines the response and resolution times your provider commits to. The phrase “24/7 support” means nothing without numbers behind it. Ask to see the SLA before signing, not after.

A reassuring answer describes tiered response commitments. A complete system outage should have a faster guaranteed response than a single user password reset. The SLA should include specific timeframes for acknowledgment, troubleshooting, and resolution by severity level, and the provider should be willing to share data on how often they meet those targets. A red flag answer uses vague language like “best effort” or “promptly,” gives no severity tiers, or excludes after-hours work from the response commitments entirely.

Industry benchmarks for high-priority issues call for acknowledgment within one hour and resolution within four hours, though the right targets depend on your business. Facet publishes response time commitments and reports on actual performance through quarterly business reviews. Our 24/7 support and SLA clarity blog walks through what to look for in an SLA in more detail.

7. How Do Your Contract Terms and Renewal Work?

This is the question most buyers skip, then regret later. Not because exit terms are inherently scary, but because misunderstanding them creates friction down the road. Term contracts, auto-renewal clauses, and early termination fees are standard practice across the MSP industry. The question is whether your provider explains them clearly up front.

A reassuring answer walks through the contract structure plainly. Typical term lengths in the industry run one to three years, with three years being the most common and often the best-priced option. Auto-renewal is standard at the end of term, usually for an additional year. Early termination clauses commonly require 30 to 90 days notice and a fee that reflects the provider’s investment in the relationship. A red flag answer is not the existence of these terms. The red flag is a provider who refuses to discuss them, hides them in fine print, withholds data or credentials during a transition, or makes the transition deliberately difficult to punish departing clients.

The right framing for this question is not “how easy is it to leave?” The right framing is “are the terms clear, fair, and disclosed?” A provider who answers contract questions plainly, explains the renewal process up front, and commits to cooperation during a future transition is showing you how the relationship will work. That’s the signal worth looking for, regardless of which provider you choose.

How Should You Use These Questions?

Bring this list to your conversations with prospective IT providers. Ask the same questions of each one. Compare answers side by side rather than letting the polished presentation of any single provider become the standard.

The right MSP for your business is the one that gives you clear, specific, defensible answers to all seven questions, not the one with the lowest monthly price. Cost matters, but unclear scope, vague contracts, and undefined SLAs cost more than any line item on a quote. Businesses that document their MSP requirements before signing tend to encounter fewer surprise costs and operational issues in the first year compared to those who choose based on price alone.

If you want the deeper tactical breakdown, our 11 Questions guide covers ten more specific line items including firewall replacement, hardware repair, email migration, on-site visit charges, and how to interpret a managed services quote line by line.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Talk About What an MSP Partnership Should Look Like?

We do not expect this guide to convince you to choose Facet. We expect it to help you choose the right partner, whether that’s us or someone else. If you want a conversation about your IT environment, your current setup, and what a good partnership would look like, we’re here.

(309) 689-3900 | Schedule a conversation | info@facettech.com

For the deeper tactical breakdown, download the 11 Questions guide covering the line items most buyers overlook in MSP quotes.

Facet Technologies has provided IT services to Central Illinois businesses for over 30 years. Based in Peoria, we serve healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, professional services, and government organizations across the region.

Can a Managed IT Provider Replace Your In-House IT Person?

by Ellie Shaw | May 12, 2026 | Informational Articles

A managed IT provider can replace, augment, or complement an in-house IT employee. Whether replacement is the right move depends on the size of your business, the workload your IT person carries, and what you actually need from technology going forward. For most growing businesses in Central Illinois, the better question is not “replace or keep” but “what model gives my team the most coverage, expertise, and resilience for the budget I have?”

At a glance: The average IT salary in the United States is $109,707 per year (ZipRecruiter, April 2026), with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting median wages of $105,990 for computer and IT occupations. The fully loaded cost of an employee, including benefits and payroll taxes, runs 1.25 to 1.4 times base salary, putting a typical mid-level IT hire at $137,000 to $154,000 per year. 65% of organizations report a shortage of skilled cybersecurity and compliance staff (Linux Foundation 2025), with qualified hires hard to find. Co-managed IT, where an MSP works alongside an existing IT person, has emerged as the preferred model for organizations that already have internal staff but need broader coverage. Replacing an in-house IT person is usually the wrong frame. The right question is whether your current IT model gives you the right mix of generalist coverage, specialized expertise, and resilience.

What Does a Single In-House IT Person Actually Cost?

Before comparing models, it helps to know what an in-house IT employee really costs your business. The number is almost always higher than the salary alone.

According to ZipRecruiter as of April 2026, the average annual pay for an IT professional in the United States is $109,707, with the typical pay range falling between $95,000 and $116,500. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median wage of $105,990 for computer and IT occupations.

But salary is the start, not the end. The fully loaded cost of an employee, which includes payroll taxes, benefits, paid time off, training, and overhead, runs 1.25 to 1.4 times the base salary. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation report puts benefits at roughly 31% of total compensation, averaging $15.03 per hour for civilian workers as of June 2025.

Run the math on a mid-level IT hire at $110,000 base salary: the fully loaded cost lands somewhere between $137,500 and $154,000 per year. That’s before equipment, software licenses, recruiting costs, and the three-to-six months of training time before they’re fully productive.

Then there’s turnover. The total cost of replacing an employee, including recruitment, productivity loss, and training, ranges from 30% to 200% of annual salary depending on the role’s specialization. With Robert Half’s 2026 Salary Guide projecting tech salaries to jump 8 to 10% this year, retention costs are climbing too.

For a Central Illinois business considering its first IT hire, the realistic budget conversation starts at $130,000 to $150,000 per year for a mid-level generalist. Senior or specialized roles, especially in cybersecurity or cloud, run higher.

What Does an In-House IT Person Actually Cover?

This is the question that gets skipped most often, and it’s where the case for or against in-house IT really gets made.

A single IT person in a 30 to 100-employee company is almost always a generalist. They handle help desk tickets, manage user accounts, troubleshoot printers and email, support the network, deal with vendors, and try to keep things running. What they typically don’t do, because there isn’t time, is dedicated cybersecurity monitoring, compliance documentation, strategic technology planning, after-hours emergency response, deep cloud architecture work, or 24/7 threat detection.

Modern IT is not one discipline anymore. It’s cybersecurity, cloud management, endpoint protection, compliance, identity management, networking, backup architecture, and strategic planning. Expecting one person to master every domain while also responding to daily user requests is unrealistic.

The Linux Foundation’s 2025 State of Tech Talent report found that 65% of organizations face a shortage of skilled resources in cybersecurity and compliance, with 59% reporting the same shortage in cloud computing. Even when the in-house IT lead is strong, no operating model can scale under that strain.

The result is a familiar pattern: the IT person is competent and works hard, but security monitoring is reactive instead of proactive, documentation lags, strategic projects get delayed, and the business operates in maintenance mode instead of growth mode.

What Are the Risks of Relying on a Single IT Person?

This isn’t a criticism of any individual employee. It’s a structural risk that exists in any organization where essential knowledge or responsibility sits with one person. The technical term is a single point of failure.

When one person owns all the institutional IT knowledge, the network architecture, the vendor contracts, the administrative credentials, the backup systems, the compliance documentation, the entire organization is exposed if that person is unavailable. The Mercer Marsh Benefits 2023 study found that most respondents expected to lose a key person within three years, with a majority predicting a high operational impact. With tech unemployment at a historic low of 2.8% in 2025, qualified IT professionals have negotiating power and often leave for higher-paying roles.

Burnout is the other risk. Harvard Business Review reports that 77% of professionals have experienced burnout at their current job, and IT roles see this even more acutely. A solo IT person responsible for everything from password resets to ransomware response is operating at sustained high stress.

Cybersecurity is where the risk gets most expensive. The IBM 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report puts the average data breach cost at $4.88 million globally, and healthcare breaches at $9.8 million. Strong security practices benefit from layered review: access rights audited regularly, backup restoration tested, incident response plans rehearsed. In a single-person model, there is rarely a second set of eyes.

When Does Replacement Make Sense, and When Does Co-Managed?

Most of the time, the better conversation is augmentation, not replacement. Co-managed IT, where a managed services provider works alongside your existing IT staff, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing models in IT services. For most businesses with an existing IT person, this is the better answer than replacement.

Here’s the core economic argument: hiring a second IT employee costs roughly $130,000 to $150,000 fully loaded per year. That money buys you one additional generalist who will be subject to the same single-point-of-failure and burnout risks as your first one. Alternatively, that same budget covers a co-managed IT engagement that gives your existing IT person backup coverage, after-hours support, specialized cybersecurity expertise, compliance documentation help, vendor management assistance, and strategic technology planning. The second option produces more capability per dollar in almost every scenario.

That said, full replacement is sometimes the right move:

• The IT person is leaving and you can’t justify replacing them. For businesses with 20 to 75 employees and moderate technology complexity, the fully loaded cost of a replacement hire often exceeds what a managed IT provider would charge for the same scope.
• Your IT needs have outgrown what one person can deliver. When compliance, cybersecurity, cloud architecture, and strategic planning all need attention at the same time, a generalist can’t keep up. A managed IT provider gives you access to multiple specialists for less than the cost of hiring even one of them.
• The business is in stabilization mode. If your current IT setup is in chronic firefighting mode, transitioning to a managed model can reset the environment with documented processes, tested backups, and proactive monitoring.
• Compliance requirements demand more than one person can sustain. Regulated industries like healthcare, defense contracting, and financial services require documented controls, regular audits, and specialized expertise that almost no solo IT employee can maintain alongside daily support work.

Co-managed IT, on the other hand, fits when:

• You have a strong internal IT lead who is overworked. Adding an MSP layer takes the routine help desk burden off your internal person so they can focus on strategic projects, vendor relationships, and the business-specific work only they can do.
• You need specialized expertise your internal person doesn’t have. Cybersecurity, cloud architecture, compliance frameworks, and disaster recovery planning are areas where most internal IT generalists are stretched thin.
• You want resilience without doubling headcount. A co-managed engagement means your business is no longer dependent on one person being available.
• You’re considering adding a second IT hire. Before you spend $130,000 plus on a second employee, consider that a co-managed engagement at a fraction of that cost typically delivers more total capability across more domains.

How Should You Decide Which Model Fits Your Business?

The decision depends on three factors: the size of your operation, the complexity of your technology environment, and what you actually need from IT going forward.

• Under 25 employees: A managed IT provider almost always makes more sense than hiring. The cost-to-coverage math doesn’t work for an in-house generalist at this size.
• 25 to 75 employees with no internal IT: Managed IT is typically the right model. You get full coverage, security, compliance support, and strategic planning for less than the cost of hiring one mid-level employee.
• 25 to 75 employees with one internal IT person: This is the classic co-managed scenario. Keep your internal person for the institutional knowledge they bring. Add a managed services layer for everything they can’t realistically cover alone.
• 75 to 250 employees with one or two internal IT staff: Co-managed almost always wins. Your internal team handles strategy, vendor relationships, and business-specific work. The MSP handles after-hours support, cybersecurity monitoring, compliance documentation, and specialized projects.
• 250+ employees with a multi-person IT team: A managed services partner becomes a specialist resource for what your team doesn’t cover internally, often security, compliance, or specialized infrastructure projects.

The conversation should never start with “should we replace this person.” It should start with “what does our business actually need from IT in the next two years, and what’s the best mix of internal and external resources to deliver it.” For a deeper cost comparison between models, our managed IT vs in-house guide walks through the math in detail.

How Does Facet Technologies Approach This Decision?

Facet Technologies has worked with Central Illinois businesses across every variation of this conversation for over 30 years. We support organizations with no IT staff, organizations with one overworked generalist, and organizations transitioning between models.

Our managed IT services cover businesses that need full IT support without internal staff. Our co-managed IT model is designed to work alongside existing internal IT teams, providing the depth and specialization that generalists rarely have time for. Our strategic IT advisory services bring vCIO-level planning to organizations that have operations covered but lack technology leadership.

What we don’t do is push businesses toward replacement when augmentation is the better answer. If you have a strong internal IT person, that person is an asset. The question is how to give them the support they need so they’re not a single point of failure or constantly in firefighting mode.

Our in-house helpdesk in Peoria answers calls live during business hours, with on-call technician access 24/7/365 and average response time under 15 minutes. Our cybersecurity services, compliance partnership approach, and backup architecture are designed to integrate with internal IT teams or operate independently, depending on what the client needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get started? Call us at (309) 689-3900, email info@facettech.com, or schedule a conversation online. The first conversation is straightforward: we’ll talk about your current setup, your team, and what you’re trying to accomplish.

What Should Manufacturers in Central Illinois Look for in an IT Partner?

by Brian Ford | May 6, 2026 | Informational Articles

Manufacturing IT is its own discipline. The combination of production networks, operational technology, supply chain connectivity, and intellectual property protection creates an environment that general-purpose IT providers are not built to support. For manufacturers across Central Illinois, choosing the wrong IT partner means risking production downtime, compliance failures, and exposure to a threat environment that has only gotten worse.

Manufacturing has been the most targeted industry for cyberattacks four years running, according to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index. Ransomware attacks targeting manufacturers rose 56% in 2025 compared to the previous year, with the sector absorbing one in four of all documented ransomware incidents globally. Central Illinois manufacturers face the same threats as manufacturers everywhere, but with the added reality that most operations in this region have 50 to 500 employees, tighter IT budgets, and fewer dedicated security resources than Fortune 500 plants.

This blog explains what makes manufacturing IT different, where the risks are highest, and what to look for in a technology partner who can protect both your production floor and your front office.

At a glance: Manufacturing has been the #1 most targeted industry for cyberattacks for four consecutive years (IBM X-Force 2025). Ransomware attacks on manufacturers rose 56% in 2025, with 62% of victims paying the ransom (Check Point Manufacturing Threat Landscape 2026). 96% of operational technology (OT) incidents in 2025 were traced back to IT system compromises (TXOne Networks), which means protecting your office network protects your production floor. 22% of organizations with OT systems reported a cybersecurity incident in the past year, with 40% of those incidents causing production disruption (SANS Institute 2025). Facet Technologies has served manufacturers across Central Illinois for over 30 years, with specific experience in production network security, CMMC compliance, and IT/OT environments. One Central Illinois manufacturer reduced support tickets by 70% within six months of partnering with Facet, after we identified and resolved recurring infrastructure issues that had been disrupting operations.

Why Is Manufacturing IT Different From Standard Business IT?

In most businesses, when the network goes down, people can’t check email for a few hours. In a manufacturing facility, when the network goes down, the production line stops. Orders don’t ship. Raw materials sit idle. Depending on the process, a network outage can damage equipment, spoil product, or create safety hazards.

That’s the core difference. Manufacturing IT exists to keep production running, and every technology decision has to be evaluated through that lens.

Operational technology (OT) is the category of systems that directly controls or monitors physical processes: programmable logic controllers (PLCs), SCADA systems, human-machine interfaces (HMIs), and industrial control systems. These systems were originally designed to operate in isolation, but modern manufacturing increasingly connects OT to IT networks for data collection, reporting, and supply chain integration. That connectivity creates the security gap that attackers are targeting.

Your IT partner needs to understand this environment. They need to know which systems can be patched on a Tuesday afternoon and which ones require a maintenance window during a scheduled shutdown. They need to know that rebooting a server connected to a PLC could halt a production line. They need to understand the difference between a help desk ticket from accounting and an alert from a sensor on the manufacturing floor.

What Are the Biggest Cybersecurity Risks for Manufacturers Right Now?

Three overlapping risk categories are hitting manufacturers harder than any other industry.

Ransomware is the most expensive threat. According to cybersecurity insurer Resilience, ransomware accounted for 90% of all financial losses in the manufacturing sector between March 2021 and February 2026. Manufacturers are targeted specifically because attackers know that production downtime is so costly that companies are more likely to pay. The data confirms it: 62% of manufacturers who experienced ransomware in 2025 paid the ransom.

IT/OT convergence is expanding the attack surface. The connection between office IT systems and production OT systems is where most breaches start. TXOne Networks reported that 96% of OT incidents in 2025 were traced back to IT system compromises. That means an attacker who gets into your email server or a workstation in the front office can, in many environments, reach the systems that run your production floor.

Supply chain attacks are accelerating. Supply chain compromises nearly doubled in 2025, rising from 154 incidents to 297 in the manufacturing sector. Attackers target smaller vendors, managed service providers, or software platforms to gain indirect access to their manufacturing clients. Your security posture is only as strong as the weakest link in your supply chain.

For Central Illinois manufacturers, these risks are compounded by the reality that many facilities still run legacy systems, older PLCs, and aging network infrastructure that cannot be easily replaced without impacting production schedules.

What Should a Manufacturing IT Provider Be Able to Do?

Not every IT company understands manufacturing. Here’s what separates a provider who can support a manufacturing environment from one who is guessing.

Understand the IT/OT boundary. Your provider should be able to explain how your office network connects to your production network, where the segmentation points are (or should be), and what happens if a threat crosses from one side to the other. If your IT partner has never discussed network segmentation with you, that’s a gap.

Protect without disrupting production. Security patches, firmware updates, and system changes in a manufacturing environment have to be scheduled around production. A provider who pushes updates during operating hours without understanding the consequences is a liability, not a partner.

Support compliance requirements. If your company bids on Department of Defense contracts, CMMC compliance is now required. If you handle payment card data, PCI DSS applies. If you work with food production, FDA and FSMA requirements may affect how you manage and protect data. Your IT partner should know which frameworks apply to your business and help you maintain compliance, not discover requirements after an audit fails.

Provide layered security. Manufacturing environments need endpoint detection and response on every managed device, managed firewall protection with hardware replaced on a regular cycle, email security that catches phishing before it reaches your team, multi-factor authentication, dark web monitoring for compromised credentials, and 24/7 security monitoring that can detect and contain threats before they reach production systems.

Plan and budget proactively. Manufacturing IT is not just about keeping things running today. It’s about knowing when your firewall is due for replacement, when your servers are approaching end of life, when your backup infrastructure needs to be tested, and what the budget looks like for the next 12 months. Your provider should lead that conversation through quarterly business reviews, not wait for something to fail.

Maintain tested backups with real recovery times. The SANS Institute’s 2025 survey found that only 22% of OT incidents were remediated within 48 hours. For a manufacturer, that kind of delay can mean days of lost production. Your backup and disaster recovery strategy should include hybrid approaches that combine on-site and cloud backup for instant recovery when it matters most. Facet’s backup architecture is designed so that when a server or system fails, we can spin up a working copy immediately rather than waiting hours or days for a traditional restore.

How Does Facet Technologies Support Manufacturers?

Facet Technologies has served manufacturers across Central Illinois for over 30 years. Our team has specific experience with production environments, IT/OT networks, and the compliance requirements that affect manufacturers in this region, including CMMC, PCI DSS, and cyber insurance readiness.

We know that manufacturing doesn’t stop at 5 PM. Our in-house helpdesk in Peoria answers calls live during business hours, and an on-call technician is available 24/7/365. Our average response time is under 15 minutes, because when a system connected to your production line has a problem, every minute counts.

Our approach starts with understanding your production environment before recommending anything. We assess your network, your OT exposure, your compliance requirements, and the way your team works on the floor and in the front office. From there, we build a security and support strategy specific to your operation, not a generic IT plan borrowed from an accounting firm.

We’ve helped Central Illinois manufacturers stabilize aging infrastructure, pass compliance audits, defend against ransomware, and plan technology investments that align with business growth. One manufacturer saw a 70% reduction in support tickets within the first six months of working with us, driven by identifying and resolving recurring issues that had been costing them time and money for years. You can see another example of this work in our manufacturer IT stabilization case study.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Should Healthcare Organizations in Central Illinois Look for in an IT Partner?

by Ellie Shaw | Apr 24, 2026 | Informational Articles

Healthcare IT is not the same as general business IT. Medical practices, clinics, dental offices, behavioral health groups, and specialty care facilities in Central Illinois face a specific set of demands that most IT providers are not equipped to handle. Between HIPAA compliance, electronic health records, medical device connectivity, and the reality that a network outage can mean patients don’t get care, healthcare organizations need an IT partner who understands how clinical workflows depend on technology, not just how to reset a password.

At a glance: Healthcare data breaches cost an average of $9.8 million per incident in the United States, the highest of any industry for 14 consecutive years. The proposed HIPAA Security Rule update, expected to be finalized by mid-2026, would make encryption, multi-factor authentication, and annual penetration testing mandatory rather than optional. Medical practices in Central Illinois with 20 to 250 employees are the most common targets for ransomware because they hold high-value patient data and typically have smaller security budgets than hospital systems. A managed IT provider with healthcare experience should be able to support HIPAA compliance, protect EHR systems, and respond to issues without disrupting patient care. Facet Technologies has served healthcare organizations across Central Illinois for over 30 years, with specific experience in HIPAA compliance, secure cloud infrastructure, and medical office IT support.

Why Is Healthcare IT Different From Regular Business IT?

The short answer: the stakes are higher, the rules are stricter, and the tolerance for disruption is close to zero.

When a retail company’s email goes down for an hour, it’s an inconvenience. When a medical practice loses access to its EHR system for an hour, patients may not receive the right medications, lab results may not reach providers in time, and the practice may fall behind on appointments for the rest of the day. In some cases, delayed access to medical records creates genuine patient safety risks.

Electronic health records, or EHR systems, are the backbone of modern medical practice operations. An EHR system is the digital record of a patient’s medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, and lab results, accessed by providers and staff throughout the day. These systems require consistent network performance, reliable backups, and security protections that go well beyond what a standard office network needs.

On top of that, healthcare organizations are subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA. HIPAA is a federal law that sets standards for protecting sensitive patient health information, called electronic protected health information (ePHI). Noncompliance can result in fines ranging from $100 per violation to over $2 million per category per year, depending on the level of negligence, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Your IT partner needs to understand all of this, not just the technology, but how it connects to patient care, compliance, and the daily rhythm of a clinical environment.

What Makes Healthcare a Top Target for Cyber Attacks?

Healthcare organizations are targeted more frequently and more aggressively than businesses in almost any other industry. There are three reasons.

First, medical records are worth more on the black market than credit card numbers. A stolen credit card can be canceled and reissued. A medical record contains a person’s Social Security number, insurance information, medication history, and personal demographics, none of which can be changed. That makes each record more useful to criminals and more damaging to the patient.

Second, healthcare organizations often run on older systems. Legacy medical devices, outdated EHR platforms, and aging network infrastructure create gaps that attackers know how to find. Many practices have equipment that cannot be easily updated or replaced because it’s tied to a specific clinical function.

Third, the consequences of an outage are so severe that healthcare organizations have historically been more likely to pay ransoms to restore access to patient data. Attackers know this.

The numbers reflect it. According to the 2025 IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average cost of a healthcare data breach in the United States reached $9.8 million, the highest of any industry for the fourteenth consecutive year. Healthcare breaches also take longer to identify and contain, averaging 279 days compared to 241 days across all industries. That means an attacker who gets into a healthcare network has, on average, more than nine months before being detected.

For medical practices in Central Illinois, the risk is not theoretical. Practices with 20 to 250 employees are particularly exposed because they hold the same high-value patient data as larger hospital systems but typically have smaller IT budgets and fewer dedicated security resources.

What Is Changing With HIPAA in 2026?

The biggest update to the HIPAA Security Rule since 2013 is expected to be finalized by mid-2026. Healthcare organizations across Central Illinois need to understand what’s coming, because the compliance bar is about to get much higher.

The proposed rule, published by the HHS Office for Civil Rights in January 2025, eliminates the long-standing distinction between “required” and “addressable” safeguards. Under the current rule, certain security measures like encryption and multi-factor authentication are technically optional if an organization documents why they chose not to implement them. The updated rule would make those protections mandatory, with limited exceptions.

Here’s what the proposed changes include:

• Mandatory encryption of all ePHI at rest and in transit
• Multi-factor authentication required for all system access, not just remote connections
• Annual penetration testing and biannual vulnerability scans
• 72-hour incident response and restoration requirements for core systems
• Written verification from business associates confirming they’ve implemented required safeguards (a signed business associate agreement alone would no longer be sufficient)
• Comprehensive asset inventories tracking all systems, devices, and software with access to ePHI
• Network segmentation to limit lateral movement during a breach

Once finalized, organizations will have approximately 180 days to comply. That means practices that are still treating security controls as optional or checkbox exercises will need to make real changes before the end of 2026 or early 2027.

The takeaway for Central Illinois healthcare organizations: if your IT provider hasn’t started talking to you about these changes, that’s a red flag.

What Should a Healthcare IT Provider Actually Do for Your Practice?

Not every managed IT provider is equipped to serve healthcare. Here’s what to look for:

HIPAA compliance support. Your IT partner should understand HIPAA requirements, help you implement the technical safeguards, and assist with documentation for risk assessments and audits. This means more than just saying “we’re HIPAA compliant.” It means actively managing the controls that keep your practice compliant: encryption, access management, audit logging, backup testing, and employee training.

EHR system support. Your provider should have experience supporting the EHR platforms used in your practice. They need to understand how EHR performance depends on network speed, server health, and proper configuration, and they need to be able to troubleshoot issues without disrupting clinical workflows.

Security that matches the threat level. Healthcare organizations need endpoint detection and response on every device, managed firewall protection, email security with phishing filtering, dark web monitoring for compromised credentials, and 24/7 security monitoring. A basic antivirus subscription is not sufficient for a healthcare environment.

Backup and disaster recovery built for healthcare. Your backup strategy needs to account for the fact that losing access to patient data, even temporarily, creates patient safety and compliance risks. That means tested backups with verified recovery times, not just a backup that runs every night and has never been tested.

A team that respects clinical workflows. IT work in a medical practice has to be scheduled around patient care. Your provider should understand that rebooting a server at 10 AM on a Tuesday is not acceptable when patients are in exam rooms. Maintenance windows, update schedules, and project work all need to account for the clinical calendar.

How Does Facet Technologies Support Healthcare Organizations?

Facet Technologies has served healthcare organizations across Central Illinois for over 30 years. Our team has specific experience with medical practices, dental offices, behavioral health groups, and specialty care facilities ranging from single-provider offices to multi-location practice groups.

Our approach to healthcare IT starts with understanding that your technology exists to support patient care, and everything we do is designed around that priority.

We provide HIPAA compliance support that includes technical safeguard implementation, risk assessment assistance, and ongoing compliance monitoring. We work with third-party auditing partners when your practice needs independent validation, because we believe the organization providing your IT should not also serve as your auditor.

Our cybersecurity protections include endpoint detection and response, managed firewall with hardware replacement on a three-year cycle, email filtering, dark web monitoring, multi-factor authentication, and phishing simulation training for your staff. For practices that need 24/7 security monitoring, our managed detection and response service provides a security operations center with threats resolved in minutes, not hours.

Every client gets an in-house helpdesk team in Peoria that answers calls live during business hours and provides on-call technician access 24/7/365. Our average response time is under 15 minutes. When your front desk can’t pull up a patient chart, that speed matters.

We also provide strategic IT advisory for healthcare organizations that need help planning for growth, managing compliance across multiple locations, or preparing for the upcoming HIPAA Security Rule changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cyber Treats: Who’s Got the Keys?

by Ellie Shaw | Apr 16, 2026 | Informational Articles

Want more Cyber Treats? We got you: https://facettech.com/cybertreats/

Our next AI Fluent Leaders webinar is coming up on Wednesday, April 29. We’re diving into the big culture and team questions around AI, and sharing how our team uses AI to reduce their busywork and grow stronger. Register here!

Who’s Got the Keys?

Think about everyone who can log into your business systems right now… getting nervous yet?

Most companies have some version of this happening:

• A web designer from a few years ago who still has admin on the site
• A bookkeeper who left in 2023, but’s still in QuickBooks
• Last summer’s intern, still an admin on the company Facebook page
• An HVAC vendor with a portal login that touches your network
• An ex-employee whose personal phone is still getting the MFA codes from websites

People move on, projects end, and sometimes the access stays. The problem is that attackers aren’t generally “hacking” small businesses anymore. They buy leaked passwords from old data breaches and try them. When one works, they’re in, and it looks like a normal login.

Here’s a small thing you can do this week: open up QuickBooks, your CRM, or your website admin portal, and pull up the user list. Remove anyone who doesn’t need access.

A few minutes, four times a year, stops this problem in its tracks (it’s also a great reason to have an offboarding checklist, which prevents some of these!).

Need guidance with removing access to software, or have another tech question? Call us at (309) 689-3900 to request a consultation.

AI Fluent Leaders: Session 4

AI-Ready Teams: Preparing Your Workforce for What’s Next

The next session of AI Fluent Leaders coming up on Wednesday, April 29 is about the people side of AI. How do you build a team that’s comfortable using these tools? How do you make AI part of how work gets done, not a side experiment a few folks are running on their own?

Join Brian and Jason for a session on how Facet has built an AI-forward culture, the tools we use day-to-day, and what we’ve learned about getting the whole team on board.

Don’t miss it: Wednesday, April 29 at 10am CST.

Register for the Webinar Now

Missed the first AI-Fluent Leaders sessions?

No problem—you can catch the recordings here: Watch AI Fluent Leaders Sessions 1, 2, and 3.

In the News

Much to be said about credential theft driving cyber incidents.

Stolen passwords surpass phishing: Ransomware groups are now prioritizing credential theft over active hacking as their way in. SecurityWeek.

BEC still costing millions: The FBI’s 2025 IC3 report logged over $3 billion in business email compromise losses last year, and compromised accounts (not just spoofed ones) are a growing piece of that.

Want more Cyber Treats? We got you: https://facettech.com/cybertreats/

Cybersecurity for Agriculture: Why Farms and Processors Are Targets

by Ellie Shaw | Apr 8, 2026 | Informational Articles

Why Are Agriculture Businesses a Growing Target for Cyberattacks?

Agriculture is now one of the fastest-growing targets for cybercriminals. Ransomware attacks on food and agriculture companies more than doubled in early 2025, with 84 incidents reported in the first quarter alone, according to the Food and Ag-ISAC. For Central Illinois ag businesses, from grain operations and food processors to equipment dealers and seed companies, the threat is no longer hypothetical. Here is what is driving these attacks and what you can do to protect your operation.

At a glance: Ransomware attacks on food and agriculture businesses doubled in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. CISA classifies food and agriculture as one of the 16 sectors of U.S. critical infrastructure. The Food and Ag-ISAC recorded 265 ransomware incidents targeting the sector in 2025, up from 212 in 2024. Most attacks enter through phishing emails, unpatched software, and unsecured remote access, all of which are preventable. A single ransomware event can shut down processing lines, delay shipments, and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost production.

Why Is Agriculture Suddenly a Target for Cyberattacks?

Agriculture was not always on the radar for cybercriminals. But the sector has gone through a rapid technology shift over the past decade. Automated irrigation, GPS-guided equipment, IoT sensors, cloud-based farm management platforms, ERP systems in processing plants, and connected supply chain tools have all expanded the number of entry points attackers can use.

At the same time, many ag operations invest less in cybersecurity than comparably sized businesses in other industries. That gap between technology adoption and security readiness is exactly what ransomware groups look for. The FBI has identified four major threat categories facing U.S. agriculture: ransomware attacks, foreign malware, data and intellectual property theft, and bioterrorism.

A ransomware group is a criminal organization that deploys malicious software to lock a company’s files and systems, then demands payment to restore access. These groups increasingly target industries where every hour of lost production creates pressure to pay quickly.

How Bad Is the Problem Right Now?

The numbers are stark. According to a 2025 Check Point Research report, agriculture experienced a 101% year-over-year increase in cyberattacks globally, the largest jump of any industry. In the United States, attacks on the sector rose 38%.

The Food and Ag-ISAC’s 2025 ransomware report tracked 265 attacks on food and agriculture companies over the year. That is up from 212 in 2024 and 167 in 2023. In total, ransomware now accounts for 53% of all known cyber threats facing the industry.

These are not just attacks on massive corporations. Iowa State University’s Center for Cybersecurity Innovation has noted that small and mid-size agricultural operations are being hit regularly. As one researcher put it, a $5,000 theft from a family farm does not make national news, but it still devastates the business.

What Makes Ag Operations Especially Vulnerable?

Several factors make agricultural businesses more exposed than the average office-based company.

Legacy equipment and mixed technology. Many ag businesses run a combination of modern cloud platforms alongside older systems that were never designed with security in mind. A processing plant might have PLC-controlled equipment from the early 2000s sharing a network with a brand-new ERP system. That mix creates gaps.

Flat networks with no segmentation. In a flat network, everything from the front office computers to the plant floor controls to the security cameras sits on the same network. If an attacker gets into one system, they can move laterally to everything else. Network segmentation is the practice of dividing a network into separate zones so that a breach in one area cannot spread to another.

Remote vendor access. Equipment vendors, software providers, and service technicians often have remote access to systems inside your operation. Without proper controls, those connections become open doors.

Seasonal urgency. During planting, harvest, and peak processing seasons, ag businesses cannot afford to be offline. Attackers know this. They time their demands to moments when the pressure to pay and get back to work is highest.

Limited IT staffing. Many ag companies in Central Illinois do not have a dedicated IT team. The person managing technology might also be managing operations, which means security monitoring, patching, and backup testing often fall behind.

What Does a Cyberattack Actually Look Like for an Ag Business?

It does not always start with a dramatic ransom note. Many attacks begin with a phishing email that looks like a routine invoice, a shipping notification, or a message from a vendor. An employee clicks a link, enters credentials on a fake login page, and the attacker is inside the network.

From there, the attacker may sit quietly for days or weeks, mapping the network and identifying the most damaging systems to lock down. When the ransomware deploys, it can encrypt everything from accounting files and customer records to the software that runs processing lines and inventory management.

JBS Foods, the world’s largest meat processor, was forced to shut down all U.S. beef plants after a ransomware attack in 2021. The company paid $11 million to restore operations. Americold Logistics, one of the largest cold storage companies in the country, was hit twice, once in 2020 and again in 2023, with attacks that disrupted phone systems, email, inventory management, and order fulfillment.

These are large companies with dedicated security teams. For a 50-person food processor or a regional grain operation, the impact of a similar attack would be proportionally devastating.

What Can Central Illinois Ag Businesses Do Right Now?

You do not need a massive budget or a full-time security staff to make meaningful improvements. Start with the items that close the most common attack pathways.

Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) everywhere. MFA is a login method that requires a second verification step, like a code sent to your phone, in addition to your password. It stops the vast majority of credential-based attacks. Every email account, remote access tool, and cloud application your business uses should have MFA turned on.

Test your backups. Having backups is not enough. You need to verify that you can actually restore from them and know how long that process takes. If your recovery time is measured in weeks instead of hours, that is a gap you need to close now. Facet Technologies offers backup and instant recovery services that are built around getting businesses back online fast.

Segment your network. Separate your office systems from your plant floor, your guest Wi-Fi from your production network, and your vendor access from your internal systems. This limits how far an attacker can move if they get in.

Review who has remote access. Make a list of every vendor, technician, and employee who can connect to your systems remotely. Remove access for anyone who no longer needs it. Require MFA for everyone who does.

Train your people. Most attacks start with a human mistake. Regular phishing simulations and security awareness training turn your team from a vulnerability into a line of defense.

Patch your systems. Ransomware groups routinely target known software vulnerabilities that already have available fixes. Keeping operating systems, firewalls, and applications up to date closes those doors.

How Does Facet Technologies Help Agriculture Businesses?

Facet Technologies has provided IT and cybersecurity services to Central Illinois businesses for over 35 years, including clients in agriculture, food processing, and manufacturing. We understand the specific challenges ag operations face: mixed legacy environments, multi-site connectivity, seasonal production demands, and the need for technology that works reliably without a full-time IT department on staff.

Our approach starts with a cybersecurity risk assessment that maps your current exposure, from network architecture and backup readiness to vendor access and endpoint protection. From there, we build a plan based on what actually matters for your operation, not a one-size-fits-all checklist.

Facet’s managed detection and response (MDR) service provides 24/7 monitoring through an external security operations center, with threats addressed in minutes. Combined with endpoint detection and response, email security, dark web monitoring, and employee training, we build layered protection that covers the ways attackers actually get in.

We also work with ag businesses that already have internal IT staff through our co-managed IT program, adding security architecture, cloud migration support, and strategic planning without replacing the people who already know your operation.

Is the Government Doing Anything About Agriculture Cybersecurity?

Yes, and the federal response is accelerating. CISA classifies food and agriculture as one of 16 critical infrastructure sectors and has published a sector-specific cybersecurity checklist with free resources.

The Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act, reintroduced in Congress, would direct USDA to invest in cybersecurity research and crisis simulation exercises specific to agriculture. Additional legislation would establish regional cybersecurity research centers at universities with dedicated funding for ag-focused security training and workforce development.

The American Farm Bureau Federation has also partnered with the Food and Ag-ISAC to strengthen cyber awareness across the sector. These are positive steps, but they are primarily research and awareness programs. The actual work of securing your business still falls on you and the partners you choose to work with.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are running an ag business in Central Illinois and want to understand where your operation stands, we are happy to walk through it with you. No pressure, just a clear picture of your current risk and the practical steps to address it. Call us at (309) 689-3900 or reach out at facettech.com/contact-us.

How Are Central Illinois Businesses Meeting Cyber Insurance Requirements in 2026?

by Ellie Shaw | Mar 18, 2026 | Informational Articles

Cyber insurance carriers now require documented proof of specific security controls before they will issue or renew a policy. For Central Illinois businesses, meeting these requirements means having multi-factor authentication, endpoint detection and response, tested backups, email security, and an incident response plan in place, and being able to prove it. The days of checking boxes on a questionnaire and moving on are over. Here is what carriers are asking for in 2026, what happens if you fall short, and how to get your business into a position where insurance works for you instead of against you.

At a glance: Cyber insurance renewals in 2026 require documented proof of security controls, not just yes/no answers on a questionnaire. The eight controls carriers most commonly require are MFA, EDR, email security, tested backups, an incident response plan, employee training, privileged access management, and patch management. According to Marsh McLennan’s 2025 Cyber Insurance Market Report, 99% of cyber insurance applications now include specific questions about MFA implementation. Small business cyber insurance premiums typically range from $1,000 to $7,500 annually for $1 million in coverage, depending on industry and security posture. Facet Technologies helps Central Illinois businesses meet cyber insurance requirements through managed security services that include the controls carriers demand.

Why Have Cyber Insurance Requirements Gotten Stricter?

The short answer is money. Carriers lost billions on preventable claims over the past several years, and they responded by raising their standards.

Ransomware claim costs alone are projected to reach $265 billion annually by 2031. The average cost of a data breach hit $4.88 million globally in 2024, according to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report. Carriers looked at the claims data and found a pattern: the vast majority of successful attacks exploited gaps that should have been addressed, missing MFA, untested backups, outdated antivirus, and employees who had never received security training.

So insurers did what any business would do when it keeps paying for the same preventable problem. They started requiring their customers to fix it. Policies that were once treated like routine paperwork have become structured assessments of cybersecurity maturity. Renewals are more rigorous, questionnaires are longer, and carriers increasingly want documentation, not just answers.

What Security Controls Do Cyber Insurance Carriers Require in 2026?

While every carrier’s questionnaire is slightly different, the industry has converged on a core set of controls that are now expected across the board. Missing any of these can result in higher premiums, reduced coverage, or denial.

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA is a login method that requires a second form of verification beyond a password. Carriers expect MFA enforced on email, VPN connections, remote access, cloud platforms, and all administrative accounts. Having MFA “available” is not enough. It must be enforced and documented. According to Marsh McLennan’s 2025 report, 99% of applications now include specific MFA questions, and Coalition’s 2024 data shows 82% of denied claims involved organizations without MFA.
• Endpoint detection and response (EDR). Traditional antivirus is no longer sufficient. Carriers require EDR, which monitors devices for suspicious behavior and can respond to threats automatically. They will ask who monitors alerts, how quickly your team responds, and whether you can document your response process. Facet Technologies deploys autonomous endpoint protection across all managed client devices.
• Email security. Phishing remains the top attack vector for insurance claims. Carriers expect dedicated email filtering that scans for spoofed senders, malicious links, weaponized attachments, and business email compromise attempts. A basic spam filter does not meet this requirement.
• Tested, isolated backups. Carriers have learned that untested backups fail when they are needed most. They now ask whether your backups are tested regularly, whether backup copies are stored offline or isolated from your production network, and how quickly you can recover critical systems. Backup isolation prevents ransomware from encrypting your recovery data along with everything else.
• Incident response plan. Insurers want a written plan that defines roles, escalation procedures, communication protocols, and recovery steps. They want evidence that the plan has been reviewed and tested, not just that a document exists somewhere on a shared drive.
• Employee security training. Regular training and phishing simulations are now standard requirements. Carriers want to see a documented program with measurable results, such as phishing simulation click rates tracked over time.
• Privileged access management. Shared administrative accounts are a red flag for underwriters. Carriers want individual credentials for every privileged user, with the ability to track and audit access. Automatic password rotation for administrative accounts adds another layer of documentation.
• Patch management. Vulnerability exploits account for over 30% of ransomware attacks, according to the Sophos State of Ransomware 2025 report. Carriers expect documented evidence that operating systems and applications are patched on a regular schedule.

What Happens If You Cannot Meet These Requirements?

The consequences are real and immediate. Carriers are not bluffing.

If you cannot demonstrate the required controls, your insurer may increase your premiums significantly, sometimes 30% to 50% over the previous year. They may exclude ransomware coverage entirely, which removes the single most common and most expensive type of claim. In some cases, they will deny renewal altogether, leaving your business uninsured until you can demonstrate compliance.

There is also the claim denial risk. If you experience a breach and your insurer finds that your actual security posture did not match what you represented on your application, they can deny the claim. A January 2026 case involved a mid-size accounting firm whose ransomware claim was denied because the controls they reported on their application were not actually in place when the attack occurred. The firm faced over $300,000 in recovery costs with no insurance payout.

Honest reporting matters. Carriers would rather see a business that is transparent about its current gaps and actively working to close them than one that overstates its readiness and gets caught in a claim investigation.

How Can Your IT Provider Help You Meet Cyber Insurance Requirements?

This is where the relationship between your IT provider and your insurance coverage becomes direct. The controls carriers require are the same protections a good managed IT provider should already have in place for you.

If your IT provider is not proactively discussing your cyber insurance requirements, that is a gap worth addressing. Your provider should be able to help you in several concrete ways:

• Review your carrier’s questionnaire with you and provide accurate answers based on your actual environment
• Produce documentation that proves your controls are in place (MFA enforcement logs, backup test records, EDR deployment reports, training completion records)
• Identify gaps between your current security posture and what your carrier requires
• Build a remediation timeline for any controls that are missing
• Participate in conversations with your insurance broker when technical details need clarification

Facet Technologies works with clients across Central Illinois to prepare for cyber insurance renewals. Because the security controls carriers require, MFA, EDR, email filtering, tested backups, employee training, and managed detection and response, are already included in our managed services agreements, most of our clients are in a strong position before renewal conversations begin.

For businesses that are not yet fully meeting carrier requirements, we conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment to identify exactly where the gaps are and build a prioritized plan to close them.

How Does Cyber Insurance Fit Into a Broader Cybersecurity Strategy?

Cyber insurance is not a replacement for cybersecurity. It is one layer in a broader risk management strategy. The businesses that get the most value from their coverage treat the insurance requirements as a baseline, not a ceiling.

Think of it this way: meeting the carrier’s requirements gets you insured. Going beyond them, with 24/7 SOC monitoring, regular penetration testing, compliance consulting, and structured quarterly reviews, reduces the likelihood that you will ever need to file a claim.

The best outcome is not a successful insurance claim. It is never needing one.

For Central Illinois businesses navigating HIPAA, PCI DSS, CMMC, or other compliance frameworks, there is significant overlap between compliance requirements and insurance requirements. Meeting one often satisfies much of the other. A managed IT partner who understands both can help you avoid duplicating effort and spending.

Frequently Asked Questions