How Managed Service Providers Support Disaster Recovery

, ,

Technology is the fuel that keeps our companies running, and any business owner knows that when that tech is down, you face loss — loss of time, loss of customers, and loss of money. That’s why a strategic IT plan — complete with cloud solutions for back-up and planning and a full disaster recovery strategy — is more vital than ever to all companies, regardless of industry.

Do you have the time, or IT industry expertise, to put together such a comprehensive plan yourself? Most companies don’t! And, aside from hiring a full-time, in-house team of IT experts, who could be expected to?

Fortunately for you, and millions of small- to medium-sized businesses just like you, Managed Services Providers (MSP) like Net3 IT, specialize in just that. As an integral part of the managed IT services provided by MSPs, planning, backups, and disaster recovery are managed entirely by an outside team of experts dedicated to maintaining your company’s IT security and recovering valuable information assets after a breach.

Data breaches happen, how you recover defines your company.

With an MSP, you can have peace of mind knowing that your company is well-prepared for the event ahead of time and that a disaster recovery plan is in place so that your business can survive the interruption with minimal downtime.

What is disaster recovery? A plan to follow in the event of a breach that ensures the integrity and safety of your company’s data. And it’s integral to the success of any company in any industry.

Allowing your managed service providers to strategically plan and implement disaster preparedness and recovery plans will not only streamline your company’s tasks and efficiency but will also improve your overall image to potential and current clients, employees, and stakeholders by demonstrating your proactive approach to IT security. You and your MSP will be able to work together to better identify the risks and potential losses, as well as opportunities for improvement in your IT structure and prepare your staff for the event of an interruption.

Disasters can strike your company at any time and without warning. Some are malicious, such as a bad actor performing an intentional hack or sabotage, while others are not, such as a fire or flood or even a power outage. But having a proper IT recovery plan with data backups and specific instructions for each employee is the best way to keep your company safe from the inevitable outages.

Working with experts in the IT industry, such as your managed service providers, is the only way to prepare for incidents that can cause significant company loss — and these are commonly overlooked by those not specially-trained to look for them. A few examples of potentially devastating interruptions are:

  • Employee accidents
  • Sabotage, hacks, or cyber attacks
  • Natural disasters
  • Power outages
  • Communications failure

Your Managed Service Providers can help you prepare.

Having managed IT services from an MSP means that your IT services are managed by an outside expert. They’ll be responsible for your IT service and equipment and they will work with you to build custom solutions that fit your company’s needs.

Among the many things streamlined and managed by your MSP, an industry expert will manage and maintain the following:

  • Firewalls
  • Servers
  • Switches
  • Wireless networks
  • Workstation Services
  • End-User Services
  • Telecom
  • Backup Monitoring and Administration

This means that all the time, energy, and effort of maintaining your own IT services will be transferred to an expert service provider, and they will be able to monitor the vulnerabilities and opportunities for improvement for you. They will also already be the team of experts in your corner for an inevitable breach and will begin immediately implementing the disaster recovery plan you’ll have agreed to put in place.

In the event of an interruption, making sure that you move as quickly as possible to remedy the situation is of the utmost importance — so you can see why having a team of experienced experts at the ready is all the more vital for your company.

Ideally, your business will never need to implement a disaster recovery plan, but considering how many unforeseen circumstances are out of your control — and just how many things can affect the IT security of your company — do you really want to risk it? Your managed service providers can offer you the experience and training to keep your business prepared and ready to get back to productivity as quickly as possible.

In the event of a data loss or breach, your ability to stay productive and profitable will depend on the tools and plans you have in place ahead of time. Your disaster recovery plan will make all the difference in how you recover — and your MSP can be there to support you along the way, making the journey that much smoother.

At Net3 IT, we specialize in just that — helping local businesses meet any technological challenges that are thrown their way and ensuring they come out stronger on the other side. Our audits and disaster recovery planning will help you review your assets, network, and infrastructure while learning how to protect them. Call us today to learn how we can become the MSP you need in your corner in the event of an outage or interruption.

 

Grow and Protect Your Company with IT Strategic Planning

, , ,

It’s likely that your company’s IT needs are ever-changing, both to remain competitive in your industry as well as ensure that processes run smoothly. How can you better address these needs even as your company grows or changes? Enter IT strategic planning.

What Can IT Strategic Planning Accomplish?  

When your company’s technological assets aren’t running smoothly — whether it be your devices or hardware, software, telecommunications, security, data access, etc. — it’s likely that your employees will notice. Your productivity will take a hit, and your customers may have difficulty interacting with or purchasing your products or services. Frequent technological issues may even lose those customers.

However, planning ahead limits the chance of these incidents and encourages growth. Returns on investment from IT strategic planning have been reported as high as 700% from some Fortune 500 companies and government agencies.

Who Participates in IT Strategic Planning?

IT is one of the biggest business expenditures. So who actually comes up with a strategic IT plan and how to use these resources? It’s important to include all departments in the development process. Focus on the business needs, challenges, and opportunities of each department — you don’t have to address your IT strategy as solely an IT issue — it’s more about departmental goals, how they support overarching business goals, and how IT can help reach them. You should keep each of the departments in the loop in every step of plan development in order to gather feedback and make any necessary adjustments.

Depending on the tech-savviness of either you or your employees, your IT strategy may develop completely in-house. However, it’s likely that you will enlist the efforts of an IT consultant or firm to address your IT needs and assist in the development of your IT strategic plan. Reaching out to experts can not only keep you in the loop on industry trends or emerging technologies, but also ensure your investment is optimized.

What Are the Steps to Developing an IT Strategic Plan?

IT strategic planning is divided in three stages.

  1. Determine the needs of your departments and establish any priorities based on company goals.
  2. Analyze the needs of each department through the scope of IT. A consultant can help you determine how each department can get where they want to go.
  3. Review IT and determine the efficacy of the assets themselves. A consultant can also help in this step of the process and make further suggestions.

Feedback throughout this process from your various departments is essential to make sure they have the tools they need. For example, any of your departments may need more space to store files or more processing power to access those files.

Your IT plan should develop over a period of several months — it’s not something that can be done in a handful of meetings. Several months of planning allows you to gather enough information about your current IT assets, how well they’re working, and what other goals you would like to reach.

What IT Strategic Planning Is and What It Isn’t

In short, strategic IT planning helps your company acquire the necessary IT as well as plan for evolving needs. Your plan should remain separate from other business strategies. However, it should include wishes from all departments in one cohesive package. The objectives or goals can be as specific or as general as your company would like. Ultimately, it’s up to senior executives or managers to pull everything together. This can all change as time goes on, as your plan isn’t permanent.

What Timeframe Should Your Planning Cover?

Generally, an IT plan accounts for a three- to five-year period. After this period, your business can revisit your plan and establish what worked and what didn’t. This is another chance for departments to provide feedback. It’s also crucial to update your IT plan periodically to account for changes as your company grows.

 

How IT Consulting Companies Can Help Your Business Thrive

, , ,

There are plenty of reasons to consider bringing an IT consulting company into your business operations. Is your company not performing as well as you’d hoped? Is it growing beyond what you’re able to handle yourself? Or are you just starting out? No matter what challenges your business is facing, an IT consulting company can help you focus on what matters while they take care of the day-to-day details.

Why Get an IT Consulting Package?

While some IT consulting companies may offer standalone consultations, others provide consulting services along with practical strategies for managing, planning, and implementing the solutions suggested in the consult. Service packages are often a better option than consulting alone because you will only need one company for IT needs. This consolidation means streamlined communication and simpler steps towards resolving issues or meeting new needs.

Even if you understand your IT needs, you won’t always be able to tackle every task by yourself. Maybe you don’t have the expertise or the staff or simply don’t have the time. Getting an IT company to manage your technology needs gives you the time and energy to focus on what you do best in your business.

IT Consulting Can Save You Time

An IT company has the expertise that will help your company meet its goals as efficiently as possible. They can easily and confidently create, plan, and implement technology solutions that are customized exactly for your needs and goals.

IT consulting can help you make the most of your resources, time, and money. Instead of you or your employees spending time researching, buying, and implementing IT products, you can count on the experts to find the best solution quickly and let you continue working.

IT Consulting Can Save You Money

If you’re trying to save money, it may sound counter-intuitive to hire an outside company to keep costs down. But the return on investment you’ll see from a customized, functional IT system that meets your needs will be more than worth the initial cost. Plus, your paid employees can spend their time on tasks that make your business money instead of fighting with sub-par technology.

Strategic IT planning from a group of experts won’t just solve the IT problems your company is facing now, but help you plan for the future and head off potential problems to come.

Do you need help with IT consulting, planning, and implementation?  Schedule a consultation with Net3 IT to discuss solutions that can help to save you time, money, and headaches.

 

The End of Windows 7

On January 14th 2020, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7.

The software will still run and activate, but Microsoft will stop security updates.  All companies still using Windows 7 software will do so at increased risk. There is concern among the IT community is that companies opting to remain on Windows 7 will become prime targets for malware and viruses.

In many ways, staying on Windows 7 creates unnecessary risk, exposing your company’s data and resources. But the transition to Windows 10 can be tricky, if not properly planned. Businesses will have to decide between upgrading their existing computers with new software or switching to a completely new system.

What Should I Do?

According to Microsoft, in order “to take advantage of the latest hardware capabilities, we recommend moving to a new PC with Windows 10. As an alternative, compatible Windows 7 PCs can be upgraded by purchasing and installing a full version of the software.”

The reason Microsoft encourages businesses to update to Windows 10 on a new device is that older computers may not be compatible with new software and/or may experience reduced feature availability. If it’s possible to stay on old hardware without reducing feature availability, then this may be a good option. Otherwise, you’ll want to replace everything.

It’s worth noting that Internet Explorer follows the support lifecycle of whatever Windows operating system it is installed on. Therefore, it will be discontinued, too. If you’re using Internet Explorer, make sure to look into alternative browsers.

Although it will likely be a costly upgrade older systems, in the long run, it makes the most sense to upgrade completely. One way to look at the issue is to see it as an opportunity to improve your business, gain access to lighter, faster, and more powerful computers, and to upgrade to an operating system designed to help you be more efficient and safe.

 

How to Prevent Common Server Security Risks

Even if your business is a small one, it still depends on vital technology – including your servers, databases, and networks – to function seamlessly. You must work to safeguard these necessary components and prevent common server security risks. Following best practices, conducting strategic IT planning, and working with experts can help.

How to Prevent Common Server Security Risks

Below are some examples of typical server security risks and how you can minimize them.

Irregular Maintenance

Once your server is up and running, it can be easy to just forget about it. As long as everything seems to be working as it’s supposed to, you might assume there aren’t any pressing issues with either your server integrity or security. But problems that go overlooked can quickly become problems that bring your operations to a halt. Schedule regular server maintenance so that you always have an up-to-date assessment of areas of vulnerability and can plan effectively to address them.

No Backup

Losing all or even part of your data is never a small issue. But it can be catastrophic for your business if you haven’t considered, and planned for, just such an eventuality. Always backup your data. Whether you use a separate server or cloud computing service, like Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS), preparation is key. And in the event of data loss via cyberattack, virus, user error, or a natural disaster, you lose less time getting back up to speed.

Insufficient Security Measures

You wouldn’t leave the security of your home to chance or let broken locks and faulty windows go without repair or reinforcement. Technology puts powerful tools at your disposal to combat risks. To manage the protection of your server, implement security measures at data, system, and user levels. That can include:

  • Firewalls
  • Virtual Private Network (VPN)
  • Secure Remote Access
  • Intrusion Detection

Poor User Training and Assistance

When trying to prevent common server security risks in your company, one of the easiest to address is training. Employees can be inexperienced or come with bad tech habits from previous workplaces. The proper training in even the basics of safe, conscientious usage can help enormously. Additional documentation and references can also aid in standardizing who has access to the servers, network, and other services.

If your company has a larger staff, a number of remote workers, or team members who often travel for meetings, they may need more dedicated technical support. Consider a help desk (either in-house or via a managed IT services firm) to provide assistance as necessary.

Lack of Administrative Support

How effective are the solutions you use to manage your server? Do they actively streamline your processes or do they cause unnecessary delays? Who’s overseeing the upgrades, organization, and implementation of your server needs? You may not have the resources for a full-time internal IT team, but you can still have access to experts who can help. With a reputable and reliable firm, managed IT services are able to provide you with insight and assistance to keep your server safe.

In addition, a team of on-call technological professionals can give you the freedom and budget stability you need to manage other aspects of your business, including bigger projects and companywide growth objectives.

It’s not easy to prevent common server security risks, but the right assistance can simplify the process. When you need managed IT services to make protecting your business easier, contact us at Net3 IT.