Outsourced IT – Is It Right For You?
Maintaining the IT infrastructure for any business, even small ones, isn’t easy and it requires a lot of different skills which are nearly impossible to find in one person. There’s the obvious day-to-day desktop support and server management. But there’s also cloud services to be supported, web sites and databases to be taken care of, keeping up with the latest security issues and doing all this while fixing that executive’s laptop that just died. Read more →
Moving Your IT To The Cloud
Many of the posts on this blog have been about cloud services and that’s because so many of our clients are looking at migrating their IT infrastructure (their shared files, backups, email, applications and many times their whole desktop experience) to the cloud. But how do you know if it’s a good fit for your business? If you do decide to move to the cloud, do you have to move everything? While for many people, a full cloud migration is the right way to go but there are also ways to take advantage of the cloud without giving up the functionality or control that you may require onsite. When we work with our clients, we walk through all of the necessary items to determine what parts of the cloud (if any) are right fit.
What is 1 Point CompleteCloud ?
1 Point ClompleteCloud is our premier cloud offering that combines productivity, security and simplicity into a comprehensive IT solution. CompleteCloud is different because it really is all-inclusive. There’s no capital outlay and you are just billed monthly for the number of users you have. If you hire a few new engineers one month, we’ll just add them to the bill. If you terminate an employee, you won’t be billed for that employee on your next bill. With every CompleteCloud package, you get fast and secure cloud desktops, unlimited support, new hardware and your internet costs are included. So, yes, it really is all inclusive! And it’s a solution designed to provide your employees with full productivity no matter where they are (no more slow VPNS!) and reduce your IT worry down to zero so you can focus on your running your business, not on which server or workstation is giving you fits on any particular day. Read more →
The Ins and Outs of Cloud Dekstops (aka VDI or DaaS)
A lot of businesses are making the move to the cloud with the logic of “why pay for servers, licenses, power redundancy, backups and support when I can just move all of my applications, files and email to the cloud?” For some businesses, just moving your files to the cloud is sufficient (for example, if you don’t have any applications, such as QuickBooks or time tracking software, that you share…but more on that in another post). But, for many, the idea of moving their whole infrastructure to the cloud is very attractive. With this option, your infrastructure becomes much more simplified and your IT expenses become very predictable – – and you get the added bonus of anytime, anywhere any device access to the stuff that runs your business. Done right, this creates a truly “worry-free” IT infrastructure.
When Defenses Fail
If you are doing things correctly, you’ve got a solid firewall protecting your network, enterprise-grade endpoint protection on each computer and (hopefully) some reliable content filtering in place to keep your employees (and your business!) safe. But there could be one very import piece missing here – – how do you know when these defenses fail? “Fail?” you say? “They shouldn’t ever fail!” Unfortunately, that’s just not the case. The old sports adage about offense and defense holds true in IT, too – – Defense has to be right 100% of the time and Offense only has to be right once to win. So, eventually, defense will always lose. And statistics show it is most frequently not even faulty technology at the root of the breach, it is the human factor. So, it’s not a matter of “if”, it’s a matter of “when”. With the increase of attacks lately on Microsoft 365, you’re not guaranteed security there, either.
Multi-Factor Authentication – why you need it
From a thief’s perspective, stealing electronic data is the best type of crime there is – it’s easy to transport, there’s almost no risk of violence and you can steal from people who are across the globe from you. All you need is their password – – with it, you can log into their email and send messages as the CEO to the accounting department to have them wire money to your account. You can also remote into the network as the administrator and steal the company’s data to sell it on the black market or just encrypt it to sell it back to them (see our earlier post on ransomware). You just need the password. Read more →
Which Is The Right Email Solution For Your Business?
It used to be that the only option for robust email services (i.e. Microsoft Exchange – – it really is the gold standard of email servers) was to buy a server, figure out the Exchange software licensing and hire someone to set it all up and provide the ongoing maintenance. Luckily, those days are behind us and there are several options that are powerful, reliable and affordable. Let’s review the pros and cons of the most common solutions. Read more →
The Case for Unlimited Support
People are used to buying their IT support on a “pay as you go” basis – – you need 3 hours of support to fix an issue, you pay for 3 hours of consulting time. Seems pretty reasonable to me. But, for many companies, it’s actually a very expensive and inefficient way of getting your IT support. Here are just some of the possible issues with paying for support by the hour: Read more →
Ransomware – What It Is and How To Avoid It
There have been several high-profile cases recently about organizations being hit by ransomware and having to pay the criminal hackers money to regain access to their data. Here are just a few of the most recent cases: a hospital in Kentucky, a hospital in Hollywood, a school in New Jersey, and a school in South Carolina. But what is this “ransomware” stuff, why is it so effective and, most importantly, how can you protect you and your company from it? Read more →
Cloud Desktops – What Are They and Can They Help My Business?
A lot of businesses are making the move to the cloud with the logic of “why pay for servers, licenses, power redundancy, backups and support when I can just move to the cloud?” For some businesses, moving just your files to the cloud is the right answer (for example, if you don’t have any applications that you share, such as QuickBooks or time tracking software) and there are appropriate file-sharing services that cater to business needs but more on that in another post. But many businesses like the idea of moving their whole infrastructure, shared applications and all, to the cloud. With this option, your infrastructure becomes much more simplified and your IT expenses become very predictable – – and you get the added bonus of anytime, anywhere any device access to the stuff that runs your business. Done right, this creates a truly “worry-free” IT infrastructure.
The Merits of Cloud Backups
So many times when we meet with new clients and we audit their network health and we get to the “How are you backing up your data?” question, the person in charge of the server will look up with a big smile and point out how they back up every night (like they were told to do) and how they switch their backup disks every day (“and see, we know that tapes are bad so we use USB disk drives”). And then they look at me expectantly and wait for me to tell them that their backup situation is all set. But, sadly, that’s when I have to (gently) burst their bubble and point out the flaws in their plan.
Maintaining Your Technology – Don’t Be “That Guy”
You buy a car and you regularly change the oil and take it in for its mileage-appropriate checkups. Why? Because you don’t want it to die on you on the highway on the way to closing your biggest deal. Well, the same is true for your IT infrastructure – – your servers, desktops, firewalls, switches, wireless access points, etc. – – they all need regular maintenance or they will, per Mr. Murphy and his law, break down at the most inopportune moments.