Is My Business at Risk if I Don’t Have Managed IT Services?

by Felicien | Jan 14, 2019 | Education

Your business is at a higher risk for security breaches and data when you don’t utilize a managed IT services company. A managed IT service company is more affordable than you realize. Managed IT service can be priced as a flat monthly fee, a per-user fee or a per-device fee. Then your business has a fixed line-item on your budget, and the assurance that your risks are managed by a professional service 24/7.
Not convinced? Let’s look at the realities of not have a managed IT service company.
Uncontrolled Spending.
Have you looked at what your IT department is costing every month? You may be surprised at how much you’re spending, and yet, you are still unsure at how well your company’s data is protected. Unless someone within your company is monitoring your IT department, you might not even be aware of what they are doing.
Have they ensured that your data is backed up in a cloud or are they developing a new app that may or may not help your business grow? Is your firewall up to date? Are your employees well-informed on cybersecurity threats that come via email? An unsupervised IT department could be investing in hardware and software that doesn’t protect you or help grow your business.
Add in the cost of recurrent training to keep your employees up to date with the latest security threats and emerging technology, and your business could experience uncontrolled spending. Managed IT service companies offer different pricing modules so that you can pick the plan that best suits your company yet allows for growth.
Unsecured Network and Uncertain Data Back-Up.
No matter what type of business, your business is responsible for the secure storage of employee records, customer data or patient information, which is protected by HIPAA regulations. A cybersecurity breach has the potential to put your business out of business.
Besides employee and client information, your business has a considerable volume of transactional data and customer/patient history. Are you sure that your IT department could have you back up and running after a natural disaster, ransomware attack or network failure?
Speaking of natural disasters which seems to be happening more often and are more severe, do you have a disaster recovery plan? Has your IT department developed and implemented a disaster recovery plan? It’s not enough to have your data backed up to a cloud. Your business should have a plan of where you’d relocate and how you’d get back up and running again.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that 40 percent of the businesses hit by natural disasters do not reopen and 25 percent of those who do fail within the first year. The Small Business Administration found that 90 percent of businesses fail within the first two years after a disaster. Data loss is catastrophic when coupled with a natural disaster.
A managed IT services company will provide you with a disaster recovery plan that protects your data to help prevent business failure should a natural or man-made disaster occur. The recent Paradise, California fire is a prime example of what could happen to your business should the worst scenario happen. Could your business recover?
Qualified IT employees are in short supply.
According to the George Mason University School of Business, IT jobs have increased by 13 percent while graduates in IT have decreased by 11 percent. Recruiting and retaining qualified IT personnel is expensive and challenging.
If you contract for managed IT services, you don’t have to terminate your entire IT department. You might decide to have a managed IT services company oversee the complex jobs while allowing your in-house IT personnel to focus on new projects or new business initiatives instead of responding to IT crisis resolution.
Most likely, a managed IT service company is able to hire the most qualified IT professionals. Why not get these people to oversee the most complex parts of your business?
Timing of new technology purchases.
Your company could be operating with outdated technology that can’t be upgraded to new security and/or operating systems. Restoring data might become impossible with obsolete technology.
Personnel from managed IT services companies regularly attend the major technology shows and can easily spot potential problems in your existing technology systems that could create significant problems in the future.
A managed IT services company starts to work for you on the first day that you contract with them. They’ll evaluate your entire IT system and make recommendations for updates to ensure the best performance and longer operating cycle. An added plus is that your managed IT services company can recommend new products specific to your industry or business type.
Minimize risk.
Savvy businesses know that minimizing the risk of security breaches, ransomware threats and data loss is one of the best ways to ensure the continuity of the business. A managed IT services company is more than just an IT “guy” that someone recommended to you. They become a valued partner of your business ensuring that your files and data are protected and that you can focus on your business operation.

The Hidden Costs of Your Next Data Breach

by Felicien | Jan 11, 2019 | Education

Ask any small or medium-sized business owner and they’ll tell you the same thing: They’re terrified of a data breach. Sure, their fears might not exist on the same plane as, say, a Target or a Wells Fargo, but that doesn’t mean they’re not real and quantifiable.
The average numbers are pretty scary, in fact. According to MarketWatch, citing a study by IBM Security and Ponemon Institute, “the 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study found that the average cost of a data breach globally is $3.86 million, a 6.4 percent increase from the 2017 report.”
That’s just the average, mind you. Things get much more frightening on a large scale: “the study also calculated the costs associated with ‘mega breaches’ ranging from 1 million to 50 million records lost, projecting that these breaches cost companies between $40 million and $350 million respectively.”
These numbers become even more heart-stopping when you consider that a data breach’s costs don’t end at the financial. There are some hidden costs of data breaches that you may not yet have considered. While no one likes to conjure more bogeymen than necessary (isn’t the world scary enough?), it’s critical to take data breach extremely seriously.
Here are seven of the most notable – and the most frightening – hidden costs of data breaches.
1. Loss of Intellectual Property
One of the most significant losses associated with a data breach is intellectual property. This can include:

Blueprints for setting up a factory
Specs for a project
Code for a piece of software or another product
Proposals for new products or services
Recipes for proprietary dishes or ingredients (think “secret sauce”)
The means of replicating patented products

If an attacker gets their hands on this information, you might suddenly have a competition where before you owned a niche. This is bound to decrease your profits and impinge upon your success.
2. Disruption of Operations
Data breaches cause a lot of panic and havoc, and unfortunately, this means suspending normal daily activities in favor of dealing with the crisis. This can put your standard timelines behind by days, weeks or even months … which is time and money you can’t get back.
3. Destruction of Property
We tend to think of data breaches as a one-way flow of information out of the formerly secure system. This includes client or customer information, intellectual property, company figures and documents, or other pieces of information customarily kept private.
However, some data breaches also include an element of cyber attack, information flowing in that is harmful to the system. Perhaps the attacker sends through the malicious code to damage it. They may also attempt to shut it down while withdrawing the data, with the intent of making it more difficult for the company to protect itself. In some cases, these attacks leave long-term damage behind, and it takes thousands or millions of dollars to pick up the pieces.
4. Loss of Customer Relationships
For obvious reasons, your customers aren’t going to be thrilled to learn that their credit card information, medical records or private purchase histories are now out in the world. While some may forgive you, especially if you take the right steps to fix the problem as soon as possible, others will not. The loss of their business can majorly cut into your margins.
You may even face canceled contracts. Money that was already factored into your budget on a monthly or yearly basis is now gone, and it will take time to replace it through new clients and customers.
5. Disrupted Vendor Relationships
It’s not just customers you have to worry about. Most people don’t want their names associated with an accident or leak that gets their end users in trouble. B2B companies still worry about what consumers will think, especially when they’re products are used as-is and branded. They may pull out as well, forcing you to find new vendors for your goods.
6. Disappearance of Important Information
Client and customer information is precious to your company. Not only do good records allow you to keep serving your important people well, but they also form a valuable basis for your business in the future. In addition to creating acrimony between yourself and your clients, losing that information can cost you considerably.
For instance, consider a breach of your customer relationship management (CRM) software. You keep a lot of valuable information inside that system, such as:

Customer details, including their personal information
Records of past interactions with clients or customers, such as medical history or purchases
Contacts made with the customer
The nature of contact made, such as phone or email
Financial information
Personal notes regarding the relationship you’ve forged with each client or customer

… and additional information that helps you to relate to your VIPs day in and day out. Starting from scratch does more than failing to impress them; it can ruin all the hard work you’ve put in so far.
7. Increased Cost of Loans
Data breaches, despite your best intentions, send the signal that your company can’t be trusted. Usually, we assume that it’s consumers whose good opinion we’ll lose, but banks and other lending companies also tend to become a little cold.
Post-data breach, it’s very likely that your company’s credit score will drop. The results of this vary:

You might have a harder time getting loans or extending lines of credit
You may have to pay higher interest rates when you do get loans
You might not be able to get loans at all

Any of the above may hamper your growth and limit your ability to produce new revenue, which can cost just as much in the end as losing money you’ve already made.
Bottom line? You can’t take data breach seriously enough, so if you haven’t yet done a risk assessment and put a security plan in place, make that a top priority right away. Otherwise, you’re a sitting duck just inviting breach and attack, and that’s no way to run a business.

How Can Managed Services Benefit Local Businesses?

by Felicien | Jan 11, 2019 | Education

Using Managed Services is really about smartly growing your local business, especially if that business relies on technology to any degree. A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is a third-party contractor that partners with your company to do exactly what its name suggests: It manages a service or services for you, usually in the area of IT. Most MSPs provide services for a fixed monthly amount, so there are no budgetary surprises involved.
Options Provided by Managed Services
As the MSP sector has grown and improved over the years, the choices available for local businesses have increased as well. Your company may need an MSP for only a single purpose — such as tech support for a shared wireless printer — or for a host of reasons. You will likely be able to find a Managed Services Provider that will offer a customized and affordable plan to meet your business needs. Here are a few of the options available.

Data storage
Onsite or offsite tech support
Backup & recovery services
VoIP phone services
Remote monitoring
Compliance services
Risk assessments
Monthly reports
Secure data centers
Private and/or public cloud services
And much more

Advantages of MSPs for Local Businesses
Outsourcing IT tasks to a Managed Services Provider can give local businesses access to state-of-the-art services without a significant investment of capital. A company with an upward trajectory may not be ready to hire its own full-time IT staff to manage these tasks. Most small business owners can imagine the potential headaches that are created by hiring a lone IT staffer; when that person gets sick or quits, it can be crippling in the short-term. With that in mind, here are some of the significant advantages that an MSP can offer a local business:

Improved Productivity: MSPs can improve productivity on both the technology side of your business and the human resources side. An MSP will reduce the overall expenses for a company, by avoiding the need for a full-time IT staff. Most MSPs also specialize in keeping technology upgraded when and where it needs to be done. For example, server upgrades may need to happen when data storage needs for your business increase. One of an MSP’s duties might be to monitor that situation and ensure the upgrade occurs before that point in time arrives, negating the need for downtime.
Freeing up Internal Resources: Many IT tasks are routine, mundane events — but they are vitally necessary for a business. These tasks can be morale-killers for full-time staffers who want to be working on the latest new project for the company. While these routine tasks are necessary, they are likely not the optimal way for your best employees to spend their time. Having an MSP carry out everyday tasks makes excellent sense from this perspective.
Improved Communication and Collaboration: Managed Services can provide the infrastructure needed for your employees to collaborate and communicate better. Downtime on projects can be reduced, for example, by having an MSP provide private cloud services combined with VoIP business phone services for your employees or even clients. Improved communications services can lead to faster production times and better product management.
Reduced IT Budget: This is one of the most significant advantages for local businesses when it comes to using a Managed Services Provider. As just one example, imagine the costs of maintaining your own on-site servers for business. This requires a full-time staffer to monitor and manage the servers; the servers take up physical space within your property, and it will even cause a significant bump in the monthly electric bill for your office. Utilizing an MSP makes excellent business sense because it frees up budgetary expenses that can be effectively managed for a fraction of the cost.
Added Stability and Scalability: You don’t have to worry about staffing turnover when you sign a contract with an MSP to handle IT services. An MSP lets you know that your business’ IT services are stable and continuous. Likewise, when your business is ready to scale up, you have two options: Have the business pay for added equipment, upgrades, staffing and more, or hire an MSP to do it for far less money. An MSP can allow you to dramatically reduce costs at the right time when you’re ready to expand.
Customized Plans: Many MSPs provide package deals that are based on the number of services required, the number of devices covered, the number of users on your network, or a combination of these factors. These are frequently offered in tiered versions so that smaller companies with fewer IT needs can still utilize the services. Many will also offer an “a la carte” pricing structure based on your individualized needs.

Utilizing a Managed Services Provider can give local business owners peace of mind by reducing costs and providing state-of-the-art services that they might not otherwise be able to afford. Most important of all, an MSP can allow you to maintain a sustainable business growth pattern without breaking the bank.

The 2019 Guide To Securing Microsoft Office 365

by Felicien | Jan 10, 2019 | Education

The importance of fully securing Microsoft Office 365 cannot be overstated. Recent statistics show that a hacker attack occurs every 39 seconds. Government agencies and retail, technology and healthcare industries are among the most popular targets, but the truth is that cybercriminals are more than willing to hack into any vulnerable business to obtain valuable customer information and company data.
Thankfully, Microsoft offers an array of tips and tools to help businesses and individuals keep Microsoft Office 365 fully secure. There are also some practical steps a company can take to maintain a high level of security at all times. Following is a comprehensive overview of steps any business can take to fully secure Microsoft Office 365 in 2019.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication
Microsoft highly recommends setting up multi-factor authentication, and it’s not hard to see why as it is perhaps one of the most natural yet most effective ways to protect a Microsoft Office 365 account from hacks. With multi-factor authentication in place, employees will be required to not only type in a password but also acknowledge a text message on their phone to access the company account. Using multi-factor authentication ensures that valuable company data is not compromised if an employee uses an easy-to-guess password and/or leaves the company password written in a visible location. While it is crucial for employees to understand the importance of using strong passwords, a compromised password on its own would not enable a malicious third party to access your data as one would need an employee’s phone as well to gain entrance into the Office account.
Use Administrative Accounts with Care
An administrative account provides managers and executives with additional options, privileges and security features to keep Microsoft Office 365 safe from unauthorized access. However, it is crucial for administrative accounts to be used with care or they can cause more harm than good. Following are some steps every business should take to protect admin accounts from breaches:

Set up regular accounts for each admin user. Admin users should utilize their regular account for non-administrative tasks and reserve the admin account for functions that cannot be completed with a periodic report.
Have admin users close all unrelated browser sessions and apps before logging onto an admin account
Instruct admin users to record out of the admin account after each session.
Provide clear guidelines regarding which data can be viewed and downloaded using an administrative account.
Use a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) to monitor admin user actions. A CASB can detect high-risk activities involving sensitive data and identify unauthorized admin account access attempts.
Immediately shut down admin accounts for administrative users who leave the company.

Secure OneDrive
OneDrive has much to offer any business. It enables users to synchronize data across various devices as well as share files with other users. Unfortunately, OneDrive can also provide hackers with easy access to company files. It is not uncommon for employees to download files from a secure OneDrive account only to save the data on an unsecured cloud account or personal device. To prevent this scenario, companies should clearly mark files that should not be downloaded from the OneDrive account. It is also essential for the IT department to:

Know what data is being uploaded to and downloaded from OneDrive
Be aware of which users have access to information
Know which files or folders have shared links
Be able to see which devices are being used to access the company’s OneDrive account and pinpoint the geographical location of the devices in question

Protect Email Communications
Every company should use all the tools that Microsoft Office 365 provides to protect the company from email-based threats. The Office 365 Security & Compliance Center enables admin users to block certain types of file attachments that are commonly used for malware or ransomware. It also allows managers to enable Advanced Threat Protection to check email attachments for malware. This protection extends to files in OneDrive, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams, protecting employees who use cloud-based software from breaches.
Furthermore, Office 365 Security & Compliance Center can be used to create an Advanced Threat Protection plan that will stop email phishing attacks
The Office 365 admin center enables IT, professionals, to set up pop-up warnings for employees who are about to download an email attachment. The warning, which clearly states that employees should not open certain types of files from users they do not know as the files may contain malware, can prevent devastating consequences should an employee click on an attachment without thinking. This handy tool also makes it possible for companies to choose which types of files activate a pop-up warning, thus creating an efficient work environment for employees who can freely access safe files without automatically opening ones that could potentially be harmful.
The Office 365 admin center also has tools that can enable companies to disable auto-forwarding for emails. Many hackers who gain access to one company account use this account to automatically forward emails in an attempt to gain access to other user accounts. The emails can be forwarded without the compromised account user being aware of what is going on, making it impossible for him or her to put a stop to the forwarded emails. By disabling auto-forwarding, companies can limit the damage caused should a malicious third party compromise an Office 365 account.
It’s also wise to enable Office Message Encryption. The program is included with Microsoft Office 365 and can be enabled in Outlook for PC. The encrypted email message program allows users to send encrypted emails both inside and outside the organization and it works not only with Outlook but also common email platforms such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail.
Provide Employee Training
An astonishing 95% of all breaches happen due to human error. Busy employees who are unfamiliar with IT guidelines can make deadly mistakes that will cost companies millions of dollars to rectify. Alternatively, many employees who are familiar with IT security procedures may disregard them because they are time-consuming to comply with or because they do not understand the importance of these guidelines in the first place. It is imperative for every single company to provide its workers with comprehensive, ongoing security training to keep systems secure at all times.
What type of training do employees need to fully secure Microsoft Office 365? Following are some important points that should be emphasized:

Never use personal devices for work-related tasks. It is all too easy for company employees to merge work-related and personal matters. Important company files may be downloaded onto an unsecured personal laptop, which is then unknowingly breached. A personal smartphone containing valuable business data may be stolen, compromising the company by exposing vital data. Additionally, employees should never email company files to their own personal email account. Many employees do this to work on holidays or on the weekends; however, this move exposes company data to hackers who may be able to access a personal Gmail or Yahoo email account with a weak or easy to guess password.
Work devices should never be used for personal matters such as checking a personal email account or social media site. It is all too easy for employees to compromise a company’s entire network by downloading a malicious attachment from a personal email account or social media site.
Employees should be taught the right way to communicate with colleagues and superiors. Internal communications should be secure and follow proper protocol to prevent important data from falling into the wrong hands. Employees should also be taught how to spot fake communications ostensibly from management but actually sent by a hacker attempting to access company data.
Knowing how to back up important data is yet another aspect of employee security training. Data should be backed up regularly yet in a secure manner so that unauthorized third parties cannot access files as they are being copied to or from a cloud server.
Companies should also create a plan for handling a malware, ransomware, DDoS or any other type of cyberattack. Even the best Microsoft Office 365 security guidelines cannot guarantee that an attack will never occur. Employees should know how to recognize the signs of an attack and what to do to limit the damage.
New employees will need industry-specific training on how to handle important data. Healthcare companies, for example, will need to ensure that all employees are aware of current HIPAA guidelines regarding patient data privacy. Government entities will need to train employees to handle sensitive or classified information by existing laws and regulations.

Cybercriminals are always on the job, looking for new ways to access company data from Microsoft Office 365 and then misuse this data by offering it for sale on the dark web or demanding a ransom in exchange for returning company files. Given this fact, it is important for businesses to have a plan in place to keep their Microsoft Office 365 accounts secure at all times. The tips mentioned above are an ideal starting point; at the same time, companies will need to customize their approach to Office security to ensure their files remain safe from unauthorized access. It’s also wise to re-examine security guidelines from time to time to ensure that they are still are effective and efficient as they are meant to be.

What Should Be In Your 2019 Technology Strategic Plan

by Felicien | Jan 10, 2019 | Education

Making an Ultimate Technology Plan for the New Year
Times are changing. Apparently, this is the case considering we’re about to head into 2019. How is your current technology holding up at your company? If you feel like there are certain things that you need to change up to stay competitive, it might be time to confront this challenge head-on with an ultimate technology plan.
You may not be familiar with how to implement one, but once you learn the basics, which we are going to show you here today, it’s a smooth process that will have you on the road to an overall improvement in every aspect of your offices’ technological needs.
Let’s get started with how to create a technology plan for your company or small business so that when you head into the new year, you’ll be thoroughly prepared to be on the cutting edge tech-wise.
Step #1: Look Over Your Existing Technology
When you look around your small business or office setting, what do you see? Do you see old computers, old printers, and another dinosaur related tech that you aren’t even using anymore? Part of your plan should be to clear out old and outdated tech stuff that you probably aren’t using anymore.
Now is the time to recycle all of that and remove it for good from your workspace. It’s like a breath of fresh air when you clean out old technology this way. The beginning of the new year is the perfect time to do this. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much this can help to improve the overall attitude of an office or another work setting.
Step #2: Create an Ideal Budget
Mention the word budget and it always feels a little bit “heavy.” What can you afford? What can you really really afford? Sometimes what you need and what you can afford are two different things.
Create an ideal budget in mind that fits in with your revenue plan. You don’t want to overspend, but you do want to achieve your ultimate technology plan with the right budget in mind. Do the best you can with this.
It may require some research to figure out how to afford the technology items you need, but with the right focus, you should be able to obtain great technology that fits into your set budget.
Step #3: Plot Out What You Need
Figure out everything you need tech-wise and the cost for each item. Put all of it into your plan so that you can visualize having the full scope of your new tech at your disposal.
Don’t leave anything out to figure out later. Make this ultimate technology plan as detailed as possible so that you know exactly what you will end up with to ultimately suit your needs.
Step #4: Implement a Realistic Timeline (3-6 Months)
Most of the time you are going to want to get your new technology purchased over a few months. If you can afford it all at once, fantastic. If not, it’s okay to set up a realistic timeline to obtain everything you are going to need to have updated gear that works for you.
Many companies look for a timeline that extends around 3-6 months. If you need it to be shorter or longer, according to your individual company’s needs, that’s fine too. It all goes back to your budget and what you can afford to do at any one time. Or over a few months if need be. Your finance department will be able to assist you with this part of the technology plan.
Step #5: Write Your Plan Out in Detail
Your plan is known as your “technology vision statement.” Sounds pretty fancy, right? This is going to help you achieve your mission to be updated entirely going into the new year with your brand new technology in place.
You’ll be amazed at how much fresh tech will energize your team. Don’t underestimate the power of renewed vigor and the new year is the right time to have your technology planning accomplished. Set out and do it right so that you are ahead of the game in your industry.
It just makes everything you need to get done go a lot smoother for you and your team. After all the last thing you want as a cutting edge company is to look like you are lagging behind tech-wise. Your clients will pick up on your overall image and tech that isn’t up-to-date looks like an eyesore.