Jul 20, 2020 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
Your organization’s computer network is the backbone of your IT operations, supporting data and applications such as Voice-Over IP (VoIP), call center and more. Monitoring this network can help save time and money. Read on to learn more about the benefits of network monitoring, and what to consider before adopting a solution. Benefits of Network Monitoring Network monitoring is a proactive way to detect and mitigate threats to your network’s security. One key function of network monitoring is identifying and solving small problems before they become larger issues. Network monitoring can identify possible intrusions from virus and malware, stopping data breaches before they occur and saving your business money and reputation. Network monitoring also helps identify any bottlenecks and reroutes traffic to keep data flowing, allowing your system to adapt in real time and data-intensive applications like VoIP and call centers to operate at their best. Why Monitor Your Network? Before adopting a network monitoring solution, consider the most critical needs of your network. One factor is your IT budget; how much should you allocate to avoid unnecessary downtime and performance issues? Loss of productivity, inability to service or communicate with customers and other business interruption can add up. Another factor to consider is how you will respond to remediate any notifications and alerts. With businesses partially closed because of COVID-19, remote network monitoring might be the best option. Remote monitoring constantly looks for potential bottlenecks and intrusions, removing the need for an on-site visit. Remote monitoring and management provides additional operating system patches and ensures anti-virus and anti-malware definitions are current to block possible data breaches. Again, this...
Jul 13, 2020 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
Cloud computing is now a common way for small to medium-size businesses to provision computing resources for flexible, cost-effective results. Read on to learn about how one cloud model–Infrastructure as a Service or IaaS–can help your business manage spend and maximize results. IaaS Provides Flexibility According to Gartner, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a standardized, highly automated offering, wherein computing resources, complemented by storage and networking capabilities are owned by a service provider and offered to the customer on demand. With the infrastructure owned and managed by the cloud service provider, the business using the resources no longer needs to maintain infrastructure on-premises. The business can let the provider do the work of maintenance and updating, which converts a capital expense to an operating expense paid on a monthly or annual basis. In an IaaS model, a company can purchase extra resources for experimental technical initiatives, then scale back when needed. On-site infrastructure is available, to which new applications can be added. What to Consider Before Adopting IaaS Infrastructure as a Service, with its many benefits, still needs to be evaluated according to business needs. Some companies such as health care organizations are subject to compliance with HIPAA and HITrust, and will need a private cloud environment. Encryption of health-care data is vital, when it is in motion (as in the case of a telehealth appointment) or at rest. IaaS offers the most control for health-care organizations, including the ability for IT admins to modify how data is handled and stored. While some organizations might need to spend more for this level of security, maintaining security and compliance...
