Oct 22, 2014 | SMB Technology
Many small to medium sized businesses are migrating to the Cloud – backups, better security, regulations, security, and the Cloud ensures that your company is always up to date without having to continually invest more time and money. So, how can your business make the leap? Here are 3 steps to get you started with your migration to the Cloud: Start With Hosted Email An easy first step is to move your company email to a hosted email solution. Cloud email solutions may include a number of additional services for spam protection, antivirus protection, email archive and more. When you move your email, first consider how many mailboxes are in use? Can you consolidate or eliminate email inboxes? This is a good time to consider how you can reduce costs and improve security and performance. When moving email to the Cloud, consider starting with just the last six months worth of emails, then move older data over time. Move Data and Files to Cloud Storage Moving your files is a logical next step to getting your business to the Cloud. Consider what data you need to migrate to the Cloud. Now is the perfect time to clean up customer data and archive historical information, such as office documents, financial history and email archives. Planning out your migration carefully will save you time and cloud storage costs in the long run. Move Servers that Support Legacy Applications Consider how you will move servers that support line of business and other legacy applications. Unfortunately, not all legacy applications can live in the Cloud. But, many legacy applications can leverage at least...
Oct 10, 2014 | SMB Technology
If your business depends on Windows Server 2003, you and your colleagues have less than a year until Microsoft will discontinue Server 2003 R2. Server 2003 currently accounts for about 20% of total Windows Server installations, but on July 14, 2015, all Windows Server 2003 extended support will end. Although Windows Server 2003 comes in a number of editions to serve different sizes and types of businesses, all variants serve to provide email services, share files and printers, act as an application server, and many more tasks essential to everyday business. If companies transition from Windows 2003, there may be compatibility issues with older software, especially when it comes to moving your applications. Server migrations require a lot of planning and ample forethought, so make sure to do your research. Here are three important steps in planning your migration from Windows Server 2003: Take an Asset Inventory Take an inventory of which applications and workloads are still running on Windows Server 2003 and check with publishers to ensure all of your software is upgradable to the latest version of the Windows operating system. Plan your Windows 2003 Migration Choose a migration date and decide where each application and workload will go. Will they be stored onsite, on premise, or is it time to move to the Cloud? Consider moving non-mission critical systems and file data first. Moving applications is complex, and if you do not do it carefully, you could be putting your company at risk. Consider integration with legacy applications, broadband internet requirements, and security needs over a wide area network. Migrating from Windows 2003 When migrating your...
Sep 22, 2014 | SMB Technology
While cloud security concerns are top of mind with many business owners, the benefits of the cloud far outweigh the risks. Nevertheless, as companies deploy cloud computing, taking cloud security seriously will ensure a smooth transition to the cloud. Top Cloud Security Concerns If you are moving your business to the cloud it is important to understand and address your security needs. For many companies, the top concerns of cloud security are cloud service provider’s encryption policies, business continuity and disaster recovery capability, data protection and data integrity. There are a number of other critical concerns, such as the physical security, identity and access management, and regulatory compliance. How to Protect your Data in the Cloud Create Strong Passwords An important step you can take to protect your data in the cloud is to create a policy for passwords within your organization. By requiring a string of text combining numbers, letters (both uppercase and lowercase), and special characters your employees will avoid common passwords that are easily hacked. Also, ensure that your company policy requires changes to passwords regularly and asks employees to use unique passwords when accessing the cloud from their desktops. Network Compliance In addition to creating strong passwords, it’s important for your company to keep your network in compliance. Your network is secure as its/ weakest point of access. Ensure desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones are maintained with the latest operating system patches and are protected by up to date antivirus and antimalware definition updates. End User Training on Security Employees with a clear understanding of security policy and related risks will help keep your data...
Sep 9, 2014 | SMB Technology
Managing A Mobile Workforce The transition to the pervasive use of mobile devices in and outside of the workplace has been both an advantage and disadvantage for small to medium sized businesses. On the one hand, when employees use their own mobile devices for work, businesses cut drastically on month-to-month device and carrier plan costs. Yet, personal mobile devices pose as a potential security threat to your business. Therefore, it is imperative that your organization devises a mobile device management solution before a security attack. Keep in mind that security attacks are not limited to external hackers – several studies have shown that data breaches more commonly come from internal sources. Your own employees, whether knowingly or inadvertently, can be a source of a data breach to your organization. Here are three important tips on mobile security: 1. Make a Company-Wide Policy and Educate Your Employees It is important that you educate your employees using mobile devices for work on the threats and risks of mobile computing. Encourage your employees to keep devices up to date with O/S security updates, anti-virus, and anti-malware. Even better, automate the process so you don’t have to count on busy employees remembering to update software. Write an official company policy that explains what they shall and shall not do on their mobile devices. Employees should store personal data in a separate area from company data on their mobile devices. And, when an employee leaves the company, do not forget to wipe company data from personal mobile devices before they leave. 2. Use a Mobile Device Management Solution Choose a mobile device management system...
Aug 25, 2014 | SMB Technology
Broadband Internet is all about speed and reliability. In a nutshell, “broadband” refers to a very fast and persistent connection to the Internet. For business – Cloud computing, web conferencing and hosted voice solutions – having a broadband connection is essential. Here are 3 things you need to know about how broadband Internet that can improve your business: Broadband Internet is Fast In business, time is money. Broadband indicates a high-speed Internet transmission, using 256 Kbps and above. Compared to dial-up, broadband is permanently connected to the Internet and boasts speeds up to 160 times faster. Faster connection time means your cloud backups go quicker, VoIP connections are clearer, Software as a Service (SaaS) applications are snappier. If you are considering running Cloud applications in your business Broadband Internet is a must have. Broadband Internet is More Affordable Than You Think There is a variety of Broadband Internet solutions to meet most budgets. Broadband includes several high-speed transmission technologies such as: DSL, Cable Modem, Fiber, Ethernet over Copper, MPLS for wide area networking and more. The bottom line is these solutions offer high speed data and voice transmission for the same or less than older Internet connectivity options. Your company may get better service levels with cost savings by selecting the solution that best meets your needs. With Broadband, Network Security is Important With Broadband Internet, your company is permanently connected to the Internet, exposing your systems to potential risk of hacking and data breach. So, installing a firewall and keeping it up to date is essential for Broadband Internet deployments. If you recently upgraded to a Broadband solution...
Aug 7, 2014 | SMB Technology
According to CompTIA’s IT Industry Outlook 2014, cloud computing is even more on the rise since last year. As Generation Y (20-34 years old) infiltrates the work force and members of the Baby Boomer generation reach retirement age, there have been noticeable changes to how technology is used in the workplace. With this shift comes an inevitable increase in cloud computing: “Companies are relying on cloud computing for business processes such as storage (59%), business continuity/disaster recovery (48%), and security (44%)” (CompTIA: IT Industry Outlook 2014). The three models for cloud systems – Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – have all steadily increased year after year, especially among medium-sized businesses. All data points suggest cloud computing is a popular option for business of any size. Are you up to speed on adopting the cloud into your business? How to Leverage Cloud Computing These three main cloud solutions – Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – can leverage your IT business substantially. SaaS provides a way to deliver software and technical services that would otherwise be very costly. Most small businesses can adopt cloud computing into their company only using SaaS services. PaaS allows businesses to create custom apps, databases, and other business services all integrated into one platform. IaaS allows businesses to purchase infrastructure from providers as virtual resources. Which model best fits your business? Advantage of Cloud Computing There are multiple advantages to adopting cloud computing into your IT business, the biggest benefit being the ability to...
