Great Lakes Computer Corporation
Managed Service Provider
At Great Lakes Computer Corporation, we want our customers to feel like they are getting the most out of their computers, printers, servers, and other office technology. In that spirit, we created this quick guide for new Windows 10 users, to help readers understand all the new platform offers. We also provide some quick tech tips to customize it for the best possible experience.
You’ve thought about the benefits of IT outsourcing and believe that it could be an excellent way to save money and help your business run smoothly. Great! However, did you realize that not every MSP (managed service provider) is alike? We’ve put together five must-have features of a managed provider to help you determine if the company you are considering will meet your needs.
While these are must-have features, there is more to choosing an MSP than this. You want a company that meets your needs AND exceeds your expectations. If you are looking for managed IT service in or around Cleveland, Ohio, reach out to us at Great Lakes Computer today. We would love to show you what makes us unique.
News Release
September 27, 2016
TITAN DATA SERVICES AND GREAT LAKES COMPUTER CORPORATION ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO DELIVER BEST-IN-CLASS IT SERVICES
Firms Look to Deliver Unmatched, Comprehensive Managed, Backup, and Restore Services to Ohio Clients
Cleveland, OH – Today Titan Data Services and Great Lakes Computer Corporation announced a strategic partnership. The arrangement capitalizes on each organization’s strengths to provide Ohio businesses with the best available IT services, from inception through unrelenting and unmatched business continuity services.
Founded in 1981, Great Lakes Computer Corporation’s comprehensive IT managed services include computer maintenance, tech support, and IT service solutions. Learn more at www.greatlakescomputer.com.
“As a one-stop-shop for our clients’ IT solutions, Great Lakes Computer is excited about our new partnership with Titan Data Services,” said Robert Martin, president of Great Lakes. “We’re thrilled to be able to provide the same level expertise to our IT services customers through Titan’s Asigra data backup and disaster recovery services.”
Titan Data Services has been providing data backup and recovery services since 2001 with unrivaled reliability. Titan is an experienced provider of the Asigra Agentless Backup & Recovery Platform that Great Lakes Computer has been a Managed Service Provider of for some time. Titan recently opened its second office in Cleveland, Ohio.
“With our recent expansion into Ohio, Titan was presented with the opportunity to partner with numerous IT managed services firms,” explained Titan’s President Dennis Tallerico. “We sought a best-of-breed firm to complement our unmatched data recovery services. There’s no better source in Ohio for businesses in need of computer network support, hardware maintenance and repair than Great Lakes.”
Visit Great Lakes Computer Corporation online at www.greatlakescomputer.com and Titan Data Services at www.titandataservices.com
Learn more about the features and benefits of the Asigra Agentless Backup and Recovery platform by clicking below.
Printing can be costly. There have been theories that printer manufacturers don’t utilize the full ink tank, and cause you to replace your ink prematurely. From this, stemmed a new business, ink cartridge production and refilling. People willing to risk using non-branded ink cartridges have been doing so for years, much to the printer companies chagrin. HP has released a new firmware update that will put that practice to an end for HP owners. Here’s more to the story from the BBC:
HP said that during its last firmware update, settings had been changed so HP printers would communicate with only HP-chipped cartridges.
It also said some devices already had the functionality built-in.
HP said such updates were rolled out “periodically” but did not comment on the timing of the last installment.
“The purpose of this update is to protect HP’s innovations and intellectual property,” it said in a statement.
It has angered some of its customers as HP branded cartridges are notably more expensive than unofficial brands.
The HP OfficeJet, OfficeJet Pro and OfficeJet Pro X printers are affected.
Chipped cartridges filled with alternative ink would still work, HP told the BBC. It said: “These printers will continue to work with refilled or remanufactured cartridges with an original HP security chip. Other cartridges may not function. In many cases, this functionality was installed in the HP printer and in some cases it has been implemented as part of an update to the printer’s firmware,” it added.
Third-party cartridge makers are already working on new technology to circumvent this hiccup. As a Managed Print Provider and printing maintenance experts, Great Lakes Computer can help you with all your supply ordering and printer maintenance so you won’t have to deal with issues like this.
The amount of digital data that small and medium-sized businesses must process and store continues to increase exponentially, and the need for proper backup and recovery procedures is more pronounced than ever. In order to avoid expensive downtime and ruinous data loss in the event of an emergency, take some time to review your data backup procedures and ensure that they aren’t a weak link in your company.
Have a formalized, written plan in place
It isn’t enough to talk about data backup best practices in a meeting and assume that everyone will follow the guidelines from then on. It’s imperative that you have codified procedures in place to deal with your company’s specific data security needs, as holding your team accountable for implementing best practices leads to safer data. Make sure the individuals responsible for backup procedures keep detailed logs which are routinely checked by others.
Prioritize your vulnerable data accordingly
The first step in any disaster recovery backup plan should be understanding of exactly what types of data you are going to be storing in your backups and prioritizing them. It’s crucial to have a detailed knowledge of the various categories of sensitive data that your organization collects, what is being done to keep it secure, and which employees have access to view and modify the data.
Stick to your schedules
Some business leaders may be tempted to think that data backup schedules are arbitrary, and that postponing a planned backup for a mission critical business need serves the greater good of the company. In fact, the data security effort is integral to the future of the organization, and backup schedules should be treated as non-negotiable duties.
Test your backups regularly
Once you’ve decided on a routine schedule for your data backups, it’s important to remember that they are only as good as your testing apparatus. You need to know both that the correct information is being saved during your backup procedures, and that you will be able to successfully execute a recovery when necessary. Backup data stored on servers must be examined frequently to ensure its efficacy and help you prepare for the worst.
Craft procedures for physical media
Although it is becoming less common, many businesses still have to receive or transmit sensitive customer data via physical media. Once this information has been digitally backed up and stored you must have protocols in place for dealing with the physical copies, whether by destruction or proper storage.
Store your backup data at a secondary location
It’s generally wise to store your data backups on offsite servers. In the event of a catastrophe at your main office, you may be able to restore some core functionality by accessing data backups through mobile devices.
Choose the right partner for your data recovery needs
Disaster recovery preparations are a serious responsibility, but you don’t have to undertake them alone. Great Lakes Computer offers comprehensive agentless backup and recovery plans, so that you can rest easy knowing that your critical data is always as protected as possible.
‘Managed Services’ as a term is often confused with the much aligned term ‘outsourcing’. We’re not talking about shifting your operations overseas just to cut costs or firing your trained, in-house staff for cheap labor. We’re talking about hiring a specialist to help manage the many moving pieces of your IT infrastructure so you can stay focused on the big picture of running your business.
There’s a growing trend in businesses of all sizes to relocate some of their internally run business operations. What’s causing the big push for people to give up control of their more operational functions? Here are a few factors driving the shift.
Time Spent Wisely, Not Wastefully.
Business owners fear giving up control of their operations because no one can run their business like they can, right? But smart decision makers know when they are wasting time, not investing it. You may be pretty handy when it comes to printer problems and computer glitches, but what activities are you not getting to while you’re spending time fixing your hardware malfunctions? Managed Print and Managed Service Providers can monitor your systems remotely for performance issues, keep them running longer through regular maintenance, order supplies, and respond to help desk calls so you don’t have to. As a business owner, freeing up your time to focus on strategic decision-making is a good thing.
If you have an in-house IT staff, allowing some of the functions they are responsible for to be moved off-site can free them up to make your systems and networking more efficient. It allows them to be more proactive when it comes to growth and expansion instead of reactive.
From an article quoting Carolyn April, Senior Director, Industry Analysis, at CompTIA on CIO.com, “It elevates the IT staff and brings them out of the shadows within the organization. It allows them to focus on a custom app dev project or cloud initiative — something highly strategic.”
“That also highlights that the reasons that organizations turn to MSPs have begun to change. In the past, cost savings were seen as the primary benefit of MSPs. Now cost benefits are considered table stakes and customers are looking for additional benefits like generating revenue and helping the company become more efficient. Even security has evolved from being considered a roadblock to using MSPs to a reason for doing so. Companies have shifted their views over security as it has become clear that security problems are often the result of human error by internal staff.”
Security Concerns Are Growing
Every day there are more reports of new security breaches on networks both small and enterprise-sized. Cyber crime is not going to slow down as our interconnected world keeps expanding. Ransomware, Wi-Fi Attacks, constantly evolving malware, internal security breaches are becoming commonplace problems. Monitoring, getting ahead of, and responding to these constantly evolving threats is a full-time job, maybe even several full-time jobs. MSPs are specialists in security. They stay up-to-date on all the threats to your network, and they keep your security systems updated too.
Increased Adoption and Understanding
Monkey see, monkey do. As more businesses realize the potential gains they get from handing over the reigns on some of their IT functions, their counterparts and competitors do the same.
Using Managed Services isn’t about giving up control of your business. It’s about leveraging your time to take control of your business and focus on growing it in a strategic way. When you’re ready to consider Managed Services, contact the experienced providers at Great Lakes Computer.
We Manage, Protect, Secure and Maintain Your IT Assets So You Can Build Your Future
