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3 Myths About Cloud IT that May Hold You Back From Its Benefits

Cloud MythbustersCompanies (especially law firms) of all sizes are adopting cloud computing on a greater scale than ever. But some firms have fears that are still holding them back.

Take a look at them, they may be familiar to you:

1. The Cloud Costs More Than Our Budget will Allow:

Most cloud apps charge an annual or monthly fee. The cost varies based on the number of users. Customer service using cloud apps, no matter how many users you have, is generally excellent. What’s great is that updates happen without you even noticing. Another benefit is that you don’t experience compatibility issues as you change devices. As you grow, you need more equipment, and more employee time for maintenance. With the cloud you don’t need to worry about this and you pay more up-front for doing things the traditional way.

2. Cloud Security is a Concern – I Prefer Paper:

Cloud service providers don’t last long if they don’t focus on security. Cloud apps have been analyzed for their security measures. You know how to question people, so pick your service provider’s brain. Leading cloud service providers have security that is stronger than paper storage. And think about what you’re going to do if your office experiences a disaster such as a fire or a tornado. With the cloud, your files are stored securely in multiple geographic locations far apart from one another. It would take the most catastrophic odds to lose all your data.

3. I’ll Never Get My Data Back If I Store it in the Cloud:

You can get cloud services that store both a local file in your office and a remote file in data centers across the nation. That way, you always have a copy of your data available to you. And it’s backed up just in case you lose your copy or entire backup.

The Cloud isn’t optional anymore! With cloud IT, your costs will decline, while service quality improves. It’s advanced enough to be solidified as a viable technological solution for all businesses and law firms. Make sure you choose the right IT support team to help you manage your transition to the cloud.

Want to learn more about the Cloud?

Download Free eBook: Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth

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7 Ways Cloud Computing Can Revolutionize Your Manufacturing Company

Cloud computing for manufacturing businessesAs a manufacturer, you are under constant and intense pressure to produce with speed and accuracy. On top of that, every customer interaction counts. How do you keep up with it all, running a solid business that continues to grow in reputation?

1. Add Convenience for Your Customers with Added Services:

With the cloud, you can add services your customers can use with their smartphones. For example, your customers could check live spec designs and add in their comments or suggest changes. What customer wouldn’t like that?

2. Makes Your ERP Easier to Use:

Do you still have an outdated ERP system? A newer one that runs on the cloud not only costs less than on-premise systems, but it also provides more detailed financial and manufacturing information. The information you get also comes in real-time.

3. Run Large Simulations for Products…Without Big Investments:

In the past, you had to have a large budget available to fund the physical resources needed for testing. With the cloud, that’s no longer a problem. Plus, you only need to charge customers when they use your resources.

4. Get the Same (Or Better) Service at Half the Price:

For example, you can easily move e-mail to the cloud with Office 365. It’s cost-effective, and your employees get several GB of free storage to begin. That’s probably more than enough storage they could use in their entire career.

Risk Shifts from the Manufacturer to the Vendor:

Prior to cloud computing , you had to do much more of the maintenance for your software and network. Because much of that now runs from the cloud, the vendor takes care of the maintenance. Not only do you get lower costs, but you also get the expertise of your vendor instantly.

6. Align & Execute Your Marketing Strategies with Marketing Automation Platforms:

The cloud makes collaboration easier. With marketing automation, many key employees can easily work together on your latest marketing campaigns. The endless e-mail chains and miscommunications of the old days are now gone.

7. Free Up Time to Invest in New Products & Sell More:

Cloud IT streamlines your manufacturing company’s time and financial resources like never before. That clears more room for you to grow your company. With cuts in your IT support and computer and network maintenance costs, becoming the leader in your niche can now become a reality.

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5 Antivirus Mistakes You’re Making Right Now

antivirus and data securityOnce you get an antivirus program, you can totally forget about it, right? You don’t have to do a single thing more because the program does all the work for you…Well, yes and no. Antivirus does protect you so you don’t have to guess which links and downloads are safe, and which aren’t. But, you still have to do some work to make sure you don’t get viruses.

Take a look at some antivirus mistakes that you’re probably making right now (at least a few, anyway):

1. Not Knowing the Compatibility Requirements:

Even with today’s more powerful computers, you can still buy antivirus programs that slow them down to the point where they’re unusable! You’ll likely be able to run the antivirus or antimalware program, but it’s not worth it to have if it’s going to grind your productivity to a halt. Make sure you have a good gauge of how your antivirus impacts system performance before you install it.

2. Using Internet Explorer:

Did you know Microsoft has officially declared this much-maligned browser will no longer be available? There’s several reasons for it, and one is the poor security. Even with antivirus, visiting websites could still result in you ending up with spyware. Get rid of IE now!

3. Assuming You’re Always Safe:

That leads into this point. Antivirus doesn’t protect you from yourself. It’s like driving your car: you wear your seatbelt for protection, but you still drive on the road as safely as possible. Even if you do have antivirus installed, you still have to observe safe internet use. That means only browsing websites you know, staying off Facebook at work, and having attachments scanned before download.

4. Not Backing Up Your Data:

Even with good policies and software in place, you can still have your entire computer network blown up by a virus. For example, your own employees could purposefully sabotage your computer system. While that’s rare, it’s a possibility they could bring a file from home, click a spam e-mail, or find a website your antivirus doesn’t know yet. Antivirus is good, helpful, and necessary, but it’s not perfect!

5. Installing Too Much Security Software:

When you buy a new home computer, did you ever notice how many additional programs you get that you don’t want? Most of them are there to make you feel like you got a good deal. But, there’s a free version online that does things the same or better. And 2/3 of those programs, you don’t even need! Worst of all, they can cause serious performance problems in your network. They can also even cause functionality and usability issues.

Don’t let your work computers become like this. You need antivirus, a firewall, regular employee training, and regular data security updates. That’s it! Security doesn’t need to be glamorous – it’s actually straightforward and simple.

Learn more about our Data Security Product Suite

Did you find yourself making any of these dangerous security mistakes?
If so, time to make some changes!

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5 Signs You’re Not Ready for Disaster Recovery

Disaster RecoveryYou’ve got a great disaster recovery plan in place…so you think. You’ve spent hours testing and bulletproofing it from top to bottom. To you, it doesn’t look like there’s a thing wrong. Everything on the surface looks great, but there are things you’ve forgotten to check.

Even as you create your disaster recovery plan, your IT infrastructure changes. For many small healthcare businesses like yours, this is the sleeping giant of a problem you don’t realize until disaster strikes.
Have you addressed these disaster recovery problems?

Here are some things you might not have checked:

1. You Haven’t Defined What a Disaster Is:

It’s easy to say a disaster is a tornado, fire, flood, or any of the obvious natural disasters. However, a disaster could also be a successful hacking attempt. Or it could be a data breach by one of your own employees. Your organization needs to continually evaluate what you consider to be a disaster so you know how to respond when one happens.

2. You Haven’t Fully Defined “Critical Assets:”

What do you absolutely need on a daily basis to keep your business operating? How has that changed since you last reviewed your disaster recovery plan?

Your critical assets can include things like:

•    Buildings
•    Equipment
•    Data
•    Key employees

Or anything else you need to run on a daily basis. Make sure you evaluate this regularly.

3. You Try To Back Up Everything:

Yes…it’s important to back up your data. But for many small healthcare companies, around 40-70% of it doesn’t change and can be archived so you may not need ALL of that data backup. The remaining data changes frequently and should be replicated on a daily basis.

If you can segregate the regularly used data from the data that doesn’t change, you can cut many hours off your restore times. And you can save some much-needed capital too.

Learn More About Which Backup Option Is Best For You

4. Are All Branch Offices Included in Your Disaster Recovery Plan?:

Even before the era of bring-your-own-device, companies as a whole weren’t doing a good job of managing the data and networks of branch offices. If your company doesn’t already, you should use cloud backup that includes data from all offices, not just your main location.

5. Do You Use a Minimum Equipment Configuration?:

You don’t need to fully replicate your production environment when you design your recovery environment. All you need is a minimal configuration that gets you up and running again. That also saves you time and money when a disaster happens because you can start operating faster.

If you missed those disaster recovery signs, your healthcare company’s got some work to do – work that could save costs amounting to six figures or more. Or you can hire a managed IT services firm to do the work for you.

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Do I Really Need to Scrap SBS 2003 When It Works So Well?

SBS 2003Nobody wants to spend money on upgrading a server or moving to another solution when the one they use works so well. But with the End Of Support for SBS 2003 looming, it is, sadly, not really a choice.  I believe that this conversation on Microsoft’s TechNet sums up perfectly what many SMB’s are asking right now about moving off of SBS 2003:

Q. Hi. We run a smallish firm (network of about 16 computers plus server) with SBS 2003 and Microsoft Exchange Server. I appreciate that it is all getting long in the tooth, but as a legal firm, it does everything we want and operates perfectly. Our server is running very well, we have had zero problems with it, unlike previous servers which we had had issues with.

Our IT providers are pushing the panic button because of the cessation of support for SBS 2003 in July 2015. According to them, the world will come to an end and there are essentially hordes of evil hackers just waiting for that date to attack SBS 2003 users. That’s a slight exaggeration, but close to the mark.

I’m reluctant to move from something that runs perfectly at zero cost to something that might not at significant cost, especially if it involves the cloud. But those suggestions to the IT people (who are desperate to sell a new server even though the current one runs like a dream) meet with almost hysteria. I’ve tried searching to find out what the real risks and probabilities are, but nearly all of the fearmongering on the web is put up by hardware sellers. It might not be fearmongering, it might be completely true, but essentially there are two beneficiaries to all of this, hardware vendors and software providers, and I’d rather get a rational assessment from someone other than that.

Could anyone point in in the right direction for an assessment of the risks, and options for replacement?

The experts agree to move off of SBS 2003

There are numerous replies to this question on the forum, but they all pretty much say the same thing… It is time to plan to make the switch. Here is one that sums up the response nicely:

A. I will have to side with your IT providers. The big question you have to ask yourself, could you run your business if something were to happen? How much more would it cost you, financially and business functionality if your server were to go down?

I do completely understand about the ideal of not fixing what is not broken, to a point. If it was that old inkjet printer sitting on your desk, ok, that old CRT monitor, ok, but your server, which is mission critical, that raises doubt and it is not worth the risk. I highly doubt that the day MS drops support anything will happen, but you should plan to replace it not too long after, also not to mention, your server has probably been in production for awhile, hardware doesn’t last forever. For all of my small businesses, that I provide support for, have a budget, that I setup for them and each month they put money aside for instances like this.

Also something else to keep in mind, old hacker and malware code is starting to make a comeback, some code that is older than 10 years, much like what your SBS 2003 was built off of, prime example is heartbleed. So another thing to keep in mind, after the July 2015 date and MS does find a vulnerability, you will not got patched/updated.

If you have a good UTM (Unified Threat Management) device and a good updated AV solution, and current workstation OS’, then I say you can buy yourself some extra time, but budget to replace it.

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6 Biggest IT Needs Companies Should Outsource

IT SupportYour company, whether a law firm, manufacturing plant, or an SMB of any sort, has many IT issues that need to be addressed. But how do you decide which are the most important and whether you should outsource them?

Take a look at this list of commonly outsourced IT problems:

    1. Computer/printer repair – If you’re like most companies, you buy brand-name systems from large manufacturers. Do you really want to ship your PC to them and wait a couple weeks for the fix?  In some cases, you have to. But in most you don’t. You could have your computer or printer offline for just a couple hours instead of a couple days.  Local maintenance contracts could be a huge benefit to you.
    2. Tech Support for Software – Most likely, you have a system in place for managing your company’s finances, documents, and clients or cases. Those systems work well, but not always perfectly. Usually, you have to outsource your support for them.
    3. Data Backup & Storage – You might backup all your information on-site (big mistake!). You should have a backup on-site, and in at least one other off-site location. Or you should be on the cloud. However you choose to manage your backups, they need regular testing. You will be served best outsourcing the whole process.
    4. E-mail Storage & Service – How much e-mail does your firm or company get? How many years do you have to save your e-mails, just in case they’re needed again? Do you really want to be responsible for saving, managing, and organizing them all? What about their security? What happens if someone hacks you and steals them? A lot of work goes into safely storing e-mail..
    5. Antivirus & Data Security – With hackers constantly poking and prodding your IT infrastructure for weaknesses, this may be the biggest IT function to outsource. Hackers love to target smaller law firms and SMB’s because they know that in general, the security’s much weaker.
    6. Network Assessments – Just how ready is your computer network to support your existing user base? Network assessments give you that information and much more. You’ll also learn the current strengths and weaknesses of your security. You’ll get an intimate understanding how your network performs, and what changes need to be made to improve performance.

IT Outsourcing Can be an Adventure, but It Doesn’t Have to Be!

It’s important to have an IT support team in place that you can trust. And when you get the right one, you save lots of money on operational costs and get the ability to scale fast.

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