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Why Cloud Computing is Generating Popularity for Managed Print

Print services boosted by mobile and cloud usage

cloud computingAs every experienced observer knows, print services are in the throes of a major transformation.  Along with other factors, the fall in popularity of desktop computers, has been widely felt in the industry.  However, it is possible that the recent downturn in productivity will soon be a thing of the past for companies who are prepared to adapt.  The increasing use of mobile devices across the business sector, coupled with a trend toward bring your own devices (BYOD) in the workplace, is creating a growth opportunity for managed print services.

Many organizations are looking for ways to economize their conventional printing techniques.  The costs and maintenance associated with ink, equipment and paper are something they wish to outsource, and so, they may look to managed print services.

The most entrepreneurial firms in the print solution industry will offer a wrap-around solution.  It will not only save businesses money and time, but also be incorporated into their cloud network.  Whether it is a public or private project, cloud computing is becoming the dominant force in how small or large companies are organizing their IT infrastructure.

The high degree of utility offered by the cloud means its users also have an expectation of connectedness from every aspect of their environment.  A print solution could offer integrated software that reflects the needs and workflow patterns of each individual client.

Richard Hutton is the director of channel marketing for the Enterprise Business Division at Samsung Electronics America Incorporated.  In a recent article, he suggested there could be a shift in the provision of IT services to include a printing solution.  “As MPS generates valuable sales lead data to expand mobility services, the proliferation and widespread adoption of mobile devices pave the way for IT service providers to incorporate mobile print applications into their portfolios,” he said.

Free eBook “Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth”

Acclaimed small business and entrepreneurial author, Rhonda Abrams, provides you with a step-by-step guide to create the optimal cloud strategy for your organization.

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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6 Reasons to Outsource Your IT Support Help Desk

6 Reasons You Should Outsource Your IT Support Helpdesk

IT Support Cleveland ohHaving a professional IT Support infrastructure in place is essential for the modern business. The first point of contact for support is the IT helpdesk, yet for many businesses the cost of maintaining a full-time helpdesk team is prohibitive.  Here are the most common reasons for outsourcing your helpdesk:

    1. FOCUS ON INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITIES: By outsourcing your helpdesk to a managed service provider (MSP) you will be able to ensure, among other things, that your own IT staff are kept busy dealing with mission critical technology issues and focusing on income generation, while still ensuring users are receiving the best support available from a professional helpdesk staff.
    2. INCREASED CALL HOURS: Another advantage of outsourcing your IT helpdesk service is increased contact times.  It is still the norm for many companies to work traditional working hours, yet more and more customers wish to contact their service providers for advice outside of regular hours.  By using an outsourced helpdesk you can often provide seamless 24-hour service, with your customers able to speak to a real person no matter what time they make the call.
    3. IMPROVED RESOLUTION STATISTICS: First-time call resolution and managing key performance indicators are also much easier when you’re using an MSP, as they will be employing call-center-trained staff who know how to bring calls to a successful conclusion, but are also used to working in a target-driven call center environment.
    4. IMPROVED RESPONSE TIME: Your client or customer will also be happy by the increased performance in terms of response time.  An outsourced helpdesk will always have sufficient staffing levels, so they can access systems in real time and reduce potentially costly downtime.  When employing your own helpdesk staff, they may be busy dealing with other customers, which means a longer wait time.
    5. BETTER TRAINING: Outsourcing your IT support to a managed service provider can also deliver the benefit of better training and a higher level of expertise.  With higher staffing levels, your MSP can focus on ensuring that all their staff members are kept up to date with industry specialization and new training without any impact on service levels, meaning you can benefit from industry leading knowledge and high service levels.
    6. MANAGE YOUR COSTS MORE EFFICIENTLY: Finally, it’s easier to manage the costs of outsourcing since you’ll be paying an agreed upon fixed price, so there’s no need to hire new staff if your service levels change.  The flexibility will be built into the contract, and the savings created means you can invest that money into more profitable areas of the business.

Using an MSP allows you to maintain the highest service levels for your clients while enabling you to invest more time and money into other areas of your business.

Read our case study on how Great Lakes Computer helped ALL PRO Freight Systems increase customer service support while decreasing the time it took to solve customer problems.

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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BBB Offering Scam Alerts – Like an AntiVirus Software for your Life

BBB Launches Scam Alert Text Service

Data protectionAs a proud member of the Greater Cleveland Better Business Bureau, I was exciteed to see the announcement earlier this month about a new service for consumers and business owners in which they will deliver scam alerts to you via text message.  You can read the full article here, but here is an excerpt:

For Immediate Release – July 19, 2013 – Want to be the first to know about the latest telemarketing scam hitting our area?  Or be alerted to deceptive door-to-door sales? Or phony charity soliciting? Or “too good to be true” free offers?  Its as easy as signing up for Better Business Bureau’s new Scam Alerts delivered by text messages.

To sign up – simply text SCAM to 24587.  We will keep you informed of the latest scams and help you avoid becoming the next victim.

Scam Alerts – Antivirus and AntiMalware software for your life

Much like we need to be alerted to the bad people out there trying to take an opportunity for a quick buck at the cost of others, our computers need to be protected with their own “Scam Alerts.”  Some are obvious:  I am a diplomat in South Africa and I need you to wire me money, but I will pay you back if you give me all of your personal data.”  Others, however, aren’t so obvious…

Take, for example, the recently discovered scam being spread via Skype that is designed to steal the log in credentials for Skype users by dangling free premium upgrades.  According to MalwareBytes:

The scam starts off with a user receiving the following message from one of his or her friends:

hey go to hxxp://www.SkyPremiumSetup.com/ and activate your account, Skype is giving away free premium for life to a few thousand people. Once you have it, you can do group video calls and a ton of other cool stuff. i got to head out now but I’ll ttyl for sure!

After clicking on the link, the user is sent to the site seen below and required to enter his or her username and password to activate the free premium account.  In reality, there is no free premium upgrade and if you had actually fallen for this tactic, the bad guys would now have your Skype log in credentials. In addition, a good tip off that this is in fact a real scam is the incorrect grammar used in the title text. First of all “receive” is spelled incorrectly and Life Long should be one word.  Maybe nothing that you would notice immediately but errors in text and formatting are always a great way to determine the legitimacy of something you come across online.

It is important for every SMB owner, and any computer owner for that matter, to ensure each and every PC, tablet, and smartphone on your network is protected and up-to-date with the most current Anti-Virus and Antimalware software of your choosing.

Take advantage of Great Lakes Computer’s Free 27 Point Network Security Audit to determine if you are taking the right steps to protect your network from Scammers.

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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Managed Print Services Becoming the Norm

Managed print services gaining acceptance

Managed Print ServicesManaged print services have been around for over a decade now and they are currently reaching the point where they will become the norm for commercial enterprises.

More companies are choosing to monitor their document management and print services remotely in an attempt to control costs and maximize efficiency.  According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the uptake in managed print services is now reaching an inflection point where it will move from being an option for companies to use them, to becoming a choice between service providers.

Companies until this point had been slow on the uptake, but vendors have been responding to the inevitable decline in print services since technology became more mobile, leading inevitably to users printing less often and using electronic copies rather than hard copies.

The print vendors recognized that remotely managed print services hold many advantages that are associated with other managed services.  Such advantages are recurring revenue, better ability to scale service to the client base, and a more complete relationship with customers – meaning that the service is tailored to the individual needs rather than a rigid service plan.

The advantages to users are a sure-fire winner, although it has taken some time for the need to modernize to reach users – with most, until recently, preferring to stick to traditional purchase models that leave the company responsible for equipment upkeep.  Managed print services remove the worry of consumables and equipment failures or paper jams, so that costs can be controlled more efficiently.

Holly Muscolino, Research Director of Document Solutions at IDC, says: “The MPDS market is at an inflection point, particularly in the developed, enterprise markets.  In those markets, penetration is relatively high, and it’s increasingly difficult for vendors to differentiate their services and supporting technologies.  Hardcopy vendors must strive to develop unique services portfolios that entice enterprise customers, drive adoption, and will ultimately result in increased revenues.”

Law Firms a Huge Adopter of Managed Print Services

Law firms, with their unique printing needs, often times requiring huge amounts of print and copies daily, have been one of the biggest adopters of the managed print products available in today’s market.  To learn more about the way law firms have used Managed Print Services to gain a competitive edge, download our eBook: Technology in Today’s Law Firm.

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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Cloud Computing Data Security for your Smartphones and Tablets

Date Security on Mobile Devices:  SaaS and Cloud Computing

mobile device securitySmart phones and tablet computers have changed the way mobile computing works–and with it, they’ve raised data security issues across devices.  Small business owners need to consider mobile device data security and tablet PC security to keep their computer data safe.

Mobile Device and Tablet Data Security

Keeping your PCs, tablets, and mobile devices safe requires a lot of juggling and robust IT services. Someone has to keep machines free from spyware, viruses, and adware, protect your devices from data theft, ensure the safety of the data you’re emailing or collaborating on in the cloud, and maintain the privacy of account information, sensitive data, and company-wide email. While this is easier to do in the security of your office, where you’re only maintaining one network, you can’t realistically maintain the security of cloud computing (or of all of those networks your phones and tablets connect to) as you travel. If you rely on cloud storage to share data, access data from the road, or allow telecommuting for employees, device security is a must.

Mobile device security and tablet data security aren’t just something big firms with large overhead and plenty of IT staff need to worry about. When your employees use those smartphones in a cafe or fire up a tablet PC in a hotel, at the airport, or even at home, they’re engaging in behavior that risks exposing your small business solutions to data theft, or your customer base to identity theft.

Saas vs. Cloud Computing

Enter software as a service, or Saas. With Saas, you don’t need a large IT department staffed with security specialists, you just need a service provider capable of managing your tablet and mobile device data security. With software as a service, you can purchase the data management and data security systems you need for optimized mobile device security, tablet security, and peace of mind. Because the security solutions you need are hosted offsite, the cost is lower and you don’t need to have specialized IT personnel in-house to wrangle the technology.

Cloud computing is Saas taken to the next level, allowing you to cover more and more devices. Cloud-based systems require no maintenance on your part, because the host company performs all of the maintenance operations to keep the data running and accessible when you need it. But even with cloud computing models, you still must focus on data security.

Cloud-based systems offer varying levels of security. Knowing how much the data you’re storing in the cloud is worth to your business helps you choose the right level of security for your data. When considering a cloud computing package, find out where the data will be housed physically, what levels of data encryption are available and how the company controls for data loss, server issues, and other functionality that can impact your access to sensitive information.

Summary

These new computing models bring with them varying levels of security concerns, but all share some characteristics. With cloud computing, tablet usage, and mobile devices, you must relinquish the in-house control of your data and aggressively plan for data security. As a small business owner, you need security solutions that keep your data safe and give you peace of mind.

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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Warning: New Malware Threatening Data Security

New kid on the malware block teaches SMBs old lesson

Data securityStealing account numbers and access passwords to financial resources is almost par for the course for today’s malware, but according to Trend Micro, there really is something new under the sun: a malware program that also dedicates itself to harvesting FTP credentials.  Businesses in this nation are particularly at risk according to the antivirus firm, given Trend Micro’s blog post on the issue, which stated that: “About 70 percent of total infections are within the United States.”

Other factors also indicate that business users may be at more risk than those whose computer use is entirely personal.  This is because the mere fact of harvesting passwords for FTP programs may mean that the goal of the attack is to steal data that is stored on servers using File Transfer Protocol.  Another possible aim of the cyber attack may be to compromise entire websites that happen to be stored on servers accessed through FTP.  It is common for many SMBs to communicate with their servers via FTP, but relatively less likely that an individual computer user will be in the habit of using the popular business protocol.

The malware culprit in question is not entirely new.  Instead, it is a variant of a malware family that was first brought to light back in 2010.  This most recent variant’s operation is a case in point concerning why both business and personal computer users should be sure to keep the plug-ins in their internet browsers completely up to date.

Such plug-ins can provide data loss protection against sites that use Java to install malware on unsuspecting machines in what is known as a “drive by download.”  All an internet user has to do to become infected is to visit the website hosting the malicious program, which can also be hidden inside PDF code.  Such websites are not necessarily limited to those that look dodgy on their surface, either.  Some are disguised as legitimate business endeavors.

Even more confusing for the end user, some actually are legitimate business endeavors that have had the misfortune to be served with ads containing the malicious code; the website may not even be aware that it is engaged in distributing malware.

Computer security experts advise end users to keep their antivirus, anti-spyware, and browser plug-ins up to date.  Businesses may want to invest in a company-wide strategy so that they can be sure that all systems are in sync with current best practices for avoiding malicious software on the web.

Learn More About Data Protection

Source:

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/071513-unusual-file-infecting-malware-steals-ftp-271796.html

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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