Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) face numerous challenges when it comes to managing their IT. Limited resources (both human and money), lack of expertise, and the need to focus on core business operations often make it difficult for SMBs to understand and manage technology needs. This is where Managed Service Providers (MSPs) come in. In this blog article, we will explore the reasons why SMBs should consider partnering with MSPs to enhance their IT capabilities and drive business growth.
Cost-Effective IT Solutions:
One of the primary reasons why SMBs need MSPs is the cost-effectiveness they offer. By outsourcing their IT needs to MSPs, SMBs can avoid the high costs associated with hiring and training an in-house IT team. MSPs provide a range of services, including network monitoring, data backup and recovery, cybersecurity, and software updates, all at a predictable monthly cost. This allows SMBs to allocate their resources more efficiently and focus on their core business.
Access to Expertise and Advanced Technology:
MSPs are experts in providing IT services and have a team of highly skilled professionals with expertise in variety of technology. By partnering with MSPs, SMBs gain access to the depth of knowledge and experience from IT experts who can handle complex tasks and provide strategic guidance. Additionally, MSPs stay up-to-date with the latest technology trends and can recommend and implement solutions that can help SMBs stay competitive in the market and safe from hackers.
Proactive IT Support and Maintenance:
MSPs offer proactive IT support and maintenance, which is crucial for SMBs. They monitor networks, identify potential issues, and take preventive measures to avoid downtime and disruptions. MSPs also provide regular software updates, security patches, and system maintenance, ensuring that SMBs’ IT remains secure and up-to-date. This proactive approach helps SMBs minimize the risk of costly IT failures and ensures smooth business operations.
Enhanced Data Security:
Data breaches and cyberattacks pose a significant threat to SMBs. MSPs play a vital role in safeguarding SMBs’ sensitive data and protecting them from potential security breaches. They implement robust cybersecurity measures, such as firewalls, antivirus software, and encryption, to ensure data confidentiality and integrity. MSPs can also conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments to identify and address any potential weaknesses in the IT infrastructure.
Scalability and Flexibility:
As SMBs grow, their IT needs evolve. MSPs offer scalable solutions that can adapt to changing business requirements. Whether it’s adding new users, expanding storage capacity, or integrating new software, MSPs can quickly and efficiently accommodate these changes. This scalability and flexibility allow SMBs to focus on their growth without worrying about the limitations of their IT infrastructure.
If your company could use the cost-effective solutions, access to expertise, proactive support, enhanced data security, and scalability that come from using a MSP, then contact us for assistance.
As you know, we take cybersecurity and the protection of your accounts and data very seriously. That’s why we are always striving to provide you with tools and resources to help keep you and your employees safe from cybercrime.
The most common threat we are seeing is phishing messages delivering malware or stealing credentials. Even though your company might be protected with spam filtering, there are instances where these malicious messages could still appear in your employee’s inboxes. And it’s important we both arm them with as much education and resources as possible to understand and identify these phishes.
We have a new tool that we’d love to demonstrate for your or talk more about. It’s called Catch Phish, and it’s an email analysis and training tool. It connects right to your employee’s Outlook as a clickable application on every message. When clicked, the tool quickly, but safely, scans the important details of the message to find potential threats such as suspicious links or attachments, sender details, or message details such as threatening language or deactivation scares.
This tool is included in our cybersecurity training packages and can help provide the much needed cybersecurity education to all levels of staff.
Do you have 30 minutes to talk about reducing your risks with Catch Phish and our other cybersecurity awareness training tools, then contact us for assistance.
A bill in Congress has been brewing since October 2020 and finally passed in December 2020. Representative David Scott introduced H.R.8620 which is stated to:
“To permit payments for certain business software or cloud computing services as allowable uses of a loan made under the Paycheck Protection Program of the Small Business Administration.”
What PPP can do for you
This bill was an amendment to the Small Business Act that changes the definition of how PPP loan moneys can be used. The changes are as follows:
“the term ‘covered operations expenditure’ means a payment for any business software or cloud computing service that facilitates business operations, product or service delivery, the processing, payment, or tracking of payroll expenses, human resources, sales and billing functions, or accounting or tracking of supplies, inventory, records and expenses”
So what does this mean for your business? That you can apply for the PPP funds then use them to upgrade your out-of-date software that runs your company or use the funds to move your business into the cloud. There has never been a better time or excuse to discuss the possibilities of moving your business to the cloud and implementing those upgrades that have waited so long. By doing so you will position your company better for the Work From Home trend and be prepared for business expansion once the pandemic is over.
Give your business freedom from hardware constraints with the agility and functionality of cloud computing.
Cloud requires no upfront costs, which makes it an operating expense rather than a capital expense. Your business will benefit from predictable monthly payments that cover software licenses, updates, support and daily backups. Cloud technologies provide greater flexibility as your business only pays for what it uses and can easily scale up and down to meet demand.
Moving to the cloud enables your business to no longer pay to power on-premises servers or to maintain the environment. This significantly reduces energy bills.
Finally, for those concerned with security, cloud data centers employ security measures far beyond what most SMBs can afford. Your company data is much safer in the cloud than on a server in their office.
Move your business to the cloud ahead of Office 2010 and Windows 7 End of Support!
If your company is looking to make the move to cloud, then contact us for assistance.
When it comes to security threats, it’s not “if” disaster will strike, it’s “when.” So, how will your organization respond? Do you have the proper infrastructure in place to thwart a potential data disaster and if disaster does strike, is your organization poised to recover quickly?
While 100% prevention of a data disaster is impossible, there are several ways you can position your organization to get your systems back up and running with as little disruptions to day-to-day operations as possible:
File Level Backup:
A good file sync and share tool is more than just a way for your team to collaborate on the go, it’s a vital component to your organization’s security strategy. With file level backup, you can ensure that even in the event of a site wide disaster, your team can maintain anytime access to their critical files.
Backup and Disaster Recovery:
Your last line of defense in a site wide disaster, backup and disaster recovery solutions allow you to recover at the systems level. An absolutely necessary piece of your organizational infrastructure, backup and disaster recovery delivers peace of mind that your systems will always be recoverable, even when disaster strikes.
Cloud-to-Cloud Backup:
Cloud-to-cloud backup fills in the gaps left by some of the most commonly used SaaS applications, such as Office 365. Many of these cloud applications fall short in the way of cloud-retention and a good cloud-to-cloud backup solution can help you protect critical business data while providing enhanced features to maximize your user experience and more importantly, security.
We have a bench of Tier 3 engineers ready that have been trained in industry best practices, compliance and are comfortable supporting your network and computers.
Put an End to Stressful Computer Support
By utilizing one of our industry trained Helpdesk Specialists, you can free your employees from wasting time on computer support tasks.
Our Helpdesk Specialists are capable – but not limited to – the following tasks:
Desktop operating system maintenance, troubleshooting, and diagnosis
Desktop connectivity troubleshooting
Network systems maintenance, troubleshooting, and diagnosis
Network connectivity troubleshooting
Server operating system maintenance, troubleshooting, and diagnosis
Server connectivity troubleshooting
Application installation and support
Client VPN installation and support
Microsoft Office Suite & Google G-Suite support
Security & access management
Anti-malware administration and resolution
Learn more about the benefits of our Dedicated Remote Support Solutions here.
As companies increasingly move data into cloud-based applications, many administrators think traditional best practices such as data backup are outdated. After all, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application is always available, accessible from anywhere, and highly redundant, so why is backup necessary?
1 in 3 companies report losing data stored in cloud-based applications. That means the permanent deletion of potentially hundreds of work hours.
The truth is that even data in cloud-based applications are vulnerable to:
Malware damage or ransomware attacks
Accidental end-user deletion
Malicious end-user activity
Operational errors such as accidental data overwrites
Lost data due to canceled user account subscriptions
Misconfigured application workflows
Datto SaaS Protection won’t let your critical data slip through the cracks. Engineered to be the leading, one stop shop for cloud-to-cloud SaaS application backup, SaaS Protection gives you consistently reliable granular backups, quick and easy restores and exports, secured data for compliance and regulatory needs, and world-class 24/7/365 support.
SaaS Protection Supports the Following Applications:
G-Suite – Protect emails, documents, calendars, sites, and contacts in Google’s G Suite.
There’s no such thing as too safe. Datto SaaS Protection goes above and beyond industry standards to make sure G-Suite data is secure, easily recoverable, and protected:
Automatic 3X daily backups of Google Mail, Drive, Calendar, Contacts, and Sites data
SOC2 Type II audited
Supports HIPAA compliance needs
Data encryption both in transit and at rest in the Datto Cloud
Advanced internal controls
Data controls and monitoring, including audit logs, uptime and availability SLAs, and export capabilities
Regular vulnerability management and testing
SaaS Protection saves you and your team time and stress with search filters that quickly locate backed up files and folders.. even if users can’t remember what they called them.
Easily track deleted items
Locate and browse any previous versions of documents
Lighten the help desk load: SaaS Protection lets users access their own backups
Office 365 – Protect Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Contacts, and Calendars in Office 365.
There’s no such thing as too safe. Datto SaaS Protection goes above and beyond industry standards to make sure Office 365 data is secure, easily recoverable, and protected.
Microsoft Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Calendar and Contacts are automatically backed up 3X a day
SOC 2 Type II audited
Supports HIPAA compliance needs
Data encryption both at rest and in transit
Data controls and monitoring tools, including audit logs, uptime and availability SLAs, and export capabilities
SaaS Protection saves your team time and stress with robust search filters that make it easy to quickly locate backed up files and folders.
Manage backups, view restores, and monitor activity across all of your customers from an easy-to-use dashboard
Zero in on emails, contacts, individual files and entire folders with our search function
Restore files directly to a user’s account or download them directly
If your company is G-Suite or Office 365 and want a complete disaster recovery solution, then contact us for assistance.
Recently had trouble getting a Xerox VersaLink C7025 multifunction printer to Scan to Email correctly and found a couple solutions to the problem that I wanted to share. It all started when I configured the SMTP settings for the scanner to use G-Suite to send emails using the following article – “Send email from a printer, scanner, or app” but got the error 017-714 report from the printer. Did some searching online and found the following answer:
Using Google Insecure SMTP Server
As per the same article, the multifunction will work by using the following settings:
Device Email: clients scanner email address
SMTP Server: aspmx.l.google.com
Outgoing Port: 25
Connection Security: None
SMTP AUTH: None
This is great if the client wants the scans emailed only to people in their own domain. This will not allow sending to anyone outside their domain, which was not what this client wanted, so I contacted Xerox support and worked my way up to Level to support who pointed me to the following more secure answer:
Using Google Secure SMTP Server
The first thing to do is to make sure that Less Secure Apps setting is allowed for the Device Email account. This can be checked at – https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps but you might find that it has to be changed in the G-Suite Admin Console (disabled by default on all accounts). Once logged into https://admin.google.com, click on Security then on Basic. Choose the option to allow each user to chose their own setting then go back to the less secure app setting page and change to allow for only that account. Now the multifunction can be configured as follows:
If your company has software that needs to be automatically updated or would like to sign-up for remote monitoring and maintenance, then contact us for assistance.
Had a small client recently that wanted to move from standard hosted email service (via WHM / cPanel based server) to Google Apps. In doing the Google Apps migration I found that they had a mix of POP3 and IMAP configured throughout the organization, so using the G Suite Migration for Microsoft® Exchange like I would for larger migrations that are based in IMAP only was out of the question. I found the Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook® which was better suited for doing the job in this small mixed environment.
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. - 2 Corinthians 9:8-10
