Good relationships are essential to your business success. Connections with customers, clients, vendors, suppliers, and service providers impact your bottom line. Here’s how to develop a strong relationship with your Managed Service Provider (MSP).

• Improve efficiency and flexibility
• Enhance security and compliance
• Take a proactive approach to system maintenance
• Reduce costs and enjoy predictable pricing
• Gain access to new technologies

Along with overseeing smooth IT operations, the MSP’s experts can advise and consult. The following strategies can help you build a good relationship with your MSP.

Open the Lines of Communication

Transparency in the relationship can make a big difference. With a deeper knowledge of your needs, the MSP can better plan your technology solutions. Communicate goals and the direction you want to take your business. This lets the MSP collaborate to enhance your IT capabilities.

A service provider frees up internal IT staff for strategic planning, special projects. If those initiatives mean are going to affect your systems now or in the future, let the MSP know in advance. Being aware of small changes can help them prevent a much bigger problem down the road. After all, the MSP team offers deep understanding of your technology and security. Getting their input can help you see a bigger return on investment from any new IT plans.

Invest the Time Upfront

As with any relationship that will stand up long-term, you’ll need to invest some time upfront. Taking a “pay and be done with it” approach will reduce the relationship’s value.

You don’t want a “one size fits all” IT solution from your MSP. To solve IT problems with a tailored solution, the MSP needs to understand your needs. They need to survey and access existing technology and understand your IT strategy.

This can seem counterintuitive. Why am I spending more time now talking about IT when the goal is to think about it less? Because this “getting to know you” phase is critical to a successful setup. Your MSP wants to provide a superior service. To leverage available tech, they need to know how to setup a solution that satisfies your needs. The good news is that once it’s up and running, your time spent managing and monitoring IT is dramatically reduced.

Establish Roles and Responsibilities

Knowing what to expect of the relationship will help too. You’ll want a clearly defined Service Level Agreement. In setting that up, remember any relationship is better when you know and play to strengths. In establishing the MSP partnership parameters, honestly assess in-house IT strengths and weaknesses. Craft an agreement that lets your people do what they do best, and gets the MSP team to fill in the gaps. This lets everyone contribute something of value, which is always a good thing.

Review the Relationship

No, you don’t need to go to couples counseling together. Still, it will help your relationship with the MSP if you check-in regularly. Someone at your business should have scheduled updates with the MSP account manager. This is an opportunity for you both to explore what’s working and what’s not and discuss future plans.

Relationships grow and evolve. Laying the groundwork from the outset for a good relationship with your MSP. You’ll be glad you did. The better the relationship, the bigger the benefits to your bottom line.

Looking for a new MSP relationship to support your IT needs? Give us a call on 855 2169.

A staggering 269 billion emails are sent every day. Your business is receiving only a small fraction of those emails. Yet your staff likely feel as if at least 269 of those are coming their way daily. In fact, the typical employee in 2018 received 90 emails, and sent out 40.

Email is a powerful tool. But its help with doing business ever faster creates added business pressure. Consider these five strategies for better email management.

1. Don’t start your day with email. Many people do. It’s how they set up for the day. However, beginning the day with a cup of coffee and clicking through your inbox, can backfire. Many of those emails become items on your to-do list. You put off important tasks from your day responding to other people’s requests. Plan your day around your business needs first. Even knock off some of the more important tasks, before diving into that inbox!
2. Think twice about checking email constantly. It’s tempting to open emails as soon as they arrive. But, you only want to tackle your inbox when you have the time to take action. If you open an email planning to get back to it later, you’ll likely forget. When you have to revisit an email to remind yourself what it’s about, you’re doubling the time you spend on that message. Avoid interrupting your momentum by turning off email alert notifications and phone badges. Instead, set regular times to read and respond to accumulated emails.
3. Write clear, concise emails. Avoid contributing to a colleague’s inbox chaos. Provide as much relevant information as possible. Now, that doesn’t mean writing a War and Peace-length email. Focus your message for your audience, anticipate questions, and answer in that email. Starting the message with an informative subject line can make a big difference too.
4. Save time with reusable messages. You often end up answering the same questions over and again. Create template emails that you can have at the ready to provide relevant details. Depending on your email software, this capability may be built in or you may need to add a plug-in.
5. Use filters and folders to sort email. Learn how to use automatically filter your messages into the appropriate folders. For example, if the email is from accounting@yourbusiness.com then send it to your “Accounting” folder. This can save hundreds of hours a year. The better your folder system, the less time you’ll spend looking for specific emails the you need them. In Outlook, you can also set up a filter to change the color of email for different senders. Your boss could be red, and you’d know to handle that one first. Also save time by setting up strong filters for junk and spam. Unsubscribe from mailing lists that you don’t need any longer. Cleaning out the clutter can make your inbox much less overwhelming.

Email is an essential tool in business today. Don’t let it become a drain on your energy and attention. Make the most of the time you spend in your inbox with smart strategies for email management.

Need help selecting the right email or setting up useful mailbox management tools? Give us a call on 855 2169.

Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are not stuff of legend like minotaur’s and unicorns. Yet there are many common myths around managed services. These can cloud understanding of a MSP’s true value. Consider the facts to decide whether partnering with a third-party IT vendor is right for you.

Myth #1: MSPs don’t understand our business.

Not every MSP will understand your business, that’s correct. But not every MSP is the same. The right MSP examines your existing infrastructure and workflows. They’ll also meet with your people to understand their needs.

Hiring a MSP adds IT experts who can make specific technology recommendations. Meanwhile, your in-house IT team can focus on driving growth.

Myth #2: Outsourcing to a MSP is too costly.

Take a look at your IT budget today. Internal IT costs are typically high and often unpredictable. Managed services help you stay on top of your IT costs. Your business pays a simple, manageable monthly or quarterly fee. This makes IT operating expenses easier to budget.

MSPs also provide long-term cost savings by:

• Reducing applications downtime
• Cutting costs of IT infrastructure
• Improving IT team productivity
• Implementing greater security to avoid costly cyber attacks

Myth #3: Only enterprise-sized businesses can use MSPs.

One common misconception is that only big corporations hire outsourced managed service professionals. In fact, small- to medium-sized businesses can benefit more from working with a MSP. After all, large businesses tend to have a dedicated IT to secure data and maintain its systems. Smaller companies have more difficulty competing for IT talent.

Outsourcing gives any business access to skilled IT specialists. They are specialists in securing data, managing networks, and user access. You get top talent and best practices, without having to add employees to your roster.

“Recent market studies show that, when properly executed, managed services for IT can reduce in-house IT costs by upwards of 40 percent while simultaneously facilitating a 50 to 60 percent increase in IT efficiencies.” – Cisco

Myth #4: You lose control of your business.

Only if you hand it over to the MSP or don’t effectively manage your partnership with your provider. You should hire an MSP with an understanding of what level of control you want to retain. Lay out the relationship in a Service Level Agreement. This document should outline expectations, roles and responsibilities, and scope of services.

Before hiring a MSP, look at client testimonials. Have others found the MSP works with businesses to only do what needs done? Ask prospective MSPs how they will keep you up-to-date about the work they do. Also, identify someone on your team to actively manage that MSP relationship.

Myth #5: You only use an MSP for security backup.

Sure, backup and disaster recovery, are the primary service outsourced to MSPs. But that is not the only reason businesses turn to managed services. Other common managed services include archiving, networking, application management, and support services.

The MSP does the work your IT team finds tedious and your general employees care little about (but rely upon). Outsource monitoring and maintaining backend technology and routine, recurring tasks. You gain high quality, consistent IT support. And you improve the morale of your overworked, overextended IT team along the way.

Business today relies on its technology to be successful. Big or small, your business can benefit. Free up internal IT teams to focus on more value-adding initiatives. Take advantage of a MSP’s expert help and powerful new technology.

Ready to outsource IT? Give us a call on 855 2169.

External hard drives free up storage, offer portability, and provide a lifeline in case of computer disaster. It pays to take good care of these compact, convenient devices. Here are some helpful strategies.

Don’t knock the drive

Depending on the type of drive you have, impact could damage it. The hard drive’s mechanical drives work a little like a record player. Envision a spinning platter and a needle reading it. Note, you don’t have to worry about this with a Solid State Drive (SSD) as there are no moving parts.

Don’t pull

You can damage the drive port with a hard or sideways yank on its USB plug. Remove the device cable with a gentle pull. It’s best to unplug the drive cable when it’s not in use. Then, when you are reconnecting the external drive, inspect the connector before plugging the cable back in. Look for any damage, debris, or corrosion to help maximize the device’s lifespan.

Don’t skip steps

You may be in a hurry, but always take the time to remove the hard drive from your desktop before physically unplugging it. On Windows, you’ll usually right click on the drive and press Eject. For Macs, you can drag the drive icon to the recycle bin (which changes to an eject button). Never unplug the drive while moving data to or from the hard drive unless you want to risk data corruption.

Don’t suffocate the drive

Ever put your hand on the hard drive after prolonged use? It’s hot. Don’t immediately store it away in a bag or tight space. Give it some time to cool off first. When it’s out, and in use, keep the drive’s vents clear of other objects so that it has some airflow. Set it on a flat, level surface. Avoid placing it on paper, towels, or other cloth items that could add to its heat levels.

Don’t take the drive swimming

OK, you’re probably not going to do that. Yet it’s our way of reminding you that condensation is an enemy to your hard drive. Hard drive failures can be caused by environmental factors such as temperature and air quality too.

Don’t expect immortality or invincibility.

A hard drive isn’t going to last forever. They aren’t built for that. They can also get lost or stolen. Don’t let one external hard drive be the only place you are backing up your data. Have a backup on your computer, on the drive, and a copy in the cloud. Then, you’ll always be ready to move on to a new drive that you will love with the same care and consideration outlined above.

If you need help deciding on the best hard drive for your needs, give us a call on 855 2169.

Businesses are no longer confusing “the cloud” with those puffy white things in the sky. For many, the cloud is a backbone business tool. Yet, some worry about storing their data on the Internet using cloud technologies. Consider these approaches to boost business confidence in cloud data security.

#1 Encrypt Business Data

The cloud is a lucrative potential target for cybercriminals. Many enterprises have turned to this technology. In North America nearly 60% of enterprises now rely on public cloud platforms. That’s a fivefold increase over five years, according to Forresters’ Cloud Computing 2019 Predictions.

Some cloud service providers will promise to encrypt your data in transmission. Take this precaution further by encrypting data before it’s sent to the cloud. Encrypting data turns it into another form of code. Only the person with the correct password can decrypt it. If you use a modern encryption standard, it will be extremely challenging for a hacker to break the code.

Plus, encrypting on your end first ensures the cloud storage provider only stores encrypted data. So, if their storage gets hacked, or one of their employees goes rogue, they aren’t able to read your business data. That is unless they have the decryption password. Make sure the password is strong. Don’t be one of those people still using “password” or “123456789”!

#2 Have a Backup

Many businesses store data on the cloud as a precaution to have redundancy. Yet, it’s a good idea to have another backup copy offsite too. Just in case.

In some cases, businesses have migrated almost entirely to the cloud. All their software and files live on the cloud and they have no other copy. Don’t let this happen to you. We recommend the 3-2-1 backup strategy. This means, even for cloud-reliant businesses, having 3 copies of your data. One would be on the cloud. The other two (2) would be on different devices (e.g. on your local computer and on a backup drive).

#3 Know your Responsibilities

The cloud is a shared technology model. Partner with a cloud service provider with stringent security. At the same time, don’t count on the cloud provider to do everything. Clearly identify security roles and responsibilities. The Cloud Security Alliance reminds us that this can depend on the cloud model you’re using:

• Software as a Service – The provider is largely responsible for security. After all, the user can only access the applications.
• Platform as a Service – The cloud partner secures the platform. Your business must configure its own security for anything implemented on the platform. This includes securing the database, managing account access, and authentication methods.
• Infrastructure as a Service – You’re responsible for everything built on the provider’s infrastructure. They will likely monitor their perimeter for attacks, but the rest is your job.

Cloud technology offers several advantages:

• Enables IT to scale without investing in equipment, software, employee training, or taking up valuable office footprint
• Offers peace of mind that data will always be available regardless of conditions at a particular business location
• Provides up-to-date technology users can access from any device, anywhere, anytime – as long as they have an Internet connection

The cloud revolution has come. When you join the ranks of those migrating data to the cloud, do so with these safety suggestions in mind.

Need help securing your data? Whether you’re backing up locally or on the cloud, give us a call on 855 2169.

Death is a morbid topic most of us try to avoid. Making a will and saying we prefer cremation is the extent of our advance planning. Yet, you may want to also think about what’s going to happen to your data.

Consider your digital footprint. You have photos, files, and emails on your computer and your phone. You’re also documenting your life on social media, and sharing on more than one channel.

Your wearable technology (say an Apple Watch or a Fitbit) may be recording information too. If you have a virtual assistant in your home, it’s recording your search history and saving that data on the cloud.

Yet many of us never think “what will happen to my data after I die?” Do you want it deleted? Are there digital assets you want to share? Perhaps there is tangible value attached to some of your digital assets. At the very least, some photos and videos that may have sentimental value for those who survive you. So, let’s explore advance planning you can do to protect your digital legacy.

Personal Files on Computer or Phone

Your personal devices are password protected. While necessary, this makes it more difficult for your survivors.

Now, they could physically pull the computer or phone apart if needed. But, it’s easier to have a copy of your passwords in a secure place for someone to access in the event of your death. Another option is to use a password manager. You can designate someone as your backup contact. They will be able to gain access to your passwords should you die.

Digital Media Collections

Often, when you click the “Buy” button, you’re not really purchasing that movie or music forever. Your contract with iTunes, for instance, was only for your lifetime. Your rights expire at your death.

Cloud Accounts

Consider the personal and private data you have in the cloud, such as Google or Microsoft’s Outlook. This might include calendars, emails, GPS, documents and financial information.

Google’s Inactive Account Manager lets you make plans for your account. You decide:

• When Google should consider your account inactive
• What it should do with your data afterwards
• Whether to share account access with someone (providing email and phone number)
• When or if your account should be deleted.

Microsoft won’t provide your passwords after death. However, via their Next of Kin process someone could be sent a DVD of the data in your outlook.com account.

Other cloud providers ask for proof of death and of legal right to access. In Dropbox’s case for instance, your survivors will need a court order. Even with all this, there’s no guarantee your personal data is completely removed from the cloud. It may exist in other datasets in system backups.

Social Media Accounts

Social media companies do not provide login credentials. Many require proof of identity and a death certificate to deactivate the account. Facebook and Instagram will “memorialize” your accounts. The public can’t see, but Friends or Followers can still view it and post memories. You can assign a legacy contact to look after the account or have it deleted.

You don’t want someone using your social account to send out spam or inappropriate photos. For instance, a sexy spambot took over a New York Times media columnist’s Twitter after his 2015 death.

Plan ahead to protect your privacy and provide access where necessary. Think of the pain and heartache you can save your survivors by managing your digital legacy now.

Want help preserving your data legacy? We can help. Call us on 855 2169.

Unlike quick-fix IT relationships, a managed service provider isn’t there just to solve short-term problems and leave. Your managed service provider is your IT’s mountain Sherpa, there to guide your business through the ever-changing technology landscape.

Like a mountain guide, your managed service provider gives you a detailed route that will help your business climb to new heights. The secret to a great business is avoiding the pitfalls, dead-ends, and traps inherent in bad IT.

Removing IT Worries

Technology in business presents both new solutions and new problems too. We are more efficient and more productive today than we’ve ever been before. On the other hand, we are also more vulnerable and more exposed to malware and hackers than in previous years too.

Major hacks of large firms are in the news almost daily, they affect millions of customers worldwide, and even large firms seem to struggle with the fallout incurred after a major breach. Our number one priority is ensuring that the customers, suppliers, and business partners of our businesses can rest at ease.

We remove your IT worries, secure your data, and keep your systems safe so you can focus solely on your business. Our methods let you return to the passion which makes your business great while sleeping soundly at night knowing your systems are in good hands.

Improve Stability

Slow computers and bad networks can be some of the most frustrating daily nuisances around. As a workplace obstacle it annoys employees, saps morale, and spoils even the best working environment.

The cause of these network niggles can be as varied as the networks themselves. In some cases, the router is overloaded, a switch may be poorly configured, or a device is misbehaving and spoiling the network. Poor IT reduces your effectiveness and efficiency in a number of ways. There is a tangible loss that comes from under-performing systems, often more than can be measured in slow downloads and long uploads.

Simple diagnostics and a little troubleshooting can get to the heart of the problem fast. For little cost and a short amount of time, longstanding IT issues holding up your business can be eliminated for good.

Reducing Costs

Every business and its IT needs are unique and challenging in different ways. We look closely at what your business requires and tailor our services to eliminate inefficiencies, stamp out problems, and ramp up your potential.

Whether you are paying too much for your internet plan, wasting data on unnecessary services, or not getting the most from expensive packages, we can give you the knowledge and control to get back on track.

Many of our businesses benefit from analysis which shows the rewards cloud services can bring in day-to-day work. For a huge number of companies, this has led to significant cost savings almost overnight. Eliminating power-hungry servers, reducing equipment maintenance, and lowering your data needs can add up to big improvements.

Maintaining a Watchful Eye

By learning your systems, monitoring hardware activity, and looking after your IT on an ongoing basis, we are able to establish regular parameters for what to expect and what problems look out for in your specific systems.

With a close eye, we can aim to prevent problems from occurring even before they happen. Rising temperatures, increases in noise, and frequently occurring errors combined with powerful diagnostic tools provide us with the data we need to determine when hardware is creeping towards the end of its service life.

Using regular maintenance, we can bring down service costs with smaller routine upgrades. These changes replace big budget blow-outs that occur when catastrophic failure happens across the system.

Maintaining your reputation for never losing data, always being available, and keeping a professional attitude is more than a happy side effect.

A managed service provider can boost your IT to new heights in more ways than you can imagine. Give us a call on 855 2169 today to talk about the IT problems we can solve for you.

Cloud computing is the biggest buzzword in business today, and for good reason too. The cloud provides many a new-found freedom to do and achieve more than ever before. Greater collaboration, unlocking work possibilities in new locations and often reducing costs provides a healthy boost for many companies.

Every business is unique however, and cloud solutions don’t fit for every scenario. Connection issues, internet plans, or technical requirements can rule it out as an option in some instances. In these situations, we might install a Network Attached Storage (NAS) solution instead. Which is a very small server with lots of hard drives.

A NAS is particularly popular in small, mid-sized businesses, and even home environments. Due to their low power consumption, small footprint, and low cost, they often represent an ideal upgrade. Power users and businesses can enhance their networks and get more out of their systems by employing a NAS device to do the heavy lifting.

Reliable, Fast Access

When a property can’t achieve lightning fast internet speeds or services aren’t reliable enough to run a business on; a NAS solution is ideal for the job – serving files locally rather than from a remote server can save vast amounts on uploads and downloads.

Many of the benefits of the cloud can be created locally inside your home or office. Network storage allows you to save and retrieve files from multiple devices with fast local network speeds. Rather than being limited by the speeds offered by your ISP; you can complete file transfers, backups, and sharing at the speed of the hardware you purchase yourself.

A NAS gives you many advantages of the cloud with the level of control, speed, and accessibility of a local server. All this is achieved for a fraction of the cost and maintenance overhead typically associated with conventional servers.

One Device, Many Uses

NAS devices can act as a centralized backup location for active files and devices across the network. Using the device as a file store allows you to share projects easily, collaborate on files, and keep up-to-date copies while revisions change.

The device can be set up to allow redundancy across multiple hard drives. This means backed up data is never vulnerable to only a single hardware failure.

A fully redundant NAS is capable of handling a hard drive failure, or even removal, without interrupting your workflow. Simply replacing the affected hard drive with a new one will backup your files again and rebalance your device as if nothing had happened at all.

Lightweight File Access

Even retaining access to your files away from the office isn’t an ability exclusive to cloud services. NAS devices can be configured to provide secure access to files and folders on remote connections. Working remotely, using a NAS solution, can be done just as easily as if you were sat in the office.

Even when the rest of the office IT is shut-off and shut down, a NAS device can remain on and connected to the network, so access is never interrupted.

A NAS device can run 24/7 without issue. Their low power consumption makes it practical to leave the device powered on for regular backups and easy data access. Devices don’t require the heavy maintenance or large footprint of a bulky server. As a simple solution, a NAS device allows you to focus only on the data.

The Best of Both Worlds

A NAS provides high-speed file access and configuration of a local server and combines it with the low footprint and ease of use of a cloud service. Without relying on a bad ISP, weak connection, or power-hungry hardware, a NAS could be the solution that supercharges your business.

Find out if network storage is the right fit for your business. Call us today on 855 2169 to talk about the IT you need to meet your goals.

Security and privacy are at the very top of our priorities when considering business IT. Major data leaks are in mainstream news on a near-daily basis and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of customers are impacted every time they happen. Our number one goal is to make sure our businesses are kept out of danger.

Major institutions, such as multi-national banks and credit card companies, are expected to handle your data well. Unfortunately, less secured businesses require access to our data too.

Even just booking into a hotel often requires you to leave your name, address, date of birth, passport number, and credit card details. These few pieces of information are more than enough to steal your identity, start a line of credit, and access many of your vital services. You can often only hope your chosen hotel handles your information as well as your bank does.

Securing Your Business with Smarter Thinking

There is no way to change how your favorite hotel service operates, but you can affect your own business to improve its security for your customers.

You don’t need the manpower or funding of a major banking chain to handle data securely. With simple tweaks and powerful changes, you can minimize the chances of your business suffering a data breach big enough close your doors for good.

By stepping up IT security to meet modern threats, you can help to limit your liability, put customer’s minds at ease and give your firm a competitive advantage. Should hackers attack, the work you do today will limit the damage and help you to weather the storm.

Limit Your Data Collection

The single most important thing to consider when securing your business is how much data do you really need to hold anyway? Carefully consider the value of every piece of personal information you collect in any given transaction. Do you have a use for everything you ask for?

Emails, addresses, and contact numbers are useful for receipts and marketing, but additional data many firms collect is often useless and wasteful. Each piece of unnecessary data you hold represents additional value to hackers and thieves. While you may be unable to use your own stored data, hackers will find great value in gathering more personal information. This increases your liability without adding any extra value.

Consider Your Access Requirements

Think carefully about who has access to information within your business and precisely why they need to access it. Often security problems begin when employees have blanket privileges to access everything within the firm.

Access restrictions should be specific to the company structure. Low-level employees should be limited to only what is strictly required for their role. Managers, for example, are likely to need systems that their junior staff cannot access.

Physical access restrictions are critical too. Unattended computers and mobile devices should require a password or identity verification to log on.

Treating Data with Care

The way you treat your data in day-to-day business reflects the impact hackers or IT disaster will have on your business when it is lost. Do you know where your backups are, and when they were last tested? Firms often first know they are in trouble when they realize all their data is stored on a business laptop or device that could be easily lost or stolen. Some firms maintain backups on USB drives or shuttle a portable hard drive between home and work.

These solutions should have no place in a professional business environment. Proper data care means regular, tested backups that are secure against fire, theft, or online hacks. Protecting your customers and your business is all about the smart application of IT knowledge in a cost-effective and efficient way.

We can help you to lock down your business to protect the most valuable assets your business owns, data. Call us on 855 2169.

Office 365 represents a complete shift in the way we interact with modern business computing. If you haven’t been introduced to it yet, now could be the time. Similar to the Microsoft Office desktop package that businesses have relied on for decades; Office 365 does even more to provide the critical tools you need to modernize your business environment and take control of your business.

Built with the cloud in mind, Office 365 allows you to access and modify your documents from any computer, tablet, or smartphone worldwide. These same cloud capabilities bring benefits to collaboration too. Groups and teams can work on a single document or group of files at the same time to maximize productivity and save time ahead of tight deadlines.

Safety, accessibility, and productivity are some of the amazing benefits Office 365 has introduced to modern business. Each one has clear, but obvious benefits that can be applied.

This article breaks down the less obvious, but equally important aspects of Office 365 that could apply within your firm. These features, unique to cloud-ready office packages, allow you to regain and maintain control of your business in any working environment.

Bringing You Additional Resources

There are times on projects where you need to collaborate with external contractors. Whether utilizing a skilled sales copywriter, data entry processor, or extra software developer; your business should be able to make full use of a boost in manpower when it needs it. To do this, you need to provide access to internal resources and systems.

A difficult balancing act comes from providing useful access without exposing confidential or sensitive data held internally. More than just personal preference, restricting access to sensitive data can be a key requirement of modern regulations governing business and commerce.

Rather than providing open access to everything you hold, Office 365 makes it possible to share individual files or entire folders one at a time. Privacy settings give you the power to tailor the amount of system access you provide right down to the individual file.

Files can be protected with edit only or view only access to protect data against unintentional, malicious, or unauthorized changes. When the project reaches its conclusion, access rights for external users can be revoked to revert documents and files to internal staff access only.

Keep Everything Together in The Right Place

Making use of Office 365 provides your business with a single, central platform for company communication and data storage. A unified system means less business time spent on staff training and getting to know the system.

Using a single system means your data is always located in a location where you know how to access it. Data transfer and file sharing are made easy for everyone across the firm. Simply modifying permissions or sharing links provides access to critical files to anyone with an authorized account.

Account Based Service

Office 365 accounts-based services make reflecting the structure of your physical business in its digital systems simple and straightforward. Using your unique domain to identify your business, each staff member can be reachable to both internal staff and external firms.

For Example, jane@yourbusinessname.com may be the address of your sales coordinator or financial director. Using a unique business-based address provides both a professional point of contact and useful account management system. It also provides a simple way to redirect enquiries within the company.

If jane@yourbusinessname.com was the primary point of contact for suppliers to your business, vital emails might otherwise be ignored or lost completely when Jane is unavailable. Office 365 services make it easy to redirect all emails sent to Jane’s address to emma@yourbusinessname.com instead.

These simple but highly effective tools make sure you don’t miss vital communications from suppliers, contractors, or customers. This suite of tools gives you a competitive advantage to ensure queries never ‘fall through the cracks’ and your business retains a highly professional reputation.

Keeping in complete control of your business doesn’t have to mean sacrificing extra hours, laborious micromanagement, or building complex and costly systems. Office 365 allows you to keep control of your business easily and without hassle.

You’ll be surprised at the difference Office 365 can make to the way you manage your firm. Call us on 855 2169 today to help set you up and running using Office 365 the right way.

“That will never happen to me.” We get through our lives telling ourselves the worst won’t happen to us. It’s the same with business: “We won’t need this data backup.” Yet, whatever your industry, secure, reliable backup ensures business as usual. So, what’s the best way to backup? Here’s help.

Why You Need to Backup

1. Business disruptions of any kind can be costly. The disaster might take one of several shapes:
2. Natural (e.g. wildfires, floods, earthquakes, or hurricanes)
3. On-site (e.g. hardware/software failure, power outage, inability to access building)
4. Employee driven (e.g. damaging mistakes or intentional sabotage by a disgruntled employee)
5. Cyber-attack (e.g. data breach, ransomware, or distributed denial of service attack).

Regardless, the best backup solution can help reduce downtime and damage.

Plan B: Approaches to Backup

There are several off-the-shelf backup options your business can use. Let’s consider the pros and cons of the most popular ones.

USB Thumb Drives – Also known as “flash drives,” “pen drives,” or “memory sticks,” these thumb-sized devices are compact and portable. But, they have size limitations compared to hard drives. Also, the mobility makes them easy to lose (which can actually set the disaster scenario in motion).

Additionally, a USB thumb drive is robust when not plugged in, but more vulnerable when attached. If someone inadvertently snaps the drive or employs too much force, they can put the data on that backup at risk.

The cheap ones also tend to be slow, which can make backing up sluggish.

USB Hard Drives – Portable hard drives increase the data storage available, often at a decent price. They are designed to be compact and mobile. You can prioritize durability, processing speed, storage volumes and more.

Hard drives are less likely to get damaged than a thumb drive. If knocked or jostled, the cables are flexible. Still, a hard drive can be prone to physical failure. Selecting an external solid slate drive (SSD) can help since it has no moving parts. Information is stored instead in microchips.

Cloud Storage – Backing up to the cloud stores data on an external, secure server. If thieves take your computers and USB backup, you can still access your data on the cloud. Cloud storage providers build in redundancy to ensure your backup remains safe.

Most cloud storage services back up to secure centers with thousands of servers storing data. Oh, and they’ll have their own server backups too, just in case they’re the ones hit by a disaster. The providers also encrypt data during transit to further ensure compliance and security.

Migrating to a third-party cloud storage service also cuts the clutter at your premises. You can count on expert help to ensure security and compliance. Plus, you can cut operational costs by offloading in-house storage or external hard drive expenses.

OK, What’s the Best Answer?

Don’t think disaster won’t strike your business. Research has found data loss and downtime are most often caused by:

• Hardware failures (45% of total unplanned downtime)
• Loss of power (35%)
• Software failure (34%)
• Data corruption (24%)
• External security breaches (23%)
• Accidental user error (20%).

We recommend the 3-2-1 backup strategy. This means having 3 copies of your data. Two (2) of these would be located on different devices (e.g. on your computer and on a backup drive). The other remaining backup copy (1) would be secured offsite, in the cloud.

Want to secure your data for the worst? Give us a call on 855 2169 to set this up.