computer security Archives - NetServ - Orange County IT Company

Top Office Technology Advances of the Past Decade Part 1

At the beginning of the 2010s, we marveled at how fast technology seemed to be advancing and how it was changing the way we do business. Over the past ten years, it seems things have moved even faster. As we come to the close of this decade, let’s do a quick roundup of some of the most notable tech advances that have transformed our offices, businesses and workflows over the past ten years.

Common IT Threats to Your Small Business

As information technology (IT) continues to evolve, small businesses across the globe are enjoying greater levels of connectivity and productivity than ever before. At the same time, IT comes with its own set of vulnerabilities that, when left unaddressed, can cause major headaches at best and cripple your business at worst. Let’s take a look at some of the most common IT threats your Orange County business might face, and what to do about them.

Your Small Business’s Secret IT Vulnerabilities, and What to Do About Them

Most companies want to believe their IT systems are secure from cyberattacks and data theft. Firewalls, SSL certificates and password-protected WiFi are all essential elements of cybersecurity, but they can also lull business owners and their employees into a false sense of security. The vast majority of small businesses have secret IT vulnerabilities, which is why hackers like to target them. Let’s look at a few of the most common secret vulnerabilities that may be lurking about in your IT, and what you can do to make your business safer.

Orange County Checklist of IT Needs for small business

A Must-Do IT Checklist for Your Orange County Business

There was a time when computers and network connectivity were optional, especially for small businesses. Today, they are essential. Without a secure, robust IT system in place, your Orange County business can’t engage customers and conduct business on a competitive level. On the other hand, with the right technology and tools in place, you can potentially compete on a global scale with businesses ten times your size.

0 Understanding Managed Services and How They Benefit SMBs

Understanding Managed Services and How They Benefit SMBs

Small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) receive a lot of calls each day from slick sales people peddling the next technology trend that’s going to save them money and revolutionize how they do business. They’re all too quick to caution that if you don’t listen to them, you’ll fall behind the times, and eventually be swimming in a sea of debt and out of business.

How Do You Set a Budget for Managed IT Services?

Many Orange County small businesses have neither the time nor the budget to handle their IT services in-house. For these companies, managed IT services offer a much more convenient and affordable solution by incorporating a team of third-party professionals monitoring equipment, updating software and providing 24-7 tech support. Even so, you’ll need to set up some sort of budget to ensure you’re getting the support and services you need most. Here are some tips to help you set up your IT managed services budget.

small business data security specialists in orange county

Biggest 2019 IT Security Threats for Small Businesses

As more and more Orange County small businesses rely on Internet connectivity and cloud-based services for their daily activities, the need for robust IT security is greater than ever. Cybercriminals and hackers work tirelessly to create new methods for infiltrating systems, disrupting functions and stealing personal and financial information. Let’s look at a snapshot of the most current IT security threats small business must address here in 2019.

0 The Benefits of a Managed Service Provider

Managed Service Providers – or MSPs – are often recommended as a cost effective IT solution for small businesses. For a minimal monthly fee, MSPs provide a reasonably priced solution to the complex technology pains of small businesses. Here’s a look at the various benefits an MSP can offer your business…

Freed-Up Resources and a Renewed Emphasis on Core Business – Both business owners and internal IT staff would much rather focus on revenue enhancing tasks like product development or the creation of cutting-edge applications/services. This is one reason routine monitoring and maintenance tasks are often neglected by an internal IT person or team, which always proves to be detrimental much later.

Often misportrayed as a “threat” to an internal IT person or staff, MSPs can instead relieve internal staff of mundane network operations maintenance, repetitious monitoring of server and storage infrastructure, and day-to-day operations and help desk duties.

A True Partner Sharing Risks And Responsibilities – The goal of an MSP is to deliver on contracted services, measure, report, analyze and optimize IT service operations, and truly become an irreplaceable catalyst for business growth. Managed Service Providers not only assume leadership roles, they enable risk reduction, enhance efficiency and change the culture by introducing internal IT operations to new technologies and processes.
Access to Expertise, Best Practices and World-Class Tools and Technologies – MSPs have experience with a variety of businesses and organizations. Managed Service Providers can keep your business relevant and on track with continually evolving technology, support, and productivity demands. Let’s face it, no small or medium sized business can afford to fall behind with technology trends in today’s business world.
The Benefit of a Full-Time Fully Staffed IT Department at a Fraction of the Cost – Most small business owners live and die by proactive management. They just haven’t had the budget, resources or access to on-demand expertise to be proactive with information technology management. A Managed Service Provider gives business owners and overwhelmed internal IT staff affordable computer and server support, remote monitoring of critical network components like servers and firewalls, data backup and disaster recovery, network security, custom software solutions, and technology evaluation and planning.

Managed Service Providers can decrease the overall IT support costs by as much as 30% to 50%. Rather than being stressed about technology, business owners can instead get back to focusing on growing their business. All while enjoying the benefits of highly-trained IT experts boosting their network’s reliability and performance.

0 Six Steps to Better Data Backup and Quicker Recovery

Think Quicker Recovery Time, Not Quicker Backup – While incremental backups are much faster than executing a full-backup, they also prolong recovery time. In the event of data loss, a full restore will require loading the most recent full backup and then each incremental backup tape. Having too many incremental backup tapes not only adds time to this restoration process, but it also increases the probability of not recovering all of your data. A tape could be lost, unintentionally skipped over, or contain corrupted data. Be sure to focus on optimizing the restore time to ensure faster data recovery. A quicker recovery time should be the main objective, not the need for a quicker backup process.

Maintain Sufficient Backup History – Within the blink of an eye, current data files can become corrupted and inaccessible. This will necessitate the loading of an earlier data backup that is clean of corruption. Many smaller companies make the mistake of failing to keep a sufficient backup history.

Be Sure to Backup Essential Data AND Applications – Some businesses don’t feel the need to backup all data, but be sure essential databases, documents and records are backed up frequently. Don’t overlook applications that are critical to day-to-day business operations either. Many companies fail to backup applications, only to realize when it’s too late that they don’t have access to the original installation disks when they’re trying to recover from data loss or an outage.

Have Off-Site or Online Backup – Some businesses backup data simply by moving essential files to tapes or external hard drives that are then stored somewhere onsite. But if they’re kept onsite, what happens if a fire, flood or other natural disaster takes out not just your server but your backup tapes and drives? Onsite backups can also be susceptible to theft. Having secure off-site, or even online backup, is simply the smart thing to do to ensure quick recovery when trouble comes to town.

Fix Broken Access Controls on Your File Server – Many businesses have folders with confidential data residing on a file server with overly permissive access controls. Why take the risk of having a disgruntled – even former – employee access and misuse this data when access can be limited to only those in the company who need it?

Be Sure to Test Restores – It happens time and time again. Business owners think they have a data backup plan in place. Tapes are changed diligently each day and everything appears to be backed up and good to go. However, it turns out the backups haven’t been working for months, sometimes even years, right at the very moment they’re needed. Either the backups had become corrupt and useless or large segments of data were not being backed up. This happens often. Don’t let it happen to you.

cyber security for orange county small business

IT Security Breach at Your Small Business: What Do You Do Now?

You wake up one morning to the news no small business owner wants to hear. There has been an IT security breach. Systems are down, data is lost, or customer’s financial information has been stolen—or all of the above. What steps can you take immediately to mitigate the damage and restore function and trust to your IT systems?

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