Monitoring of key infrastructure components alerts you and your service provider to an ongoing issue or may also serve as a warning of an impending issue, such as service connectivity or low disk space, before it turns into a network down crisis. System and service monitoring is only one part of a comprehensive managed service solution you should expect from your service provider.

Right now most businesses have no control over what information is leaving their network via email, texting, group file sharing (think Dropbox et al) or social media posts and blogs. If you think proprietary or confidential information is not leaving your network you are sadly mistaken. Intentional or not, getting control over your corporate information and where it ends up should be high on your to do list. There are end point and perimeter security solutions that allow you to block and prevent leaking information to the rest of the world. The ramifications can be huge, including security breach, loss of proprietary information, compliance violation and loss of revenue. Do your self a favor and ask your staff or service provider what is being done to prevent data loss today.

With the proliferation of exploits targeting Windows operating systems, applications and browsers, there is a solid argument to be made for leveraging a centralized patch management solution. Whether you decide to schedule the automatic distribution of patches as they are released, or if you prefer to distribute them on an as needed basis, will largely depend on your environment and the potential impact to production systems. You will need to weigh the benefits with the potential impact and security risks that may come if you decide not to patch. Of course you will want to distribute any patches to a test group first before rolling out to the enterprise.

An added benefit of a centralized patch management solution is that it allows you to  disable the myriad of download agents (Java, Adobe, Microsoft, etc) on each PC on your network that is downloading patches or updates that may impact your other off hours processes, such as cloud backup or data replication. If you are using a Managed Service Provider, patch management is an essential service they should be providing your business as part of their service. If you are not sure ask for a patch management report.

Simply put, cloud computing shares resources, software and information on servers via the Internet, rather than storing information on devices. It’s a rapidly growing trend as a result of its many benefits surrounding business efficiencies, flexibility and cost savings. To learn more, view our dedicated page on What is cloud computing.

Cloud computing helps businesses eliminate hardware and software costs, as well as ongoing license fees. Businesses also experience reduced downtime and increased productivity. Plus, our cloud computing solutions are based on fixed monthly fees, which include all your maintenance and support.

We use advanced technologies and complex systems to ensure your business and its data are fully protected. We operate data centres with multiple physical security layers, redundant power and Internet connections, as well as enterprise software encryption.

To assess your business’ IT needs and explore the optimal cloud computing solution, you can simply contact us.