Most businesses that have chosen to use managed IT services have found that their technology works better than it did before partnering with their provider. It’s not just a group of people sitting around fixing computers, however, there are some real strategies in place to allow for this to happen. Today we’ll give you a brief overview of the services we offer.
We are classified as a managed service provider, which is only helpful if someone knows what managed services are. That’s why we’re taking a few minutes to review what it is that managed services are, and what a managed service provider does.
Depending on your business’ setup, you might have an in-house IT department that manages any of your technological assets, or you might have an outsourced vendor that you prefer to work with. Regardless, you know that as a business owner, you don’t have time to worry about managing IT--especially if you’re a small organization that has a limited budget and a limited workforce to do the work.
The cloud is a great asset for any business, whether you’re a major enterprise or a small family-owned operation. However, there are different types of hosted solutions, and they all offer various benefits and hindrances for your business. What’s the best type of cloud for your organization, and how can you protect the security and integrity of the data stored in it?
There are generally three types of clouds: public, private, and hybrid. Each of these has their own distinct benefits, and depending on the type of business you run, you might be more inclined to select one over the other.
Public
There are many reasons for a small business to select a public cloud as its preferred solution. For one, it removes the responsibility of management and maintenance from your company’s shoulders, allowing you to focus on operations. It has gotten to the point where public cloud solutions are both affordable and quite secure (for the most part), which means that even small businesses with limited budgets can take advantage of the basic aspects of a public cloud-hosted solution.
The main issue that businesses have with public clouds is that they don’t have as much control over their data--or the management of it. Basically, the public cloud is secured and maintained by those hosting it, which limits the ability of companies to implement secondary or more advanced security features. Consider whether your organization wants and needs this additional customization and security before investing in a public cloud.
Private
A private cloud, however, is generally hosted in-house on your company’s hardware, which enhances the security of your cloud system. As long as you have the computing resources, you can customize and control your cloud solution as you see fit. This is the preferred method of cloud management for organizations that have in-house teams dedicated to maintaining advanced computing infrastructures.
Of course, for companies that don’t have internal IT departments, the lack of regular maintenance and management can lead to wasted resources and crippling disasters. If you don’t take care of your technology, it can come back to bite you when you need access to it most. Thankfully, there is a middle-ground solution that works for both small businesses and larger enterprises: a managed private cloud.
Our Managed Private Cloud Solution
Small businesses can take advantage of a private cloud solution without the need to maintain the server hardware or other technology required, and it’s all thanks to modern managed IT solutions. PCSOFT can help your company implement an on-premise private cloud solution that we can remotely monitor and maintain. This keeps you more focused on daily operations and less on what could potentially go wrong. Since you have talented technology professionals working on your systems, you can keep operations moving forward relatively worry-free. Of course, if any issues do crop up, we will tend to them as needed.
If you’d rather your office didn’t have to worry about an in-house infrastructure, we can help you with that as well. We can partition off a portion of our in-house infrastructure to host your managed private cloud solution. Or for organizations that want the security of a private cloud with the cost reduction that often comes with a public cloud, we can set up a hybrid cloud interface. This will enable you to both manage and maintain the core computing construct of your business, while taking advantage of offsite resources for less-important parts of your computing infrastructure. All you will need is access to the Internet, and we’ll take care of the rest.
To learn more about hosted private cloud solutions from PCSOFT, reach out to us at 02 98730080.
The businesses of today rely on technology in order to function, which means that their technology needs to be in top shape. However, this requires a sizable time commitment, something that most businesses will have trouble seeing through. Help comes for these businesses in the form of remote monitoring and management.
The same business technology that worked wonders over twenty years ago is much different from the current state of office technology. Businesses could get away without a complex network infrastructure, but that’s sadly no longer the case. With multiple servers and workstations to manage, the typical small business network has more maintenance on its hands than ever before. What’s the best way to approach this maintenance?
If your small business has an in-house IT department, you’re one of the lucky few. Often times, small businesses don’t have the budget or the assets to dedicate toward an IT department. Plus, if they do, it’s likely that they don’t have time to get to every single task that’s asked of them. They probably have their hands full with assisting employees with computer troubles, often forsaking critical maintenance and updates in order to keep operations working in the moment--and you can forget about making improvements to your infrastructure in the near future, as they have more than enough responsibilities as-is.
By working with a managed service provider, you can augment the capabilities of any current in-house IT department you have. Trusted technology professionals like managed service providers can do everything from set up an email server to maintaining your whole IT infrastructure. If you need help with technology, a managed service provider can be a viable alternative to hiring a full in-house IT department.
One of the best ways you can use managed IT is for remote support. Your employees probably have a lot of questions that need to be answered--especially when it comes to how to use their newfangled technology solutions. Having a dedicated help desk that can be reached out to at any moment is a great way to use the help of a remote IT provider.
It’s reasons like this that PCSOFT wants to help small businesses in your area. Our list of managed IT services takes a firm, preventative stance on managed technology maintenance. We can help you keep operations running smoothly through the use of network security, data backup, disaster recovery, email management, and just about any other technology service possible--specifically to help your business focus on what matters most.
After all, you started your business for a reason, and it certainly wasn’t to spend all of your time on keeping your technology solutions working properly. In fact, most IT maintenance can be performed without being on-site at all. This is just one of the ways we can provide value for your organization. PCSOFT can remote into your devices and administer patches and security updates, as well as address any major or minor problems that make themselves felt on your network. We do this so that you can focus on other, more important things within your organization.
How can your business leverage remote IT services? To learn more, reach out to us at 02 98730080.
When you experience troubles with your technology, you don’t have time to just sit around and wait for the problem to resolve itself. You need someone by your side to assist with the problem. Yet, many small businesses don’t have the luxury of an in-house IT department that can help its employees resolve problems quickly and efficiently. How can you avoid this common issue and keep downtime to a minimum in the process?
Have you ever heard of event logs for your network? These are records of who is doing what on your network, and why. Understanding how event logs work can help to minimize leaked data and identify significant issues on a workstation or laptop.
With computing and networking hardware shown to be unreliable over time, businesses need to have a strategy in place to fix or replace their hardware. This is especially the case when it comes to servers. Replacing a server is expensive, but when it fails, you aren’t left with a lot of choices. What’s your plan for dealing with hardware failure? Here are three options.
The first option is to replace your malfunctioning hardware. This may seem like the most efficient approach, until you realize how much information your organization has. When replacing a server, you have to sort through all of your files to find out which ones are mission-critical and which ones aren’t, and you need to have a data recovery option in place that will migrate the information onto your new device. Not thinking this process through can cost your company a massive amount in new hardware costs, third-party migration and setup costs, and downtime.
The second option is to lease new hardware. If your organization can’t sustain the large capital outlays of purchasing new hardware, many vendors offer a hardware leasing program that allows you to get the technology you need at a price you can afford. Some technology companies offer Hardware as a Service (HaaS), which provides businesses with new hardware and frequent refreshes for a monthly fee. This strategy reduces support costs and often comes with proactive managed services.
The third option is to virtualize your IT infrastructure. In this way you can leverage the cloud to your business’ advantage. You won’t be able to escape the migration costs, but the large upfront costs of replacing your hardware would be eliminated. There are a few different types of cloud computing models that give your organization choices on how your data is monitored and protected. A cloud platform is typically monitored and managed by the hosting provider, eliminating management costs and minimizing support costs.
Whichever option you choose, having IT support is important to keep your organization’s hardware in good working order. Your staff may not be savvy enough with technology to fix issues, and they likely don’t have the time for it. Therefore, having around-the-clock IT support is important for the efficiency of your staff, as well as their own peace of mind if they encounter issues.
At PCSOFT, we provide 24/7 support via our help desk, and we go above and beyond to help organizations mitigate their hardware costs through our proactive monitoring and management service. By leaning on our RMM service, your business will have less network maintenance to deal with, and you will get more out of your hardware investments. By keeping your network running smoothly through our proactive monitoring, we can tell if your hardware is on its way out and we can advise you if it is time for a refresh. We also keep your network free of malware, resulting in less downtime and higher degrees of efficiency.
If your company is continually running into hardware problems, consider contacting one of our certified IT technicians to schedule a network and infrastructure assessment. Call us at 02 98730080 to learn more.
Contrary to popular belief, small businesses are at just as much risk of experiencing technological problems as large enterprises. Naturally, the more technology that is implemented in an office, the more likely you are to experience hardware failure or compatibility issues. Data distribution can get more difficult, and accessibility can become a major pain point. How can you optimize the efficiency of your IT resources without exposing your business to risks?
One of the best ways you can manage your technology is through the use of outsourced IT services from PCSOFT. Our professional technicians are skilled in the management and maintenance of technology. Here are some of the major services that we offer, and what they can do for your organization.
Remote Monitoring and Maintenance
It’s a fact that most of the problems that happen with your technology can be resolved without waiting for a technician to arrive on-site. Managed IT allows your business to get the service that you need without going too out of your way for it. When you don’t have to worry about on-site visits, you’re more free to focus on other aspects of your business while IT is busy looking into the issue. We can apply patches and security updates remotely, and minimize downtime, so that you can focus on running your business.
Securing Your Network
One of the critical parts of managing sensitive and proprietary data is protecting it from data breaches and security threats. At this moment, there are countless threats on the Internet that can take advantage of the Internet of Things, along with ransomware, can put your business through the gauntlet. Thankfully, a comprehensive tool called a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution can mitigate this threat by preventing infections in the first place.
Cloud Hosting
There’s no logical reason to host your data on-site when you can have us host it off-site. This is great for two reasons: 1) You won’t have to use precious time from your workday to maintain the hardware, and 2) You don’t have to add new salaries to your budget to get quality IT support. Chances are that you don’t have an in-house IT department, so knowing that your data is being managed by experienced technicians is more important than ever. PCSOFT can manage your organization’s data on our own servers so you don’t have to worry about it.
BDR (Backup and Disaster Recovery)
If you suddenly lost access to all of your data, or if it disappeared in an instant, what would you do? It could be next year, or next month, or even tomorrow. Whenever an untimely hardware failure or natural disaster strikes, you’ll want to be able to recover quickly. Downtime can drag your business down and have effects that persist for months, as you’ll need to replace hardware and recover critical data; a process that can take anywhere from a few hours to several days. With BDR, however, you can quickly and efficiently restore your data at a moment’s notice. Your business will be able to withstand data loss caused by natural disasters, user error, hacking attacks, and even hardware failure.
Is it time for a change in the way your business manages technology? If so, look no further than PCSOFT. To learn more, reach out to us at 02 98730080.
If you’re one of the small businesses that has the resources to devote to an internal IT department, then you know how difficult it is playing at help desk with the rest of your employees. Their role is crucial to helping those who are less tech-savvy, but there’s always the chance that even your IT department will be stumped. That’s not to mention the fact that your help desk could be filled with potentially-avoidable requests.
Here are three ways you can save time on IT maintenance by taking some simple measures to limit how many support requests you actually get.
Invest in Employee Education
When you implement a new technology solution, there is usually a period where you’ll train your staff on how best to use it. However, it’s inevitable that your IT will receive support requests from your workers asking for information on how to set up or use new technology. This eats up too much time and resources that would be better spent elsewhere. Of course, the first step is to re-educate your employees as much as it takes for them to get a firm grasp on their technology.
This extends far beyond new technology solutions, including educating your employees on all kinds of security best practices. Teach them how to properly set up and manage an email inbox. Show them what potential threats look like, and how to avoid them. Doing so can make them more autonomous, which will relieve your IT department of a significant burden. This kind of professional development is useful in general, so sell it to your team as such.
Implement a Documentation Center
Some problems are so commonplace that you’ll receive requests for assistance for the same thing multiple times a day. When it goes this far, it becomes a frustrating waste of time. Unfortunately, this is par for the course with IT support, so it makes investing in a documentation center an appealing decision. A documentation center is a central location where documentation can be stored for various practices (if not all of them). Rather than spend time scheduling out these repetitive tasks, just direct your staff to the documentation center… as long as it’s a relatively simple process, that is. This can save your team time and money that would otherwise be wasted.
Outsource Your Help Desk
While employee education and documentation centers provide employees with tools they can use to resolve their own problems, the fact remains that they’re still going to turn to your internal IT department for tasks regardless of whether or not they can fix them themselves. Therefore, the only real way to eliminate this burden is to completely outsource your business’s IT support to a third party provider. Besides, it’s likely the case that your internal team is so preoccupied with help desk support that they can’t get a chance to innovate and implement new cost-efficient solutions, and they might even have trouble keeping up with preventative maintenance like regular security patches. Instead of forcing them to cut corners, it’s better to just outsource your help desk’s responsibilities to a managed service provider.
In these types of situations, PCSOFT would be delighted to assist you. Our trained technicians can help your team with any IT hiccups they run into and allow your in-house team to more effectively do their jobs. After all, they didn’t become technicians to keep setting up email inboxes--they should be able to use their expertise to create innovative solutions for your business. The extra boost can give your business the edge that it needs to succeed.
To learn more about managed IT services, reach out to us at 02 98730080.