Scenario 1: No Backup Chuck runs a small business that does a fair amount of work with various clients and customers, so he relies on an extensive record-keeping system to ensure that his agreements and contracts are up-to-date and honored. There are also the tools that enable his necessary inventory to be maintained, automatically contacting the appropriate vendors and suppliers when his materials run low. Chuck relies on his technology, as it has promoted growth and has expanded its reach. Unfortunately, a member of Chuck?s staff is using their email one day and automatically opens an attachment that contains ransomware. Chuck learns that this has locked him out of his entire system, preventing him from accessing any of his files or tools. To eliminate the threat, Chuck has no choice but to completely wipe his systems and start fresh? but in doing so, he is forced to sacrifice all the data that his operations rely upon. A few difficult months later, Chuck is unable to recover from this monumental setback, and closes the business. Scenario 2: Backup Laura runs a bustling small business, serving a healthy assortment of customers and clientele. To keep track of everything, she makes use of customer relationship management and inventory management tools, in addition to her HR software. While her own innate business sense has powered her success, her prioritization of technology as an indispensable asset has helped Laura apply these insights in a meaningful way. This approach also helps when a storm strikes and surges power into her location and fries her infrastructure. While replacing the equipment is going to be costly, the true cost would come from the data loss. Fortunately, Laura had taken the advice of her managed service provider and implemented a comprehensive backup solution, which had proactively taken incremental backups of her data and saved them in an off-site data center. As a result, her employees can work from home to some extent while replacements can be procured (with the proper surge protection now implemented) and maintain the business somewhat. After a brief interlude, Laura?s business can resume its full operations. So yes, our tip to you is to have a backup solution in place, that meets certain best practices: You have a total of (at least) three copies of your data. Two of these copies are maintained as backups. (At least) one of these copies is stored offsite in a cloud solution. Ideally, this cloud solution would itself have copies stored in various places for redundancy. White Mountain IT Services can help you establish the kind of data backup and recovery strategy that you need. We can also help you develop an entire business continuity plan to mitigate the aftereffects of any kind of data loss scenario, all while providing you with more tips and best practices to minimize the possibility of such a scenario in the first place. Reach out to us at (603) 889-0800 to learn more and subscribe to our blog today for more insights.

Most business owners will probably say that their data is stored on their main server at the office, or a server hosted with their cloud provider, or that their data is stored in OneDrive or Google Drive. Others might also add that their data is also stored on a backup device, and that backup device stores a copy of everything in the cloud. Very well done, for those who answer like that. I?m not here to prove anyone wrong. If you made these big investments into your business to safely store and protect your data, then that is where the data should be. That said, the problem usually isn?t with the one writing the paychecks? Your Employees Aren?t Focused on Data Security This isn?t to put your employees down. They have jobs to focus on, quotas to meet, projects to deal with, and everyday tasks to perform. Thinking about your IT is the last thing on their minds. To them, the computer, the network, and the servers are all things that exist in the background and sometimes get in the way of their jobs when something doesn?t work right. With that in mind, if a salesperson needs to get access to a proposal she has been working on, and she has no way to access the network when on the road (or she just wasn?t trained to use the proper way to access the network when on the road) then she will try to come up with the solution herself. She?ll email herself the file or stick it on a thumb drive or on her laptop and suddenly, that document is no longer protected by your network. Changes to the document are no longer backed up. In one swift move, a piece of data is no longer within your control. Sure, a sales proposal might not contain a whole lot of trade secrets or sensitive information, but you can see how easy it is for someone with good intentions to botch up the whole system. This salesperson doesn?t deserve to lose their job over what they did (although they probably should be corrected), but the fault lies with management. If your employees aren?t given the ability to perform their jobs as needed, they may find their own way. They?ll think they are going above and beyond, and they really are. Unfortunately, they aren?t as in touch with IT and cybersecurity and compliance standards and everything else you are likely worried about. This is Even More Important Now Let?s ask that question again, especially for industries where many users are working remotely. Where is your data? Do you have it under control? Are you providing your users a way to access everything without putting it at risk? We can help you audit your existing IT environment and take into consideration that users are accessing things remotely, and help you lock down your data. To talk more about this, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.

Let?s go into how a business needs to prepare to sustain themselves?while keeping their clientele up to speed?with a business continuity plan. Why is a Business Continuity Plan So Crucial? With digital technology now taking such a prominent role in daily operations, businesses now must deal with more than just potential weather issues and accidents. Now, there are technology interruptions to contend with, sourced from cyberattacks, user errors, and simple bad luck. Planning Ahead If you are to protect your business from the ramifications of these events, it is important that you create and implement a strategy that prepares you to do so. The idea behind a business continuity plan is to enable your business to dynamically adjust its operations so that they can be sustained to the highest degree possible amidst some form of disaster. While a weather event, power outage, or a pandemic likely will create some hurdles, a good business continuity plan can help you find your footing again. That?s why we always endorse preparing such a strategy proactively. While your planning is unlikely to completely prepare you for larger events, you will be much more able to react appropriately with a framework to base your response upon. However, the planning process is an involved one. White Mountain IT Services is here to assist you as you prepare for such events, as we?ll guide you through each step involved. Staying Engaged Of course, your operations are only half the battle. You also want the people who frequent your business to know what is going on throughout this time, so you need to make sure that you are keeping them updated. To do so, make sure that you are making use of all your communication solutions, and make sure your audience is getting the information that they need to continue their relationship with you. Adjusted schedules, the best means of contacting you, and any offers that you might be providing are all good things to share?especially on any of your company?s social media accounts. Don?t be afraid to use your technology to branch out into other messages as well, especially focusing on the ways that your clients can use what you?ve provided to help them out the most. This has already proven to be a difficult time for all kinds of businesses, but if you use technology to its full capability you have a better chance of sustaining your business? health through the entire situation, however long that may be. For more assistance with your technology, or any support you may need as you use it, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Cloud Services, Summarized For something named for the masses typically seen overhead, the actual purpose of cloud technology is pretty down-to-earth. Actually referring to a server or other piece of computing hardware infrastructure stored remotely, the cloud allows users to access it over an Internet connection to make use of the resources it contains. Many businesses have found this arrangement to be very beneficial to their operations, as it generally makes their operations much more flexible and convenient. The Types of Cloud While the technology that serves as the cloud?s foundation is pretty consistent, it can be used in a few different ways that serve businesses with various needs and priorities. Public Cloud Solutions Think the ?as-a-Service? offerings that Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are known for in the business world, and you?ve identified the public cloud. Encapsulating various services, these versatile solutions scale based on a business? need and eliminate any maintenance that the end user is responsible for. Combining all of this, the public cloud has become a popular option for businesses seeking out a reliable service that their budget can support. Private Cloud Solutions Quite similarly to the public cloud, the private cloud offers many of the same services with the addition of one important quality: access to these clouds is left exclusively to a single company, because that company owns it. With greater control over the setup of these clouds, businesses that maintain them for themselves can be more confident that their security is assured. Hybrid Cloud Solutions Much as the name would suggest, hybrid clouds combine public and private clouds into a single deployment, each half working independently but also cooperating with one another when needed. As a result, a business can make use of the public cloud?s scalability as needed, while also benefiting from the security of a private solution. Cloud-Available Services As mentioned above, the cloud can be used for multiple applications. While they all can store data and applications, the public and hybrid clouds can support additional as-a-Service benefits. Infrastructure-as-a-Service This cloud variety enables a user to access an offsite computing system, complete with servers and storage space, to host the data and applications they need to complete their operations. Platform-as-a-Service In many ways similar to IaaS, Platform-as-a-Service offers the same resources with the inclusion of the applications that the user would otherwise provide. Software-as-a-Service Likely the most familiar to most users, SaaS allows users access to software titles via an Internet connection. As a result, tools once reserved for large organizations can be accessed by those with needs on a smaller scale. If you want to learn more about how your company can use cloud-based tools and solutions to benefit your operations, we can help. Reach out to White Mountain IT Services by calling (603) 889-0800 today.

Video Conferencing is a Different Animal There is no denying that having a conversation via video conferencing just feels different to those used to in-person conversations. There?s a reason for this. Comparing face-to-face communications to remote conversations and how long we?ve had to grow accustomed to them, it is no wonder that conferencing seems so strange. After all, we?ve been having the former for about 70,000 years while we?ve only experienced remote voice communications for about a century. The human brain has developed to speak as efficiently in a conversation as possible, not talking over someone but picking up immediately after they are finished. This is exactly why ?awkward silences? are so awkward. However, because the signal can take a few milliseconds to reach us, these pauses become unavoidable as we are conferencing, which is where the following scenario comes into play: ??and that?s our progress on that so far?? ?Well, great, spinning off of that, I think?? ?..Now then, moving on to?oh.? ?Oh, sorry, thought you were done. Go ahead.? ?I wasn?t finished, but?no, that?s fine, go ahead.? it will ultimately assist your team in cooperating with one another and accomplishing more. For more assistance with your collaboration tools, or any of the other technologies your business relies on, reach out to our team of professionals at White Mountain IT Services. Help is only a call to (603) 889-0800 away.