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This is thanks to something known as vendor management. What is Vendor Management? Take a moment and consider how many vendors you deal with, in terms of your business? IT. Chances are pretty good that there are a few different ones that you use for your different solutions, based on who could give you the best deal at the time. You could have a vendor who supplies you with workstations, one for your server infrastructure, and so on and so forth? once they are all taken into consideration, your business relies on you reaching out to quite a few providers, each on a fairly regular basis. Here?s the challenge. Reaching out to your vendors isn?t always the most efficient process, so while working with them is critical to your operations, it can be difficult to justify the time spent to do so. At the very least, you will have sacrificed time that could have been spent attending to other critical facets of your business? which means you?re effectively sacrificing money, in order to spend money. Vendor management helps to alleviate the issue significantly. As an IT provider and resource, White Mountain IT Services has naturally needed to work with vendors very consistently. As a result, we have formed solid working relationships with them, which frequently allow us to enjoy better deals from these vendors. This is just one of the benefits that companies have seen from allowing us to act as their representative with these vendors – which is essentially what vendor management is. How Vendor Management Benefits Your Business? Bottom Line So, at this point, we?ve established what vendor management is? so how does it help reduce your investment into procuring the resources you need to operate? There are actually a few features of vendor management that contribute to your cost savings. Better Use of Time As we went over above, dealing with your vendors yourself can be a time-intensive process. Once the time comes, you have to reach out to the proper vendor (or vendors) that provides the resources needed, which is time that isn?t being spent on revenue-generating endeavors. However, by working with White Mountain IT Services and allowing us to manage your vendors, all you have to do is notify us of your needs and we?ll handle the rest. We?ll reach out to your vendors on your behalf, allowing you to invest your valuable time elsewhere in your business. Benefits and Bargains We?ve already discussed how we?ve cultivated working relationships with many vendors, which can be to your advantage. Due to our continued dealings with them (not to mention our ability to negotiate from an informed standpoint), we are often given access to better deals than one of our clients would be. This allows us to pass these benefits on to you. Simplicity Again, not to harp on this point too much, but with us managing your vendors for you, the entire process becomes so much easier on your end. We serve as your single point of contact for any of your needs, not only freeing up more of your time, but also significantly decreasing the hassle of placing orders and keeping up on your business? needs. Does vendor management sound like something that your business could find to its advantage? Reach out to White Mountain IT Services today to learn more. Call (603) 889-0800 to […]
Defining a Hosted Desktop A hosted desktop is more or less what it sounds like – a system that is more or less indistinguishable from the typical desktop, but is actually operating via cloud-based virtual machines. Sometimes referred to as a virtual desktop or a Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution, a hosted desktop resides in a centralized location and is deployed to special workstations called thin clients. With a hosted desktop, a user can access all the software they need to be collaboratively productive, as well as secure, all in a familiar format. Some Benefits of Hosted Desktop Solutions Using a hosted desktop can provide a variety of benefits, including: Efficient deployment – Since all of a hosted desktop?s resources are centrally stored, any software to be added only needs to be added to the server. Centralized storage – All data used and produced by a hosted desktop is kept in a central storage facility, protected by regular backups. Improved mobility – As a cloud-based solution, applications can be accessed from anywhere an Internet connection can be established. Scalability – As a month-to-month subscription service, your DaaS subscription can easily be adjusted to meet your needs. Cost savings – Not only does a hosted desktop diminish the need to invest in new hardware, it is billed on a per-user basis, meaning you will never spend money purposelessly. What Businesses Can Use Hosted Desktop? Some of the most common use cases for hosted desktop solutions are for jobs where your users may not necessarily need a dedicated workstation of their own; or, do a lot of work remotely. Many of the businesses that see the most utility from hosted desktops are classified to be in the professional services industry, or hospitality, or tech-centric endeavors, although nonprofits will commonly use them as well to avoid excessive hardware investments. If you are searching for a way to reduce the impact that replacing hardware can have on your business without hindering your employees, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.
Hardware Costs If you planned on moving to a VoIP platform, spending capital on hardware would likely go against the intention of cutting costs. A hosted VoIP solution makes it possible to get a powerful business phone system without having to go through the headaches and expense associated with installing new phone lines. Anyone who has ever run telephone wire from a distribution hub through the walls of a building knows that it can be quite tedious. Even for a smaller PBX roll out, you are looking at a substantial capital investment that is transformed immediately into an operational expense once you choose to introduce a hosted VoIP solution. By utilizing your company?s existing broadband, hosted VoIP removes the upfront expense of purchasing PBX hardware, running phone lines, and buying dedicated phones. Fee Structures The largest expense for any telephone system is the minutes the phone is being used. Every traditional phone bill will feature costs for long distance calling, which the way it is set up most of the time are calls that you would consider local. Eliminating this recurring expense is one way that hosted VoIP is able to present the business that?s looking to cut costs an opportunity to do so. In comparison, broadband Internet is relatively inexpensive and is basically mandatory nowadays. It is also offered by quite a few ISPs, allowing your organization to buy the resources you need as an operational expense. Additionally, any VoIP service rates are very competitive with the rates that you?d pay if utilizing a traditional phone system, without the need for constant management and maintenance of the system. The VoIP subscription is typically paid per user, which also provides efficient scalability if you need to add or subtract accounts for any reason. Mobility Another way VoIP helps the modern business stretch its dollar is by promoting mobility. Many reputable hosted VoIP systems have mobile applications available through the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. This provides organizations the mobile flexibility they need without paying extra for individual phones and service plans. Since these applications can be effectively run over Wi-Fi, or through the organization?s virtual private network (VPN), it can save plenty of financial resources normally spent on the deployment of a typical mobile strategy. If you would like more information about VoIP or if you would like to know how White Mountain IT Services can help you with your business? communications, call us today at (603) 889-0800.
Let?s discuss a few things that need to be included in one of these policies so you can make yours as effective as it can be (whether you?re first implementing it or you?ve had one for a while that needs a refresh). Keeping Things Secure While mobile devices can provide considerable benefits to your business, these benefits will be moot if your security is compromised via these devices. Therefore, you need to make sure that your mobile device policies contain guidelines to help – and yes, make – your employees use their devices more securely. While these examples aren?t a comprehensive list of precautions to make (and the same can be said for any of the examples in this blog), they do help illustrate the kinds of precautions and restrictions you will have to enforce: All mobile devices must be protected by a password that meets the standards set by your company?s guidelines, and set to lock automatically if idle for a set amount of time. Any applications must be approved by the company before they can be installed and used for work purposes. Any devices not included in the BYOD policy, or are not supported by it, may not connect to the business? network. If a device is misplaced, IT detects a threat on it, or the owner leaves the company, IT may wipe the device to protect company data. Managing Risks Of course, while you always need to have security measures in place, it can greatly help to have the means of minimizing threats before any can materialize? especially those that originate from inside your organization. Your mobile device policy is a good place to outline the protections you have in place, and what you reserve the right to do with them to protect the good of the company. For instance: All devices that are lost or stolen should be reported to IT within 24 hours, and the mobile carrier should be notified immediately. Any employee who uses their mobile device does so knowing that it signifies their consent to the acceptable use policy, and their intention to abide by it. Any mobile device may be disconnected from the company network or have its access to services revoked without notice. While IT will make their best efforts to preserve a user?s data, any device that needs to be remotely wiped for security purposes will be wiped to protect the company. This means the user is responsible for maintaining their own backups. Acceptable Device Use Finally, you need to make sure you include a section in your guidelines that dictate how these devices can be used in the office (or out of it, for that matter) to conduct work tasks. Some will be based on your personal preferences, while others are more related, again, to your security. A few sample policies that your overall mobile device policy should include are: Designated guidelines clarifying the differences between business and personal use of devices, and what is acceptable for either on company time – and what is not allowed at any time, like storing illegal materials or conducting harassment. A comprehensive list of business materials and resources that an employee can access with a mobile device. All approved applications that may be downloaded, as well as those that may not be, […]
Determine What Data You Have How can you possibly expect to be able to keep all of your data protected if you aren?t sure of its extent? In simple terms, you can?t. Therefore, you need to identify everything that you have, taking note of how your storage is set up and where the kind of data that needs particular protections is saved. This is a great opportunity to reorganize your data storage strategy if need be, adjusting who in your organization can access what. What information do you collect for your business? use – customer contact and financial information, including their credit card credentials? What about information you?ve collected about your employees, or any job applicants you?ve encountered? Knowing what kind of data you have, and how much of it you have, will be crucial to appropriately allocate the security resources to protect it all. Downsize Your Data Once you?ve surveyed where your data is stored, you should look more closely at its contents with a critical eye. Is all of it really necessary for your operations, or are there other ways to accomplish the same things that are better for your data security? For instance, take customer credit card information – unless there is a real business-related reason to retain it, you shouldn?t. The longer you have this kind of data in your possession, the greater your risk of losing it in a breach. As you are minimizing the data you?re keeping, you should also make sure that you are also limiting who has access to your data – even preventing your different departments from accessing data unrelated to their processes. Defending Data Finally, in order to keep your data secure, you need to consider a few things, like the format in which this data is to be stored… and how to best protect that particular format. Any sensitive files and such materials need to be stored on designated devices, with sufficient access controls to prevent unauthorized users from viewing or altering this data. The same needs to apply to any data you store in hard copy format. In case of a worst-case scenario (where your data storage is breached) you also need to have the means to identify if this has occurred, as well as solutions in place to minimize the damage that can be done. White Mountain IT Services can assist you with all of the above, and more, when it comes to keeping your company?s data secure, especially that information that reveals personally identifiable details. To learn more, reach out to one of our professionals at (603) 889-0800.
