Staying on top of updates must happen routinely This is one of the major shortcomings of break-fix IT companies. If the only time they come and work on your IT equipment is for a repair visit, it?s unlikely that they will make a special trip to your office to install needed software updates as soon as they?re released. And why would they, when their entire business model revolves around your equipment breaking down? Instead, you need someone assigned to the task of staying on top of the latest software updates, which includes both knowing when the updates and patches are scheduled to be released, as well as applying them in a timely manner that won?t disrupt office productivity (applying updates after-hours is preferable). Does your IT staff even have time for routine maintenance? For many organizations, keeping software up-to-date is the job of the in-house IT staff, and given the negative ramifications of mishandling these updates, it?s not a task to give to an employee lacking technical training. Alternatively, if it?s not in your budget to onboard new IT staff, then you can outsource this responsibility to a managed IT service provider. The managed service advantage is that you?re getting trained technicians to remotely apply your network?s needed updates, and at an ideal time that fits your company?s schedule. As a bonus, for businesses that do have an IT department (but find their IT staff is overstretched from having to do routine tasks like applying updates), White Mountain IT Services offers a co-managed IT service where our techs work with your techs to take care of the small stuff, so your team can be freed up to work on important IT initiatives. Thinking beyond updating your security patches, you need to stay on top of all available updates for your company?s technology. Here are just a few technologies that technicians look at when determining what needs to be upgraded. Operating systems: We all have our favorite operating systems, but clinging to an OS after the manufacturer stops supporting it (simply because it?s preferred) is a dangerous move that opens up your network to all kinds of trouble. In order to have your OS offer adequate protection for your business, it must be supported with patches and security updates. Legacy applications: Upgrading software can be tricky because an update that?s untested has the potential to clash with a legacy application and cause some serious downtime. For example, you shouldn?t overlook how application upgrades running locally on PC hardware can also influence whether or not end-user hardware requires an upgrade. Therefore, be sure to look into the upgrade requirements (such as processing power, memory, graphics, etc.) before clicking the install button. This is one reason why many businesses prefer hosting their legacy applications in the cloud; to protect workflows from the unintended consequences of a bad upgrade. Hardware quality: Computer hardware requires some update love too. Eventually, computers break down. By not staying on top of your hardware, you?re opening yourself up to faulty equipment hindering productivity, or even dreaded downtime. If you?re currently facing a need to upgrade your hardware, then now is a great time to consider making the move to the cloud. By hosting your applications in the cloud, you?re able to access the data you need with inexpensive hardware like thin […]

Most businesses will collect data from both clients and employees for various purposes. For example, your human resources department will collect Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and perhaps even routing numbers for your employees? direct deposit. Since you?re collecting all this data, you become a very lucrative target for hackers. On the other hand, if you collect payment details for your clients, those are also at risk, and any employees handling this information will be responsible for protecting it. Therefore, you need to implement policies that are designed to protect your business?s data, and reinforce them with established best practices. We?ll break down some of the basic ways that your business can make data security a top priority. Consider a Paperless PolicyIf there?s one thing that an identity thief loves to take advantage of, it?s a paper trail. Consider this: how often have you received something in the mail like a bank statement that you?ve simply thrown out? These documents could then be found later on by someone sifting through the trash. The same can be said for sensitive documents that are left out in the open in the office. Another thing to note is that physical documents don?t have access logs that can tell you if they?ve been examined by unapproved users, making digital storage arguably a better option for managing risk. Never Leave Workstations UnattendedThere is a lot that can go wrong when you don?t protect your organization?s workstations with passwords. While the threat of a coworker attempting a harmless prank by messing with your settings isn?t necessarily malicious, there is always the chance that someone will gain access to sensitive data that they?re not supposed to see. This risk can include non-employees that find their way into your office. Equip Your Business with Enterprise-Level Security SolutionsWhile you can enforce all the best practices that you want, do you know how to handle a data breach? One of the most important parts of protecting your sensitive data is to implement security solutions like firewalls and antivirus to keep threats out of your network. You can implement a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution, which includes enterprise-level firewall, antivirus, spam-blocking, and content-filtering solutions to maximize your resistance to data breaches. Train Your Employees on What to Look ForEver since email became a thing, there have been scammers out there who want to take advantage of unaware employees and regular PC users. While the best spam blocking solution available will help to ensure most spam doesn?t make it to your inbox, the messages that do could be targeted spear phishing attempts designed to trick your users. To protect against these, train your employees to identify them. For example, is the message is unsolicited? Does it ask for sensitive information? Does it come from an email address that you have on file? Cross-checking these details is an important practice that your business can?t afford to overlook. Are you ready to take the next steps toward protecting your business?s identity? To learn more about our proactive security services, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

This service–hardware procurement–is one of the best ways that your organization can save money when performing a technology revamp for your office. Considering the fact that nothing lasts forever, including your workstations and server units, you?ll need to have a plan in place just in case you need to replace a workstation in a pinch. This is what hardware procurement allows for, as it presents a much more affordable alternative to purchasing hardware solutions outright. Procuring New HardwareNormally, procuring new hardware can break the bank and cause a problem for months, or even years. Despite this, hardware refreshes are an important part of ensuring that your network is functional. How can your organization take advantage of these helpful practices without limiting your business?s IT budget in the future? One way that you can get around this roadblock is by working with your IT provider. Depending on your service agreement, you might be able to procure hardware at a more reasonable price, perhaps even at a flat monthly rate instead of a large up-front cost. We like to call this Hardware as a Service (HaaS), and it provides businesses more freedom in their budget and lets them take advantage of the latest and greatest technology solutions without going over the edge. If you?re unsure if White Mountain IT Services provides this service, be sure to ask. Start with an AssessmentIf you?re unsure of where you stand in terms of hardware procurement, we know where you can start. An assessment from White Mountain IT Services is a great way to start thinking about a hardware refresh. This takes into account much more than just the condition of your current assets. In fact, it also covers where you hope to be in the near future. This strategy helps your business on track for where you want to be down the road. Upgrading your hardware routinely is also an important part of staying up-to-date with security protocol. Old hardware might not be capable of running more recent versions of operating systems or enterprise software, which will in turn affect your ability to resist threats like malware and viruses. Even if you don?t think you need the assistance with hardware upgrades, an assessment is a great way to see how you can improve the current status of your network. To schedule your IT assessment, call us today at (603) 889-0800.

Every business owner needs to have a plan in place to backup their company?s data. Ignoring this basic task can lead to some pretty grim consequences, like a data-loss causing disaster. Fortunately, when it comes to backing up your data, you?ve got options. Having a Local Backup SolutionGoing with a local backup solution is an okay option that will alleviate much of the risk associated with not having any backup solution. Two popular local backup solutions are backing up with tape and using external hard drives. Having an extra copy of your files on premise is a good start, but it won?t provide sure protection from data loss. The shortcoming of depending on a local backup solution is seen when a major disaster like a fire, earthquake, or flood, destroys your PCs/servers along with your backup. In a situation like this, your local backup solution just failed and there’s a high likelihood that you’ll have to scramble just to stay in business. Plus, don’t forget about other disasters like malware, user error, and hardware malfunctions that can hit your local backup solution and cause major damage. Backing Up to the CloudThe advantage of backing up data to the cloud is that it’s stored in a data center off-site. This means if there’s ever a major disaster that takes components of your IT infrastructure offline, you can rest assured that your data is safely stored off-site. Plus, backing up to the cloud is a much more convenient way to back up data than having to store and replace tapes every day. Backing Up to Multiple Data CentersBefore you sign up for a cloud-backup service, ask your cloud-service provider about how many data centers will be storing your information. Essentially, the more locations your data is stored in means the more secure it will be. For example, if your data is only backed up to one data center, then it could be lost if a natural disaster strikes that single location. Full Disaster RecoveryFor ultimate protection, there?s the complete Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution. A solution like this backs up your data regularly throughout the day and stores files incrementally to a local device. This allows for only the files that are changed or edited to be backed up, instead of wasting time and resources backing up files that aren?t. Then, the BDR sends all of your data off to a data center for secure storage, so it can be accessed anytime you need it. Depending on the severity of the disaster, you can either restore directly from the device, pull files from the data center, or in the worst case scenario, have a new backup device sent overnight so you can set up an ad-hoc network to get you by while you figure out your next move. To help you better evaluate your data backup needs, consider the following questions: Do you have a policy and solution that allows you to routinely test your backup? Are email inboxes backed up? Are backups done automatically throughout the day? Do you backup all of your data, as opposed to some of it? Could you get by with JUST the data recovered from your backup? For assistance with any and all of your company?s data backup needs, give White Mountain IT Services a call today at […]

Remove Applications You Don?t UseDoes your business waste money on applications and programs that aren?t used very often? Sometimes you will find a program that better suits your needs and you?ll forget all about that which came before. Other times, the app may fall out of use simply because it?s no longer useful. Regardless of the reason, you might be spending money and precious network resources keeping them around. It?s your responsibility to uninstall unused software before it becomes a problem. Update the Applications You Actually UseOn the other hand, you want to make sure that the tools you use every day are working in tip-top shape. This includes applying patches and security updates that are issued by the software developers. This serves two purposes: to patch up holes in security, and to improve performance. Just make sure that your business?s legacy apps will still communicate with your network properly, as there are often complications with upgrading to new versions of older software. To assist you with this, you?ll want an experienced technician on hand who can help you make the best decisions for your infrastructure. Run Defrag SoftwareHave you ever wondered how your computer handles moving, saving, and deleting so many files? The answer is ?not well.? Whenever you perform any of these functions, bits and pieces of these files wind up scattered all across the hard drive, making it difficult for your PC to load files on demand. To resolve this problem, try defragging your hard drive. This will improve your PC?s performance by essentially organizing the pieces of your drive?s data to where they?re supposed to go. Keep in mind that defragging only applies to hard disc drives, not solid state drives. Also, newer versions of Windows will automatically defrag your hard drive when it?s not being used. If you don?t know how to defrag your computer, just reach out to us at White Mountain IT Services. Clean Out Your DustIf you don?t move something for a while, dust will collect on it. Computers are no different, but they stand to suffer a bit more from dust collection than your bookshelf at home. Dust collects near vents and fans, which affects air circulation and could trigger overheating. Use a can of compressed air to blow it away before it causes more trouble than expected. It?s also a best practice to take your keyboard and turn it upside-down and give it a shake to clear it of debris. Don?t Forget the InsidesIt?s easy to forget that the inside of your computer could be just as dusty as the outside. This is caused by your PC?s fans using the outside, dust-filled air to cool the machine. This buildup of dust can cause components to overheat and your computer to crash, which is why users shouldn?t ignore the insides of their computer. Before opening the case to clean out your computer, shut it down and disconnect it from the outlet. Take a can of compressed air and blow dust away from the internal components, but be careful not to touch any of them with your bare hands. In fact, it might just be best to leave the maintenance to professionals like those at White Mountain IT Services. We?re a low-risk, high-reward option for PC users who want to take advantage of proactive maintenance without doing it […]