Here, we?ll review what you need to address if you are to properly attend to each. Properly Preparing a Data Backup There are numerous considerations to keep in mind as you go about arranging a backup solution for your data. Have Data Handling Policies and a Scalable Solution – Your first order of business should be to determine: Which of your data needs to be backed up, how often backups will be taken, how these backups can be accessed, and what tools will enable backups to be taken. What data your business needs to retain, for how long, and in what format. Which data should be destroyed, when it will be destroyed, and how it will be destroyed. Unless you?re planning on going out of business in the near future for some reason, you need to keep in mind that your backup solution is going to need to hold an increasing amount of data as time passes. In light of this, you will want to be sure that you can efficiently scale your backup solution to maintain its cost-efficacy. Your Backup Needs to Fit Your Needs – Not only will your particular business and its data require certain things of your backup solution, best practices and good sense will demand that your backup meets certain criteria as well. In order to remain secure, you should maintain multiple copies of your backup, with some of those copies located in an off-site location. Many businesses keep to the 3-2-1 Rule, with at least three copies of their data, stored in at least two places, at least one of those places being accessed remotely. Some industries require more stringent regulations and requirements to be adhered to, which may influence your backup needs. Make sure you are familiar with any demands that your industry vertical imposes. Does Your Backup Solution Pass the Test? – If your backup solution isn?t confirmed to be effective before you need it, you might as well not have one. This means you will need to evaluate your backup by testing it periodically – before you?re stuck relying on it. Designing Your Disaster Recovery Strategy You will also need to take certain factors into account as you put together your disaster recovery strategy. Keep in mind, a disaster could be as simple as the power going out in your office, or a flood taking out your entire office. Know Who Needs to Know – When a disaster strikes, who is the first person that needs to be notified? The second? The third, and so on? In the midst of a disaster, it is important for company leadership to be engaged and taking charge so things don?t dissolve into chaos. Taking the time to determine who needs to be alerted should a disaster strike is a critical piece that can easily be overlooked. This kind of list should also be composed for your entire staff in order to keep them apprised. Know Which Job is Whose – On a related note, the midst of a disaster event is no time to be unsure of who is responsible for what during the recovery process. You need to ensure that everyone knows what their responsibilities are, as well as the responsibilities they will pick up if the person originally responsible is unavailable. Review […]
In addition to Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 will also reach the End of Support date on January 14th, 2020. Don?t look at this six-month window as an opportunity to wait until the last minute–that?s the last thing you should do. In fact, you need to take action now to upgrade away from Windows 7 and these other solutions, as it takes much longer than just a few weeks to work through this process the right way. What Does End of Support Mean? You may have noticed the messages on your device telling you that there are updates waiting to be installed. While they might be annoying, it?s entirely in your benefit to implement them, as without these updates your devices could become security hazards. In other words, these updates are essential to a healthy infrastructure, and with the End of Support coming soon, you will stop receiving them unless you take action to upgrade away from these solutions now. Why is This an Issue? Security updates are critical to patching up known security flaws, but patches are also meant to respond to operational deficiencies that might plague certain software solutions–including operating systems. Furthermore, hackers are waiting to take advantage of these security threats, inefficiencies, and vulnerabilities to make your life miserable. We can assure you that it?s in your best interest to nip this issue in the bud before it even becomes a problem. Besides, isn?t it better to take action now than wait until it?s too late to do so? You?ll save a considerable amount of time and resources by upgrading away from your soon-to-be obsolete software. It?s much better to upgrade away now than wait until you?re already experiencing security issues and inefficiencies, so don?t waste any more time. White Mountain IT Services can help your organization upgrade away from antiquated software solutions that will soon lose support. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
These days companies are investing more than ever in their cybersecurity and network security awareness programs. This investment is the result of the increasing number of phishing and other social engineering attacks that businesses from all over the world are dealing with. These efforts, while necessary in today?s climate, have seen marginal success, however. One survey found that around 60 percent of organizations that took part had been breached at some point over the previous two years. That?s three-in-every-five organizations having dealt with at least one instance of unauthorized access. Where do companies go wrong? After all, they spend a lot of time and resources trying to keep unwanted entities off of their network. A disconnect between IT and management can have something to do with it. In fact, one-third of the organizations surveyed suggested that CIOs (and the like) had no idea what software their company was running. That could be a big problem starting at the top. Developer Patches Have Been Consistently Ignored There are endless examples where developers have released a patch for their software, but they weren?t rolled out to the systems on a network, leaving a vulnerability that was eventually taken advantage off. WannaCry and NotPetya attacks from 2017-2018 were largely the result of companies not immediately patching what seemed like a minor software vulnerability. These organizations realized pretty quickly that there really are no minor software vulnerabilities. How Can Your Business Improve? There are a few things you can do to ensure that there are no arbitrary holes in your network. Create a Patch Management Policy Comprehensive patch management starts like many other forms of the business, with a plan. A patch management policy is effectively the ?no software left behind? program for your business. By outlining processes and who is responsible for carrying them out, everyone will know what to do, when it needs to be done, and how to go about it. A strong patch management platform will include identifying the right patches, implementing a formal patch schedule, deploying the patches, and making sure that the software that you?ve patched, is patched sufficiently. Test Your Systems There are several ways you can go about testing the patches that you make. To properly do this you need to first create a test environment; or, one that is a simulation of your company?s production environment. The easiest and most cost-effective way to do this is to use a virtual environment. It doesn?t have to be a spitting image of your work environment, but it should have some of the same component software on there. The goal, of course, is to replicate your production environment to test your software patches. After you are confident that your patch is satisfactory, you could just roll it out to all of the titles getting the patch. Start with a limited amount of production devices, test again, and then if all functions as expected roll it out company wide. While properly patching your solutions is serious business, you need to go about it in a collected way. Shooting from the hip (or in other words, just deploying the patch and forgetting it) could potentially create some problems with your other components or solutions. Instead, test new patches as much as you are able, and if you don?t have the […]
The opposite situation is one that is all too real. What happens if an end user experiences technical issues while they are trying to complete their tasks? Do they sit there and wait for it to be resolved, or do they actively try to solve the problem? Either way, the end result will be based on the same thing: whether or not they know how to address their technology troubles. Even if they wanted to, the computer problem is getting in the way, and this kind of frustration might be enough to derail their focus. Without the right help, they won?t be able to succeed. They might ask a coworker for help, or they might reach out to a manager, but there?s no guarantee that they will be able to help, as everyone has their own tasks to get to. Depending on how your business handles IT support, you might have a specific workflow for requesting IT assistance. Perhaps you would call your IT provider to have them walk you through the issue. Either way, it will involve approving a remote session or an on-site visit, authorizing a quote, and so on, just to get back to work. An employee who feels they aren?t doing a good job will simply get frustrated by this process, leading to a loss situation no matter what happens. Give Employees the Gift of a Help Desk Imagine if your employees didn?t have to go through the above process and instead could just pick up the phone or send an email to open a ticket describing their issues. Most of the time, tickets submitted in the mid-morning can be resolved by the time the submitter comes back from their lunch break. Bigger issues might be solved even faster, depending on how pressing they are. This gives your employees the power to report issues whenever they need to, giving them control over their day-to-day productivity. They will feel it?s more acceptable to ask for help, meaning they will be more likely to get their work done in a timely manner in the face of technology troubles. Does your business need help with technology troubles? Let our help desk help YOU out. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
Digital signage involves having digital displays, like televisions or monitors, in the office for specific tasks. You may have noticed them while you?re out and about, such as in fast food restaurants for displaying menus or in shopping locations to showcase the latest hot trends. Basically, it?s a digital screen that displays whatever you want it to–usually something important that you want visitors or onlookers to remember and keep in mind as they go about their business. You can use them to showcase specific information, like deadlines for projects and key performance indicators, or you can simply use them to add dynamic elements to your office. Showcase Important Information or Statistics Employees need to see certain announcements, and there?s no better place to make sure they see them than a big screen in a public location. You can also use monitors to showcase statistics, like sales numbers or a countdown to a specific date or time. Digital signage is ideal for organizations that want to keep their staff informed and involved with their performance. Digital signage is also useful for helping outsiders navigate the office. You can broadcast content to monitors that showcase where important locations, like conference rooms or bathrooms, are located. Display Upcoming Dates and Events If your organization is one that deals with deadlines on a regular basis, you can use digital signage to broadcast them to your workers to ensure that the knowledge spreads to anyone who sees the screen. It?s an easy way to draw attention to important times, dates, or events that need to be prepared for in the future. Monitor Goals More Effectively Employees can be held accountable through the use of displays, and it?s all thanks to the ability to display goals and other types of key performance indicators that can showcase who is at the top of their game. This might be able to foster some healthy competition between your business? employees, as they will be able to work knowing their performance can be seen by anyone and everyone in the office. It also provides them with an easy to read way of gauging their own success. If your business needs help with the setup and implementation of digital signage, White Mountain IT Services can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
