PICS ITech

Are You Being Too Cheap About Protecting This Aspect Of Your Business?

Think back to the last time your server went down or you weren’t able to get email; remember how frustrating that was? Or perhaps you experienced a virus or other data-erasing disaster. Remember how painful that was to resolve?

There are very few business activities that don’t heavily rely on your computer network, e-mail and data – and if any of these components stop working, business grinds to a screeching, frustrating halt. And with viruses and hackers becoming more sophisticated (and smart) about accessing your network, you simply cannot afford to NOT monitor the health and security of your network daily.

A network monitoring system is simply a way for a trained professional to watch over your computer network for slow or failing components, security breaches, and alarms that signify trouble is brewing. It can also detect signs that your backup is not working, that you’re running out of space on the server, or that a firewall is not functioning properly. Think of it like a security camera watching over your entire network 24/7/365.

So if network monitoring is SO important, why aren’t more small businesses INSISTING that their IT person put a system in place? One of the biggest reasons we see is lack of knowledge. The reality is that many businesses DO have their systems monitored for problems; and the bigger and more sophisticated the company, the more critical this becomes. But smaller businesses are often outsourcing their IT support and, unless their computer guy offers this service, they may not even know it exists.

The second reason is complacency; the belief is that, “If it isn’t broke, why fix it?” This is akin to saying, “We don’t need locks on our doors because we’ve never had our house burglarized.” The reason you HAVE the locks is to prevent your home or office from being robbed – and the reason you have network monitoring is to make sure you DON’T have problems.

Plus, simple monitoring is cheap. For a very small amount  per employee per month, you can have a basic monitoring system in place.

Want to know how healthy, secure and reliable your computer network is? Then call 609-702-3900 and we’ll give you 30-days of FREE network monitoring for your entire office so you can see firsthand just how secure and reliable your network is. There is no cost or obligation after the 30 days; and at the end, you’ll have a clear snapshot of:
•  The security of your network against viruses and hackers
•  How employees are using the Internet and e-mail
•  If your backups are actually working
•  Any looming problems in hardware malfunctions, space issues, reliability, etc.

Sign up here for 30 days of FREE NETWORK MONITORING for your office

A recent study discovered that, of companies experiencing a “major loss” of computer records, 43 percent never reopened,  51 percent closed within two years of the loss, and only 6 percent survived over the long-term.

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMB’s) in particular, these statistics suggest the necessity of crafting a Business Continuity Planning (BCP)strategy grounded in a robust data backup and recovery solution.

Unlike enterprises, many smaller companies cannot afford optimal in-house strategies and solutions in service of Business Continuity Planning (BCP). These companies are consequently at an elevated risk of being put out of business due to any major loss of data. Loss of data could mean emails lost, accounting data lost, patient or client files lost,company records lost, client legal records or orders lost and so on. This white paper evaluates the scope of BCP for smaller companies, by examining their challenges, range of existing solutions and their drawbacks. We’ll also discuss how our solution overcomes commonly faced challenges to offer the most comprehensive solution out in the marketplace.

Get Your Copy of "Secrets to Your Business' Survival"

A Natural Disaster, Server Crash, Virus Attack, Or Other Data-Erasing Catastrophe

Let’s face it…writing a disaster recovery plan is probably NOT one of your top New Year’s resolutions – but you can’t argue that it IS one of those “important, not urgent” action items that (unfortunately) gets pushed to the back burner.

That’s why I want to make it easy for you to finally get your “IT house” in order by giving you a Disaster Recovery, Security and Backup Audit (a $500 Value) – for FREE! At no charge we’ll come to your office and conduct a thorough audit to determine:

Since this is free, you have no good excuse not to do it now. If we don’t find any problems, you’ll at least have peace of mind that your network is secure and that you could recover quickly in the event of a disaster. But if we DO find a few loopholes, you’ll be able to fix them BEFORE you experience an unexpected catastrophe.

Get your Free Disaster Recovery, Security and Backup Audit

Can’t afford to be down for days? Then take heed of these 3 easy (but critical!) steps to make sure you never have to experience extended downtime, data loss or corruption:

1. Keep an on-site AND off-site copy of your data. You never want to rely solely on an on-site backup. If a fire, flood, natural disaster or burglary happens, you’re out of luck. Plus, it’s smart to have a backup of your backup – especially when it comes to your business’s data!

2. Throw your old tape-drive backups out the window! If you’re still using tape drive backups, you could be in for a HUGE surprise when you try to pull the data off of them. Tapes are highly volatile and have a failure rate of 100%. ALL tape drives fail at some point, and often without warning. Plus swapping tapes is a major pain! There are far easier and more reliable ways to back-up your data. If you want some suggestions, please call our office.

3. Image your server and workstations. Imaging your server and workstations is similar to taking a “snapshot” or “picture” of your hard drive. Not only does it make a copy of the information (data) that is stored on them, but it also makes a copy of all the software programs, personal settings, favorites, desktop icons, network settings, printer configurations and EVERYTHING exactly as it is in your current computer. This will enable you to be back up and running in 90 minutes versus days because rebuilding a server that has crashed, burned or been otherwise incapacitated takes time.

Download Business Continuity Planning Guide (PDF, 575KB)