When a Business Should Retain IT Network Consultants

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IT network consultants help businesses implement the right resources to meet IT objectives, but it is difficult to know when to retain a consultant. Many people understand network requirements well enough to resolve basic problems, but the key is to prevent problems from occurring; and this is where retaining a consultant helps. If your business experiences one of the situations below, contacting an expert from a managed services provider is a good idea.

The Network Needs Remote Access

When businesses have employees in different locations, they need applications that are accessible remotely. In addition to allowing people at different locations to work on the same project, applications that are remotely accessible applications help companies save money. For example, instead of implementing an in-house project management system at every business location, a company may use a single, web-based system for all locations.

The Project Management System Needs an Upgrade

A project management system is seldom considered the key to a successful project, but few large-scale projects are successful without a dynamic system for sharing and organizing information. Some businesses attempt to use an open source system that is downloaded for free, but open source systems rarely offer the configurability businesses need for unique tracking requirements. The best systems are proprietary applications that are available from web-based software providers.

No Disaster Recovery Plan

A disaster recovery plan ensures that a company's IT system remains operational in the midst of a disaster. When a company's in-house system is destroyed, the plan provides the hardware and data backups necessary to restart the system until a permanent solution is implemented. Many companies go out of business after they experience a major data loss. A disaster recovery plan helps prevent this from happening.

Difficulty Deciding in Whether to Maintain a Legacy System

Legacy systems have a polarized reputation. On one hand, they save companies money by taking the place of a newer system. On the other hand, they can hold companies back technologically. The truth is that legacy systems are perfect for some companies, and imperfect for others. Because maintaining a legacy system saves money, a company should seek the advice of IT network consultants from amanaged services provider before the system is replaced.

Problems with the Budget

Any of the issues above could cause problems with the IT budget. Because most companies realize the need for upgrades before they realize the need to expand the budget, a conflict often develops between the need to remain within budget and the need for better support. A consultant helps businesses understand what makes the most sense for increasing the bottom line: expanding the budget, or economizing on system capacity.

Conclusion

Now more than ever before, the state of a company's IT network determines the health of its bottom line. With this mind, businesses should request the advice of IT network consultants from managed services provider when they encounter the situations above. Otherwise, the failure to meet IT needs could negatively affect their bottom line.

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Archiving Microsoft Exchange Server for 17a-4 - A Guide for FINRA Firms

Microsoft Exchange server is a popular in-house email system used by financial firms to manage their communications. It allows full control over email accounts, sharing of contacts, calendars and public folders. In addition, it is relatively inexpensive operate, so many companies choose Exchange as opposed to outsourcing their email to a third-party provider. However, FINRA members must be aware that, by default, it is not compliant. So an extra step must be taken to ensure specific compliance rules such as 17a-4 are achieved.

It is important that financial firms understand employees can easily delete current or historical messages off their Exchange server at any time, even if a firm performs regular backups messages can be removed between backup cycles. Also attempting to restore emails from previous backups is difficult, even for an experience technician. So, financial firms who use Microsoft Exchange as their in-house email solution need a method to ensure they are compliant with today's long-term email archiving and supervisory rules such as 17a-4.

The Forward and Store Method

The most effective method for FINRA firms to ensure full compliance of their in-house Microsoft Exchange server is with the forward and store method. This is a fool-proof method to achieve the demands of 17a-4 and makes sure emails are fully protected. It forwards a copy of all messages before they reach the Exchange server and stores them offsite in a compliant manner.

This means, emails are stored for seven years, on non-writable disk and made readily available to compliance officers for regular supervision or in the event of an audit. But best of all users are completely unaware of the process and prevented from delete message so firms are assured complete compliance with important data compliance regulation. This is critical for on-going supervision or in the event of an audit where regulator demand an electronic records request of historical messages.

Supervision and Retrieval of Email

Once all emails are being forward to the provider for archiving, it is important for compliance offices to be able to supervise the email archive for on-going auditing. This is usually done through a web based interface. However, several key features are needed:

Flagging of emails: Compliance officers need to able to prove to auditors that they are viewing emails and can add a "supervised" flag to emails.

Lexicon searches: The ability to perform full lexicon based searches of emails. This means any emails with specific words or partial words can be quickly found. It should also include the searching of attachments

On-the-fly Key word flagging: it is important that messages can be flagged based on a list of keys word on-the-fly, this means as emails flow through the archive are immediately flagged for non-compliant key words and the compliance officers is alerted

Download historical messages in a format required by FINRA: Historical emails message need to be search and downloadable in.eml format for regulators. This is an important aspect of rule 17a-4 and FINRA will ask for this during an electronic records request

Spam and Virus Filtering: To reduce the amount of emails and make supervision easier, spam and virus filtering should be included in the archiving service to reduce amount of emails to view and supervise

Email encryption: This should be part of the service to allow secure encrypted message

Failover: If the internal Exchange server goes down users should be able to access emails and continue to send and receive messages from a different location

Summary:

Financial firms who are using an internal Microsoft Exchange server for their email need to be aware that it is not compliant. And an extra step must be taken to ensure they meet the requirements of rule 17a-4. The forward and store method is the best way to ensure they properly archive and supervise emails. In addition, they need to be certain they can properly access their email archive for on-going auditing.

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Data Backup Considerations

Data is vital to modern businesses. Some say it's the life blood of a business. After all we live in the information age.

But do we all protect data and information to the best of our abilities? Do we ensure we can recover from its loss, corruption or theft?

In information security parlance are we properly protecting its CIA - Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability?

Most businesses take some steps to backup their data. This can be using traditional methods such as tape drives to newer techniques involving optical media, removable USB storage or even online backup solutions.

If you're not backing up your data then you should be. It's inexpensive and might just save your business one day.

But backing up your data is only half the story. Having a backup is meaningless if you can't recover your data in the event of an incident.

You need to test that you can restore your data on a regular and random basis. This exercises your solution and ensures it is actually doing what you expect of it.

Another consideration is the age and technology used. If your infrastructure, devices and backup software are more than a few years old you may have other problems should you experience a significant incident or disaster with your systems.

If your incident takes out your current infrastructure can you replace it to actually recover your backups?

Without compatible technology and software your data may be inaccessible without expensive and time consuming 3rd party services.

Then there are online solutions. There are many of them out there and they are fairly inexpensive but which one should you choose?

Depending on the data and the legal or regulatory requirements you may need to think very carefully. Your data may fall under one jurisdiction while it's residing on your servers and PCs in your office but whose jurisdiction is it under the control of on the backup storage? What are their data protection, privacy and security laws like?

Another important consideration is whether the service you're looking at complies with your local Data Protection legislation and safe harbour provisions? If it doesn't and you are storing personally identifiable information (PII) you could find yourself or your company in court should something go wrong.

Finally, you need to identify if the data will be stored encrypted in a way where only you can access it. Otherwise there is always the potential that the staff of the service provider or data centre hosting company can access your data without your permission.

These are all things you need to consider when selecting a backup solution. It isn't a simple choice based on price so think carefully and ask the questions above. They might just stop you going out of business.

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Disaster Recovery for Businesses: Frequently Asked Questions

Disaster recovery services help businesses sustain the IT network in the midst of disasters such as fires and floods. At a time when the IT network is a lifeline for revenue production, the importance of having a disaster recovery plan cannot be underscored. If your business is without a recovery plan, and you need information about getting one, the answers below will help:

Does one still need a plan if the business's data is backed up offsite?

Backing up data offsite is one part of a recovery plan, but it is not the only part. A business also needs temporary hardware to restart the network, and may need a temporary place to station the hardware. A provider of recovery services ensures a company has everything it needs to restart the network within a matter of hours.

How is the plan created?

The plan is created based on the unique needs of a company. While most companies have similar needs, the nature and extent of the needs vary by company. For example, a small company that needs minimal hardware replacement may not need a temporary place of operation, and a company that delivers web-based services may need a different level of hardware support than a company whose services are delivered in the field.

Does the plan need to be altered or upgraded over time?

A disaster recovery plan is designed to meet the IT needs of a business in the midst of a disaster. If the IT needs of the business change, it may be necessary to alter the original disaster recovery services plan to ensure the business remains viable in the midst of a disaster.

How easy is it to change the scope of the plan?

Changing the scope of the plan with the service provider is easy. In most cases, the most difficult aspect of changing the plan involves demonstrating to company decision makers why the change is necessary.

How much does it cost to implement the plan?

The cost of implementing a plan is based on the IT needs of a business. For example, a business that needs a high level of hardware support would probably pay more for a plan than a business that needs a small supply of hardware. In most cases, a business should expect to make an investment that ranges from the five-figure mark to the low six-figure mark.

In the midst of a disaster, how would a company fare without a plan?

It depends on the nature of the company's IT needs. If the company's business data were crucial to sustaining its services, then it would be disastrous for the company not to have a plan in place. However, if the company had little dependence on marketing data, as is sometimes the case with local businesses, then not having a plan might be less traumatic.

Conclusion

Disaster recovery helps businesses sustain the IT network in the midst of disasters, which is essential for helping businesses stay profitable in the wake of potential natural catastrophes such as fires, floods, and earthquakes. To learn which plan is right for your business, contact a provider of disaster recovery services today.

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Disaster Recovery: What Businesses Need to Know

Imagine arriving to work and finding that your business's IT system was destroyed by a flood or a fire. If you did not have a disaster recovery plan in place, your business might very well never reopen. Alternatively, if it did, its chances of achieving the previous level of success would be minimal. Providers of disaster recovery services have a bevy of statistics that show why businesses should have a business continuity plan in place. For example:

Forty-three percent of companies that experience a major data loss do not reopen (DTI/Price Waterhouse Coopers)Eighty percent of companies that do not rebound from a data loss within one month are likely to go out of business in the near future (Bernstein Crisis Management)Fifty-one percent of companies are out of business within two years of experiencing a major data loss (University of Texas Center for Research on Information Systems)

These statistics show the importance of having a recovery plan, but what defines a good plan? While different businesses have different needs, most of them need the following things to recover the IT network in the midst of a catastrophe:

Recovered data from an offsite storage systemTemporary hardware for accessing the dataA Temporary location for stationing the hardwareTemporary staff for carrying out the plan

A provider of disaster recovery services will ensure these needs are met, but the customer must first go through the process for implementing the plan:

Building a governance structure - Proponents of the plan build support for its implementation by forming two committees: a working committee and an oversight committee, which are composed of key stakeholders and senior leaders, respectively.Selecting a partner - After the initiative for the plan is accepted, the company selects a provider of disaster recovery solutions to develop a detailed plan. If the plan is not accepted without the advice of a business continuity expert, the partner may serve as the expert. Developing a plan and strategy - Developing the plan begins with assessing how the loss of the IT system would affect the company, defining the length of time the company has to recuperate from the loss, and defining the goals of the recovery. Performing a Business Impact Analysis (BIA), developing Recovery Time Objectives (RTO), and developing Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) accomplish these goals. Executing and maintaining the plan - The plan is tested before it is implemented. If the recovery needs of the company change, the plan is changed as needed. To ensure the plan remains viable, it is reviewed at regular intervals.

These are the basic steps for implementing a recovery plan. A provider of such services will provide information that is more detailed.

Conclusion

A disaster recovery plan helps businesses operate in the midst of disasters that compromise the IT system. Without a plan in place, most businesses never fully come back from a major data loss - if they ever reopen their doors at all. To learn what solution is right for your business, contact a provider of disaster recovery services today.

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Discover the Importance of Data Recovery Software

Many long time computer users have lost personal files one way or another. The data could have been unimportant and easily replaced or it could have been quite valuable that caused some anxiety. The data loss might have been caused by file corruption due to software error or hardware malfunction.

To prevent such data loss, it is always advisable to save your files often while doing your work. If you are using an uninterruptible power supply, quickly save your work once a blackout occurs. If the software you are using has an option to always make backup copies, it is better to enable the feature before you start working. It is also highly recommended to periodically make backup copies of all your important files so that any lost data can be recovered even partially instead of repeating all your work from the very beginning.

But what do you do if your file becomes corrupted and that file contains valuable information? Is there a way to recover the file and its data? There is software to do just that and they are called data recovery software. When a file becomes corrupt, many times its header or table of content is the one section that is damaged. The data might still be there and it can be recovered. Data recovery software scans the file and attempts to recover the header and if successful, the file can be accessible again. If on the other hand, part of the data has been destroyed and the header is still intact, the data in the file can still be saved, albeit partially only. Even if not all of the data was restored, the resulting file is good enough to continue working with it instead of starting from scratch.

One of the dreaded scenarios is where our hard drive gets corrupted and becomes inaccessible. The drive might still be functional, but for some reason Windows cannot access the data. This symptom points to a corrupted file system table. All data may still be intact, but the table used to access the files become corrupted. In order to recover the data, another drive of the same size or bigger must be connected to the computer. The data recover software is run and all recoverable data is copied to the new hard drive. This kind of recovery takes a long time especially if the hard drive size is large.

The most difficult to recover is data from a failing or completely dead drive. Most failing hard drives give a loud clicking or scratching noise. A dead drive on the other hand cannot be detected by the computer hardware and therefore inaccessible from Windows. Any diagnostic software is useless because it will not be able to find the it. Data recovery in this kind of situation requires special equipment and technical skills. The process will be too expensive and out of reach for ordinary computer users. For companies that can afford the service, data recovery is still possible, but not guaranteed.

These days in the computing environment data is king. All other parts of the computer such as hardware and software can be replaced. However, data cannot be replaced in many cases. Data corruption or hard drive failures are cases where we see the importance of data recovery software.

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Is There a Business Case for Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is, and has been a hot topic for some time now, but it's nothing new, so why all the fuss? Studies suggest that the majority of all data is inactive and unstructured, yet many businesses and organisations still pay to host all of their data onsite - an expensive, and potentially risky option.

Cloud computing is seen as a way of enabling businesses to do more for less; it frees up IT departments' time and significantly increases data security and accessibility, all for a lower cost than traditional onsite data management.

Shift focus

By outsourcing data management, IT departments are freed up, as they no longer have the laborious tasks of updating servers and dealing with associated data access issues. More time allows IT professionals to concentrate on innovation and driving their business forward. By utilising cloud technology, even the biggest corporations can operate with only a handful of IT staff.

Cost benefits

Cloud computing offers a number of associated cost benefits, including:

Equipment purchase - The costs associated with purchasing the equipment required to house and protect data can be eye-wateringly expensive, even for the largest of corporations. By utilising a service provider's hosted virtual servers (or colocating your own physical servers in a service provider's data centre) costs are significantly reduced.

Maintenance and upgrade - As well as the initial investment of onsite equipment, the ongoing management and upgrade requirements present additional expense, as does the need for staff required to manage it. A cloud service provider will handle all the associated costs of upgrades, managing the environment and so on. Not only does this present a business with immediate savings, it also allows for a much clearer budget certainty.

Budget certainty - With the service provider providing the infrastructure, a business will enjoy a low capital outlay and predictable monthly costs. Most services operate on a monthly plan, offering a company a flexible "pay-as-you-grow, save-if-you-shrink" model. This allows businesses to forecast technology costs clearly, much like other utilities, such as gas, water and electricity. It also ensures that no money is wasted on excess technology or storage, that may be surplus to requirements.

Energy usage - By centralising business systems and running applications on a virtual platform, huge power savings can be made. As fuel costs and carbon tax continue to escalate, there's no better time to embrace cloud computing.

Data security

While cost is undoubtedly a big draw to cloud computing, the most important aspect is security; all the savings in the world will never make up for a loss of data. According to the National Office for Statistics, 43% of businesses never re-open after a site loss, while 93% go out of business within five years. Being prepared to deal with disaster is essential, and a cloud hosting provider will have all the infrastructure resilience to avoid such scenarios.

As you can see, the cloud is flexible, scalable, cost-effective and frees up IT departments from time-consuming maintenance. Embracing cloud computing alleviates capital expenditure, reduces operational expenditure and provides businesses with clear budget predictability. With so many benefits, it's easy to see why so many businesses are taking to the cloud.

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Luck Favors the Prepared!

Back years ago, before computers were created, people used paper as the only format of filing and handling data. Whether it was information on a person, a recipe in a cook book or an article about current events, paper was dominant. Today computers have taken over most of the information markets since we've entered the digital age. Being fast, reliable and dynamic in their use, people have not looked back. In business when people only had paper, there were archives and libraries for storing information. Today we have hard drives and servers. Though being fast and reliable, they can cause unforeseeable events. Peoples trust in computers can be misplaced at times leading them to believe in an infallible system where information will always be available to them and the click of a button.

Though there can be times where information can be lost in the blink of an eye and can typically grind their business to a halt. A lot of the times there is no back up plan, plan B or any contingencies what so ever. Utilizing protection for your information is paramount in today's ever changing environment. Whether you are subjected to a fire, a virus or accidental deletion, having a back up service is really the way to go.

Using Disaster Recovery as a Service will benefit you by putting your mind and business at ease, allowing you to concentrate on the more pressing issues. With their use of the best computer and networking architecture on offer, they can their skills to efficiently manage your data off site. One could ask "why can't we use tape as a backup service?" Well the question might be valid there is a reason disaster recovery services exist. The reason is that while tape still has a presence in the business industry, it is a slow and unreliable as a hard drive, they are still prone to the same environmental exposures as on site servers and hard drives.

One major issue would the distances between the site of operation and the site of the tape mainframes. This can lead to RTO issues and halt productivity greatly. With DRaaS Providers, we use the cloud as a form of backup creating a virtual network, a duplication network, and can be used whether your facility is in use or not. With cloud computer and cloud networks, disaster recovery times have great reduced allowing for much smaller downtimes in the business. With Disaster Recovery as a Service, there is a team of expert computer and network technicians that will be able to aid you in setting up this advanced and reliable service, if you have no trained staff in-house. These experts will do the job for you. Risk assessment is a service that can also be supplied to the business and to identify what potential hazards and risk are clear to the business. Detailing a disaster plan that will comfortably fuse the business strategy plan with a scheme that will safeguard against avoidable catastrophic scenarios. Whether or not you think your business is safe, looking into Disaster Recovery as a Service will put your mind at ease and safeguard your data. Luck favors the prepared!

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Signs a Business Needs IT Consulting Services

When a business experiences an IT problem, its principals often turn to the Internet for help, but at a time when IT advice is offered in thousands of blogs and business websites, it is difficult to know what advice to trust. When the health of a business's network is essential to the health of its bottom line, IT consulting services should be used to address issues with the network. When a business experiences the situations below, a consultant from a managed services provider should be contacted for advice:

IT Investments that are Over Budget

Sometimes the need to retain a consultant is as obvious as businesses being over their budget with their IT investments. In some cases, the budget is simply too small for what the company needs, but a consultant often finds a way for the company to meet its needs for a lower price than seems possible. For businesses, the key is to seek advice during the planning phase and not when the budget is already in the red.

No Offsite Data Storage

Some businesses discover the true value of business data only after a major data loss. When a fire or a flood destroys the network, some businesses have no way to recover lost data for prospective clients, on competitors, the sales territory, etc. Storing data offsite prevents this from happening. According to research, most businesses never completely recover from a major data loss. Consequently, implementing an offsite storage system with the help of a managed services provider should be a top priority.

Potential to Reduce Staff

Web-based services make it possible for some companies to reduce staff. However, just because services are relocated offsite does not mean a company should immediately cut staff. In fact, when the data from offsite applications must be maintained onsite, the need for staff could increase. Before it assumes that web-based services reduce the need for in-house staff, a company should take advantage of IT consulting services.

Plan to Implement a New Network

When the needs of its network change drastically, a business may need an entirely new IT infrastructure. In most cases, however, network requirements tend to evolve gradually, allowing a business to upgrade components over time. If your business must upgrade its network, seek expert advice to find out exactly what needs to be upgraded. Otherwise, you could overspend by replacing more components than you need to.

No Disaster Recovery Plan

A disaster recovery plan helps businesses stay in business in the wake of a disaster such as a fire or a flood. Without a plan in place, a business may have no way of accessing or retaining its marketing and proprietary data for products or services. A recovery pan helps keep this from happening by supplying the data and hardware a business needs to maintain its network during a disaster.

Conclusion

When they experience the situations above, companies should receive IT consulting services before they make a final decision. For more information about the value of IT consultation, contact amanaged services provider today.

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When a Business Should Retain IT Network Consultants

IT network consultants help businesses implement the right resources to meet IT objectives, but it is difficult to know when to retain a consultant. Many people understand network requirements well enough to resolve basic problems, but the key is to prevent problems from occurring; and this is where retaining a consultant helps. If your business experiences one of the situations below, contacting an expert from a managed services provider is a good idea.

The Network Needs Remote Access

When businesses have employees in different locations, they need applications that are accessible remotely. In addition to allowing people at different locations to work on the same project, applications that are remotely accessible applications help companies save money. For example, instead of implementing an in-house project management system at every business location, a company may use a single, web-based system for all locations.

The Project Management System Needs an Upgrade

A project management system is seldom considered the key to a successful project, but few large-scale projects are successful without a dynamic system for sharing and organizing information. Some businesses attempt to use an open source system that is downloaded for free, but open source systems rarely offer the configurability businesses need for unique tracking requirements. The best systems are proprietary applications that are available from web-based software providers.

No Disaster Recovery Plan

A disaster recovery plan ensures that a company's IT system remains operational in the midst of a disaster. When a company's in-house system is destroyed, the plan provides the hardware and data backups necessary to restart the system until a permanent solution is implemented. Many companies go out of business after they experience a major data loss. A disaster recovery plan helps prevent this from happening.

Difficulty Deciding in Whether to Maintain a Legacy System

Legacy systems have a polarized reputation. On one hand, they save companies money by taking the place of a newer system. On the other hand, they can hold companies back technologically. The truth is that legacy systems are perfect for some companies, and imperfect for others. Because maintaining a legacy system saves money, a company should seek the advice of IT network consultants from amanaged services provider before the system is replaced.

Problems with the Budget

Any of the issues above could cause problems with the IT budget. Because most companies realize the need for upgrades before they realize the need to expand the budget, a conflict often develops between the need to remain within budget and the need for better support. A consultant helps businesses understand what makes the most sense for increasing the bottom line: expanding the budget, or economizing on system capacity.

Conclusion

Now more than ever before, the state of a company's IT network determines the health of its bottom line. With this mind, businesses should request the advice of IT network consultants from managed services provider when they encounter the situations above. Otherwise, the failure to meet IT needs could negatively affect their bottom line.

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Remote Data Backup Services - Is It Essential?

If there is sudden failure in the hard disk of our computer, we would be left with a confused situation and it will also have an adverse effect on our day-to-day computer activities. Even in the case of business, this sudden hard disk failure can cause financial loss as well. The best way to protect your business from such a situation is to get the help of file recovery services. These services can protect the business from data loss by recovering the files lost due to sudden hard disk failure. To prevent businesses and individuals from loss of data, there are some companies offering backup services. This service is offered in different types like online backup services, remote data backup services, etc... and here is some information about remote data backup services:

One of the fundamental differences between a remote and an online service is that the former will store files in different geographical locations in such a way that if there is some natural disaster or power failure in one area, the records in the other area can be used. Here, the files are collected, compressed and encrypted before transmitting them to the remotely located server of the service provider. On the basis of the request made by computer owners, the files are backed up either on daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. This is to ensure that the data stored in distant location is updated regularly.

Different service providers implement different techniques for backing up of data and irrespective of the method, the main idea is to enable the users to access the data any time. The remote data backup service is offered with a wide range of features like ability to run on computers with any operating systems like Unix, Linux, Mac and Windows, easy to manage, troubleshoot and use, reliable and quick restoration, secured off site protection to the data. Above all, with this service, users can go for continuous data backup on a daily basis from a particular folder so as to ensure that their important files are kept updated in the distant location.

Some of the service providers are offering help desk support to clarify any doubts arising to the user through their support desk and they offer 30 day trial for their service in such a way that users can go for paid version if they are completely satisfied with the backup services offered.

Oakford Backup provides secure, remote online data backup for schools, further education establishments and business. It is proud to present a truly first class remote data backup services. Never worry about the safety of your valuable files and folders. For more details please visit us.

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