5 Signs that your small business needs technology upgrades

Remember back when we had to wait minutes for our dial-up modems to connect us to the internet? Nowadays, we’re perpetually connected to it — no more waiting necessary. If everyone in your company had to revert to dial-ups, that’ll add up to hours of wasted production hours.

Sticking with old and inefficient tech can essentially have the same effect on your business, but how would you know it’s time for IT upgrades? Here are five signs you need to watch out for:

1. You’ve outgrown past capacities

This is a usually good problem to have because it means that your business is growing. Small firms often use free versions of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps. However, once they exceed a certain number of employees and/or need more advanced features, they’ll need to upgrade to paid versions with richer sets of features.

You’ll also need to scale up your tech when your customer base grows. For example, you might need to augment your team of customer service representatives with chatbots that can take FAQs off of your reps’ shoulders. This will enable your agents to take on the increase in complex customer queries — the type that only humans know how to answer.

Business growth also means the generation of more data, such as customer records, order information, and shipping details, among other things. Not only will you need more data storage, but also better data protection and enhanced backup systems.

2. Device repairs and upgrades are costing you more

Often, when your computer is still relatively new, replacing or upgrading worn-down parts is the cost-efficient way to go. However, as more time passes, replacement parts become harder to find and thus more expensive. Furthermore, operating systems and software require greater computing resources that old and obsolete computers don’t have. Such machines will run slow or hang, which leads to costly downtime. Whatever money you think you’re saving by not buying new devices will be quickly exceeded by the money you’ll lose in terms of productivity, paying customers, and opportunities to surpass your competition.

3. You’re missing out on energy cost savings

Beyond providing better performance, newer business computers also offer greater energy efficiency, which leads to substantial cost savings. Heck, some computers can be used by multiple end users. By using such powerful devices, you won’t need to allocate individual computers to each employee, but instead provide them with networked machines called thin clients that consume up to 50 times less electricity.

4. Your business processes have become more complex

Offering a wider array of goods and services, partnering up with other businesses, and expanding to new territories all lead to the adoption of more complex business processes. To illustrate, broadening product lines necessitates factoring in more data variables, such as the sourcing of new materials, construction of new factory machines, and creation of new production workflows. Partnering up with another business means setting up new accounts, communication lines, and protocols for data sharing and ensuring data security. Putting up offices in other countries means complying with varying laws on data storage and handling.

The more intricate your business processes become, the more you’ll need data systems across teams, departments, and business partners to be better integrated and streamlined for the sake of efficiency.

Most businesses take the piecemeal approach to building their IT systems. That is, they build upon their existing infrastructure by adding new tools that may fit their budget and fulfill their business requirements in the short term. However, these often introduce costly incompatibilities and inefficiencies in the long term. Partnering with a top-notch managed IT services provider like [company_short] to upgrade and correct your tech will reduce your costs down the line.

Furthermore, the more intricate your business processes become, the more you’ll need data systems across teams, departments, and business partners to be better integrated and streamlined for the sake of efficiency. Steps like manual data entry and records reconciliation must be automated to make processes faster and less prone to errors. You’ll also want your SaaS tools to work well with one another so that you’ll avoid redundant data processing steps and the formation of data silos. You can do all of this by upgrading your tech with enterprise resource planning in mind. Our IT specialists at [company_short] can help you out in that regard.

5. Your staff members are complaining about their devices

Last but not least, forcing your staff to keep using outmoded machines will frustrate them and cause them needless stress. Managers often underestimate how much their staff resent them whenever they expect a certain level of performance but don’t provide the tools that are sufficient for this purpose.

However, by providing your employees with new computers and adding just a few more minutes of productivity into their day, you’ll realize gains that will eventually pay for the cost of the machines. Not only that, but you’ll also show your staff that you value them and their contribution to the organization and want them to succeed in their roles. All of this will likely boost their morale and motivation to do their best work for the company.

For all of your tech upgrade needs, [company_short] has got you covered. Leave us a message or call us at 801-747-3200 today to learn more.

7 ways to make cybersecurity understandable for everyone in your organization

Most people use technology without ever understanding its underlying principles and mechanics. The average person would be hard-pressed to explain how a pulley reduces the effort required to lift heavy objects, how airplane wings generate lift, or how emails reach their recipients.

When it comes to IT, people know less about cybersecurity and how it keeps things that may stop them from using their computers and other tech tools at bay. Your staff may not be aware of how malware and other cyberthreats put their jobs and even their personal lives at risk. Therefore, it’ll be good for everyone on your payroll to understand how cybersecurity works so they can help keep your organization safe.

You can achieve this by educating your staff on cybersecurity best practices through regular training. The question is, how do you make cybersecurity understandable for your staff? Here are a few tips for you to start with.

A cyberattack on an entire organization may be at too big a scale for employees to grasp mentally, so it may be helpful to scale everything down to an individual — and personal — level.

1. Use everyday things or common knowledge to explain cybersecurity jargon and concepts

Ever wondered why website cookies are called such? It’s because computer memory space is likened to a jar, and pieces of a website’s information are kept there for later retrieval. IT is full of terminologies that reference everyday concepts to make them easier to grasp.

The same principle can be applied when explaining cybersecurity. For example, a distributed denial-of-service attack can be likened to a traffic jam, and ransomware can be likened to a hostage situation.

2. Show staff how devastating cyberthreats can be in their own lives

A cyberattack on an entire organization may be at too big a scale for employees to grasp mentally, so it may be helpful to scale everything down to an individual — and personal — level. For instance, you can show staff how hackers can use phishing campaigns to steal their online banking credentials and lock them out of their own hard-earned money.

When workers are shown how cybercrime can negatively affect their lives, they understand how it can ruin the business they work at. It also makes them appreciate the cybersecurity lessons more.

3. Provide cybersecurity training that’s specific to their jobs

The field of cybersecurity is ever-expanding, and no expert could ever master everything there is to know about it. Therefore, it’ll be too much to expect non-techies to grasp countless concepts. Instead, you must limit cybersecurity training to topics related to the jobs your employees do and the tech they use to accomplish these.

If email is the only program a worker uses, then that worker’s training ought to be focused on email-related cybersecurity topics, such as business email compromise. However, someone who manages on-premises servers will require more in-depth training.

4. Build an archive that serves as everyone’s standardized reference

Certainly, one can Google cybersecurity terms to learn more about these, but there may be multiple sources that aren’t consistent with one another. Creating a compendium of knowledge for your company not only makes information easier to find, but it also helps prevent confusion because everyone has one source of truth.

5. Run simulations of cyberattacks

Concepts taught in a classroom setting may remain difficult to understand and retain, but experiencing a cyberattack, even a simulated one, may help ingrain lessons more deeply into the trainees’ minds. Through simulations, they can practice executing protocols for reporting ongoing web exploits. They’d also know to disconnect their computers from the company network and boot data backups when they’ve been hit with ransomware.

6. Install a cybersecurity culture advocate in every department

If you’re lucky to have cybersecurity enthusiasts in your roster, then it’ll pay to appoint one for every department. They can be a readily available resource in case cybersecurity questions or issues arise. Furthermore, since they belong in those departments, the advocates are familiar with the context behind their teammates’ concerns. Because of this, they’ll be able to address such concerns in a manner that their audience will more easily understand.

7. Carve out time for staff to teach refresher courses

One of the most effective ways to see if someone understood a lesson is by having them teach what they’ve learned to others. Therefore, when it comes time to refresh people’s minds on cybersecurity topics, let the trainer take a back seat and have trainees take over teaching. Also have them use the first three tips above for maximum effect. If the presenters fail at teaching their refresher course, that may indicate a lack of comprehension on their part, which is something the trainer can address later on.

Many businesses in Salt Lake City rely on [company_short] for all their cybersecurity needs. To learn more about how we can serve you, send us a message or call us at 801-747-3200 today.

Does my business need in-house servers, or should I migrate to the cloud?

When it comes to where you should keep your business apps and company data, you may use in-house servers, or you may migrate some or all of your apps and data to the cloud instead. Which one would be best for your small business? The answer is: it depends on what your business needs.

Check your business requirements

To arrive at something more definite, let’s take a look at which business requirements each option fulfills best — and where they may come up short.

In-house server

Allows you to set up your IT system the way you need it to be
If you have particular system requirements, a cloud service provider (CSP) might not be able to accommodate you. Owning your own infrastructure grants you total control over it.
Grants greater data privacy
By keeping critical data in an on-premises (on-prem) facility, you get to safeguard it more closely. When it comes to who may access your information, you don’t need to worry about CSPs and their clients. Because of this, firms in industries with strict data regulations deem in-house servers to be a good fit for their needs.
Data access is not reliant on internet connectivity
If your business is located in an area with few to no internet service providers, then in-house servers are your only viable option.
Requires considerable investment in machines, software licenses, and network infrastructure
You’ll also have to factor in power consumption costs, maintenance and repair costs, and the risk of obsolescence, among other concerns.
Requires physical space and in-house IT support
Your data capacity is dependent on the availability of physical space for server racks and closets on site. You may have to rent additional space to set up server rooms, and install the necessary devices for climate control, access, and security monitoring. Additionally, you’ll need to employ full-time IT staff to take care of your machines.
Data is vulnerable to disasters such as fires and flash floods
Whatever emergency situation befalls your office will likely affect the servers you keep there. You’ll need to set up a process for taking backups off site to prevent complete data loss during an adverse event.

Cloud services

Guarantees high levels of uptime
Web-based businesses have less risk of downtime due to 24/7 monitoring and other CSP protocols.
Provides greater scalability
Unlike on-prem solutions that have capacity constraints due to limited office space, the cloud lets clients increase or decrease the amount of IT resources they use as needed.
Data backups are less vulnerable to disasters
Natural calamities and man-made disasters that affect your office are likely not to reach off-site data backups. Additionally, CSPs can help facilitate business continuity and disaster recovery efforts to minimize downtime.
Uptime guarantees and other added-value cloud services increase costs
Firms that don’t need high levels of uptime may end up overpaying for cloud services.
Greater risk of overspending
Cloud resource management mistakes, such as provisioning too many resources when these are not yet needed, can easily lead to overspending on the cloud. Fortunately, managed IT services providers like [company_short] can help you handle your cloud.
Cloud service is reliant on internet connectivity
If you or your CSP lose internet access, then you’ll lose access to your data. However, this risk can be mitigated by having backup internet service providers.

Check what other businesses are doing

Another way to guide your decision-making is by looking at which option other companies are going for. Retail and B2B transaction data provider NPD noted that from January to May 2021, more companies invested in the cloud than in on-premises solutions. NPD determined this by tracking companies’ software purchases: year-over-year growth for B2B software for the cloud was 12%, whereas growth for on-prem was 6%. In 2020, Deloitte observed that while companies will continue to opt for a hybrid cloud model — i.e., one in which a company uses a mix of public and private clouds and also retains some on-prem capabilities — migration to the cloud is accelerating.

This is happening partly because businesses are learning from their past mistakes and are becoming better cloud users. Here are five things that they’re doing when migrating and adopting the cloud:

1. Shifting from public to private clouds

Private clouds may be more expensive than public ones, but data is safer and workloads run faster there. And when seeking technical support, private cloud clients don’t have to wait in line as long as public cloud tenants do.

2. Prioritizing security when developing cloud-based business apps

Oftentimes, moving to the cloud necessitates the creation of bespoke cloud-based apps to replace on-prem software. Initially, in their rush to migrate, developers prioritized functionality and patched vulnerabilities only after releasing their apps. This made for clunky security workarounds that failed to significantly reduce the risk of data breaches.

However, what used to be an afterthought in app development is now becoming a primary consideration. More and more developers are baking in security measures, such as access management and encryption in transit and at rest, from the very beginning of the development process.

3. Refraining from dumping data onto the cloud

In the early days of the cloud, it may have been cheap to store data there. Over time, however, retrieving the data back to on-prem servers has proved to be time-consuming and expensive. Now, companies are reserving cloud data storage for safety measures such as backups.

4. Using storage devices to transfer data to the cloud

The information superhighway is no longer sufficient to facilitate the backing up of vast volumes of data produced by enterprises to the cloud. This is why companies are now using migration appliances such as Google’s Transfer Appliance. The cloud service provider ships the appliance to where the data is. Once the data is saved on the appliance, the data owner then ships the device right back to the CSP, which will upload the data to the cloud.

5. Migrating workloads to the cloud, not non-backup data

Many regulations and privacy laws now limit where companies can store data. This, plus security concerns like man-in-the-middle attacks, makes storing data on premises the easier and less complicated choice.

However, since apps don’t need to be co-located with data, apps can reside in the cloud so that they can leverage its vast processing power.

Our IT experts at NetWize can help you design the IT infrastructure that fits your business best. Leave us a message or call us at 801-747-3200 today to learn more.

What is a security operations center, and does your business need one?

This has been said before, but it bears repeating: IT is a tool that bolsters the capabilities of an organization. Take a chatbot as an example. Unlike a human agent who can only respond to clients one at a time, a chatbot can take on hundreds of clients simultaneously. Additionally, it doesn’t need to take breaks, doesn’t get mentally fatigued, and doesn’t need benefits.

Indeed, IT increases productivity, but the converse is also true: productivity crashes when your IT systems become dysfunctional due to malware and other cyberattacks. Not only that, but sensitive data, such as customer information and proprietary company intellectual property, can be stolen. In short, you need to protect your IT systems if you want your Salt Lake City business to survive and thrive. One effective solution is to have your own security operations center or SOC.

What is a security operations center?

A SOC is an in-house facility that contains a comprehensive set of IT security resources that include the following:

Information security (infosec) team
Comprising security engineers, analysts, and managers, this team is responsible for continuously monitoring the company’s IT infrastructure for threats, analyzing systems for vulnerabilities, and preventing and responding to cybersecurity incidents. The infosec team is responsible for reporting everything from potential threat discoveries to actual hacking campaigns. If and when cybersecurity incidents do occur, the team is also responsible for providing technical support to affected parties, be they your staff, business partners, or customers.
Security information and event management (SIEM) solution
This contains tools that enable the infosec team to establish and implement security rules.
Intrusion detection systems (IDS)
These are signature-based tools that inspect network traffic for malicious payloads, helping your security team spot cyberattacks in the early stages. The shorter the time between threat detection and the security breach, the less downtime and damage your organization will suffer if ever the assault is actually launched.
Vulnerability assessment tools
The infosec team uses these to detect security holes that an attacker may exploit to infiltrate your IT systems. In addition to helping your team find gaps to close, these tools also help determine if your organization is compliant with data regulations and certification requirements.
User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA)
UEBA utilizes behavior modeling to create baselines that make aberrant actions (such as sudden data exfiltration being done by a staff member or a device like a router) more noticeable. This makes such actions easier to flag as potential security threats.
Digital forensics tools
These enable the infosec team to gather digital evidence that can be used in insurance claims and legal proceedings.
Cryptanalysis programs
These are used to break cryptographic systems employed in malware such as ransomware so that such malicious software are nullified.
Malware reverse engineering tools
These allow infosec engineers to analyze what a malware program does, discover the systems it impacts, and determine ways to thwart it.

It’s important to note that a SOC is not responsible for coming up with security strategies, developing security architecture, or installing security measures. As its name denotes, the SOC is the one that operates the company’s existing cybersecurity framework.

Why have a SOC? Isn’t having firewalls and antivirus software enough?

While having firewalls and antivirus software is important, these are not enough to defend against the most sophisticated cyberthreats. Furthermore, most cybercriminals take advantage of IT systems’ greatest vulnerability: human users. Cybersecurity tools on their own can’t match the ingenuity of human threat actors who prey upon human weaknesses, which is why such actors must be matched with human cybersecurity operatives.

Most cybercriminals take advantage of IT systems’ greatest vulnerability: human users. Cybersecurity tools on their own can’t match the ingenuity of human threat actors who prey upon human weaknesses.

Additionally, there’s so much threat intelligence coming from external sources like threat briefs, signature updates, news feeds, vulnerability alerts, and incident reports. You need a dedicated team that will keep up with ever-evolving cyberthreats.

A SOC is resource-intensive and requires significant investments to build and maintain. Fortunately, you don’t need to have a SOC in-house — instead, you can leverage Netwize’s outsourced SOC services. We’ve already built the SOC for you, so just send us a message or call us at 801-747-3200 today to learn more.

What you need to know about Windows 11

Windows 10 is arguably one of the most successful iterations of the Windows operating system (OS). However, Microsoft has never been one to rest on its laurels, which is why it will release Windows 11 this holiday season.

What can we expect from this version of the world’s leading OS? Read on to find out.

1. Windows 11 is a free upgrade for Windows 10

Software licenses aren’t cheap, so the cycle of old software losing support and new software being released has always been a concern for many users who feel that they’re being milked for their money. However, if you’re a Windows 10 user, there’s no need to fret because you can upgrade to 11 for free — provided your computer meets Windows 11’s minimum system requirements.

2. The new OS will feature new visuals

First of all, app icons on the taskbar will, by default, be centered instead of left-aligned, with icons for open and pinned apps appearing to the right of the Start button. This makes reaching that button with the mouse easier, since the user doesn’t have to go all the way down to the bottom left corner every time to do so. However, if you prefer to switch back to the classic left-aligned icon layout, you can do so.

Open windows will feature tightly rounded corners — visual cues that will help users differentiate one window from another. The windows will also feature semi-transparent backgrounds that allow the wallpaper beneath to be partially seen. This refreshing take on an old design is a boon for users who see their wallpapers as digital art.

3. Snap layouts will make setting windows on the screen easy

Windows users have long enjoyed the ability to manually change window dimensions. For added convenience, Windows 11 will let users choose between preset layouts so that apps will easily snap into the right size and onto the right place on the screen.

4. Each user will be able to use multiple virtual desktops

A single Windows 11 license can grant a user different workspaces in the form of virtual desktops (VDs). That is, one particular user may have two VDs — one for work and another for personal use.

To help differentiate between VDs, users can give each one a name. Users can also use different wallpapers and snap layouts so that they’ll have immediate visual cues as to which VD it is they’re using.

5. Widgets will make it easy to get snippets of info

Microsoft is bringing back desktop widgets, which are small apps that feature snippets of information like the weather or news. Widgets can also be tiny apps that let users perform quick functions like adding up numbers on the widget itself — i.e., without having to launch a new window. Users can pick their own widgets, or artificial intelligence can automatically populate widget panels by discerning users’ interests based on their browsing history in Microsoft Edge.

6. Microsoft Teams will be included

The free version of Teams — Microsoft’s popular video conferencing and chat app — will be integrated into Windows 11. By doing this, Microsoft hopes to break Teams’ image as purely a business product and crack the much larger consumer market.

The free version of Teams — Microsoft’s popular video conferencing and chat app — will be integrated into Windows 11.

7. Android apps will be downloadable

Android apps are normally for mobile devices, but now, users want to be able to use these apps on their desktops, too. This is because desktops have much larger screens and can let users avoid cumbersome touchscreen controls. Google did try to make their apps serviceable on Chrome OS, but the apps didn’t look as good or were glitchy. Windows users, on the other hand, had to rely on third-party Android emulators like BlueStacks and Andy.

Microsoft hopes to change this dynamic by teaming up with Amazon and Intel for their Windows 11 release. Users will be able to get apps from Amazon’s Android App Store, which will be added to the Microsoft Store. Downloaded apps will be usable on Windows 11, thanks to Intel’s “Bridge Technology,” which is presumed to be Microsoft’s authorized Android emulator for its new OS.

8. Gamers will gain a better playing experience

Via the Xbox app, video game players will be able play their Xbox games on their Windows 11-powered computer. Two features will vastly improve their experience: DirectStorage and Auto HDR (high dynamic range). DirectStorage prevents lag for games whose data packets are delivered to the graphics cards from storage. Auto HDR, on the other hand, significantly improves graphics quality over SDR (standard dynamic range) with enhanced brightness and a wider range of colors to make contrasting hues more pronounced.

9. OS performance will be better

Microsoft promises performance improvements, such as:

Faster wake-ups from sleep, sign-ins via Windows Hello, and web browsing
Enhanced security
Smaller and more efficient OS updates that will occur in the background
Greater energy efficiency that prolongs battery life
Higher-quality audio and haptic feedback for stylus
Improved voice typing functionality
Touch-optimized experience

Worried about shifting to Windows 11? Don’t fret — let our Microsoft experts at [company_short] help you out. Leave us a message or call us at 801-747-3200 today.

Going passwordless? Microsoft has the tools for your business

Scammers send countless spoofed emails that try to lure you to fake login pages and have you divulge your username and password. Hackers infect your business’s computers with keyloggers in the hopes of recording users’ account credentials. With so many cyberthreats gunning for your passwords, it won’t be surprising if you want to stop using passwords altogether — especially when Microsoft appears to have gotten tired of them as well.

Microsoft has introduced a couple of passwordless tools that users of their software can use to keep their data and their systems safe.

Before anything else, what does going passwordless mean?

Going passwordless means revamping your cybersecurity system so that your business will no longer have to rely on passwords to protect your data from unauthorized access and theft. Using passwords as part of your company’s security strategy actually inconveniences staff and users, as this demands the following from them:

Longer, more complex, and hard-to-remember passwords (which hackers can steal by phishing)
Password replacements every couple of months (which makes users tweak old passwords in a predictable or easy-to-guess way)
Password resets whenever they forget their passwords
Unique passwords for every account
Additional authentication steps (which makes the process of accessing accounts tedious)

In short, going passwordless means opting for cybersecurity tools that are both easier to use and more effective at keeping your company secure than password-based solutions.

Moreover, if you haven’t automated your password reset process yet, you’d know how expensive it is to have your IT team handle password reset requests. Going passwordless will therefore also mean cutting out costs related to maintaining password-centric security systems.

What passwordless tools does Microsoft have for their users?

As of this writing, Microsoft offers three types of passwordless tools, namely biometric scans, one-time passcodes (OTPs), and hardware security keys.

Biometrics

With biometrics, the user’s own unique characteristics become the keys for unlocking their accounts. Depending on the use case, you can opt for fingerprint scans, iris scans, and facial recognition. These promote ease of use while granting high degrees of security because people will literally always have such “keys” on their bodies, and these keys are very difficult to copy or steal.

Windows Hello, Microsoft’s tool for letting users gain quick and secure access to their Windows 10 devices, utilizes biometrics as a primary way to authenticate a user’s identity.

One-time passcodes

OTPs are security tokens generated by an authenticator app (such as Microsoft Authenticator) in the user’s smartphone and act as identity verification keys that grant that user access to their account. In this scenario, the smartphone is unlocked either by scanning the user’s fingerprint or entering a PIN code registered to and known only by that user. This makes the user’s possession of their device a marker of their identity. Therefore, when the user enters an OTP generated from that phone, they’re showing proof that it’s really them who are trying to get into their account.

Hardware security keys

The last type of passwordless tool offered by Microsoft is the hardware security key. These are literally like car keys or keys to your front door, but instead come in the form of hardware such as USB thumb drives or near-field communication smart cards. A user can have their credentials stored in the security keys so that they can then use these keys to open their Windows user account, online Microsoft accounts, and accounts associated with their Microsoft Edge browser.

While some applications will only require one authentication factor, the most secure passwordless systems utilize multifactor authentication, which requires at least two types of passwordless tools.

What tools you apply will depend on what you want to secure and how you want to secure it. To learn more about Microsoft’s passwordless options and which tools best suit your business’s needs, turn to our Microsoft experts at [company_short]. Get a free quote for your project or call us at 801-747-3200 today.

4 Ways Microsoft Azure can help your small business grow

Cloud computing allows businesses to outsource their IT — and Azure is essentially Microsoft’s version of IT-as-a-Service. That is, Microsoft Azure offers the following:

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) – Azure allows businesses to rent server storage, networking, and data centers instead of them having to purchase and install the required hardware and software themselves on-premises (on-prem).
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) – Azure has all the tools firms need to build and manage databases as well as their own applications.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) – Azure has a wide range of ready-to-use apps for data analytics, identity management, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and many more.

Microsoft Azure serves large enterprises all over the world, but this doesn’t mean that your small business in Salt Lake City can’t use it to grow. On the contrary, in 2014, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared that 40% of Azure revenue came from startups and independent software vendors. Here’s how you can leverage it for your business’s benefit.

1. Use Azure to avoid high spikes of CAPEX and opt for much flatter, more manageable OPEX

Much of the benefit to be gained from Azure lies in its IaaS. By leveraging Azure, new businesses don’t have to invest much in their own infrastructure while starting out. On the other hand, long-established businesses can integrate their existing infrastructure with Azure resources, provided that any and all significant compatibility issues are resolved or overcome.

Using Azure’s IaaS has many immediate benefits, namely:

Data storage that’s easy to manage – Data storage requirements for your apps and systems may fluctuate over time, and Azure allows you to scale as needed.
Cutting-edge cybersecurity protections – Microsoft’s cloud computing operations thwart 1.5 million attempts at compromising systems every day — and the company compiles what it learns from these attacks into its intelligent security graph to better defend end users.
Up-to-date compliance for federal and state law – Whatever data regulations your company must follow, trust Microsoft to enable you to comply with all of these.
Guaranteed at least 99.9% uptime – Uptime guarantees for different Azure services vary — see Azure’s Service Level Agreements Summary for more details.
Repairs, maintenance, updates, and upgrades – Azure takes care of all of these for you so you won’t have to worry about them anymore.

Much of the benefit to be gained from Azure lies in its IaaS. By leveraging Azure, new businesses don’t have to invest much in their own infrastructure while starting out.

Migrating on-prem systems to Azure is also an option, though do keep in mind that Azure may actually cost more than keeping your current infrastructure the way it is. However, the flexibility (i.e., scalability) that Azure provides may justify the extra cost, especially when it comes time to consider sunsetting aging on-prem IT assets. To figure out what’s best for your business, talk with our Azure specialists for a cost-benefit analysis.

2. Build, test, deploy, and manage your own apps using Azure’s PaaS

Tech startups rely on the Azure platform to build the next industry-disrupting service like Uber and Netflix, though that does not mean that the PaaS is limited to IT-centric businesses. A law firm may need a content management system that uses the latest AI-based cybersecurity tools to protect sensitive client information. Meanwhile, a manufacturer may need an app for monitoring factory equipment in real time using Internet of Things sensors.

Whatever custom app you need for your business, you can build, test, deploy, and manage it on Azure for free for 12 months, then just pay for the resources you use moving forward. And whenever Microsoft deploys a new tool during your trial period, you get immediate access to that tool as well.

3. Pay only for what you use, and get more value to boot

Pick and choose the Azure SaaS apps that make sense for your business. Easily cancel subscriptions for the ones you no longer need and subscribe to new ones your business needs as soon as these become available.

Moreover, Microsoft receives help queries and requests for new functionalities all the time. Microsoft developers accommodate popular requests and provide software updates to improve their services — all while maintaining current subscriber fees. This means that you get more value for your money over time.

4. Easily integrate Azure-hosted apps and tools with Microsoft 365 apps

Last but definitely not least, you can use Microsoft 365 SaaS tools to power up the apps you host and the tools you use on Azure. For example, Azure Blob Storage is a tool for scalable storing of unstructured data, and it can be integrated with Power BI so that you can derive insights from that data.

Microsoft Azure may just be the best cloud platform for your business. To learn more about how you can leverage Azure, schedule a consultation with our IT specialists at NetWize or call us at 801-747-3200 today.

Why your small business needs a professional IT consultant

If your small business in Salt Lake City is like most, then its core proposition is not delivering top-notch IT services. If this is the case, it’s still likely that some of your first purchases would have been computers, and installing Wi-Fi routers may have been among the most critical tasks of your office setup. In other words, IT has become an indispensable business necessity, and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that plan to grow create IT strategies to make this happen.

This makes sense, considering businesses make plans for everything else, be they for marketing and sales, manufacturing, or distribution. The question then becomes, “Who creates the IT strategies?” Here are seven reasons why a professional IT consultant is the best person for the job.

IT has become an indispensable business necessity, and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that plan to grow create IT strategies to make this happen.

1. A professional IT consultant is cost-effective

For non-IT startups, a full-time IT specialist will be too costly. The specialist’s salary will likely be too high, and they won’t accomplish much since funds will be allocated to functions that directly fulfill the business’s core proposition instead of IT-centered initiatives. On the other hand, a professional IT consultant’s fees will be commensurate with the value they provide.

2. A professional IT consultant provides custom-tailored IT services

The IT needs of an online store will be different from that of a brick-and-mortar one. The first store will likely need more digital marketing tools than the second, whereas the second will require on-premises security systems more than the first store ever will.

A professional IT consultant will be able to help determine your company’s needs and recommend projects that will address those needs.

3. Professional IT consultants often offer services that help implement their recommendations

Managed IT services providers or MSPs are able to put their money where their mouths are. They are composed of teams of specialists who share decades of diverse knowledge and experience between them, which is why they can solve problems that in-house IT teams can’t. Additionally, they help businesses leverage the latest and best tech into their operations to achieve greater efficiencies, competitive advantages, and significant business growth.

4. Top-notch IT consultants are able to take the long view

More than being able to address a business’s short-term needs, professional consultants can envision how IT will support the company’s mission-vision for the long haul. With this mindset, their first projects are aimed toward creating a solid foundation upon which the business can build and grow.

5. Expert IT consultants optimize IT investments

Torn between prolonging the life of your existing IT infrastructure or installing new tech? Professional consultants will provide you with sensible options that factor in present conditions as well as considerations for the foreseeable future.

For example, sunsetting Windows 7 PCs may now be a much easier decision to make than it was a few years ago, but the tough question is what do you replace them with? Will you bring staff back to their workstations post-COVID-19 and provide them with thin or zero clients? Or will you let team members continue to work remotely and issue them laptops instead? These are the types of questions your IT consultants can help answer for you.

6. A professional IT consultant can help keep your data secure

Cybersecurity is an ever-expanding field, and in-house IT specialists will likely have difficulty keeping up since they’re bogged down by day-to-day tasks. An external IT consultant specializing in cybersecurity keeps tabs on the latest cyberthreat developments and is therefore better equipped to maintain your data’s accessibility, integrity, and security.

7. Professional IT consultants can anticipate shifts in the tech industry

With a finger on the pulse of cutting-edge IT advancements, IT consultants can anticipate trends in business technologies and advise companies accordingly.

Case in point: the Biden administration has unveiled plans to install countless roadside charging stations, while the private sector is taking care of edge computing and 5G connectivity. All of this points to the near-foregone conclusion that self-driving electric vehicles will replace combustion engine-powered vehicles in a few decades.

Beyond this, the spread of edge computing and expansion of 5G networks may mean many disruptive shifts in business, such as the increased use of land-based robots or drones for last-mile deliveries. Households, shops, and offices will have countless smart devices that collect and process data — and businesses will vie for that data to know their customers and anticipate their needs better. There are likely more disruptive developments than these, and IT consultants are the ones most capable of imagining these disruptions — as well as how your business can take advantage of them.

Businesses of all sizes in Salt Lake City trust the IT expertise of NetWize. For unparalleled professional IT consulting and services, request a free consultation or call us at 801-747-3200 today.

5 Most crucial components to include in your data backup strategy

Unless your business is a lemonade stand, your organization relies on data to operate, and losing that data may mean permanently going out of business. This is why more and more businesses in Salt Lake City and across Utah are developing and implementing their own data backup strategies. While these strategies may differ based on the company and their situation, the most effective ones all contain five crucial components.

1. On-site backups

If you’re using on-premises servers and one or more of them turn into high-tech paperweights, then having backups on-site is good practice. You can restore data immediately, or at least at much faster rates than if you used cloud or off-site tape backups most of the time. However, don’t just put all your eggs in one basket, because if an adverse event (such as severe flooding) destroys both your servers and your on-site backups, then you’ll have nothing left. This is why you also need…

2. Off-site backups

In a way, these can be thought of as backups of backups because they’re there in case the on-site backups fail. Off-site backups can be stored in the cloud or in physical media such as tape.

How many on- and off-site backups are implemented in a particular backup strategy will be different from organization to organization. However, the IT industry’s baseline standard is the 3-2-1 backup strategy. It calls for:

At least three copies of your data (i.e., the original plus two copies)
Backups stored in two different media
At least one backup kept off-site

3. Backup schedule and rotation scheme

Not all types of data are created equal. For example, customer account information tends to remain the same, which means that it does not need to be backed up often. On the other hand, GPS coordinates of goods in transit may change in real time, which means that such data needs to be backed up frequently. This is because the data will lose relevance and usefulness the staler it gets.

First in, first out (FIFO) backup rotation scheme

It is standard practice to overwrite stale data to save on backup media such as tapes. Let us say that a tape can hold a day’s worth of backup data. Having ten tapes means having backup data ten days deep. For the eleventh and every subsequent day, the newest data and files are saved on the tape holding the oldest backup. Before being overwritten, old data may be archived.

Grandfather-father-son (GFS) backup rotation scheme

FIFO is efficient, but it is vulnerable to data loss. To illustrate, if a data error is included in your backup for the day, then unless the error is caught beforehand, there is a chance that all subsequent backups will eventually contain the error.

As a safeguard against this potential outcome, you need a rotation scheme that lets you have an old but pristine (i.e., uncompromised) backup. This is what GFS is for. In a GFS scheme, instead of just doing daily FIFO backups, you will also do weekly, monthly, or other FIFO backup cycles. This means that if backups from the shortest cycle are compromised, then you’ll have backups from the longer cycles to fall back on.

4. Backup testing

To ensure the reliability of your backups, they need to be tested regularly. They must be able to restore your data to the point that they allow you to resume critical components of your operations. With that said, the testing does not only check the viability of the backups themselves, but also how quick and effective your IT staff members are in performing data recovery.

Beyond regular testing, you also need to screen your backups for malware infections prior to using them. Using compromised backups is a no-no because doing so may result in further data contamination or loss down the line.

5. Data security controls

Wherever you store your backups, you need to ensure that these remain in pristine condition. This means that backup processes must follow strict protocols. To illustrate, most procedures entail disconnecting servers from the company network and the internet to prevent backups from being tainted with false data or highly infectious malware.

Additionally, you and your third-party backup service provider must utilize security personnel, video surveillance, security checkpoints, and other means of protecting servers and other devices. Furthermore, you need to ensure power availability via uninterruptible power supplies and the like.

Last but not least, if you’re using off-site backups to restore data, you must encrypt it during transit to counter man-in-the-middle attacks.

When it comes to data backup services in Salt Lake City, no one does it better than NetWize. To learn more about our managed backup services request for a free consultation or call us at 801-747-3200 today.

Cybersecurity: Always keep in mind its human component

Protecting hardware and software against cyber threats may require a lot of highly technical skills but it is fairly straightforward, considering how direct the causal relationships are between IT vulnerabilities and data breaches. To illustrate, if a zero-day vulnerability is discovered by information security (infosec) experts, developers must find a way to patch it before cybercriminals can exploit it.

Indeed, IT departments have countless hardware and software protection tools at their disposal, such as anti-malware programs and network firewalls. However, they must always keep in mind that their biggest vulnerability by far is the human user. This is primarily due to three reasons: people make mistakes, people can be lazy, and people may not feel that they are part of the organization’s cybersecurity efforts.

People are prone to making mistakes

Fraudsters take advantage of staff members’ weaknesses all the time. For example, a phisher may send employees a fake email saying that company accounts may have been compromised in a hacking campaign. The email will go on to say that account holders must log in and change their access credentials to keep their accounts accounts safe from takeovers. Out of sheer worry, some email recipients click on the link provided and arrive at a spoofed login page.

Unbeknownst to them, as soon as they submit their login details, they’re actually handing over their credentials to the phisher. That cybercriminal will then go to the real login page, sign in using the stolen credentials, then change the username and/or password to lock the original user out of the account. The hacker is then free to pose as the victim, roam around the company network, and steal as much data as they can get their hands on.

Organizations must always keep in mind that their biggest cybersecurity vulnerability by far is the human user.

Zero trust: A way to cover people’s fallibility

There are plenty of ways to fool people, so one way to manage this risk is by minimizing the consequences of staff members falling for fraudsters’ tricks. In a zero trust security model, the organization assumes that their network has already been infiltrated, which means that mere entry no longer signifies trustworthiness.

Therefore, users who enter the network are only granted access to the data and apps they need to accomplish their tasks. This means that if a hacker overtakes a marketer’s account, they won’t be able to dive into the accounting department’s drives and steal from their folders. Rather, the hacker will be limited to what the authentic user has access to.

Machine learning-powered tools

Another way to cover for people’s fallibility is by being smarter at nipping hacking instances in the bud. To illustrate, identity and access management (IAM) programs can now identify the IP addresses of the devices on which logins are made. Thus, if a user normally logs in from Salt Lake City but suddenly pops up at Melbourne, Australia, then the IAM program can flag that instance as suspicious.

Additionally, there are now many machine learning-powered network monitoring tools that can be trained to identify normal and innocuous behaviors over time. Once behavioral baselines are established, the tools can identify suspicious activities that the IT department must investigate.

People can be lazy

There are many small things that require the barest of efforts but staff members fail to do out of sheer laziness. For instance, they’ll forget to lock their computers when they leave their workstations. This lets unauthorized users take over the station, launch browsers, and open tabs for email and other accounts that the authentic user are signed into.

At other times, people just tend to use the most convenient methods available to them. They’ll use short and easy-to-crack passwords or reuse passwords for multiple accounts if they can. And even when they’re required to change their passwords regularly, they may just use a base phrase for all of their passwords, then add month and year to make them unique from one another. While this may look ingenious at first, it actually introduces predictability. That is, if a hacker gets a hold of an expired password, they can easily guess what the current one may be.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Require users to submit more proofs of identity

The most popular solution to the problem of passwords is tacking on more steps during the login process. One may be asked to submit a one-time passcode from an authenticator app, or they may be asked to have their fingerprint scanned. Considering how password-based systems are currently the most prevalent identity authentication tools today, building on top of these systems is intuitively the next logical step because developing and implementing entirely new systems requires much more effort.

Passwordless authentication

As previously mentioned, it’s easier to add extra steps to existing processes, but MFA runs counter to the frictionless login experience that users want. This is why new methods such as passwordless authentication methods have been introduced, such as hardware security tokens and advanced biometrics.

People feel they’re not a part of the company’s cybersecurity efforts

According to a 2014 study, staff members often see themselves as outside of an organization’s cybersecurity efforts and are therefore lazy about cybersecurity or tend to do things without the company’s information security in mind. Reversing this mindset requires overhauling corporate culture, which is no easy feat. Another study suggests that companies need to take these five steps to improve their infosec culture:

Pre-evaluation: Analyze existing infosec policies and determine how aware employees are of such policies and infosec as a whole.
Strategic planning: Set clear metrics and targets when creating an infosec awareness program.
Operative planning: Involve managers so that security awareness and training programs become a regular part of their responsibilities. They must strategize with IT experts so that infosec becomes integral to the company’s culture.
Implementation: The steps laid out during the prior stages are executed. Actual performance metrics are recorded during this stage.
Post-implementation evaluation: Actual metrics are compared against expected results or targets to see if the organization is on track and where they must improve their efforts. Henceforth, the process of evaluation, planning, and implementation becomes cyclical.

What we’ve shown you so far is just the tip of the cybersecurity iceberg, which is why countless organizations in Salt Lake City and beyond rely on NetWize for their infosec needs. Let our IT specialists take care of your company, too. Request a FREE consultation today or call us at 801-747-3200.