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A Virtual CIO Could Guide Your Small Business

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 For small or medium-sized businesses, information technology tasks can be pesky at best and completely overwhelming at worst. Even more difficult to manage is creating an overarching plan for a growing business’ equipment and security needs. Many small businesses grapple with their IT needs. In fact, more than a quarter of small businesses don’t employ any full time IT staff, let alone a Chief Information Officer who oversees a company’s IT services. 

Without a CIO how can a small business oversee their equipment and programs while ensuring the security of their vital data? A virtual CIO could be the answer. 

A vCIO — or third-party organization — provides all the strategic and experiential IT knowledge of a CIO while saving your business the cost of a full-time employee. Additionally, the vCIO coordinates and advises clients’ existing IT departments. They may also implement strategic IT goals, plan the IT budget, analyze and reorganize processes and facilitate hardware or software changes. 

Infomax’s vCIO services can provide many of the same services, providing clients with a roadmap for IT projects and strategic development as your company expands. Here are some of the benefits of working with a vCIO. 

Thorough Inspections 

Before getting started, many service providers like Infomax conduct network assessments and inventories of your current IT system. This helps pinpoint potential risks and prioritize projects. By evaluating technology today, providers can identify and implement the solutions to take you where you need to be tomorrow. 

Preparedness 

A vCIO helps your business implement the daily IT tasks that prepare you to meeting strategic goals. Those services include crafting an overall strategy, business continuity planning, network planning and integration and cloud computing. They also can coordinate between your business and vendors, providing vendor management and application selection. Additionally, your vCIOs can connect with your team daily, providing project management, license compliance tracking and reporting. 

An Expert Team 

The above services could be a staggering workload for one or two existing IT professionals within a small or medium-sized business. But a vCIO comes with a team of skilled professionals that make up a third-party provider’s staff. The team of experts help you make important technical decisions and find the best equipment and applications to fit your needs and budget. 

Cost Savings 

Leveraging vCIO services is just like having an in-house CIO who understands your vision for success. However, you don’t have to provide office space or pay full time salary and benefits like you would with a CIO. A vCIO also saves you money by uncovering and resolving issues that can escalate into expensive problems later. 

Ensure Business Continuity 

Business continuity planning balances real needs with financial realities. There may be resources that you can’t live without for an hour, but others that could be down for a day or two. A vCIO works with your business to determine what protection you should prioritize. 

To learn more about Infomax’s vCIO services, read more here and message us at InfomaxOffice.com to get started. 

How to Avoid an IT Wreck

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Before heading out on a road trip, most people make sure their car’s oil is changed and sufficiently filled, their brake pads are functioning properly and their tires aren’t bald. However, it’s just as important to perform regular maintenance on your car when you’re driving close to home. Starting the workday with a dead car battery is extremely inconvenient. Driving with warped brake rotors on the interstate during rush hour can be downright dangerous.

Most people understand the responsibilities and dangers that can come with driving a vehicle, but daily stress makes it easy to put off regular servicing. Your IT systems can suffer from the same negligence.

Small and medium-sized businesses likely have hundreds of devices that require regular maintenance — everything from computers, tablets, desk and mobile phones, servers, routers, printers, scanners, copiers and other machines.

Your office may perform full-scale system checks or data backups once a year or before beginning an ambitious project, but what do you do to ensure your equipment is functioning properly and securely on a regular basis? Can you or your employees recognize the signs of a breached or failing system?

We’ve got answers to your questions to keep irksome issues from turning into a complete wreck.

How do IT issues occur?

IT flareups are often the product of long-term issues that employees may not have recognized or that the company has not prioritized. It’s easy to see how more pressing work or more exciting projects can get in the way of fixing a system or device. If your office has only one or two IT employees on staff, small issues may fall through the cracks.

How can you keep an eye on your IT Services?

First, you need to set terms of reference for all employees. Make sure they understand how the systems and devices they use on a daily basis should work. Train employees to recognize common problems and provide a procedure to follow when issues occur. That way your employees aren’t driving around with the check engine light on for days without popping the hood of the vehicle or calling a mechanic.

Regular meetings are a great way to stay on top of your IT systems. Depending on your operations, a monthly meeting might be sufficient with all departments represented. The meetings should be streamlined, focusing on a plan of action to take care of the parts of your IT system that need regular maintenance — or ones that need special attention — until the next meeting.

How does managed IT help?

Third-party IT services providers, such as Infomax, supplement your existing IT team and allow your organization access to experts in various facets of IT. With Infomax’s iGuard Managed IT, clients know that more than 40 professionals with expert-level experience work for their business. Most importantly, managed IT provides business owners and employees peace of mind knowing that they have a team of professionals who are working proactively — not reactively — to keep your business safe from cyberthreats.

Managed IT providers work with businesses before breaches occur, periodically going over IT priorities. At Infomax, our iGuard Managed IT team even provides our clients with security awareness training to ensure employees are up to date on how to keep company data safe. iGuard Managed IT Services also entails regular data backups, ensuring that systems can be restored in the event of cyberattack, natural disaster or user error.

How does complete cloud computing keep your IT in line?

Infomax’s Complete Cloud Services — powered by Avatara — are similar to our managed IT services. However, our complete cloud services allow your company to completely hand your IT needs over to a team of experts.

It makes the most sense for businesses that don’t have full-time IT employees and want to staff to focus on their initiatives instead of pesky IT tasks. For instance, your mechanic wouldn’t expect you to rotate the tires on your vehicle while they change the oil.

With complete cloud services, our IT experts work even more proactively to protect and maintain your devices and IT systems. Additionally, all servers, storage and other infrastructure are moved to the cloud, represented as multiple secure data centers across the country. All computers and technological systems are hosted in the secured cloud, taking away the clutter of hardware your organization previously stored. Your business will never again need to buy new hardware, manage device upgrades or download new programs.

To learn more about how Infomax can help keep your IT systems running smoothly, contact us at 1-800-727-4629 or visit infomaxoffice.com/support/contact-us/.

Why Your Office Should Use DaaS

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Cloud computing provides many advantages to the workplace, including increased security, accessibility and cost savings. Desktop-as-a-Service, or DaaS, could change the way your office operates for the better. But what is it? We answer all your questions here.

What is DaaS?

DaaS is a type of cloud computing, or computing supported by multiple secured data centers. Information technology providers offer this virtual computing to businesses to project its workspace through a device.

What makes DaaS different?

With typical computing, data is stored on a business’ devices and local servers. Companies are saddled with maintaining expensive, cumbersome and vulnerable infrastructure on-site. DaaS computing is done through the cloud. That means all data, applications and even the desktop are stored in multiple geographically dispersed data centers.

Software programs allow users to access these desktops on laptops, desktop computers, tablets and cell phones, even if they are outside of the typical office space.

How does DaaS compare to VDI?

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, or VDI, is similar to DaaS. Both provide virtual desktops. However, DaaS is hosted through off-site servers and data centers, while VDI is hosted through local servers maintained by an IT team. That means organizations that use VDI to serve virtual desktops have to maintain and upgrade on-site servers, a labor-intensive and expensive process.

What are the benefits of DaaS?

Increased security: Because all computing is done through the cloud, all data is encrypted and regularly backed up. Data is easily recovered if a natural disaster, computer failure or cyberattack occurs. Access to the company desktop is always restricted, protecting the organization’s sensitive data if an employee damages, loses or has a laptop stolen.

Accessibility: No matter where your employees are working, they can access shared files and applications. DaaS makes remote working a breeze. Those inside the office also benefit from the cloud computing service because they’re not waiting on laggy applications and software on individual devices.

Cost savings: With DaaS through Infomax, you pay only for what you consume, avoiding those excessive monthly or annual fees you used to pay for benefits you never used. This means you can also scale the service up or down as your office expands or needs change. You’ll never be hit with upfront charges, bandwidth utilization fees or minimum term conditions.

Easy Management

Businesses avoid wasting time, money and space maintaining infrastructure through DaaS. By using a third-party IT provider, such as Infomax, the all management of DaaS is off your organization’s plate.

Learn more about Infomax’s DaaS services here.

2020 Trends in Technology and Cybersecurity

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In 2010, consumers were introduced to the iPad. Facebook was rising in popular culture with Twitter hot on its heels. The BlackBerry withered on the vine while more smartphones stormed the market. Americans were just beginning to consider online privacy concerns.

A decade later, tablets and smartphones have revolutionized business. Social media is a must-have platform for businesses to connect with consumers. Cybersecurity and privacy concerns reached a fever pitch in 2019.

There’s no doubt that the rapidly changing digital world will bring new opportunities and challenges in the next year. We predict 2020’s technology trends and how they’ll shape workplaces.

IoT

The Internet of Things — interconnected devices able to transfer data over a network — will grow in 2020. The IoT is already represented in the workplace through smart locks, thermostats, cameras, printers, tablets, smartphones and wearable devices to track travel or employee activity. As automation grows and companies add or upgrade equipment, it will be increasingly important for professionals to understand their devices’ interconnectivity and how to secure them from cyberattacks.

Automation and AI

Automation programs and artificial intelligence will have an even greater impact on the workforce in the coming years.

AI — machines mimicking human behavior by basing actions on past data — is already a fixture of Americans’ personal lives. Streaming services offer algorithmically generated suggestions based on past views, and social media sites use AI facial recognition software to suggest people users can tag in photos. In business, AI is already used to filter spam emails, detect fraudulent financial transactions and for a variety of other tasks.

Simply put, AI technology can accurately perform these tasks much faster than people can, leading decision-makers to favor labor-saving tools. AI is part of a larger automation trend that which could obliterate as many as 73 million jobs in America by 2030, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report. However, experts such as Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired magazine, believe the growth in AI technology will also create jobs as employees are needed to create and manage the technology. Throughout the next decade, the tech industry will see a rapid expansion in the need for workers trained in automation programs.

Outside of the job market, workers can find comfort in the fact that automation will eliminate pesky daily tasks that distract them from larger projects. Automation can help generate sales leads, maintain office equipment, analyze reports, organize data, process transactions and answer questions among other tasks.

Accessibility

American workers are constantly on the go, and many workplaces have employees who work remotely. More and more workplaces will require virtual private networks — VPNs — for employees who access the company network remotely.

Hosted communications systems are another way for employees to easily work on the go and connect with customers. The system allows a group of employees to collaboratively edit a document in real time and facilitate a video or phone chat for employees working in different areas. Cell phones connected to the office communications systems allow workers to answer calls outside of the office. If the call is sent to a voicemail, the message is transferred from the individual’s cell phone to the voicemail connected to the hosted communications system.

Cybersecurity

As the IoT expands and hackers become more adept at deploying cyberattacks across devices, cybersecurity threats will be more prevalent than ever. More small and medium businesses are facing the same cyberthreats as large corporations, according to Ponemon Institute’s 2018 State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium Size Businesses report.

For the report, researchers surveyed more than 1,000 small and medium businesses in the United States and the United Kingdom. The survey found that 67 percent of respondents — eight percent higher than in fiscal 2017 — reported facing a cyberattack in fiscal 2018. Additionally, 58 percent reported facing a data breach in fiscal 2018, an increase of four percent from 2017.

More businesses will recognize the dire need for advanced cybersecurity plans. Throughout 2020, leaders will devote more resources to security efforts. For comparison, Cyber Security Hub found that companies’ cybersecurity budgets increased 59 percent in the first half of 2019.

In 2019, 91.3 percent of the Cyber Security Hub respondents said the lack of trained talent was turning into a crisis.  As the workforce hurries to find employees skilled in cybersecurity, more organizations will turn to managed IT service providers, such as Infomax, to work with a ready-made team of cybersecurity experts.

To learn more about Infomax’s team of providers, message us or call 1-800-727-4629. We can help guide your workplace through the next decade.

How Managed IT Could Affect Iowa’s IT Skills Gap

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Iowa’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country, hovering at about 2.4 percent since July 2018. For employees, the low unemployment rate is a reprieve from the 7.3 percent high nearly a decade ago, according to the Iowa Workforce Development. The low rate also means employees have more job choices. Employers are not only must secure skilled employees to fill open positions, they’re tasked with retaining their employees and finding employees with the proper skillset to fill open positions.

Iowa’s information technology employers not only need highly trained employees, but they also need specialists in the various fields within the IT industry. Iowa has one of the lowest rates in the nation of people graduating from post-secondary computer and information technology-related programs, according to an Iowa State University Iowa Community Indicators Program report.

So what are employers to do if they can’t find employees with the proper IT background? If they do find skilled employees, how do employers keep them happy? Managed IT services could be the answer. Managed IT services allow companies to use third-party experts to handle or supplement their IT needs.

Small businesses who don’t have a full-time IT professional may rely on a tech savvy team member for their technology dilemmas. That solution — or lack thereof — takes an employee away from their daily work while also leaving the company’s preventive and responsive IT services severely lacking.

“With managed IT services, Infomax can address many different business sizes,” said Doug Postel, Infomax’s IT director. “On the smaller end, we can bring in expertise for a single monthly fee that would be less than employing a full-time IT professional.”

Medium-sized businesses may likely have one or two IT professionals for more employees than they can manage. Additionally, IT professionals may not have experience with certain types of software, hardware or other industry intricacies. Employers could spend years training IT professionals, only to have the employee overwhelmed with knowing a little bit about a lot of facets of IT.

 “You could exhaust that employee,” Doug said. “When you hire a person, they have a certain set of skills. With managed IT, we bring a whole team of experts who have individual knowledge on security, firewalls, antivirus programs, software and hardware.”

With Infomax’s iGuard Managed IT, companies gain access to Infomax’s IT help desk. The help desk frees up the business’ existing IT staff to focus on specific projects instead of pesky password updates and software license renewals. Infomax’s IT team also maintains a company’s software licensing, security and data backup and recovery so IT needs are preventive, not reactive.

Overall, managed IT services can provide a business with a full team of IT experts for one consolidated monthly fee. Managed IT could also give time back to existing IT employees, allowing them to develop in their career while taking away stress.

“IT can be overwhelming for one person,” Doug said. “We can provide that net around an employee, and it allows business owners to know they don’t have their all their eggs in one basket.”

To learn more about our iGuard Managed IT Services, contact us today.

How managed IT can change your business for the better

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When was the last time you or your employer focused on IT support for your company? Maybe you work at a small business that has fewer than 50 employees, none of which include a full-time information technology employee. Perhaps your IT staff is comprised of an unintentional IT team of one or two employees who happen to be tech savvy. Maybe you work at a medium-size company that outsources much of their IT services to multiple vendors: one for system firewalls, one for storage and data backup, another for phone systems and the list goes on. Isn’t it time for your business to be more intentional about your IT support in this world of complex technology?

Many small businesses have made the switched to managed IT services — IT support from a third party — such as ours that provide a variety of services and a team of IT experts. For many reasons, small and medium-sized businesses find managed IT services to be beneficial.

For one, businesses that use managed IT services gain access to a team of professionals who specialize in specific facets of IT, rather than one professional who has to be a jack of all trades. With Infomax’s iGuard Managed IT, clients know that more than 40 professionals with expert-level experiences work for their business. They also don’t have to worry about dealing with three or more vendors for all their IT support.

“What we can bring to the table is consolidation,” said Doug Postel, Infomax’s IT director. “We can give them security in knowing we can take care of the threat mitigation with firewalls, help with policies, phone systems, disaster recovery and backup.”

Another benefit of managed IT services is the cost effectiveness and predictability of expenses. Managed IT services that include a team of professionals often cost a company less than a full-time IT employee. Expenses are predictable because a company can choose their services and plan for the same costs each period. At Infomax, we also work with a company’s existing IT personnel.

“We can take care of that IT person and make sure they have the time and resources to focus on the objectives of the company. We really look at being able to build a support net around them,” Doug said. “We provide businesses IT for a predictable and manageable cost. We’re able to give the business owner peace of mind, and for one flat fee they know everything is taken care of.”

Most importantly, managed IT provides business owners and employees peace of mind knowing that they have a team of professionals who are working proactively — not reactively — to keep your business safe from cyberthreats. Managed IT staff work with businesses before breaches occur, periodically going over IT priorities. At Infomax, our iGuard Managed IT team even provides our clients with regular security awareness training to ensure employees are up to date on how to keep company data safe.

“For small businesses, we really become a one-stop-shop for their IT support,” Doug said. “For medium-sized businesses, we provide more necessary time and resources for their existing staff.”

If you are interested in managed IT services, contact us today.

On the Fence about Managed IT Services?

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As your company continues to grow, you might be wondering how to make better use out of your existing resources. Your expanding infrastructure demands updates in IT equipment, manpower, networks, and access. But should you expand your IT department to accommodate all of this growth or focus on the products and services your company provides? If IT isn’t your industry, it might be time to consider partnering with a Managed Services Provider (MSP) and utilizing managed IT services to relieve some of the burdens of expansion. Read more

How to Keep Your Network Safe

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Maintaining the security of your business’s IT network safe isn’t an easy feat. Securing your network is a process requiring time and dedication even for those entrenched in the IT world. Doing it well on top of your everyday tasks can be daunting at best and fatal for your business at worst. Moreover, the sophistication of today’s hackers leaves no one’s system—not even your home computer—safe from threats.

To avoid these ongoing threats, consider the following tips to keep your business network safe.

Use encryption – Data that is encrypted requires a key or password to decode information, making it the most effective way to secure your network. At the very least, ensure that your Internet network has Wi-Fi Protected Access II encryption, the most up-to-date protocol, to eliminate the likelihood of a breach.

Change access passwords – When considering how to keep your network safe, also consider how conspicuous your passwords are. Of course, certain team members—if not all of them—will need to know your accessibility password. However, administrative passwords, where applicable, should be restricted. Also, if you notice too many users on your network and your bandwidth begins to suffer, consider changing your password and reinforcing its confidentiality to employees with whom it is shared.

Scan your system regularly – The point of malware and spyware is for it to remain undetected on your network in order to do as much damage to your system as possible. So, unless you take the time to regularly look for these programs, you won’t be able to detect their presence. Scanning your system will unveil viruses and spyware on your network, while scanning the ports will inform you of any accessibility issues. It’s recommended to scan your network on a daily basis to ensure security. This is ideal for outsourcing, since a trusted IT partner—like Infomax—will ensure this gets done regularly, whereas in-house staff might push system checks to deal with pressing issues.

Choose a smart SSID – Simply put, the Service Set Identifier (SSID) is the name of your Wi-Fi connection. Remember that this name will appear on a list that is available to anyone attempting to find a Wi-Fi network to join within a certain physical distance of your company. Naming your network after your company in any way provides an easy way for hackers to identify your network. A simple name like Wireless1 or WIFI1 strips your SSID of any company-related identifiers, adding an easy layer of security to your network.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the weight of keeping your network safe or you’d like more information on protecting your IT systems, contact Infomax today!

Making the Best of a Bad Situation: Why Backup & Disaster Recovery Are Essential

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Have you taken the time to plan for the worst? Everyone likes to think they are immune from disastrous situations like fire, flood, or security breaches. But the truth is, without a backup and recovery plan, your business is at risk.

Backup and recovery is a crucial aspect of any company’s business model. It simply refers to strategically protecting your business documents and programs from any type of data loss, and developing a plan to retrieve or reconstitute files in the event they are lost or destroyed. Typically, backup and recovery focuses its plan around electronic databases that are networked across your organization.

Here are a few reasons to design and implement a solid backup and recovery system into your business plan ASAP.

Preemptive protection – A backup and disaster recovery strategy literally safeguards your livelihood. Would your business survive a week if a flood destroyed all of your computers, servers, and hardcopy documents? How would you get back on your feet? By working with a trusted IT provider, like Infomax, you can determine a plan that best fits your company’s needs before disaster strikes. That way, if and when some unforeseen disaster happens you’ll be able to get your business back up and running in a timely manner.

Guaranteed coverage – If you are put in the position of having to rely on your backup and recovery plan, you can lean on your services provider to get you up and running quickly while you deal with the other inevitable aspects of clean-up, like rethinking deadlines or contacting your insurance company. Whether you’re a mom-and-pop shop or enterprise-level business, your IT services provider will ensure that all aspects of your business are included in your backup and recovery plan. For example, Infomax will back up your data automatically through cloud computing every 15 minutes, guaranteeing you uninterrupted workflows in almost any emergency situation.

Peace of mind – Let’s face it, you’ve got enough to worry about. Your day-to-day tasks can be overwhelming enough, without having to consider how your data would survive a disaster. Working with an IT service provider to determine a plan that works for your business will ensure that you have one less thing to stress about, giving you peace of mind when it comes to your company’s data.

Interested in having your data backed up every 15 minutes? Contact Infomax today to get your backup and recovery plan started.

Why Make the Switch to Managed IT?

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Integrating managed IT services might seem like a complicated, painstaking process. But, on the contrary, making the switch to managed services provides your business access to specialized tools and services that can alleviate your overworked in-house IT staff. Managed IT maximizes your budget and provides your business with lasting benefits.

Integrating managed IT into your business is not only easy, but it also provides many lasting benefits, including:

  • Improving productivity. It’s actually much easier to improve productivity with managed IT than without it. Your typical lawyer would rather spend his or her days practicing law, rather than attempting to be IT professionals—the same goes for your IT developers and admin staff. By integrating managed services, your team can focus on core objectives. This means your business environment improves right alongside your bottom line.
  • Reducing risks. Don’t just install an off-the-shelf anti-virus software package and hope for the best. There are a lot of ways threats can enter your IT network, and it’s actually much easier to reduce security risks when you have a reputable IT vendor—like Infomax—that is able to safeguard your entire business network against incoming threats. With managed IT, you can rest assured your data and your network is thoroughly protected.
  • Lowering costs. Think managed IT services will hurt your pocketbook? Think again. There is a common misconception that in-house IT always saves money. However, considering how quickly things change in the world of technology. You need a dedicated team to stay up to date on all of the latest solutions, so your technology doesn’t become dated and obsolete. Your existing in-house IT staff is best suited to focus on profitable, business-building projects, rather than day-to-day IT management tasks.
  • Accessing enterprise capabilities. Relying on a few people to perform in-house IT services might seem like the easier solution, but imagine having access to enterprise-level expertise across all IT areas. This means that the advancements made by your IT vendor are yours to utilize, resulting in a better functioning network and a more efficient business.

To find out just how easy switching to managed services really is, contact Infomax today.