Cloud & Remote Monitoring Can Be the Difference Maker for SMBs

It’s a fast-paced world. Not only do people want things, they want things right now. This sometimes-unnerving need for instant satisfaction has only intensified now that we have Wi-Fi and mobile devices that keep us connected regardless of where we are, what we’re doing or the time of day. There is no longer any tolerance whatsoever for waiting. A business with a website that fails to load, or loads too slowly, will lose customers and leads to competitors. So what has your business done to address this need for constant accessibility and optimal uptime? Do you feel you’re doing enough to meet the demands and expectations of your customers, new business prospects and those who have just now found you on Google? If you’re a small-to-medium sized business owner, do you have confidence in your technology infrastructure? Can you say with certainty that your website, internal server, and mobile applications function smoothly, efficiently, and correctly? When your IT team leaves work to go live their lives, are you confident that things won’t go bump in the night? That you won’t be ringing their cell phone while they’re out having dinner with their family, or worse yet, sleeping? If you answer no to these questions, you may be one of the many small business owners who could benefit from cloud & remote monitoring. And you’ll be pleased to learn that cloud & remote monitoring can significantly improve all facets of your business – especially your service, productivity, reputation, and profitability. What is the Cloud? According to a study conducted by Wakefield Research, 54% of those questioned responded that they’ve never used cloud technology. However, the truth is that they’re in the cloud every day when they bank or shop online and send or receive email. Business owners, specifically non-tech savvy small business decision makers, are still apprehensive when it comes to moving their server and web monitoring services to the cloud. But FDR’s famous quote, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” definitely applies here. The cloud is nothing more than moving the storage and access of your data programs from a computer’s physical hard drive to another server hosted on the Internet There is nothing to fear. Benefits of Cloud & Remote Monitoring Obviously, these physical and virtual servers, their shared resources, and the applications they run on, must be monitored. This can be done from multiple remote locations and it’s called remote monitoring. Remote monitoring makes it easier to identify previously unseen patterns and potential problems within your infrastructure–issues that may be too difficult for any in-house support staff to detect. For instance, monitoring ensures that your site is delivering accurate page content and is meeting anticipated download speeds. It can detect unapproved changes, website tampering, and compromised data. Many businesses monitor their computer hardware for issues like failing hard drives, verifying their computers are up-to-date with security updates and patches, disk space, disk usage, antivirus status, and more. The continuous analyzing and testing of your network, website, and mobile applications can reduce downtime by as much as 80%. The speed and functionality of e-commerce transactions are also optimized. Additionally, cloud monitoring tests your email server at regular intervals, which minimizes failure deliveries and other issues pertaining to sending and receiving emails. Clearly, all of the above, along with the alerts that help identify and fix issues before they become catastrophes, make cloud monitoring an attractive way to gain insight into how end-users experience your site, while also enhancing their overall experience. Email us at sales@pennyriletech.com or use our contact form to see how Pennyrile Technologies can help your business today.

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How Does IT Downtime Affect Your Business

Why Hybrid Clouds are More Than Just Another Trend

Informative / Pennyrile Technologies

It should come as no surprise that many small to midsize business owners take pride in overseeing every aspect of their startup business. Naturally, many are apprehensive when it comes to surrendering control of their servers, their data, and their applications. The downside of this need for control is that operating and maintaining everything onsite can be time-consuming, super expensive, and it can make your business more vulnerable to failure related downtime and cyber threats. Hybrid Cloud Solutions Although everything can be stored in the cloud at a fraction of the cost, many aren’t responsive to the idea of sharing the infrastructure their technology runs on. The great thing about the cloud is it’s not an all or nothing thing. This is exactly why so many small to midsize businesses have turned to hybrid cloud solutions. Just as they name implies, hybrid cloud solutions are both on and off premises. It’s the best of both worlds. An entrepreneur can still control certain aspects of the business on-site, but simultaneously exploit the cloud’s cost effectiveness and overall scalability. For example, a local server can be housed and managed on-site but that server, or just specific files, can still be backed up in the cloud and stored far away off-site. This provides a partial disaster recovery solution in the event of a hurricane, flood, fire, or just a basic server crash. Here are some tips for developing your hybrid cloud strategy Honestly assess the current IT strategy – Over time, as your business grows and technology advances, your well-planned and neatly arranged IT infrastructure transforms into a disorganized mishmash of different servers and disconnected software and tools. View this almost as the spring-cleaning of a cluttered garage. What systems or applications are critical to your business right now and which ones no longer support your current or future business initiatives? Know what you want to keep close – Every business will be different in this regard. Certain companies will prefer keeping large files in-house, in a more controlled private cloud for easy access, but may be okay with having their emails out there in the cloud. See how others are leveraging a hybrid cloud environment – Services once only available to large enterprises are now available to SMBs. This presents an extraordinary opportunity to be more agile, flexible, and better suited for new business opportunities and growth. Remote monitoring, 24/7 support, and disaster recovery solutions can be easily integrated within a hybrid-computing environment – regardless of operating systems, server types or mobile devices used. Staged implementation – Be sure to plan your hybrid cloud strategy as a multi-year plan that is deployed in phases. For example, in the beginning, private controlled access to a public cloud service can be granted to internal application developers experimenting with a new business initiative. Or a new customer relations management SaaS (Software as a Service) application can be implemented. This is the year that even small or midsize enterprises are getting serious about cloud operations and a strategic mix of public cloud services and private cloud may make the transition easier. Email us at sales@pennyriletech.com or use our contact form to see how Pennyrile Technologies can help your business today.

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Why More SMBs are Turning to the Cloud to Reduce TCO

Informative / Pennyrile Technologies

Reducing Total Cost of Ownership with the Cloud More small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) seem to be taking the initiative to learn more about the benefits of the cloud. Determining why SMBs have this sudden keen interest in the cloud isn’t all that tricky. If you shouted, “Cost Savings!” in a room full of SMBs, you’d undoubtedly be the center of attention. And it seems as if this is also the motivating factor as to why more SMBs are looking into cloud-based solutions to reduce expenditures. Although it seems like an oxymoron to recommend investing in new technology to control costs, cloud-based solutions can be leveraged for a greater return on already inevitable operational expenses. By enhancing productivity and overall efficiency, the cloud could help spur business growth and profitability. Reasons more SMBs are Opening to Cloud-Based Solutions Here are few of the reasons more SMBs are opening up to cloud-based solutions… Containing Costs This is the big one. Every SMB wants their business to grow but that growth is accompanied by rising costs to maintain safe, reliable, and sustainable business technology.On-premise solutions are expensive. If you’re paying someone $60K a year to manage and monitor your technology, and most of their day is spent performing routine maintenance tasks or running to the aid of the intern who complains that something is running slow, are you really getting a return on that investment? You can do better and your on-site IT support can do more for you.The cost for cloud-based solutions have been found to be anywhere from 35% to 50% lower than with on-premise solutions. This is because the cloud can completely eliminate most infrastructure costs such as servers, databases, backup, operating systems, upgrades, migration, physical space, power and cooling, and associated in-house or third party staffing costs. Greater Flexibility No doubt you’ve been privy to an office Happy Hour conversation or two about Infrastructure-as-a-Service (Iaas) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Is that crickets we hear? Okay, well since you’re in the dark, the flexibility of the cloud makes it really attractive to SMBs. IaaS and PaaS are two increasingly popular cloud technologies because of their flexibility when it comes to big data analysis.IaaS technology is flexible as it allows an as needed rapid deployment of resources. Basically, fast expansion to accommodate growth. SMBs can pay accordingly for this on-demand usage, giving them the ability to access and analyze the kind of big data seen at larger enterprises without having to pay for necessary hardware capacity.PaaS technology gives SMBs the ability to affordably increase or decrease data storage capacity as needed.Of course, there must be a need for big data analysis that justifies the use of these technologies. Many SMBs may be just fine using Microsoft Excel for data analysis. Greater Mobility Many SMBs are turning to the cloud to provide remote employees with access to communications solutions. Through the cloud, remote workers can use smartphones, laptops, and notebooks to access documents and files for internal and external collaboration. Cloud Solutions Offered Pennyrile Technologies can help your business with many different cloud solutions. Some of the most common include: Migrating to Office 365 or Google Apps Server and Workstation Hosting Custom Application Hosting Cloud Storage Solutions Secure File Sharing Website Hosting As you can see, it’s understandable why the cloud is being seen by SMBs as the “great equalizer” to take their business to the next level and stay competitive with even the big dogs despite budget and staffing limitations. It also helps that cloud-monitoring services have simplified the monitoring and management of SMB cloud deployments, alleviating a lot of the fear about migrating to the cloud. Email us at sales@pennyriletech.com or use our contact form to see how Pennyrile Technologies can help your business today.

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How SMBs Can Utilize the Cloud To Build Their Business

Informative / Pennyrile Technologies

There has been a lot of talk lately about the cloud and its ability to put small to midsize businesses (SMBs) and startups on a level playing field with large global enterprises. Can this be substantiated or is it a load of trendy hype to push SMBs to cloud-based solutions? We’ve compiled this breakdown of how the cloud can be used to boost profitability. The Convenience Factor It once took smaller companies and startups weeks to launch and configure their own IT infrastructure. Doing so also required a ton of overhead costs. Today’s cloud technology provides the benefits of this very same infrastructure but on an as needed and on-demand basis. SMBs can build a technology infrastructure for themselves online in less than a minute. For example, a smaller agency that provides apps for its clients, can turn to a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) cloud provider. A PaaS provides companies an environment that enables them to more easily host and deploy apps. They do this by shielding developers from the hassles that come with the set up, configuration, and management of things like servers and databases. Without having to worry about things on the infrastructure side, the company and its application developers can focus on creating innovative apps that will generate business revenue. Once their server is online and available, they can launch instantly with a 1-click deployment of their application. Mission Critical Agility & Scalability In the tech industry, everyone must channel his or her inner Maverick and Goose* because there is a need… a need for speed. Speed is everything and agility is mission critical. The cloud’s rapid provisioning of computer resources can offer additional storage space in mere minutes rather than weeks. Having that kind of agility bodes particularly well for the scalability needs of SMBs. As business grows and the need to store more data increases, the cloud is flexible enough to resize your infrastructure on the fly and grow with you. The cost of cloud-based solutions is much more beneficial to SMBs than the cost of traditional shared or dedicated hosting plans. This eliminates the high overhead that comes with buying dedicated hardware and hiring staff to run the servers. Cloud technology has empowered SMBs by eliminating any need to make the same kind of costly upfront investments that large enterprise are able to incur. There is no longer a need for SMBs to spend thousands of dollars building out a massive infrastructure to support their big data applications. Better yet, backing up that big data is also inexpensive compared to traditional hosting solutions. * Top Gun, 1986, in case you were wondering Email us at sales@pennyriletech.com or use our contact form to see how Pennyrile Technologies can help your business today.

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The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Mobility and BYOD

Informative / Pennyrile Technologies

There are a lot of advantages to mobility in today’s workforce, but the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) movement has also brought its share of headaches as well. We live in a society where everyone must have the newest technology. We are inundated with ads reminding us that the smartphone or tablet we just bought a year ago is laughably outdated and inferior to the upgrade that just hit the market. People who have just bought the latest technology don’t want to have to set it aside to use a separate company-issued device. As a result, businesses are beginning to grant these employee-owned devices access to their file and email servers, databases, and applications. While this brings certain competitive advantages to employers, it naturally carries many risks, too. Let’s begin with the pros of BYOD… The Advantages of BYOD Greater Flexibility and Productivity Personal devices allow workers more flexibility, which in turn can increase productivity. Today’s employee isn’t restricted to their office workstation or cubicle. They can carry out job responsibilities from home, a coffee shop, their child’s dance recital, or while traveling. Reduced Costs Purchasing even the most basic Blackberry for an employee can cost a company $900+ per worker. Costs like that can be completely eliminated by adopting a BYOD policy where employees are required to use their own device. Happier Employees/Attractiveness to Job Seekers Recent studies have found that 44% of job seekers are attracted more to employers who are open to BYOD and occasional remote work. Beyond this hiring advantage over competition, it has been found that employees as a whole are generally happier using the devices they own and prefer for work purposes. Better Customer Service This goes hand and hand with more flexibility and productivity. Mobility allows employees to occasionally resolve or escalate urgent client issues outside of normal working hours, and clients remember that kind of response time. Disadvantages of BYOD Compromised Data Security Unfortunately, letting employees use their own smartphones, tablets, and laptops increases the likelihood of sensitive company or customer/client data being compromised. It is important for companies to establish a comprehensive mobile device security policy and never make any exceptions to it whatsoever. Really. No exceptions. Ever. Employee Privacy Many employees may oppose using their own devices for work, especially if it’s a company requirement that they aren’t reimbursed for. You have to remember that these are the same devices employees use to log into their Facebook and Twitter accounts or do their online banking. In this age of constant paranoia over big brother watching our every move, employees may be concerned that their employer will spy on them or access their personal passwords and information. Handling Employee Turnover Companies must consider how they will address the retrieval of company data and information from an employee’s device if the employee either quits or is fired. Some companies may require that employees only save or edit company files on their servers or use cloud-based sharing software like Dropbox to share and edit docs. The Importance of a Mobile Device Management Tool Obviously, businesses must keep track of all of the devices that access their server, applications, and data. Mobile Device Management helps enterprises centralize what is an otherwise chaotic hodgepodge of devices and operating systems. This ensures that all devices are configured, deployed, and properly monitored and managed. This is a smart way for businesses to embrace BYOD while securing data and applications across multiple devices. Email us at sales@pennyriletech.com or use our contact form to see how Pennyrile Technologies can help your business today.

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Addressing the Threat of Mobile Hacks

Informative / Pennyrile Technologies

More cyber criminals are targeting small-to-medium sized businesses. One reason for this is too many workplaces have insufficient bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies in place. Some have none at all. Although firms are generally more knowledgeable about network security risks than in years past, they still woefully underestimate the security vulnerabilities linked to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Protecting against mobile hacks is a real cause for concern since data breaches have the ability to put many already financially challenged SMBs out of business. If customer/client data has been breached, there could be potential litigation costs, and naturally, lost goodwill and an irreparable hit to brand or company reputation. Don’t Just Say You’re Worried About the Bad Guys… Deal With Them SMBs say they view network security as a major priority but their inaction when it comes to mobile devices paints a different picture. A recent study found that only 16% of SMBs have a mobility policy in place. Despite the fact that stolen devices are a major problem in today’s mobile workforce, only 37% of mobility policies enforced today have a clear protocol outlined for lost devices. Even more troubling is the fact that those firms who have implemented mobility policies have initiated plans with some very obvious flaws. Key components of a mobility policy such as personal device use, public Wi-Fi accessibility, and data transmission and storage are often omitted from many policies. Thankfully, most SMB cyber crimes can be avoided with a comprehensive mobility policy and the help of mobile endpoint mobile device management services. A Mobile Device Policy Is All About Acceptable/Unacceptable Behaviors Your initial mobility policy doesn’t have to be all encompassing. There should be room for modifications, as things will evolve over time. Start small by laying some basic usage ground rules, defining acceptable devices and protocols for setting passwords for devices and downloading third-party apps. Define what data belongs to the company and how it’s to be edited, saved, and shared. Be sure to enforce these policies and detail the repercussions for abuse to help protect against mobile hacks. What is Mobile Device Management? Mobile device management (MDM) is software that allows IT administrators to control, secure and enforce policies on smartphones, tablets and other endpoints. The intent of MDM is to optimize the functionality and security of mobile devices within the business while simultaneously protecting the corporate network. Features of Mobile Device Management Services MDM services are available at an affordable cost. These services help IT managers, administrators, and business owners identify and monitor the mobile devices accessing their network. This centralized management makes it easier to get each device configured for business access to securely share and update documents and content and more on the business network. Mobile Device Management proactively secures mobile devices by: Specifying password policy and enforcing encryption settings Detecting and restricting tampered devices Remotely locating, locking, and wiping out lost or stolen devices Removing corporate data from any system while leaving personal data intact Enabling real time diagnosis/resolution of device, user, or app issues It’s important to realize that no one is immune to cyber crime. The ability to identify and combat imminent threats is critical and SMBs must be proactive in implementing solid practices that accomplish just that. If your business needs help implementing mobile device management, give us a call or use our contact form and one of our staff will reach out to you and see how we can help secure your mobile devices.

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4 Things to Consider Before Jumping Into BYOD

Informative / Pennyrile Technologies

You’ve read it time and time again. “Bring Your Own Device” isn’t a trend, it’s the future. Workplaces, where companies let workers use their own devices for work purposes, are the new normal. What Is Bring Your Own Device BYOD Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) refers to the idea that employees should be allowed to use their personal devices to access company information. The main advantage of this approach is that it makes sure that the employee will always have his/her data available, even when he/she isn’t using the office computer. There are a few reasons why companies are beginning to allow this type of policy. First, many workers are already bringing their own laptops and smartphones to work. If employers don’t want them to do so, then they could simply ban these items from being brought into the workplace. Another benefit is that BYOD allows businesses to save money. Employees who bring their own technology usually won’t need IT support, and they’ll also avoid buying equipment for the business. However, there are some drawbacks to allowing this kind of policy. For example, it can make the job of the security team more difficult. This is because people may be accessing sensitive data that the employer would like to keep private. BYOD attracts new hires and lifts employee morale and productivity. But this doesn’t mean a small business owner should recklessly jump right into BYOD just because everyone else is doing it. There are a few drawbacks to bringing your phone into the office which you need to be aware of. BYOD Security The first issue relates to security. If you’re not careful then you could end up putting your entire business at risk. Data and network security concerns have to be thought out, defined, and addressed in a comprehensive BYOD policy. You need to make sure you take the time to educate your employees about it. When talking about IT security, employees are often the weakest link in a company. It’s important they know what they can and cannot do on their personal devices, why it matters, and what happens if the policy is broken. By implementing a BYOD policy, you can help protect against data breaches and cybersecurity threats. BYOD Cost of Support Most businesses salivate at the thought of the money saved by having employees participate in a BYOD program. With employees using their own devices for work, there is no need to shell out thousands of dollars for desktop PCs, smartphones, tablets, and laptops. While that’s undoubtedly a huge incentive, extra support costs must also be factored in. Chances are your employees aren’t necessarily tech savvy and will need help deploying applications and performing basic yet very necessary maintenance techniques. Unless you have a dedicated IT support team, which most SMBs do not have, you will need to turn to a Managed Service Provider (MSP) in your region for support. A MSP can provide specialized expertise and leverage Mobile Device Management (MDM) tools to keep your network infrastructure and business applications monitored, secured and fully optimized. Limited Number of Support Devices Obviously, you can’t accommodate EVERY employee-owned device. Limiting the types of devices accepted in your BYOD program will mitigate any need to pay for software or equipment upgrades for outdated devices and keep your infrastructure safer as a whole. It’s important to not be too exclusive, select a broad range of devices and their more recent releases to accommodate the varied preferences/tastes of your employees. BYOD Legal Risks Adopting BYOD at your workplaces will expose your company to more legal risks. Sensitive business or private client/customer data can potentially be exposed if devices are lost or stolen. The personal online habits of your employees can also increase your network’s vulnerability to viruses, phishing, or hacking schemes designed to steal such data. These increased legal risks are another reason why SMBs must take precautions such as working with an MSP that offers a solid MDM solution to ensure all employee devices are configured, deployed, managed and monitored in a manner that prioritizes data integrity and security. Ready to implement BYOD for your business? Contact us today for a free evaluation and see how Pennyrile Technologies can help your business today.

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A Smarter Approach to Mobile Device Management

Informative / Pennyrile Technologies

Mobile device management has become even more important now that more people today use personal mobile devices like smartphones and tablets for business purposes. Such devices, coupled with greater Wi-Fi accessibility and cloud services, have empowered us with the ability to access data and do business from practically anywhere at anytime. Needless to say, many small-to-medium sized business owners have embraced the BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) revolution. The benefits are obvious; increased employee productivity, enhanced services to customers/clients, and better overall customer and employee satisfaction. But what about the potential consequences associated with this mobility revolution? Are small business owners doing enough preemptive planning to address potential risks that could arise with the use of BYOD devices? Are they using mobile device management to help secure the devices and their IT infrastructure? What is BYOD? BYOD (bring your own device) in IT terms, refers to a policy that allows employees use personal devices to connect to companies network, access business applications, and company data. Personal devices may include smartphones, tablets, or personal computers. An estimated 59% of businesses have a BYOD policy in place and this number is increasing every year. What is Mobile Device Management? Mobile Device Management (MDM) is a type of security software used by IT departments to monitor, manage, and secure employees’ mobile devices—such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops that are deployed across multiple mobile service providers and across multiple mobile operating systems being used in the organization. It can be used to monitor hardware, remotely wipe devices that have been lost, and ensuring security standards are met before allowing the device access to sensitive company data to name just a few uses. Think of it like a digital toolbox for companies to keep all their employees’ smartphones, tablets, and laptops safe, up-to-date, and working correctly. What are some of the Features of Mobile Device Management? Device Configuration Management: Allows administrators to configure settings and policies on mobile devices, such as Wi-Fi settings, email accounts, and VPN configurations. Application Management: Enables the installation, updating, and removal of apps on mobile devices. This can include managing enterprise apps and ensuring that only approved apps are installed. Security Management: Provides security features such as enforcing password policies, encrypting data, remotely locking or wiping devices, and managing compliance with security policies. Device Tracking and Inventory: Helps in tracking the location of devices, keeping an inventory of devices, and ensuring that all devices are accounted for. Content Management: Manages access to corporate content on mobile devices, ensuring that sensitive data is properly secured and accessible only to authorized users. Compliance and Monitoring: Monitors devices to ensure they comply with organizational policies and provides reports and alerts for non-compliance or potential security threats. Support and Troubleshooting: Offers tools for remote troubleshooting and support, helping IT departments address issues on mobile devices without needing physical access to them. Mobile Device Management – Questions Every SMB Should Ask First, it is important that small business owners honestly assess whether their systems, networks, data, and overall infrastructure are ready for the use of an array of mobile devices. Once it is firmly established that both internal IT and components in the cloud are prepared for BYOD, solutions should then be put into practice that are concurrent with terms of use policies or any guidelines pertaining to remote and/or telecommute workers or the sharing of sensitive data. The following questions should be answered. What particular devices or applications are permissible for work use? Assuming security requirements are in place, not every device or application will meet those. Will anyone in the company be tasked with the daily management of BYOB strategies? What should BYOD policies cover and what kind of management solutions will be needed? Would a mobile device management tool that collects device information, deploys and monitors usage, and offers insight into compliance be helpful? Which costs will be the responsibility of the employee? This pertains to any fees associated with usage – from network plans to the device itself to software, accessories, and maintenance costs. What data will be accessible? Will data encryption be necessary for certain information traveling through the personal devices of employees? Which employees will have read, write, update/delete privileges? What is the process when handling sensitive data stored on lost or stolen devices, or the personal devices of ex-employees? Does the company or organization have the right to wipe out the entire device or just corporate data and apps? Mobile Device Management Conclusion BYOD is here to stay as it affords smaller-sized companies the mobility of a corporate giant without a huge investment. But when it comes to ensuring that devices, applications, and networks are safe from the variety of threats linked to greater mobility, small business owners may find it necessary to enlist the help of a managed service provider to adequately take on and implement mobile device management for their networks and the challenges that arise with it. MDM solutions are essential for organizations that support BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies, as well as for those that provide company-owned devices to employees. By centralizing the management of mobile devices, organizations can ensure better security, compliance, and productivity while reducing the risks associated with mobile device usage. If you need assistance implementing BYOD or mobile device management for your business, contact Pennyrile Technologies today.

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4 Essential Pieces to Any Small Business BYOD Strategy

Informative / Pennyrile Technologies

Believe it or not, once upon a time, kids at the bus stop didn’t have cell phones and the mobile device strategy of many businesses was typically, “you’ll take what you’re given, refrain from using it for any personal use, and the data may be scrubbed clean whenever we please.” We’ve come a long way. Today, businesses really have no choice but to let employees use personal devices for work purposes. Blurred lines now make it difficult to differentiate between what is professional and what is personal. A company or organization may partially pay for an employee’s tablet computer or smartphone, but that same device is used to upload photos to Facebook or download torrents of this season of Game of Thrones. Naturally, security and privacy issues are a concern since these devices sync to the company network. Larger corporations may be able to hire IT support or produce sophisticated BYOD guidelines for employees to adhere to, but smaller businesses have limited resources. In fact, recent surveys suggest that the small business sector is doing very little to preemptively prepare for potential network security risks that could arise with the use of BYOD devices. This could prove to be disastrous. The practical reality is that employees are going to use their mobile devices for personal use. However, too many firms have overlooked what this means for their data security. Implementing a comprehensive BYOD policy right now, rather than when it’s too late, is important. We’ve compiled a list of four items that any business currently building a BYOD strategy must consider. It must clearly be outlined what specific devices are permitted for work use. The company/organization must have the ability to remotely delete company-sensitive data from mobile devices without the device owner’s permission. Remote deletion capabilities are much more refined these days; simplifying the removal of enterprise-related data from devices while leaving other content like personal photos, contacts, apps and music downloads intact. Written policies should be put into effect that correspond with terms of use policies and any guidelines pertaining to remote/telecommuting workers or the sharing of sensitive data. There should be clearly defined consequences for violating any or all policies. Employee privacy should be discussed within the BYOD policy since employees often use these devices to check personal email, browse or post to Facebook and Twitter feeds, instant message, and store personal documents, photos, music and movie downloads. Employees must understand that employers still have access to the content stored on these devices. Location tracking, which gives employers the ability to locate employees, is also something to discuss since many people don’t necessarily welcome that kind of surveillance. It is understandable that BYOD and more mobile employees have some small business owners feeling anxious and nervous. But mobile management tools, periodic conversation, security checks, and research will do wonders when it comes to keeping small businesses safe. Use our contact form to see how Pennyrile Technologies can help your business today.

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Co-Managed IT Services – Enhance Your IT Department

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Everyone in the office loves Eric. Sporting a different ironic t-shirt every day, Eric is the one we call when technology spits in our face. Whether it’s a slow system, a bug that needs to be squashed, a website issue, or a crash that results in unexpected downtime and data loss, Eric is right there. Not only does he get to the bottom of any issue but he also rights the ship like he’s some sort of miracle-working captain who just happens to have a pretty wickedly funny Peter Griffin from Family Guy impersonation. But business is growing and Eric is overworked. Eric has certain skills that you’d love to use to develop innovative applications and revenue-generating projects– but he’s too busy running around fixing things that break. Or he’s performing the most mundane and routine tasks day-in-and-day-out just to keep things secure and running smoothly. You get a sense that Eric’s overburdened and he’s saddled with too many responsibilities. His demeanor has changed from pleasant to moody. He’s listening to angrier metal and punk music and you’re noticing cracks in his work. You fear Eric is being pulled in too many directions and the reliability of your server, network, and applications, as well as the integrity of your data, are all at risk. Someone who has watched a bit too much of Donald Trump on The Apprentice might think Eric should be fired. We’re not going to fire Eric. But we’re also not going to hire a full-time salaried Robin to his Batman or Cheech to his Chong. We’re going to help Eric by exploring co-managed IT services with a managed services provider to handle many of the monotonous tasks making Eric hate his job right now. What are Co-Managed IT Services? Co-managed IT is a service model that allows businesses to customize which IT services are provided by in-house staff and which are provided by external staff, or a managed services provider. Many organizations find staying on top of current IT trends to be overwhelming, especially when trying to find and retain top-level IT talent. This model allows businesses to pair the convenience and up-to-date resources of an external IT management service with their own in-house specialists to optimize efficiency. With co-managed IT services, you can pick and choose the resources you need and when you need them. IT co-management helps supplement, enhance and support your existing IT team. Focus Primarily on Cost-Cutting and Revenue Increasing Projects First things first, Eric has to realize that he can’t do everything himself. Where are his skills best used? Whether it’s processes that help drive down costs or ones with the potential to raise revenue, or evaluate the projects in the queue and rank them by what impacts the bottom line the most. Once that’s done, look at the day-to-day processes designed to keep things running securely and efficiently. What can be off-loaded from Eric? Determine which of those tasks can be automated either through the cloud or co-managed IT services. Take to the Cloud Some IT people fear the cloud spells the end to their job security. Meanwhile, the cloud can actually help them take on a more prominent contributing role in the company’s success. The cloud should be seen as another tool that further eliminates the mundane yet necessary daily drudgery from their workday. Those who work with the cloud will find that they have more available time to take on more meaningful cost cutting or revenue generating projects. With co-managed IT services, the MSP can focus on or provide the cloud infrastructure while the Internal IT department focuses on other issues supporting the business. Use a Managed Service Provider Using outsourced IT support or a managed services provider not only alleviates much of Eric’s pressure and stress but also boosts productivity and gives the company a much-improved ROI (Return-on-Investment) on their technology investment. While technology has gotten easier for the end user, it has become more complex on the back-end with the advent of virtualization, cloud computing, and advanced infrastructure. Using an MSP gives Eric access to a trusted advisor, a 24/7 help desk, remote monitoring and management tools, mobile device management tools, and much better disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. All without the overhead that comes with hiring more help for Eric. MSPs offer a consistency to not just your end-user but also your main IT guy who will certainly appreciate the help. Is Your Business Ready for Co-Managed IT Services? If your business needs help expanding or supplementing its’ IT department, then Pennyrile Technologies can help. We can provide tools, knowledge, and resources your IT staff needs to excel, while saving your business thousands of dollars in labor and insurance costs. We work with many IT departments to provide everything from tech support, to project consulting and implementation, cybersecurity tools, and more! Contact us today to see how we can help your business with co-managed it services.

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