5 Important Reasons to Backup your Office 365

Office 365 (O365) is a great tool utilized by many businesses.  While many small businesses do not back up this data, as it is stored in the cloud, this can be a huge mistake that can cost your business valuable data.  

Here are 5 important reasons why you should backup your office 365 data. 

 

1. YOUR data is YOUR responsibility

Starting off with the biggest point - Your data is your responsibility.  If your data is important to you and your business, you need to takes steps to protect it!  Backups are always a good idea, as you can go back in a point in time, and recover your saved work and data.  Disaster can strike at any point, being prepared can save you a lot of headache, money, and invaluable data. 

 

2. User Error Happens

User error is the leading cause of data loss.  Accidental deletion or destruction could be detrimental to a business due to costs associated with data loss, but also data loss itself. 

Proper backups protect you against user error and accidental deletion.

 

3. Data Retention Policies 

Data retention policies can change at any point in time.  Data can be stored for shorter periods of time, or there may be certain stipulations around data retention that may change. 

Proper backups ensure that little to no data can go missing and that data is properly restored.  As long as you are properly baking up and ensuring that backups are running, your data should be accessible through the point and time needed. 

 

4. Long term access to files, data, and emails

Audits, projects, and legal reasons may arise that cause you to go digging for past information and data. Without proper backups that data may no longer be accessible. 

Backups allow you to go back in time and find the data that you need. 

 

5. Security threats

There are several different types of security threats when it comes to your data: internal and external. Employees are an internal threat as they can unintentionally or intentionally delete or remove valuable data. 

Hackers, viruses, malware, updates, etc are all forms of external threats, that could effect your data and cause data loss. 

No matter the threat, proper backups allows your business to restore its data, saving you the headache and financial loss associated with data loss. 

 

 

Checkout our FREE webinar here to learn more about the importance of a business continuity plan and how to implement one for your business. 

 

Is Your Business Recession Proof? 

1. Using Online Meeting  & Conferencing Platforms

Be able to connect with employees, clients, and potential leads virtually.  Having an online conferencing platform that works for your business needs.  This can look different for each business, and it is important to weigh the pros and cons of each service, as well as become and expert in whatever software you choose.  This will allow you to run meetings efficiently with employees and clients from anywhere in the world! 

2. VPN and Work from Home Setup

Whether you work from home 7 days a week only when it is necessary, it is important the each employee has the ability to work from home in a secure manner. 

Ensuring that ALL employees are setup to work from home in the case they become sick, are exposed to anyone who has been sick and needs to self quarantine, or in the event of natural or unforeseen disaster.   

VPNs (Virtual Private Network) allows for you to create a secure connection to another network.  This will allow you to resume business as normal and ensure that employees are securing your business data in the meantime.

3. Going Paperless

If you have not fully transitioned to a paperless business, now is the time! Being able to access all of your business data online without being tied to a physical office can help ensure your business can be transitioned online at any point in time. 

When going paperless, it is important to assess software that will allow you to move all data, billing, invoicing, and internal documents to a secure online platform, where they can be accessed and stored securely.

This will allow you to share data with everyone who needs it without being tied to a physical address, plus it is more eco friendly!!

4. File Sync and Share

This brings us into our fourth tip, which is utilizing a file sync and share tool. The right file sync and share tool will help with overall collaboration, accessing of files, and can be extremely beneficial when moving paperless. 

The right file sync and share tool will allow you to work from anywhere and access all the files you need, while also allowing you to set security and viewing settings based on who can access files and documents. 

5. Backups

Don't let our last tip fool you, as it is probably the most important tip when transitioning your business online. 

As all your data is now spaced out, paper is gone, and you are working remote, you want to ensure that data is protected and able to be recovered in the event of disaster. 

Because disaster can strike at any point in time, and it’s important to cover your bases and secure your business and data with backups!  Your data is your responsibility, and if not properly cared for, it can easily be lost, erased, or even stolen.   The right backups and business continuity plan is essential for any business. 

Checkout our FREE webinar here to learn more about the importance of a business continuity plan and how to implement one for your business. 

 

Using Dropbox to Work Remote

What is Dropbox

• Stay focused and organized with synced content with your teammates 
• Live collaboration tools such as Paper.
• Access of company files from anywhere.
• All of your content together in one place where everyone can view and work on it collaboratively. 
• Smart content suggestion- allowing you to view the files you need quicker based on dropbox activity
• Contextual meetings - calendar planning to integrate content for upcoming meetings
• Shared and stared folders to allow you to access what is important to you most

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Why SaaS is Not Backup

SaaS stands for Software as a Service, and one of its biggest benefits is the ability to use software without the purchase or installation of physical hardware.  While SaaS allows all of your data to be stored in the cloud, most softwares do not have backup solutions in place for the data.

Unless you are okay with losing all the valuable data, it is important to have a backup solution in place for your SaaS data.

Here are 4 reasons that you should consider a backup solution for your SaaS data:

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The Value of SaaS Backups

SaaS stands for Software as a Service, and one of its biggest benefits is the ability to use software without the purchase or installation of physical hardware.  Instead, the service is hosted through the cloud.

Many businesses believe because their data is hosted on the cloud, they do not need to backup that particular data.  However, this could not be farther from the truth.  Not backing up your data, from physical hardware or cloud databases could lead to data loss and downtime. 

Ensure your business against data loss across G Suite and Office 365, including Gmail, Google Drive, Shared Drives, Exchange Online, OneDrive, and SharePoint

Here are a list of the 5 different benefits of SaaS backups:

1. Gain Peace of Mind

2. Ensure Transferability

3. Resolve Cloud Concerns

4. Recover From Ransomware

5. Cut Costs

 

If you would like to learn more on how to get started and proactively managing your business and its technology today, you can reach out at the link below! 

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4 Ways Remote Monitoring and Management Ensures your Technology Assets are Protected

RMM stands for remote monitoring and management.  This allows your IT provider to deliver better and quicker service, while greatly reducing any potential for downtime or disruptions to your operations. 

 

Here are the top 4 ways that RMM ensures your technology assets are protected:

 

1. Proactive Support

With the right RMM,  you can address potential issues before they become a problem and have the ability to monitor your businesses’ devices, applications, and systems continuously.

RMM tools can resolve many common issues proactively before they actually affect your network.  This promotes for a more secure environment, and allows for automated software patching of devices and applications.

RMM allows for proactive solutions in your business and the ability to do real-time monitoring.  Allowing all of you technology assets (devices, networks) to run smoothly 24/7/365. 

 

2. Rapid Response 

It is important when a particular issue or scenario arises that your MSP provider is available to put out the fire.  With the right RMM tool, your focus can stay on what is important to your business while you provider gives it the focused attention necessary to minimize any disruption.

RMM that enables remote support any device, from any location, within moments is extremely important if you want to have peace of mind around the technology in your organization. Look into providers that don’t need to be onsite to fix issues or errors.

RMM gives the ability to run scripts and execute tasks, even after business hours if necessary to avoid disruption. Along  with automated remediation capabilities,  and the ability to program a system to automatically fix commonly encountered issues with zero interruption to anyone in your business.

 

3. Actionable Insight

RMM tools allow for actionable insights into your business. Technology isn’t only an asset, it’s a major investment for your organization. RMM tools arm your business with the insights you need on how these assets are performing and empowering you to make fact-based decisions to optimize your technology investments. 

The right RMM tool allows for visibility of your IT assets, and can capture everything from hardware to software to license information while tracking daily system changes.  A detailed report can then be generated to help identify what devices are having the most issues or aren’t up to date with security patches or are coming out of warranty. The goal is to give you the information you need to make informed business decisions supported by data. 

 

4. World Class Security 

It’s more important than ever to protect your IT infrastructure and the devices you use to run your business.  RMM has built-in comprehensive security measures at every point. 

RMM also has security controls and privacy mode that can be enabled to prevent unauthorized access to devices.  You can even install privacy mode, where the user must grant permission before their device is accessed by a technician for remote support. 

 

 

If you would like to learn more on how to get started and proactively managing your business and its technology today, you can reach out at the link below! 

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When Disaster Strikes

When disaster strikes on your business, whether it be from natural disaster or cyber crime, it can be extremely stressful and confusing on the next steps to take.  In this blog post we will discuss the 6 steps for recovery in the event of a disaster. 

Steps to Take After Disaster Strikes

Disaster can strike at anytime, and if you do not have a disaster and recovery plan in place, the after math can be detrimental to your business.  To learn more about creating the right disaster recovery plan for your business checkout our free on-demand webinar where we discuss with Datto, the industry leader in Business Continuity the importance of a disaster recovery plan and how to implement one for your business. 

Disasters can strike in many different forms ranging from natural disaster to cyber attacks, such as ransomeware.  However, when you have a solid foundation and plan in place, recovery steps can be fluid and less painful. 

6 Step Recovery Process After Disaster Strikes

 

Step 1: Assess the problem and its impact on your business 

Take a step back and look at the overall problem and how how it has truly effected your business. Every disaster is different. Before doing anything, understand the underlying issue and how it may affect you. Have major systems been affected? Are items salvageable? No matter what your circumstances, it is important to not skip this step and truly understand the total affects of the disaster on your overall business. 

Step 2: Establish recovery goals

Now that you understand the affects of the disaster on your business, it is important to establish the recovery goals next.  Recovery is what makes a BDR solution different from a simple backup product. Plan out your road to recovery.

Step 3: Select Appropriate Recovery Types

To get to your “road to recovery”, the appropriate recovery procedure must be followed. Think about which approach will best get you to your end goal:

• Local virtualization 
• File restore
• Off-site virtualization

Step 4: Verify the recovery and confirm functionality with users

Once a recovery is verified it is time to confirm that it interacts positively with users. Test network connectivity and ensure all users can access resources and applications.

Step 5: Restore the original system(s), if needed

If the original system(s) needs to be restored, decide which restoration process will work best.

Step 6: Self-assess afterwards

After it’s all said and done, take a step back and think about it:

• How well did your team do?
• What could you have done differently?
• What caused the overall issues?
• What disaster recovery goals need to be addressed for future planning?
• How can you better protect from future disasters?
  
  

If you are ready to put together a custom disaster recovery plan for your business and need help getting started, contact us today!

We can help evaluate your disaster recovery plan, establish goals, and put in place a business continuity plan that gives you peace of mind!

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What is the difference?

What is the difference between break/fix and managed service IT? The simple answer is one is a reactive response while the other is a proactive solution for technology.

What is managed services?

What is managed services?  Unless you're living under a rock, your business likely relies on different types of technology to run efficiently.  Technology is great for business when it works; however, when it decides not to work, breaks, or is just simply difficult to use, it can be a massive headache, especially for your business.