IT Red Flags to Watch Out For and How a Managed IT Service Provider Can Help

As a business owner and the primary decision-maker for your company, you’re juggling a lot of balls. You’re responsible for driving the growth of your business, maintaining good relationships with clients and stepping in to get the job done when things slip through the cracks.

With so much going on, it’s easy to overlook IT issues that need to be addressed quickly and decisively. If you’re struggling to stay on top of things, your IT is one thing that can easily be outsourced to a managed IT service provider and, when done correctly, will offer peace of mind as well as delivering a service that is more robust and effective than you would be able to do yourself.

IT red flags that you should be watching out for include:

1. Strange pop-ups that you don’t recognize and haven’t opted-in for, your managed IT service provider can immediately address any malware problem to occur

These can happen at any time if your system has been infected. They could show on your screen if you’re trying to access a spreadsheet or document and prevent you from opening the file directly. Instead, you may have to click on a series of pop-ups that could take you a malicious site. These pop-ups are an indication of malware in your system.

2. An ad-ware ambush when your browser has been hijacked, your managed IT service provider can remove ad-ware to do further damage to your system.

These are pop-ups that show up on your browser when you don’t expect them while using the internet. A hijacked browser will continue showing online ads and are dangerous as a single errant click could have you downloading additional malware to your computer, which has the potential to infect your whole IT network.

3. Spam emails sent from your company’s official email addresses, it is crucial to avail email security service from an IT service provider.

Email worms are usually downloaded by a staff member, and the downloaded file then replicates across the network using email. Here, the victim's email security is penetrated, and the worms access the email contact list and send emails to all contacts.

4. Issues where software and hardware aren’t working properly, your managed IT service provider will provide all support need to immediately fix any software and hardware problem.

It’s normal to experience glitches every now and again, but if processes and programs that used to work properly are now continually failing, it’s a sign that malware has infected the network. If the problem seems to be escalating, it may mean that the virus is spreading and infecting more and more files.

All this is a lot to keep on top of and it’s difficult to be constantly monitoring the health of your computer as well as everyone else in the office. Sometimes issues creep in slowly so you don’t immediately catch a machine that’s operating sub-optimally or a program that simply doesn’t work anymore. And, even if you do notice these red flags, it may already be too late.

The cost of a malware infection may be significant both in terms of time to resolve it as well as the financial cost of hiring an expert to get to the root of the issue. A managed IT service provider is, therefore, an excellent preventative solution as they actively manage your entire network, identifying and removing issues before they have a chance to damage the company’s system.

Mobile Computer Services in Wake Forest, NC is a managed IT company that offers its clients a flat-rate maintenance plan that proactively monitors your network, significantly reduces downtime and reduces expensive repair costs. Their service gives local business owners access to a knowledgeable, experienced IT service, at a rate far lower than the cost of an in-house IT department. They have the expertise to prevent issues before they occur thanks to round-the-clock active monitoring and ongoing maintenance.

Choosing an Outsourced IT Service Provider in Raleigh, 5 Pitfalls to Avoid

If you’re considering working with a managed IT service provider to provide IT support and advice for your company, there are some important considerations to keep in mind when making your final choice.

Here are 5 pitfalls to avoid:

1. Don’t Decide on an IT Provider Based Solely on Price

An outsourced IT provider gives you access to a range of skilled specialists for an affordable price, especially if you compare it to the cost of an in-house IT team. But quality outsourced IT services, although affordable, shouldn’t be cheap. Paying the lowest possible price opens your company up to the risk that in an emergency, such as a cyberattack, they won’t have the necessary skills to resolve the situation effectively. Paying a slight premium and choosing a reputable IT service provider has the potential to save you millions of dollars in the long-run. And as the saying goes, prevention is better than a cure.  

2. Bigger is Not Always Better

A personalized service from the beginning is much more likely to be able to resolve your issues quickly and effectively when they arise. A large, national corporate IT service provider will tend to prioritize their bigger clients, and smaller clients will move to the bottom of the pile. A Raleigh-based IT service provider with a strong track record will be able to match IT know-how with excellent customer service and quick response to queries.

3. Trust is Key in the Relationship

In all businesses, trust between partners is important. But when it comes to an IT service provider, it is essential. Follow your instincts on this one, if you don’t feel completely comfortable handing over your business’s IT requirements to them, don’t do it. 

In instances where you are uncertain, you can follow up with their references to get an idea of the level of service you can expect and their ability to proactively manage IT security for your type of business. Try to stay objective, all companies will have satisfied and dissatisfied clients, but it’s up to you to ask the right questions to find out whether they are able to successfully provide the service you need.

4. Don’t Use an Individual Contractor

A successful outsourced IT service needs multiple team members so that there is a pool of experience to draw from, and to ensure that your system is being continuously monitored. A single contractor is also liable to become overwhelmed and may rely on subcontractors who will have access to your systems without your knowledge. 

5. IT is Not One Size Fits All

Your business has unique needs that won’t be solved by a cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all solution. What works for another business in a different industry may not be a good fit for what you need. Your provider needs to take the time to understand and accommodate the needs of your business and come up with strategic ways to anticipate issues that might arise in the future.

They should also be able to provide the range of services that your business needs and not just specialize in a particular area.
A managed IT services provider should offer proactive solutions for your company’s IT goals. Locally-based managed IT company, Mobile Computer Solutions in Raleigh, NC, does just this. Their team of experienced IT professionals, coupled with their suite of technologies and processes, provide a tailored approach to working with businesses in the Raleigh area. They focus on providing services that protect their clients from issues before they even arise and have a suite of services designed to meet the individual needs of each customer.

Email Security for Wake Forest Businesses

Email security in small and medium-sized companies is one of the areas that is often overlooked. But it’s essential to have it in place in the event of a cyber-attack. The vast majority of cyber attacks start with a phishing email. 

Local managed service provider, Mobile Computer Services, suggest 5 things that Businesses in Wake Forest need to keep in mind when it comes to email security:

1. The Number of Email-Based Attacks is Likely to Rise

Phishing scams are on the rise. It’s an easy, cheap way to get in touch with people, and no-one is immune. Over half the world’s population has at least one email address, and because most people check their mail regularly, an email inbox is the perfect place to launch a cyberattack.  

2. Finance Companies in Wake Forest are Particularly at Risk

The number of phishing attacks targeting financial institutions is rising, doubling year on year. But only a small fraction of these businesses are choosing to implement security initiatives to protect their networks and guard against attacks. 

3. Small and Medium Size Companies are Particularly Vulnerable to Attack

It’s often in the news when big corporates are the targets of malicious cyberattacks, but just because smaller businesses aren’t making the news, doesn’t mean that they’re not the victims of attacks. The vast majority of cyber attacks are targeted at businesses with fewer than 100 employees, often because they have fewer security measures in place and often employees are not equipped for attacks. 

4. Employees Lack Education and Training Around Cyber Attacks

The sheer volume of emails that get sent on a daily basis is astounding – with a conservative estimate putting the number at nearly 300 billion emails every day. And the scary news is that over 50% of those emails are spam. These numbers mean it’s essential that users be able to spot the difference between a real and a fake email. Companies, therefore, need to be taking proactive steps to ensure that employees are fully educated on the dangers of email phishing and ransomware. They also need to be equipped to be able to correctly identify emails that are not legitimate.

5. A Top of the Range Web Management and Filtering Product is Essential

Regardless of how well employees are educated about spotting and deleting spam emails, there will always be those that slip through the net. Humans make mistakes, and there needs to be a safety net in place to protect companies. This is where a web filtering product is essential. 

When a user clicks on a phishing email, there is often an attachment that is downloaded. This download will contain malware that has the potential to infect your computer network. Web filtering prevents the attachment from accessing the internet-based malware as it works by blocking malicious websites. 

With the number of cyberattacks set to increase in the future, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses, companies need to take steps to ensure that they are protected. Data breaches are estimated at more than $3 million, without factoring the costs for increasing network security and the impact on the brand. 

Email inboxes will continue to be attacked because of the ease with which hackers are able to bypass network security measures. This makes it essential to secure your email, educate employees and put a safety net in place. 

Often the response of businesses is to hire more IT professionals, but that cost can be difficult to absorb, and the new IT employee may not have the benefit of years of experience, particularly in IT security. This makes it an excellent choice to partner with an outsourced IT service provider. That way the costs are easy to predict, and you can benefit from years and years of specialist IT security experience.

Mobile Computer Services in Wake Forest specializes in email security for clients, offering a range of services designed to protect the company’s IT network from attack.  
If you’re unsure of the state of your email or network security, contact Mobile Computer Services to schedule a FREE CONSULTATION.

The Benefits of Cloud-Based Services with a Managed IT Services Provider in Raleigh

With different, new technology coming on-line and becoming increasingly accessible to businesses in Raleigh, the way that business work needs to change too. A managed IT services company helps clients to adjust to these changes by recommending effective, safe options that allow their clients access to capitalize on technological advancements.

One of the most important factors of today’s ‘sharing economy’ is the ability of businesses to leverage cloud-based businesses that offer longer-term benefits such as low capital investment, monthly costs that are predictable, solutions that can scale and, importantly, offer reliability.

Cloud-Based Services Have Low Capital Investment

As a business owner, you may be concerned about the cost of switching to cloud services because, at least upfront, there may be an initial cost to implementing a cloud-based server. But it’s important to look at the bigger picture. Cloud services offer operational efficiencies that should be considered with a longer-term view, taking into account ROI rather than the initial capital outlay.

But these capital investments are usually lower than expected. With managed IT services, a business can utilize shared resources that are hosted remotely, saving on expensive hardware costs. Importantly, switching to cloud services reducing data storage costs significantly, while employees still have quick access to the files that they need. 

High Levels of Reliability

Using cloud technology is reliable as regular, scheduled backups ensure that businesses are protected against the failure of physical hard drives. And, because cloud-based service providers regularly update their technology, the business will not need to upgrade their own technology as frequently. 

Cloud-based security is very tight with private cloud, secured storage space, and data encryption that allows businesses to reduce their own security risk. Studies show that businesses who switch to cloud servers see an improvement in security which, in many cases, makes it easier to meet their compliance requirements. 

Cloud services have disaster recovery options that are second to none. Because natural disasters aren’t easy to predict, cloud storage will allow a business to continue normal operations even in the midst of a natural disaster.

Accurate, Predictable Monthly Costs

With cloud services, businesses can pay on a monthly basis or the resources that they need, which ensures that they only need to pay for what they use. In contrast, with a traditional system, payment is all upfront, regardless of whether you use all the features and capacity or not. Cloud services, therefore, help to lower costs and make monthly expenditures easier to predict. 

Scalable Solutions

When a business taps into the cloud infrastructure, they access the ability to scale on demand. This means that as workloads increase (or decrease) the cloud solution can scale with it and so businesses are able to maximize their use of resources. As a business owner, therefore, you only need to pay for what you’re using, but you’re not limited into the future should your needs increase (in which case cloud resources will be increased) or decrease (in which case resources will be scaled back). The costs scaling increase or decrease accordingly making it a long-term affordable solution. 

The Role of Managed IT Services Providers

Managing cloud services for a business requires specialist knowledge of both the cloud technology as well as the business using the infrastructure. This makes working with a managed IT company invaluable. Outsourced IT takes the worry out of cloud services for businesses as they are available to educate employees if necessary, facilitate the change over to cloud technology and ensure business continuity and data safety.
Mobile Computer Services in Raleigh offers managed IT services for local businesses. They are able to offer cost savings and improved efficiencies as they lead the way in assisting their clients to adopt new cloud-based technologies to benefit the businesses' bottom line.

Are IT Support Services or Internal IT Staff the Best Option for Businesses in Wake Forest?

Technology is a non-negotiable, inescapable part of today’s business environment. So whether a business uses outsourced IT support services, or an internal IT staff member or team, it is vital for businesses to have the support they need to ensure that the correct IT system for their business is implemented, that it is proactively managed, and that it provides security and continued uptime.

A slow network, unforeseen outages, or security issues can have a serious, negative impact on the productivity of a business and their ability to service customers effectively. In turn, this has an impact on the company’s bottom line.

Since technology forms an integral, expensive part of most companies, it’s important to make an informed decision when choosing managed IT services or to keep them inhouse.

What to Expect with Internally Managed IT

For most businesses, this will mean having a single go-to person for any tech or IT-related issues. They’ll address any issues that come up, but may not be proactively working towards developing robust systems that will ensure that the business is secure and will continue to function optimally into the future.

In addition, it is likely that highly qualified IT professionals may have their time tied up with small IT fixes and user-issues, preventing them from making the bigger changes that are needed. They’re likely to be intimately familiar with the systems that the business uses, but that may keep them from viewing the technology solutions objectively, causing the business to fall behind as newer, more efficient technologies become available. 

Another cause for concern is the cost of an internal IT department. An experienced IT professional will come with a high price tag, often upwards of $60,000 per year. This is a large expense to incur, and it may not be the only costs that the IT department incurs if they are not able to handle all the IT issues resulting in outsourcing in some cases. Factor in continued training and the cost of replacing them if they resign (which is a real risk with IT professionals being in such high demand) and the expenses begin to mount up quickly. And all this is without taking into account the IT equipment and software that they will need to do their job properly.

How IT Support Services Differ

With IT support services, the costs are predictable. The company can choose the services that they need for a fixed monthly fee. This saves money on software, unexpected overhead expenses and staff turnover.  It also frees up company employees to focus on meeting business goals rather than sorting out their own internal IT-related issues. 

The business will also benefit from access to the latest technology at no extra cost. As objective IT service providers, they will source and utilize the best brands to ensure that their customers have a bespoke solution that is a good match for their needs. These solutions will be selected to cover all aspects of the business from cloud-based backups, remote monitoring and management and, importantly, the latest network security protocols. This research and implementation would otherwise need to be done by the business owner or a hired internal staff member.

With outsourced IT services, the business has access to industry veterans and a larger team so that IT issues can always be handled efficiently as there are back-up professionals in place, rather than relying on a single in-house person. The training and certifications are also handled by the managed IT company, rather than being another unexpected expense that the company needs to incur.

Ultimately, the best choice will depend on the needs of the business. Computer support and services professionals, Mobile Computer Solutions in Wake Forest, NC specializes in helping businesses make the move from managing IT internally, to an externally managed solution offering hand-on support, and round the clock monitoring. 

The 4 Top Benefits of Outsourcing to a Managed IT Services Provider for Businesses in Wake Forest

One of the top reasons that a small to medium-sized business choose to outsource their IT requirements to a managed IT services provider in Wake Forest NC is to reduce the stress of trying to keep up with the technological advances and security requirements of running a business. Balancing hardware, software and increasingly complex networks can be difficult to maintain inhouse, but they are vital to the continued, ongoing operations of the business.

The staff members need to be able to send and receive emails. They need to be able to reliably backup up their work and they need access to the latest technology to stay ahead of competitors. And then on top of this, businesses still need to take into account the need for robust security, anti-virus protection, server monitoring and more.

When the scope of the requirements is taken into account, it
seems less feasible that a small business can successfully and efficiently run
its own IT department. Especially if one considers the investment in IT talent
and constant training that is needed, as well as the infrastructure, money and
time that staying up to date with technology entails.

These are the top reasons that outsourcing an IT department to
an experienced provider is going to benefit a company:

1. Free Up Resources

The core competencies of a business are the most important areas to focus on. By outsourcing a vital yet non-core function such as IT to a company offering managed services, it is easier to put resources into the areas that will help the business to grow and become more successful.

2. Control (& Often Reduce) Costs

Managed IT support services work on a set monthly fee. This
allows the business to forecast expenditures as they do not fluctuate. The
costs of running an in-house IT department therefore, far outweigh the costs of
outsourcing, taking into account economies of scale and the efficiencies that
come with expertise in a specific area of business.

Additionally, while working with an IT service provider such as Mobile Computer Services in Wake Forest, it is possible to rent hardware including laptops, desktops, and servers (referred to as Hardware as a Service - HaaS) which allows the business to control and predict hardware expenditure.

3. Stay Up-to-Date with Access to the Latest Technology and Expertise

Certified, experienced managed IT companies bring their industry-leading expertise to a business so that the business has access to the latest technologies, as well as fresh insights on the best ways to make technology work for the business. The staff at a managed IT company is constantly upskilling and training to ensure that they’re comfortable with the newest software and hardware as it enters the market. For example, they have an approach to migration from Windows Server 2008.

4. Get 24/7 Constant Proactive Monitoring and Management

To ensure that a business is continually secured against new threats requires 24/7 monitoring. For companies that manage their IT in-house, the costs can quickly escalate if employees need to be available every hour of the day, throughout the year. A managed IT solution will ensure that those systems are constantly monitored, can foresee serious issues before they occur, and can minimize downtime in the event of a cyberattack.

Mobile Computer Services is a managed IT service provider in Wake Forest, NC, offering a range of IT support services to businesses. In an increasingly competitive technological environment, they offer 27/7 proactive monitoring and management of a company’s IT infrastructure and comprehensive care for network and systems. All support is provided by certified professionals with many years of experience in providing IT support services. Whether you’re looking for IT consulting, IT security, or business continuity planning, they’re available to assist.

The following article was originally published on The 4 Top Benefits of Outsourcing to a Managed IT Services Provider for Businesses in Wake Forest and is republished from Mobile Computer Services, Inc. Find more on: Mobile Computer Services, Inc. LLC

Managed IT Service Company’s Approach to Server Migration from Windows 2008