Managed services is a concept thrown about in the IT industry, often with little understanding of what the term truly means. In fact, many of the vendors who claim to offer managed services tend to twist the definition to align with their own service offerings and sales goals. Managed services is often equated with IT [...]
You depend upon your computer systems to boost productivity and enhance customer service, but when they’re not working properly business grinds to a halt. Today’s end-users are fairly tech-savvy, but few have the expertise to troubleshoot complex problems. They need expert IT support to get back up and running. And when they need it, they [...]
Technology is woven into virtually every business process. If IT systems go down or fail to work properly, certain business functions might come to a halt. At the very least, they could be disrupted. Productivity suffers, the customer experience suffers, and sales could be lost. However, most small to midsize businesses (SMBs) don’t have the [...]
Regulatory compliance requirements are increasing across a broad range of industries. Between new regulations and changes to existing rules, many organizations are struggling just to keep up with the scope and depth of compliance. What was once a yearly review and assessment has become a daily effort to ensure that all processes and systems meet [...]
In the mainframe era, computer systems were housed in a specialized room and closely tended by IT professionals — a tightly controlled setting known as a “glass house.” Today, IT equipment is often housed in any available space and managed as time permits or issues as arise. Few organizations have the IT operational rigor of [...]
The role of the IT department is shifting dramatically. While today’s IT professionals must still maintain and support mission-critical technology assets, they are also being asked to enable business transformation through increased agility, productivity and profitability. Although IT pros generally relish the opportunity to become more involved in the business, they are struggling with how [...]
That is unfortunate, but it will never happen to me. That is a shame, but I will deal with it if in fact it actually happens. Thoughts such as these pop into our head when a major incident or crisis occurs, especially when it is related to cyber-security. Due to this, networks are often left [...]
It is common for businesses to work with a managed services provider (MSP) that can handle elements of their IT requirements. According to CompTIA, roughly two-thirds of U.S. organizations use some form of managed service because it is such an efficient way to deal with increasingly complex technology requirements. Finding a provider that’s a good [...]
You probably know all the obvious reasons for enlisting a managed services provider (MSP) to oversee your IT environment. MSPs not only fix things when they break, but also identify potential problems and correct them before there is a failure. They help you control costs, minimize downtime and free up internal sources for other projects. [...]
IP-based telephony has been providing organizations with documented benefits for going on two decades now, but a surprisingly large number of businesses still depend on legacy copper phone lines. Nemertes Research has estimated that more than 70 percent of U.S. companies still use time-division-multiplexed (TDM) voices services running over copper, although most at least have [...]
