5 Reasons Every Small Business Needs Server Monitoring

Posted on 13/10/2016.

Every 5 years, 20 percent of all small businesses experience unexpected downtime. This downtime often causes major damage, resulting in permanent closures for 25 percent of businesses who have a significant incident. Businesses, especially those without huge IT teams and millions of dollars in revenue, can’t afford to experience unexpected downtime. Not only does it cost them time but also money as they try to sort through the issues at hand.

These outages are even more detrimental for businesses who are not aware their systems are down. Quick response is key during an outage and it is necessary to have systems in place to notify you when there is an error. Do you have a system in place? If not, you need server monitoring. Why? Find out below.

Server monitoring is a service that works to check your servers’ functionality. When your site or service is unreachable or is reporting a 404, it sends you an alert. This helps you mitigate the problem faster and lessen downtime.

Helps Make Your Network More Reliable

The faster you can get your systems back online, the more reliable your network will seem to your customers. Your network reliability depends completely on the approach you take; proactive or reactive. The reactive approach often leads to extended downtime and more money lost while the proactive approach keeps you on top of issues as they happen. Server monitoring is the proactive approach, allowing you to mitigate an issue before your customers realize something is wrong.

Helps You Stay in Touch with Your Servers

You can never be completely certain of when an outage will occur. You may be at work or it could be 3 am. Server monitoring alerts make it possible to always be in touch with your servers. Connect your email to your smartphone and receive automatic alerts for every problem, no matter where you are.

Improves the Ability to Troubleshoot

Server monitor logging gives you access to important information regarding your network. Every server check is logged and anytime an error occurs it logs the date, time and error. You can review these logs to help troubleshoot your system and look for trends. This can help you correct intermittent problems before they occur again.

It’s Not Expensive but an Outage Is

According to IDC, outages can cost businesses between $82,200 to $256,000 for a single event. This averages out to be more than $200 every minute your server is down. Server monitoring pricing pales in comparison. This service often costs less than $200 for an entire year of monitoring, meaning your business could pay for 400 years of service and still spend less than a single outage will cost you.

It WILL Save Your Business Money

If your business makes $500,000 in revenue per year, you would lose $57 an hour in lost revenue alone if your site goes down. This does not include the money it takes to get the site back up which can be an exorbitant amount. You will likely have to pay for employee overtime expenses, which can add up quickly. To pay 10 employees for 5 hours of overtime at $30 an hour, it would cost you an additional $1500. To outsource your IT you may spend $150 an hour. These expenses add up every hour your network is down.

Your server is often the heart of your business and it needs to be monitored to keep it running efficiently. For a full list of features visit our server monitoring page.

Do you use server monitoring? How has it saved you in the past? Tell us about it in the comments below.

What is a Managed Service Provider?

Posted on 09/05/2016.

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is simply an extension of your existing IT department. For smaller companies, a MSP may control all your IT management needs – most times, remotely. MSPs have been around for a long time, but companies have been slow to adapt to this structure for their IT departments.

According to a recent CompTIA study, 3-in-10 organizations (only 30%) have ANY of their information technology in the hands of an MSP. That’s a small number who are trusting all their IT needs to internal resources versus experts. What’s more? More than two-thirds of companies surveyed say they have used the services of an outside IT firm within the past year.

Although managed services companies have been around for a while, recently they have become more cost effective, scalable and available for SMBs – a key component for a SMBs success.

It is possible to hire an MSP to provide a single-function that your internal staff would prefer not to handle (i.e., backup / disaster recovery)? Yes! Is it possible to hire an MSP to run a company’s entire IT department? Yes!

What benefits can companies reap from partnering with an experienced managed service provider?

It’s more cost-effective and much more reliable to have an outsourced MSP handling your system, many times.
You will get more for less. Most MSPs ensure data backup, disaster recovery, reliable maintenance on your computer systems and much less time for your internal resource(s).
Keeping data safe from viruses, hackers and other cyber attacks is a pivotal reason to hire an MSP. Protecting your data and systems should be #1.
Real-time remote maintenance and monitoring of your systems ensures issues are identified before they attack your network, server, etc. Let’s face it, your IT professional(s) don’t have time for this!

An MSP isn’t looking to replace your internal IT staff; they are simply acting as an extension of your team, to complement your existing resources. With larger companies, they prefer to hire an MSP, so their existing IT staff can focus on more strategic and futuristic matters. Would that benefit your company?

Over the past few years, cost savings have been identified as the primary reason companies are welcoming MSPs into their business with open arms. Also, with the level of malicious attacks on company servers and network systems, security monitoring is also a key service that is being purchased.

The CompTIA survey also found that:

improving the efficiency and reliability of IT operations was a main driving factor for going with an MSP for 56 % of companies.
6-in-10 companies that consider their technology usage advanced are using an MSP for security services.
63 % are using an MSP for application monitoring.

So, what’s keeping you from hiring an MSP?

Sign up for a free Consultants review and let us help you get back in control of IT instead of your IT stopping you from being productive.

7 Simple Steps To Secure Your Computer From Malicious Attacks

Posted on 09/05/2016.

Let’s face it, expensive computer repairs are not exciting, fun or make us like our IT professional more. By following these seven simple steps to secure your computer(s) from malicious attacks – while avoiding expensive repair bills!

1. Keep an up-to-date anti-virus software running at all times.

I recommend remote management for two simple reasons: 1) It detects and removes spyware and malware programs that a lot of the more well-known (and more expensive) anti-virus software programs miss, and 2) It does it for about half the price of software packages.

It also has an auto scan and update feature that will make sure your computer is running the most current protection available and regularly scanning for threats.

2. Start using an alternative web browser to Internet Explorer such as Mozilla Firefox.

Just recently, hackers have figured out a way to access and download malicious programs to your computer via a security hole in IE. What is amazing about this is that you don’t even have to click on anything or download a program to get infected. You are especially vulnerable if you have an older version of Windows such as Windows 98.

Mozilla is a completely free web browser that does not have the same security problems as IE. Many of my clients even report back that they like their Mozilla browser better than Internet Explorer. Switching from IE to Mozilla is a simple and cost-free way to add another layer of security to your computer.

3. Use an alternative e-mail program other than Outlook Express.

Outlook Express is notorious for security holes. If you don’t have the latest security updates, hackers can send you e-mails with viruses that automatically open and install themselves without you even opening or previewing the e-mail and its attachments. I recommend that you either upgrade Outlook Express to a newer, more secure version of Outlook or switch to Mozilla’s Thunderbird E-mail software.

4. Never open suspicious looking e-mails or attachments.

This goes without saying because most viruses are replicated via e-mail. If it looks suspicious, delete it immediately!

5. Stop using peer to peer file sharing sites and downloading “cute” programs.

Think of it like cyber candy. Hackers use these cute and funny programs as bait to get you to download their destructive programs. These are guaranteed ways of contracting malicious viruses, spyware, and malware. Also, peer to peer file sharing sites like KaZaa are mine fields of malicious programs. NEVER access those sites or download the programs that run them.

6. Set up a firewall.

A firewall is simply a device that acts as a buffer between you and the big, wild world of the Internet. Many users will get a DSL or cable Internet connection and plug it directly into their computer with no firewall in between.

The one thing you have to remember about the Internet is that it is a big open field. You have access to the world, but on the flip side, the world has access to YOU. Hackers have programs that automatically scan the Internet for computers connected via a cable or DSL connection without a firewall. Once they find one, they access your computer, download vicious programs, and can even use YOUR computer to send viruses to your friends and other computers, all without your knowledge or consent.

7. Backup your files every night.

Have you ever lost an hour of work on your computer due to a crash or program error? Now imagine losing all of your precious family and vacation photos, e-mails, music files, and documents. No one really thinks about losing all of the data on their computer until it actually happens. By then, it is either too late and you have lost EVERYTHING or it will take a lot of money paid to a specialist to recover your files.

I cannot stress the importance of backing up your files enough. If the files on your computer are important to you, then it is about time you got serious about protecting them by backing up every night.

The backup solution you chose will depend on the amount or size of the data you need to backup. Sometimes a simple zip drive or CD burner will do the trick. If you have a lot of data to backup, you may want to consider a tape backup system. If you want to know what is best for your specific situation, call our offices and one of our technicians will be happy to discuss the best system backup plan for you.

6 Benefits of Backup and Disaster Recovery Systems

Posted on 11/02/2016.

Backup and disaster recovery services are no laughing matter these days. Each company needs a robust data protection, a secure and reliable cloud storage provider and a series of local and hybrid backup options. In this post, you’ll understand 6 benefits of backup and disaster recovery systems further, so you can choose what’s right for your company.

Managing Your Backups

This doesn’t have to be done in-house… after all tape backups are definitely a thing of the past, so why would you trust a daily process when cloud-backup services are so reliable? Don’t restrict your IT department anymore to these archaic practices; trust a solution that fits your needs. Monthly backups? Weekly? Daily? Every 15 minutes? Take control of day-to-day management, monitoring, and verification of your backups with easy-to-implement solutions.

Today’s backups consist of a “set it and forget it” solution – one that’s flexible enough to scale with your business, and fully managed and supported to minimize the time you’ll (or your IT consultant) spend hands-on with the platform.

Here are the 6 Features and Benefits:

1. Complete Disaster Recovery and Cloud Replication

In the event of a disaster, we’ll spin up your complete site as virtual machines on a private network in the cloud, with VPN access for you and your clients. Downtime is minimized, and business operations can continue as usual.

2. Secure and Reliable Backup

Data backed up to a local appliance can be replicated offsite to the cloud, so your clients can enjoy true peace of mind knowing that business continuity will be maintained even in a disaster scenario Continuity247 uses a world-renowned reliable public cloud (IBM’s Cloud, SoftLayer infrastructure), and replicates data across multiple datacenters to help guarantee reliability and availability.

3. Flexible Hardware Support

Continuity247 is hardware agnostic, meaning we provide system requirements and supported configurations and allow you to choose which hardware vendor you’d like to purchase from – helping you maintain your existing vendor relationships. And if you’ve got clients with varying needs, don’t worry; installing Continuity247 is easy, and you’re free to setup whichever configurations are best-suited for each environment.

4. A Proven Technology Foundation: Born in the Cloud

Unlike hardware-oriented solutions, the technology powering Continuity247 wasn’t retrofitted to support the cloud – it was built in the cloud, for the cloud. This proven technology already protects nearly 250,000 servers, and is trusted by nearly 1,800 web hosting providers – and we’re committed to continue expanding and improving it to meet your needs. Continuity247’s Continuous Data Protection (CDP) technology minimizes the amount of storage used on the appliance and in the cloud.

5. Single Pane of Glass Management

Easily manage all of your clients’ backups from a central location, with remote access to appliances, protected machines (with Continuum RMM), and the cloud. The ITSupport portal also features real-time reporting on backup deployment and cloud usage, and quick access to complete ticketing support.

6. Seamless Integration other programs

When Continuity247 is combined with Continuum’s Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) platform, you can deliver complete, comprehensive end-to-end IT management and data protection. Installing RMM gives our NOC technicians access to protected machines, expands the scope of issues they can resolve, and provides you with direct access to your machines from the IT Support portal.

>> Learn more about our Backup and Disaster Recovery Systems.

Windows 10 upgrade has been released – should you do it?

Posted on 16/10/2015.

I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now: the Windows 10 upgrade has been released. You have probably been urged to upgrade from pop ups and Microsoft ads. This version comes with a free upgrade to eligible users of Windows 7 and 8. However, before you click on the new Windows icon on your toolbar and perform the upgrade, we’d like to confirm that you’re ready for it!

Let us help you stay productive and profitable by reducing downtime!

Windows 10 is expected to be the most comprehensive and user-friendly Windows releases to date. Some of the new and improved features include:

Start menus that are fully customizable
A new voice-based search assistant
Mail and Edge internet browsing applications
Revamped File Explorer making frequently used items easier to locate
Full integration between desktop, laptop, and mobile devices

We know you are excited and we are too, but before you upgrade, consider the following questions we’ve already received from other clients:

Should I upgrade to Windows 10?

First off, if you “reserved” Windows 10 or not. you’ll be able to get it for free for months to come. No hurry. However, users of Windows 7 will find Windows 10 to look and operate a lot differently. Also, it’s imperative that you know if your most important programs will be compatible with Windows 10. If not, they’ll break and could be costly to fix.

If I clicked to reserve Windows 10 will it automatically install it?

No, it will only download it. You can choose to wait until mid-2016 to install it.

If I choose to install Windows 10, can I change my mind later?

It’s unlikely you’ll be able to “go back” to your previous version.

I am still confused about my options. What can I do?

Your ThunderCurrent LLC account manager knows your systems and can offer you the best solution for your PCs. Contact us via email at info@thundercurrent.net or email / call your account manager directly.