Cyber resilience isn’t just about preventing cyberattacks—it’s about preparing for them and recovering quickly when they happen. Unlike traditional cybersecurity, cyber resilience focuses on maintaining operations and minimizing impact during a breach. With cybercrime costs expected to skyrocket in the coming years, having a clear plan for resilience is a critical part of protecting your business. What Is Cyber Resilience? Though often considered a cybersecurity synonym, cyber resilience is a distinct concept. Cybersecurity refers to the tools, technologies, and processes involved in preventing and remediating attacks. Cyber resilience, on the other hand, strives to mitigate attackers’ mayhem once they’ve entered your networks. Cyber resilience recognizes that no system is entirely invulnerable. Thus, you need to proactively evaluate your resilience [...]

Business and IT Alignment Explained + How to Achieve It It’s no secret that alignment is the golden ticket to an organization’s success. Business and IT alignment, in particular, is paramount. In our tech-dominated era, if your business strategies don’t mesh with your IT approach, you risk losing your competitive edge. Unfortunately, IT and business alignment is rarer than you might think. According to recent data, only 51% of companies have aligned their business and technology strategies. If your organization has yet to reach perfect alignment, this guide is for you. What does business and IT alignment mean? The alignment of IT and business strategy boils down to a simple concept: integration. Too often, an organization’s decision-makers and IT [...]

What would be the cost to your business if your credentials were stolen, compromising your most sensitive information? Small and medium-sized businesses are especially vulnerable to brute force attacks, but any size business can become a victim. Here’s what you need to know about this common attack method and how you can start defending your data. What is a brute force attack? When bad actors attempt a brute force attack, they use trial-and-error to guess passwords and other sensitive information, trying different possible combinations until one eventually sticks. While brute force attacks seem rudimentary compared to other attack strategies, that doesn’t mean they pose any less of a threat to your business. In fact, 80% of breaches in 2020 [...]

Everything in business needs best practices, standards and systems, and IT is no different. This is especially true as IT has become more and more integral to every business. ITIL is a framework that brings a systematic approach to help businesses achieve stable IT environments, implement time- and cost-effective IT practices, and can best manage risk. In short, ITIL exists to bring IT in alignment with business objectives. ITIL: A Library and a Framework ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library, and this library contains volumes of best practices for the delivery of IT services. These books (currently there are five) detail the processes and stages of IT services. The approach was developed in the 1980s by the British [...]

When reviewing your organization's IT support options, it can be hard to discern fact from fiction. Below we discuss some of the most common misperceptions that we have encountered in our 19+ years in this business. We hope this helps you evaluate your options! Myth #1: Antivirus Software will Protect You from a Data Breach It is all too painfully commonplace to hear someone say that they have their data security addressed because they have antivirus software. It's not an unreasonable thought process, to be fair. The problem is that the landscape of cybercrime has become so incredibly vast and complex over the years that no single approach is going to keep your organization protected.  Since the rise of Covid-19, [...]

While “Managed Services” is an IT industry term, there is no consensus on the exact definition. Many Managed Service Providers, also known as MSPs, are out there.  Although there is no simple, neat definition, here is what most people are referencing when they talk about “Managed Services”: Maintaining an organization's technology, including computers, devices, printers, wifi Access points, et cetera. Most commonly, people think of the break/fix element of Managed Services. I.e., waiting for something to break and then fixing it. Many other things are going on behind the scenes; most people are not aware of this.  An MSP uses various tools to monitor your computers and devices remotely. The idea is to address minor issues before they become big [...]

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software selection is a huge undertaking. No matter how large or small your business, your ERP software is a critical piece of your business’ tech stack. It impacts functional areas across the entire organization, from accounting to HR to sales to operations, and so on. Implementation takes time and additional resources, not to mention the cost of a license will be significant. You’re aware that you’ve got to do your due diligence and get this investment right, but perhaps what you are lacking is the “how”: How do you even get started understanding ERP solutions? What selection criteria should you use? We’ve got some answers to get you started. Here are our tips to help [...]

Managed IT Services have helped thousands of organizations leverage their limited budget and resources to improve efficiency, security, service delivery, and professionalism. It’s a smart move and can help you take your business to the next level. Below we have listed some of the main benefits that our clients enjoy.  Reduce Risk During the pandemic era, hackers have found more opportunities to access valuable data and networks than ever before. The huge shift from working in an office to working from home has left many businesses struggling to keep up and tailor their operations. This shift has left business networks more vulnerable than ever before. Not sure what we are talking about? Check out these stats: There is a reported [...]

When interviewing prospective IT support partners, it can be helpful to approach the conversation with some knowledge of IT Management Strategy. If you like, you can read our full article on how to Build an IT Service Management Strategy.  When thinking of IT support, most people think of “reactive” support, i.e. password changes, troubleshooting problem printers, et cetera. To keep your systems secure and IT costs low, it is important to think “layered” and “proactive”. Layered Security can make the difference in whether your organization experiences a breach or not. Hackers will look for multiple ways of getting access to your data so that they can sell it or hold it for ransom. For this reason, it’s important to take [...]