Month: April 2023

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Embracing Remote Work Necessities with the Right Technology

Remote work necessities


Whether you’ve accepted it at your business or not, remote work is only going to grow and become a necessity for businesses to offer partial or full remote. 

If you currently offer remote work or looking at potentially expanding this option, there are a few key items to consider.

Let’s lay out the most important remote work necessities.

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Hardware

User’s computers should be: 

1. Laptop  

or  

2. Desktop at work AND home 

Either of these computers are remote work necessities as they allow personal devices opens your organization to risk that can easily avoidable. 

For desktop, it’s easy. Identical setup at your business and at their home 

For laptop, here is the perfect setup:

1. Powerful laptop 

2. USB Docking station - These are easier and more compatible than the old school “docking stations” 

3. Dual Monitors – Now they have 3 monitors! 

That’s it! Simple and easy. They unplug their laptop and connect the USB port and are instantly running at home.  

G16 Mobile Worker Starter Kit

 VoIP Phones: This is listed under hardware and are great remote work necessities, as physical phones are quickly becoming obsolete. Download the included software phone and provide an inexpensive headset for your employees and they easily take their work phone with them on their computer! 

Access

There are lots of ways to make access easy without sacrificing security. Having your employees connect to the office to a physical server is the “old school” method that many businesses are still utilizing. Consider moving to SharePoint .  

With SharePoint, folders can sync to the file explorer, so it looks just like what they’re used to! That data is then backed up, just like a server would be. 

G06 SharePoint Versus OneDrive 1 scaled

However, you may have business specific applications that is not cloud based and requires a server. These are becoming rarer but may still be applicable. I don’t want to get too technical, so you can reach out and we can provide an audit on the best solution for accessibility.  

Moving to a hosted (cloud) solution or ensuring remote access for your users to your server onsite would be the primarily recommendations here.  

Security

As mentioned, you don’t want users accessing company data on their personal devices. There are very easy force functions your IT provider can implement to ensure this is not occurring.  

As more devices move away from the umbrella of the firewall (firewall is a physical device on your network that “filters” your internet data and protects computers at your business) you will need to ensure your security is focused on the computer and laptop, rather than the office location. 

How do we improve the computer/laptop security?

There’s a lot that we do, and I’m sure your current provider may do too. Here is a quick summary of the highest benefit lowest impact layers you need to have in place: 

  1. Multi-Factor Authentication – when the users log into their Microsoft accounts, they will be prompted with a push notification to their mobile device confirming it’s them This prevents 99% personal identify attacks… it’s a no brainer.  
  2. Anti-Virus – There are lots of terms for this, but at the end of the day you need a trusted anti-virus on all computers. 
  3. Conditional Access Policies – you want to make sure company data is NOT accessed on personal devices. Get your IT team to set this policy up and you’re all set. Need help? Let us know.  
  4. Managed Detection and Response – This is the one all of those cybersecurity insurance questionnaires ask about. Make sure your provider has this on ALL machines.  

There are more layers to consider for a remote work environment, but these are the non-negotiables.  

Conclusion

Moving to an increased remote workforce should not be a scary proposition. If you embrace remote work necessities and make it easy for yourself and your employees, it will improve your business. Ensure employees have strong KPIs and that you have an IT team with ample experience in consulting and implementing these types of setups.  

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How to pick the right Co-Managed IT Provider: 10 Important Questions to Consider

Co-Managed IT Provider

In the past, businesses either had an internal IT person/team or they worked with an outsourced IT company that provided Break/Fix or Managed IT Services. As the model has developed, businesses are finding it advantageous to have a combination of in-house and outsourced IT as known as a Co-Managed IT Provider. For instance, they may not have the budget or need for a full-time senior network engineer but need to have that expertise on-hand if needed. The opposite is also true, where they may have a high-level IT professional, but need to provide support for the person or team to lessen pressure and expense.  

In our previous blog we outlined how to determine if your organization is ready for Co-Managed IT. In this blog, we’ll cover how to pick the right Co-Managed IT provider.  

In this blog we’ll be covering:

Table of Contents

10 Questions to ask a potential Co-Managed IT Provider

These questions are meant to be difficult. Coming prepared with the right questions will help you identify if a Co-Managed Service Provider can adequately provide these Co-Managed services. 

  1. Why should we partner with you as our IT Firm? 
  1. Why shouldn’t we partner with you as our IT firm? 
  1. What is your process for keeping up with the rapidly changing IT environment? 
  1. What reporting can you provide our organization? 
  1. How many customers do you currently support that have internal IT Support? 
  1. What role(s) do you normally take on as the outsourced IT help? 
  1. Are you willing to provide 5 customer references that we can reach out to? 
  1. Do you have a customer portal? What does it include? 
  1. What is an ideal partnership with an in-house IT team? 
  1. What makes a partnership/client relationship less ideal? 

Just like a job interview, you want to come equipped with questions. These are some of the best questions we’ve received as the Co-Managed IT firm. These will provide an excellent starting point when interviewing a Co-Managed partner.  

The Co-Managed IT Worksheet

Every Managed Service Provider will say they provide Co-Managed IT services, but few have extensive experience with Co-Managed. They sign on the client and try to “figure it out” on the go. We recommend using this worksheet to identify which team will be accountable for which roles. Some roles can be shared, and others cannot. For instance, the CIO (Chief Information Officer) either needs to be the in-house IT or the Managed Service Provider.  

Review and complete this worksheet. What roles do you want to see in-house versus external? Does the MSP have recommendations based on this worksheet? 

While simple, this worksheet will eliminate any finger pointing and headache down the road! 

Other Considerations when evaluating a Co-Managed IT provider. 

There are other considerations when evaluating potential providers. We’ll list a few here, but if you have any questions or would like to learn more about Co-Managed IT, please give us a call. 

Location 

When a business solely depends on a Managed Service Provider, location becomes very important. In the case of an onsite issue, you need your MSP onsite right away. However, when you have internal IT, this requirement becomes a bit more lax.  

When you can only evaluate providers in your immediate area, you’re at a disadvantage. Co-Managed allows you to evaluate providers around the state or even country! 

The Tools 

Many of the tools outsourced IT teams use can be cost prohibitive for a smaller internal IT team. However, in a Co-Managed environment, they will often provide access to most or all these tools to your internal IT. This perk alone can pay dividends! Ask what tools/programs/productivity software comes with the Co-Managed IT relationship. You might be surprised by the additional value that comes with the agreement.  

Office Visit 

This may be lower on the priority list, but we always recommend visiting the provider. Go check out their office and meet their people. Try not to get stuck in the trap of only talking to the salesperson. Meet their team, see what their inner workings look like, and check out their office culture. This should be reserved for finalists of course but could help you make the final decision. 

Conclusion 

Choosing the right Co-Managed IT provider can be difficult, but it’s incredibly important. The right team can truly improve your business in many measurable ways.  

We are experts at Co-Managed IT at Data Magic and would be happy to answer any questions about these types of partnerships.  

Contact us today! 

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Fiber vs. Cable: How Sticking with Cable Holds Your Business Back

Fiber vs. Cable

We know the decision about internet service can be a complex one, but for most small businesses the choice comes down to just a handful of service types like fiber vs. cable. If you’re still stuck on cable (or another first-gen alternative), it’s time to investigate whether you have access to a fiber optic connection through one of the ISPs services at your business location.  

Because here’s the bottom line: sticking with cable can hold your business back.

Table of Contents

Fiber vs. Cable: cable could cause you problems  

  • Cable is less reliable  
  • Upload speeds with cable are drastically lower than the (already lower) download speeds  
  • No such thing as a dedicated cable connection: your actual speeds depend on what others on your node are doing  
  • Cable is an aging technology that few ISPs continue to invest in  
  • Cable is far slower than fiber  

If you’re like most, your business environment is competitive — more so today than at any point in the past. You can’t afford to fall behind the competition.  

An old, less reliable, slower internet connection runs the risk of putting you behind.  

Fiber vs. Cable

  

Is There Fiber Optic Internet Near Me?  

Availability is the big question when it comes to fiber. We’ll be honest: while fiber is the future, not every customer has made the transition, because some of them don’t have access to fiber yet.  

The good news is that fiber access is rapidly expanding, thanks to the tireless efforts of ISPs to build out the necessary infrastructure.   

  

Ready to Make the Switch?  

If you’re ready to make the switch to fiber optic internet after reading about fiber vs. cable, we can guide you through the process. If you’re a current customer, simply reach out to your rep. And if you’re not, we hope you’ll consider us as a managed services partner. We can take care of your entire suite of IT needs — and help you find the best fiber internet connection at the same time.  

Ready to chat? Reach out today.                       

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5 Most Common VoIP Questions 

VoIP

In the modern business world, communication is vital – every moving part in your business needs to stay connected and in sync in order to meet the expectations of your clients. It’s no secret; technology is the driving force behind effective collaboration for businesses. 

The question is: could you benefit from VoIP phones? 

And as much as email and instant messaging have changed the way we communicate; business phones are still a primary utility in the professional world. Any business that’s serious about communication, growth, and success needs to think critically about their telephone solution. 

If you’re not sure, that’s OK. Here are the most popular questions we receive about VoIP and our responses. 

Table of Contents

What Is VoIP and How Does It Differ from Traditional Phone Systems?

Voice over IP business phones let you make and receive calls over the internet with 99.999% uptime reliability, crystal clear connections, and enterprise-grade features that aren’t found with traditional phone services. 

Are There Different Types of VoIP Systems? 

The two primary types of VoIP phones are on-premise and hosted phones, and the difference between them is the location of the appliance that runs the system. In the former situation, as the name suggests, that appliance would be on your premises, likely in a server room or IT closet. In a hosted arrangement, that appliance is stored in an offsite data center and accessed through the cloud. 

Is VoIP Complicated? 

Not necessarily – an on-premise solution is more work for you or your IT team onsite because they manage it there. A hosted solution is outsourced to another location, and another team, likely managed by the third-party vendor selling the solution. 

How Does VoIP Prepare Your Business in The Case of Another Shutdown or Natural Disaster? 

VoIP offers the ability to carry on as usual in the event of a power outage, or even when your office itself is out of commission due to a disaster situation such as a fire or flood. 

What Are the Key Benefits? 


VoIP phones provide improved efficiency by limiting issues that come from having to replace or fix phones, as well as complicated management of adding and or removing employees. On traditional landline phone systems, you would have to wait lengthy periods of time for a phone to be replaced, or for a roll truck to fix issues. All this time spent waiting is time when you and your team can’t work. 

With this system, you don’t have to deal with these issues, which means less downtime. It also improves efficiency by providing you with numerous options for routing and answering calls, without the expensive on-premises technology and staff. 

With an assigned business phone number, you and your employees can take work calls on any device they like, both in and out of the office. This is especially powerful for businesses with mobile, remote workers, and Bring Your Own Device Policies. 

Whether your employees are in a single location or at multiple sites, desk-bound or road-bound, taking inbound calls or making outbound calls, VoIP provides a solution that best fits your business communication style. 

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