Showing posts with label security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label security. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

IT Managed Service Providers Could Be Seriously Cost Effective Solutions

Almost every business is dependent upon technology and computers to some degree. IT managed service providers are emerging in greater numbers and can take the financial burden out of maintaining a large IT department from a medium to small business, as well as make economic sense for the large business. Almost every business owner knows about managed dedicated servers for web hosting and it is a small leap from there to other types of IT services.

With almost every business dependent upon computers in some degree IT staffing costs for the business or corporation can be substantial. Services that are managed, release the owner from the necessity of maintaining a staff dedicated only to IT and instead allow them to focus on the main purpose of their business which is making money. Managed services can be budgeted for as they are predictable costs for both the provider and the client.

Almost every business uses their IT department in a different way and a managed solution allows the company access to experts in their area without the expense of attempting to locate and retain these experts. Providers are finding the idea of managed services attractive as well since they gain the added benefits of a stable and predictable income as well as familiarity with each client which usually results in better service.

Some sectors of IT are more difficult to market than others and more groundwork and careful marketing must be done. Other sectors are very fertile ground for IT managed services as the prospective client base has been introduced to the concept by way of similar services. There are also specific governmental regulations that should be considered in the planning stage for any provider such as regulations for data storage and backup.

Data security is one area that many clients are more than willing to consider as a managed solution. The expertise necessary to secure data and detect threats makes the transition to managed services much easier to market to the average potential customer. Off site data storage as well as server maintenance and provision are well worked areas where many customers are conditioned to consider managed services beneficial.

The concept of managed website servers is well established and customers view these cost effective solutions as almost a necessity because they no longer need worry about maintaining server security or learning an entirely new field. The customer instead concerns themselves with sales and service. Outsourcing is becoming a very common practice for many types of services and the more widespread it becomes the less resistance the provider will usually encounter when offering these services.

There are many facets of the IT front that can be addressed as a managed solution. Such ground breaking ideas as software as a service, infrastructure as a service, and desktop as a service have given a introduced a great deal of flexibility for the providers and significant savings for the businesses which utilize them. A company that must frequently deploy new software to a great number of machines in multiple locations find these services can not only help them to budget IT expenses but in some cases reduce the cost of deploying software, or upgrading machines.

With the right amount of marketing of the correct type it has been possible for service providers who formerly worked on an as needed basis to shift their focus to providing managed IT services. The benefits for both the service provider and the client are multiple. Once a client has been secured, those first months of service can cement customer loyalty.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Vital Things The Best Remote Admin Software Should Have

Today more and more people are working from home, often for established businesses. If you are running your own business you may want to have software that will enable you to perform admin tasks and check on your workers progress remotely. So before you take the plunge and spend money on new software take a look at the important features of the best remote admin software.

One of the most important features of this type of software is that is has to be easy to operate. Software that is too complex to understand and work is not a good choice at all. It will only make you waste your time trying to work it out and this is not what you are looking for. Next it must be capable of remote viewing on other PC's that are linked to it. This is a crucial aspect of remote software for admin purposes. Remote viewing helps the person using the software to see what is on the screen of a remote worker. File transfer is also important when it comes to admin software. So the software that you choose to operate remotely must have this facility. If it does not you should look towards another type that will meet your needs more exactly. If you are planning on having several people sharing one single desktop or several desktops over the course of a day or week this should be part of the software. By utilizing this kind of feature you can ensure that work is done more smoothly. You can control what is on the desktop and create on that is efficient and effective.

It is also incredibly important that the software that you choose has good security. The importance of this cannot be stressed enough as without excellent security the system you are working on will be unstable. As you would think this can lead to a multitude of problems if security is breached. Support for your software is another absolute must as it is always needed. From time to time all software will have faults and glitches and a good support team is needed. If your software provided can't promise you this then you should not even think about buying from them. Last but by no means least your remote software for admin must have full control over the computers in the network. Failure to do this will render the software practically useless and you will have wasted time and money in choosing it. So if your software does not have this you need to look towards another type that will perform the tasks that you need it for. Now that you know the important features of the best remote admin software getting the right type should be easier. So bear these features in mind when you are purchasing yours. As soon as you are able to do this you will be able to get the software that will work for you.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Beginners Reference Guide For System Management Software

System management software is what is used to implement, manage and monitor distributed systems. The benefits can be massive, subject to the caveat that the company and its operations are big and distributed enough to warrant such a system. At some point of growth, it becomes unfeasible to run around doing manual deployment, collecting paperwork and electronic data, and then have dedicated staff working to maintain centralized records.

 

Bring in system management at this point, and the benefits are massive and will ripple across every part of the company's operations. It reduces staffing needs and IT costs, enhances security and information sharing, and makes it easy to centralize data, monitor employee actions and network usage.

 

Installation & Management: The biggest benefit is in the form of automation of new installations and upgrades. If a company has 10 computers in the same office space, it's not that hard to do installations individually on each station. But that's out of the question for companies with hundreds or thousands of computers housed at different locations. When a company starts using servers and system management software, the whole process suddenly becomes automated, and needs less staff and less time.

 

Cost Reduction: First of all, no company, big or small, needs to worry about not benefiting from system management. The only debatable point is the ROI related to the cost of the software and paying a system administrator. Regardless, once implemented, it cuts down the need for IT staffing and other related expenses on a long-term basis.

 

But the possibilities are much bigger than this, since the system management infrastructure opens up pathways to install enterprise level systems such as ERP and enhance the client server IT architecture. This allows the company to expand its footprint, add new operations to the work flow and open branches which previously would either not have been required or would have been impossible to manage. Bottomline is that this is not just an IT help tool, but something which will ripple through the company's entire operation.

 

Security: System management has a huge impact on IT security. The same security settings are implemented on all stations, and any new policies are remotely implemented instantaneously on all the stations. Users can access any station and get the same settings and data, made possible by settings that apply to specific usernames and job or department levels. This makes the network more capable of withstanding external attacks.

 

Critical security updates and software patches can be administered quickly and simultaneously to all stations, thus reducing chances of the system going down or being attacked. Anti-virus software and malware protection can be installed on an enterprise network level, which provides more protection. Centralized data storage and backups on servers offer greater safety and reduce chances of data corruption or data loss due to hardware problems.

 

Monitoring: Monitoring capability on the network is one of the biggest advantages, in addition to the cost benefits and automation capabilities. The network can be monitored for both network usage patterns and employee behavior. It helps the administrators improve network capabilities, and the management to observe and follow employee work patterns and performance.

 

In summary, system management software is everything it is hyped up to be, and then some. While it has spectacular benefits and can accelerate the company's growth, the decision has to be made on a case-to-case basis. Each company has to do a cost benefit analysis and decide if the ROI is sufficient to warrant the change.