Tag: IT consulting firm

Managed IT Service
Managed IT Services

What is Fully Managed Service and Why is it Important?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

A fully managed IT service can be a great option for companies that don’t have the time or resources to manage their servers or are looking for experts to manage and maintain the infrastructure without any hiccups.

A fully managed service can provide everything from proactive IT operations and streamlined ticketing for all IT issues to remote monitoring and management software for key IT infrastructure. It frees up your time from managing the IT-related tasks so that you can focus on your core business. 

In this blog, let’s look at how managed IT services can help you and everything that’s included in it.

How Can a Managed IT Service Provider Help?

Managed IT Service Provider

Streamlined, Efficient Support

We can help you with everything from setting up your new computer, to upgrading your software and hardware, to fixing issues (if they do occur) daily. We’ll take care of all the technical support tasks, so you don’t have to.

One person will be assigned as your primary contact for all IT needs — from troubleshooting an issue in the office or fixing your home network connection at night when you get home from work. This means no more getting passed around between different teams and departments!

Proactive Reporting and Analysis

Fully Managed Service also includes proactive reporting and analysis. This is regularly monitoring your business to ensure that everything is running smoothly and efficiently and identifying any problems before they become more severe. In addition to checking key metrics, our team will conduct in-depth reviews of your business to make sure everything’s on track—or if there are any changes, we can optimize performance.

Vendor Coordination and Management

Vendor coordination is one of the critical foundations of IT managed services. This function ensures that your vendor partners work together to deliver consistent service quality across different areas, such as network operations, customer support, and billing. Your IT consulting firm offering managed IT services will operate as a central point of contact for all issues related to service delivery, including:

  • Vendor selection: Work with an expert in managing vendors to find the right partner for each component of your cloud infrastructure or application stack. This may include setting up contracts with third-party vendors like power companies or Internet service providers (ISPs).
  • Vendor evaluation: Get help from experts who can review your current vendors’ offerings against industry benchmarks and standards. They’ll identify opportunities where you might get better value by switching suppliers or renegotiating contracts on price or other terms of service.

High Availability

As a managed service provider, our goal is to deliver high availability, high security, and high performance.

High availability refers to the ability of a system to be available for use during a specific time period. In other words, it’s the amount of time your service will remain accessible before you have to start worrying about it being down.

We don’t want anything less than 100% uptime for all of our clients so we work hard every day towards making sure that their websites are live and serving customers around the clock without any interruptions whatsoever.

What is Included in a Fully Managed IT Service?

managed IT services

There are several functions included in fully managed IT services, but here are a top few:

Network security & risk mitigation: This service ensures that your network is safe from any kind of attack or intrusion. It also helps you to manage risks by identifying potential vulnerabilities in your network.

Endpoint detection & response (EDR): EDR helps you to detect malware on all of your devices so that you can remove it before it causes any damage or infection to your system.

Desktop virtualization: Desktop virtualization allows you to access your desktop remotely so that you can work from anywhere and everywhere. This also helps to improve productivity by reducing travel time and costs associated with having multiple locations for businesses.

Data backup & recovery: Data backup & recovery ensures that all of your important data is safe, even if something happens to the device on which it was stored or if someone accidentally deleted it accidentally or maliciously deletes it intentionally!

What are the Different Types of Fully Managed IT Services?

Managed Cloud Services

  • Managed Cloud Services: Some businesses prefer to outsource their IT support while others choose to manage it independently. With managed cloud services, your company gets full-service IT support with the flexibility of using a public cloud to have security and cost-effectiveness. You can consult with the provider to find the best plans.
  • Managed Hosting: A managed hosting solution combines web hosting, server management, and disaster recovery into one package. It provides all the necessary hardware and software to run your website or application in an environment where someone else monitors its performance, maintains backups, and patches any vulnerabilities as needed — all at a low cost per month compared to other options like hiring in-house personnel or purchasing expensive dedicated servers yourself.
  • Managed Security: We conduct regular security checks on your system and protect against malware, virus, and other online threats. Each device always has up-to-date protection against viruses, worms, and spyware—no matter where those threats originate.

Hire a Trusted Fully Managed IT Service Provider

As your needs grow, you will look for a reliable and trusted provider. You want to know your provider is dependable. You want a provider with the experience needed to take your business to the next level. An ideal IT service provider can help you through challenges and make sure everything runs smoothly in the background.

This is where our IT consultant service shines. We provide managed IT services for our clients in Corpus Christi, helping them maintain their IT infrastructure so that it doesn’t get in the way of their everyday operations.

Want to know more about how we can help you? Reach out to us now to discuss your need for IT services. 

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IT resilience
Disaster Recovery

IT Resilience vs. Disaster Recovery: Understanding the Difference

Written by Layer One Networks Published

If you’re like most leaders, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about disaster recovery and how to avoid it. After all, it’s the stuff of nightmares – a natural disaster or man-made catastrophe that knocks out your IT infrastructure, leaving your business in the lurch.

Disaster Recovery (DR) and IT Resilience are two different approaches to the same goal: keeping your organization running in the event of a disaster. While DR is more focused on recovering from a disaster, IT Resilience is about being prepared for one.

In this blog, we’ll look at each option and when you will need one over the other.

What is Disaster Recovery?

Disaster Recovery Services

Disaster recovery is restoring computing systems and data to a functional state after a disaster such as fire, flood, or theft. Disaster recovery can also include business continuity planning and testing, ensuring that an organization can continue operations despite an outage.

The organization can recover from a disaster. Disaster recovery plans are designed to help organizations return to normal operations after a disaster. Organizations that have deployed cloud computing solutions may also refer to their DR plan as a BC/DR plan (business continuity/disaster recovery).

What is IT Resilience?

IT resilience is about ensuring that the IT infrastructure can withstand any kind of disruption and still be able to perform its mission-critical tasks. A resilient IT infrastructure can continue to operate in the event of any type of failure, whether it’s technical or natural.

IT resilience is an organization’s ability to maintain operations despite disruptions in the availability of IT services. This means continuing to provide basic services even when there are issues with one or more parts of the IT infrastructure. 

This could include having redundant components or systems in place so that when one component fails, another can take over seamlessly, having backups ready so that users can continue working if there is a disruption, or using load balancing techniques so that multiple servers work together as if they were one server.

What’s the Difference Between IT Resilience and Disaster Recovery?

IT Resilience and Disaster Recovery

Disaster Recovery is a Process That Activates After a Disaster has Occurred

The term “resilience” refers to the ability of an IT service (or application) to maintain its level of service in the face of an outage. This differs from disaster recovery — which is focused on restoring normal operations after a catastrophic event. In other words, resilience is about keeping things running as usual, while disaster recovery services focus on restoring normal operations after something goes wrong.

Disaster recovery is an emergency response plan for when your business experiences an unexpected catastrophe or disruption that could harm operations, such as an earthquake, flood, or hack. It’s different from IT resilience because it happens after a disaster has already occurred — not before.

IT Resilience is Preventative; Disaster Recovery is Reactive

IT resilience focuses on preventing problems before they happen. Disaster recovery focuses on reacting to problems after they occur.

IT resilience is about preventing disasters from occurring in the first place by making plans to protect against them before they occur. With IT resilience, you’re taking steps to avoid problems before they happen, so there are fewer issues when they do occur. For example, if there’s a potential risk of a data leak or a software virus getting embedded, you can install appropriate antivirus systems and conduct regular scans to prevent such an incident.

Disaster Recovery Helps Recover from Incidents

IT resilience helps your organization stay in control during an emergency by maintaining access to data, applications, and users even when disaster strikes. Disaster recovery helps ensure that you can recover quickly enough so that users can be back up and running as soon as possible after a disaster strikes.

On the other hand, IT resilience gives your organization the knowledge and tools to respond quickly if something goes wrong. And an IT consulting service can help you create a strategy to implement IT resilience by taking into account your previous incidents.

When Do You Need Disaster Recovery?

There are different types of events that trigger the need for recovery. 

A disaster may be a flood, hurricane, earthquake, or any other major event that damages critical infrastructure that affects your business continuity. A disruption could be something like a power outage, server failure, or even an attack on your systems. In most cases, you’ll have time to prepare for these types of events, but in some cases, they can take place without warning.

For example, if your data center suffers minor damage during a power outage but remains operational for most functions (e.g., email, file sharing), this would be considered an interruption rather than a full-blown incident requiring IT.

This is when you need disaster recovery services.

When Do You Need IT Resilience?

Achieving IT resilience requires systems, services, and processes that work together to protect your data and ensure availability. Let’s take a look at three common scenarios where you’ll need an IT resilience strategy and backup as a service:

  • You’re running a 24/7 operation where uptime is critical
  • You have key employees who work remotely from home or other offices, but they still need access to all their data and applications via VPNs or even the internet itself.
  • Your company’s cybersecurity model requires high-availability systems.

Do You Need Disaster Recovery Services or IT Resilience?

What many people don’t realize is that there are two distinct types of business continuity planning: disaster recovery and IT resilience. And while disaster recovery is essential for any organization with mission-critical systems, IT resilience can be just as important — especially if you want to survive in today’s competitive landscape.

Want to know more about how both of these can work well for your organization? Reach out to our IT consulting firm to discuss your recovery and resilience plans.

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IT service provider
IT Consulting, Managed IT Services

Technical Support vs Managed Services: Which One is Best for Your Business?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

You may not give it much thought, but the IT providers you choose to support your business can significantly affect your bottom line. You’re losing money if you’re experiencing downtime due to poor support. Even worse, if you’re being overcharged for services you don’t need, that’s money that could be put to better use elsewhere in your business.

So how do you know which type of IT services provider is right for your business? Let’s examine the differences between technical support and IT-managed services.

What is Technical Support?

Technical Support

Technical support is a service that provides help with technology-related problems or questions. This may include troubleshooting issues, providing information, or fixing hardware issues like replacing broken parts on computers or other devices.

Technical support is a reactive model and can fix problems after they’ve already caused damage to your company. Technical support is like the traditional firefighter role for computers. When something goes wrong with your system, you call tech support and they run in to put out the flames.

It is offered to help businesses on a case-by-case basis. For example, if a computer or device malfunctions or stops working, technical support will be provided to help fix the problem. If a virus infects an entire system or individual machine, technical IT support will be offered so that the infected computer can be cleaned up and restored to its original state.

What is Managed Support?

Managed Support

Managed services refer to a service delivery model in which the service provider takes on full responsibility for monitoring and maintaining the customer’s infrastructure. This includes applying patches, updating software, installing new versions, and more. In most cases, this also provides access to a help desk that handles simple requests and escalates issues to more complex levels as required.

Managed services is a method of outsourcing day-to-day IT management as a strategic method for improving operations and cutting expenses. Through an IT consulting service, businesses can access resources they wouldn’t normally have access to due to budgetary or skill limitations. The company’s employees will be able to focus their attention on running the business while their provider takes care of the IT needs.

Technical Support vs Managed Services: Which One to Choose?

Technical support and managed services are two of the most common types of IT support, but they’re very different. Choosing one over the other can have a major impact on your company’s future success.

Technical support is a reactive service that responds to issues as they arise. IT managed services, on the other hand, are proactive. It anticipates possible problems and takes measures to prevent them from arising.

But which is the best for your business? Let’s find out.

When Do You Need Technical Support?

Technical Support

Technical support is a more generic way of describing IT services. The term can be applied to almost any aspect of IT services – from software installation and application maintenance to general troubleshooting and ongoing system management (including installing patches, updates, etc.). It can also involve other elements such as providing strategic guidance for decision-making or helping train employees on how to use new tools.

  • When you need regular support: Your business needs regular technical support to keep your IT infrastructure running smoothly.
  • When you require a highly experienced team to solve issues quickly: There are times when you encounter a particularly hard IT issue for which you need experts to handle. This is when a technical IT support team can step in and solve it for you with minimal downtime.
  • When you handle tech that requires specific expertise, several technologies are pretty narrow and something that many IT technicians may not be exposed to. In such times, having access to a tech support team that’s expert in your tech is useful.

When Do You Need Managed Services?

On the other hand, managed services are usually provided by a third-party company that specializes in IT solutions for businesses. If a business has a problem, they simply call on the managed services provider (MSP) to fix it rather than trying to troubleshoot it themselves or calling a technical IT support specialist.

Since IT managed services are an ongoing partnership with your IT consulting firm, they can help you in numerous ways. Let’s look at some situations when you need managed services:

  • If your systems aren’t properly maintained: Your IT infrastructure and systems require regular maintenance to ensure they’re running efficiently and securely. If they aren’t properly maintained, they can become slow, prone to crashing, or vulnerable to hacks and malware. A managed service provider will maintain all your systems so that you don’t have to worry about them crashing or getting hacked.
  • When you have outdated technology: If you are still using legacy hardware and software, you may need to consider IT managed services. With the rapid pace of technological change, you need help keeping up so that your business can stay relevant and competitive.
  • When you have plans for future growth: The right IT partner will help you plan for future growth. They will ensure that your current systems can handle the additional pressure of an expanding team or client base.
  • When you want to save on costs: While managed services do come with a monthly fee, businesses often save money in the long run because their technology is performing optimally at all times. By regularly maintaining your systems and infrastructure, small issues are fixed before they escalate into bigger problems that cost more to fix.

When Do You Need Managed Services?

On the other hand, managed services are usually provided by a third-party company that specializes in IT solutions for businesses. If a business has a problem, they simply call on the managed services provider (MSP) to fix it rather than trying to troubleshoot it themselves or calling a technical IT support specialist.

Since IT managed services are an ongoing partnership with your IT consulting firm, they can help you in numerous ways. Let’s look at some situations when you need managed services:

  • If your systems aren’t properly maintained: Your IT infrastructure and systems require regular maintenance to ensure they’re running efficiently and securely. If they aren’t properly maintained, they can become slow, prone to crashing, or vulnerable to hacks and malware. A managed service provider will maintain all your systems so that you don’t have to worry about them crashing or getting hacked.
  • When you have outdated technology: If you are still using legacy hardware and software, you may need to consider IT managed services. With the rapid pace of technological change, you need help keeping up so that your business can stay relevant and competitive.
  • When you have plans for future growth: The right IT partner will help you plan for future growth. They will ensure that your current systems can handle the additional pressure of an expanding team or client base.
  • When you want to save on costs: While managed services do come with a monthly fee, businesses often save money in the long run because their technology is performing optimally at all times. By regularly maintaining your systems and infrastructure, small issues are fixed before they escalate into bigger problems that cost more to fix.

Want to hire an expert team to provide technical support or ongoing managed services? Reach out to our firm offering managed IT services in Corpus Christi to discuss your IT-related needs.

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IT Consultant vs. IT Managed Services Which One is Better
IT Consulting

IT Consultant vs. IT Managed Services: Which One is Better?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

As technology has become a more significant part of our daily lives, so has the demand for technology professionals. This is true for both large and small businesses alike.

While there are many different types of IT professionals available to work with, the two most common types are IT consultants and IT managed services. Both provide different benefits to businesses; however, they each best serve different types of organizations.

It’s important to know which type of professional service your business needs to stay productive and competitive. Here’s some helpful information about the role of an IT consultant and how they differ from IT-managed services.

How Can IT Consultant Services Help Your Business?

IT Consultant - Layer One Networks

The role of an IT consultant is to provide strategic and technical guidance to the business. Through a series of meetings and discussions, they will figure out your business needs, what is currently lacking, and how to strategically approach those gaps.

Through IT consultant service, an outsourced expert offers technical advice to a business about maintaining their IT infrastructure and making new improvements. It can be a single person or a team of professionals who work together to provide services for their clients. 

A consultant is typically hired to provide an objective opinion or advice on an issue related to their area of expertise. They’ll be able to review your current business practices and identify areas of opportunity for improvement. The recommended changes may include upgrading your current technology, implementing new systems, or streamlining processes. A consultant will typically provide guidance, assist with a project or help train employees at your company.

How Can IT Managed Services Help?

IT Service - Layer One Networks

In managed IT services, a group of IT professionals works together to provide support in response to your business needs. Whether that be network maintenance, system upgrades, or simply troubleshooting a problem for you, their role is essentially to fill in the gaps of your existing team.

They ensure that their equipment, software, and systems remain up-to-date and protected from outside attacks. They offer 24/7 monitoring and maintenance support to companies throughout the year while focusing on other business matters. 

Once hired, these companies will become responsible for the smooth operation of all computer systems within their client’s business. They will handle all software updates and upgrades, hardware repairs, network security, and internet connection issues as they arise. This can save you time and money to focus solely on your business operations instead of fixing tech issues all the time.

Differences Between an IT Consultant and IT Managed Services

IT Consulting Firm - Layer One Networks

Involvement in the Everyday IT Operations

An IT consulting firm will work with a company’s staff to understand their needs and develop a solution that meets those needs. Consultants do not get involved in the day-to-day operations of your business. They are hired to assist with long-term planning and recommend process improvements. On the other hand, managed services assist with day-to-day tasks like system monitoring, updates & maintenance, issue resolution, etc.

The role of Managed Services Providers (MSPs) is very different. MSPs are responsible for managing almost all aspects of an organization’s network. From monitoring security on the network to managing email accounts and firewalls, MSPs take care of everything IT-related. In some cases, MSPs can even provide cloud services or help with website management.

Solution for a Specific Outcome

IT consultants are often hired for a specific project or outcome (ex: create a new internal system). Once that outcome is achieved, they are no longer needed. Managed IT services come in as an ongoing support solution to tackle any issues that may arise after the project is completed by an IT consultant, as well as anything else that comes up along the way.

Cost to the Company

One major difference between the two is cost. A company won’t need to hire an IT consultant company full-time; instead, they will only be brought in when required for specific projects. This makes it easier for companies to budget for their services, as they only pay for what they need when they need it.

When Do You Need IT Consultant Service vs. Managed IT Services?

IT Consultant vs Mananged IT Services - Layer One Networks

When You Have New Technologies to Implement

A managed IT service provider helps you maintain your network and servers but would not implement software or hardware systems. This is where an IT consultant can be helpful as they have deep insights into a wide range of technologies and help choose the right ones for your business.

When You Have to Conduct Specific Tasks

An IT consultant will be able to execute specific projects that you may not be able to take up due to a lack of resources or expertise within your organization, like migrating from the on-premises to the cloud or setting up a new office network.​

When You Need Guidance on Specific Tech Stack

IT consultants are hired to provide temporary assistance for a specific project or problem. They can propose a solution for any issues in your business’s IT infrastructure, as well as offer guidance and support to help you get the most out of your systems — which can then be implemented by our in-house IT team.

When You Need to Evaluate Technologies

Let’s say that you want to include new software in your workflow but aren’t sure about the best choice. An IT consultant service is the best option to figure such issues out.

When You Don’t Need a Full-Time Staff

Many businesses don’t need a full-time tech staff on hand. Their technology needs are small, and they only need occasional support to keep their computer up and running.

In this case, you can make use of the managed IT services to get the work done at just a fraction of hiring an entire IT team.

When You Need Long-Term IT Assistance

Managed IT services are the better option when you need long-term help but don’t want to hire full-time employees. Managed services companies offer remote monitoring, management, proactive maintenance, and support to keep everything running smoothly without onsite staff.

Are you looking for the right IT service for Your Business?

Reach out to our experts who offer managed IT services to businesses in Corpus Christi! We have the knowledge and expertise you need to keep your business running smoothly.

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Cloud Storage
Cloud Services

Complete Guide on Infrastructure As A Service

Written by Layer One Networks Published

Cloud computing is a buzzword for virtualized computing resources provided over the Internet, not just for storage and databases but also for processing and memory capacity.

The idea behind Cloud Computing is to provide scalable IT infrastructure on demand. Developers can utilize these resources to build applications without worrying about the underlying hardware, operating system, or software. This leads to faster development cycles.

Embracing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) for enterprise operations is a growing trend in the business world. There are many advantages to leveraging this service model, including flexibility, scalability, and cost savings.

Let’s look at the basics of IaaS, how it works and how beneficial it can be for your business. 

What is IaaS?

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service model that provides virtualized computing resources over the Internet. IaaS enables a customer to access virtual servers, storage, and networking capabilities provided by the service provider. This provides greater flexibility and scalability than traditional hardware or software platforms. Since everything is in the cloud, it can scale up and down to meet customers’ needs. It can also scale up and down quickly in response to changing capacity requirements.

IaaS is a subset of cloud computing that provides virtualized resources rather than physical machines or virtual machine instances. The consumer’s computing hardware or software is abstracted and hidden from the provider, who delivers operating systems, networks, and storage over the Internet. Unlike platform as a service (PaaS), IaaS typically allows users to install their software on the provided infrastructure. 

IaaS is an umbrella term for services based on cloud computing that offer scalable and elastic computing capabilities. IaaS provides users access to the hardware and software resources via the Internet. Users can provide virtual resources to their applications or use the available infrastructure for deploying their applications.

IaaS provides a virtual computing environment to client organizations that can rent it monthly. 

How Beneficial is IaaS to Your Business?

Cloud Storage
Cloud Storage

  • Affordable:

The main benefit of IaaS is that it is cost-effective. You don’t need to invest in hardware. All you need to do is rent the hardware from a cloud hosting service provider. So, this means that you will be able to save a lot of money which can be used for other purposes. Plus, you only need to pay for the resources you need and can scale up or down as needed.

Its flexibility enables you to change your infrastructure requirements quickly and efficiently as per your business needs. This means that you don’t have to worry about high capital costs and high operational costs, so this will also help you save a lot.

  • Maintenance-Free:

IaaS reduces the efforts needed by businesses in managing IT services. Companies can focus on their core operations while the IaaS provider maintains the hardware and networks.

  • Simple Disaster Recovery:

With cloud disaster recovery plans, your business doesn’t have to relocate its entire IT infrastructure in case of an emergency – just whatever parts are required for business continuity. This reduces downtime and frees up capital that would have been used for purchasing new hardware. You can always leverage backup as a service to protect your business even when the uneventful happens. 

  • Easy Accessibility:

It is easy to access whatever software or service you need, wherever you may be located with cloud computing. 

All you need is an internet connection to connect with their servers and access the programs from any location. This makes it easier for organizations that have employees who travel a lot as they no longer have to carry around discs with them everywhere they go. Instead, they can simply log in to their account using their smartphone or other mobile devices whenever they need to access important information.

10 Questions to Ask When Choosing an IaaS Provider

Foundations exist to provide a structural framework that supports complex and sophisticated projects quickly and cost-effectively. The same can be said of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), where it provides a foundation for developing applications quickly and easily.

Truly, IaaS is designed to support the ever-expanding business requirements of users across the globe, providing them with complete flexibility to choose what works best for their business processes. It is this flexibility that makes this service such a highly sought-after commodity in today’s cloud technology marketplace, but what separates one provider from another?

Finding the right IaaS partner for your business can be pretty confusing. But there are some essential questions you need to ask before you decide.

  • How quickly does the IT support specialist respond to requests for assistance? 
  • What kind of track record does it have in meeting service level agreements (SLAs) with its customers?
  • How often do outages occur, and how long do they last when they do occur? 
  • How much flexibility do you have with your server configurations? 
  • Can you create VMs with specific OS or programming languages installed? 
  • Will the provider allow you to modify your server settings to optimize performance, security, or other factors?
  • How much administrative control do you have over your server environment? 
  • Are there any hidden fees you should be aware of?
  • What type of system integrations do they offer?
  • How do they handle backup and recovery?

Wrapping Up

Many businesses choose IaaS because they require high-performance solutions customized to their business needs at affordable rates.

Hopefully, this guide will help you better understand the basics of IaaS solutions so that you can make the best choice for your business and your IT needs.

Have any more questions? Reach out to our experts at our IT consulting firm now. We offer IT consultant services and managed IT services for SMBs and enterprises to help them figure out the best way to leverage the benefits of IaaS for their business.

Call us at (361)-653-6800 to contact our IT consulting firm.

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Cloud Computing
Cloud Services

Nine Powerful Advantages of Cloud Computing

Written by Layer One Networks Published

Cloud computing has an array of advantages that have been proven to be incredibly beneficial to the business world. You don’t have to worry about the specific hardware your business relies on, which allows you to focus on your business and what matters most – your customers. 

Cloud computing is the future of technology, and getting in on the ground floor has so much to offer. One of the biggest advantages of cloud computing is the speed and agility for all areas of any business. The ability to work online from anywhere in the world holds enormous potential for both SMBs and large enterprises.

This guide will explain the ins and outs of all the major cloud computing advantages available today.

9 Advantages of Adopting Cloud Computing for Your Business

Cloud Computing Services Near Corpus Christi

Cloud computing has an array of advantages that have been proven to be beneficial to the business world. Here are nine powerful benefits of cloud computing!

Flexibility 

Businesses are no longer tied to their current hardware, software or operating system since they are all stored in the cloud. Users can access their information and files anywhere as long as they have an Internet connection. This allows businesses to easily adapt to changes in technology and switch between technologies as needed without replacing hardware.

With the flexibility of the managed cloud solutions, individuals can have 24/7 access to information whether they are traveling or at home. If a company is looking to increase its global market share, cloud computing can make it’s products and services more accessible to customers worldwide.

Scalability

Businesses that rely heavily on information technology must ensure their systems can handle the demand during peak periods and unexpected surges. 

Cloud-based systems can grow as needed. They can easily increase their scale as new users join and increase their storage space as necessary. This is possible because the majority of the hardware is centralized, allowing for easy expansion.

This also eliminates downtime or unexpected expenses due to overcapacity or underutilization of resources.

Business Agility 

Business agility is crucial in today’s fast-paced digital economy. Cloud technology allows businesses to respond quickly to competitive changes with minimal investment in capital or IT resources. Companies that embrace cloud technology can remain nimble and responsive with minimal disruption to their day-to-day operations. 

Security

Many people have concerns about storing sensitive data on a third party’s servers, but cloud-based security is top-notch. Many major cloud providers have invested heavily in securing their infrastructure, using both physical and virtual security measures, including firewall and encryption.

Additionally, some cloud hosting services allow users to increase their encryption to further enhance security. You can work with an IT consulting firm that offers security IT services to add another layer of protection to your cloud.

By outsourcing your infrastructure needs, you save time while also advancing your company’s digital security protocols. 

Cost Savings

There are two primary cost savings when it comes to cloud computing: initial cost and maintenance cost.

The initial cost of purchasing software can be quite expensive, especially for smaller companies or new startups, but this cost is eliminated with cloud computing. Maintenance costs are also reduced because the user will only need to pay for the storage space used instead of an entire license for each computer within the company.

Business Continuity 

There is no need for businesses with heavy reliance on digital assets to maintain pricey backup systems in natural disasters or equipment failure. Managed cloud hosting services allow businesses to access all their files and data from anywhere at any time, with no risk of data loss or downtime with an offsite backup system. 

Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) have become extremely cost-effective for companies since cloud computing technology came into play. Once your data is uploaded to the cloud, backup servers automatically scan for changes to ensure that everything is accounted for. This ensures that any potential data loss or mistake can be rectified quickly.

Reliability 

Cloud computing sites are designed to be more reliable than traditional data centers. Redundant servers and storage systems are used, making it nearly impossible for a failure at one point in the network to bring down the entire system.

Rapid Expansion

Cloud-based applications allow for rapid expansion without having to invest in additional hardware or software upfront. Instead of purchasing 200 computers, a company could opt for just one server and use cloud-based software to add 20 computers when needed. This also allows companies to scale back when necessary or shift resources between projects as they please.

Improved Collaboration

One of the main reasons why businesses are encouraging their employees to use cloud computing is due to the collaboration feature that it provides. The cloud makes it easier for employees to collaborate on projects without being in the same physical location. 

Employees can communicate more effectively because they do not need to be in constant contact with each other for information to get passed along. This allows employees who work in different locations or have conflicting schedules to work together effectively without causing problems for the business’s workflow.

Conclusion 

Cloud computing is a vital tool for any business because it provides a way for businesses to function reliably – even if their own systems fail – as well as maintain data security and manage assets.

At LayerOne Networks, we help businesses to move their business operations to suitable cloud hosting services. Our IT consulting firm also extends support and security with our managed cloud services for setting up cloud backup and recovery and for additional firewall protection. Reach out to our IT consulting firm to discuss your cloud computing needs now.

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Ultimate Guide on Data Security
Security

Ultimate Guide on Data Security

Written by Layer One Networks Published

Your IT systems are no longer safe unless you have strong data security measures in place. 

Data security has become more than a legal obligation to follow a bunch of compliances. When the security of your customer’s sensitive information is threatened, it’s time to take a step back and analyze what you can do to improve safety.

The data threats can be of any form: data loss through cyberattacks, phishing collection of personal information, virus attack, or insider theft. You can strengthen data security by enforcing strict access controls, protocols, strong firewalls, and antivirus and antimalware protection systems.

This blog will take you through various things you need to know to improve your data security.

The Importance of Data Security

Before you look into the details of what data security means and how you can enhance it, let’s start by analyzing the main concerns: Data security is defined as the laws and regulations that ensure the safety of people’s personal information (e.g., credit cards) and information systems in various business, medical, and technical fields. It’s time to think of data security as a responsibility and not a means to comply with regulations. 

You have data from users, end-users, and business partners, all of which contain private and sensitive data. Before choosing any third-party service provider, let’s break down each type of information and what you need to know. 

End-User Data: They include information such as identity and authentication details, geo-locations, credit card information, bank details, phone numbers, etc. These may be maintained internally but will often leak to another party. 

Application Data: This is the code that runs on your computer. For instance, when a website requests a particular piece of information on your computer, this is what you are typing in.

When such data is hacked, it can threaten the very foundation of your business and, at the least, lose your customers’ trust. This is why you need to give the most to such data.

Ultimate Guide on Data Security

Reasons for Weak Data Security

The main reason for weak data security is human error. Your employees may accidentally click on an insecure link or email attachment that contains malware. Other possible causes include lack of training, lack of control on employees, weakly trained staff, and employees who have a poor understanding of network administration. 

If this sounds like your environment, start doing these three things: 

  • Add passwords to every new login. This way, when a user gets a password for a new account, they won’t reuse the same password. 
  • Install virus protection and antivirus software on all computers and mobile devices. 
  • Don’t email sensitive or confidential information to any external sources. That includes emails, text messages, and social media platforms.

How to Improve the Data Security

An effective data security system takes an in-depth look at data and its security needs while changing data processing systems or building new ones. Here are some of the ways to improve your data security.

  • 1. Create Strong Passwords

With the increasing usage of mobile apps, password leaks have been a frequent occurrence. It’s unfortunate, but passwords are one of the weakest links to protect our data, exposed more than 30,000 times per day, according to SplashData. We are all guilty of not changing our passwords often enough. This is because most people do not make a conscious effort to change their passwords often enough, or even at all.

The damage can be difficult to recognize and stop. However, there are steps we can take to improve the situation. The first step is not to use a shared password. 

  • 2. Set Up Firewalls

Your firewall’s purpose is to stop unauthorized devices from accessing network resources and the internet. Make sure you have enabled port forwarding for all your access points to ensure the best results. This allows port forwarding for critical destinations to work. 

You can specify the port ranges in which access to these destinations is allowed. 

  • 3. Enable Access Controls

Using Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions, SSO is a secure system in which one login system can provide you with multiple access points such as web, mail, data, and so on. It is an easier way to protect data and grant access to authorized users. You can create multiple accounts for each of your employees. You can also configure password management systems for each of these accounts.

  • 4. Create Encryption

Encrypting your data helps ensure that nobody can access and misuse the data stored on your systems, even if they get their hands on it. You can use standard encryption to add“secret” information into a file, creating a code that a person cannot read without the appropriate decryption key. And you can also simply enable 2FA for your login attempts.

Wrapping Up

Data security is no longer about whether or not you’re complying with rules. Instead, it’s if you’re implementing a security approach that a knowledgeable insider or hacker can’t circumvent.

Being hacked often happens because a person or company is unaware or uneducated about some rudimentary security protocols. Educate your employees to adopt the right security practices to keep your organization safe.

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IT Security
Security

IT Security vs. IT Compliance: What is the Difference?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

Is there any difference between IT security and IT compliance?

This is often one of the common doubts many get when talking about securing their IT systems.

IT security and IT compliance both have to deal with protecting the information. But that’s where the similarities stop. There are quite a lot of differences between what goes on in IT security and IT compliance.

But, for some IT professionals, both terms are interchangeable, and their differences get blurred. This blog specifically sheds light on what constitutes IT security and IT compliance and the differences between them both.

What is IT Security?

IT Security vs. IT Compliance: What is the Difference?

IT security is needed to prevent attacks from malicious sources and protect our IT systems. IT security is also about minimizing the damage in the event of an unstoppable attack and ensuring that sensitive information is kept safe.

While the explanation seems simple, the process behind IT security is not. There are many ways through which hackers can gain access to our IT systems, and IT security professionals need to predict and enforce firewalls to prevent them.

At LayerOne Networks, we provide security services for companies in Corpus Christi and use a combination of IT security practices to keep the security systems updated. We use a set of automated tools, security kits, and manual processes wherever needed to conduct regular audits and tests to reinforce and strengthen IT security.

What is IT Compliance?

IT Security vs. IT Compliance: What is the Difference?

IT compliance is the need to follow a specific set of regulations based on third-party requirements. While there’s no direct motivation for IT compliance, like IT security, failure to meet the compliance needs can have serious repercussions.

IT compliance helps maintain a standard of security for the users by enforcing specialized IT security practices. Usually, IT compliance is mandated by:

  • Government
  • Client contract 
  • Industry-specific regulations and standards

For example, healthcare companies need to follow HIPAA compliance for all of their IT systems to maintain the data security of the patient’s information.

Similarly, there are various other industry standards that every business needs to follow. Moreover, adhering to the standards of compliance will also serve as a plus point for client acquisition. 

Our IT consulting firm has helped many companies to understand such compliance needs and adhere to them. We analyze such mandatory IT compliances for a business and assist them to be in line with them all.

What’s the difference between IT security & IT compliance?

IT compliance is fixed when compared to IT security. With IT compliance, you’ll need to follow all the particulars in the industry, government, and contract compliance. You don’t need to go out of your way to come up with novel ideas for it.

However, IT security is entirely flexible based on your business needs, budget, and capability. You can exercise any amount of cybersecurity as much as you need to keep your information protected. You’ll look at the security of your system from different points of view and analyze the best way to maximize data security.

Let’s compare the difference with the actual processes of IT security and IT compliance.

3 Different ways to improve IT security

Most hackers try to gain access to an IT system in 3 common ways:

  • Networks: There are network security tools and firewalls that we can install to fortify the networks. It can prevent hackers from attacking the system and quickly rely on the hacking attempt by security professionals.
  • People: One of the most common ways hackers try to crack an IT system is through the people. The employees may carelessly click on malicious links or open websites through which the malware gets installed, gains all the login information, and sends it to the hacker. To prevent it, we need to conduct regular IT security seminars to warn people against such hacking attempts.
  • Devices: The physical devices we carry may be prone to phishing attacks. There is specific software we need to install and conduct regular screening to prevent such types of attacks.

3 Different ways to follow IT compliance

Here are some common IT compliance frameworks that many companies need to adhere to:

  • SOX ( Sarbanes-Oxley Act) is required to maintain the financial data of public companies. It has several requirements for maintaining, destroying, and altering the data.
  • PCI DSS compliance stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. It is created for maintaining financial information by using secured networks, different levels of access, and testing. 
  • ISO 27000 is a standard that certifies companies that follow certain high levels of security. It outlines how a company should approach and follow information security management. While this isn’t mandatory, companies that follow ISO 27000 have an edge in clients’ eyes over those who don’t.

Striking a balance between IT security & IT compliance

When we look at it closely, IT compliance is often seen as a mandatory one where we can do the minimum and get by. This is where IT security complements compliance and adds to the protection of IT systems.

Every organization requires robust security systems, multi-layered defense protocols, and IT security training sessions. We can use compliance to find the gap in IT security and further increase the protection with advanced security systems and tools.

IT compliance establishes the foundation of IT security, and with further protection measures, we can ensure that your IT infrastructure is kept safe at all times. 

With the new improvements in technology, it’s becoming challenging for organizations to keep up with the latest hacking techniques and update their IT security. This is where our IT consulting firm is of the best use.

With our managed IT services focused specifically on IT security and compliance, we can keep your entire IT ecosystem secure. Reach out to us at (361)653-6800 to discuss your IT security needs in detail.

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An Ultimate Guide on Two-factor Authentication (2FA) for Small Business
Security

An Ultimate Guide on Two-factor Authentication (2FA) for Small Business

Written by Layer One Networks Published

There are so many things for a small business owner to juggle — everyday operations, new improvements, and employee management are just the tip of the iceberg.

Add to it the scare of IT security, and the whole thing becomes all the more difficult.

Small businesses are more prone to hacking attempts. In fact, 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses. While this statistic may scare any small business owner, there are so many things that you can do to reinforce security — and at no additional cost.

And one of such essential security measures you need to employ is two-factor authentication, commonly known as 2FA.

What is Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)?

Most online platforms are offering 2FA now. Right from Gmail to cryptocurrency exchanges, 2FA has added an extra layer of security and prevented many hacking attempts. If you want to strengthen your protection further, you can enforce zero-force security.

But if you want to start small and slowly add more layers to your data security, then the very first thing you need to enable is 2FA.

2FA is the next level of authentication after verifying your login details. Even if the hacker knows your username and password, 2FA can still stop the hacker from accessing your account.

How Can a 2FA Look Like?

An Ultimate Guide on Two-factor Authentication (2FA) for Small Business

Every platform offers a certain type of two-factor authentication. For example, when you log in to your Google account and enable 2FA, you’ll receive a notification to confirm the login from a new location on your registered smartphone. 

But this is not the only form of 2FA.

A 2FA can be:

  • A security question
  • An instant security number
  • A pre-created pin or security question
  • A fingerprint scanner on your smartphones

While these types of 2FAs can be found commonly on many online platforms, there are also physical forms of 2FA like a card or a key. This is best for physical storage locations of sensitive data or products.

It’s highly advisable that you enable 2FA on the common platforms you use for your small business. If you’re unsure of enabling 2FA on any online platforms, you can reach out to your IT service provider or any other reliable IT consulting firm to help out.

4 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs 2FA

Every small business needs 2FA, but why? Because there are no drawbacks and lots of advantages. Here are some prime reasons why you need to enable 2FA for your small business right now.

  • You Need to Keep Your Sensitive Information Safe

Can you imagine the repercussions if your sensitive information, including customer’s data, falls into the wrong hands?

This one incident could very well lead to the derailing of your small business. When you don’t want such unfortunate situations to happen, you need to add as much security as possible to your critical platforms. This includes any cloud storage you’re using, your email account, CRM, online banking, and other platforms where you share or store important data.

  • You Need to Give The Hackers a Hard Fight

Let’s face the truth. It’s become very easy for hackers to use malware to access all our usernames and passwords. If there’s one thing that can stop them and give them a hard fight, it is the 2FA. 

If your platforms allow you to get notified of logins from new devices, it’s vital that you enable them. This way, you can be informed when someone tries to hack your account and quickly take steps to prevent it.

  • You Have Nothing to Lose Since it’s Free!

While many other managed IT services and security solutions may cost you at least some money, there’s no investment to use 2FA on online platforms. All you need to do is enable 2FA, test it once, and be assured that you’ve added an extra layer of security. You don’t have anything to lose!

  • You Don’t Need to Spend Time to Implement 2FA

Now that we’ve cleared that it’s free, the next question you may ask is, ‘Should I spend a long time on 2FA?’ Not at all!

It’s as simple as clicking a button on and off. You can switch off 2FA anytime you need, of course, with some password protection and verification. But you still have complete control over your 2FA. You just need to make sure to remember the type of 2FA you’ve enabled and remember it.

Wrapping Up

As a small business starting, you don’t need to pour tons of money for your data security. With just a few simple steps free of cost, you can ensure an additional level of security — with no strings attached.

If you still haven’t enabled 2FA for your critical applications, then it’s high time you do it. It can make all the difference between a successful hacking or a failed attempt.

If you’re looking for additional security than 2FA, then you can reach out to our company offering security service in Corpus Christi. Layer One Networks is a popular IT consulting firm specializing in managed IT services and IT security. You can reach out to us now to know more about our cost-effective security solutions for small businesses.

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Malware
Security

Ransomware Vs. Malware: What is More Dangerous?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

At a time when businesses are under threat from cybersecurity issues, you can never be too cautious.

Online security threats are everywhere — from the emails we open to the WiFi networks we connect. And with businesses depending on online tools and communication, we need to be careful more than ever to prevent ourselves from attacks. This is why everyone needs to be aware of the different cyber threats and what it means for businesses. 

Among the popular cyber issues, ransomware and malware are some of the most common ones used interchangeably. 

In this blog, our security experts from our IT consulting firm shed light on the differences between ransomware and malware and analyze which of these is the most dangerous.

What Is Malware?

Malware is software or a tool that has malicious intentions—many of the current cybersecurity hacks and threats we find come under the category of malware.

Usually, the hacker tricks you into installing this malware on your system by clicking on a trustworthy link or gaining access to your login details. Once this malware is installed, it can monitor all the actions you do on the system, record, and send it to another server accessible by the hacker.

The typical examples of malware are viruses, worms, spyware, adware, crypto-jacking, and spambots. Every malware is designed to do a specific job as needed by the hacker.

What Is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of malware that gets access to a system and asks for a ransom in exchange for giving access. Usually, the ransomware software gets installed on a system with phishing attacks.

A ransomware software can access the credentials, files, share them to another location, set up a ransom, and demand payment. One of the main issues with ransomware is that the hacker threatens to leak confidential information if the ransom isn’t paid. 

Which Is More Dangerous: Ransomware or Malware?

Ransomware vs. Malware: What Is More Dangerous?

First of all, we need to understand that there are certain degrees of danger to either form of hacking based on the security and the sensitiveness of the accessed files. To understand which can do more harm, we need to know how different they are.

Basic Working

Before we consider how malware and ransomware are different, let’s first understand how much they differ in the way of operations.

Most malware will try to replicate the files on the system and share them with the hacker. It also copies itself from file to file, corrupting the files in the process and gaining access to the information.

Ransomware is entirely different. Once ransomware gets installed, it prevents access to the system using high-security features. The ransomware will be removed after the payment is fulfilled.

Level of Access

Let’s consider the amount of access both of these cyberthreats have. In the case of malware, while it can access information up to a level and even slow down the system’s performance, it cannot destroy a business.

On the other hand, we have seen several actual companies shutting down after being attacked by ransomware. So, in terms of access and impact, ransomware is more threatening than most other malware.

Method of Protection and Removal

Protecting your systems against different types of malware, including ransomware, is done by installing anti-virus and anti-malware protection solutions. The company employees who have access to sensitive information should avoid clicking on suspicious links and becoming victims of phishing attacks.

While the protection for both ransomware and malware is similar, the ease with which we remove this malware once it gains access to a system is different. While we can try to remove other types of malware by using software, it’s hard to do the same with ransomware. Only when the payment is fulfilled can the ransomware be removed.

Identification 

When a system is infected with malware, it can be hard to identify it. The malware doesn’t make itself known, and you can only detect it using the anti-virus programs and suspect when your system’s performance is slowing down. If it’s mild malware, you can reconfigure the operating system to get rid of it. Or, you can implement a disaster recovery program to salvage some of the damage.

However, in the case of ransomware, the ransomware will make itself known soon after it has infected a system by blocking your access. So there’s very little you can do when the damage is already done other than to pay up.

When we compare these different levels of impacts of both malware and ransomware, we see that ransomware can do more damage than ransomware since ransomware is almost always brutal.

How Can You Protect Yourself from Malware and Ransomware?

If you’re wondering how you can prevent any cybersecurity issue from happening, then you need to be critical of the protection programs you have in place. Apart from using software and tools to run regular security checks, it would help if you got a good data security team to help you increase security.

Layer One Networks is an experienced IT consulting firm offering security services for businesses in Corpus Christi. With our security IT services, we help businesses increase their protection from such malicious software and keep their information safe. If you’re looking for an experienced team to help you out, then reach out to us now.

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