Reason to use of managed IT services & boost business in 2021
Managed IT Services

Reason to Use of Managed IT Services & Boost Business in 2021

Written by Layer One Networks Published

2020 threw us a curveball and many of us were left scrambling to sustain our business in the new face of uncertainty. 

2021 brought in a lot of hope and opportunities with learnings from 2020. We’re presently at this crucial point in the industry where adapting to new technology and finding better ways to manage our IT systems can make a whole lot of difference.

This is when we need to make a decision — the best way for managed IT services to position for business growth.

In this blog, we’ll look at various reasons and ways to hire managed IT services to survive in the new normal in 2021 and accelerate your business development.

4 Reasons Says You Need Managed IT Services

The need for managed IT services is steadily increasing. In 2019, the global market size of managed IT services was $185 billion, while in 2020, it hit $207 billion. In five years, it’s expected to grow to over $356 billion.

Cloud Computing

This increase in the market size of managed IT services shows the demand it has.

There are so many reasons why companies look for managed IT services from external firms. As a top IT consulting firm, LayerOne Networks has worked with several businesses providing custom IT services to manage their business and remove bottlenecks. 

So, are there any specific reasons or situations when you need an IT service provider’s help? Yes, there is.

Reason 1: When You’re Risking Overrunning Your IT Costs

It’s a good thing when your business grows. But your IT system should also be capable of growing and accommodating that development.

When you don’t have a large budget for IT system management or when you’re registering unprecedented growth and you’re quickly overrunning your IT budget, then it’s a sign that you’re headed for some serious damages.

There are only two ways to go from here. One is to update your IT system quickly and invest loads of money in resources, technology, and workforce to compensate for the new needs. Or, you can hire an IT consulting firm that already can supply you with the workforce and technology to handle your current and future needs. 

The latter can be achieved with less budget and less accountability, while the former needs a heavy budget and lots of time to create such a system. 

This is when many companies go for managed IT service providers to make the work simpler and better with the best resources.

Reason 2: When You Want Your IT Infrastructure to Be in Its Best Shape

Installing a hi-tech IT system is only the start of the job. You need to constantly update it, maintain it and modify it to adapt to the changing business needs. 

And when your system is becoming outdated or not maintained adequately, it can run into several technical issues, all of which would deter your business operations.

Hiring an IT service provider to manage your IT infrastructure will make sure that your systems are always healthy and ready to manage your rising volume of IT operations. You wouldn’t ever have to worry about the capacity of your IT system when you’re planning a new business move. The IT consulting firm will take care of the expansions on the IT side while taking care of the rest.

IT Services Near Me

Reason 3: When You Want to Stay Ahead of Your Competitors

There’s barely any industry right now that’s not influenced by technology. From agriculture to teaching, technologies have taken over the progress and innovation.

So one of the best ways for companies to be at the top of their market is to be technologically advanced. And this is only possible with intelligent IT systems that can propel your business forward and implement new initiatives to stay ahead.

Having a reliable and experienced firm offering managed IT services would mean that you’ll always be kept informed of the new tech trends in your industry and how you can implement them fast before your competitors do.

Reason 4: When You Want to Minimize the Hassles of IT Management

As we discussed earlier, when your business grows, you need to keep hiring a bigger team to manage your IT needs. This would mean constant changes to the IT department in terms of employees, tools and technology. All of this takes a lot of money and, most importantly, your time.

If you want to focus on your core business objectives, you can do away with all of this work and just outsource to a local firm that can manage your IT needs as and when that happens. So, all you need to do is communicate your plans and your idea and the team can help you come up with the right technologies needed.

How to Choose the Right Provider for Managed IT Services in 2021?

Since the landscape of IT services are changing, you need a team that is:

  • Experienced enough to handle any complications.
  • Updated enough to keep you abreast of the industry tech changes.
  • Certified enough to provide you with IT services that are tangential to the current needs.
  • Resourceful enough to help you create backups and store your data securely .
  • Flexible enough to change with your business dynamics.
  • Skilled enough to manage any complications in the IT system and resolve them swiftly. 
  • Reliable enough to take charge and pitch in during emergencies. 

Conclusion

Getting the help of IT managed services for your business is the best way to handle your IT needs, prepare your business for future growth and position yourself at the top of the industry. Make sure to be aware of when you require the support of managed IT services and hire them before the critical point arises.

LayerOne Networks offers managed IT services in Corpus Christi. Reach out to us if you want to grow your IT system to support your business ideas.

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Finding a Perfect IT Company Near Me
IT Consulting

Tips on How to Switch IT Service Provider Hassle-Free

Written by Layer One Networks Published

When your current managed IT services aren’t performing as well as you wanted and you’re left scrambling to make things work, it can be a real hassle. 

It can either be the communication issues, lack of expertise or resources available. Whatever the underlying reason, maybe, when the IT services you hired aren’t adding value to your business as intended, then it’s time to make a switch.

When you’re thinking about switching IT companies, you want to make sure that no such problem gets repeated. 

Wondering how you can find such a reliable IT consulting firm to work with your business and switch to them? Here are a few things that you should consider.

5 Things to Do When Switching the IT Service Providers

Cloud Computing

When you’re switching to a new company providing managed IT services, you want to improve the current process. The below points detail how to look for a new one and transition smoothly from your old provider.

  • Acquire Full Control

Many IT service providers have complete control of your accounts and networks, including usernames and passwords. Before you switch to a new one, you should make sure to gain full access to all your accounts and, if possible, change the access codes and passwords. 

While most IT companies wouldn’t cause any issues like locking you out of the accounts when they’re fired, but it’s always better to do so. 

Once you’ve gained completed access, the next step is to acquire all the IT records they’ve maintained about your company. This is essential to make sure that your new IT service provider has enough data and documentation to start the work soon and get familiar with the infrastructure. The documentation also gives you an idea of the work done by the current service provider.

  • Create Backup

While you may already have created a backup system, it’s essential to create a separate backup just for the transition. This backup will contain all the information and documents that the current IT provider has access to.

There are so many things that are not in our control and having a backup will ensure that you always have a fallback option when things don’t go your way.

  • Look at Your Current Service Agreement

When you’re entering into a contract with an IT consulting firm, you would’ve signed an agreement that detailed all the scope of the service. 

This would include the services they offer, the access to software that comes under the monthly fixed cost, the access to documents and the important one, the duration of the agreement.

If you’re terminating the agreement after completing the term duration, you won’t have any problem. If you’re hiring a new IT service provider before the term of the previous one, then you may have to pay an additional fee that would compensate for the rest of the agreement duration. 

Make sure to be aware of how much you have to pay and calculate if this is something that you’re ready to bear.

  • Create a Process Flow for the Transition

When you’re shifting between IT companies, there’s so much information transfer required.

This is why having a process flow and a procedure for this transition will come in handy. You can send out printed information about transferring the login details and the network from the old one to the new one.

Ensure sufficient information for your current provider to have enough time to collect the information and get ready to move the data.

  • Facilitate Communication Between Both the Companies

Some businesses transfer the IT infrastructure’s control to themselves first before shifting it to a new provider. However, this can be a tedious process, especially when you don’t have a sufficiently equipped in-house IT team. The new provider may have lots of questions for you that your old provider can only answer.

When you’re transferring the power of handling your networks and IT systems directly between the two companies, you can cut out a lot of back-channel talks and pass on the information quickly. However, this is easier said than done since the old provider may not be happy to cooperate as much as you require. 

This is when you need to mediate the transition and smoothen things out and facilitate proper communication.

9 Tips to Find the Right IT Service Provider

IT Services Near Corpus Christi

After your unsatisfactory experience with the managed IT services, it’s time to be cautious enough when searching for a new one. Here are a few things to look out for in an IT company. 

  1. Look for a local IT company if you prefer face-to-face meetings.
  2. A clear and transparent service agreement with no hidden fine print.
  3. Open communication channels and feedback responses.
  4. Quick, reliable team compromising of engineers, developers, designers, managers and experts.
  5. Ability to scale the IT system as and when required and accommodate your growing IT needs.
  6. Knowledge of your current software and vendors and expertise in new technologies for future implementation.
  7. Ability to quickly take over the transition from an old IT company free of charge.
  8. Proposes minimal or no downtime during the transition and lays out the supporting documentation to prove the same.
  9. A self-starting team can take a load of the transition work and quickly get the information without making your job harder.

Wrapping Up

Any business performance hinges majorly on the IT team and its efficiency. With the right IT service provider, you can create several automated processes, simplify handling data, and leverage the IT systems to your advantage. When your current provider isn’t meeting your expectations, it’s best to cut your losses and find a new one with better experience and capability. 

If you’re looking for a reliable company offering managed IT services in Corpus Christi, then reach out to our consultants at LayerOne Networks now.

 

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Finding a Perfect IT Company Near Me
IT Consulting

Finding a Perfect IT Company Near Me

Written by Layer One Networks Published

Finding the right IT company to hire isn’t easy.

And if you’re reading this, then you probably know this from first-hand experience.

There are so many IT companies present around the country with varying expertise and resources. So, if you’re wondering, ‘then how can I go around finding that perfect IT company near me?’

Well, this blog is your answer. 

We have put together our years of experience in offering IT consulting services to several companies to analyze and present the best way to identify the right match. So, let’s dig in and find out how you can find a suitable IT consulting firm to cater to your needs.

 5 Questions to Ask Yourself

Customer Support

Before we go on to talk about finding the IT companies near you, let’s take a breath and analyze what your preferences are.

You need to be very clear on your requirements. This is the best way to shortlist the companies quickly. So, here are 5 questions that you need to prepare for.

  • 1. Do you want the outsourced team to work along with your in-house team?

This is completely based on the IT project. You can either ask the outsourcing team to work standalone and deliver the final project. Or, you can hire a few developers, designers, and engineers from the IT consulting firm and ask them to work with your in-house team. Whatever it is, it’s essential to know what your choice is.

  • 2. Are your needs long-term or short-term?

If you’re planning to hire the IT team for a one-off project, say a VoIP installation project or an in-house software implementation, then you can look for people that match the exact expertise. If you’re planning to hire them on a long-term basis, you need to make sure that the company can use resources to match your scaling plans.

  • 3. What kind of expertise in tools and technologies should the IT company have?

Your in-house IT team would already be working with a set of software, tools, and technologies. So make sure to enquire with the outsourcing IT company about their knowledge in these.

  • 4. Do you plan on extending the scope of the services beyond the current project?

Some plan to hire a team initially for a single project to assess and then extend the scope of their services later. If that’s your plan, then make sure to be clear on the expertise that you may need for future projects.

  • 5. What kind of working model do you prefer?

IT consulting firms work in several pricing models: per-project cost, per hour cost, or monthly retainer cost. While most companies give you a choice to choose, it’s best to calculate your needs and budget to figure out the cost-effective model and working style you prefer.

How Can You Find a Perfect IT Company Near You?

VOIP Services

Now that we’re clear on your requirements from the IT solution consulting companies, the next step is to actually search for them. How do you do that? Let’s find out.

Look for the IT Consulting Firms Near You

When you need onsite support from the IT firm, then it’s best to search those in your city, preferably around your area. 

If there’s any kind of emergency or quick assistance you need, a support team that’s working in your timezone and present near you would respond quickly. You can also set up regular meetings with the team, get their opinions on your IT processes and make them an extended part of your in-house IT team.

Research About Their Expertise

Once you identify the IT companies near you, research about the industries they’ve worked in, the companies they’ve worked with, and the years of experience. 

A team of IT specialists who know how your market operates and who your target audience is will have a better understanding of executing the IT systems. As you enquire about their experience, make sure to ask about the tech stacks they’ve worked with. 

You need a team with a multitude of expertise in the tech stacks you currently use and exposure to the upcoming technologies. This way, you can depend on the team for new projects in the future.

Analyze Their Size with Your Scaling Needs

You may have plans of expanding your company a few years down the line.

If you’re planning to stick with the same IT service provider, then you need to make sure that they can handle your scaling requirements. You don’t want a company that promises you to supply resources when they are running short now.

You want a company that already has the staffing to meet your scaling needs, even if that occurs only a few months from now.

Notice Their Speed of Response

Timing is everything in the IT department. When hacking happens within seconds and IT systems collapse in milliseconds, you want someone who’s highly responsive, smart, and intuitive. 

While you may not know their responsiveness without working with them, you can ask around in the circles where their current clients are. Or, you can also run a trial period to understand if they can match your working style.

Wrapping Up

While there can be so many IT companies near you, the best way to find them out is to analyze their working style, expertise, and scalability.

When you follow the pointers mentioned above and test the company to see if they’re a good match, you can quickly choose a perfect IT company that can contribute to the bottom line.

If you’re looking for a reliable IT consulting firm in Corpus Christi, reach out to our IT specialist at LayerOne Networks now.

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IT Consulting firm
IT Consulting

Outsourcing vs. In-House IT Consulting Services: Make the Right Choice

Written by Layer One Networks Published

Every business needs the help of technology to maximize its reach and work in the current world. So, it suffices to say that the IT systems form a core part of the business.

When it comes to maintaining your IT systems, there goes a lot of work regarding the updates, exploring new techs to improve productivity and work among the competition. You will need a team of IT specialists to take regular care of your systems and keep them in good shape.

Now the biggest question is: do you plan to outsource the IT work or keep it in-house?

In this blog, we’ll compare both the choices and lay out the practicalities in both options for you to decide.

How Can You Choose Between an In-House IT Team or an Outsourced IT Company? 

Outsourcing
Outsourcing

When you require continuous IT support, be it for application updates, regular monitoring, or implementing new IT systems, which is the best choice: an IT consulting team or an in-house team? Let’s find out.

  • Flexibility in Terms of Implementation

When you’re a startup or small business growing rapidly in your market, it’s hard to anticipate your IT needs clearly. When your expectations aren’t clear, then it’s challenging to recruit new employees for your IT team and make the best out of the team.

In such situations, having a reliable outsourcing IT support team reaps so many benefits. Even when there’s an unprecedented amount of work for you, the company offering IT support makes sure to cover all your rising needs. Instead of worrying about requirements for new technology, you can focus on product development and implementation and have a supportive IT team to back you.

  • Room for Scalability

Yes, having internal resources you can walk-in any time and speak to is great. But have you thought about scaling the team?

It’s an enormous task, one that’s difficult for a growing company aspiring to become a scale-up. By scaling, we don’t just mean the IT team but also the resources, tools and software your in-house team relies on to provide the best IT services. 

Having an outsourced IT consulting firm ready to fill in when the need arises would help your IT team keep with your scaling needs. When you need to release a new IT product fast, update an application or create new automated process pipelines, the outsourced team will already have the experience, resources and skills to handle them.

  • Access to Skillset

Your decision to choose between an in-house team and an outsourced team could also depend on the skills you require right now and in the near future. When your IT support requirements are simple, you can do well with a few in-house employees.

But when you have complex tasks and unexpected IT challenges to manage, you need a highly skilled and updated team to quickly attend and resolve the issue. If not, it can lead to security issues, system failures or a lot worse.

While you can create such an expert team in-house, it can’t be done in a day. And of course, you need to spend a lot more money to hire such highly-skilled employees, which takes us to the next point.

  • Cost Factors

Hiring a whole team of IT experts full-time means a lot of money that goes only for the salary. But it doesn’t stop at that. Even the most skilled IT team can’t give their all without the best resources to work with. This means you need to shell out more to procure the IT tools, systems and software for the in-house team.

When you go with an outsourced IT solution consulting team, you don’t have to worry about salary, buy the technical resources, or search for new employees to recruit. You can solely focus on your main task and pay the team a monthly agreed amount to work with your internal team.

This could not just save you money but the troubles of going to the lengths and hiring IT experts, managing them and overseeing their work.

  • Availability

Of all the employees in an organization, the IT team is the one that should be available round-the-clock. You never know when there’s an emergency or a breach in the security and you need the skilled team to quickly rectify the issue. 

Particularly for this factor, it’s best to have an outsourced team working 24X7 so that they can be on top of any emergency and fix it.

What Options Do You Have?

IT Consulting

Let’s say that you already have a small in-house IT team helping you with the day-to-day work. But your business is expanding and the team is struggling to handle the workload. 

So, what are your options?

Do you ditch your in-house team and take on an outsourcing company?

Do you hire more in-house employees even when you aren’t sure if you can manage the cost and the workload in the near future?

Well, there’s an in-between option here – you can keep your in-house team and outsource a good chunk of the work to a good IT consulting firm. Since your in-house team is familiar with your ongoing IT systems, they can help the outsourced team understand and begin the work. 

The outsourced team can absorb the workload that your employees can’t handle. They can coordinate the work for any new project, provide educational assistance for your employees to learn the ropes of new technologies and it can turn out to be a win-win for all.

You can even search for ‘IT services near me’ online and find one near your area of business. This way, you can have face-to-face discussions periodically if that’s what you prefer.

If you’re looking for an IT consulting firm in Corpus Christi, you can reach out to our experts in LayerOne Networks. We provide outsourced IT services with flexible models and pricing to take care of IT system management.

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How to Find the Local IT Consulting Firm
IT Consulting

How to Find the Local IT Consulting Firm?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

If there’s one thing as hard as hiring in-house employees, it’s finding that perfect IT consulting firm to support you.

You want a reliable IT consulting company that’s really invested in making your business work efficiently and explore technologies to leverage to your advantage. You don’t want someone who is focused more on the billable hours than your progress.

You should be able to weed out the IT consulting firms that aren’t interested in your success in the initial consideration stages. This way, you don’t waste your time and money with a firm that adds no value. But doing that is easier said than done.

This is why we’ve put together a blog to guide you to make the right choice.

4 Things to Have Prepared Before Looking for an IT Consulting Firm

How to Find the Local IT Consulting Firm?

Before we talk about how to exactly search and find the right firm to help you, we’ll see how much you have to be prepared to go through the process.

  • 1. Be Clear on Your Expectations

There are so many IT consulting firms in the market and everyone is an expert in one thing or the other. Some work mostly with certain business types and some are specialized in startups. Some provide consulting only for IT services and some for product development.

So, you need to be clear on the type of assistance and consultation you’re expecting.

Do you need a consultant for the entire duration of a project?

Are you hiring consultations to help with the general direction of progress?

How many consultants are you planning to hire?

What are the specific topics of priority you need their help with?

You need to be very clear about where you stand and how the IT consulting experts will fit your business.

  • 2. Decide the Term Length and Location

How long do you want the IT consultants to work with you?

You may require a consultant for an ongoing project which means they need to start work as immediately as possible. Other times, you may want to create a long-term partnership with a local IT consulting firm that’ll support you in all your tech developments.

So, based on your expectations, outline when you need them, how long you need them, and where you need them to work. If you want the consultants to visit your office occasionally and work with your team, then you need to be perfectly clear on that.

  • 3. Determine the Level of Involvement

How involved do you want your IT consultants?

This is one key question that many often forget to consider. Do you want them to oversee any operations and give suggestions? Or, do you want them to go in-depth, analyze and offer the insights?

When you’re clear about how much you want them involved, you’ll find out the various other specializations required of them.

  • 4. Know Your Budget

What’s your budget?

Understanding how much you can afford to spend on an IT consulting firm will set you clear on the type of firms that fit your bill. Have a realistic budget by looking at the current market rates and decide on something good enough to hire an expert team.

How to Find the Right Local IT Consulting Firm?

Local IT Consulting Firm

When you’re prepared with all the details needed to shortlist and choose the firm, you’re one step closer to finding the right one. As you go about searching for local IT consulting firms, here are some tips to guide you.

Test Before Hiring for the Long Term

Even when you’re looking to hire a firm for the long term, it’s best to test them out for a trial project or a few weeks to see if they’re a good fit. Else, you may end up working with someone you aren’t comfortable with or lose money or both.

Look at the Previous Businesses They Worked With

IT consulting firms gain experience as they work with more and more organizations. So, look for firms that are in the industry for a very long time. And look at the companies they’ve worked with.

See if they’ve worked with someone from your domain. This way, they would have a better idea of your market and you can start working from the get-go.

Analyze Their Communication Skills

Sometimes, even the most skilled people have poor communication. And as consultants, you need them to be very clear on what they speak.

When you contact a local firm initially, you’ll probably be talking to the sales team or customer service people. You can ask to speak with the consulting person who will probably work on your project before deciding. 

Since you’re looking at local firms, you can even go to their place and have a good idea of their work culture and speak with the consultants face to face. 

This small step would give you so much insight into how they speak and their expertise.

Hire the Team with Good Response Rate

As you shop around to find IT consulting firms, make sure to note how fast they get back to you. While this may not be how the consultants work, it’s a good indicator of their culture and how they respect the clients.

Wrapping Up

Finding the right IT consultants would make a world of difference to your business. Make sure to do the due preparation before you contact the firms and then use the above pointers to gauge them and hire the best one.

If you’re looking for IT consulting firms in Corpus Christi offering security service, then you can talk to our experts at LayerOne Networks.

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How to Integrate Cyber Resiliency into Your IT Strategy
Security

How to Integrate Cyber Resiliency into Your IT Strategy

Written by Layer One Networks Published

“How can we be resilient enough in the face of the risks?” should be the question companies should ask when talking about cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity is more than the inclusion of technology features. Instead, it’s all about protecting yourself from unlawful attempts by integrating cyber resiliency into your business processes. When you achieve cyber resilience in your everyday operations, right from customer interactions to creating applications, you can truly be confident about protecting your data.

In this blog, we’ll look at the best approach to integrating cyber resiliency into your IT strategy to achieve a high-security level.

The Growth of Cyber Resiliency Over the Years

A decade ago, cybersecurity wasn’t a priority. It was treated as an additional process and not included as a whole in the operations. However, that changed when cybersecurity was considered as a control function.

How to Integrate Cyber Resiliency into Your IT Strategy

With such a mindset about cybersecurity, 80% of the technology executives failed to protect themselves when the hackers started using sophisticated tools and strategies.

The best solution to create a powerful cybersecurity model is to consider it more of a digital resilience than a control function. Such a process allows companies to carry on with their different tasks, all the while protecting critical information. Such a defined and unified cybersecurity model is what we call a truly cyber resilient company.

At Layer One Networks, we’ve been helping companies to implement cyber resiliency that moves beyond the model-based security features and becomes an all-inclusive strategy. Our cyber security services and managed IT services for companies in Corpus Christi have given them confidence and resilience about their sensitive information’s safety.

Our cybersecurity experts share their best ideas to integrate cyber resiliency as a part of your organization.

How to Create a Cyber Resilient Strategy?

There are three ways by which you can include cyber resilience into your IT strategy.

  • 1. Prepare for Attack on Existing IT Systems

When we consider the points of attacks during a cyber breach, it can be so many. The hackers can gain access through malware and ransomware or gain access through networks without recognition. Your IT system should protect itself against all these types of attacks.

  • First, assess your current situation and plan your strategies to include cybersecurity in your existing IT systems and processes. 
  • Evaluate the critical information and its storage functions and strategize on the best way to implement security measures for such systems. 
  • Find out the different access points that can breach the critical systems.
  • Define IT security systems to protect these points first.
  • Then, take up a holistic approach to create optimized IT security systems for the rest of the business operations.
  • Document the cybersecurity measures clearly and capture all the assets to verify with the security policies and governances.

Make sure to optimize the complete platform with intelligent cybersecurity tools. You should also have a standby recovery management protocol that the IT team can implement fast in a security breach.

  • 2. Think Proactively to Protect Critical Assets

Hackers try to get access to your data to make money or to do harm to your business. Either way, when they get their hands on your critical assets, it can damage your company for good.

This is why you have to think proactively and safeguard your important data. You need to update your software regularly, run patch testing, and security testing on your IT systems, and use predictive analytics to curb cyber risks. 

To be proactive to the fullest, your networks and the IT processes should be regulated. This will simply be the process of implementing security measures and improving cyber resilience. You should also simulate cyberthreats to detect the weak points and secure them. 

You should also invest in tools and software for the detection of cyber threats and have a ready plan in place to tackle the issues. Responding rapidly is the key to thwarting a hacking attempt which is why you should place high importance on your crisis management strategy.

Your crisis management strategy should have:

  • Quick incident response time
  • Automated recovery efforts
  • Removal of the virus from the system and security of the network back
  • Intrusion analysis system
  • Redeployment of the IT systems

  • 3. Build a Resilient-Aware Employee Community

While your IT team is working on creating secure channels and putting up walls to keep the intruders out, you should educate your other employees about the cybersecurity measures. 

Many successful hacking attempts happen due to the negligence of the employees. So, make all the employees in the organization aware of the different ways hackers get access and the prevention measures they can do to avoid it.

  • Conduct cybersecurity awareness campaigns
  • Get an IT consulting firm to conduct educational workshops and practical sessions 
  • Educate about the recovery steps in times of a crisis. 

When you create an organization where people are conscious of the cybersecurity threats and take practical steps to prevent them, it would be the first step to build a cyber-resilient IT system.

Summing Up

Building a cyber-resilient IT strategy is the most-effective preventive way to protect your organization from cyber threats. It prepares for the pre-and post-attack scenarios with the proper measures to avoid or minimize the damage. You can integrate cyber resiliency into your IT strategy by:

  • Preparing yourself for the attacks by predicting and simulating the cyber threat scenarios,
  • Taking proactive steps in case of a security breach with a crisis management strategy in place with quick response time,
  • Educating all the employees about the various forms of cybersecurity and what they can do to prevent it. 

If you want an IT consulting firm to improve the cyber resilience of your organization, you can work with our LayerOne Networks’ cybersecurity experts. Call us at 361-653-6800 to know more about our security service for Corpus Christi companies.

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Managed IT Services
Security

Stop Ransomware with Effective Backups

Written by Layer One Networks Published

It’s no news that ransomware is becoming one of the top issues in data security.

Ransomware is almost impossible to trace and so, once the hackers gain access, there’s very little we can do to restore without paying the ransom. Since it can potentially bring the organization down, many give in to the ransom demands.

So then, how can you stop the ransomware from wrecking your organization and gain access to sensitive information? Let’s find out.

What Can You Do in Times of a Ransomware Attack?

Stop Ransomware with Effective Backups

There are a few things you can do when you have become the victim of a ransomware attack.

  • You can take the matters in your hands and try to crack the ransomware code, delete it and save your information. This is the rarest solution. You will have to use a malware detection tool to find out the source of the attack and delete those files and leave the encrypted files out of it.
  • You can bring matters to the attention of law enforcement officials. The cyber cell would’ve seen many such instances of ransomware attacks and can, therefore, give you great pointers to handle the situation.
  • You can get an external agency to help you, like an IT consulting firm or a company specialized in ransomware prevention.
  • You can plug out the infected computers from the network and prevent the ransomware from spreading to the other systems. 

In many situations where you handle ransomware attacks, you would often be compelled to delete your computer’s information. So, what would happen when you lose out all your essential data?

This is when having a data backup pays off.

Protecting Your Important Data from Ransomware Attacks with Backups

At LayerOne Networks, we’ve seen many companies manage such cyberattacks in the best way possible due to our managed backup services. When you have all your essential information backed up, you needn’t worry about losing these data in the time of a ransomware attack, or for that matter any cybersecurity threat.

Our backup as a service (BaaS) will help you to create a foolproof strategy to keep your sensitive information safe and away from the hands of the hackers. Here are a few important tips to protect yourself from ransomware attacks.

  • Go by the 3-2-1 Backup Plan

This is one of the most effective and proven backup strategies that has been used over and over by many companies.

What is the 3-2-1 backup plan?

  • Have 3 copies of data; one is your main data storage while the two more are backups.
  • Have two different types of media storage.
  • Have one offsite backup storage.

When you have your data on two separate backups, both of which are in different formats and locations, you have high chances of accessing and restoring the information even when you’re attacked.

The offsite backup should be saved in a location that isn’t anywhere near your office. This is to ensure that your backup will still be safe in the events of any physical calamities.

  • Keep Your Backup Separate from the Main Network

If you want to protect the backup during a ransomware attack, you shouldn’t save your backup on the main network. This is one of the very first things you must take care of. 

In any cyberattack, the virus tries to branch out more to the other storages in the network. So when you have your main storage unit as well as the backup storage in the same network, it can lead to adverse consequences like losing all of your data, including the ones in the backup.

So always make sure to save your backup data in a separate network.

  • Provide Sufficient Recovery Points 

Backup Server

Generally, when you want to recover the data from backup storage, you should be able to access it in the same state it was in before the attack. However, in the worst case that your backup is also affected by the virus, you need to position numerous recovery points through which you can restore and access data at previous stages.

You can ask your IT consulting firm to provide multiple storage blocks and create a storage memory that can’t be altered once the value is set.

  • Implement High Security for the Backup Server

This is an area that many organizations avoid. While you enforce maximum security possible for your main server, you should also give equal importance to the backup server.

Why so? The hackers generally do not know what a particular server is until they hack it. They go by the server which is most easy to crack. And when your backup server doesn’t have high security than the main server, it’s more prone to be attacked. 

There have been many instances in the past where ransomware targeted backup files like the Ryuk ransomware.

  • Backup Often

The backup frequency will determine the data you can access if you’re attacked by a ransomware. When you’re backing up the data once in a few weeks, you’ll lose out on loads of work that you’ve done during those weeks. 

Depending on the importance of your work, increase the backup time to at least once in a few hours to make sure that your recent work is saved and kept safe.

Read More: Ransomware Vs. Malware: What is More Dangerous?

Summing Up

While there are several security measures to prevent the ransomware attacks, it’s best to always have a backup plan.

  • Follow the 3-2-1 plan for a multi-layered backup.
  • Your backup storage should be on a  separate server and should have multiple recovery points.
  • You should enforce high security for the backup plan to prevent the backups from getting attacked.
  • Make sure to increase the frequency of your backup to save your recently worked data.

If you’re looking to hire an experienced company providing managed IT services in Corpus Christi, then reach out to us now. Our IT experts will help you decide the best strategy for backing up your important data and protect it even during ransomware attacks.

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Managed Backup Services
Disaster Recovery

How Managed Backup Solves an Important Challenge?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

You have a backup when your primary system fails. But what happens when there’s a problem with your backup?

Every company has some sensitive data or the other to store. Even when you have a strong data storage system in place, it’s crucial to have equally robust managed backup services in times when the worst happens. 

This backup is the last line of defense for every company that relies on data. But what happens when your backup system fails?

If you don’t want such an adverse incident to occur, then you’ve to reinforce your backup strategy in such a way that there aren’t any loopholes. In this blog, we’ll take a look at some of the backup challenges and how you can handle them.

5 Data Backup Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Many IT consulting firms provide data backup solutions. But to make sure that you have a foolproof backup plan, you need to know all the ins and outs there’s to know about managed backup services.

Our experts at LayerOne Networks have provided Backup as a Service to many SMBs and large organizations. With their experience, we’re tapping into the backup challenges and the best ways to handle them.

  • 1. What to do when your backup gets corrupted?

Managed backups

Well, this is one scary nightmare for companies. When the backup gets corrupted, you can completely lose your entire data, especially if your primary storage has also let you down.

This generally happens due to multiple reasons: poor handling of the data, the backup has been outdated, the media stored on the backup is damaged and spoils the entire system or any other reason.

Solution: When such a thing happens, you can try to recover data and may be successful in partly recovering some data. But you may not know which data can be recovered. And sometimes, even the recovered files may not be enough to run applications. 

In such cases, you can make multiple copies of the critical data and store it on different sites. You can also use smart applications to ensure the transfer of secure data.

There’s another rare case where the backup gets damaged if it’s stored in an offsite location. It’s best to go for onsite backup solutions that are much safer than offsite backup storage.

  • 2. What to Do When the Backup Hasn’t Been Initiated?

This is a mistake many do when they’re new to the concept of backup. This usually happens when you decide to manually backup the data whenever you need. And sometimes, when you forget to do that, you can lose important information.

Solution: Every backup service provider offers automated scheduling of the backups. So make the most of it and schedule backup to run at regular intervals. This will easily solve this problem.

  • 3. What to Do When Your Backup is Incomplete?

So, your main storage fails for some reason. And when you open your backup, you realize that only a part of the files is stored. So, what’s the reason for incomplete backup?

This may happen when the system got interrupted as it was uploading to the backup storage and for some reason, failed to complete. It can be due to network issues, human negligence to approve the continuation of backup or any other system issue. 

Solution: To avoid such situations, enable options in your backup system to continue the transfer from the same point before the interruption. Also, when choosing the options for automatic backup, don’t be very selective and select all the necessary files you’ll need.

  • 4. What to Do When the Database Storage Capacity Becomes Larger?

This is one common struggle for SMBs when it comes to data backup. Backup services cost as much as space you consume and therefore, many cannot afford to back up every single one of their files. But what can we do when the backup limit is nearing and there’s a massive volume of important data that needs to be backed up?

Solution: This is when the help of managed backup solutions come in. When you outsource the backup services to an expert, the team will plan and manage your data on the backup storage efficiently. They’ll remove the data that’s outdated and backup the data that’s needed right now and help you to stay within your budget.

  • 5. How can you extend security to your backup storage too?

managed backup

Data security is on the minds of every single company that deals with sensitive information. While you’ll be using hi-tech security features for your master database, you need to extend the same level of security for your backup storage since both contain important data.

Solution: If you’re worried about hiring another team for the security of backup storage, here’s a better solution for you. You can outsource the backup security, maintenance and monitoring to an IT consulting firm that’ll have their own team to run constant checks on your backup storage just like your central storage. 

You can also combine the backup management services along with the maintenance and get an affordable deal.

If you’re looking for a good IT consulting firm offering managed backup services, then call us at 361.653.6800. Our backup and disaster recovery experts will guide you to choose the right backup strategy within your budget and stay protected.

Key Takeaways

While having a good backup system is the right thing to do, you should equally focus on maintaining this system as your main storage. Here are the top things to stay secure with your backup.

  • Make multiple backups of important data.
  • Schedule automated backing up of the data at regular intervals.
  • Enable options to ensure smooth, complete transfer of data even when interrupted.
  • Outsource to managed backup service providers to handle vast volumes of data backups at affordable rates.
  • Extend a high level of security to your backed up data with managed backup solutions.
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healthcare SaaS
Security

How Healthcare SaaS is Taking Off in the Medical Industry?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

Let us start with the numbers.

61.84 billion US dollars.

Is the number, global healthcare cloud computing market expects to generate by 2025? The integration of software in the medical industry is a revolution of sorts. With the pandemic revealing loopholes in the healthcare sector, this revolution is imperative.

At the heart of this revolution is the advent and growth of SaaS — Software as a Service. In today’s world, you are a few clicks away from an IT consulting firm. Most of them have evolved into providing quality cloud computing services.

The cloud-based solutions were never a go-to in the healthcare sector. Security concerns, coupled with compliance issues riddled its utility.

Now, to ensure SaaS is viable in the medical industry, stringent regulations are in place. With the equipping of firewalls, blockchain technology, etc, SaaS providers are now reliable.

The evolution of SaaS into a workable solution in the healthcare sector is pleasing. The most profound reasons for this evolution are:

  • Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI)

Healthcare runs on prior records. Every medication, every treatment in the past, impacts the patients’ health acuity. The medical conditions, the severity of the treatment are important records in healthcare.

The documentation of the same is a tedious task. The possibility of human error during documentation is high. When we scale it up to public health levels, it is alarming at the least.

Cloud-based documentation solves these problems. The real-time updates, coupled with ease of access make this solution a no-brainer.

CDI assists in easier collaboration across the healthcare center. This allows for the streamlining of the workflow. Since the physicians have the patient’s past at their fingertips, the diagnosis is easier.

During treatment, the recording of every needle and pill happens in real-time. CDI provides a comprehensive reflection of a patient’s clinical status. The utility of CDI furthers into maintaining macro records. From billing the patient to preparing the report card. It also assists in the documentation of public health data and disease tracking.

  • Telehealth

healthcare SaaS

The efficacy of cloud computing is further enhanced with the advent of telehealth. With this, SaaS providers have eased major logistical issues in the healthcare sector.

An IT Consulting firm can now connect a patient with his/her physician in real-time. This solves the traditional issue of lack of accessibility to quality healthcare. Cloud computing services have enabled access to medical professionals, using the internet. This is also used to educate the patient on the best practices of healthcare. And even monthly or weekly tracking of health conditions is possible. All thanks to the flexibility of telehealth.

The pandemic and its associated restrictions on movement is a hassle. But, with telehealth, the patients’ connectivity with healthcare providers is seamless. This also furthers the reach of quality healthcare.

Remember, the internet has no geographical borders. Hence, even those living in rural areas too can access medical professionals.

  • Electronic HIE – Health Information Exchange

A prolonged issue in the healthcare sector has been the exchange of information. With the advent of electronic health records, the logistical issues were less of a hassle. Yet, public sector healthcare providers never embraced it. The fear-factor was present. From misuse to data breaches, the potential for adversity is high.

Cut to 2020, most SaaS providers have used cloud-computing to make HIE workable.

The seamless transfer of files and records enhances productivity. And this enhancement is possible even in the public health sector.

Electronic HIE also addresses a wide range of applications. It acts as a haven for the maintenance of population health management. This pandemic has reflected the need for transparent HIE. Ideal SaaS providers leverage the potential of technology to ease the HIE process.

The advantages of using electronic HIE by cloud computing services are as follows:

  • Reduces administrative work and time,
  • Avoids medication errors,
  • Improves diagnosis,
  • Removes unwanted testing,
  • Ensures transparency.
  • Data Security

Public healthcare is a data-intensive sector. The voluminous amounts of information are two-edged. It facilitates ease of access and reduces efforts in the treatment of individuals. But, the potential for data breaches, leaks, and hacks are aplenty.

Being a core concern for the use of cloud and technology, data security plays an integral role. The evolution of data security has been significant, and at pace.

Healthcare institutions store a multitude of data. Personal information, medical conditions, financials, is all part of the data. To secure them all, the need to invest in quality data security solutions is essential.

Since the data is cloud-based, the need for an on-site data security team is redundant. Using SaaS, healthcare institutions can afford high-security solutions.

Investing in these furthers the image of the institution in the minds of patients and others.

  • Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Medical education is enduring. The extensive education, coupled with experiential learning takes years. Add to it the rapid evolution in techniques and standards. The call to remain updated is another prolonged process.

To solve this, cloud-based LMS is the key. This allows medical professionals to learn and educate themselves. Yet, with negligible to zero compromises in professional commitments.

Using SaaS, the LMS assists healthcare professionals with their continuing education (CE). This helps them be in line with industry standards. LMS is customizable. From a fresher to an experienced doctor, the tailoring of LMS is possible at an individual level.

LMS aligns the learning schedule of an individual with their professional commitments. This reduces the scope for compromises, while still helping them learn.

The facet of accessibility is ideal for learning. You can access LMS using a range of devices. Since they are cloud-based, LMS are cost-efficient and provide utmost utility.

Associating with an IT consulting firm for LMS can assist in the tracking of progress. The real-time monitoring of the learning process, also, assists in compliance.

Understanding the benefits of using SaaS, it is high-time, public healthcare embraces it. For IT solutions of the highest quality, LayerOne is your go-to IT consulting firm. We provide secure and reliable end-to-end solutions. We follow all regulations and privacy implications. Contact us and welcome enhanced productivity and efficiency.

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voip services
VoIP

How Does a VoIP Work?

Written by Layer One Networks Published

Gone are those days when you have to worry about keeping your phone timeless to watch your bill. With VoIP services or Voice over Internet Protocol, you only need an internet connection to make free phone calls. When you use the internet for calls, you’re actually bypassing the phone company, and therefore, the call charges completely.

As businesses who’ve been paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in phone bills every month, this VoIP is a great option to explore. Many small business owners are still confused and unclear about how an internet connection is sufficient to make calls.

So, in this blog, let’s take a deep dive into how VoIP works and how small business owners can benefit from it.

What is VoIP and How Does it Work?

In VoIP, the basic principle is the conversion of analog audio signals into digital data that are transmitted over the internet. Fundamentally, the digital data of the calls is considered similar to the message data or email transmission data over an IP network. 

With VoIP technology, you can make and receive calls from landlines, smartphones, and computers. 

As a small business, all you need is a high-speed WiFi connection available for high-quality VoIP calls.

How Can I Make VoIP Calls?

voip services

There are three main ways by which you can make VoIP calls depending on the device you’re using it.

  • Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA)

When you want to use VoIP with your landline, you need a special adapter to send data over the IP network. The ATA is actually an analog to digital converter. It converts the phone signals from your landline into digital signals that can be transmitted over the internet. You can just plug in the ATA to the router or the wall socket and start making calls. You’ll need to configure VoIP software on the computer to make use of this feature.

  • IP Phones

The IP phones are different from the normal phones we use. They have an ethernet connection that connects with the router and transmits the data. You can also make calls through WiFi phones by using a WiFi network. 

  • Computer to Computer Calls

Making VoIP calls on a computer is very simple. You can use any of the applications available to make free calls over the internet. Some applications even allow VoIP calls to landlines and phone numbers.

How to Activate VoIP Calls for Your Business?

From these three options of using VoIP calls, you can choose anyone that’s most suited for your business. 

  • First of all, you require a reliable, high-speed internet connection. 
  • Make sure to have high bandwidth and large data capacity to make uninterrupted calls.
  • If you want to connect your computer or landline, then you need to get a router.
  • After making the required connections, you can simply download the software, connect with the WiFi, and start making calls. 

If you’re unsure about how to set up VoIP in your office, you can reach out to any of the top VoIP service providers in the market. They’ll help you with equipment, set you the VoIP network, and guide you to start making and receiving VoIP calls. 

You can further reach out to an IT consulting firm to find out how you can integrate VoIP calls with your existing business operations. There are two main ways to enable VoIP for your business:

  • 1. Hosted VoIP Network

This hosted network for VoIP is perfect for businesses to simplify the management of VoIP and improve operational efficiency. This network consists of IP phones, desktops, network switches, and routers. 

The employees can call using the IP phones similar to how they normally would. The network switch establishes the path to the VoIP provider and connects with the particular number, be it landline or smartphone. This is best for companies who want to implement VoIP over the entire network. 

  • 2. SIP Trunking

If you’re already running a business with traditional landlines and have since then progressed into a hybrid phone system, then it can be hard to break out of it. 

In that case, you can use the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to accept VoIP calls and also manage the traditional analog calls. Such a connection is most useful for companies who want to mix analog phone systems with the new VoIP technology. 

How Is VoIP Beneficial for Businesses?

voip services

Many businesses have adopted VoIP technology due to the immense advantages it has in terms of cost, efficiency, and productivity. 

  • You can call anywhere in the US and Canada for an unlimited number of times and hours.
  • You can create automated professionals attendants to redirect your phone calls without any receptionists.
  • You’ll save money on the call charges and pay only a minimum amount for the internet connection.
  • With the IP phones, your employees can call from anywhere, anytime with no additional calls or procedures.
  • You can have a central communication system with VoIP that lets your team use calls, videos, and messages to collaborate from any location.
  • You can make clear phone calls with HD voice quality. 
  • You can also integrate VoIP software with your CRM for quick access to contact numbers and a one-click calling feature.

Switch to VoIP Now!

At LayerOne Networks, we’ve helped many businesses in Texas to move to VoIP technology and enjoy great scalability at reduced rates. As a part of our managed IT services for Corpus Christi companies, we customize our VoIP services to suit your business scale, budget, and location requirements. If you want to opt for high clarity voice calls that aren’t tied down by wires, then call us at 361.653.6800.

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