The spread of the coronavirus has inevitably forced many businesses to shift to work from home setups. The drastic shift to the new work environment setting may pose dangerous risks and vulnerabilities from cyber criminals. These compromises can be prevented with the aid of a trusted and experienced cyber security company.
Cyber Security for Every Business is Important
Within just a few days after the lockdowns started, there was an increase in volume and scope of cyberattacks reported since mid-March of 2020. There were also cases of malicious content containing the term “Covid-19.” There was also a previous cry about the security for Zoom users when their CEO confirmed that their end-to-end encryption was available for paid users only. These reports represent only a few of the many potential vulnerabilities a work from home setup can experience.
Here are top reasons why safeguarding your digital business assets with a cyber security company and employee security awareness is crucial in today’s setting:
Most companies did not prioritize security and shifted to WFH setting prematurely. Unsecured remote access may cause a security breach that could cause severe disruption to a business operation.
Early last year, Microsoft announced that they no longer provide extended security updates or support for computers that run Windows 7. Due to sudden shifts, employees are still working with their home computers under Windows 7, attracting malicious activity and intrusion.
Home computers have different setups compared to a formal work setting. Firstly, every home has a unique ISP and IP address compared to an office. Secondly, most home computers are not being managed or maintained by a trained I.T professional. Lastly, most home computers do not have their battery backup, which can cause significant disruption during an unprecedented event such as internet and power outages.
Let’s be honest. Most of the employees lack formal cyber security training and awareness. With the lack of security measures in place, an employee can be lured to opening a phishing email, resulting in identity theft and data breach.
Are you one of those businesses that carefully planned the shift to a work-from-home setting? If not, and if you’re still trying to figure things out as the months progress, now is the best time to invest and hire a local cyber security company to secure your new normal workspace. A reliable I.T company can help businesses educate employees, aid in securing open endpoints, apply security patches for vulnerable entries, and deploy firewalls. They can also advocate for password policies, help in data backup, and assist in cloud management for better employee productivity and collaboration. These benefits outweigh the risks. So what are you waiting for? Hire a cyber security company like SkyViewTek to have your business and employees protected from cybercriminals. Contact them today or visit their website at https://www.skyviewtek.com for more information.
Most of the business community largely rely on cloud computing to operate efficiently. As tech-savvy businesses and industry leaders emerge, the recognition of cloud solutions has been more prominent and is becoming an ongoing trend. Small and medium-sized businesses can leverage this technology to efficiently operate their organizations, communicate, and serve their customers on a larger scale.
Overall, a cloud solution is considered one of the best investments for small businesses. Why? Here are the top reasons why cloud computing solutions are a profitable investment for every business.
Advantages of Cloud Solutions
#1 Cost-Efficient
If you’re a small business owner shifting from a brick-and-mortar style to digital, investing in your own data center may not be feasible. As much as you want to secure your business’ data assets, the initial cost of setting up your own cloud-based server may be out of reach. Managed I.T. companies play a big role in helping businesses like yours have their own secure cloud storage facility to access data through individualized cloud plans.
Instead of investing and maintaining a physical infrastructure on a costly data center, a third-party contractor can help you set up a cloud that provides the agility and availability of data centers accessible wherever and on whatever device you choose.
#2 Flexibility and Focus
Running a small organization requires the owner to be fully hands-on. Cloud solutions managed by a reliable third-party contractor allow you to stay focused on your core activities and bottom line and let them manage all I.T. hosting and infrastructure maintenance.
#3 Accessibility
Among the best features of businesses run on cloud solutions is the mobility and accessibility it offers. Through the cloud, you and your employees can instantly access data via smartphones and computer devices, wherever and whenever needed. Work from home and telecommute setups are very doable and can boost employee productivity and satisfaction.
#4 Project Collaboration
If you have more than 2 employees that work collaboratively, cloud computing makes it more efficient for them to view and share information securely on cloud-based platforms.
#5 Disaster Recovery
As a business owner, you are aware that there are external factors that are beyond your control. When these happen, how ready are you? The moment your business experiences some downtime, your business loses its productivity and revenue. Cloud-based services provide quick data recovery for these unforeseen scenarios, from natural disasters to power outages.
#6 Sustainability
Yes, you read that right! Opting for a cloud solutions service is a way for your business to give back to the environment. Hosting on the cloud is environmentally sound and results in less paper waste, lesser energy consumption, and lesser physical infrastructure, contributing to a lower carbon footprint.
If you are convinced about investing in cloud computing services for your business, let the I.T. experts from SkyViewTek assist you. They will help you determine exactly what solutions you need to keep your business running smoothly. Contact them at 610-590-5006 or visit their website at https://www.skyviewtek.com for more details.
Usually, it’s ok to wait until Apple pushes through iOS and iPadOS updates. However, iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4, which were just released, should be installed right away because they fix three security bugs that were found by hackers.
The vulnerabilities allow remote attacks on your device to run malicious code and give hackers privileges to access personal information on your device. And because the hackers found the bugs before Apple did, they’ve had time to figure out how to exploit them.
Now is a good time to update your software – go to Settings > General > Software Update.
As the world shifts to digital transformation, solo entrepreneurs, SMBs, and start-up businesses are now pushing to have a reliable information technology infrastructure set up to cater to their business’ digital assets and day-to-day operations. Almost all computer and IT firms in Philadelphia encourage firms to invest in data security and secured data management systems. Without these precautionary measures, your digital assets are open to malicious theft, which will cause massive disruptions if it happens.
Having in-house talent for information technology and data security can be too expensive to handle, especially for small and medium-sized businesses that focus on retail, healthcare, and non-tech industries. They often choose instead to reach out to reputable computer and IT firms for managed IT services.
Best Practices and the Ideal IT Environment for Your Business
In Philadelphia, a local computer and IT firm strongly encourages businesses who recently shifted to work-from-home setups to implement a secured network design, reliable cloud solutions, use of licensed and updated software for business continuity and productivity.
What makes a new business IT environment ideal and secured? An organization or company’s information technology and data are valuable and should be protected. An ideal setup would have a computer network design and structure compatible with your company’s workflow and objectives. Secondly, the environment should have cybersecurity features that can deter potential hacks and disruptions caused by cybercriminals.
As for employees, there should be on-going education and awareness about cyberattacks and how to identify phishing, especially on spam emails. Data storage or cloud solutions should also be made available for easy data access within the organization. Other setups intended for computer and server configurations should be managed and overseen by an IT expert. Most importantly, an ideal IT setup should have an on-call IT help desk for immediate technical support. For businesses who outsource IT work, it’s essential to have proactive monitoring as part of a secured digital environment to ensure continuous work productivity. If you’re looking for a reliable, trusted, and experienced computer and IT firm in Philadelphia, you can count on SkyViewTek! SVT is a computer and IT firm that provides an expanded offering of proactive, Managed IT services and computer and server maintenance. Visit https://www.skyviewtek.com for more information and to explore IT service options tailored to your business.
If you are looking to hire an IT consulting company to handle your IT needs, you may be wondering where to start. There are countless IT companies that provide a wide variety of services, but not knowing what is the perfect fit based on your company’s needs makes the task difficult. We are here to help.
Relevant Expertise and Experience – IT consulting is a very broad term that can be applied to several types of IT services like cloud solutions, networking, cybersecurity, computer and server configurations, and so on. For instance, if you are looking to outsource cloud solutions, choose a company that has expertise and experience in providing cloud solutions. Inexperience or lack of hands-on expertise can adversely impact the success of the service provided.
Clientele and References – Any good IT consulting company should have an impressive and varied clientele and should be able to provide you with contacts of clients with whom they have worked and successfully, satisfactorily delivered IT services.
Continued Training and Support – IT is a fast-evolving field where technology brings about changes rapidly, at times even overnight. Hence, a top-notch IT consulting company should always provide relevant continued training and support to its experts so that they can keep up with the latest advancements. This will have a huge positive impact on your use of the services provided to you.
SkyViewTek is a top-notch IT consulting company offering IT support and consulting for Greater Philadelphia businesses with 10 to 100 employees. They check over 200 monitoring points every business day. With over 30 years of experience, SkyViewTek has all the expertise necessary to help your networks serve you. Whether you need new office computer and server configuration and set up, wired or wireless setup, cloud solutions, software implementations, managed disaster recovery services, or managed IT services, SkyViewTek is there to help you. Call 610-590-5006 or visit https://www.skyviewtek.com for more information.
SkyViewTek is working on our small business clients’ procurement needs – desktops, laptops, monitors, web cameras, and more. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has put unique pressures on manufacturers: higher demand and lower supply. With more children According to Verge, [pandemic] outbreaks have combined supply-chain hurdles with spikes in demand. In addition shortage of LCD (liquid crystal display) panels, the screen part of a laptop, plus the U.S. is considering to blacklist China’s largest chipmaker, according to CNBC. Another problem is that the notebook industry is in the midst of its busiest quarter of the year, a time when back-to-school sales herald a season of heavier demand for laptops that doesn’t end until Christmas, according to DRAMeXchange Technology.
In other words, do not wait to place your hardware or software order with SkyViewTek, as your it may take two to six weeks or longer to arrive at our office, due to the pandemic. Contact us today for assistance. Call 610-590-5006 or email support@skyviewtek.com.
Emails are a primary means of communication today. Hence, the demand for efficient and effective management of your email system has grown over time. It has become essential to archive and manage emails, ensure spam protection, and ensure security. Finding the best service provider offering first-rate secure email, spam, and compliance archiving management in Malvern can be challenging given the number of companies that provide the same in and around the area. If you are looking for some tips to help you decide, you have landed on the right page!
Expertise and Experience – There are many companies providing IT solutions today. IT solutions is a very broad term used to denote a wide range of services. The company that you shortlist can have a lot of experience in the field of IT solutions, but make sure they have equal experience and expertise in secure email, spam, and compliance archiving management.
Accessibility and Communication – ‘Quick response time’ and ‘literally a click or call away’ are terms that almost every IT service provider uses on their website or their profile to attract customers. These are crucial as time is of the essence in every business and efficient, timely management of problems is vital. While shortlisting companies to take care of your email systems, look through testimonials, ask for references that can help you understand more about a company.
Transparency – Hidden costs and hidden terms are something you should avoid. Ensure that the company you are hiring to provide secure email, spam, and compliance archiving management in Malvernhas everything mentioned clearly on the agreement to be signed by both the parties.
SkyViewTek, based in Malvern, PA, ensures all of the above. They offer IT support and consulting for Greater Philadelphia businesses with 10 to 100 employees and check over 200 monitoring points every business day. Whether you need new office computer and server configuration and set up, wired or wireless setup, cloud solutions, software implementations, managed disaster recovery services or secure email, spam, and compliance archiving management in Malvern, SkyViewTek is here for you. Call 610-590-5006 for more information.
About SkyViewTek:
SkyViewTek, an IT consulting firm, provides managed IT services, technology, and computer network design and setup, cybersecurity and IT solutions for Greater Philadelphia businesses. SVT ensures computer systems are secure and HIPAA and PCI compliant. Visit their website at https://www.skyviewtek.com to learn more about their products and services.
As some of you are experiencing, Outlook for Windows crashes immediately after starting up. Microsoft is rolling out a fix for this issue, and they expect the mitigation to reach all customers over the next few hours. For more information, click here.
Until Microsoft has the fix up and running, you can access your email via your smart phone or via Outlook Web App (OWA). For OWA, please launch your web browser (we recommend Google Chrome) and type the following address in the url – outlook.office.com
Type in the information required and you can read / send / receive email like normal. If you get an error, contact SkyViewTek for assistance, as you may need a different URL for Hosted Exchange accounts.
For smart phone instructions, please contact us to let us know if you use an iPhone or Android, and we will send you the instructions. To confirm, you will need your email password.
Our regular business hours are 8:30am to 5:00pm (eastern time – not including U.S. holidays). For tech support requests, please email support@skyviewtek.com; note “emergency” in your message if your request is urgent. If your urgent request occurs after hours, please call 610-590-5006 and follow the prompts for “emergency support” for an immediate response.
The benefits of managed IT services have become more apparent to businesses due to advancing technology and increasing dependence on reliable networks and systems. In this unprecedented time as we are in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the advantage of having a team that can remotely support your system is obvious. On a regular basis, managed IT services provide a plethora of advantages over the typical break/fix model of IT, from increased productivity to lower expenses for your business. Below are some of the ways your business can benefit from a managed service provider (MSP).
Improved Productivity
One of the primary reasons the role of technology has grown in nearly all businesses is that technology improves our productivity. And while productivity is enhanced when technology is running smoothly, that productivity goes down when technology does. Unplanned downtime costs businesses hundreds, even thousands of dollars for every user.
One of the benefits of managed IT services is that your IT infrastructure is monitored and maintained by a skilled, experienced firm. This minimizes downtime and ensures that your business and employees are continually productive.
Better Return on Investment
Make no mistake, maintaining a managed IT service is an investment. With managed IT services, businesses can save costs related to licenses, staffing, training, and consulting, plus the specialists make staying up to date on what is happening in the cyber world their mission.
A managed IT service company offers an entire team of experts that you would otherwise need to hire or leave yourself vulnerable. In addition, with SkyViewTek, being an MSP client will allow you discounts on additional support and new projects.
Proactive Maintenance
IT often involves fixing problems and issues as they arise, but the best way to solve problems is to prevent them from happening in the first place. An MSP provides constant monitoring and support so that whenever issues begin to arise, the MSP can act quickly so that you have little to no interruption in your daily operations.
One of the benefits of managed IT services is that these specialists know your IT architecture and infrastructure, and they know the optimal times for replacements and updates. The skilled and experienced IT professionals stay up-to-date on new technologies and help phase out systems that are outdated for improved hardware and software.
Streamlined Business Management
Teams produce the best results when focusing on what those teams know the best. And one of the benefits of managed IT services is that your business can do just that. By having many of your IT operations taken care of by an MSP, your management teams and employees can better focus on meeting company goals.
Contact SkyViewTek to Learn All the Benefits of Managed IT Services
Every business needs reliable IT support 24/7 because network downtime impacts every office process. With our managed IT services, we ensure that your network runs smoothly to increase your efficiency and productivity, in addition to saving you time and money. If you want to learn more about how the benefits of managed IT services can improve your office productivity and profitability, contact us today.
Many businesses are shifting business models to incorporate more remote work. This move is welcome to many employees, but the change involves many challenges that businesses may be unprepared to meet, such as proper cabling, connection strength, and cyber security. Recently, SkyViewTek owner Bernie Orglmeister met with VIEWS Digital Marketing Agency to discuss some of the challenges, and the ways that SkyViewTek managed IT services help to make the transition less stressful. Read the entire interview transcript below, or watch the video.
Transcript of Interview: Mary Stewart (MS) and Bernie Orglmeister (BO)
MS– SkyViewTek specializes in proactive monitoring managed IT services for businesses with 10 to 100 employees. Can you tell me a little bit more about what that means? BO-Sure, so basically we’re an outsourced IT department for companies that don’t have one. We are proactively monitoring and maintaining their infrastructure. We have a tool that checks on computer servers and network equipment and reports into our server, and is proactively fixing issues before their clients sometimes realize there’s an issue. So we think it’s a small investment to really keep everything up and running all the time. MS– Right, you can’t afford to go down so, especially small businesses can’t afford to have their network go down. And like you said things happen behind the scenes that they don’t even know are happening until there’s a glitch. BO-Correct. MS– So normally this time of year you’re probably busy setting up new office networks and moving businesses into new office space that sort of activity and so what is happening with the Covid-19 restrictions? How are you helping your current clients? BO-Yeah, 90% of what we do is remote so we’re still monitoring those networks remotely; we’re still fixing issues. It’s actually more important now and sometimes there’s nobody in the office and people are trying to access the resources remotely. When the Covid hit we had a lot of requests from people saying “Hey I need to have, like, people work remotely can you help us set up something?” So, some of them, for which we had a little better infrastructure in place and some have remote access were able to expand the number of people accessing their servers. Some other people that were not ready yet. We had to say we need to–it takes a little more planning than just saying “hey turn this on” you know? It’s more complicated than that unfortunately. But the proactive clients are still enjoying our proactive services. And when some major disaster happens you know, somebody has a battery backup that the battery dies, you know, we put on our gloves and masks and disinfectants. We understand how important that is for our clients, so we’re able to do that for them. MS– Alright, well that’s good that you have that option and I guess, like you said there are not people in the office, so there’s less exposure anyway. Correct. MS– You talked a little bit about them moving into the home environment and having things they didn’t expect. What are some other things that you’ve seen? Some things that maybe they didn’t think about that have become factors and you had to help them with, whether clients or new prospective clients. BO-Yeah, some clients they just said take your desktop home and, you know, plug it in and you should be able to work. And unfortunately there’s more to it, especially if you have a little bit more complicated network, where we have a server which is validating logins for security reasons. You can’t just take a computer home and expect it to work. So we had to address that with certain clients that it definitely takes some planning. It’s not just “hey everybody go home and take your computer.” It just doesn’t work that way. And when you take your computer home, you know, you’re using your home network so now, you know, you’re using your Comcast router, a lot of people are on Wi-Fi at home so their desktop doesn’t work on Wi-Fi, and some people are surprised by that. Some people they are using their home computers which might not be up to snuff with corporate requirements. Some people are using Windows 7 at home, which is not supported by Microsoft, so it’s not getting security patches. They don’t know what their antivirus situation is, you know, so unfortunately it takes a lot of planning to get this done. It’s something that we definitely can do, and we will work with all our clients the best we can to implement all that. You know – a network, in general, is only as good as your infrastructure, as your cabling. So, you know, at the office if you have bad cabling your computer might not be as fast, your voice over IP may not work properly. Now you’re taking this home with unknown setups, unknown cabling, it just adds to the whole complication of getting all this going. MS– Right, and security issues, depending on the type of company that you’re working with, must be a factor. BO-Yeah, security is number one right now. I mean, you know, we – not just us, but all, the entire industry – expects a lot more security breaches with people working remotely, with patched and remote access solutions, you know. So, now you’re extending your corporate network to people’s homes without planning and without understanding what they have, so it’s going to become a big issue and we’re working with our clients to try to A) educate them and B) come up with a plan. We can extend some of our tools to their home computers and monitor those, and patch them, and make sure the antivirus is running. But, again, it takes a little planning. MS– It takes a little planning and, it’s like you said, things that they didn’t expect. Maybe they expected to have the issues with people running into the background, kids at home, and things like that, but not these technical things. They think everything should work, right, like you said because it does at work. It works at work, it should work at home. BO-Right. Yeah, and plus if you’re at home, all of a sudden you’re competing with your kids on Xbox, just trying to play Fortnite with somebody, and your internet is slow and, you know, let’s say you have Voice Over IP and you plug it into your home network and, you know, the quality of the call is not good because you’re sharing with everybody who’s locked at home with you right now. The new normal, unfortunately will require an investment in a little bit of an infrastructure and, especially if you care about your corporate network, you need to be able to control a little bit of what your home employees are doing to maintain integrity of your network. Especially if you’re under HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley where you need to have, when you’re under regulatory mandate to have a secure network. MS– Yeah. Wow that’s a whole other issue and that’s something that you guys, you deal with that all the time but having to do it on a whole ‘nother platform, kind of new location. BO-Correct. Yeah, it’s been challenging but also a lot of fun work with our clients. MS– Well that’s good! Do you have any advice? I mean other than what we’ve talked about, do you have any advice for a small business owner who’s trying to decide do they NEED proactive monitoring, do they need something all the time? BO– Well we think with the new normal now people are slowly opening up. You know, businesses are adjusting and trying to figure out how they’re gonna move forward so we think proactive monitoring right now is more important than ever because it takes that off your plate, right. So you don’t have to worry about “Oh my god I don’t have to plug in a USB in and do a backup of my day and then take it home” like, you know, we have a company who’s taking care of all that for us. So we can focus on how are we, you know, do we have a employees that are gonna work part-time or full-time from home, all the time, you know. Are we gonna make adjustments to the office space, do we need this bigger office anymore? Do we need to show stuff, you know, save some money here. So we can help the companies during infrastructure adjustments and definitely, you know, A) keep everything secure and just allow the business to focus on what they need to do right now. It’s one less thing for them to focus on and worry about is the IT infrastructure we can do all that for them. MS– Yeah, that’s what I mean there. Like you said the other thing is, that’s enough on a normal basis but there’s so much new, now, that they’re gonna have to explore and figure out. Nice to know that they can relax, and that they’re covered on the IT end, and that when things come up they have somebody to call. BO– Exactly. So, again we can, 90% of what we do is remote. We can maintain, fix, adjust remotely. If we need to go inside for emergencies we can do that, but I think going forward long-term planning you know, with how our business is adjusting for this new normal, are readjusting, you know, for Phase 2 of this COVID – let’s be ready to go, and hope the businesses keep running without having to worry about IT.
Learn About SkyViewTek Managed IT Services
SkyViewTek has a great deal of experience helping businesses by designing and setting up networks for office moves or expansions, setting up secure systems to protect data, and providing ongoing managed IT solutions. For information about how SkyViewTek Managed IT Services can help you focus on your business by taking care of the IT headaches, contact us today at 610-510-5006.
IT Support and Consulting 