Category: Managed IT Services

Our lives are filled with risk every day. So much so in fact that there are entire industries & organizations dedicated to risk management, & safety. The same is true for your business. Everyday businesses face risk from fire, natural disasters, theft, disgruntled employees, cyber-attacks, & more. MSP’s like Nextgen Solutions can help you plan, prevent, & respond to these & other threats that businesses like yours experience daily.

The Stats

Small businesses Make up 43% of all breaches

From small business owners to the general public, most people believe that large corporations, & government entities are the primary target of cyber-attacks. The reality is that most large organizations, regardless of type, have hardened themselves to this kind of attack, making them no longer an ideal target.

Cyber criminals are looking for targets of opportunity that are low risk with relatively high payout. Since most small businesses have no cyber security budget or plan in place, this Makes them ideal targets.

Cyber-attacks are costing small businesses $3 million per incident on average

Any business with less than 500 employees is generally considered to be a small business. Of these small businesses, 51% of their owners will pay the ransom, 24% will have to pay it out of pocket, with only 27% being covered by cyber security insurance. To make matters worse 1 in 5 who pay the ransom will not get their data back.

60% of small businesses close within 6 Mo. of a cyber-attack

Cyber-attacks & data loss are costly both in the terms of finances & reputation. The impact of these costs has proven to be so steep that most small businesses cannot weather the storm & close their doors for good.

40% of attacks result the loss of business-critical data

Business critical data can be defined as financial, business proprietary, customer information, customer proprietary, as well as any other data that a business would not be able to function without. This data is essential to the operations of the business and its continued success. Losing access to this data can have severe consequences, including financial loss, loss of customer trust, and even the closure of the business.

Additional Risk Stats:

• According to a report by the Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is projected to cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021.
• A study by the Ponemon Institute found that the average cost of a data breach for a small business is $3.86 million.
• A survey by the National Cyber Security Alliance found that 60% of small businesses that suffer a cyber-attack are out of business within six months of the incident.

How can Nextgen help manage risk?

Nextgen Solutions delivers services, such as network, application, infrastructure, and security, via ongoing and regular support and active administration on customers’ premises, remote, or through hosting.

Our team of experts can help you identify potential threats and vulnerabilities, and develop a plan to mitigate them. We offer a variety of services, including:

• Cybersecurity assessments and penetration testing: We can simulate a real-world attack on your system to identify vulnerabilities and help you implement measures to prevent them.
• Managed firewall and intrusion detection/prevention: Our team can manage your firewall and intrusion detection/prevention systems to ensure they are always up-to-date and working correctly.
• Data backup and recovery: We can help you develop a robust data backup and recovery plan to ensure that you can recover your data in the event of a disaster.
• Employee training: We can provide training for your employees on how to identify and prevent cyber-attacks, as well as how to respond in the event of an attack.
• Compliance: We can help you meet regulatory compliance requirements and ensure that you are protected from data breaches and other cyber threats.
• Vulnerability management: We can help you identify and prioritize vulnerabilities in your IT environment and develop a plan to mitigate

Concluding Thoughts

The threats and risks that businesses face today are numerous and constantly evolving. Small businesses, in particular, are vulnerable to cyber-attacks due to their lack of resources and cyber security budget. The financial and reputational impact of cyber-attacks and data loss can be devastating, with 60% of small businesses closing within six months of a cyber-attack.

Nextgen Solutions offers a range of services that can help businesses manage these risks. Our team of experts can help you identify potential threats and vulnerabilities, develop a plan to mitigate them, and provide ongoing support and active administration. From cybersecurity assessments and penetration testing to managed firewall and intrusion detection/prevention, data backup and recovery, employee training, and compliance, we have the expertise and resources to help your business stay secure.

Don’t wait for a cyber-attack to happen, take proactive steps to protect your business today. Partner with Nextgen Solutions, and let us help you navigate the complex world of risk management and cyber security.

How Can Backup and Disaster Recovery Help Businesses?

The advantages of having a solution to deal with backups and disasters can vary based on the company involved. However, there are several key areas where backup and recovery tools often shine. Here are several advantages offered by such tools.

Data Security

By using a unified system for backups and recovery, companies can restore assets to the state that they were in before the disaster. This advantage is especially crucial when dealing with cyberattacks, enabling companies to restore assets to an uncompromised state and plug the security holes that enabled the attack to occur. A unified system also reduces the likelihood of data being lost or exposed during restoration by removing the need for data to travel between disparate platforms and tools.

Downtime Costs

By preparing a comprehensive backup and recovery process using a streamlined and sophisticated tool, businesses can dramatically increase the speed at which they can respond to a disaster and restore business operations. This capability helps businesses reduce the amount of downtime that businesses face during disasters and minimize the associated revenue loss.

Customer Service

Many customers rely on the services rendered by a business to complete to go about their day-to-day. When these tools, services, and resources are taken away from customers, it can understandably lead to a poor experience for customers and they may develop a negative perception of the brand for not being able to take care of its data.

By minimizing downtime and restoring data to a secure state quickly, backup and recovery tools enable businesses to save face by avoiding negative perceptions and enhancing the customer experience during what would’ve otherwise been a stressful situation.

It can be easy for businesses to underestimate their data protection needs. Unfortunately, that can be a costly mistake. Subscribe to Nextgen Solutions backup and recovery services to keep your data safe!

Choosing a value-added reseller (VAR) can be difficult for companies looking to either add new capabilities or transform their operations. When it comes to selecting a VAR, there are many choices. It’s essential to find the right reseller for your organization because this can be a difficult decision that will affect your business. This article will discuss six factors you should consider when looking to partner with a reseller.

6 Factors for Choosing the Right Value-Added Reseller

1. Compatibility of Products and Solutions Offered

The first thing you should look into when choosing a reseller is compatibility. This means that the product or solution offered by your reseller should be able to work with other products and solutions already in use by your company.

For example, if you have an existing customer relationship management (CRM) tool and want to buy a new one, ensure that the reseller offers CRM software compatible with what you already have before signing any contracts with them.

2. Support and Services Provided

The reseller should have a good track record of providing support and services. If the reseller has been in business for a while, they should be able to give you a detailed list of services they provide. This will give you an idea of their capabilities and what kind of support you can expect from them. It’s also important that the list contains what kinds of products and/or services are not available.

Some resellers specialize in certain industries or industries within specific verticals, so it may be difficult for them to help you out with your needs if your business falls outside those parameters.

3. A Proven History of Successful Partnerships

A reseller with a proven history of partnering with other companies is more likely to be successful in their partnerships with you. Look at their references and read customer testimonials to see what others have said about the company’s partnership capabilities. If a reseller does not have references or testimonials, consider it a red flag.

4. Style and Location of Communication

Communication style is an important factor for you to consider. Is it formal, informal, or somewhere in between? Another thing to consider when choosing a reseller is the location of your communication with them. Do you prefer to communicate via email, phone, or Skype? Or perhaps through the chat feature on their website? Whatever it may be, make sure it works best for both parties involved before deciding on anything else.

Communication channels are another vital aspect of choosing the right value-added reseller. What kind of technology do they use to communicate with their clients, and how effective are these methods? It’s important that both parties feel comfortable using this method often when they need to contact each other about issues related to each sale made between them.

5. Established Integration and Reporting Capabilities

When choosing a reseller, you should look for one that has established integration and reporting capabilities. Many resellers can integrate with your existing systems and provide reports on the status of your business. The best resellers in this category have created or acquired their own proprietary software applications, which allow them to take advantage of all the data available from their partners’ products (e.g., POS systems).

6. Adherence to Business Best Practices

A good reseller will adhere to business best practices and ensure that they are following industry standards. They should also provide references from other companies who have worked with them in the past.

Choosing the right value-added reseller can be challenging, given the number of options out there. We hope this post will help you make the decision easier. We’ve looked at several factors that make for a good reseller, and we’ve also given some examples of where to find some tremendous value-added resellers.

If you want to know more information about choosing a reseller, or if you’re looking to add new IT capabilities or transform your operations, contact Nextgen Solutions today!

A managed IT service is one of the best ways to boost the technological prowess of your business or organization. But what is included in a managed service? Whether or not you have an active IT team in your organization, a managed service can be a good way to bridge the gaps in your network or security infrastructure.

What’s Included in Managed IT Services?

A managed service is essentially remote support for your organization for any of the various technological tools or devices the business uses. Managed services can serve many functions, from testing the network to overseeing network security to providing web hosting to managing a help desk.

Most vendors for managed services will allow you to mix and match the services your organization needs. Some of the most common features include:

Remote Support

Remote support allows your organization to get help from IT experts at any time. As long as you have a stable internet connection, the managed service will be able to provide an IT expert to help you with your technology issue. Remote support works by allowing technicians to remotely access computers or devices using specialized software to troubleshoot your issue through the computer.

Remotes Service Monitoring

Remote service monitoring can minimize the downtime your business may experience with network outages or service interruptions. The ability to remotely monitor services ensures that your servers and workstations are running during critical business hours without interruption. Usually, the service works by implementing an automated system that detects critical services that have failed, which allows for remote technicians to respond to service interruptions more quickly.

Data Loss Prevention

Data loss prevention refers to the ability to protect and secure important business data that may be stored on your service. A data loss prevention tool will monitor certain types of data and ensure that the data stays in designated storage areas. If data is detected outside these storage areas, then technicians will be able to block the data from being transferred.

Mobile Device Management

Mobile devices are more vulnerable than technology that stays on business premises. For example, laptops, business cell phones, and tablets that are lost, damaged, or stolen may have data stored on the device that must be protected. If your business opts into mobile device management, technicians will be able to enable and disable devices remotely, help locate devices, and remotely wipe data from devices to prevent data loss or compromise.

Endpoint Protection

Endpoint protection is another essential role of managed services. Essentially, endpoint protection is a network security tool that offers antivirus and anti-malware protection. Software used for endpoint protection operates proactively to prevent data breaches and other security failures. If there is software running within your network that isn’t recognized by endpoint protection security, the software will be isolated to protect your network from potentially harmful applications.

Whether your organization is a small business or a large corporation, implementing managed services can be a good way to maintain the security and operational value of your business. Managed services can offer remote support, data loss prevention, and endpoint protection that will benefit your business. To learn more about IT solutions, contact Nextgen Solutions today.

The old saying that you should hope for the best but prepare for the worst holds true in the world of business. One essential step of preparing your business for any possibility is developing solid backup and disaster recovery plans. Here are some risks your business incurs by not having such a plan in place.

5 Risks of Ignoring Backup and Disaster Recovery

1. Decrease in Productivity

Your workforce needs certain tools available to them in order to do their job correctly. In the event of an outage, many of the day-to-day processes will be impacted. This could lead to a delay in necessary tasks or a complete inability to complete certain goals, and productivity will continue to be affected as your workforce tries to fix the damage caused by the issue.

2. Loss of Current or Future Clients

Your clients and prospective customers have certain expectations when they seek out your business for a product or service that they desire. Without adequate plans in place for how to deal with data loss issues or other problems, you won’t be able to meet those expectations with what your brand delivers. This will leave a negative first impression on potential new customers and drive your existing clients to consider your competitors instead.

3. Reduced Generation of Revenue

Data loss and digital service outages are practically guaranteed to impact your business’ bottom line. Without the ability to provide the digital services that your customers expect, you won’t be able to position products and services for them in the way that you typically would. This will lead to a decrease in the income your business is generating, leading to a reduction of your profits that will have further harmful ramifications down the line.

4. Interruption of Data and Records

Data and analytics are the foundation that any successful business strategy is built upon. You need a clear view on what works or doesn’t work for your business and trends in your revenue in order to continue growing your business. An outage in your business’ digital services can lead to a temporary interruption in the data collection practices you use, or worse, a complete loss of the data you need to analyze.

5. Failure of Your Business

In the worst-case scenario, a catastrophic data loss event could completely cripple your business. The loss of income and new clients that an outage creates will have your business playing catch-up, and the interruption in your data and recordkeeping will make it more difficult to make up for that loss of business. If you don’t have a clear plan for recovering from a disaster in mind, these events could be the end of your business.

Don’t wait for a disaster to strike to act; instead, prepare ahead of time so that your business is ready to weather any issues that arise in the future. Instead, get in touch with our team and let us work with you to develop a plan for any problem that you might face. Reach out to Nextgen Solutions today!

Technology planning is at the heart of a strong business strategy for managing ongoing tasks that will ultimately foster success. Regardless of what your company does or who your audience is, it’s important to know how technology can benefit your customers by helping employees do their jobs effectively. To get started, here’s a list of 10 goals for creating or improving your systems.

10 Goals That Should Be on Your Technology Planning List

1. Audit Existing Systems To Begin Technology Planning

Having a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and what’s working or not is a major first step when deciding on future technologies. As part of your preparation, conduct an audit of current systems, hardware, and software to figure out strengths and areas of opportunity.

2. Consider Who Will Use New Systems & Establish KPIs

It’s vital to think about who will use new systems and how so that you can set up key performance indicators for them and know when you’re reaching goals or need to adjust your approach. This will also save time and money which you can’t afford to lose by avoiding costly mistakes in software choices.

3. Determine the Best Features & Settings for Your Business

4. Budget Financial Costs & What Hardware Will Be Required

5. Research Best Practices for Success & Plan SMART Goals

6. Outline a Plan of Action for Implementing the New Technology

7. Form a Team To Manage the Setup Process & Train Employees

8. Update or Upgrade Existing Software & Confirm Compatibility

9. Create Plans for Backing Up Data, Monitoring Updates, & Security

10. Decide on Employee Policies & Procedures for All Company IT

Once you have all of your technology in place, create steps for each process and rules of conduct so employees know how to best use software and what not to do. Avoid potential misuse problems by clearly outlining expectations.

For example, remind employees that phones are only used for business purposes only during work hours, and they should not use office software for private matters.

Are you ready to start setting up a plan for improving your office technology, business processes, and IT infrastructure? Reach out to us at Nextgen Solutions Inc. to learn how our services can amplify your success. Remember, ensuring your company’s future prosperity starts with preparing for it today.

Third-party managed IT services can provide a wide range of benefits to the way your business or organization operates. Here are some of the advantages that you’ll get when using managed services for your IT needs.

7 Benefits of Managed IT Services: Why You Should Use Managed Services

1. Streamline Your Operation

There are many different components that fall under the umbrella of IT, including management, monitoring, cyber security, data storage, and more. Filling positions to cover all of these various areas can make your company bloated and overstaffed. Using an IT firm allows you to cover all of these areas so that you can focus on other aspects of your business.

2. Boost Productivity

Unplanned downtime due to technology issues stops your staff from doing what they do best. The fast response times of a third-party IT solutions provider will help you cut back on this downtime so that more work is getting done and less time is spent waiting for issues to be resolved.

3. Scale with Your Business

The IT demands of your business are bound to change as your business grows or goes into less busy periods. It doesn’t make sense to have a one-size-fits-all IT solution for this fluctuating level of demand. The IT services that you hire can assign professionals as needed, ensuring you always have the staff you need to tackle any technology issues.

4. Reduce Expenses

You may think you’re saving money by not hiring a third-party IT firm, but the truth is that you may be spending more handling your IT needs in-house. You’ll pay a predictable monthly cost for handling your IT needs, meaning you’ll know exactly what to budget instead of having to allot money depending on the needs that arise.

5. Improve Security

With news on ransomware and other cybersecurity risks making headlines every few months, the dangers of doing business online are more prevalent than ever. Having trained IT professionals can help you mitigate any cyber risks your company faces. Additional help with data compliance can also help ensure your business is handling information with all of the proper protocols.

6. Get Support When Needed

There’s no telling when a technology-related issue may arise for your business. You may not have the resources to have IT staff on hand at all times, but the expert help from the IT services you hire will always be there whenever the need arises. That gives you the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’re less likely to face lengthy downtimes.

7. Access Experience and Expertise

Technology is always changing at a rapid pace, so staying on top of all the newest developments yourself can be an unfeasible task. Take that concern off of your plate by trusting the expertise of IT services. You’ll be confident that your business’s IT needs are being handled using the latest tools and systems in the field. Trust our professionals to provide all of these benefits and more for your business or organization. Contact Nextgen Solutions today!