Boosting Profits with a Managed Service Provider: A Cost-Saving Guide for Businesses

Boosting Profits with a Managed Service Provider: A Cost-Saving Guide for Businesses

In today’s fast-paced digital world, the role of IT infrastructure and cybersecurity in a business’s success cannot be overstated. While technology can propel a company toward unprecedented growth, it also presents myriad challenges, including costly downtime, data breaches, and the constant need for upgrades. Here, we explore how a Managed Service Provider (MSP) like 180 Degrees IT Solutions not only addresses these issues but can significantly enhance a company’s profitability through strategic cost-saving measures.

Understanding the Role of a Managed Service Provider

At its core, an MSP takes the helm of a company’s IT operations, offering proactive management, support, and security. This partnership allows businesses to focus on their core functionalities, trusting in the MSP to ensure their IT infrastructure runs smoothly, securely, and up to date. The question is, how does this convert to cost savings and, ultimately, to increased profits?

Reducing Operational Costs

Firstly, by outsourcing IT management to an MSP, companies can significantly reduce operational costs. Traditional in-house IT departments require substantial investment in salaries, benefits, and ongoing training. In contrast, MSPs like 180 Degrees IT Solutions offer access to a team of experts for a fixed monthly fee, predictable and often much lower than the costs of maintaining a full-time in-house team.

Minimizing Downtime and Its Financial Impact

Downtime is notoriously expensive. A single hour of downtime can cost a small business thousands of dollars, not to mention the intangible costs of lost customer trust and potential data loss. MSPs work around the clock to monitor and maintain systems, identifying and resolving issues often before they can impact operations. This proactive approach translates to increased uptime and continued productivity, safeguarding businesses against the financial drain of unexpected interruptions.

Enhancing Cybersecurity Measures

In an era where cyber threats are evolving at lightning speed, maintaining robust cybersecurity measures is not just a matter of protecting data—it’s a critical investment in a company’s reputation and financial stability. MSPs specialize in staying ahead of the cybersecurity curve, implementing advanced security protocols and educating employees about potential threats. This preemptive strategy dramatically reduces the risk of costly breaches and complies with industry regulations, avoiding potential fines and legal fees.

Streamlining IT Expenditures

Lastly, MSPs can help businesses make more informed IT investments, ensuring that every dollar spent contributes to tangible improvements in productivity and security. With their finger on the pulse of technological advancements, MSPs like 180 Degrees IT Solutions provide strategic guidance on hardware and software purchases, avoiding unnecessary spending and focusing on solutions that offer real value.

Conclusion: Elevating Your Business with 180 Degrees IT Solutions

Adopting a partnership with a Managed Service Provider like 180 Degrees IT Solutions is more than an operational decision—it’s a strategic investment in your business’s future. By reducing operational costs, minimizing downtime, enhancing cybersecurity, and streamlining IT expenditures, MSPs unlock significant cost savings, translating directly to improved profit margins. At 180 Degrees IT Solutions, we are dedicated to not just managing your IT infrastructure but turbocharging your business’s growth through strategic, cost-effective IT solutions. Let us help you turn technology from a business challenge into your most valuable asset for growth and profitability.

Embrace the future confidently with 180 Degrees IT Solutions, where your IT infrastructure and cybersecurity are in expert hands. Discover the peace of mind and profitability that comes with having a dedicated team of IT professionals by your side. Get in touch today to learn how we can tailor our services to meet your unique business needs.

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Understanding Man-in-the-Middle Attacks: Risks and Prevention

Managed IT Services Providers Help You With Network Monitoring

Many small businesses rely on the networks within their organization. Can you imagine your business without the network which connects you to each of your team? Network monitoring is necessary for ensuring your network remains operational and functioning as it should in order for your business to carry out its daily activities.

What is Network Monitoring?

Network monitoring is a process which alerts business owners and key people to any problems that might occur over the network. It can also be used to keep track of supplies for printers, how much hard drive space is remaining and notify you when you’re running out of space, as well as software installations or uninstalls.

Network monitoring solutions can alert you when changes to the network require action, and assist you with the actions to ensure the problem is resolved quickly. Most problems with networks can be handled pro-actively, which means there is no need for the network to go “down”, or become unusable when the network is being monitored effectively.

You can also use quality network monitoring services to know when your software licenses are going to expire or contracts need renewing, as well as when to update various software programs with bug fixes to ensure everything is up to date and running as it should. Your antivirus software depends on your network to operate effectively.

Additionally, since your network only allows a limited amount of internet bandwidth for your entire staff to use, if one employee is hogging too much of that bandwidth, a traffic jam will form. Everyone trying to use the same network will experience decreased speed and a decrease in productivity but a network monitoring service can help you find bottlenecks as they happen and help to distribute the resources evenly across all users of the network.

Network Monitoring Outsourcing

For the majority of small or medium sized businesses, outsourcing the monitoring of your computer networks makes the most financial sense. If the network is not working, your business loses revenue and can’t operate. Training in-house staff to handle the network isn’t the best use of our time or resources.

Using Managed IT Services providers to handle network monitoring will save you time and money. Your network will have minimal to no down time, and no maintenance required on the part of yourself or staff members. This means you can focus your time on your daily business activities without worrying about the network that’s making it all possible.

Network Monitoring Services

Most small businesses require the following monitoring activities:

• Monitoring Local Area Network data
• Ping and trace route
• Alerts to problems with the network

A Managed IT Services Provider will handle all aspects of monitoring your network, preventing most problems from occurring and providing solutions for any that do happen. For one monthly fee, a business can get all the information and alerts necessary, without having to train anyone in-house to know what to do in the event of every possible situation that can arise involving the network.

Click here to learn how 180 Degrees IT Solutions can help you reduce downtime with our 24x7x365 Network Monitoring Services for your business in Cairns, Brisbane, & Adelaide.

What To Look For When Choosing An Online Data Storage Service

The days of keeping confidential business information locked in a metal filing cabinet are gone. Most businesses have most everything, from personnel files to client information and financial information, stored on their personal computers or computer network. What happens when your company runs out of storage space? Or, worse yet, what if your computer information is attacked by a virus, stolen, or damaged by a flood? Would you be able to quickly recover all of your important information and keep your company running smoothly? Online Data Storage Services are the answer.

Many companies find that keeping their own network running and up-to-date is expensive. In this economy, most companies are looking for ways to cut expenses in order to survive. There are many online data storage companies currently available, so if your business is looking for an online storage company, here are some questions that you need to ask:

What Features Do Online Data Storage Services Offer?

Look at what features the company offers in its basic package. Most online data storage services offer online file storage, backup services, remote access that allows you to access your data from anywhere in the world, the ability to file share with other employees in your office, and the ability to upload and download files.

How Secure are Online Data Storage Services?

Does the online data storage service offer any type of security? Businesses will want a service that offers file encryption, authentication, and password protection in order to keep your information secure. You may also want to know if they offer any type of tracking in the event of a security breach, as well as the ability to lock out former employees after they have left or been terminated. Also, businesses should inquire as to what type of backup plan the service offers in case of any unforeseen disasters such as a virus attack or fire.

Are Online Data Storage Services User-Friendly?

The service should be easy to learn and use, easy to access for the average employee, and not require a computer science degree. If the service is too difficult or complicated to use, look for another service.

How Much Do Online Data Storage Services Cost?

Is the service reasonably priced and does it fit into your company’s budget? Find out how much storage you get for the price.

Do Online Data Storage Services Offer Technical Support?

Even with the easiest to use service, you may one day have a question or a problem that you may not be able to resolve on your own. Does the service offer a customer service hotline, or chat support? Is it available 24/7, if needed?

Additionally, it is important to look for a well-established online storage service that has a stellar reputation. Online storage has many benefits for your company. A good service can be cost effective, offer better security, up-to-date software, and unlimited storage space.

Click here to learn how 180 Degrees IT Solutions can help you reduce your data security risk and bring you peace of mind with our Remote Online Data Storage Services for your business in Cairns, Brisbane, & Adelaide.

Password Strength is Key in Business and Personal Information Security

In today’s technologically driven business marketplace one of most often overlooked points of vulnerability to your business and personal information security is the strength or weakness of the passwords that you define for usage when logging into: your computer network, email provider, online banking, accounting or payroll applications. To underestimate the importance of strong passwords is to leave the door wide open to identity theft and corporate piracy. Your passwords must be a robust combination of all the characters that are available, must be unique for different applications and must not be a word commonly found in any dictionaries, in any language.

How do you maximize your business and personal information security?

We have been conditioned to use weak passwords. For many people the first password we ever needed was for our ATM cards. If this is the case we were limited to the numerals on the keypad 0-9. That simply will not cut it anymore. Malicious computer deciphering programs can run through all of the possible combinations in a matter of seconds. The same types of programs can run through all of the words in the dictionary, plus most common names, in multiple languages even spelled backwards, in a matter of minutes. You cannot have the same password for all of your password needs; if that one password was to get compromised then all of your sensitive private data would be at risk.

How do you come up with strong passwords that you can actually remember, without writing them down where they could be easliy found and used to cause you or your business harm?

A good method is to come up with a phrase that is meaningfully unique to you, and therefore it will be something you will be likely to remember. For example: “I love muscle cars and custom motorcycles” or “Ping golf clubs are my favorites”

Use the first or last letter of each word to create a string or characters, from the example above: “I love muscle cars and custom motorcycles” I could come up with: “Ilmcacm” or “Iemsdms”

Replace one or more of the characters with its numeric position in the alphabet or a special character as in: Ilm3a3m or Ilmc@cm

Add a suffix or prefix to make it unique to each application that you will use it for.

• For my Yahoo email I could use: YeIlm3a3m
• For my Chase bank account I could use: CbIl3ma3m

Make sure that your each unique string of characters is at least eight characters long.

Now that you have a strong passwords, that last thing you need to worry about is using them wisely.

Do not write them down on a sticky note and put them under your keyboard or behind your monitor. Do not store them in the file system of your computer.

Do not use your passwords on computers that have open access to the general public, such as those found in Internet cafes, airports or mall kiosks.

Do not enter personal information such as your user names and passwords on unsecured websites.

Do make sure that the computer terminals that you use your passwords on have up to date anti-spyware and anti-virus applications.

Click here to learn how 180 Degrees IT Solutions can help you strengthen your business and personal information security with our Network Security Services for your business in Cairns, Brisbane, & Adelaide.

Maintaining HIPAA Compliance with Online Data Storage

Keeping patient records secure and private is the concern of every hospital and health care provider, but they are often overwhelmed with years and years of patient information and the lack of adequate storage space. Destroying these health records in order to make room for more storage is often not an option. Patients want access to all of their health care records, and physicians need them in order to better diagnose patients. Online data storage is a way to satisfy all of these issues.

Using online data storage for these records allows easier access for patients, and offers easier sharing of patient information from hospital to physician, as well as from physician to physician. Storing health records online isn’t, however, without security concerns. Patients, hospitals, and physicians want assurance that these confidential records will remain safe, private, and secure, and will only be accessed by those authorized to do so.

What is HIPAA?

HIPAA or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was created in order to protect health information and give patients certain rights regarding their private health information. It also allows for disclosure of health information necessary for patient care. This act specifies safeguards necessary for administrative, and physical and technical handling of patient health information.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS.gov) HIPAA has many requirements and restrictions. It requires safeguards for:

• Access Control
• Audit Controls
• Person or Entity Authentication

Access control is defined in the HIPAA Privacy Rule as “the ability or the means necessary to read, write, modify, or communicate data/information or otherwise use any system resource.” It should allow authorized users to only access the minimum amount of information necessary to complete job functions. The Access Control specification also requires the implementation of an exclusive user identification or user ID, and immediate access in case of an emergency.

What Type of Security is Necessary?

When dealing with patient records in an office, maintaining privacy and security usually involves storing patient files in locked cabinets where the files can be physically secured and visibly monitored at all times. When you are storing patient information online, certain precautions must be met in order to maintain the same security and privacy guaranteed each patient.

While HIPAA permits patient records to be transmitted over the Internet, businesses will want a service that offers file encryption, authentication and password protection in order to secure the information. Although HIPAA does not require online data storage services to have encryption, it does require that patient information be adequately protected and accessible only to authorized persons. Encryption is the best way to protect that information and ensure authorized access to those records. It is also important to offer backup services in case of a virus attack, flood, or fire. Finally, the service must offer a method of tracking any security breach, as well as the ability to lock out former employees after they have left or been terminated.

When storing patient information, it is important to stay HIPAA compliant, as the fines for not doing so are expensive. While online data storage for health care businesses guarantee less worry, work, and expense for health care providers, the service is only as good as the security offered. Remaining HIPAA compliant is vital in order to continue a good business relationship with the health care industry.

Click here to learn how 180 Degrees IT Solutions can help you maintain HIPAA compliance with our Remote Online Data Storage Services for your practice in Cairns, Brisbane, & Adelaide.

Be Realistic About Cross-Referrals And Your CRM

As you build your business, you naturally explore different avenues of networking for new opportunities. One such source is the cross-referral. A powerful formula for success in lead generation outcomes and accelerating sales velocity is the proper use of cross-referrals and your CRM solution.

Cross-referrals are strategic agreements, whether formal or informal, between companies serving like markets to trade their clients’ contact information to the other for marketing their complimentary products or services. For instance, web designers may build referral resources from freelance writers, marketing and branding companies or web developers and other businesses that do things that the designers don’t, but offer complimentary services to their end-customers.

Cross-referrals are a great way to use free, word of mouth advertising though referral agreements may not always be free. There will be some arrangements where a commission can be earned based on a prearranged percentage or a flat-rate referral fee; but many startups are happy to give free referrals in return for the same courtesy. While these referral arrangements may seem like promotional gold, you cannot always rely on other companies to sell you to their customers. There may never be more than a passing comment made to the occasional client. If you are relying heavily on referrals from others, you need to make a change in your approach. While paid referral agreements may offer more of an incentive, it is your responsibility to provide your referral sources with adequate materials to help them promote your business.

Some ideas include:

Professional-looking brochures and business cards that contain your website, contact information, and a blurb about your services or products. If the situation warrants, you can regularly provide referral sources with discount offers and coupons they can pass along to their own clients that are exclusive to referral clients or customers

Promotional items such as pens and magnets that can be passed along to others.

Say Thanks

When the referrals do begin to come in, make sure your cross-referring business partners know how much you appreciate them. Courtesy thank you notes are crucial after referrals made bring you business. Keep a stack of personalized thank you cards to drop in the mail after a referral pans out. You may consider a small gift basket of cookies or snacks to say thanks from time to time. A nice lunch meeting can also help reinforce your gratitude for the referral assistance. This is a great opportunity to leverage reciprocating for your cross-referrals and your CRM‘s power to manage the entire process.

Referrals Aren’t For Everyone

Don’t expect everyone to be open to engaging in free referrals. You can quickly become tiresome to others if you are constantly asking for help in getting business. You should have a strong marketing system in place, so that you aren’t relying exclusively on referrals for new business, making any referral that comes in icing on the cake. It is good practice to touch base with your cross-referring sources to keep them up to date on what is new with your business.

Remember – it’s a two way street, and you should be working as hard to make referrals to your cross-referring business partners as you expect them to in exchange. The more often you make referrals, the more likely the favor will be returned.

Don’t Forget Your Clients

One of your biggest resources for referrals may not be from other businesses. In fact, it is your clients’ praise that will warrant consistent word of mouth advertising for you. This is one of the reasons that excellent customer service is vital to your referral success. Clients who have consistently had a good experience with your company will be more than willing to spread the word to others who are in need of your product or service. While there is no obligation to reward these acts, you might provide something in return for their advertising on your behalf. The better you take care of the clients you already have, the more likely you are to expand your client base. For those clients who are particularly good to you, a token of appreciation like a gift basked of cookies or treats sometimes goes a longer way than a discount on a service or a referral commission, and it humanizes the relationship between you beyond a business one.

Referrals can be a great source of business for you, especially when you are just getting started. You cannot expect everyone to cooperate, but you certainly cannot be a wallflower when approaching the situation. Be direct but flexible – and always offer to return the favor.

Click here to learn how 180 Degrees IT Solutions can help you maximize cross-referrals and your CRM with our effective CRM Solutions for your business in Cairns, Brisbane, & Adelaide.

6 Password Tips to Protect Against Business and Identity Theft

Ah, those pesky passwords. If you work in the corporate world or in an office, you have one for your PC/Network and, unless there is a password synchronization application that combines them, you probably have more than one for other applications. Add those to the ones that you have for your home Internet, your banking and other websites that require passwords, and before you know it you have a nightmare on your hands in trying to manage them. How easy a target are you for business and identity theft?

Part of the frustration has to do with the different requirements for password formatting. Some systems only require four characters, some require eight. Some need a combination of alpha and numeric characters and others do the same with the addition of a few capital letters thrown in for extra security. It can be positively maddening.

The worst thing you can do with your passwords is to place them in a text document which can be accessed on the hard drive of your computer. Your files are vulnerable to business and identity theft- even if you think they are not. If someone is intent on finding them, they can. Even if you place them into a password protected document, those can be cracked, too.

Writing them down has its own vulnerabilities, too, and there are varying opinions on this practice. If you do write them down on a piece of paper, put the document in a locked location whether it is in your home or at work.

Here are 6 tips on how to handle your passwords to protect against business and identity theft:

1. Make them complex. People who use easy to remember or short passwords are inviting disaster. Use a little imagination and pick a password that is very difficult to attach to your life. Stay away from birth dates, phone numbers, house numbers, or any other number that is associated with your life.

2. Keep passwords unique. When you change your passwords, make them unique from each other. Do not use the same password on all of your sites. If you do, then you are open to having every site that you have a password to being vulnerable to hackers to log on and steal your identity, money or destroy your reputation.

3. Be obscure. Use a combination of letters, numbers, capital letters and special characters if possible. The more you do this, the more secure your passwords will become. Create an alphanumeric version of a term you can remember. Using this technique the word “Spaceship” becomes “Sp@ce5h!p”.

4. Change regularly. This is the singular tip that can save you if you do not heed any of the other tips. How often should you change your password? How secure do you want to be? The frequency with which you change your password will determine how secure you are from becoming a victim. The more often you change it, the better you are. The longer you leave it the same, the more vulnerable you become. Three months is a good cycle for a password, but certainly if you fear for the security of your identity, then a monthly change is not out of the question.

5. Password-protect your PC. Be sure to give your PC a password on power-up. This will help protect your files unrestricted access to your PC.

6. Password-protect your wireless home network. If you have a wireless home network, be sure to password protect it as well. Use the same principles above in order to secure your wireless network. This will prevent others from accessing your connection and using it maliciously to hack the personal or business PCs and laptops you and your family use at home.

Finally, there are password programs that can help with this important task, but the best advice is to start with the tips above right away. Password software can be useful as an organizational tool, but it is no match for using sound methods to manage and make your passwords difficult to crack.

Click here to learn how 180 Degrees IT Solutions can help protect you against business and identity theft with our Network Security Services for your business in Cairns, Brisbane, & Adelaide.