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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

365 iT SOLUTIONS Achieves Microsoft Gold Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions

365 iT SOLUTIONS is proud to announce that it is now a Microsoft Gold Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions Partner.

This recognition confirms 365 iT SOLUTIONS expertise in delivering high-quality Microsoft based cloud services and its total commitment to achieving the highest customer satisfaction.

Microsoft cloud services include Azure Cloud, Microsoft 365, and Skype for Business.

By achieving a Microsoft gold competency, we have demonstrated experience in specific technology areas. This allows organizations in Toronto the piece of mind when they look for an IT partner to meet their business challenges as it gives us direct access to Microsoft technical support and product teams.

The Gold Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions Competency is an addition to an already impressive list of Microsoft certifications obtained by 365 iT SOLUTIONS.

  • Gold Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions
  • Gold Datacenter
  • Silver Datacenter
  • Silver Collaboration and Content
  • Silver Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry-leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

365 iT SOLUTIONS Achieves Microsoft Gold Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions (2)
365 iT SOLUTIONS Achieves Microsoft Gold Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions (2)
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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Typical employees that can cause a data breach

Cybercrime is the biggest threat to your company due to typical employees that can cause a data breach.

Organizations are realizing that trusted and trained employees can also pose an enormous threat to your IT security. A recent study discovered that 74% of organizations reported that they were vulnerable to insider threats and 56% of IT security professionals have stated there are certain insider IT security threats that have become more frequent.

Sometimes cyber attacks may be caused by employees with a grudge however it may also occur due to negligence or simple human error.

Here are three types of employees that can cause a data breach.

Employee Number 1 – Innocent actions

A data breach can occur from innocent employees and cause as much damage as malicious cybercriminals. This usually comes down to an innocent click, not being trained, or cyber criminals being extremely creative. Work with your employees and get them up to up to speed on proper IT policies. You should also have a multiple layered approaches to security to protect your business including next-generation firewall, antivirus, and malware protection to mention a few.

Employee Number 2 – Careless or negligent

Almost everyone has seen those security warnings that come up on your screen. They ask you to take immediate action or the police will be contacted. This is a classic Ransomware tactic and its success rate has been huge! Google released some numbers and it discovered that 25 million Chrome warnings were ignored by 70.2% of the time due to users’ lack of technical knowledge.

Employee Number 3 – Malicious

Malicious actions by employees also play a big part of insider data breaches. Recently, OFCOM which is UK’s communications regulator discovered that a former employee had been gathering its third-party data over a six-year period.

What can be done to protect yourself from typical employees that can cause a data breach?

So many studies have shown that most respondents consider human behavior to be the greatest risk to data protection and data breach.  The impact of a data breach will cause damage to businesses, including financial losses and the damage to the organization’s reputation.  Most organizations want to find ways to mitigate and limit data breach.

All organizations need to increase employee awareness and ensure all employees are aware of the potential impact of their actions.  It is important to involve all employees in proper IT training and policies.

Keep your data and information safe with encryption. Monitor data and behaviour of employees so you can be aware of the risk.

BOYD (bring your own device) is a significant risk if not managed properly. This needs to be carefully monitored and controlled.

Typical employees that can cause a data breach but you can protect your organization.

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT infrastructure and business to the test.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Ransomware Victims Are Hit More Than Once

Cyber threats are nothing new however a recent study has shown that ransomware victims are hit more than once due to exposed IT infrastructure and poor security policies.

How profitable is cyber-attacks? According to a recent study from Google, ransomware victims have paid more than $25 million in ransoms over the last two years.

Security experts recommend that you do not pay cyber criminals as it may make you a target for a future cyber attack.

The study has revealed some other interesting numbers based on a security vendor poll of over 830 IT professionals across the globe.

Here are the stats from the IT security study:

  • 80% believe cyber threats are increasing resulting in victims being hit more than once.
  • 60% of infections have been through unsolicited emails and exploiting employees’ knowledge.
  • 33% of cyber attacks have struck corporate servers.
  • 7% of cyber attacks have targeted cloud apps.
  • Speed-to-detection is important due to 70% of cases having multiple devices infected.
  • 40% of IT departments took more than two hours to detect cyber threats.
  • 82% have been able to recover data by restoring from back-up.

The last stat is the best one as long as you are not part of the 18% that failed to recover from Ransomware.

These stats are a clear indication of the importance of an IT security and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy to ensure maximum protection from ransomware and other cyber threats.

The best practice for all businesses is to have three backup copies on two different media with one back-up offsite in the cloud.

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT infrastructure and business to the test.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

How does IT support services cut your monthly budget

Tight timelines and budgets are constantly pushing companies to do better. Find out how does IT support services cut your monthly budget.

Most industries are fast-paced and technology is taking over all aspects of business regardless of size or industry.   This has pushed companies for increased IT support services as there are many areas to cover.  All organizations have experienced frustration when it comes to the ever-growing complexity of IT support issues.

Technology is now running all businesses and has become critical to the functionality of any business no matter how small or how limited their financial resources.  Most business management has the challenge of finding a balance between managing monthly costs and ensuring reliable IT support strategies for productivity and uptime.

Outsourcing IT management is becoming an increasingly popular option for small business who are looking to get on top of technological challenges without neglecting the core objectives of their operational focus. By delegating IT tasks to an external management service, business owners, along with their teams, are able to prioritize business-centered objectives like expansion, customer allocation & retention, recruitment, marketing, and sales.

Many companies are now accessing outsourced IT services, IT support services or managed IT services to better manage their IT infrastructure.  According to a recent study, at least 40% of small businesses have moved to an external IT support services management firm.

Outsourced IT services, IT support services and managed IT services are usually delivered by a managed service provider (MSP) as they are valuable at the ability to create, protect and sustain functional IT infrastructure networks.  By using enterprise class tools such as PSA (professional services automation) and RMM (remote monitoring and management), they have the ability to proactively access, monitor, track, troubleshoot, perform maintenance and continually update your network.

A managed service provider (MSP) has the knowledge and skill to keep your network running as efficiently as possible. This will maximize uptime, security, and productivity. They can help reduce IT support issues and prevent disasters.

By outsourcing to a managed service provider (MSP), you get access to stable monthly IT budgets.  Outsourcing IT management is good for business as you now have around the clock coverage that is delivering a secure and proactively maintained network. This allows your business and employees to focus on what matters most.

According to CompTIA, they conducted a survey taken of 400 businesses that have recently started to use a managed service provider (MSP) within the past year. The results indicate 96% of respondents agree that their managed service provider (MSP) saved them a substantial amount of money annually.

  • 184 respondents indicated a reduced cost of 25% or more
  • 58 of the respondents above indicated reduced costs by over 50%

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT infrastructure and business to the test.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Hackers continue to actively attack SMB

Most SMB do not see themselves as a target however hackers continue to actively attack SMB since they are easy targets.

The biggest mistake small and midsize business (SMB) make is that they believe by having a firewall, antivirus, and for some, two-factor authentication, this is good enough because they feel they have nothing in value to a hacker.

Not only are small and midsize business (SMB) growing as the favored targets for ransomware hackers but they with over 60 percent shutting down within six months of a security breach according to the US National Cyber Security Alliance.

Recently, a leading IT security firm released some stats on a survey conducted. Their study showed that approximately 95 percent of IT professionals that handle small and midsize business (SMB) believe their network and cyber security policies are above average however the same respondents all admitted they could improve their IT security systems.

Small and midsize business (SMB) need to be proactive and pay attention. Have data backups, test backups, recover backups, patch everything.

Many cyber security firms have shown that most small and midsize business (SMB) have the right tools in place to protect their network however they did not have the proper execution to protect them.

Social engineering has a 50 percent success rate which should be alarming to any business. Many of the successful attacks happen because of user error while the rest comes down to non-patched systems and inadequate scanning of their systems.

Small and midsize business (SMB) must understand that email is a major vulnerability.  Most systems such as Microsoft 365 and Google for Business have built-in spam filters, however, there are other add-ons that can be used to reduce the cyber threats.

Many organizations in the small and midsize business (SMB) market need to protect if not their own, their clients’ intellectual property as this may include industry trade secrets. Unfortunately, many of these organizations do not have the time or resources to dedicate to build a strong IT security policy and practice.

Hackers continue to actively attack SMB and you need to look at the big picture and understand the threats.

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT infrastructure and business to the test as well as build a solid plan on how to access cloud services.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

 

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What Should You Consider Before Moving to the Cloud

Cloud services, cloud app, Azure, AWS, Microsoft 365 have been buzz words for cloud services however what should you consider before moving to the cloud? We got your covered.

As the days go by, cloud services are becoming more accessible to small businesses looking for ways to cut their overhead IT costs and embrace a more efficient means of data storage and access.  As the battle between Azure and AWS heat up, the end users has been winning with better pricing, better options, and better service.

This is a large project that will change the dynamics of your organization for the good however you should consider the following questions before making the transition to the cloud.

What is the cloud?

The cloud is basically a vast data storage system with a seemingly infinite amount of space and without a physical server on location. It simply means by moving to the cloud, your IT infrastructure is in the cloud (Azure, AWS, private cloud) without the need for expensive in-house IT hardware.

How do you secure your data in the cloud?

Every cloud service provider that precautions at protecting your data as most of them securely encrypt date as it moves from one server to another. You can put in extra precautions to protect your data as running it in two separate locations and you still need a robust disaster recovery plan.  One of the possible negatives of moving to the cloud is there is a shift of control of your data.

How much does the cloud cost?

This varies according to your needs in the cloud. You will here a lot of selling points that the cloud will save lots of money since the cloud saves money versus expensive IT hardware including server equipment however it all depends on the amount of data you are transferring on a monthly basis as well as the resources required.

How accessible is your data in the cloud?

This one is easy. Always! By moving to the cloud with Azure and AWS, you have unlimited access to your data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In the event of any data access issues, all cloud service providers offer round-the-clock customer support and financial guaranteed uptime.

Some organizations have concerns over being able to access their data in the cloud. Even thou it is encrypted, all data will be accessible to cloud service representatives. You should always discuss with your potential cloud services provider to understand this important factor before making the move, especially if you deal with confidential client information.  You should also check with regulatory parties and client before committing.

Are you considering in moving parts or your entire business into the cloud?  Here are some great options to consider.

  1. Microsoft Azure Cloud Services
  2. Microsoft Microsoft 365
  3. Microsoft SharePoint

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT infrastructure and business to the test as well as build a solid plan on how to access cloud services.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

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How to Improve Your IT Department for Your Business

In order to be competitive, every organization needs to constantly improve. For this reason, how to improve your IT department for your business is becoming a top priority.

Here are a few business tips in order to cut down on excessive IT and strengthen your IT infrastructure.

1.      Organize your IT department and IT assets.  By having an accurate IT inventory of hardware and software assets, it removes excessive or outdated software. This will allow you to maximize IT efficiency and cut IT costs.  Recently, Gartner revealed that over 25 percent of IT spending goes to waste because of bad data. By organizing, you will be able to improve your IT department.

2.      Organize your corporate cyber security.  Cyber security has never been so crucial and it should be the top of your list if you want to improve your IT department.  To have cyber security under control, you should have your IT infrastructure under control.  Cyber threats including ransomware and malware will always exist but the best defense is the organize your corporate cyber security and choose the appropriate hardware and software to proactively cyber threats.

3.      IT department readiness. Is your IT department ready? The goal behind IT asset discovery is to find weaknesses in your IT infrastructure by revealing old software and hardware that may be slowing down productivity and putting you at risk. Once you have identified these assets, you have the ability to get rid of old software or hardware slowing down employees and productivity.

By eliminating obsolete hardware and software, you have the ability to protect your organization from cyber risks, undetected security vulnerabilities, and the ever-increasing exploits. The truth is that you have to improve and proactively manage you IT department including tight IT budgets, limited resources, and increasing workloads. If you don’t take the time to manage your IT department, it will only be a matter of time before it starts to show cracks.

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT department and business to the test.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Cybercriminals Are More Interested in Small Businesses

When large organizations get hacked, it makes the news however cyber criminals are more interested in small businesses. Are you protected?

The reason is simple why cybercriminals are more interested in small businesses.

  1. There are so many more of them compared to large organizations.
  2. They have limited resources when it comes to network IT security.
  3. They are more willing to pay than large organizations as they have no disaster recovery plan or data backups that have been tested.

So how big is the target for small businesses in Canada?

According to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, here are the stats based on their KEY SMALL BUSINESS STATISTICS report.

There are 1.17 million employer businesses in Canada.  Approximately 1.14 million (97.9 percent) businesses were small businesses, 21,415 (1.8 percent) were medium-sized businesses and 2,933 (0.3 percent) were large enterprises.  Ontario and Quebec take the lead as more than half are in Ontario and Quebec (407,175 and 235,075 respectively). Western Canada has a robust and growing small business community led by British Columbia, which had 176,014 small businesses and the Atlantic provinces, Nova Scotia is home to the greatest number of small businesses, totaling 29,298.

Cybercriminals Are More Interested In Small Businesses Chart
Cybercriminals Are More Interested In Small Businesses Chart

Why do cybercriminals hit large businesses?

Cybercriminals hit large businesses as they have more sensitive and a data breach has devastating consequences to their reputations and image. Security vulnerabilities are often due to oversights or poor IT management. The largest ransomware ever paid goes to South Korean web provider Nayana which paid 397 bitcoins, or about $1 million due to WannaCry ransomware.

Why do cybercriminals hit small businesses?

Simple, look at the number of small and midsize businesses in Canada.  They are attractive targets due to their smaller pool of IT security resources and the large amount of them.  There is a larger chance of a misconfigured firewall, unpatched server, or lack of IT infrastructure and IT security.

Statistics have shown that there is a clear increase in cybercriminals stealing information from small businesses as it is much more lucrative and less risker than an attack on larger organization. According to Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report, 43 percent of all cyber-attacks make small businesses their target and average around $200,000 per year.  Over 85 percent think they have proper security measures in place to deal with these cyber-attacks attacks.

Cybercriminals are more interested in small businesses however you do not have to be an easy target.

The good news is that enterprise-class security can be affordable to small businesses. An organizations risk comes down to how they manage their data and network. It is important to use “next generation” firewalls with active security services, enterprise-class antivirus software that is configured and centrally managed, business class malware and ransomware protection as well as a tested disaster recovery solution.

This may sound expensive however it is more affordable that you think.  You can have an IT consultant set this all up for you and leave it in your hands which are not recommended as this should be constantly monitored and managed.

The second option is to reach out to a trusted managed IT services provider (a.k.a Managed Services Provider) that can handle everything for you and there should be no upfront fee for licensing and software since it will all be part of their monthly fee.

You should look at a managed IT services provider that will simplify your network, eliminate possible holes in your IT security and follow industry best practices such as train staff and deploy all tools listed above.

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT infrastructure and business to the test.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

 

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How does IT support and IT infrastructure keep business decision makers up at night?

Security, malware, hackers are always in the news and these are some of the reasons IT support and IT infrastructure keep business decision makers up at night.

In a recent report, it showed that malware and ransomware take the top spot of concern even thou many organizations have anti-malware solutions in place to protect their business and data.

  • Over 73 percent of business decision makers are concerned about malware and advanced persistent threats.
  • Over 31 percent are concerned with malware threats in the United States
  • Over 31 percent are concerned with malware threats in France
  • Over 56 percent are concerned with malware threats in India
  • Germany comes in at 11 percent and Japan at 12 percent with malware very concerned
  • Approximately 20 percent are confident in their IT department ability to protect against malware attacks.
  • Approximately 73 percent are worried about spear phishing attacks
  • Over 65 percent of mid-sized companies are delaying a mobile workforce due to IT security reasons
  • Over 67 percent delayed BYOD due to IT security concerns.
  • Approximately 82 percent have attempted to limit data access points to enhance IT security
  • Over 72 percent believe that knowing where data is accessed will make their data protection and IT security more effective.
  • Over 57 percent are concerned about the quality of data encryption used
  • Approximately 40 percent are interested in allowing more mobility to increase employee productivity
  • Over 80 percent are concerned with uploading critical data to the cloud
  • Approximately 38 percent have restricted access to public cloud sites due to security concerns

This is the answer to how does IT support and IT infrastructure keep business decision-makers up at night?  Good security program must be used to enable employees to be secure and productive at the same time.

If organizations try to limit or prohibit public cloud use it has been found to limit productivity. It is more effective to use intelligent data encryption to protect corporate data and reduce the risk of the mobile workforce with restrictive corporate policies to be more productive.

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT infrastructure and business to the test.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

How Can Managed IT Services for Financial Services Help?

Managed IT services for financial services can help as Canada has one of the strongest and tech-savvy financial services sectors in the world.

As one of the strongest global financial services sectors in the world, the Canadian financial sectors includes banks, trust and loan companies, insurance companies, credit unions, securities dealers, finance and leasing companies, pension fund managers, mutual fund companies and independent insurance agents and brokers. The good news is that the Canadian banking system is ranked one of the soundest in the world by the World Economic Forum for seven years in a row.

You should work with a trusted managed IT services provider that not only has a long history of providing IT services and solutions in the financial sector, but also one that is embracing technology to improve their client IT infrastructure while saving money, and complying with legal and regulatory requirements.

Many in the Canadian financial sector organizations CFSI (Center for Financial Services Innovation) as the authority on consumer financial health, leading a network of committed financial services innovators to build better consumer products and practices. They are a Canadian based professional services and solutions provider serving the Canadian Capital Markets. They act as a channel to market or agent for financial technology firms wishing to enter the Canadian market and local vendors wishing to grow their existing business in Canada.

How Can Managed IT Services for Financial Services Help? Simple.

A trusted managed IT services provider will ensure the best possible value from your technology as they will know your industry inside and out.  Your entire team will receive quick and reliable IT support services that will enhance employee productivity and efficiency.

They will prevent unauthorized access to data as they will understand the financial services industry as well as the challenges financial services firms face.  It is important to keep your clients’ data safe from potential harm while protecting their interests and keeping your firm compliant with industry regulations.

A managed IT services provider will create a strategic technology plan that ensures you get the most possible value out of your IT infrastructure while meeting all your business needs, business goals, and business objectives.

Our complimentary network and security assessment can put your IT infrastructure and business to the test.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.