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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

LastPass Hacked, how do you protect yourself?

Do you use LastPass to manage your passwords? Well there is some bad news as LastPass has been hacked and now your passwords may have been exposed.

LastPass immediately announced on their blog that they detected an intrusion to their servers and encrypted user data (a.k.a: stored passwords for other sites) was not stolen however the intruders did take LastPass account email addresses, password reminders, server per user salts, and authentication hashes.

LastPass has stated that the authentication hashes are encrypted and should prevent anyone from using them to access your account.

How do I fix the LastPass hacked issue?

LastPass is a very popular password manager but it has been hit with a major security breach, LastPass has been hacked. You must change your master password immediately. LastPass has stated that passwords for other websites should be safe however we would recommend you start changing all of them.

LastPass is prompting all users to update their master password for their LastPass account. If you share your master password with any other services, you should change it there also immediately. Final note is if you have not enabled two-factor authentication, you should do that immediately to add another level of protection.

Currently LastPass servers are running overtime so you can expect to have issues when trying to change your password.

To view the entire security alert from LastPass, you can click here to read the LastPass Security Notice.

365 iT SOLUTIONS brings cutting edge technology to help your business obtain your goals.  Are you looking for a IT consulting firm in Toronto that brings industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services?

 

We have a proven ROI on technology and we want to show you the difference experience can make!

 

Is your network and data safe from hackers?

 

Check out our Complimentary Network and Security Assessment by 365itSolutions.com or contact us directly at 416-398-9889

 

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

IT Support Services for Small Businesses

Today’s business leaders are busy running their businesses and they will definitely require a well-structured network to meet their business goals. For this reason, so many companies look for IT Support Services for Small Businesses.

If your business is looking to reach the next level, you need the right IT consulting partner to help you get there.  You will require IT Support Services that are fast and offer outstanding performance as every business leader knows that technology and IT services have now become an essential part of today’s business environment.

The quality of the IT support services depends on your choice of IT service provider.   For a small organization, these support services plays a significant role in achieving business goals efficiently and at reasonable price.

When selecting an IT service provider, you are looking at a long term business partner that will help you increase the level of your productivity and to achieve higher growth.

Some advantages of selecting the right IT service provider include the following:

  • High quality of all services including Managed Services, IT Consulting and vCIO
  • Efficient working environment and knowledge your industry
  • Ensure greater productivity and network uptime
  • High growth of the client business and their business
  • Reasonable and affordable IT services

365 iT SOLUTIONS, can align your IT infrastructure with your business goals and strategy ensuring all these benefits are achieved.  We are Toronto’s leading IT consulting firm as we bring industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services to clients with an excellent proven ROI.

Want to see the difference experience can make to your business? Check out our Complimentary Network and Security Assessment by 365itSolutions.com or contact us directly at 416-398-9889

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Stop Managing IT and You Can Make Your Business Profitable

In today’s challenging economy, companies face multiple obstacles and if you stop managing your IT infrastructure, you can make your business profitable.

Long gone are the days that IT management is about infrastructure anymore.  At multiple levels, IT is responsible to help the business flourish and be successful. Business owners and management must make the first critical step and stop managing their IT infrastructure.

There has been an evolution in the industry and managed IT services providers are part of many companies success story.  Some companies may require entire management of their infrastructure including a vCIO or it can be IT Support Services or it can be Tech Support Services. No matter what level, companies need to partner with IT consultants that share the same business goals and win-win scenario.

These days, IT management goes beyond ensuring the server is up and running. With Cloud Services and many other IT services, companies need to optimize the management of their technology as well technology itself in order to increase profitability.

Today’s IT consultants think and operate at a higher level of strategic thinking.  It is no longer about what technology “can do” but rather the real question of “what should the technology be doing for the organization?” and “how do we hit our business goals”?

Will your current IT infrastructure allow you to obtain your business goals?

 

365 iT SOLUTIONS, can align your IT infrastructure with your business goals and strategy.  As Toronto’s leading IT consulting firm, we bring industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services to clients with an excellent proven ROI.

Want to see the difference experience can make for your business?

Check out our Complimentary Network and Security Assessment by 365itSolutions.com or contact us directly at 416-398-9889

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Looking to change your IT Provider?

Bye bye IT provider! Not every business is the same and with time and growth, sometimes your current trusted IT consulting partner cannot deliver what your company needs to succeed.

Over the years there have been many advancements in technology such as cloud services, remote monitoring management (RMM) and professional services automation (PSA) tools. Is your current IT provider using these tools to manage and protect your business?

Gone are the days where IT service providers use technical jargon to explain their proposals, technology and tech support issues.  Unfortunately there are some IT providers in the marketplace that will charge you for services that do not meet your business needs and goals.

When evaluating your current relationship with your IT service provider, you should ask yourself these key questions to see how your IT consultant stacks up against your business needs.

Does your IT provider respond in a timely manner when your business is in a crisis?

Your IT consultant should have a service-level agreement (SLA) in place with your company. This sets a realistic expectation of what will happen when tech support help is required.

Do you have surprise costs or find unexplained charges on your monthly invoice?

Your monthly invoice should be simple with no surprises. Managed IT services offers a monthly predictable charge based on your agreement. There never should be surprise charges on your invoice as your network plans should be properly budgeted and planned.

Are you getting a simple explanation when technical issues hit your network?

As many do not believe this but IT is not rocket science. You should always be given a simple explanation in English as to what has happen and how it will be avoided in the future.

Is your network being managed in a reactive or proactive method in regards to network support and monitoring?

Remember, in this day and age, there are tools to proactively manage your network. Proactive management is the same as maintaining your car. The more you maintain it, the better the ROI and longevity.

Did any of these questions hit close to home or raise more questions?

These are common issues and unfortunately slow down companies from succeeding or costing organizations money.

If any of the above scenarios sound familiar, there’s a good chance your IT service provider is not the right match for your company.

We are 365 iT SOLUTIONS, Toronto’s leading IT consulting firm in Toronto offering industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

Want to see how experience and leading edge technology make a difference?

Try our Complimentary Network and Security Assessment by 365itSolutions.com

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Why remote users make sense to employers

Does your company allow for remote users? You should as this is part of many companies winning formula to productivity and profitability.

Remote users and working is on the rise due to many reasons like weather related issues like snow storms, rain and other natural items.  The is also other issues that affect your business productivity and profitability, such as public transit delays and outages or special events in your city like the upcoming Pan Am games in Toronto.

Toronto Ice Storm
Toronto Ice Storm

So why are companies turning to remote users to increase productivity,  continuity and profitability?

Remote workers are less stressed

When you take out traffic and commuting out of a workers life, it tends to reduce the stress a worker faces daily. It allows remote users to feel empowered to work in a way that suits them and suits the business. Think about how you felt the last time it took you double the time to make it into the office?  You were late and frustrated therefore making your day not so productive.

Remote workers can be well connected

I will use us as an example, all 365 iT SOLUTIONS employees are capable of working 100% remotely.  All our systems, including phone system is accessible remotely. With smartphones and social media, companies are capable of eliminating communication issues due to distance. Modern companies use the latest technology such as remote administration, cloud-based project management, video conferencing, and BYOD to extend the effectiveness of remote work.

Remote workers make you competitive

Less onsite workers results in less real estate required. Companies tapping into remote users allows them to reduce their rent and property costs.  This is a huge win as you will have less overhead costs than some of your competitors.

Remote workers are more engaged

When workers make more money by eliminating commuting and work in their own environment with less stress, your company has produced and amazing worker. Companies with successful remote workers, experience less turn over and more engaged workers resulting in better productivity and profitability.

It is important to remember that remote workers play an important role in business contingency and business continuity but that will be addressed in a future blog.

How will your business hold up during the next storm?  Will the next transit outage cost you money?  There are simple solutions that technology can address.  Talk to the industry leaders on how to increase productivity and profitability.

 

We are 365 iT SOLUTIONS, Toronto’s leading IT consulting firm in Toronto offering industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

 

Want to see experience the difference?

 

Try our Complimentary Network and Security Assessment by 365itSolutions.com

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Will IT Outsourcing help your Daily Operations?

As many may know, IT outsourcing covers a large area of IT consulting talent including our favorite, managed services.  As more businesses look into managed IT services to assist in their daily operations, there still is a large amount of companies trying to figure out how they should implement managed services within their organizations and how it can help.

Remember, it is better to do it right the first time.

We have put a quick list of how many ways managed services can help your business run with increased uptime and productivity against your competitors.

 

Question:

What Is Managed Services?

Answer:

Managed IT services is the practice of outsourcing daily IT management to a third party.

Many companies use this as a strategic business tool to improve operations and accelerating their ROI on technology investments.

Most managed services providers (MSP) use different models to deliver managed services including anything from basic monitoring services, hybrid managed services to full managed services. Companies that use a hybrid model usually rely on their internal IT department to handle large projects and planning while the managed services provider takes over the daily IT management tasks.

 

Question:       

How can Managed Services Help Your Business?

Answer:          

Managed services providers can help in many areas that can be divided into three areas. Monitoring, Operation and Optimization.

We put together a quick overview of the three different areas with a brief explanation.

Monitoring     Let’s face it, it you proactively monitor something, you can avoid many different possible issues down the line. A true managed service provider can integrated their own Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools to monitor your network and keep you in the loop on the health of your network.

Operation       Now that your trusted IT consulting partner has installed his Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools, many clients might wish to transfer the actual operation of a solution over to a third party managed services provider (MSP). The managed services provider will install their Professional Services Automation (PSA) in order streamline their operations and technology.

Optimization  Here is where you can see the difference. You have engaged a managed services team to handle all your daily IT management. They have implemented their tools including Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and Professional Services Automation (PSA) tools. Now they can apply the latest industry best practices to ensure everything is running smoothly and improve overall performance through optimization.

 

Question         Why is Managed Services Growing?

Answer            Businesses these days prefer to bundle everything into one IT consulting contract including vCIO, Managed IT Services and Cloud Services to mention a few. Many managed services providers offer these service but it is important for the client to do their due diligence.

 

Who are we? Simple, we are 365 iT SOLUTIONS, Toronto’s leading IT consulting firm in Toronto offering industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

Want to see experience the difference?

Try our Complimentary Network and Security Assessment by 365itSolutions.com

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Microsoft Canadian Data Centres Opening Soon

Good news for Canadian businesses, today there has been an announcement that there is going to be multiple Microsoft Canadian Data Centres opening soon.

Microsoft is actively in the news lately with multiple big announcements to win over long-term business. Yesterday we discussed how to get Microsoft Windows 10 free and today Microsoft made a huge announcement.

The current plan calls for two data centres in Canada including one that will be built in Toronto while the other will be located in Quebec City. Microsoft expects both data centres to be ready for operation by 2016.

This is great news for Canada for multiple reasons. The Canadian data centres will be offering Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Dynamics.

Now Canadian companies will be able to use Microsoft commercial cloud services in their country and address data residency considerations.  This will address many regulated industries including healthcare, education and many others.  This is also great news for companies looking at cloud services but are being stopped by BC Privacy Act and other Canadian privacy acts.

Will Microsoft Canadian data centres be beneficial to your business? Speak to a leading IT consulting firm in Toronto that offers a full range of services that will address your business goals and strategies 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 to get Microsoft Windows 10 free?

Microsoft is now pushing Windows 10 and soon you can have your own copy for free.  Check out this article on how to qualify and reserve your Windows 10 free.

The official launch date for Windows 10 will be July 29 and it will be available on all PCs you purchase after the launch date.  Current systems with existing Windows 7 or 8.1 tablet or PC will be eligible also.

Microsoft has out everything into Windows 10 in an effort to change everyone’s bad experience with Windows 8 which was a failed operating system for most users and companies.

The good news is that Windows 10 comes packed with new features including a redesigned Start menu, Cortana voice assistant and a new browser called Edge.  Windows 10 will offer a unified experience among all systems including PCs, tablets and smartphones.

How do you reserve Windows 10 for free?

  • You must be running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1
  • This update will already be installed if you Automated Updates enabled.
  • If not, you must install a March Windows update called Windows update dubbed KB3035583
  • Once installed, in the lower right corner of your Windows system, you should see a new icon.
  • Place your mouse over the icon and the popup messages will say “Get Windows 10”
  • Once Microsoft makes Windows 10 available, it will automatically download onto your PC.
  • You can scroll through the various screens of the Get Windows 10 window to read more about the new OS.
  • When you’re done, simply click the button to reserve your free upgrade.
  • The reservation screen asks for your email address so you can receive the notification.
  • Enter your email address and click the Send confirmation button.

 

Windows 10 will be a free upgrade to the full version of Windows 10.  The free upgrade applies only to Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1. If you have not upgraded Windows 7 to SP1 or Windows 8 to 8.1, you will have to perform these tasks prior to reserving your free copy of Windows 10. Unfortunately, if you are running Windows RT or RT 8.1, Microsoft has excluded Windows RT and RT 8.1 from the free upgrade offer.

One year after the launch date of July 29, you will have to purchase Windows 10 yourself.

Warnings about Windows 10…

You should always backup your system prior to upgrading an operating system.  You should also verify that all your software will work properly with Windows 10 prior to upgrading.

Is your system ready for Windows 10? Speak to a leading IT consulting firm in Toronto that offers a full range of services that will address your business goals and strategies including Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

Check 365 iT SOLUTIONS video of Windows 10 Key Features

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

What is a vCIO?

Ever wonder what is a vCIO and why they crucial to your business success? In this article we cover CIO and the importance to business.

A Chief Information Officer (CIO) is also known in some companies as an Information Technology (IT) Director and is considered a high ranking member of the management team.

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals. This is great news but how does it translate to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)?

Well for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), managed services providers offer a service called a fractional Chief Information Officer (fractional CIO) also known as virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO).

Once again, as a CIO in an enterprise, a vCIO is a high-level IT consultant who specializes in aligning information technology (IT) with your business goals and strategies.

A virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) works for a fraction of the time, at a fraction of the cost it would take to hire a full-time CIO executive.  Many companies use vCIO as strategic cost-effective solution for businesses that are in need of expert advice but cannot afford the salary and benefits it would take to hire a full time CIO.

Managed services providers which offer a full suite of IT consulting services usually integrate their virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) service into their client sites.  This results in companies having access to a full IT department including CIO, tech support department, consulting services, vendor management and dealing with compliance issues.

Does your business need a vCIO? Speak to a leading IT consulting firm in Toronto that offers a full range of services that will address your business goals and strategies 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 do I backup a Gmail account?

Gmail is a very popular cloud email service however nothing is 100% and in this article we will address a very common question of how do I backup a Gmail account?

In the age of cloud services, we have seen server outages, server crashes and many other technical issues than have resulted in disruption of services and downtime. Gmail is part of Google cloud services and no expense has been spared. Their network is well planned, well-built and stable product however nothing is 100% and it can crash leaving users without access to emails.

Cloud services still follows the simple rule of technology. You should always backup your data.

One easy option to back up your emails is to use an email client such as Microsoft Outlook.  However not everyone is using an email client so another option would be a third-party email backup app.

How do I backup a Gmail account in Microsoft Windows

This example will be based on Microsoft Outlook email client.

  1. Open a browser and log into your Gmail account
  2. Select the Settings button (the gear icon) and navigate to Settings
  3. Select Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab and select Enable IMAP
  4. Save changes
  5. Open Microsoft Outlook
  6. Select File > Info > Add Account
  7. Add your Gmail account: Select the bubble directly left of the e-mail account option and enter your name, Gmail address, and password.
  8. Select Next, Finish.

 

How do I backup a Gmail account on a Mac

  1. Select the Mail app
  2. Select Mail > Preferences > Accounts
  3. Select Google from the list of available mail accounts, and enter your name, Gmail address, and password before clicking the Set Up button in the bottom right-corner of the window.

If you do not use a mail client, you can back up your emails using third-party software.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is a leading IT consulting firm in Toronto. We provide industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

Take advantage of our Complimentary Network and Security Assessment by 365itSolutions.com