Category Archives: Data Backup

What Is BDR and How Does It Impact Business?

what Is BDR
Cybersecurity, Data Backup, Technology, , , , , ,

Businesses these days conduct most of their processes digitally. On one hand, this is great because it speeds up transactions, improves data accuracy, and so on, allowing for faster and more efficient IT business development. But the heavy reliance on digital data brings new risks of data loss or damage. All businesses should have a good backup and disaster recovery plan to lessen these risks. We will explain to you what is BDR and how it impacts businesses.

An Introduction to What is BDR

BDR stands for “backup and disaster recovery.” It is a set of solutions that make sure data is safe and can be recovered after a disaster. A BDR plan aims to protect a business and maintain the continuity of operations despite any mishaps.

We often consider BDR solutions a defense against cyberattacks, which are becoming more frequent in recent years. But they are also beneficial in other circumstances, like keeping a business safe after a natural disaster or in any situation where the company’s data is at risk.

What a Sound BDR Strategy Can Do for Your Business

The lack of a proper BDR solution can have a negative impact on your business. At the very least, it can cause disruptions to your operation as your staff scrambles to recover all your data. In worst-case scenarios, you might not only find yourself with a destroyed business, but you may also face lawsuits as a repercussion of the disaster.

But if you have a tried-and-true BDR solution protecting your data, more than likely, you won’t have to face these dreadful scenarios. In addition, there are multiple other benefits that you can enjoy, such as the following.

Protection against Data Loss and Damage

There are so many ways for digital data to get lost, stolen, or damaged. It can happen through a data breach, a cyberattack, a system failure, human error, or a natural disaster. But if your business has a trusty BDR plan, it will protect your data despite any of these unfortunate incidents.

Better Data Security

Data security is integral to IT business development. A good BDR system makes sure of this by keeping a copy of all your business data, like contracts, transactions, client profiles, and so on, in a safe and remote location. Through high-tech encryption tools and physical security measures, we should protect data backups both physically and digitally.

Customer Retention

If you are not prepared for a disaster, you could lose hours or even days of downtime as you try to get everything back in order. Your clients will not be very forgiving of such situations and will probably leave and take their business to your competitors. With a sound BDR plan, you can have a quick and complete recovery, and your customers can have peace of mind and will not have a reason to leave.

Evaluating Your BDR Strategy

If your IT provider has already set up a BDR solution for your business, that’s great. But do you know how dependable it is? If disaster strikes, are you sure your defenses will hold up and keep your system and data protected?

Discover the impact that a BDR plan has on your business. Learn how the BDR plan affects your employees and the growth of your enterprise. For ideas and tips on creating your BDR strategy, download our FREE infographic or watch the video HERE.

We can also assess your existing BDR plan and make the necessary adjustments to make it perfectly suitable for your business needs. Call us today for a consultation!

The Role of Current Technology in Business Growth and Expansion

business growth and expansion
Contact Relationship Management, Cybersecurity, Data Backup, Security, Technology, , , , ,

Business growth and expansion entail a lot of work in all the different areas—logistics, finance, research, and technology. Technology plays a key role because practically all aspects of business rely on it.

In our last few blogs, we have been talking about some benefits that small business owners can get out of integrating the right technology into their business, especially during expansion, downsizing, or switching from a remote work setup to a hybrid work environment.

Attracting and Retaining Talent for Business Growth and Expansion

how to attract large enterprise talent

For any SMB, attracting and keeping enterprise talent is quite an achievement. But, of course, it is rarely easy to do because most competent professionals prefer to work with global companies that offer better perks and higher pay.

Using technology, you can not only pique the interest of top candidates for your open positions, but you can also convince them to stay for your business growth and expansion.

These strategies, as described in our blog on Week 1 called “How Small Businesses Attract Large Enterprise Talent”, can range from simply making the hiring process pleasant or partnering with local community groups to something more proactive like offering a hybrid work environment that is much more attractive to potential new employees.

Installing Self-Help Kiosks

Self-Help Kiosks

In week 2, we covered one of the most popular technology trends for business growth and expansion. Our blog post entitled, “Self-Help Kiosk vs. Human—What Are the Pros and Cons?” he self-help kiosk has been appearing in a growing range of industries. We can find them in fast-food restaurants, bus terminals, banks, and more.

We also covered how these kiosks can help business growth and expansion. especially as remote workers switch to working in person or in a hybrid way. Some benefits we covered were contactless transactions, higher profits, faster service, and better connections. We also discussed the special significance of self-help kiosks in a hybrid workplace, where companies make do with a much lower employee population in the office.

Better Customer Service

How Your IT Company Affects Customers

Technology and customer service are two things people would not automatically relate to each other. But as you will quickly realize after reading our week 3 blog, “For Better or For Worse: How Your IT Company Affects Your Customers”, IT and customer service are closely connected.

Ensuring that the quality of your customer service is up to par is vital regardless of the work setup you have in the office. Whether your employees work from home, in the office, or a combination of both, be sure they always give great customer service. This can help improve your business growth and expansion.

With the help of a reliable IT provider, this should not be a problem. For example, we offer IT services that give your clients a better experience. Some services that we would be happy to provide for you are multichannel communications, live chats or chatbots, exemplary CRM software, personalized offer recommendations, self-service portals, advanced POS systems, and a trusty remote-to-hybrid system.

Choosing the Right MSP for Business Growth and Expansion

As you can see, technology is vital in many aspects of business growth and expansion. This step means one thing: you need to choose the right IT provider because they can make or break your business!

Fortunately, you don’t have to look too hard. We have the experience, expertise, and passion to provide you with the best IT service you require. We are very good at what we do but don’t take our word for it. Call us today, and we will show you what we can do to help take your business growth and expansion to the next level of success!

Achieving Compliance as a Team

Achieving Compliance
Cybersecurity, Data Backup, Security, , , , , , ,

Before your company can fully comply with all the requirements set by third parties like regulatory bodies and clients, there are dozens upon dozens of tasks that need to be completed. These tasks are spread across different areas of the company and are impossible for just one individual to accomplish. The process of achieving compliance would require a fast and thorough team of compliance specialists.

Vital Matters to Discuss when achieving compliance

In most cases achieving compliance failures can be attributed to a lack of planning and communication. To avoid these problems, bring your compliance team together right from the start and discuss all the crucial matters.

Email Encryption

Daily, hundreds of emails can go back and forth in your company. You need a reliable encryption system to protect all emails and keep all data away from these hackers.

Data Encryption

Customer data, credit card information, and other data must all pass through a secure collection system to avoid theft or exposure to unauthorized parties. This method is crucial when achieving compliance.

Firewalls

Skilled hackers can easily override some firewalls. If you are still using an older firewall try upgrading to a multi-level system for a much better defense against unwanted intruders.

Backups

Data backups are your lifeline of a system failure or cyberattack and are crucial when achieving compliance. It is crucial to create backups regularly and store them in a safe location in a system that complies with client and government requirements.

Data Availability and Storage when achieving compliance

Sensitive information within your business must only be accessible to authorized individuals. There should be a surefire method of restricting access to sensitive information to minimize data breaches.

Physical Access

Maximizing digital security is critical, but you must not take physical safety measures for granted. Every employee should shut down their computers properly after use. Screen filters might be necessary when achieving compliance for some workstations with sensitive data.

Responsibilities of the Internal Compliance Officer to achieving compliance

In addition to choosing a highly skilled IT compliance team, you also need an internal compliance officer on your payroll when achieving compliance. Their primary duty would be to monitor the staff and ensure that each one abides by compliance procedures—locking their systems when they leave their workstations, practicing caution when using credit card information and private company data, and so on.

Regular cybersecurity training is also part of the responsibilities of the internal compliance officer. Quarterly training is ideal for keeping employees aware of the pervasive dangers online. When new employees join the team, they should receive training on compliance policies as well.

Finally, it is also the internal compliance officer who maintains compliance-related documentation such as communication standards and backup plans.

Delegating Compliance to an MSP

Even businesses that are not in the IT industry will need to comply with several IT regulations when achieving compliance. If you do not have an in-house tech team and if your staff does not have the expertise or experience to handle the task, there’s no need to worry. MSPs, or managed services providers, can take these technical matters off your hands.

If you partner with us, we will assign your company a team of compliance experts who will ensure that you meet all relevant requirements. Whether you need to fulfill requirements for HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, NIST, or any other regulatory authority, we will take care of it to completion. Give us a call, our team will also coordinate closely with your organization to ensure we meet all requirements. You can also check out our Free Cybersecurity Infographic if you’re looking for great advice to keep your business safe in the meantime.

A Guide to Protecting Your PII

pii
Cybersecurity, Data Backup, Security, Technology, , , , , ,

PII is short for Personal Identifiable Information, which refers to any data that can identify a specific person. A hacker can exploit your PII to gain access to restricted areas, make unapproved purchases under your name, or even steal your identity entirely. To keep these incidents from happening, you must know about protecting your personally identifiable information. This is a practice that you must do both online and offline.

Physical Ways of Protecting Your PII

Although we now do most of our business online, there is still a lot of tangible data that hackers can get their hands on if you are not careful. Mail, account statements, and utility bills all have PII like your name, full address, and account numbers on them. Thus, you need to keep these documents safe from data thieves.

Secure Storage

One of the crucial steps in protecting your personal identifiable information is the safe storage of your documents. You can start by having a lock on your mailbox, which is a must. You can also use a secure PO Box where only you can access your mail. It is also advisable to keep your important documents in a fireproof safe at home instead of carrying them around in your purse.

Scrutinize Your Mail

When you get bills or account statements, go through them carefully and check for items you might not recognize. Even better, check your financial statements online regularly instead of waiting for the paper bill. Mail is notorious for including your PII, and is why mail theft is so common.

Use a Shredder

Never throw away bank statements or any financial documents, even if you don’t need them anymore. Hackers are not beneath the practice of dumpster diving, trying to recover any data that can help them do their dirty work. Invest in a personal shredder that you can use to dispose of sensitive documents.

Digital Ways of Protecting Your PII

It is now much easier for hackers to get access to people’s data because almost everything is online. Be very careful when traversing the web to keep your PII safe.

Choose Strong Passwords

Good passwords are hard to figure out because they use a combination of letters, numbers, and other special characters. Change your passwords at least once a month for more security.

Use Only One Credit Card

You are at greater risk of having your credit card information stolen if you frequently shop online. Don’t use more than one credit card when shopping online, this will keep your PII safer and less likely to be stolen.

Be Mindful

Whether you are browsing the web, checking your email, or checking your social media accounts, always keep your guard up. Do not click on suspicious links or attachments, and ignore pop-ups because these are all likely to contain malware.

PII: Steps to Take If You Think You Were Hacked

Despite all your precautions for protecting your personal identifiable information, you may still feel that someone has compromised your data. There are a few critical things that you need to take care of right away. Instead of going into a full-blown panic, we strongly recommend that you follow our FREE 10-step guide on what to do if you think you have been hacked. You might feel helpless at first, but by following this guide, you will get on the road to recovery much faster and have a good chance of recovering your data and regaining control of your network. To learn more about protecting your personally identifiable information and keeping your network safe, you can check out the many useful resources we have or give us a call!