managed services

How Hiring a Virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) Can Help Your Business Grow

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Strong Solutions

Posted in Blog

Why Do Companies Hire a CIO?

For many large companies, having a dedicated Chief Information Officer (CIO) or IT Manager is essential to their business plan. CIOs provide comprehensive information technology support and manage valuable software and data. CIOs also help the management team by providing a strategy for using technology to develop new innovations to serve the company. As the role of the CIO has evolved, companies are expecting a CIO who understands both the technology landscape and the business implications of technology. Small business, however, are often unable to hire a CIO due to limited resources. Strong Solutions offers an answer in the form of a Virtual CIO (vCIO) with StrongCare+.

How Can a vCIO Help My Business Succeed?

A virtual CIO is able to provide tailor-made services designed specifically for your company. A vCIO will analyze your current IT needs and then use innovative solutions to get the most from your information technology and computer systems in order to support your unique goals. Your vCIO can help mange backups to prevent against loss due to disaster, provide routine maintenance and updates for your software and operating systems, and provide active monitoring for your sensitive data. A vCIO can also offer solutions to technical problems and offer advice on which new products and services can best serve the needs of your evolving business. By using information technology to support the goals of your enterprise, a vCIO can make your business more efficient, productive and profitable.

If you are interested in making Strong Solutions your Virtual Chief Information Officer, contact us today to discuss how we can best serve the needs of your company.

Why You Should Know More About Proactive Monitoring

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Strong Solutions

Posted in Blog

Is proactive monitoring important? We think so, and we really can’t understate the importance of knowing more about it.

When something goes wrong with your Mac, are you willing to spend hours-maybe days-frantically digesting help pages like How to Troubleshoot the Four Most Common “Oh Sh*t” Mac Problems on Lifehacker? To recite Occam’s razor, “the simplest answer is most often correct.”

There’s a better way of dealing with glitches. StrongCare Monitoring is a proactive monitoring software that handles all sorts of issues with backups, hardware failures, and AppleCare expiration. It’s a preventive measure for your Mac like your anti-virus. Once installed, the proactive monitoring software works immediately and notifies you of any errors.

If you happen to receive an alert, just use the handy support menu to request help, see open tickets, and access various resources. Proactive monitoring is like having on-site tech support 24/7/365 at home or at work.

You can kick your proactive monitoring up a notch with StrongCare+. This service includes monitoring, routine maintenance, updates to most software, and operating system updates. These two programs can be used together to offer you the highest support possible.

Why is this better than other tech support options? You don’t need to hire an in-house IT person. Submitting a tech support request is easy as clicking a button, literally. You don’t need to pay for further evaluations. The software keeps everything up-to-date. There’s no worrying about hours of operation. Proactive monitoring is affordable too. I could go on and on, but you get the point.

It’s important to know about proactive monitoring, because leaving your programs and software out-of-date create easy targets for hackers. According to CNBC, “Companies with 250 or fewer employees accounted for 31 percent of cyber-attacks last year.” The article also states that “Small and middle-market companies may be more vulnerable to attack because criminals know these businesses do not take substantial preventative measures.”

If you have any other questions regarding proactive monitoring or tech support, contact us. We’re always here to help and assist you.

Thanks.

Why Your Employee’s Mobile Devices Need Security Protection and Proactive Maintenance, Just Like Your Office Network Computers Do

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Strong Solutions

Posted in Blog

Sometimes small business owners and managers don’t realize they need to secure the mobile phones their employees are using and ensure the devices meet certain standards. However, this is essential in 2015, even if you don’t work in an industry like healthcare, finance, the government or the military.

If your employees have already started using their mobile devices for company work and to access the company network, employers have two options to secure these devices:

The somewhat tricky and time-consuming option – You must create a company mobile device compliance policy and require all of your employees to adhere to it. You would then have all your employees turn in their smartphones, personal laptops, tablets, (and any other mobile devices they’re using for work related tasks); and have your IT services team go through all their devices one by one and:

Check the devices for rogue malware,
Install security software,
Install device monitoring software,
Install security software to protect devices while employees are carrying them in public areas,
Authenticate the devices so the company network recognizes them as a safe devices,
Install remote software for automatic file destruction and device shutdown for lost or stolen devices,
Ensure that all apps the employee has installed, (and will install), on the device are compliant with company policy, and

Install software that will separate work use from home use, giving each set of tasks their own secure environment.

There’s still a chance that some employees will have to get new devices if they have secondhand devices that your IT team can’t properly secure. They will also have to agree not to use these insecure devices for any work-related tasks. In some cases, they might have to agree not to use the devices in the office or in the areas surrounding the building at all.

Proactive maintenance – Your IT team will also have to check devices regularly to ensure that employees haven’t downloaded any unapproved apps or malware. Your IT team might also have to update device software regularly and take other security measures.

The quicker, though more expensive option – You would still design a company mobile security compliance policy and require your employees to adhere to it. However, you would also provide your employees with completely secured devices for them to use for work-related tasks. Your IT team would still have to check devices for malware and unapproved apps regularly, and also perform regular device software updates. Part of your policy would entail things like:

Employees not using their personal devices at work or for work related tasks,
Employees not using their personal devices on company WiFi or to access the company network for any reason,
Employees not using personal devices in the office or in the areas surrounding the building, and things like this, etc.

Contact us to learn more! We’re here to help.

Proactive Monitoring–Peace of Mind and Optimal Performance in One Package

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Strong Solutions

Posted in Blog

You have heard the saying, “The best defense is a good offense.” Or maybe you are more familiar with, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Though the thoughts expressed might be old, the truth conveyed is just as applicable today as it was when these words were first uttered. But how can you apply this wisdom to your Apple devices? You can do so by the use of proactive monitoring and maintenance.

Proactive monitoring is just as it sounds. It is a service that actively monitors your Apple product, detecting and responding to problems as needed. Often, this response occurs before you are even aware of any problem. Working in the background, it is continually collecting data regarding the performance, health, and status of your device. Think of it as a knight standing guard at the castle gate. Unobtrusive, but constantly vigilant to protect your equipment and data, proactive monitoring is a wise choice for businesses that want to ensure their products perform optimally.

Optimization features increase the speed and efficiency of your devices, which translates into better productivity and ultimately increased profitability. On the subject of profitability, proactive monitoring is often packaged with proactive maintenance. This type of maintenance saves major money in machine repair or replacement costs, and extends the life of your devices by preempting a failure crisis.

Monitoring also ensures backups take place at appropriate intervals and that those backups are completed correctly. The importance of this cannot be overstated, as regularly scheduled backups aid greatly in the sad event that a failure of hardware or software systems does occur.

Taking the step of proactively monitoring your devices with proactive StrongCare Monitoring provides peace of mind for you, optimal performance of your devices, and overall increased productivity for your staff. If you would like to discuss how you can take advantage of this vital service, please contact us. We will be pleased to assist you with all your Apple product and service needs.

Spokane Area Schools Rely on Apple Consulting to Organize Institutional Data

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Strong Solutions

Posted in Blog

Apple and Education: Think Different

When we think of computers and education, we often think of Apple. Think of Oregon Trail and the Apple IIe as prime examples. Today educators use iPads to distribute interactive educational content: Pages, Numbers & Keynote help students write papers and iCloud Drive organizes files in the cloud. How to connect all these amazing Apple products into one centralized virtual location so everyone in your school can benefit?

Connecting All Things Apple in One Place

Educators are often remiss on how to share school-wide information from both the classroom, the office, and the principal’s desk. How often does a teacher need to check a student’s progress report from home, or an administrator need to collect data from departments from different computers spread across campus?

Schools need experienced Apple consultants who specialize in making important data available for all parts of a school’s organizational structure. Centralizing report card information and teacher resources on a controlled, security-enforced tiered permission platform with robust teacher-friendly web-based applications is a complicated process.

What You Can Expect From Consultants to Organize Your School’s Information

With experienced Apple consulting, schools can launch a centralized web-based environment so that teachers, students, parents, and administrators can access the resources they need anywhere with an internet connection. A certified Apple Consultant can help a school put together:

All its important contact information
Tracking capabilities for multi-step processes from any internet connected computer.
Creation of a web-based solution for all important school-related information that selected groups can access.
Up-to-date class lists and important campus events.
And more …

If you as an educator often ask yourself, “I really would like to have my school’s information accessible anywhere I am,” reach out to us to analyze your school’s needs and everyday practices. We’ll create a custom solution geared towards your educational goals and let you get back to doing what you do best: educating your students.

Managed Cloud Backups Keep Your Business Rolling Along Despite Disaster

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Strong Solutions

Posted in Blog

Realistically, you know it can happen. Despite your best efforts to keep your business running smoothly, interruption of operations can and does occur. Natural disasters, equipment problems, and even things such as fire or flood damage to your office can severely affect business operations.

Since you have little or no control over these potential issues, it is imperative to make data recovery a basic part of your risk management plan. In times past, data recovery was often an economically challenging issue, as small businesses were sometimes ill-equipped to provide the infrastructure necessary for successful data recovery in times of crisis.

However, that need no longer be the case. A very attractive option for small businesses is the use of managed Cloud backups. Basically, this means that important data necessary to your normal business operations can be stored remotely, thereby protecting your data assets from any local causes of disruption.

What are the advantages of managed Cloud backup solutions? Beyond the obvious and most important benefit of faster recovery in the event of a disaster or interruption of service, there are also everyday benefits to Cloud backup services. Most services allow for unlimited backups, ensuring that your data is protected routinely and automatically. Also, Cloud services make it easy to back up your data quickly from any location, without having to be actually in your offices for backup to be initiated. Such solutions also allow for backup of multiple devices. This is an increasingly attractive feature, as more and more business is being conducted via mobile devices as well as the standard desktop of yesteryear.

These are just a few of the advantages of managed cloud backups. If you would like to know more about how such a solution can be tailored specifically to your business needs, please contact us. We will work with you to ensure the fast recovery of operations for your business despite any type of unforeseen interruption.