Outsourcing IT Service Management: Business Tips

outsourcing it service management business tips

Running a business demands the use of technology for transactions, processes, and security. Having the right people in charge of these roles is fundamental for the success of a firm. But why are companies reducing or eliminating their IT staffs? Today’s business tip is about outsourcing IT service management.

Outsourcing IT Service Management

While IT expenditures continue to increase, hiring is not. Instead, companies are relying more on IT service management solutions because of the immediate benefits that these offer. If a business chooses to handle all operations internally, those costs pass on to customers in a higher priced product that is not as competitive in the market. Outsourcing eliminates costs involved with hiring an employee, such as management oversight, health insurance, training to keep their skills up to date, retirement plans, etc. In addition to this, there are also costs associated with attrition because workers will gain skills and experience over time, and this will make them more valuable to other employers. And if their current employer can’t meet their salary requirements, it is likely that they will look elsewhere.

For small companies, outsourcing can help their budget, and it creates a more equitable playing field between them and large enterprises. Small firms will have access to the latest technology while managing to stay ahead of the revolving doors of obsoleteness. As a result, they will have more money to use in other areas, and having capital to funnel into operations that directly produce revenue will attract investors.

Outsource IT companies have professionals with proper industry training and certifications. Instead of the knowledge of one person, a client will have access to the collective experience of a team of specialists. Furthermore, a client will reduce the risk of keeping up with technology because outsourcing IT firms know the industry and its best practices. This will save a firm from implementing a costly wrong decision. Benefits of outsourcing IT include 24/7 management of systems by IT professionals, improved productivity, proactive maintenance work, and support for software and hardware needs. With all these concerns taken care of, business managers will have more time to focus on their core competencies.

To learn more about this topic contact us.

 

Office 365 for Business: 3 Reasons You’ll be So Happy You Switched

office 365 for business 3 reasons youll be so happy you switched

With all the advances in technology, many companies are working with outdated tech solutions even though there are great platforms available to them that offer more than the legacy tools they’ve used for years. Have you thought about Office 365 for business?

What they don’t realize is that, over time, support for these outdated systems will wane. Your organization will also lose its competitive edge. Lastly, your clients, partners and colleagues will expect you and your staff to be familiar with modern technology and to maintain similar levels of productivity when they deal with you.

Collaborate Better

Office 365’s featured project management tool, Planner, helps employees work together and stay organized. Professionals conference and collaborate in real time without having to refresh their screens to see edits or changes.

Office 365 also features the Yammer Enterprise Social Network, (ESN) app. Yammer configures with most other popular business platforms like SharePoint. Experts predict ESN’s will eventually be the main tools professionals use to search for talent, interact with colleagues and cut out the email clutter. Just like Facebook feeds keep you updated so will your ESN.

Save Money

Technology is expensive when you factor in the costs of buying hardware and software, updating, patches, maintenance and security. When you switch to Microsoft’s secure cloud, you reduce your maintenance costs. Your MSP and Microsoft work to maintain, update and secure your data and employee accounts as an integrated part of your package. Pay a monthly flat rate. Never pay for additional tech help again.

Plan for Your Business’ Growth

Scale your plan up or down whenever you want. Office 365 is affordable for businesses of every size. If your business grows, buy more OneDrive storage space and pay only for whatever additional services you need.

Contact us today at 4CornerIT. We help businesses just like yours migrate to the Microsoft Office 365 platform. It’s one of the easiest ways to finally manage and secure your company’s data properly.

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Why Should You Hire HIPAA Compliance Consultants?

why should you hire hipaa compliance consultants

HIPAA compliance consultants
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Some of the most sensitive personal information involves our health and medical history.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) lays the groundwork for safeguarding health-related data by providing standards that companies need to meet.

If you work with any data of this kind – even as a subcontractor to another company – you must comply with HIPAA standards.

What can happen if you don’t follow HIPAA regulations?

Violating HIPAA standards can result in a range of financial penalties. These include steep fines amounting to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The amount you pay depends on the number of violations, whether they’re repeat violations, how quickly you correct them, and whether or not they stem from a relatively innocent misunderstanding vs. more deliberate forms of neglect. In some situations, you may face the threat of a prison sentence.

It’s imperative to avoid HIPAA violations not just a spare yourself the legal penalties. HIPAA compliance also makes you more trustworthy to consumers and business partners. By protecting sensitive healthcare data, you reduce the chances of a costly data breach that can destroy your company’s reputation.

Hiring HIPAA compliance consultants

HIPAA compliance consultants will guide you through all the necessary steps to making your business compliant. They can assist you with implementing every safeguard. These security measures include encrypted transmissions, restricted access privileges, safe data disposal methods, audit reports, and secure data storage and backups.

As discussed in a recent article from Beta News, verifying your company’s compliance involves multiple complex steps. Including identifying your vulnerabilities and determining the risks of various security lapses. Consultants are invaluable throughout this process and with ensuring your continued compliance.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for our assistance connecting with HIPAA compliance consultants.

IT Support News: Improving Productivity with Microsoft Office 365

it support news improving productivity with microsoft office 365

Sometimes, people don’t know about useful software settings or capabilities that make work tasks easier.

Here’s one example: New updates to Microsoft Office 365 will help people organize their work better, stay more focused, and ultimately save time.

What are some of these helpful features?

  • Employs can benefit from the ability to look up articles and other reference materials without having to leave Word. This makes research more easy, while reducing the chances of getting sucked into Internet distractions, such as scrolling through Twitter or checking email unnecessarily.
  • The reference materials uncovered during the search can get automatically formatted as citations, saving time when employees compile their lists of references.
  • Changes to Outlook can facilitate focused communication with the use of mentions.

With Office 365, Microsoft regularly looks for new ways to strengthen collaboration and communication. They aim to improve work performance through automating certain tasks and allowing users to personalize settings in ways that contribute to the specific tasks they need to perform and the style of writing and communicating they prefer.

IT support personnel can help guide your company choose the best software and ensure that you and your employees know about helpful features and understand how to work with them. The potential benefits include a higher quality of work and meaningful increases in productivity.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for further advice and assistance with optimizing your use of technology.

Improving Router Security | Network Support Tips

improving router security network support tips

Improving Router Security A recent article from Alphr makes interesting predictions about the future of computer security. As people come to rely on a wider variety of Internet-enabled devices – not just their laptops or phones, but objects like thermostats, cameras, and sensors – traditional antivirus programs will likely become less important than programs designed to protect routers and entire networks of devices. This shift in focus aims to keep hackers from seizing control of any one device and then hopping over to any or all other devices on your network – including your computer.

You should still keeping using a high-quality antivirus program as an extra layer of protection for your computers. What the article remind us of is the importance of paying attention to vulnerabilities in other parts of your network. Beyond protecting specific computing devices, you need to keep in mind the overall picture of network security and strengthen various components of your network, such as your router.

What are some of the things you can do, starting today, to improve your router’s security?

  • If your router came with default admin passwords, make sure you aren’t using them. Choose a long, complex password.
  • Use powerful encryption. There are different encryption standards and protocols available. Select the ones that meet the highest, most recent standards. For example, a WPA2 encryption standard and AES encryption protocol make for a solidly secure choice.
  • Set up a guest network, so that visiting clients and business partners don’t tap into your primary network with their devices.
  • Check if the firmware for your router is up-to-date.

These are just some of the basic steps for strengthening router security. Part of our network support services involves configuring your router in the most secure way possible and monitoring your network to reduce the chances of outages and cyber attacks.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for further assistance.