What Managed Services Have to Say about Anti-Virus and Malware Protection

what managed services have to say about anti virus and malware protection

Is it Worth it to Invest in Anti-Virus and Malware Protection?

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You may be surprised to hear it, but many businesses still struggle with viruses and malware. A lot of focus has recently been shifted over to cyber crime, particularly because of the development of the cloud. But the reality is that many businesses still haven’t secured their equipment to protect against viruses that have been around for years.

Of course, you’d be hard-pressed to find a business that has absolutely no anti-virus or malware protection. The problem isn’t that they’re not aware of such issues, but rather that they’re not thorough in protecting against them.

An example of this is running an anti-virus scanner during work hours. This may sound like a good idea since employees will be there to take care of any detected viruses. But what really happens? Employees are disrupted by the scanner and just turn it off. A recent Tech Advisory article explains how this happens:

“These days, it is essential that you have anti-virus, malware, and spyware scanners installed on all machines and devices in your company and that you take the time to configure these properly. It could be that scans are scheduled during business hours, or they just aren’t updated. If you install these solutions onto your systems, and they start to scan during work time, most employees will just turn the scanner off thus leaving systems wide-open.”

So even if you have anti-virus software installed, you’ll want to make sure that it’s configured right. In addition, try to run the scanners at a time when employees aren’t at the computer. This way there’s no one there to cancel the scan.

This is an easy step that businesses can take to avoid a common problem. After all, they say that you’re supposed to work smarter, not harder.

If you’d like to talk more about managed services or anything else, contact us. Thanks.

How Do I Choose the Right MSP Managed Service Provider?

how do i choose the right msp managed service provider

You know that choosing the wrong managed service provider can result in a company not only not growing at its projected pace, but can actually take a firm backwards.

So, extensive research into the types of support and management available is essential, as is some way to make sure the decision results in obtaining everything necessary, but not a bit or a byte more.While your needs are unique in many ways, there are some things that all companies in need of a managed service provider have a lot in common.

Do Some of These Issues Sound Familiar?

You’re working within a complicated web of vendors, whose individual components may or may not “play nice” with each other.

You have your own proprietary products, designed to interface between various pieces of purchased software and/or equipment, as well as some created to do specialized things required for the production of your specific product or service.

Every day you seem to need faster ways to diagnose and resolve different types of challenges. Your company keeps growing, which creates a constant need for vigilant assessment of areas of strength to work with and areas of weakness to compensate for.

The levels of complexity in your specific industry and in the world of IT seems to be increasing exponentially. Budgets are constantly shrinking, requiring you to constantly ask more and more of your already overworked IT teams. So how do you as the CIO or head of IT make this essential decision?

According to Pat Patterson there are seven essential questions that need to be asked and answered by any potential partner:

  • Will the proposed service partner support your business strategy now and in the future?
  • Do you trust them to have the necessary expertise and bandwidth to provide maintenance, deliver support services or assume managed-services responsibilities?
  • Will they become trusted advisers that stay engaged and serve as an extension of your IT organization and business?
  • Do they provide a portfolio of offers that span the entire service continuum and have the necessary flexibility to ensure a smooth deployment of managed services?
  • What applications, diagnostics checks or analytic tools do they leverage to anticipate any problems or hidden issues?
  • Do they provide a single point of contact that can quickly swarm experts to resolve an issue in your network?
  • Do they really know you? Understand your solution?

Now that you know what types of questions to ask you can rest easy because we have all the answers.  We’re dedicated to helping you make the right decision for your individual company’s distinct needs both for today and tomorrow.

Contact 4 Corner IT and we’ll help you design and implement an infrastructure that works for you. 

Are MSP’s Really Fragmented?

are msp really fragmented
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Managed Service Providers are fragmented. I hear that phrase quite frequently. What does it mean?

Most of the time, people say it to infer that MSPs don’t really have a clear market presence with their solutions. That might be true. Other times, it’s just to convey a sense that no single MSP or group of MSPs has a percentage of market share that would considered significant. That also would be true.

The majority of times I hear the word fragmented being used it is from an investor and they are describing what they believe to be a vulnerable marketplace to M&A activity.

As I have said before, the managed services (and now cloud computing) landscape is very different from the VAR days of yesteryear. The investors are not stupid. Their view of the MSP profession is based, in my opinion, on one fundamental misinterpretation. The misinterpretation happens to be very important and could be an explanation of why the M&A activity within managed services has not been particularly consistent over the last decade.

I have always looked at the MSPs as professional services firms. That simple distinction informs much of what I believe about MSPs today. Viewing MSPs as professional services firms, in contrast to commodity providers (product or services), will help put these companies into perspective and allow anyone to easily make sense of how they operate.

More importantly, such a perspective will also greatly help inform investors and M&A candidates on how to effectively analyze and effectuate an investment, merger, or acquisition within this profession.

As to the question about whether MSPs are fragmented or not, I will simply say this. No single MSP or small group of  MSPs dominates the marketplace today. Furthermore, I do not believe this will ever happen. The reason is simple.

Customers demand high touch and intimacy from their MSPs. The larger the MSP gets the less likely that intimacy will be delivered. Therefore, there is a natural size limit at which managed services can be effectively delivered and appreciated by the customer before it becomes a commodity. Generally, once the MSP reaches this size threshold, their customers will demand more attention and may even leave if they do not get it.

MSPs, like other professional services firms, thrive on delivering high value, profitable services  Once that primary purpose becomes subjugated to size, commoditized services, and impersonal customer service, the customer will likely seek their services elsewhere.

This simple concept is what makes even the smallest of MSPs so valuable to their customers.