Managed IT Services
What to look for in a Managed Services Provider - September 9, 2009
Orlando Florida --- Supposedly everybody's doing it, but when it comes to reaching the full potential of the managed services business model, the industry is still in its infancy.
Pundits love to surmise the state of technology markets: What’s up, what’s down, what’s still to come. A particular favorite is the topic of managed services. Despite its prominence in headlines for nearly five years now – and a whole predecessor market that included the failed ASP model – the state of managed services is still a fair mystery.
Depending on whom you talk to, the managed services market is either still nascent, at peak adoption or on the downslope to commoditization. But the real question to ask is not how many solution providers are doing managed services – that cuts across a rather wide swath of the population today – but how deeply involved and sophisticated they’ve become at it. Truth is, that’s just not a majority of MSPs today.
A recent study by Kaseya makes this case. The survey of 2,256 solution providers in North America reveals that when it comes to fully exploiting the potential of the managed services business model, the industry is still pretty much in the Dark Ages.
More than half of the respondents described their managed services business model as reactive, essentially centered around break/fix incident response. Only 18 percent said they were engaged in comprehensive IT outsourcing, which is where the true dollars, recurring revenue and profitability come from.
Likewise, fewer than a quarter of solution providers that offer managed services are pricing on a monthly flat rate. Worse, more than half are still charging by the hour. This defeats the whole purpose of managed services, which is to automate processes in the data center to reduce as much as possible the time technical folks are spending on any given customer – whether it’s 5 minutes or 50 hours per week of labor, with a monthly flat rate the net is the same. So you'd much rather it's 5 minutes. Getting paid for hours works for consultants, but fails to make sense in a business predicated on long-term contracts and dependable recurring revenue.
Jim Alves, executive vice president of product marketing at Kaseya, is among those who says he’s not surprised at the survey’s findings.
“Managed services is not at a peak. It’s just not,” he said. “Most people out there are not in a real managed services model, but they’re trying to get to a recurring revenue model. Getting in the recurring revenue model is secret sauce. Otherwise you’re in a very, very difficult business model.”
The entry point for managed services typically involves offering some kind of remote monitoring/help desk services, but that’s the very base level of what’s possible. To truly reap the rewards of a managed services practice, MSPs need to continue scaling and automating the types of services they offer to include such things as outsourced security, software as a service and storage on demand. The idea is not only to become the de facto IT department for the customer, but a business advisor that finds ways to save the customer money, achieve fast ROI and anticipate future demand.
It appears today that only a small percentage of MSPs are truly full-service; Alves estimates it’s roughly 20 percent of all solution providers that identify themselves as a managed services provider. Cherub Network is one of that group, a pure-play MSP based in Lake Mary (Orlando) Florida, that started out selling block time to conduct remote monitoring for customers, but unlike the vast majority of providers did not stop there.
“We support clients with anywhere from 50 desktops and a server to 250 desktops and 10 - 25 servers and typically they have little to no IT department,” said Andrew Mapp, VP of operations at Cherub Networks. “That’s how we pitch ourselves.”
With 200 employees, Cherub Networks has continued to grow since its inception and today boasts a services portfolio across security, storage, data protection offerings and a full range of outsourced Microsoft services. They have automated many of their data center operations, which affords them more time to consult with their customers around how to make their business run better.
“Part of being their IT department is that we recommend the next piece that they need,” Mapp said. “As technology moves forward, we can present those as solutions that make sense for their business.”
That’s a very different mindset than break/fix. Mapp’s not reacting, he’s anticipating customers’ needs and getting in front a problem before it occurs. That's essential to keeping customers happy and willing to renew their contract when it’s up. It's the direction the managed services market needs to go to realize its full potential – and there’s a long road ahead.
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (800) 714-1455 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain i365
Has Cloud Storage Comes of Age? - September 9, 2009
Orlando Florida -- While cloud storage computing has been considered leading-edge and not ready for widespread deployment in enterprises yet, managed hosting service provider Cherub Networks CEO says he believes the service will come into its own in 2010 and enjoy acceptance by enterprises.
Managed hosting service provider giant Cherub Networks Hosting was looking to get into the storage cloud space with an object-based offering that would allow the company to offer a fully managed cloud to its customers, which include many large enterprises.
That's because while cloud computing has been on the leading edge of technology up until now, 2010 is the year when the technology will enjoy acceptance by enterprises, according to Cherub Network CEO Brian J. McCarthy, whose company is big enough to host mainframes for some larger customers.
"Developers were the really early adopters of cloud computing," Mccarthy tells Channel Insider. "And 2009 was the foundational year where everyone was talking about the cloud. But I think next year will truly be a year for cloud to be embraced by enterprises."
But how does a managed provider looking to add cloud computing to the mix evaluate potential vendors? And why did Cherub Network make the choices it did in terms of platform?
McCarthy says he started exploring building his cloud storage service about a year ago, looking to build out an object-based storage platform that could scale on demand, delivering all the capabilities of network-attached storage (NAS) on demand. Cherub Networks wanted object-based storage because it would be easier for customers to use without custom code, APIs or any other development work.
Some large vendors such as EMC were exploring object-based storage, says McCarthy. But Cherub Networks ultimately went with a smaller vendor called iTGuardian. One of the reasons for the choice came down to the company's size.
"We had the ability to interact with iTGuardian at such a level [as] to see their road map," says McCarthy. "We found iTGuardian easy to work with and we had good access into the team."
McCarthy says he looked at storage area network (SAN) technology, but found it to be on the high end of pricing and didn't allow Cherub Networks to be competitive in the cloud.
"You could argue that you could deliver a lot of this with NAS, but it doesn't provide other benefits, like the ability to run our own code on the box," McCarthy says.
Other benefits included the ability to implement a multitenant environment and to connect to it with standard protocols. Back when Cherub Networks first began its evaluation a year ago, McCarthy says, iTGuardian was the only company that could "deliver cloud storage in a form that was easy to consume from anyone."
It also enabled parallel access, which helps when a file becomes "hot" or heavily accessed. Plus, it has enabled Cherub Networks to layer value-added services on top of the basic offering, such as virus protection and content delivery networks.
"Storage is a value-add service, not just files," McCarthy says. "This lets me do some pretty innovative things."
Cherub Networks went live with its storage cloud in April 2003 and formally announced it in June 2003.
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (800) 714-1455 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/availability.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain i365
Research firm Gartner predicts absenteeism rates of 40 per cent should the swine flu hit! Will you be ready? - September 1, 2009
Research firm Gartner predicts absenteeism rates of 40 per cent should the swine flu escalate futher. If an epidemic hits Florida, disaster recovery plans for many companies might not mean too much technology involvement, says experts
Just as companies plan for data duplication, they should also map out strategies for redundancies in staffing and supply sources, McCarthy said.
For instance, certain key functions should not be dependent on a single person. There should always be alternates adequately trained and prepared to takeover in case of emergencies.
Prior arrangements with temporary staffing agencies can also be helpful to fill in any unforeseen absences that could occur at a critical moment.
In the printing company I worked for, staff cross-training was put into high gear after SARS incident to make sure that all positions were covered in case of emergencies.
Alternative supply routes and suppliers will also help ensure that business operations continue despite disasters.
Companies must also have access to contact their employees either from home or remotely in the field, said McCarthy.
"Public transportation disruption or quarantines might prevent people from reporting in. Business must plan out arrangements for teleworking or other alternatives."
They key, he said, is reliable communication so that managers can relay information to employees or determine who can do what.
"Working from a remote location is an enabler that IT can help with but at the same time, that's not the only answer," according to Richard Cocchiara, chief technology officer for the business continuity and resiliency services of IBM Global Services.
If businesses want to prepare for a disaster, they should start by thinking about enabling their employees to work remotely, he said.
Apart from deploying technology, this initiative would include obtaining worker buy-in and training.
"We're talking about human capital here, so you're going to have to have the ability to track employees and track their ability to work," he said. Apart from ensuring communications within the company, business must also be in close contact with government agencies and perhaps even news agencies involved in the disaster, according to Darin Stahl, lead analyst with Info-Tech research group.
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (800) 714-1455 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/availability.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain i365
Will Swine flu and not hurricanes lead diaster recovery Top 10 agenda? - September 1, 2009
Hurricane Bill and Danny were barreling over the Atlantic threatening to flood data centers and new, potentially destructive computer viruses are always popping up, but, surprisingly, a real virus — swine flu — is taking shape as the biggest storm cloud on the horizon for disaster recovery specialists. In conversations with the major disaster recovery providers this week concern about the H1N1 influenza virus was running high. The big question is whether companies were sufficiently prepared for an outbreak among employees. For many companies, particularly smaller workplaces, even issues such as whether the company has the right to send a sick worker home can be confusing.
“The larger enterprise companies are beginning to take the H1N1 pandemic seriously and beginning to think about what they are going to do if 40% of their workforce gets sick this winter,” said Brian McCarthy, CEO of Cherub Networks, the Lake Mary, Florida-based provider that brings its EverReady Mobile Suite on-site in the event of a disaster or for testing purposes. “We are seeing a fairly significant increase in interest from those larger companies to have technology on schedule with us, so that if they sent 100 people home, we could ship them laptops, so they could work from home.”
Indeed, of the 41 recoveries Cherub Networks has done this year, seven have been for customer responses to the pandemic. One was in Miami and the rest were in the U.S.
“In the seven cases we’ve done so far, their pandemic plans said that if an employee is diagnosed with H1N1 virus, the company takes the 100 people that employee is closest to, whether in the adjacent cubicles or by contact in meetings, and all those people go home for up to two weeks, because the incubation is thought to be about 10 days,” he said.
Companies like Cherub Networks can supply laptops loaded with the technology employees need to do their jobs along with any equipment, like headsets.
Cherub is planning a series of webinars in September with avian flu expert John Lange to help its smaller member companies get ready for the expected upswing in swine flu cases this year. The emphasis will be on what companies can begin to do to protect their employees from the swine flu virus and how to handle cases, as they come up. Large companies with effective HR departments are typically well-prepared to deal with medical issues.
“You get to a small medium-sized company, that guy doesn’t even know if he has the legal right to send that worker home. They need help on how do they talk about H1N1 with their staff and encourage good practices,” McCarthy said. He said Cherub is spending a lot of time talking to customers about cross-training employees, so that more than one person knows how to perform a critical business function. “If they are right, a lot of people are going to be out sick.”
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (800) 714-1455 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/availability.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain i365
Managed Backup and Recovery Services replacing tape and disk libraries for DR - June 8, 2009
At the request of Tech Target (see lliveston@techtarget.com ) we have been asked to remove this article.
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (800) 714-1455 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/availability.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain i365 secure2disk sunguard Arsenal Digital Solutions
Managed Services taking off with Storage as a Service as the leader - June 8, 2009
Orlando Florida -- Server virtualization and software-based replication technologies are making IT disaster recovery plans more cost-effective for companies that handle DR internally, argues analyst Stephanie Balaouras, who covers DR and business continuity at Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc.
For businesses that have outsourced DR to big providers, there are now subscription-based solutions for backup, storage, replication and application continuity offered through the cloud or as Software as a Service applications. These cloud computing offerings promise fast recovery without big up-front investment. Here are Balaouras' arguments for both scenarios, says Brian J. McCarthy CEO for Cherub Networks.
In-house DR on the cheap: Virtualization, software-based replication
Disaster recovery tends to get short shrift at midmarket companies -- and with good reason, Balaouras says. Disk-based replication is expensive, requiring like-to-like systems at the primary and backup sites as well as plenty of bandwidth. In addition to the investment in the two storage arrays, the license fees can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. Even large companies tend to reserve this for their mission-critical systems, Balaouras said.
Companies that intend to keep doing DR internally should leverage virtualization, as well as a range of new replication technologies, as much as possible. "If you have 10 physical servers at your production site, you don't have to have 10 physical servers at the recovery site; you could have less," she said. In addition to cutting the cost of hardware, virtualization reduces the square footage of the recovery site, whether that is leased space from a colocation provider or one's own.
Software-based replication, where software is used to make and send a copy of the data over a WAN or LAN to a local or distant backup server, is more flexible. "The benefit with software-based replication is that the technologies are completely agnostic to the storage. You could have storage, not have it, you could have direct-attached storage," Balaouras said. "You also can replicate from physical to virtual environments, another way to potentially save money."
Software-based replication costs less up front and has lower ongoing operational costs, Balaouras said. A perpetual license for software-based replication typically costs $3,500 to $10,000 per protected server. Maintenance fees run 10% to 15% of the original cost. Rather than the optical connectivity required in many storage-based replication solutions, software-based replication solutions will replicate over IP, Balaouras said. But these solutions have their draw backs, says McCarthy. Each new server added to the network will require two more licenses. Also as Linux become more popular most of these products only work on Windows platsforms.
Faster outsourced recovery at a lower price
Small and medium-sized business that relied in the past on an IBM or a SunGard to recover their data from tape could expect to wait 48 to 72 hours to get back up and running, and that's not fast enough anymore, Balaouras said. Yet more advanced solutions with faster recovery times are much more expensive, costing millions of dollars a year.
Cherub Networks enter Storage as a Service and other disaster recovery/business continuity services. "There was nothing in the middle, until now," McCarthy said.
The growing acceptance of these on-demand services can be traced to consumer offerings such as the photo sharing site Flickr, said Jeffrey Kaplan, managing director of ThinkStrategies Inc. In Wellesley, Mass.
"It was that consumer experience which popularized the concept of online storage and drove home the value of protecting professional records for many small and medium-sized businesses," Kaplan said. The online services automate functions that in the traditional mode (redundant systems, shipping tapes) required investment in infrastructure and time.
With the proliferation of vendors offering such services, the midmarket CIO's most important task is to choose a reliable provider with the wherewithal to survive a dicey economy. "There are brand-name companies now in this business.
Cherub recommends four ways to attain this DR by remote control:
Backup as a Service: A fully managed, subscription-based service. Vendors include cherub Networks iTGuardian Business Continuity and Resiliency Services. "You just download a piece of software from these guys onto your servers and it backs up your servers over the Internet to their sites. It's that simple," Balaouras said.
Storage as a Service (also referred to as disk-to-cloud): A subscription-based service, this is for companies that are already backing up locally with, say, Symantec Backup Exec or Microsoft Application Manager, and want to get that data off-site for DR purposes or maybe want to stop shipping tapes to Iron Mountain. Balaouras explained, "You continue to back up locally to disk, but when you want to get it off-site and make a second copy of the data you send it electronically to vendors" such as Iron Mountain CloudRecovery, Amazon Simple Storage Service or Symantec Protection Network.
The solution eliminates the security risks associated with transporting tapes, Balaouras said. The risks associated with backing up over the Internet to a vendor in the cloud with multiple tenants are mitigated by the use of encryption, she added.
Replication as a Service (virtual recovery): This fully managed, subscription-based service provides full business continuity. Vendors in this space will replicate your data as well as your system information to their sites, so they can recover you to virtual machines and help you fail back when you are ready. Solutions include SunGard Virtual Server Replication, Cherub Networks.
Application Continuity as a Service: A fully managed, subscription-based service that provides complete continuity and recovery for a specific business application. Balaouras said a prime example is Dell MessageOne, an on-demand email management service that includes archiving and disaster recovery. The service is priced per mailbox and nuanced, so companies could not only decide which mailboxes to cover, but also buy send-and-receive continuity services for everyone and then add replication just for the executives.
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (800) 714-1455 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/availability.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain i365
Will you be Ready - Planning for a Pandemic - May 3, 2009
Orlando Florida -- Despite the growing number of cases involving the swine flu outbreak, deaths to date have been largely confined to Mexico. Cases in the U.S. have appeared in only a few states; only one death has occurred so far, although experts expect there will be more.
In an address marking his first 100 days in office on April 29th, President Obama said, "our public health officials have recommended that schools with confirmed or suspected cases of this flu strongly consider temporarily closing. If more schools are forced to close, we've recommended that both parents and businesses think about contingency plans if their children do have to stay home."
Review your disaster recovery/business continuity plan and then consider the following when planning for the impact of pandemic:
What travel or trade restrictions are you considering or implementing?
What places around the world do not have a high incidence of H1 flu strains?
What step-by-step preparation and action plan do you have?
What organizational response team roles and responsibility have been assigned?
What succession planning actions have been arranged?
What cross-training activities have been arranged?
How easily can employees who have to work from home do so?
What safety guidelines have been prepared?
How is information on the current situation being communicated to employees and clients?
What human resources and facility planning policies and procedures have been established for a flu outbreak?
Next, consider the following guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control (CDC):
1. Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your organization
Identify a pandemic coordinator and/or team with defined roles and responsibilities for preparedness and response planning. The planning process should include input from labor representatives.
Identify essential employees and other critical inputs (e.g., raw materials, suppliers, subcontractor services/products, and logistics) required to maintain business operations by location and function during a pandemic.
Train and prepare ancillary workforce (e.g., contractors, employees in other job titles or descriptions, retirees).
Develop and plan for scenarios likely to result in an increase or decrease in demand for your products and/or services during a pandemic (e.g., effect of restriction on mass gatherings, need for hygiene supplies).
Determine potential impact of a pandemic on company business financials using multiple possible scenarios that affect different product lines and/or production sites.
Determine potential impact of a pandemic on business-related domestic and international travel (e.g., quarantines, border closures).
Find up-to-date, reliable pandemic information from community public health, emergency management, and other sources and make sustainable links.
Establish an emergency communications plan and revise periodically. This plan includes identification of key contacts (with backups), chain of communications (including suppliers and customers), and processes for tracking and communicating business and employee status.
Implement an exercise/drill to test your plan, and revise periodically.
2. Plan for the impact of a pandemic on employees and customers
Forecast and allow for employee absences during a pandemic due to factors such as personal illness, family member illness, community containment measures and quarantines, school and/or business closures, and public transportation closures.
Implement guidelines to modify the frequency and type of face-to-face contact (e.g., hand-shaking, seating in meetings, office layout, shared workstations) among employees and between employees and customers (refer to CDC recommendations).
Encourage and track annual influenza vaccination for employees.
Evaluate employee access to and availability of healthcare services during a pandemic, and improve services as needed.
Evaluate employee access to and availability of mental health and social services during a pandemic, including corporate, community, and faith-based resources, and improve services as needed.
Identify employees and key customers with special needs, and incorporate the requirements of such persons into your preparedness plan.
3. Establish policies to be implemented during a pandemic
Establish policies for employee compensation and sick-leave absences unique to a pandemic (e.g., non-punitive, liberal leave), including policies on when a previously ill person is no longer infectious and can return to work after illness.
Establish policies for a flexible worksite (e.g., telecommuting) and flexible work hours (e.g., staggered shifts).
Establish policies for preventing influenza spread at the worksite (e.g., promoting respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette, and prompt exclusion of people with influenza symptoms).
Establish policies for employees who have been exposed to pandemic influenza, are suspected to be ill, or become ill at the worksite (e.g., infection control response, immediate mandatory sick leave).
Establish policies for restricting travel to affected geographic areas (consider both domestic and international sites), evacuating employees working in or near an affected area when an outbreak begins, and guidance for employees returning from affected areas (refer to CDC travel recommendations).
Set up authorities, triggers, and procedures for activating and terminating the company's response plan, altering business operations (e.g., shutting down operations in affected areas), and transferring business knowledge to key employees.
4. Allocate resources to protect employees and customers during a pandemic
Provide sufficient and accessible infection control supplies (e.g., hand-hygiene products, tissues and receptacles for their disposal) in all business locations.
Enhance communications and information technology infrastructures as needed to support employee telecommuting and remote customer access.
Ensure availability of medical consultation and advice for emergency response.
5. Communicate to and educate employees
Develop and disseminate programs and materials covering pandemic fundamentals (e.g., signs and symptoms of influenza, modes of transmission), personal and family protection and response strategies (e.g., hand hygiene, coughing/sneezing etiquette, contingency plans).
Anticipate employee fear and anxiety, rumors and misinformation and plan communications accordingly.
Ensure that communications are culturally and linguistically appropriate.
Disseminate information to employees about your pandemic preparedness and response plan.
Provide information for the at-home care of ill employees and family members.
Develop platforms (e.g., hotlines, dedicated websites) for communicating pandemic status and actions to employees, vendors, suppliers, and customers inside and outside the worksite in a consistent and timely way, including redundancies in the emergency contact system.
Identify community sources for timely and accurate pandemic information (domestic and international) and resources for obtaining counter-measures (e.g., vaccines and antiviral medicines).
6. Coordinate with external organizations and help your community
Collaborate with insurers, health plans, and major local healthcare facilities to share your pandemic plans and understand their capabilities and plans.
Collaborate with federal, state, and local public health agencies and/or emergency responders to participate in their planning processes, share your pandemic plans, and understand their capabilities and plans.
Communicate with local and/or state public health agencies and/or emergency responders about the assets and/or services your business could contribute to the community.
Share best practices with other businesses in your communities, chambers of commerce, and associations to improve community response efforts.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Department of Health and Human Services.
Influenza kills thousands of people every year (though not at quite the rate currently seen in Mexico). Many organizations are following the spread of the current swine flu as it makes its inevitable way around the world, but we are not sure if it will turn out to be a serious problem. At the moment, the risk to Americans from the H1N1 outbreak is relatively low. Travelers returning from Mexico, in particular, could certainly be infected. The best strategy now is to maintain vigilance, stay informed by listening to comments from the CDC and other government agencies, and update your preparedness plans.
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (800) 714-1455 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/managed-services.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain
Top 10 Reasons SMBs are flocking to the Cloud for Backup and Storage - May 3, 2009
Orlando Florida -- Cloud-based or online backup is a very intriguing backup alternative for remote sites and SMBs. Many cloud providers are currently targeting individuals and very small businesses. But cloud backup is also well suited for remote offices because it can handle dark backups -- automatic backups that don't require manual intervention, says Brian McCarthy CEO and well known expect on Backup and Recovery for Cherub Networks.
If a remote office has a relatively modest amount of data to back up, a cloud service may be a good fit; however, bandwidth may still be an issue. At the least, a broadband connection is required, and consideration should be given to bandwidth requirements for large restores.
Reliability could also be an issue. There have been some well-publicized outages at large cloud providers, but a connection that's performing poorly or not working at all is more likely to be a problem. Let's take a look at some of the best practices for using cloud backup in remote offices and SMBs, says McCarthy.
1. Check your bandwidth. You need to know how much data you expect to back up to the cloud service and if your current bandwidth is adequate, not just to handle backups in a reasonable time, but for restores.
2. Ensure reliability. A cloud backup service, like any online service, can experience outages. Check on the service's record, noting how many outages they've had and how long they've lasted.
3. Tally the costs. Because services have different fee structures, it's important to know how much data you'll ship to their site, how frequently you'll run backups and how often you expect to restore data. Using that information, you'll be able to make accurate cost comparisons.
4. Evaluate access controls. You may want your users to be able to do their own restores, but access to backup data should be controllable to limit unnecessary backups/restores and to protect the data, especially if remote access is is allowed.
5. Make sure your data is safe. Ask what measures the service provider takes to safeguard your data. They should have backup data centers and offer encryption for data in flight and at rest.
6. Stop and resume. A cloud backup service should allow you to stop a backup in progress and then restart it from the point it was interrupted. Having to rerun an entire backup is costly and time consuming.
7. Big restores. If a disaster strikes and you have to restore your entire backup data set or a large part of it, online transmission will likely be impractical. Find out how the service handles these requirements.
8. Protect desktop and laptop data. If all of your company's user data is stored on servers, you don't have to worry about desktop or laptop PCs. But if you have a mobile workforce or allow local storage, ask if the service provider can also protect the data on those systems.
9. Agents and other software. Many services require an agent to run on the servers you're backing up. Find out if the agent will affect the servers' performance or interfere with other applications, and if they can be managed centrally.
10. Continuous or scheduled backups. Some services can back up your servers and other systems continuously, while others do backups on a regular schedule. Make sure your provider offers the types of services that best fit your company's environment.
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (800) 714-1455 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/managed-services.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain
Hurrican Season 2009 to Boost Remote Managed Services for Backup, Recovery and Storage - April 3, 2009
Recent events in the southeast prompt users to rethink their storage strategies
Orlando Florida -- Hosted storage and services are becoming increasingly popular with users in the hurricane-ravaged southeastern U.S. in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the 12 others that hit land in recent years.
Many IT managers are now attempting to plan for the unthinkable and have totally revamped their storage and server infrastructures. That has served them well as they confronted more recent storms such as Ike and Gustav.
"I think that probably the most important thing that we have done is that we have moved to an Application Service Provider(ASP) model wherever possible," said Peggy Villars-Abadie, executive director of IT for the New Orleans Parish School Board, explaining that the organization's digital lesson planning and critical "Blackboard" system are both hosted elsewhere. Blackboard, which is an academic Web portal, is hosted by a Washington-based company of the same name, and Villars-Abadie explained that the Board's ERP systems are hosted by Maine-based Tyler Technologies.
After the devastation wrought by Katrina, Villars-Abadie and her staff have thrown their weight behind hosted storage, servers, and services. Three years ago, the school board lost a massive chunk of its hardware to the floodwaters and the ensuing chaos, a scenario that Villars-Abadie is desperate to avoid repeating.
"The devastation that the school board experienced, not just from the storm but [also from] the ensuing political upheaval, made everyone open to new ideas," she said. "[It's] the nightmare of not having access to the information because it's dependent on our ability to reach the physical infrastructure."
The exec told Byte and Switch that the school board now uses data centers in locations as far flung as Maine, Baltimore, San Diego, and Illinois.
"They are all over the place," she said. "None of them are in the hurricane area – all our storage is at their sites, we don't keep any of that here."
The next major piece of IT infrastructure to be moved off-site is the school board's student information system, which Villars-Abadie admits has caused some unease, particularly amongst teachers.
"There was a little nervousness around that initially, but people that work in our data center were confident with it going off-site," she explains. "I said 'We don't have anything more critical than our financial information, and that's stored off-site.'"
Even before the ravages of the recent hurricane season, many organizations in the most vulnerable parts of the southern U.S. were looking for alternatives to their current IT infrastructure, according to Orlando Florida based Cherub Networks.
"Companies are getting out of the southeast," said CEO Brian McCarthy, explaining that doctors’ offices and health care organizations, in particular, are looking to host their applications and storage off-site. "There’s a lot of Web applications coming in from the medical space – this means that these doctors, if the hurricane comes through, still have all their stuff."
Denver-based ATS Medical Management, which is a partner of Cherub Networks, told Byte and Switch that firms in states such as Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, have been re-evaluating their technology infrastructures for some time now, well before the recent problems in the region.
"One of our customers is in South Texas, and one of the reasons why they like this is they are getting all their information off the coast, and to a part of the country that's out of the reach of hurricanes," said Walter Payson, the CIO of ATS Medical Management. "We have got another [customer] in Louisiana, that's the same thing."
The exec explained that many medical firms would much rather outsource the storage capacity and server horsepower required to run key systems such as electronic medical records and billing.
"I think it's the push towards everybody running an electronic patient record and the fact that these systems involve a lot of complexity," added Payson. "Cherub Networks provides the storage and the infrastructure, and we handle the application layer."
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (407) 965-1910 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/managed-services.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain
Top 10 things to look for in a Managed Service Provider (MSP) - April 3, 2009
Orlando Florida -- Many organisations are turning to managed security services providers (MSSPs) to manage specific areas of security. This may include firewalls, data hosting, code development, vulnerability assessment and monitoring.
While outsourcing relieves the burden of managing these systems in-house, if there is a security breach the burden of responsibility still lies within your own organisation. It is therefore vital to investigate and conduct thorough due diligence of an MSSP before engaging its services.
So how do you go about making the decision to outsource and what criteria should you use to select your service provider?
First and foremost, what sort of relationship do you already have with business process outsourcers and IT outsourcers? It pays to be honest in answering this question, because if your relationships with outsourcers tend to end in acrimony it’s unlikely you will fare any better with an MSSP.
Keep in mind that you cannot outsource security per se; you can only outsource tactical tasks relating to security. Therefore someone at your organisation should still serve as the security “owner”, ensuring that business requirements are being met by the outsourcer efficiently and effectively. It is important to remember that it is the MSSP's job to secure systems to the extent that you require. It still remains your job to secure the business. Be crystal clear on identifying responsibilities which are the MSSP's and those that remain yours.
If you are considering whether or not to outsource security monitoring then the organisation needs to understand the specific business requirements against the willingness to invest resources. If security monitoring is a critical component to the organisation, the level of tuning and tailoring needed to meet these requirements is often best done by building the solution internally.
Data hosting is another frequently outsourced service. Some hosting services may physically lock your servers in cages and not give internal staff access to the cage without your knowledge. This gives you a lot of control over security even though the service provider is doing most of the work. It’s important to also remember that you have a right to know who has access to your data and systems, so don’t be afraid to request background data.
Go armed to the hosting provider with a list of questions to ensure that security meets your expected standards. They include:
• What policies and standards do they work to?
• How effective is their physical security and how frequently to they test controls?
• Does the vendor employ a security manager with an industry recognised security qualification (e.g. CISSP)?
Don’t be afraid to pry and insist on a tour of the facilities. A willingness to show you around and openness when answering your questions should inspire confidence.
The same goes for those vendors writing code for your business. It’s essential that the SLA states the security requirements of the final product. Too many times I’ve seen deliverables that function to specification but are insecure once they go online. If you already have internally used standards for code development then make sure that the service provider is aware of their content.
Similar concerns are relevant for services such as e-mail outsourcing. The provider's provisions for security and procedures for patch management are all important. It should also be noted that an organisation does not necessarily have to outsource management of its e-mail infrastructure to outsource security. However, security can be increased in the face of e-mail-borne hazards by outsourcing both e-mail and messaging infrastructure.
Discretion on the part of the service provider may also be an issue. Do you want them to advertise that your company is a customer? You would certainly not want them to be discussing security breaches with other third parties.
The following list serves as general recommendations when selecting an MSSP:
• Choose an (MSSP) you trust. Be prepared to use MSSPs you have not previously worked with that have proven track records with organisations like yours. Take references and go with personal recommendations.
• Select an MSSP that understands the needs of its customers and has the required technical capabilities
• Ensure that the service provider has financial stability. Do your due diligence!
• Choose an MSSP that can be flexible and willing to cater for different business needs.
• Make sure employees in your organisation and those at the MSSP understand the limitations on what you are allowed to outsource imposed by industry bodies, government agencies and others.
• Appoint one person or team as the contact point for the MSSP.
• Make it clear what the MSSP is allowed to do without first consulting you. Major incident alerts must have clearly defined escalation paths. Be clear about who should be notified when a critical incident occurs.
• Ensure that all employees are aware of the contract and its effect on them.
Finally, remember that while using an MSSP relieves the burden of managing those aspects of security in-house, it does not relieve the responsibility your organisation has regarding liability if there is a security breach.
It’s important to acknowledge that reversing the outsourcing decision can be an expensive exercise as it would probably entail rebuilding both IT Infrastructure and staff.
By outsourcing security operations to an MSSP, your business can improve its security posture while avoiding a large investment in technology and resources. These potential benefits can only be achieved by selecting the right managed security services provider.
To Learn more and how to do it Right, call: (407) 965-1910 or go to: http://www.cherubnetworks.com/managed-services.php
Cherub Networks LLC is well known for it's flagship product iTGuardian Managed Services which is designed exclusively as a managed or hosted solution to provide our customers with the most cost effective management of their IT infrastructure 24x7. Cherub Networks uses iTGuardian enterprise class technology helping you provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your IT infrastructure over the secured and encrypted Internet connection. This solution helps Cherub Networks deliver an unlimited range of unique managed services, providing extraordinary levels of performance and availability for you, our customer. iTGuardian Managed Services Benefits.
Office in Orlando Lake Mary Longwood Lakeland Tampa Daytona Beach Maitland St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral MSP continuously monitoring healthcare network infrastructure Microsoft patch managing all critical systems Advanced Technology Service Hosting Hosted Data Center Exchanges Sharepoint SQL Event Log Application Backup Firewall Capacity Disk Space CDW Online Backup DR Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS GRID computing on demand storage Cloud We are well known for desktop, server and network monitoring, management, security online backup cloud computing storage archiving VoIP Hosting top 10 Virtualization HaaS SaaS Help desk 24x7 for small medium enterprise SMB SME employees IT as a service software hardware support onsite remote hosted exchange sharepoint fixed cost cutting solutions microsoft hp symantec spam barracuda anti-virus gartner magic quadrant robo soho GRID on demand ibm dell cdw low cost budget HaaS disaster recovery business continuity SaaS capacity cost per gigabyte firewall HaaS SaaS evault seagate iron mountain