7 Sources of Network Problems

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Solving network problems is a frequent task for IT departments. While there are many possible network problems, problems commonly arise from these causes:

1. Configuration problems

There are multiple places where misconfigurations can lead to network problems. These include IP addresses that are assigned incorrectly, firewall rules that block valid data, and pointing to the incorrect DNS server.

2. Hardware problems

Hardware problems can arise in any of the devices involved in networks, including bad network cards in users’ computers, bad routers, and damaged cables. These problems can be as simple to fix as tightening a loose cable or require replacing the whole device.

3. Overload problems

Overloaded networks greatly degrade the user experience. Buying a bigger pipe can help, but so can solutions such as blocking user access to bandwidth-intensive sites that aren’t required for business, such as video streaming services.

4. Network design problems

Bad network design can lead to both performance problems and security problems. Sometimes the problem is that the network wasn’t designed to provide the type of service being used, such as VoIP. Even a good network design that’s badly documented can make network support harder than it needs to be.

5. Security problems

Problems can be the result of malware or a targeted attack on your systems. Appropriate security tools can help block malware and detect attacks before they’re able to damage your systems.

6. Application problems

Poor application design can contribute to network overload.

7. Shadow IT

Although shadow IT is often used to describe unauthorized usage of cloud services, there can also be unauthorized use of applications and other technology resources on premises, and these can put excess load on network. Be on the lookout for unapproved applications as well as internet of things devices.

Many network problems can be diagnosed through real-time monitoring that shows where slowdowns are occurring. Applying policies to users and groups will help ensure the existing network capacity is properly used. Sometimes the best solution is upgrading the network to higher speed or higher capacity components, along with redesigning subnetworks to improve traffic flows.

One way to minimize the impact of network problems is through comprehensive managed services such as those offered by CCS Technology group. Managed services provide around-the-clock monitoring and resolution of system problems, as well as planning and preventative maintenance to prevent problems from developing in the first place. With network support, server support, and desktop support, managed services provide all your IT resources with the care and attention they need. Contact us to learn more about how managed services can help your network and your business run more smoothly.

Additional Network Resources

Know What’s Happening on Your Network with Network Monitoring

Is your network safe from cyber attacks?

Are QuickBooks Workarounds Putting Your Business at Risk?

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As a software product built on delivering a simple accounting-focused solution for small businesses, QuickBooks does laudable work. But start adding other processes—sales tax, inventory management, warehouse, and the like, and the solution no longer delivers answers. Just questions, spreadsheets, and workarounds.

Following our last blogs on the annoyances that come with a QuickBooks file size limit that holds your business back and the challenges that come from a desktop software in a remote world, we would today like to turn our attention to another challenge—or should we say commonality—of using QuickBooks: The use of workarounds.

Shadow IT and the Necessity of Workarounds in QuickBooks

As discussed in a recent article on the risks of Shadow IT, “Shadow IT is any IT service that is accessed without the oversight of company information technology teams. It can be in the form of spending approved by business departments or it can be accessed by individual employees without the knowledge of their supervisors.”

Why Employees Use Shadow IT

These services are often used either as a workaround, a simplification, or an ad hoc integration, and any way that you look at it, they present risks to both security and visibility ranging from unforeseen audits and penalties to risk of data loss, breaches, and more. Employees use shadow IT to overcome some kind of limitation or annoyance that comes from using a software product. Though not limited to QuickBooks, the product’s limitations are often a common reason that employees use it.

If it sounds scary, unvetted technology is one of the most common parts of QuickBooks. Everything from Excel Macros to side products might be considered shadow IT.

Another Tradeoff for QuickBooks Users

Yes, they may help you work around the limitations set in QuickBooks, but the problem comes in the lack of vetting from IT, the unnecessary permissions or access given to the workaround, or vulnerabilities in these workarounds that leave blind spots and openings for hackers.

Pair this with a lack of good user permission control, and one poorly vetted application could start running rampant through your storage, leaving you high and dry.

This is bad enough, but remember, if you’ve been paying attention to our series, you know that there’s a difference between business as usual and the current environment where security and product ability is already stretched thin.

Shadow IT and the Demonstrated Need for New Technology

That said, the use of shadow IT does provide one fringe ‘benefit’. It helps you understand how your employees work, demonstrates that your current software isn’t standing up to its promises, and points to the necessities that will be needed in any future solution.  If your goal is to eliminate the need for shadow IT, a new solution can take you there.

Better yet, with many new solutions delivering a marketplace-based source for vetted and easy to set up applications, it’s much easier to overcome the dangers of shadow IT.

For example, the Acumatica Marketplace gives users an easy way to find the right add-ons or integrations for the specific needs of the business, taking the shadow out of shadow IT.

Secure, Easy to Use and Configured for You: Get to Know Acumatica

Growing businesses need to handle growing challenges—and QuickBooks is rarely built to handle these. Built on modularity and easy customization, Acumatica helps you get what your employees want and need.

Acumatica delivers a full-featured accounting suite that addresses the most complex requirements for companies of all sizes. Plus, it integrates with Project Accounting, Customer Resource Management (CRM), Manufacturing Management, and other product suites offered by Acumatica.

We invite you to learn more about your journey from entry level to the cloud by reading Seven Signs You Need ERP Software, 5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management, and How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution. Read to learn even more? Contact us for a free consultation.

8 Practices for Safe Computing When Employees Work at Home

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Employees working from home can be casual about their dress, but they shouldn’t be casual about their computing practices. Whether they’re working on their phones, tablets, laptops, or desktop PCs, employees need to take steps to make sure the business they do at home doesn’t endanger their business.

Employers can help employees work safely when they’re working remotely by teaching them to follow these 8 practices:

1. Safe networks

Only secure WiFi connections should be used. When working from home, a home firewall should be turned on to block unapproved connections. When working away from home, employees should avoid free public WiFi and always double-check the name of the correct network. A virtual private network (VPN) is always a good idea.

2. Safe devices

Employees shouldn’t use obsolete hardware and should be sure they’re up to date with operating system security patches. They shouldn’t root or jailbreak mobile devices, as that can disable built-in protections. Antivirus software should be kept up to date, and devices should be paired only with known Bluetooth devices. Every device should be protected by a strong password. In addition to data security, physical security matters too. Employees should use a surge protector to prevent damage to their computer and loss of data.

3. Safe accounts

Employees’ devices at home might be shared with other users. Everyone should have a separate account. Keep passwords private and don’t write them down where snooping children might find them.

4. Safe applications

Because home devices are also used for personal matters and entertainment, you may not be able to limit them to business applications obtained via your company; however, employees shouldn’t download applications from unofficial sites on any machines used for business.

5. Safe data

Any business-related data stored locally should be encrypted. There should be regular backups to an official company data server or cloud location.

6. Safe computing

All the usual safe computing practices apply when working at home. Employees shouldn’t email sensitive information or use unapproved cloud services. Only business email should be used for business matters, and unexpected documents and suspicious links should be left alone.

7. Safe communicating

SMS messages can include phishing links, and employees should be cautious when clicking links, especially in unexpected messages. If employees use a videoconferencing service to keep in touch with friends and family, they should ensure that no company documents are visible.

8. Safe browsing

Employees shouldn’t go to unknown websites, and should avoid clicking on ads or popups unless they know they’re from a trusted source.

Working from home is becoming a key practice to keep businesses functioning during challenging times. By following these safe practices, risks to company data can be minimized. Contact CCS Technology Group for help training employees and ensuring your cybersecurity practices keep your business safe wherever your employees are working.

On-Demand Webinar: Learn More About Managing Remote Employees

For more information, check out our on-demand webinar: 5 Biggest Challenges Working Through COVID-19. We discuss:

  • Safety and Security Working Remote: Hackers are having a heyday right now taking advantage of an already difficult situation. Here’s how you can cope.
  • Bandwidth Challenges: How many things can you expect your network to do?
  • Productivity While Working Remote: We gathered tips and tricks from experienced remote workers that help you settle in to work mode without the commute.
  • Connecting with your team: You can’t gather around the water cooler anymore, but personal connection is still critical.
  • Woes of Video Conferencing: Everyone is trying to adapt to video calls. They can be immensely frustrating or your greatest gift to project management. It’s all in how you use them.

Also, please consider joining us for our upcoming webinar (May 13) where we will discuss a tool to help you manage your remote workforce. Click here to learn more or register.

4 Solutions for Performance Problems in the Cloud

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One of cloud’s most important benefits is the ability to add capacity on demand, or even to scale automatically. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean cloud users will never experience performance problems.

Sources of Performance Problems in the Cloud

Performance problems in the cloud can arise from several different sources:

  • Limited computing resources. Inadequate memory and CPU power impacts cloud applications the same way it impacts applications in the data center.
  • Network latency. Cloud applications often don’t sit near to their users. In addition, cloud applications use a microservices-oriented architecture, and if the servers providing the services aren’t closely located, performance may suffer.
  • Architectural misfit. Applications that are migrated to the cloud using the lift and shift approach aren’t architected to take advantage of cloud features such as automatic scaling. In addition, many legacy applications and databases simply are poorly designed. The problems inherent in their designs don’t disappear when they are transitioned to cloud.

Addressing Performance Problems in the Cloud

Solving cloud performance problems should always start by understanding the business’s performance requirements. Once the goal is known, the next important step is reviewing metrics to identify where the problems are occurring and discover the root cause. All cloud providers offer logging and monitoring, along with reporting that highlights trends. Depending on your cloud provider, there may be analytics and advice on steps to take to address any problems.

After the metrics are analyzed, performance problems can be addressed by one of the following changes, choosing the one most appropriate for the source of the problem:

  1. Better instance and memory choice. Upgrade instances to have more memory and more powerful CPUs. Having more computing power available can solve many issues. In addition, some cloud providers may offer the option of a private server. By not sharing the physical hardware, your workloads are protected from any impact caused by other cloud users.
  2. Better network connection. Most cloud providers offer the option of a direct link to the cloud. This offers a stable level of performance and isolates your communications from load issues of the public internet.
  3. Better location strategy. Placing services closer to the users who access them can deliver better performance, so consider deploying to different regions. It can also be helpful to locate workloads close to any services they leverage.
  4. Better applications. You may need to rearchitect applications to leverage cloud’s scaling capabilities. In addition, older applications may have nonideal database structures, and revisiting those can also lead to performance improvements.

Work with an experienced managed cloud services team to address any performance issues in your cloud. Contact CCS Technology Group to learn more about getting the best performance from your cloud.

Additional Cloud Resources

Don’t Let Cloud Costs Keep You from Experiencing Cloud Benefits

Hybrid Cloud Provides Increased Flexibility In How You Use Cloud Services

6 Ways to Keep Your Cloud Secure

How True Cloud Technologies Help Distributors Stay Future-Proof

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“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” One of the many famous Yogi-isms, it’s one of the most fitting phrases in 2020. This year has proven that things can change in an instant, and it’s likely your distribution business has had to change with it. Success is built on adaptability, and adaptability requires action.

Being Future-Proof is All about Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Now, why does it seem that some companies are always in the right place at the right time? How do some distribution firms always seem to know when to place an order for a product that became scarce seemingly overnight?

It’s not luck; fortune favors the prepared. But predicting—and preparing for—the future is easier said than done for many firms, especially those who can’t access information quickly or efficiently.

Knowing this, there are ways to make your own luck, turn data into decisions, and stay ahead of the trends, but without the right tools, it’s probably not happening. Many distributors turn to ERP for the same reason they store products in warehouses and not apartments—ERP delivers room to grow, provides an easier way to organize a business, and ultimately helps companies stay future-proof.

You Can’t Future-Proof Your Business If You’re Constantly Stuck in the Past

The problem with this is this: Some ERP solutions are stuck in the past. Legacy ERP—software introduced before the internet and designed to run on-premises—is just that. Companies move to the cloud for consistent advancement and improved automation, delivering the access, information, integration, and connectivity they need to make decisions.

Fake Cloud: Legacy with a Layer of Cloud Access

But there’s an operator in this statement—one that many companies looking at ERP overlook: the word “true.” True cloud solutions deliver integration. True cloud solutions deliver automation. True cloud solutions are future-proof, and true cloud solutions provide real-time visibility into sales, order management, inventory, purchasing, production and services. But what does that mean?

Put simply? How it was built.

Legacy software is built to work on-premises and deliver the functionality needed by a business in the 2000s. Fake cloud is just a repurposed version of legacy software. If you’re in the market for distribution ERP software, then recognizing the issues of choosing a legacy application is the first step.

These issues include—but are not limited to—needing specialized software to access your legacy ERP system (causing limited availability), requiring the assistance of a trained programmer due to the lack of user interface personalization, and difficulty in integrating with third-party applications because of proprietary integration tools. These, and more, increase your ownership costs and hinder your scalability.

True Cloud: Built in the Cloud, Built for the Future-Ready Business

True cloud was built with the modern business in mind, delivering mobility, automation, and integration needed to make smarter decisions. In fact, it was built with tomorrow’s business in mind, ready to deliver information that can help your business stay ahead of the trends and competition.

But how can you tell the difference? A recent Acumatica whitepaper discussed this exact concern that businesses have, noting that true cloud solutions need to deliver the following for distributors:

  • Full functionality and reporting offered on common mobile devices as well as on the desktop.
  • Full integration of spreadsheets, data services, apps, and equipment.
  • Software that was built using modern, commonly available tools and standards.
  • The ability to pay by resource usage, not by the user.
  • Industry-standard security.
  • Deployment options.
  • Easy upgrades.

If you’re in the market for an ERP product and any of the preceding characteristics are missing, you might want to look at the company’s history and ask whether they made progress into the modern age of business management software. Want to learn even more? The entire whitepaper explores even more business benefits of using the cloud and discusses additional risks of using fake cloud.

Acumatica and CCS: True Cloud Partners for Distribution Firms

If you’re looking for a flexible and powerful solution that doesn’t hinder your initiatives, it’s time to get rolling with Acumatica. Built in the cloud to deliver the adaptable, feature rich, and integrated enterprise resource planning software that streamlines your processes and facilitates your decisions, this solution is ready for the needs of distribution firms.

Get to know more about how this product has helped distributors like you by reading these case studies, reading 7 irresistible qualities of cloud ERP, and contacting leading Acumatica Partner CCS Technology for a consultation.

Never Let a QuickBooks File Size Hold You Back: Grow with Confidence in the Cloud

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Running a growing business is hard. Despite the temporary hiccup caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it’s likely that over the past decade, you’ve seen your business take massive strides.

However, it’s likely that over the past few months, you’ve come to a realization: even if your people have valiantly adapted to the changes, even if you were able to adapt your processes and workflows to handle the new work-from home landscape, everything you’ve done to retool your company has been held back by your current business management product.

Growth Doesn’t Require Growing Pains

This is a common occurrence for growing businesses—buy a product to start out, use it for years, grow to love it, and ultimately grow beyond it. Of course, this presents a problem: if employees have gotten accustomed to a product, they’re going to be resistant to change—even if they know the product is not built for the future (or the present).

Call it comfort, call it embracing the status quo, but the reality is, it’s institutionalization. Those weird kinks in the system and the necessary workarounds are just part of the day.

The hassles your IT team had to deal with last month in order to get your employees remote access? Just one of the tradeoffs you needed to make to keep costs low, right?

After discussing the challenges and concerns businesses have had trying to get QuickBooks to work with a remote workforce, we would today like to turn our attention to another common—yet well-known—challenge: File Size Limits.

Are QuickBooks File Size Limitations Slowing You Down?

QuickBooks was built for the small business, delivering the processing power to match. This isn’t meant to be a knock on the product, millions of companies use the product and nearly as many love it. But nice words don’t increase capacity. A gallon is a gallon, a gigabyte is a gigabyte.

QuickBooks’ performance decreases as the size of the company file increases. Though there are no actual limits on the size of your company data file, performance may be hindered if your network is not capable of handling large data files.

Here’s a quick if/then scenario: If increasing file size means decreased performance, and performance is hindered if your network is not capable of handling large data files, then the worst possible scenario is… Having a larger-than-recommended file size and adding extra steps to access the software.

Imagine, one day, the government ‘strongly encourages’ employees to work from home to stop the spread of some kind of pandemic. We can only assume that something that’s already slow at the office is going to be unbearable when you nave to run it through additional steps to access and upload a file. Sound familiar? Because the likely situation is that you’re living in this environment now.

Learn more in 6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks.

Built to Scale, Built for Growth, Built to Process Effectively

While QuickBooks is built with a soft cap on the file size—a cap you start to feel with each passing day—true cloud solutions are built to grow with the companies that use it.

Built on a modular architecture and relying on some of the largest, most powerful data centers available, cloud ERP providers are able to deliver for you no matter the size. Imagine doubling in size tomorrow. Not a problem in the cloud.

One such provider, Acumatica, delivers a full-featured accounting suite that addresses the most complex requirements for companies of all sizes. Plus, it integrates with Project Accounting, Customer Resource Management (CRM), Manufacturing Management, and other product suites offered by Acumatica.

Pair this with buyer-friendly pricing and easy integration, and this solution can handle your needs without causing undue stress on your pocketbook. We invite you to learn more about your journey from entry level to the cloud by reading Seven Signs You Need ERP Software, 5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management, and How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution. Read to learn even more? Contact us for a free consultation.

How Best-in-Class Functionality Helps Distributors Get What They Want (and Need)

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As the song goes, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need.” Written and released in 1969, these lyrics have become some of the most iconic in rock music. Notably, for the better part of the history of its history, the lyrics also represented the business management software buying process.

Time to Turn off the ERP Oldies

As little as a decade ago, distribution firms were forced into a product that, despite being necessary, wasn’t exactly what users wanted to work with. From the warehouses to the board room, products did what companies needed them to do.

Yes, the occasional hiccup popped up; yes, employees developed a series of workarounds; yes, many end users got no satisfaction from using the product—but it was better than nothing.

Just like the music world is no longer limited to a couple radio stations playing what executives want you to hear, ERP is no longer an inflexible, disparate, and vendor-driven product.

Today’s companies looking at ERP can get what they want—and what they need. Thanks to best-in-class functionality that’s built to integrate, we are quickly pushing towards ERP’s fourth era, according to Gartner. This era, called Enterprise Business Capabilities, coincides with what Gartner is describing as the Future of Applications.

How ERP’s Fourth Era Delivers Satisfaction for Distributors

For distribution firms, this means users get a connected experience no matter what solution or device they need to use. Want to connect your ERP with the CRM, EDI, inventory management, or logistics product of your choice? Simple—thanks to the cloud and modern APIs, integration no longer requires you to jump through hoops or copy and paste data to satisfy the requirements of your product.

Applications are now user-centric, and modern ERP vendors have changed the way they operate to deliver.

But buyer beware: Many companies who specialize in playing the ERP oldies are still around, making promises that they’ve changed. These fake cloud products deliver neither the functionality or flexibility you need to operate, and makes selecting and implementing a new ERP system a challenge—who’s telling the truth?

Integration in Modern ERP: Get What You Want and Need

If you’re in the market for an ERP product at your distribution firm, it pays to be vigilant and inquisitive. How does a vendor deliver integration? How easy is it to configure and set up? Is there an extra layer you need to work with?

Modern businesses function in a landscape where consumers expect fast, efficient service and instant gratification. Competition within every industry is high, and customer loyalty increasingly hard to earn. Modern ERP delivers integration through open APIs—because it needs to adapt to the speed of modern business.

In the past, this change came at a snail’s pace, and any time an update happened, companies were left scrambling to fix broken integrations. But today? It’s all about the open API.

Open APIs use a universal language allowing unparalleled access to multiple software services and data. The data and information silos of both the past and the present no longer exist, and developer workloads are significantly decreased.

In this, users see enhanced efficiency, streamlined data, easy collaboration with customers, partners, and third-party applications and, of course, streamlined integrations.

Modern ERP: It’s Time to Get Rolling

Without the right tools, distribution companies simply can’t compete. If you’re looking for a solution that works for your business, conforms to your processes, and empowers your users, look no further than Acumatica.

Built in the cloud to deliver the adaptable, feature rich, and integrated enterprise resource planning software that streamlines your processes and facilitates your decisions, this solution is ready for the needs of distribution firms. If you’re looking for a flexible and powerful solution that doesn’t hinder you, it’s time to get rolling with Acumatica.

Get to know more about how this product has helped distributors like you by reading these case studies, reading 7 irresistible qualities of cloud ERP, and contacting leading Acumatica Partner CCS Technology for a consultation.

Additional Distribution Resources

Recommendations for Selecting a Distribution ERP Solution

Digital Transform in the Distribution Industry and How Cloud ERP Can Help

Benefits of ERP Software for Distribution Business Management

The Hassles of Using Desktop Software in a Socially Distanced Business

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Time flies when you’re working from home. After four weeks, it’s likely you’ve settled into the work from home mentality and got your home office set up the way you like. But even though you’re ready to work, what about your software? For many small, medium, or otherwise growing businesses using QuickBooks, the answer is… “well… kind of.”

The Pitfalls of Using QuickBooks Remote Access

It might have taken a week or two, it might be a bit finnicky to run, you might not have complete access to the integrated applications you need, and it might be a bit slower than normal. “Oh well,” you may think to yourself, “it was just a few hoops to jump through, but at least I’m safe from the virus and can finally sit down to work.”

A healthy portion of businesses chose to take the traditional desktop-only route—because “when would we ever need to access this from outside the office?” This left many businesses scrambling for remote access tools when the stay at home orders came through.

“Necessary” Tradeoffs

The question is, why? You could have opted to pay for hosting, you could have chosen QuickBooks Online, but up until a month ago, you didn’t need to. Hosting seemed like an unnecessary cost, and many users felt that there are too many shortcomings in QBO to consider it viable.

Somewhere during your decision, there was a tradeoff that had to be made, and you took the one that was the best for your business. But why should you have to make a tradeoff in the first place?

The problem with using QuickBooks in today’s business is baked into the product category—desktop software. It was built to run on a desktop. It could be installed in hours with minimal IT staff intervention. It does what it’s supposed to—when it’s not put under stress.

However, just like the fastest, most powerful PC processor couldn’t run dozens of computers at the same time, the term ‘desktop accounting software’ means that anything beyond the basics is considered ‘stress’ on the system. Whether it’s growth, complexity, or additional access needs, when desktop software is pushed to or past its limits, it falters.

Unchained from the Desktop, Comfort in the Cloud

It doesn’t have to be like this. As a growing company using QuickBooks, you might be finding that it is showing its limitations, especially now that you’re pushing the limits of the product even further.

Some software products are built in the cloud, others are cloud ready. Desktop-based products like QuickBooks are neither. Even “Enterprise Edition” only goes so far, and you’re likely out of luck if you want anything beyond basic accounting.

Even if you can access QuickBooks Enterprise over the Internet, Intuit will admit the product is not optimized for full cloud functionality. A lack of access to cloud data limits mobility and is thus less convenient than having a cloud-based system.

Learn more in 6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks.

Acumatica: The Ideal Option for Companies Outgrowing QuickBooks

QuickBooks by Intuit offers users a good starter accounting package at a good price. However, it is designed to handle basic accounting only. To manage business processes outside of financials requires an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, which can handle accounting and financial management needs along with other business requirements, such as manufacturing, distribution, and much more.

Here are just a few ways Acumatica differs:

  • True cloud: Acumatica works on premises or in the cloud without additional equipment or software. QuickBooks Enterprise can be accessed over the internet, but even Intuit acknowledges that QuickBooks has not been optimized to be a true cloud product.
  • Full function ERP: Acumatica offers your organization a complete ERP and CRM solution. While QuickBooks Enterprise contains some of these elements, it is ultimately an accounting solution and not a full function ERP solution.
  • Scale as you grow: Acumatica allows you to scale as your company grows and can accommodate multiple companies and multiple currencies. QuickBooks Enterprise limits you to a maximum of 30 users and handles multiple currencies but not multiple companies.
  • TCO: Because both products serve different purposes, it would be difficult to say which one has the best total cost of ownership. We recommend, however, that you apply due diligence when selecting a replacement product for QuickBooks to ensure you get a product that can continue to grow with your company for several years.

We have worked closely with many senior IT leaders on assessing the suitability of cloud ERP for their organizations. If you want to learn more about Acumatica cloud ERP and how it could help your business, let’s talk. Contact us for a free consultation and demo.

Additional Acumatica Resources

Acumatica Cloud ERP: Distribution Case Studies

Meeting the ASC 606 Compliance Deadline with Acumatica Deferred Revenue Accounting

Why Acumatica Outpaced NetSuite on the Most Recent G2 Survey

How Many Purposes Are Your Backups Supporting?

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Backups are not a new practice, but backups today face new challenges. They need to serve multiple purposes and meet multiple requirements. Businesses that are still creating their backups the same way they always did should review their strategy to make sure it meets today’s backup requirements.

Many Backup Purposes

Backups aren’t just about making copies of files. Backups need to create the duplicates in ways that allow them to be used for multiple purposes. These purposes include:

  1. Data retention. Depending on your industry, there may be compliance mandates to retain all data for some period of time. In addition, new application development and analytics projects need access to historical data. When planning for this need, it’s important to recognize that backups are not archives.
  2. Disaster recovery. Backups are the primary method businesses uses to recover from outages and other disasters that make servers inaccessible.
  3. Prevent tampering. Data tampering is a kind of disaster, but deserves mention on its own. Backed up data provides an audit trail and historic record of data changes that can identify whether data has been tampered with and restore it to the correct value.
  4. Comply with e-discovery and data privacy laws. Backup files provide support for e-discovery requests that mandate searches through historical data. Backups also provide support for new data privacy laws that require businesses share all the information they have about a consumer with that individual.

Many Backup Requirements

Along with being able to support multiple purposes, backup strategies need to meet multiple requirements. These include:

  1. Completeness. It’s easy to omit critical systems from backup scripts or to overlook alerts that backups are failing to complete successfully. At the same time, some data may change infrequently and not need daily backups. Matching the level of protection to data criticality requires analysis.
  2. Time to create. Creating application consistent backups generally requires applications to be quiescent. The windows available for shutting applications down continue to shrink as business continues around the clock.
  3. Time to restore. Different backup approaches offer different levels of flexibility and take different amounts of time to complete the file restore process.
  4. Security. In order to perform speedy restorations, backups need to be immediately available, but they also need to be protected from loss, tampering, and other unauthorized access.
  5. Scalability. Backup and recovery processes that work well on smaller volumes may fail when systems grow larger.
  6. Different sources. Backup strategies need to address a wide variety of different sources, including cloud and data centers, virtual machines and bare metals.

Does your backup strategy meet all of today’s challenges? If you need help updating your backup tools and procedures, contact CCS Technology Group. Our business continuity solutions apply best practices to protecting your data.

Additional Backup and Disaster Recovery Resources

7 Critical Factors to Consider When Developing Your Backup Strategy

5 Disaster Recovery Disasters to Avoid

Choose the Right Backup Strategy to Meet Time and Space Requirements

Know What’s Happening on Your Network with Network Monitoring

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Information security requires knowing what’s coming into your network so you can protect the valuable data inside.

Network Monitoring Basics

Basic network monitoring tools work with what’s called flow data. This is very basic information such as IP addresses, ports, and protocols, along with when the communication occurred and how much data was transmitted.

While IP addresses can be mapped to domain names to provide a better understanding of traffic, a single IP address can support multiple domains. This means that the IP address and domain name by themselves provide an incomplete or incorrect understanding of the data source. Adding additional detail to the flow data is needed to provide a fuller picture.

In order to get that fuller picture, the flow data can be enhanced with application metadata. This metadata pulls additional information out of the traffic; for instance, it can identify an http request and the http hostname. This provides better support for blocking traffic to unapproved websites.

Network Monitoring Challenges

Although enriched flow data improves monitoring capabilities, there are still numerous challenges that need to be overcome in order to establish an effective monitoring strategy.

  1. Encrypted data. Today, almost all http connections are actually https connections. These encrypted connections protect transmissions from being spied on as they travel between endpoints. However, that same encryption blocks necessary security inspections once the data arrives at its destination. A message that’s encrypted isn’t necessarily “safe”; it can contain a virus or other malware.
  2. Selecting the data sources. Flow data, from routers and other devices, is necessarily high-level. You can get more detailed data through looking at packets at test access points and port mirrors. In addition, monitoring often requires installing agents on each device. The more devices installed, the higher the costs and the more maintenance required. Some software doesn’t require installing agents, but monitoring too many devices makes the effort more complex and error-prone. Finally, while network monitoring for security often focuses on external data flows, internal data flows should be monitored for suspicious usage as well.
  3. Accessing historical data. Real-time analysis isn’t always sufficient for detecting threats. More accurate threat analytics require historic data as well.
  4. Determining users. Although all data is associated with an IP address, this doesn’t necessarily identify the user associated with the data. User identity may make a difference when deciding whether data is legitimate or should be blocked.

Overcoming Network Monitoring Challenges

All of these challenges can be overcome with a more refined network monitoring strategy. Even encrypted traffic can be subjected through monitoring though designs that allow the data to be decrypted for inspection before passing it on to its destination.

Network monitoring is a vital element of both infrastructure management and information security. Managed services from CCS Technology group ensure your network provides both capacity and security. Contact us to learn more about how our services can improve your business’s IT experience.

Additional Resources

Everyone Is a Participant in Information Security

Discover the Dangers of the Dark Web

Don’t Overlook These Information Security Basics