5 disaster recovery tips from aboard the Battlestar Galactica

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In the year 2003, SCI FI Channel (now Syfy) aired a successful mini-series remake of the 1978 series, Battlestar Galactica, which launched the 2004 Battlestar Galactica series. In the plot of the mini-series, we have perhaps the most potent argument for a disaster recovery plan of any single piece of entertainment media.

A quick refresher: The beginning of Battlestar Galactica (2003) sees humanity at the height of culture and on the cusp of a digital revolution. The Twelve Colonies are comfortable and they are progressing. To top it off, humans have enjoyed a 40-year armistice with their sworn enemy, the Cylons.

The Cylons are a cybernetic race of soldiers and workers who had rebelled against humanity during a 12-year war and then disappeared into space.

During the mini-series, the Cylons return to rain down unholy hell on the Twelve Colonies, effectively destroying most of humanity via nuclear assault and…cyber warfare.

Meanwhile, Captain William Adama prepares to decommission his storied ship, the battlestar Galactica, which will soon be transformed into a museum.

So what does Battlestar Galactica have to do with your business network? Everything. The Cylons are able to destroy the Twelve Colonies by exploiting the exact same weaknesses that hackers use to destroy businesses every day.

Let’s take a look at what the Cylons did, and how Captain William Adama of the Battlestar Galactica is able to rescue humanity with the help of a disaster recovery plan.

The Nefarious Plan of Cylons and Cyber Attacks

In order to destroy the Twelve Colonies, the Cylons attack on two fronts. First, they make a physical attack with calculated nuclear strikes. Second, they carry out a catastrophic malware attack which renders nearly the entire military of the Twelve Colonies useless.

The Cylons carry out their cyber attack by seducing a human (literally, with a sexy spy model indistinguishable from humans) and using his credentials to access the military network. Then, they upload malware to the network that shuts down most of the battlestars, smaller ships, and other military units, and even drives them to attack and destroy one another.

The digital warfare perpetrated by the Cylons is nothing short of brilliant, and it is cataclysmic to the human race. In a short time, most of the human race is destroyed.

Cyber attacks on your business work the same way. For instance, malware will attack your network by either recognizing weaknesses in your digital infrastructure or by hiding in attached documents. With a few catchy subject lines, hackers are able to “seduce” your own employees into downloading dangerous material.

Even as vicious cyber attacks have become commonplace, end user education still falls behind the techniques of cyber criminals. Human error and insider threats remain a particular weak spot in the world of cybersecurity.

In one report that compiled 20 years of data, ITIC found that human error is the cause of 70% of data center incidents.

Whether it’s a sudden influx of downtime costing $100,000 per hour, or a major data loss incident racking up more than $18,000 for only 100 records, the financial losses can be as devastating as a Cylon attack. In fact, that type of loss can be outright fatal after experiencing a significant data loss incident.

So how did Battlestar Galactica continue for 75 episodes after the Cylons wiped out most of humanity?

Battlestar Galactica, Humanity’s Backup Plan

Commander William Adama was a man of extreme practicality, which some might say bordered on paranoia. As commander of the Battlestar Galactica, he insisted that the ship remain disconnected from the military network and prohibited any upgrades to digital interfaces. While the rest of the world became increasingly more connected, the Galactica was completely self-sufficient.

Adama’s disdain for the digital was more than an inability to adapt to evolving times – he in fact had his reasons. Adama knew that the Cylons had every tactical and strategic advantage in a digital world. They were created to out-process and out-think humans. He specifically kept his ship offline because he wanted to be able to maintain command if the central network was compromised. Boy, was he right on the money.

At the time of the Cylon’s attack on the Twelve Colonies, the battlestar Galactica was hosting an eclectic mix of military personnel and civilians to cover the ship’s decommissioning. Those aboard the ship went on to consist of most of humanity’s survivors.

For most of the remainder of the show, Adama must outthink the Cylons, flee their ranks, and ascertain the identities of the near-human Cylons that seek to infiltrate his ranks.

It is estimated that around 50,000 people lived aboard the ship at the beginning of Adama’s command of the survivors. By maintaining a command that was isolated from the main network, Adama is able to preserve humanity.

Backup and disaster recovery is an essential element of maintaining the longevity of your business. Just as Adama’s analog ship is able to maintain humanity, you should always back up your network in different places, both on your network and off your network.

In addition to Adama’s triumph for humanity’s future existence, the command structures are able to create a new government to guide the survivors beyond Adama’s military lead.

You should also have a disaster recovery plan, including a chain of command that ensures immediate response and establishes near-term operations and communication.

If you’re making a checklist, add a few of these things that we’ve learned from Battlestar Galactica:

  1. Back up your data
  2. Implement cybersecurity solutions
  3. Prepare and execute a Disaster Recovery Plan
  4. Don’t trust strange emails and attachments
  5. Trust the professionals

“So say we all.”

There are many other ways that Battlestar Galactica shows us what to do in the event of a disaster. We’d love to talk to you about them when you call us or send us a message.

You can also couple this article with our recent Star Wars Weapons Can Help You Find the Best Backup and Restore Plan for Your Business and The Top 5 Reasons to Prepare Your Business Continuity Plan.

Star Wars weapons can help you find the best backup and restore plan for your business

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You can create the best cybersecurity, cloud, and help desk solutions, but in the event that a disaster strikes your business, none of that will matter if you are not operational. Estimates of the cost of downtime range from $8,600 for small businesses to $100,000 for larger businesses. To avoid these astronomical costs, many businesses turn to an alternate site to backup and restore business operations.

Smooth operation of your business depends on a consistently reliable physical location for your employees and your equipment. To understand the three primary forms of backup sites – cold, hot, and warm – we’re going to examine three of the famous weapons from The Star Wars Saga.

Wondering what weapons have to do with a backup site? Allow me to explain.

Here’s the scenario:

You are a young Jedi Padawan during the Clone Wars. Your name is (First Name=take your real first name and add a hyphen somewhere at random, Last Name=the first syllable in your mom’s maiden name), and you have been on the trail of bounty hunter Cyb Rattack on the planet Datalos. Unfortunately, you have lost your lightsaber. What’s a Jedi to do?

The Blaster: the Cold Site Weapon

If you’re going to have any chance of stopping your enemy, you’re going to need a new weapon. If you’re limited on funds, you’ll probably want to opt for a good old-fashioned blaster.

A blaster is nothing like the graceful lightsaber, but at the very bare minimum it will get the job done. With a few extra credits and some elbow grease, it can easily be modified to meet your specific needs.

This is the same concept as a cold recovery site. If your office is hit with a disaster, you can choose a cold site to get back to business, but this is definitely the bare bones approach.

A cold site will most likely have only space, power, and utilities. You’re starting from scratch here. A cold site, like a blaster, is perfect for those who need something affordable that will do the trick – albeit sans all bells, whistles.

The Lightsaber: the Hot Site Weapon

When Anakin Skywalker loses a lightsaber, he doesn’t settle for a blaster pistol, he immediately finds or procures a brand new lightsaber. In fact, most young Jedi have to construct their own lightsabers as a ritualistic rite of passage.

The Lightsaber is not a cheap weapon. The construction of this beautiful laser sword requires a lot of effort, and even on the open market, it will cost quite a bit. If you have the credits and the time, it is the number-one best option for your next weapon. The same goes for a hot recovery site.

When you opt for a hot recovery site, you are getting all of the top-notch recovery services available. Your recovery site will be specifically designed to mirror the infrastructure of your original business, allowing for a seamless transition and eliminating expensive downtime.

The hot site will already have all of your data transferred, and will require no time delay in resuming network functions.

The hot recovery site, while the most costly of options, is the closest you will get to operating out of your original business location. This may not be a viable option for all businesses, but it is definitely the premium option, and best when seamless restoration is a necessity.

The Vibrosword: the Warm Site Weapon

If you’ve seen the newest Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi, you’ve seen the red-clad Praetorian Guard fight a wicked battle using vibroswords. These weapons, which utilize an electrically charged blade, are the only swords that can stand up against a lightsaber.

If you happen to have a decent amount of credits, but not enough for the real thing, you could purchase a vibrosword. This weapon is capable of superior movement, though it will involve less grace than a lightsaber and more of the chaos of nature. It is a perfect hybrid of the minimalism of a blaster and the power of a lightsaber.

You were most comfortable with a lightsaber, and it will take some effort getting to know your new weapon.

A warm recovery site is very similar. With this option, you’ll find an internet connection and available servers for network transfer, but there will be a brief delay while you move over network functions. Where the cold site was basically an empty room, the warm site will often include workspaces for key staff who may be displaced.

The warm recovery site won’t break the bank and you’ll end up getting more functionality, response and productivity with your space.

Use the Force

Unfortunately, backup and data recovery is something 3 of 4 businesses aren’t planning for.

Becoming familiar with the available weapons in your backup recovery arsenal will help you choose the best option for your business when the time comes.

Please give us a call or send us a message and we’ll share some more information about how a backup site would work for your business.

You’re also invited to check out our recent whitepaper on the best business continuity plans. We’re happy to help, no strings attached.

The top 5 reasons to prepare your business continuity plan

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The last thing you want is to go out of business in the event of an unforeseen circumstance. A business continuity plan is essential for modern businesses in any industry. Regardless of what kind of technology you use, think of this plan as a blueprint for keeping your business running in the event of a major disaster.

Disasters come in many forms, including natural disasters, human error, cyber attacks, and insider threats. The worst disasters always have the same effect: stopping your business dead in its tracks.

Sometimes, it’s hard to really conceptualize the importance of a continuity plan without looking at what happens if you don’t have one.

Take, for instance, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Urban legend has it that the conflagration started when Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern in the family barn. The fire’s origin is debatable. The aftermath, however, is well documented and devastating by any standards.

The Great Chicago fire completely destroyed 3.2 miles in the heart of Chicago, rapidly consuming homes and businesses. The inferno resulted in the death of 300 citizens, the destruction of 17,500 buildings, Of the 300,000 residents of Chicago, 100,000 were left homeless.

The 185 firefighters employed within Chicago were ill-equipped to handle the ferocious spread of the fire, which was attributed to a drought as well as the mostly wooden construction of the city’s buildings, roads, and sidewalks.The total cost of the fire was estimated at $222 million, or roughly $4.6 billion today.

When a disaster this large happens, the only way for a business to survive is to have an understanding of what needs to be protected, how you want to respond, and which practices to follow to continue operations. Here are the 5 most important things to focus on when putting together a continuity plan.

1. Minimizing Downtime

The primary reason for a business continuity plan is to eliminate downtime. 75% of businesses don’t have any sort of business continuity plan or disaster recovery plan. Skipping out on a continuity plan is not only reckless, but extremely expensive.

ITIC’s latest survey data finds that 98% of organizations say a single hour of downtime costs over $100,000.Those aren’t numbers to be ignored. Whether you suffer a natural disaster or a cyber attack, the only way to stay in business is to continue your work as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may very well go out of business.

2. Protecting What’s Important

A business continuity plan should detail the necessary components and data that will keep your business running. This involves inventory of backup devices and cloud services, as well as an outline of your data backup specifics (when and where) and an overview of how company assets will be handled when disaster strikes.

3. Communicating with Confidence

One of the primary benefits of creating a business continuity plan is to establish a state of order amid the chaos. Your plan should focus on a chain-of-command delegation of responsibility, and should include reliable communication channels prioritized for contacting employees, partners and customers to minimize breakdowns in collaboration and service.

4. Resuming Operations

The goal of any business continuity plan is to get you back in business as soon as possible. Many companies have taken the extra precaution of utilizing backup and recovery sites. These are off-campus facilities where your business can be relocated to continue operations regardless of any damage or limited access you may experience.

These sites run the gamut from “cold sites”, which are bare-boned facilities without any installed operations, to “hot sites”, which are exact duplicates of your current operations.

5. Ensuring Your Recovery

A recent report finds that 60% of small businesses close within 6 months of a significant cyber attack. But this doesn’t have to be you. Implementing a business continuity plan to your current backup and data recovery solutions will allow you the peace of mind that even if disaster strikes, you don’t have to become a statistic.

We Are Here to Help

CCS Technology Group would be happy to help your business create a specific business continuity plan. We have proven experience developing solutions that will keep you in business no matter what outside forces may arrive.

It’s important to plan ahead. It might just save your business.

Give us a call or send us a message to learn more.

 

Star Wars is basically an ad for ERP systems

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We’ve all seen the commercial where the entire concept is “Don’t do X or you’re totally doomed. Do Y instead.” Like, some guy picks up a can of generic beer and he’s lonely and depressed, but then he grabs a Bud Light and he’s surrounded by beautiful women and fancy cars. That kind of commercial.

Well, it turns out that the Star Wars saga is basically a cautionary tale for what happens if you don’t use Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Here’s why…

1.  It’s an ERP!

Every time any jedi in Star Wars wants to get anything done, they have to hop in a starfighter and zip from planet to planet. You would think with an entire galaxy to protect, they might create some sort of proprietary ERP system to save the jedis some precious time and fuel.

Example: Obi-Wan needs to jet off to planet Kamino to check up on some poisonous dart and then finds that the Republic invested tons of money in clones. RED FLAG!

With an ERP system, all resources in your business are live. If $50,000 is spent by your clone recruitment department, you’re going to be able to pull that information on the fly and save yourself a trip across the galaxy – not to mention saving those funds for lightsaber components and blue milk.

Tracking live resources is one of the most important parts of any fast-moving business, and so is communication.

When you utilize an ERP system optimized for your operations and priorities, your departments have a vehicle for interdepartmental coordination, communication and efficiency. The reduced payroll hours and added transparency ERP delivers creates an immediate reporting channel and enhances efficiency throughout your business.

This can mean big savings and profits. Businesses using an ERP saw an average increase in profitability of 10% over two years in a recent Aberdeen study. Additionally, 96% of the top-performing companies experiencing growth rely on ERP solutions.

2. Use the ERP, Luke…

Arguably, the greatest tragedy in the Star Wars saga is that the friendship and guidance of Obi-Wan is not enough to save Anakin from joining the dark side of the Force. Obi-Wan, clouded by his good intentions, is unable to see the dangerous path his friend has followed. This, of course, leads to the death of Padme, the birth of Vader, and years of chaos and destruction for our favorite galaxy far, far away.

If you are fortunate in your business, you are probably so busy that you don’t have time to crunch numbers and run manual reports, or to update forecasts based on these predictions. The good news is that unlike Obi-Wan, you can make good use of an ERP system to keep your forecasts regular and current.

ERP systems gather live data for your reporting requirements, and it can predict future patterns based on this data. From anticipating office expenses to scaling workforce resources to predicting network traffic patterns, capturing and analyzing this information in real time according to your operational KPIs is priceless when planning for your business growth.

3. The ERP is strong with this one…

When you utilize ERP systems, you also benefit from scalability. Both the Empire and the Republic suffered from gross inefficiencies.

The Republic had a bunch of clones sitting on a planet working out and training, not knowing how many they would need. They then needed to rush production on hundreds of thousands more to fight the Empire’s drone forces.

With a proper ERP system, the Republic could have used forecasting to know how many soldiers they would need for each battle, and then they could have scaled quickly and efficiently to deliver the right amount and type of soldiers. Why send 20,000 to each planet when 200 would do?

Just shoot us a message or give us a call, and we can chat about how to support and optimize your business operations with the right ERP capabilities.

May the Force be with you…

Aerosmith and the art of rockin’ IT solutions

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“Tell me how it is that you can sleep in the night, without thinking you lost everything that was good in your life to the toss of the dice?” – Aerosmith, “What it Takes”, (Pump, 1989)

Steven Tyler totally has the right idea on the song “What it Takes”. You never want to roll the dice when it comes to IT solutions. Inspired by some of Aerosmith’s greatest tracks, here’s a setlist of rockin’ IT solutions for your office.

Dream On

Ever catch yourself daydreaming, head in the clouds? In your business, that’s not a bad idea. Introducing a cloud-based solution to your business will help you streamline your workplace systems, improve your operation and reduce overhead costs.

Right Scale reports that “Companies now run 79 percent of workloads in cloud, with 41 percent of workloads in public cloud and 38 percent in private cloud.”

Cloud solutions allow for ease of installation, lower payroll hours, and scalability for growing businesses. Those are pretty impressive stats, right? If you know anyone in business who thinks they can move forward without incorporating cloud solutions, you can probably tell them to “dream on.”

Just Push Play

Often, apps exist that are perfect for your business. When they aren’t, you need the capability to develop your own apps that are customized to fit your specific business needs.

App creation is also super beneficial when accounting for the increase in employees who need to be able to work from mobile devices. The proliferation of mobile apps in business actually casts a shadow on those not yet in the app game. Adobe reports that “61% of organizations believe that if a company hasn’t deployed any enterprise mobile apps yet they’re at a competitive disadvantage”.

Whether you’re building internal apps for specialized workflow or customer-facing applications to better engage clients, the goal is to create something that fits your business so well that all you have to do is “just push play” and you are ready to get to work.

Back in the Saddle

Picture this: It’s a sold-out stadium show for Aerosmith. Steven Tyler saunters out and takes center stage, his ego boosted by the adoring applause of tens of thousands of fans. Joe Perry follows suit, retrieving his beautiful Les Paul Gibson guitar from its stand. And it’s totally busted. For some reason, the roadie forgot to string the guitar. It’s sitting there with one D string, the other five tucked away somewhere backstage or on the tour bus. What’s a rock star to do?

This is a situation that happens often with technology, particularly if you have been handling your own system backup and software maintenance.

What would Joe Perry do? He’d do the same thing any IT team would suggest. He’d reach for his backup. If you’re Joe Perry, that means you reach for one of the other 600 guitars in your collection. If you’re a business owner, you need your own redundancies in place to keep the business going if your systems are interrupted for technical or human reasons, which can vary from the mundane to the criminal.

In fact, you may even want to work with your IT team to add a foolproof disaster recovery plan for any situation to the list of your IT solutions and you’ll be “back in the saddle” in no time.

We would be happy to jam with you about more ways to incorporate rockin’ IT solutions into your business. Feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email.

Justice is servered: The ultimate professional services superhero team

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As managed service providers (MSPs) develop more expertise to fit the specific needs of their clients, it’s often beneficial to offer advanced professional services to growing businesses. You can compare this to superheroes teaming up in the Justice League to save the world and take on nefarious criminals. Sure, Batman might be able to fight off a dozen assailants, but it’s a big bonus when Superman is there to round them up and fly them off to jail at the speed of sound.

Ideally, when choosing your managed service provider, you want to make sure they have experts on their team who can fill the following roles:

1. The Heart, Wonder Woman

One of the primary professional services you’ll encounter is physical installation. For this, you’ll want to look for an MSP with the physical resources and knowledge to properly set up your office network and system to fit the needs of your team and your customers.

Think of Wonder Woman. She’s a fierce warrior and easily capable of the physical work, but one of her greatest strengths is her compassion. She longs to understand and honor the human element. This is a quality that is super important when setting up a physical network. An MSP needs to know how the network will be used and how to apply the infrastructure to your specific business and organizational needs.

2. The Fortifier, Batman, Cyborg

Remember that time you snuck into the Batcave? Probably not. That’s because Bruce Wayne has built a veritable fortress with the best cybersecurity and physical security in the world to guard his secret identity and to protect his Bat-family.

Many MSPs will do the exact same for your business, by installing physical security components to work in collaboration with your cybersecurity solutions. Physical security options can include cameras, electronic access, and more – all designed to eliminate external and internal threats. Sometimes, this even requires educating employees and adjusting current behaviors. Especially when 55 percent of organizations have had a security incident or data breach due to a malicious or negligent employee. Even Robin needs a lesson or two about how not to blow things up in the armory.

3. The Mindreader, Martian Manhunter

The Martian Manhunter is the Justice League’s resident telepath. He knows the best path for people’s lives, because he excels at reading their hopes, dreams, and goals.

The best MSPs know what you need for your business, because they put in the time and effort to get to know your business and its operations. From a professional services standpoint, this means they are often able to create custom IT solutions for your business.

One of the hottest professional services right now is app development. Any leading MSP should be able to create a custom app for your business that will help streamline your particular workflow. In fact, app development is practically becoming mandatory for businesses who want to win customer loyalty. OuterBox reports that 40% of users will go to the competitor after a bad mobile experience.

4. The Speedster, Flash, Superman

When Lois Lane gets a craving for authentic Thai cuisine, Superman is off like a rocket to Bangkok. When some poor gal falls from a 45-story building, the Flash runs up the facade and catches her, depositing her safely on the rooftop garden.

Many MSPs provide the same level of on-call service. Make sure to always check your MSP’s hours of operation, service response standards and after-hours options. Some MSPs even offer a Batcave-like Network Operating Center (NOC), where your network can be monitored 24/7/365. This is the best way to make sure your network issues are solved in a flash.

5. The Backup, Green Arrow

In the world of IT solutions, it’s important to create redundancies. If the measures you have in place to keep your network running end up taking a beating, then you better make sure you have a backup plan.

In the Justice League, that means Batman might have to call in his pal Green Arrow, who happens to have a knack for hitting the bullseye when things go awry. In IT, that means that your MSP can help you target areas of data that need to be backed up more frequently, and create a disaster plan.

Please give us a call or send us an email when you are ready to chat about these super Professional Services and more.

Do you know the value of your CRM?

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In 1989, a small-time collector was perusing art at a flea market. He ended up buying an uninspired pastoral painting, purely for the frame.

When he got it home, he removed the painting. He had no intention of keeping it. To his dismay, he discovered the frame was cheaply made and not salvageable.

But he found something else inside. Folded behind the painting was a copy of the Declaration of Independence. He could tell it was old, but he didn’t think it valuable. Then a friend urged him to research it.

As it turned out, the hidden copy was one of only 24 first prints of the historic document. In June of 2000, it sold at Sotheby’s for $8.1 million.

Hidden Value

If you do a quick Google search, you’ll find a slew of similar stories.

The original Velvet Underground demo someone bought for 75¢. The 11th-century Chinese pottery bought for three bucks and later sold for $2.2 million. The Warhol sketch purchased for $5 that turned out to be worth an estimated $2 million.

Sometimes there’s immeasurable value right under our noses, but we don’t see it. For many small business leaders, that’s true of their CRM solution. If you think of your CRM as little more than an elaborate database, you could be one of them.

How Your CRM Can Be A Game-Changer

A CRM (short for “customer relationship management”) solution is a powerful, robust tool—if you know how to use it. Unfortunately, we’ve worked with plenty of SMB owners who are barely scratching the surface.

Below is a quick list of some of the powerful things your CRM can do that you might not know about.

Streamline the sales process.

The goal in sales is to convert leads to prospects and prospects to customers. A CRM helps with that process by providing a clear picture of where each contact is in the process. By reviewing previous sales attempts, you can determine what strategies work best, equipping your sales team for better closing rates in the future.

Close the right deals.

One of the challenges of sales is qualifying potential customers. The faster you can determine who is and who is not a likely to buy, the less time you have to waste pursuing dead ends. A CRM gives you a framework for making that call faster, ensuring that you close the right deals—for you and for your clients.

Know your market.

You can also use the data in your CRM to tease out trends and movements in your market. If customers are migrating from one kind of product or service to another, you’ll see it in the reports. If your business is seasonal, that’ll become clear, too.

Meet customers’ needs.

Cross-selling and upselling get a bad rap. Neither is inherently bad. It’s all about knowing what actually helps your customer base. The better your customer records, the more easily you can identify the products and add-ons that will help the most.

Manage customer communication.

When all communication is housed in one place, it’s much easier for your employees to deliver top-tier customer service. This is especially true in the moment, like when they have a customer on the phone. A CRM makes that extra insight possible across your team.

Personalize communication.

Automatic messaging can include order status updates, shipping notifications, and simple thank you messages. A CRM gives you the ability to automate each of these with some nice personal touches. That way your customers know what’s going on at all times.

Incorporate social media.

The most current CRM tools also incorporate options for social media contact. Given the marketing potential of social media, this is a must-have for small business owners. And a CRM makes utilizing social media—for everything from announcements to events to contests to customer stories—so much easier.

Let CCS Technology Guide You to the Perfect CRM

With all the CRM solutions out there, how do you find the one that’s best for your business? And once you’ve found it, how do you transition your current process over to the new CRM?

The easiest way also happens to be the smartest way—get some help from the experts.

The pros at CCS can take you through the whole process, ensuring you end up with the best possible CRM solution for your business needs. If you’re ready to unleash the power of a CRM, give us a call. We’re ready to help.

Office 365: An overview

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Microsoft changed the game dramatically a few of years back. The introduction of its cloud-hosted productivity suite was big. Office 365 is a subscription-based service designed to replace the older license-based business model.

With an Office 365 subscription, companies buy time-limited access to a host of Microsoft’s tools. The service comes with the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more. Also included are premium mobile applications and online, browser-based versions.

In tech terms, Office 365 is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) package. SaaS is fast becoming the most popular way to deploy enterprise software. However, the shift does prompt a key question.

Is the new model better than older, licensed versions of Microsoft Office?

Office 365 Advantages

The older, licensed-based model was simple. You bought copies of Microsoft Office and that was it. You had a productivity suite . . . and nothing more.

But with Office 365, you gain an array of perks and benefits not available within older versions.

Get the Services You Need

One of the main advantages for small and medium-sized business is the potential for cost savings. With Office 365 you’ll enjoy a predictable monthly cost. The budget-friendly nature of a fixed expense is particularly nice for SMBs.

Microsoft offers a variety of plans for businesses. Options include packages based on users count and included applications. Many small business leaders find this model appealing because they can pick and choose what they want. For example, what if you need Microsoft’s applications, but you don’t need an exchange email server? With Office 365, there’s a package for that.

Microsoft’s basic plan for businesses includes all the core components of its suite – Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access and Publisher. It also includes cloud-based storage and costs less than $10 per month per user. You also have the option to add several of Microsoft’s web services. This plan includes Exchange, SharePoint, Skype and more. Alternately, you can choose a plan that only includes the web services without the applications.

You select the components you need.

Always Updated

Microsoft rolls out updates and upgrades for the Office suite on a regular basis. Office 365 means you’ll always have access to the latest new features and tools. Gone are the days when you’d have to buy a whole new copy to avoid being stuck with an antiquated version.

Remote Access

Remote access is another huge benefit. You can access your documents and files via any mobile device. That gives your staff the ability to be more flexible and more productive.

Cloud Storage

Office 365 subscribers also get access to OneDrive for cloud-based storage. Currently, every Office 365 plan comes with 1 TB of storage per user.

A Solid Solution

There’s a lot to like about Office 365, and very few downsides. It’s a product that provides tremendous bang for the buck. We strongly recommend it for SMBs.

If Office 365 sounds like it would be a good fit for your business, CCS Technology is here to help. We can guide you to the right package for your organization. What’s more, we can also assist with the migration to Office 365, making sure the move is painless.

Give us a call today.

Is your network safe from cyber attacks?

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Before the landmark work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch, humanity had some . . . interesting explanations for causes of disease. A prominent theory held that “bad air” was to blame for ailments. Odd though that sounds, it makes sense.

With no knowledge of germs, people relied on basic observations about sickness and health. They saw that people living near foul odor (like primitive sewer systems) were more likely to fall ill. The most noticeable issue was the smell – hence the theory.

Eventually, Pasteur and Koch would develop what is now known as “germ theory.” This changed how we conceive of disease. But there’s a valuable lesson in humanity’s previous mistaken understanding.

You can’t adequately protect yourself from something if you don’t understand the true nature of the threat.

When your network gets sick.

There’s a modern, technical equivalent to germ theory: cyber crime. On some level, we all acknowledge the similarities. After all, we call malicious software “viruses.”

Unfortunately, a lot of business owners understand as much about ransomware as folks in the Middle Ages understood about bacteria. Too many of us talk about malicious software like it just appears out of the ether.

We know how horrible viruses are when they strike. But do you really understand where they come from? If you don’t, your network could be exposed.

The origins of malware.

Malware doesn’t spontaneously appear. Viruses and ransomware are the direct results of intentional effort. Said another way, cyber attacks start with cyber criminals.

Their motivations vary from financial gain to political statements. Their objectives are the same either way. Cyber criminals create malware to disrupt computer systems and take networks offline. Even if they don’t make money from the attack, the financial impact on affected businesses is still considerable.

The effects of cyber crime.

A recent Business Insider article starts with this ominous opening line.

“Warren Buffett sees cyber attacks as a bigger threat to humanity than nuclear weapons.”

That may sound like a dramatic overstatement, but the most recent cyber crime statistics lend Buffett’s assessment uncomfortable credibility. Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that the total cost of cyber crime will hit $6 trillion dollars by 2021. (Yes, that’s “trillion” with a “t.”) What’s more, half of all small to medium-sized business experienced at least one cyber attack in the last year. Finally, according to the Denver Post, “60% of small companies that suffer a cyber attack are out of business within six months.”

The financial impact of a single cyber attack is significant enough to undo the foundation of your business. That’s no small thing.

Stopping cyber crime.

You can’t stop something if you don’t understand it. Our efforts to stop literal epidemics weren’t nearly as successful as they could have been before we understood germ theory. Similarly, stopping cyber crime comes down to understanding the very nature of it.

If you want to protect your company, you have to tap into some serious know-how.

Of course, most small business owners don’t have the time for that. It can take years of experience to really understand the nature of cybersecurity. On top of that, the landscape of cyber crime is always changing. It’s not easy to stay current.

Which is why so many small businesses turn to outside help. Not only does it save you time, but it could easily save the future of your business should you experience a cyber attack.

CCS Technology and cybersecurity.

Here at CCS Technology, we understand the complexity of keeping your network safe. We know what’s at stake, and we know the kinds of tactics cyber criminals rely on. We have a consistent track record of safeguarding our clients, and we can help you beef up your security, too.

If you’re interested in giving your organization the protection you need from cyber crime, get in touch with us today. Our friendly technicians are ready to walk you through every step of the process.

Related Post: Cybercrime: 5 Things You Need to Know

What is hybrid cloud storage?

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Cloud-based storage is hardly a new technology. It’s been a common IT solution for a number of years. For the most part, cloud storage is seen as a practical, convenient, flexible solution. However, despite its advantages, not everyone is convinced.

That’s because some still have concerns about the speed of access to data hosted in the cloud, possible latency, and security and compliance challenges. To address these fears, a new solution is now available – hybrid cloud storage.

How does hybrid cloud storage work?

Hybrid cloud storage is essentially a mix of off-site (cloud) and on-site storage. You keep some data in one place and some data in the other. This blended approach makes sense for several reasons.

Flexible Options

With hybrid cloud storage, you have multiple options for data storage. Your information can reside in an on-premise server, in a public cloud server, or in a private cloud server.

On-site storage works well for quick access. Public cloud servers are convenient, as all the maintenance is taken care of on your behalf. Private cloud servers require more effort on your part but come with a higher level of control and security.

The good news is that hybrid cloud solutions give you the ability to choose the blend that’s right for your company.

Strategic Storage

How do you know what data should go where? That’s a matter of your overall IT strategy.

For example, a financial firm might decide to store critical data (such as customers’ financial details) on its own local servers, while less sensitive data might be stored in a public cloud server. Alternately, a company might use both the private and public cloud, leaning on the latter for data archiving, backup, disaster recovery, workflow sharing and distribution and the former for high-security data.

You don’t have to go all-in on a single type of storage. Rather, you can mix and match according to your needs and requirements.

Scalable Growth

Many companies use hybrid cloud storage to supplement internal storage. This makes sense, particularly as a part of your growth strategy. If your business is expanding, it can be difficult to keep up with storage needs. However, cloud servers give you an easy way to add storage space quickly.

Use your local storage for the data you access more frequently and relegate data archives to the cloud. In that way, hybrid cloud storage can really take the bite out of some normal growing pains.

Cost-effective

There’s one final benefit. For a lot of organizations, there are some real cost savings to a hybrid cloud approach.

No, that’s not a guarantee that your company will save money. However, the cost of purchasing and maintaining all your own server space can be prohibitive for small businesses. A hybrid storage strategy allows for options to lower those expenses, limiting the amount of onsite storage you need while still meeting your company’s storage needs.

The challenge of hybrid storage.

The main challenge for companies interested in a hybrid storage solution is knowing which options to choose. You can’t capitalize on the advantages of the hybrid cloud if you don’t deploy your infrastructure the right way. Luckily, CCS Technology can help.

CSS Technology has years of experience setting up hybrid cloud storage solutions. We’re here to make sure you enjoy all the benefits of the hybrid cloud without any headaches. If you’d like to learn more about how a hybrid cloud approach might work for your business, give us a call. We’ll be happy to put our expertise to work for you.