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Resources & Advisors for Buying & Selling a Business
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Case Study – Healthcare – Skyway Behavioral Health
Start Up Requiring Robust Infrastructure – From Planning to Implementation
The 7 Irresistible Qualities of Cloud ERP
Learn why ERP tools are an critical component for many businesses.
Why a Business Continuity Plan is Essential
Learn why your company needs a business continuity plan.
Ransomware 101
If you’re looking for ways to stop ransomware dead in its tracks, the experts at CCS Technology are here to help.
How managed services make the difference
Learn more about the benefits of partnering with a managed services provider.
Cloud Services and the SMB Revolution
Learn more about how Cloud Services from CCS make your life easier.
Office 365 Migration Made Easy
Migrating over to Office 365 has never been easier with CCS Technology.
The Advantages of Working with I.T. Pros
Learn how working with a seasoned technology pro makes your work easier.
Closing Common Cybersecurity Holes
Learn several critical cybersecurity tips and tricks any SMB can use.
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Learn more about the benefits of partnering with a managed services provider.
- Learn more about the benefits of partnering with a manged services provider.
- Learn more about the benefits of partnering with a manged services provider.
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Here’s What It Takes to Succeed at Cloud
/in Blog, Cloud /by Chris HigginsWhat does it take to succeed at cloud? You can have a successful migration to cloud and still not experience the benefits you expect. Truly succeeding at cloud begins with understanding the technology, having a strategy that aligns cloud use with business needs, and putting appropriate support teams and systems in place.
Understanding Cloud Technology
There are many different kinds of cloud, and you won’t succeed if you pick the wrong cloud model for your business. In addition to choosing from Software as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, and Platform as a Service clouds, you also need to decide whether you need a public cloud, a private cloud, or a hybrid cloud. You also need to decide whether you want to use a single cloud provider or create a multicloud environment leveraging multiple cloud providers. You need to know how cloud will fit into your end-to-end business workflows.
Along with understanding what cloud offers, you need to understand what cloud doesn’t offer. Cloud can free your team from much routine support, but cloud doesn’t free your team from responsibility. You’ll still need to make sure you have a way to monitor your infrastructure and have a backup strategy if there’s an outage (cloud is highly reliable, but all the big and small cloud providers have had incidents that impacted customers).
Cloud also doesn’t eliminate the need for you to implement security controls. The cloud provider protects the physical infrastructure and may implement patches, depending on the kind of cloud you’re using, but they do not completely protect applications and databases from unauthorized access. Your team needs to ensure appropriate configurations and roles are in place to keep private systems private. You need to continue to review logs to detect breaches.
Plan to Use Cloud Strategically
Cloud can be used simply to alleviate the burden on your IT team. It can also be used to provide business advantages, but that requires thinking strategically about using cloud rather than seeing it simply as a fix for technology challenges.
To create a cloud strategy, you need to understand how your current IT is limiting the business, whether they aren’t able to roll out new products and services quickly enough, there isn’t enough capacity to support demand, or other challenges.
Once you know the business problems, you can identify ways to leverage cloud to address these business needs. You can address these department-by-department or take a higher-level view and implement your cloud capability as a collection of services that can support multiple departments.
Put the Right Support in Place
Cloud changes how your technology team interacts with technology and how your end users interact with technology. You should anticipate reorganizing and retraining your technology team to provide them with the tools and skills to support the new cloud-based systems and resolve users’ problems. This may require hiring new staff or engaging a support organization that’s already deeply familiar with cloud.
How successful have you been integrating cloud technology into your organization? CCS Technology Group provides cloud services to help you understand cloud technology, develop your strategy for using cloud, and support your cloud effectively. Contact us to learn more about what it really takes to succeed with cloud.
Additional Cloud Resources
The Cloud Solutions Primer eBook
Calculating the ROI of Moving to the Cloud
5 Changes to Make When You Switch to Disaster Recovery in the Cloud
5 Tips for Getting the Best Results from a Managed Services Provider
/in Blog, Managed Services /by Chris HigginsThere are many things to think through when you choose a managed services provider, and hopefully you select a provider that’s a good fit for your business. But don’t stop thinking about your managed services provider once you sign the contract. Think through how you’ll work with the provider so they can succeed in delivering services that help your business succeed.
1. Make sure you get the right services from the right provider
There are two ways to think about this. The right services are the services you need to address your business’s IT problems, whether it’s help with your network, cloud, desktop support, or security. You want to make sure you get the services you need from a provider that’s got the skills and experience to deliver them effectively. If your provider doesn’t have a background in a technology or service you need, you’ll be better off contracting with a second provider who does have that expertise, even if it means you add complexity to managing your providers.
2. Get clear about service delivery
It isn’t likely you’ll completely eliminate your internal IT team, so carefully define the boundaries around the work you’ll do yourself and the work you want the managed services provider to handle. If the contract didn’t define a detailed set of deliverables, have a meeting when the contract starts to spell out your expectations and address concerns. Along with this, carefully define the communications process so both you and the provider know how new requests will be handled and how you’ll work to resolve any problems.
3. Set metrics
You should have a plan for how you’ll evaluate the effectiveness of your managed services arrangement. Define metrics before the contract starts, and be sure to let the provider know. That way they can focus their efforts on the concerns that really matter to you. Don’t wait until the end of the contract to let the provider know if they aren’t measuring up. Do a periodic assessment and bring your concerns to them when there’s still time to make changes and get a positive result.
4. Treat the managed services provider as a member of your team
The more the provider knows about your business, the better they’ll be able to tailor the services they deliver to your business needs. While you may not want to give them all the details, if you give the provider information about your business problems and strategies, they’ll be able to give you better support that helps you meet long-term goals.
5. Let the provider do their job
Pay attention to what the provider delivers, but let them figure out how they want to provide the service. Managed services providers support many businesses, and they’ve most likely found a way of working that works for them as well as the clients they support. As long as they’re not doing something illegal, unethical, or disruptive to your business, you should focus on their results and not how they’re getting them.
CCS Technology Group is dedicated to providing top quality managed services to our clients. Contact us to learn how our team can help solve your business information technology challenges.
Additional Resources
6 Big Benefits from Using Managed Services
How Managed Services Make the Difference
Qualities to Look for in a Cloud ERP
/in Blog, ERP Software /by Chris HigginsBusinesses in every industry and sector are looking for ways to improve efficiency and internal processes to boost growth and, ultimately, profits. Manufacturing and distribution are a couple of areas that are greatly realizing the benefits of a modern ERP solution.
A cloud-based system offers organizations state-of-the-art technology, which is revolutionizing the way professionals work. There are clear advantages that a cloud-based ERP can offer a business.
Top 7 Reasons to Adopt a Cloud-based ERP Solution
1. Budget Savings
Business leaders are often hesitant to move forward with an upgrade or first-time installation, as they worry about cost. There’s good news: moving to the cloud can actually save an organization money. In fact, according to Acumatica, a leading ERP provider, 82% of companies have cost savings when they move to the cloud.
While on-premise ERPs generally require a hefty startup cost, cloud-based systems should prove easier on the purse strings. Decision makers should plan to do some investigative work and steer clear of vendors that charge per user, as those fees can add up and the plan would prove more difficult to adjust as needs evolve. Acumatica, for instance, offers an unlimited number of users and is scalable, adjusting to what suits the customer without added cost.
2. Easy Implementation
Implementing a new system can be daunting, but moving to the cloud makes the process much easier. No longer are companies concerned with finagling servers, installing software, and hoping that the system works well with the supporting network.
A cloud-based system is housed off-premise and can be managed without straining internal employees. The IT department can then focus on much more important matters that can generate increased business and profits. Implementing a streamlined ERP solution that lives in the cloud will make employees’ lives easier, not create issues and more work.
3. Reliability
Business leaders are typically concerned with ensuring that any steps forward will not cause delays or slow down functionality. They can rest assured that cloud technology has been a steady piece of business management for a couple of decades; and it is now proving to be even more reliable than out-of-date legacy systems.
The key is to partner with a solid vendor that has proven results — ideally in the same industry that the company works in. Designate a team from the IT department, as well as those from other departments throughout the organization, to lead the project. They should read testimonials, interview other clients of top finalists, and, if possible, visit their offices to see the system at work.
4. Performance
It’s a common myth that working in the cloud brings with it slower results. Speed is not an issue with a modern ERP — today, cloud-based systems can compete or even beat out on-premise systems.
Improved connection speeds and other advancements in technology have paved a new way forward in the cloud computing ecosystem. While business leaders may express concerns around drops in efficiency and response, they can rest assured that today’s ERP systems are truly industry-best.
5. Easy Maintenance
On-premise ERPs are frustrating to the internal team, as they require server and local maintenance. When a business hosts its ERP solution, it is fully responsible for maintaining its upkeep, which can be extremely time consuming.
There’s also obvious risk of in-house management — if it goes offline there can be dramatic, and even devastating impact, to the operational side of the business. A cloud-based system mitigates the risk that comes with on-premise systems. The business will not be taxed with hiring additional staff to maintain a new server and see it through its ups and downs. Instead, the provider will handle all problems; an employee simply logs in and reports what is needed.
6. Security
The provider will also be able to provide the necessary security the system and business need. While concerns do loom about security in the cloud, it is much safer than most would think.
There are also steps that can be taken in-house, such as safe record-keeping. Make sure the company that is hired includes high standards of certification, compliance, and data backup and recovery. If it is determined that the ERP vendor’s efforts to ensure security aren’t adequate, boost an internal strategy to protect the business from cyber attacks.
7. 24/7 Access, From Anywhere
One of the best benefits of a cloud-based ERP is the opportunity to access important information and data at any time and from any location, as long as WiFi or a browser and Internet connectivity exists. This type of accessibility was unheard of until the past few years.
With this type of convenience, teams can work at full capacity in the field or remotely. Dashboards make function-centric visuals available at the touch of a button, giving the workforce an obvious advantage. Likewise, this frees leadership, which can move approvals along quickly. Customers will benefit as well, as the entire team will be working in real-time, offering consistent updates.
Join the Cloud, Today!
CSS Technology has the knowhow to take businesses into the future by streamlining process management, particularly for Small to- medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that are looking for an opportunity to improve efficiency. Put the power of a cloud-based ERP to work, in a cost-effective and effortless approach.
Contact us to find out more about how state-of-the-art technology can transform and prepare for growth.
Additional ERP Resources
ERP for Distribution Companies
How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution
How to Select an ERP Solution