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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
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Cloud Services and the SMB Revolution
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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.
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Learn several critical cybersecurity tips and tricks any SMB can use.
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Get the Basics Right With Better Patch Management
/in Blog, Business Continuity /by Chris HigginsSuccess in any organization begins with mastering the fundamentals. In information technology, one of the most fundamental practices is patch management. Software and firmware need periodic updates to address security vulnerabilities and other issues.
Whether they’re released on a schedule or released urgently in response to a critical vulnerability, protecting systems, data, users, and customers requires applying patches in a timely manner to all affected systems. Far too many businesses fail at this basic process.
Patch Installation Isn’t As Simple As It Sounds
Although it sounds like it should be straightforward—receive patch, apply patch—the reality is that patching is complex. There are several reasons for this:
There’s a wide variety of systems to be patched. Patches come from everywhere. Today’s organizations have multiple operating systems, multiple hypervisors, and multiple versions of the software products they own. Keeping track of all of those systems and their patch levels is difficult. In addition, companies now have to think about how to manage patches on the mobile systems their employees use.
Patches need to be tested. No matter how important the vendor says the patch is, companies can’t simply apply it to their systems. All patches need to be tested to make sure they don’t unintentionally break a critical application. Plus, even tested patches can fail when they’re installed on production servers, and businesses need to document how they’ll back out and recover if something goes wrong.
Applying patches takes time. First, unless the process is automated, applying patches to all systems can take a lot of an operations team’s workday. Maybe more important, applying patches generally causes system downtime. That impacts business operations, and with today’s 24×7 business hours, it can be hard to find an appropriate time to perform the installation.
Not all patches are equally important. If it’s difficult to get all patches installed, the situation might not be so bad if businesses were able to get the critical patches installed. But it’s hard for companies to keep track of vulnerabilities and effectively evaluate and prioritize the importance of the many patches they receive.
Get On Top of Patches With Managed Services
One of the best ways to get on top of patches is to use IT managed services. A managed services provider is experienced at overseeing the routine maintenance of all your technology resources, including tracking and applying patches. Through their broad experience with technology, managed services providers are able to evaluate patch priority and ensure the critical items are handled rapidly. They can implement technology to make the patching process easier, using tools to scan systems to identify vulnerabilities and automation to ensure the issues are addressed.
How are you keeping up with patches? Contact CCS Technology Group if you’ve fallen behind and would like to implement a process to catch you up and keep you current with critical systems patches.
Choose the Right Approach for Moving Applications to the Cloud
/in Blog, Cloud /by Chris HigginsIf the cloud were throwing a party, it would send out two kinds of invitations: come as you are, or dress for the occasion.
Come As You Are: Lift & Shift
“Come as you are” means moving your existing applications in their current form to the cloud. You need to make sure your cloud environment parallels your existing production environment, but there’s no work (or time or money) spent to rearchitect the applications to work in the cloud.
This has the advantage of being relatively fast and low cost, but means whatever problems your applications have on site will be replicated in the cloud. It also means you may not be able to take advantage of new features and services the cloud offers, including the ability to scale automatically when demand increases.
When this approach is appropriate:
Lift and shift can be appropriate if you have to move out of your current premises quickly or if you don’t have the staff or budget to work on redesigning applications for the cloud. You may also want to keep the same architecture for external facing applications where any changes might impact customers. This is also the right approach to take if your move to the cloud is meant for disaster recovery; in that scenario, it’s necessary for your cloud environment to mirror your data center as closely as possible.
Dress for the Occasion: Go Cloud Native
Dress up your workloads when they move to the cloud by going cloud native. This requires taking time to deeply analyze your applications and their usage demands and redesigning them to best take advantage of cloud features.
Taking this approach necessarily takes longer than simply migrating “as is” to the cloud. However, the long-term advantages of the redesign can include eliminating single points of failure, increasing code reuse through a service-oriented architecture, and gaining the ability to scale the application up or down to match demand. This can result in easier management and lower cost long term.
There are some potential disadvantages of the cloud native approach, as well. Because features and APIs are unique to each cloud provider, the cloud native approach necessarily increases the risk of vendor lock-in. You may also need to change your application every time the vendor changes their API, and you’re also subject to pricing changes.
When this approach is appropriate:
If your analysis indicates you will get real advantage in terms of scalability and easier management, and you’re committed to the cloud provider for the long term, go ahead and refactor the entire application. In many cases, it may be preferable to make smaller changes, such as swapping out your database for a cloud-native database while keeping the rest of your application architecture unchanged.
Do you have the right clothes to wear to the cloud party? CCS Technology Group provides complete cloud services to ensure your applications migrate safely to the cloud and you obtain all the benefits you expect from using cloud. Contact us to learn more about how to decide which approach to take in migrating to the cloud.
5 Things to Look for in an ERP Software
/in Blog, ERP Software /by Chris HigginsBusinesses are turning to ERP systems to innovate processes across the organization — a cloud-based platform can connect various functional areas into a unified whole. There is no question about the relevance or importance of implementing a modern ERP system; Gartner has coined cloud computing in 2019 as a “slope of enlightenment” phase.
Gartner predicts that the fastest IT spending category is cloud computing infrastructure and applications — out of an overall $3.77 trillion global information technology spend. Digital transformation is front and center; in fact, 72% of companies globally across industries will adopt cloud computing by 2022 based on the latest Future of Jobs Survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Modern ERP software solutions help employees work smarter, improving efficiency and visibility across the organization; this can include everything from purchasing and sourcing, manufacturing, and inventory control to sales and marketing, distribution and customer relationship management.
Many companies that are migrating to the cloud realize it’s the right thing to do, but don’t know where to begin. Here are some key points to consider:
1. Scalability and Flexibility
The first step in selecting an ERP system is to fully assess the needs of the organization at the present time. Reviewing company goals will help to ensure all bases are covered. Once initial needs are determined, look toward future needs that will be realized as the company grows — change means adapting for the future.
An ERP system must be flexible enough to scale the needs as a business matures. Stay away from legacy sites that are built on-premise or those disguised as cloud solutions, but are really a patch and run job — the company will outgrow lesser options quickly. By seeking an ERP with the agility to integrate with emerging technologies, a company is future-proofing its business!
Read more about the advantages of a true cloud ERP system, as well as fake cloud systems that businesses should steer clear of.
2. Mobile-Friendly
The way people work has changed; the advent of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) workplace and a growing amount of remote workers mean businesses need to offer new ways to do business. Employees need to be able to access workflows and data wherever and whenever they see fit, and this can be a boost to overall productivity — and profitability. If mobile functionality is limited, those efficiency gains will be impossible to realize.
Employees should be able to tap into ERP dashboards to get what information they need, when they need it. It’s also important that they are able to enter data directly from the field, as it reduces the risk of errors that occur when they have to re-enter data collected at a previous time.
3. Recommendations and Testimonials
Transparency is key. An ERP software vendor should be able to provide customer references that a company can reach out to — this will help provide an inside look into the implementation process. Reviewing the actual software should not be overlooked, but an organization must consider the collaborative experience the vendor’s implementation team offers, as well as the overall technical and business acumen in partnering with a company in the same or related industry. Give them a call, and, if possible, pay the company a visit to see how the system reacts in a real-life scenario.
Communication is king when opting for an ERP vendor. The vendor should be committed to building a strong, collaborative relationship between the two teams.
4. Ease of Use
Functional areas across the business will be working in the system daily, inputting data that relates to the department. User experience (UX) should be customizable for each function, so only the most relevant information is presented — users should be able to drill down for a more finite view. This includes contextualization for international companies that work across locales and require region-specific data and units of measurement.
A promising ERP will present the right information to the right people at the right time — all in a simple, accessible way. The system should function smoothly, addressing these needs easily. If a vendor is suggesting clunky workarounds to get a system to localize and contextualize, that’s a red flag.
5. System Cost
When looking at the cost of an ERP system, don’t get caught up just in what’s due upfront, but look at the whole picture. A company looking to migrate to the cloud should consider long-term implementation costs and the total cost of ownership (TCO). Many leading cloud-based ERP vendors offer flexible licensing, which helps to keep costs down as a company grows.
Embracing innovation is about change management and an ERP system should be set up to mirror the future of a business and its necessary processes. A solid ERP system vendor will be ready and willing to evolve as the needs of its customers develop.
Getting Started
Thinking about implementing a cloud-based ERP system? Contact us to learn more about how to utilize IT managed services to meet business goals!