Resource Center
When it comes to IT services, knowledge is power. The single most valuable thing we can pass along to our clients is our expertise.
The resources below are here for you. Please help yourself, absolutely no strings attached.
Whitepapers
Videos
Brochure
Ebooks
Info Sheets
Insider 94 Navigator 2023
Resources & Advisors for Buying & Selling a Business
Make sure to check out Page 28
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.
Providing technology support all around
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Cloud Services, to make your life easier
IT Consulting
Managed Services
Network Security
CCS Technologies company brochure
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.
Our Services
We’re passionate about two things: keeping you ahead of the curve and delivering an unbelievable client experience. This is how we do it.
Star Wars is basically an ad for ERP systems
/in Blog, Productivity /by wpengineWe’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
/in Blog, Managed Services /by wpengine“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
/in Blog, Managed Services /by wpengineAs 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.