Decoding users’ passwords isn’t easy but LivingSocial, taking every precaution, expired all users’ passwords on Friday, April 26th. Users who tried to login to the website were confronted with a message displaying “unauthorized access” requiring them to reset their passwords.

If you’re a LivingSocial customer, it’s important that you change your password immediately if you haven’t done so already.

More than 50 million users were affected and told by LivingSocial that they should change their passwords. CNNMoney received a copy of an email on Friday from a LivingSocial spokesperson saying that the company was in the process of sending emails to customers that stated hackers could have accessed names, dates of birth, email addresses and encrypted passwords. If you’re a LivingSocial user, you should have received an email from the company asking you to create a new password.

The message also reported that they were “actively working with law enforcement to investigate this issue.” LivingSocial has declined to comment further on the incident, however they’ve shared an internal memo that was sent out to employees earlier on Friday from CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy.  The internal memo is cited on tech blog “All Things D” and can be viewed at: LivingSocial Hacked — More Than 50 Million Customers Impacted – Kara Swisher – Commerce – AllThingsD.

All LivingSocial customers had some data hacked except for those in Thailand, Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. These countries weren’t affected because they use TicketMonster and Ensogo, which are on different systems.

The news of the LivingSocial attack came three days after the Associated Press’s Twitter Account was hacked; hackers sent a Tweet claiming that an attack on the White House left US President Obama injured. This was false, but the Tweet did result in a sharp decline in the US-based stock markets for a brief period of time.

Have questions about your cyber security or the security of your business network?  Call us immediately, we can help ensure your business is safe.

There are many myths regarding computer viruses and most of them revolve around Malware. Those of us who use computers on a daily basis are familiar with the concepts associated with Malware, but may not be sure what’s really true and what’s not. Myth or no, it’s in your best interest to learn about computer viruses and what you should do to protect yourself against them.

A computer virus is a program that can duplicate itself and easily spread from one computer to another, destroying important files and often damaging your computer. The sad thing to know is that in most instances you’ve actually installed the virus yourself because they often hide within browser plug-ins, programs and downloads.

The term Malware is often used in conjunction with the term virus.  However, in actuality, a virus is just a type of Malware. Malware is defined as any software designed to cause damage or disturbance to a system, including mobile devices, computers and computer networks.

Did you know that the most common way Malware gets spread is through drive-by downloads that are found on many web pages today? A drive-by download is a program that automatically installs itself into your system when you visit a Web page. These drive-by downloads infect your system by manipulating flaws found in your browser and operating system code.

The First Common Myth About Viruses

Many people believe that when their computer displays an error message, this means they have a virus. In reality, many other things such as bugs in software, an inadequate hard drive, memory issues or a problem with your virus scanner could cause this. People also assume that when their computer crashes it’s due to a virus, but in actuality this can happen because of something completely unrelated to a virus. Nevertheless, it’s always a good idea to scan your computer for viruses when error messages or computer crashes occur so you can rule out viruses or Malware as a possible cause.

The Second Common Myth About Viruses

Many people bring their computers to a repair technician claiming that a virus installed itself and automatically infected their computer system. But in reality, computers cannot infect themselves with a virus. If your computer has a virus, it’s because you’ve physically opened something that had an infected file, or you visited a website hosting a virus and unknowingly opened it. The best way to avoid this is by abstaining from using or opening websites that contain illegal or ‘adult’ content. These websites are not just limited to ‘adult entertainment,’ but also include torrent sites that offer free downloads.

The Third Common Myth About Viruses

Many people believe that the worst viruses and Malware infect systems running on a Windows operating system. They think that systems such as Apple’s OS X will remain virus free, but this isn’t true. Any and all systems have the capability of being infected by viruses or Malware.  Typically more viruses are written and formatted to target Windows operating systems. However, threats are increasing as systems like OS X and Linux become more popular.

The Fourth Common Myth About Viruses

Many people believe that if they have a virus they can remove it by simply copying their files to a backup drive or hard drive, re-installing Windows on their computer, and then copying their files back to their computer.  In some cases this is true, however, if the virus resides in the files you’ve backed up, then moving them back to your computer will only infect it again.  The best way to go about solving this issue is to scan all of your computer files and make sure the virus gets eliminated before putting them back onto your system.

The Fifth Common Myth About Viruses

It’s a common belief that firewalls protect computer systems from viruses. For instance, Windows comes with a built-in firewall and many users believe this protects their computer from viruses. In reality, firewalls are used to prevent unwarranted network traffic. They keep your network and computer secure while connected to the network, but they don’t scan for, or prevent computer viruses.

However, if a virus begins sending data to another computer outside of your own network, then the firewall will alert you, or simply stop the oncoming or outgoing data. Some viruses are powerful enough to literally turn off your firewall. This allows Malware attacks or oncoming viruses to penetrate your computer’s network.

So what can you do to protect your computer and minimize your chances of infection?

The first thing to do is to install a virus-scanning program on your computer and all of your systems. Ensure it’s up to date and that you run it regularly.

And:

• Don’t add programs from unknown sources you don’t trust.
• Stay away from Websites that ask you for your password.
• Don’t install browser add-on programs or plug-ins that Websites suggest.
• Download all add-on programs directly from the developer’s Website or directly from application stores. 

If you’re worried about your computer and network security, call us today. Our team of security experts will work with you to develop and implement a plan that guarantees protection from computer viruses. 

Here are five simple steps to reduce your IT spending:

1. Document Absolutely Everything

Your use of technology will grow simultaneously with your company and naturally it will need  replacing over time. It’s likely that you won’t be able to afford replacing all of your systems at the same time, meaning you will have to track down the systems and software that you need to replace; which will take a lot of your time and money.

The best way to reduce costs and manage your systems better is by documenting all of your systems, software, etc. Document where it’s located, who’s in charge of it and when it was executed so you can assure you’re able to track these things down when necessary.

2. Always Back Everything Up

Many small to medium companies keep the majority of important files on one server, or even a couple different computers, but as many of you are already aware, technology doesn’t last forever. Eventually, your computer and/or server will stop working and when this happens, your files could easily be lost. The cost of recovering lost files is very high. Therefore it’s a great idea to invest in a reliable, solid backup platform that should run on a regular basis.

Of course, this will cost you money  now, but when you consider the cost of recovering years worth of data.  Suddenly it becomes a very good investment to have a copy of your data and systems that can easily be employed in the event that you run into a problem with your files being lost. Back-ups will save you a lot of money in the long run and help you avoid unnecessary stress.

3. Be Sure to Create a Strict Anti-Virus Policy

Employees may still download programs and browser extensions even though you’ve told them not to. You’re at risk simply by having computers and devices that access the internet through your network. This allows the possibility of your system being hacked or infected, in which case you’re exposed to the chance of losing data, paying high recovery costs or worse.

What’s the best way to minimize your chances of Malware infections or being hacked, all while keeping costs down? Install anti-virus software and security solutions on every computer in your system and ensure they can all be run from one machine, making it simple for you or your IT partner to keep the anti-virus software up to date, and always scan regularly.

4. Stay on the Lookout for Fixed-price Resolutions

Predicting costs for technology related systems is typically a major problem because you never know when a fundamental piece of hardware will fail, it’s even harder for those who aren’t exactly proficient in tech; therefore outsourcing is one of the best ways you can save money on IT.

Typically, almost every IT provider will offer a flat-rate service that can cover your systems and guarantee you maximize your IT investment, making budgeting for IT  easier because you’ll be certain of what your monthly costs are. This allows you more time and less stress, so you can focus on your business and watch your IT costs.

5. Choose a CRM/ERP/HRM Solution

Look into all the software solutions available that will greatly help you to plan and better run your operations. Solutions like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Human Resources Management (HRM) are a lot more helpful than a simple spreadsheet, which many businesses use to track employee data and planning.

These solutions will  reduce future costs by helping you plan more efficiently and spot any hidden costs.

If you’re looking for creative ways to cut your IT expenses, contact us today and we’ll help you find a solution that will lower IT costs and ease your stress.

This is where having a trusted IT service provider is worth their weight in gold.

Many of you turn to the Internet to conduct research on new technologies.  This is a great place to start, however, if you want an honest candid opinion, turn to us.  As your local IT service organization we have years of experience with many great IT technologies and can share some horror stories with you.

Windows Surface Pro is one of the latest technologies available to business.  Is Windows Surface Pro a worthwhile technology investment?

Here are some Pros and Cons on the Windows Surface Pro.

• The Windows Surface Pro comes with Windows 8.  Unlike, home versions of Surface, Surface Pro comes with a full version of Microsoft Windows 8.  This is the full version of Windows 8, not a scaled down version.  Run all your business applications, including ones that you  have installed on Windows 7 or even Windows XP.  They all run on Windows 8.
• The Windows Surface Pro comes with a 10.6 inch screen supporting a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.  It is also full HD.  Compared to the iPad 4, most users will not notice that much of a difference.
• Windows Surface Pro is very powerful.  This tablet  easily compares to many of the mid-range notebooks on the market today.  The Windows Surface Pro comes with Intel’s i5 processor and 4 GB of memory.  Business owners can have confidence running many of their business applications without any major challenges.
• The Windows Surface Pro can connect to almost anything.  Unlike other tablets on the market, the Surface Pro comes equipped with a full USB port that allows you to connect any device to the tablet, including an external hard drive.  There is  a mini display port allowing you to connect to a projector or monitor.

What are some of the cons to this latest Microsoft technology?

There are a few cons, like many other technologies out there.  Let’s keep this in mind that the Windows Surface Pro is generation one and we are sure many changes will come from Microsoft.  Here are a few cons with the Surface Pro:

• Compared to other tablets boasting 6 to 10 hours of battery life.  The Surface Pro will last around 4 hours.   The faster processor, high resolution video and other technologies consume a lot more power.
• Sticker shock is a major complaint heard in the Microsoft channels.  Compared to other tablets, the Windows Surface Pro is expensive.
• Lack of storage space.  The Windows Surface Pro comes with 64 GB or 128 GB of storage.  This means  you have a limited amount of storage space  on this device without having to connect an external hard drive.

Does the Windows Surface Pro make sense for your business?

We invite you to contact us to arrange a no obligation meeting with our Microsoft professionals to understand the Surface Pro and what it can do for your business.  Please reach out to us today and book your meeting with us.

However, what about your computer network security? Do you have the same level of threat protection on your computer network as you do with your office security? You need to lock the door and have an alarm on your network as well.

Did you know   sophisticated criminals will try to break into your business network versus trying to steal your servers or computers? They can do just as much damage without physically touching a thing. Data   thefts go undetected simply because a business fails to invest in the right information technology (IT)  security and, trust me, hackers do not care what type of business you own, they just want to break into that business.

First you need to lock your door. Your business must invest in a best  network firewall to protect your business data, trade secrets, customer lists and accounting information. Without a state-of-the-art firewall solution, a hacker can break in and steal all of your critical, as well as confidential, information. Often, you will never even know the breach occurred.

One certain thing  is the threats are becoming more  sophisticated each day. We recommend having our team of technology security specialists working with you to ensure your business has the best security available.

Our IT security services offer your business the following:

24/7 Monitoring and Alerting

Just like the alarm company you hired to protect your physical office, our team monitors and   alerts you when any threat hits your business network. Our managed IT security services become your cyber guardian, protecting your business. We ensure your anti-virus software gets  updated when necessary and  updated when we detect any threats.  We also ensure your firewalls are kept up to date and continuously monitored.

Certified IT Security Experts

Your business will have a team of IT security experts at your command. We make sure that nothing penetrates your defenses. We are on the look out for hacking attempts, phishing, virus activity and even spam designed to install malicious software. You can rest easy knowing a team of certified IT experts are working for you.

Full Accountability

Our team of IT security experts will only be accountable to you. We offer several different kinds of   reports and any threats or attempted breaches get reported to you immediately. We  ensure that any future security vulnerabilities get addressed and new technologies installed.  We make sure you receive all the  steps  needed to continue, ensuring the safety of your business technologies.

Interested in speaking with our team of IT security specialists? You can contact  us today to book a no obligation network security discussion and start understanding what threats can impact your business. We are here to help eliminate your technology security worries.

This is why having a technology IT security company like ours is a wise decision.

Criminals, foreign government organizations and the casual hackers are engaging in hacking activities, some for kicks and others to steal your business secrets or get access to your company information. They could also be using your computer resources to attack others. They all have one thing in common, to disrupt business.

We have put together a few tips for your business to consider:

Mobility

Mobility is growing across the business community. Large and small companies face a number of growing security concerns when it comes to smartphones, tablets and other mobile technologies, including remote access.

Your business needs to set firm policies around mobile technologies. Whether it is a staff member working from home in the evening or a sales professional working on their iPhone after a sales meeting, you must always feel secure that your business information is safe. Businesses must have strict guidelines on who has access and where confidential business information resides.

Also, if you are considering having staff use their own smartphones or tablets, what policies do you need to have in place? There can be a different set of risks when allowing a staff member to use their own iPhone or Android phone to access your corporate email systems.

Wireless Networking

Many wireless networks at Starbucks or even Wi-Fi systems supported by municipal governments are not secure. Having security systems on corporate laptops and smartphones will help protect from snooping or even having a hacker access a system while sitting in the local coffee shop. Also, train your staff on how to watch for those people who peek over your shoulder when sitting in the local café.

What about your business network? Business must ensure they have a secured Wi-Fi network to prevent a laptop-equipped hacker sitting in the parking lot across the street from hacking into your network and robbing your business of all your corporate information.

Make sure all wireless networks are secured and laptops and other mobility devices are patched and have security software installed to limit the risk of these systems being compromised.

Password Complexity

Most often, your network security is only as good as your weakest password. Did you know that one of most often used passwords is passw0rd or even just the word password? Your business must have a complex password policy and force users to change passwords every few months.

Passwords must have a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols and a mixture of upper and lower case letters.

Train your staff to also watch out for social engineering tactics that trick a staff member into giving out their password over the phone to someone claiming to be a help desk team member or even a representative from another organization. Professional organizations will never ask for your password over the phone and if they do, challenge them to prove their identity.

We hope these IT security tips will help your business. Our team of IT security experts specializes in helping businesses with a wide range of computer, network and cyber security services. Call us today to learn more about our services and to book a no obligation discussion.

Threats confront business leaders daily. Mother nature, disgruntled employees and technical breakdowns can hit the heart of your business network at any time and it is not IF but WHEN your business has a data or computer challenge that can seriously impact your ability to serve the needs of your clients.

Many companies have met with us to discuss having a business continuity plan or strategy. Our business continuity plans offer your business with a complete set of instructions and have redundancy programs in place so when a computer outage occurs, critical services can be restored rapidly either virtually in the cloud or on backup services on premise.

Here are a few reasons why it is important for your business to have a business continuity strategy in place.

Increase in business value:  It is no secret that a well run business with predictable future revenues have added value over the businesses who have no future revenues. An additional tip; when your business has a complete business strategy program in place, your business will have a higher value over those who don’t.

How about your business insurance: When speaking with business insurance professionals, we have been told that a business with a business continuity program in place could potentially enjoy lower business insurance premiums over those who do not.

Happy shareholders: Your shareholders want to know that you are doing everything it takes to protect their investments. Shareholders can get a bit upset if you fail to protect their investments. A business’ data is their biggest asset.

New compliance standards: New compliance requirements are forcing businesses to protect all business data. What industry compliance regulations are mandating that you must take steps to protect all business data and computer systems? Hefty fines can exist if you fail to protect data and make sure your business can continue to run when a disaster strikes.

Sustainable business: We all understand that emergencies and outages occur in business. Telephone services goes down, Internet stops working and computers crash. These are more common than a storm striking the heart of your business. Can your business continue to run when a disaster strikes? As a business owner, wouldn’t you want to protect your assets?  Many agree with this core principle, but fail to take the steps to sustain their business. Like a good security system, too many wait until something happens to push them to act.

Are you one of those business owners who talk the talk but fail to walk the walk when it comes to protecting your most valuable business assets? It is not too late to do something about that. Our team of business continuity professionals will help you make sure that you have an affordable business continuity plan and strategy in place. Contact us now to book a no obligation discussion on how to best protect your business data.

Contact us today and learn about our complete range of data backup solutions, disaster recovery services and business continuity technologies.

WordPress remains one of the most secure website solutions (if secured properly by our team of trusted IT security specialists).  Trust our team of trusted IT security specialists to make sure your WordPress website is secured.

WordPress sites across the web have recently been targeted by an extensive distributed brute force attack. The attack attempts to gain access to the administrator account on WordPress sites by systematically running through a variety of password iterations. Since the attack originates from thousands of different IP addresses, it is difficult to block at the network level.

Last night the attack impacted performance for several websites across the Internet, regardless of whether WordPress was installed on their site. Our IT security and support teams have worked, and have taken several proactive measures to mitigate the security threat for those client websites our team protects. In some cases, we temporarily disabled the ability to log in to WordPress sites that were under attack – which also protected these sites from being compromised. As of this morning, April 11, 2013, all servers are back to normal performance levels and login functionality has been restored.

If you have installed WordPress on your site please take a minute or two to make sure your site is protected against attacks like this one. Here are some basic security tips:

1. The easiest thing you can do to increase the security of your site is to change both the admin username and password. By default, the administrator login name is set to “admin” – and most brute force scripts have this ID and some basic variations (e.g. administrator, root, test, etc…) hardcoded as the IDs they attempt to break into. Change the username for your administrator account to something obscure.
2. Make sure your password is strong. You know the drill: more than 8 characters, letters and numbers, no English words, no dates, mixture of capitals and lower case. Consider using a random password generator and a secure password manager to store it so you don’t have to memorize it.
3. Install a security enhancing plug-in. The core WordPress application lacks some basic security features, such as the ability to limit the number of failed login attempts. Fortunately, you can add functionality like this via some popular plug-ins:
   • Bad Behavior: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bad-behavior/
   • Better WP Security: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/better-wp-security/
   • Limit Log-in Attempts: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/limit-login-attempts/

Our IT service professionals will stay vigilant and will continue to proactively respond to any security threats as they arise. Although this attack is particularly extensive, it is unfortunately not uncommon. The single most important thing you can do to protect any aspect of your account (e-mail, FTP, other web apps, etc…) is to use very strong passwords, and insist that your clients / users do the same.

Do you have any questions?  Contact our team of IT professionals today.

In less than a year, those holding onto their precious Windows XP systems will be left to fend for themselves. Microsoft will no longer offer any support to Windows XP as of April 8, 2014. After all, it has been over 11 and a half years since Windows XP was first launched and we were shocked to see how many businesses continue to run Windows XP and even Internet Explorer 6.

Why do so many businesses continue to hang onto to these aging technologies? After all, many industry pundits continue to stress the importance for business to consistently check the technology they have invested in and look for new solutions to help increase efficiencies and lower the overall costs of technology support and simple maintenance of aging software and computers.

Joining Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6 on the Microsoft support chopping block will be Microsoft Office 2003, Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010 (Service Pack 2). But did you know? Windows XP Mode is available for Windows 7 so if you were holding off upgrading to Windows 7 because of your legacy software applications, you have no excuse, your Windows XP applications will run on Windows 7.

38% percent of businesses continue to use Windows XP. We understand that many will continue to hold onto Windows XP for as long as they can, stretching it out to the last possible minute. But keep this mind, with the end of support from Microsoft comes the end of security updates as well. What are you willing to risk to hold onto that aging technology solution?

Are you hoping Microsoft will buckle under the pressure and stretch out support for Windows XP even longer? That is highly unlikely. Microsoft wants business to adopt their latest technologies and really, if your business hasn’t reviewed upgrading your technology over the past 11 ½ years, a few extra months is not really going to make a difference.

Not to worry, your IT services team is here to help you make sense of all the confusion out there. Our skilled IT service professionals will sit down with you and come up with a plan to aid in your migration from Windows XP and get your business the best solution possible. Is that Windows 7 or Windows 8? We don’t know until you speak with us. Call us today and book your Windows XP meeting with us.

CLICK HERE — Apply Online

Responsibilities

• Prospecting and identifying new clients
• Building a book of business through outbound sales
• Communicating our value proposition to key decision makers within the client organization
• Developing, maintaining, and leveraging strong relationships with OEM partners and distributors including Microsoft, Cisco, Dell and others
• Managing your time effectively to achieve daily sales goals and metrics
• Planning daily and weekly activities in order to achieve sales goals and metrics
• Marketing the benefits of Reis Information Systems and our portfolio of services through various means
• Preparing quotes and bids as necessary

Required Qualifications

• Min of 2 + years experience selling technical products is highly preferred
• High energy, self-motivated, enthusiastic, ambitious, goal-oriented, and success driven
• Strong negotiation, organizational, and presentation skills
• Recent college graduates with an interest in sales are also encouraged to apply
• Must be a citizen of Canada please

Company Description

Reis Information Systems provides Data Center, Private Cloud, Professional Services and Managed Services and products to businesses primarily in the Waterloo Region and South Western Ontario. Our crafted solutions are offered through dedicated account executives and various direct marketing techniques.

Apply Online CLICK HERE

This is not any fault of Exchange 2003. With Microsoft Outlook 2013, Microsoft has done away with some features found in previous versions of Outlook. Many legacy public folder functions such as free/busy service and direct booking of calendar resources are no longer supported.

Power Users of Microsoft Outlook and organizations holding onto Exchange 2003 servers may find this disappointing but it really didn’t come as a surprise to industry professionals.

Do you realize that Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 is over 10 years old? The precedent has been set for many years, Outlook 2010 did not work with Exchange Server 2000 and Outlook 2007 did not function properly with Exchange Server 5.5. Future versions of Outlook will continue this trend.

Microsoft’s Outlook 2013 supports Exchange ActiveSync and while you can use EAS with your Hotmail or outlook.com account, it will not work with Exchange 2003 or GMAIL’s implementation of Exchange ActiveSync. You will be limited to POP3 or IMAP with Exchange Server 2003.

Interested in trying out Microsoft Outlook 2013? You can use it with a Hotmail or outlook.com account, Microsoft Office365 or an IMAP account if you don’t have access to a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, 2010 or 2013.

Consider testing out Microsoft Office 365. The Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365 trial includes a Microsoft Exchange Server account and Office365 supports “connected accounts.” If your business has Microsoft Exchange 2003, you can connect to this server using POP3 or IMAP and pull your email into your Office 365 account.

What about your mobile phone? Android, iPhones and other leading smartphones use Exchange Active Sync to gain access to your Exchange mailbox. EAS gives you the basic features of email, calendaring and contacts.

Read more about what features are available in Microsoft Outlook 2013.

Do you need a trusted team of Microsoft Exchange experts? Contact us immediately and take us up on our offer to sit down with you to discuss how your business can benefit from the latest version of Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office 2013 and Outlook 2013.

YOU NEED TO UPGRADE!

Support for Windows XP ends on April 8, 2014.
What does this mean for your organization? What steps do you need to take?

After the support end date, security patches and hot fixes will become unavailable for all Windows XP users. This basically means that if you are running software such as Office 2003 or Quickbooks on Windows XP, there will no longer be support for any issues after the April 8, 2014 date.

Windows XP end of life could open IT security concerns for your business.

In addition to the lack of user support, continued use of Windows XP can cause problems related to internal network security, regulatory compliance and exposure of secure data and other important business information. Most software providers do not plan on extending support for applications running on Windows XP, which can bring even more complexity and added costs for your business.

When it comes to technology, accepting change is often difficult for many business owners. Windows XP has been a great operating system, but end of support essentially makes it no longer practical to keep. April 8, 2014 is still a year away but now is the right time to start planning ahead. Our team takes a proactive approach to addressing the needs of our current and prospective clients. Our technology experts can offer guidance on the proper steps for ensuring a safe and well-functioning computing environment beyond Windows XP. Whether or not your organization needs to replace current PC’s may depend on how long they have been in use. More recent Windows XP devices with Windows 7 capabilities can be rebuilt and upgraded without a new license.

The perception within some small businesses is that upgrading from Windows XP is too expensive and unnecessary for their needs, but implementing organization-wide change is not as costly as you might think and will cut risk of future technology problems. Your IT service team offers guidance and will help you develop a plan to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 or even Windows 8.

Contact us today to get up to speed on the different options available for upgrading from Windows XP.  As your trusted IT service team our goal is to make sure you have the right technology for your business.

Increasing efficiencies with staff members is one immediate way business can maximize productivity that can result in higher profitability. One easy and quick way to increase your staff efficiencies is to invest in a robust information technology solution that leverages the latest technologies and is supported by a professional IT organization like ours.

Our fixed-cost IT services program provides a fully managed IT solution. Our managed IT services provides our clients with around-the-clock access to a highly skilled team of IT technicians and engineers. Our team of system professionals implements the right IT systems, making sure your information is backed up, your business IT systems are secured and all staff and user issues are taken care of in the most expedient manner. Your business has access to all these services and it is more cost effective than hiring a single in-house IT person.

Knowing this, many business owners still look at having their IT systems managed by a team of IT professionals as an unnecessary business expense because it usually involves a commitment to a monthly or annual contract.

Research has demonstrated that companies who continuously invest in their technology and have an outsourced team of IT support professionals consistently outperform their peers and have highly profitable businesses.

What matters most to you, saving a few dollars here and there, or having a formula for success?

How can our managed IT services help your Canada business?

• Cost Predictability – Our managed IT services offer business a fixed-cost solution for all IT support. Know at the beginning of each month how much IT support is going to cost. Business can now budget the costs associated with keeping IT systems running. Say good-bye to having to decide if a fix can be patched together to save a service call.
• Lower Your Overhead – Hiring internal staff can be costly. Labor costs are usually the largest expense any business can have. Outsourced IT services offer a talented team of IT professionals often less expensive than hiring a single IT guy, with no need to call someone else in for those unexpected emergencies, and no overtime.
• Improved business model – Managed IT support provides an efficient business model and results in less downtime of IT systems. Employees are more efficient and productive as well as less frustrated with slow, out of date systems. Clients can rely on the business to deliver and morale remains high in the organization.

Can your business benefit from our fixed-cost and fully managed IT support services.

Book your no obligation IT support review with our team today.

When was the last time you backed up your business data? Many businesses across the country fail to have the proper processes in place to back up business information?

If something disastrous happened to your business, could you restore it quickly and easily? Unfortunately, the most common answer to this important question for most small business owners (and many mid-size businesses) is often, “No.”

Did you know that smaller business owners are often less likely to rank IT security and cyber security, including backups? Recent research shows that one in four small business owners are not fully protected against cyber risks even though 65% of small business owners believe that their business information is critical to their business success. Given that 40% of cyber attacks are against companies with fewer than 50 employees, web security and data backups should be a high priority for all small and mid-size businesses.

We are here to help protect your business data and our backup, disaster recovery and business continuity solutions protect all your business data.

Concerned about the health of your data backups?

Unsure when the last successful backup occurred?

Contact us right away for a no obligation review of all your data backup systems.

As a trusted team of IT consultants to many businesses across the region, we run across many of the same challenges. Whether it is oversight, ignorance, neglect or even user error, we see the same issues across many businesses, large and small.

Following Security Protocols – The alarm system protecting your home is no good to you if you leave your front door open. Human error is the weakest link with corporate IT security. Social engineering, phishing attacks, poor passwords and lack of login management are some of the top reasons why a business can fall victim to a security compromise. User training on how to spot potential security threats can stop user related security issues.

Zero IT Security Strategy – Many businesses often band-aid or patch work their network as they grow. Business owners who see technology as a strategic investment know the importance of having the correct IT systems in place and this includes security systems. A sound IT security strategy is a must for large and small business.

Outdated IT equipment – All technology in your business must be kept up to date. Computers, laptops, routers and any other piece of technology on your network can be compromised by a hacker if not kept up to date. Recent vulnerabilities with UPnP and other networking protocols leave the front door open for hackers. Unpatched systems and servers are also a huge target for hackers looking to exploit security vulnerabilities.

Mobile Devices – Almost all businesses today are using mobile solutions in virtually every department and most staff members have access to corporate information on their own or company owned smartphone or iPad. These mobile devices must be included in your company security strategy.

Backup and Recovery – Can your company recover if the smallest amount of date goes missing? Your company data is one of the most important assets your business has. Accounting information, inventory, customer records and other business information is essential to your business health. Your business needs to have a robust backup solution but more importantly, you need a robust solution allowing for complete recovery if a disaster occurs.

Don’t wait for a disaster or security attack to hit your business before you do something about it. Our IT security experts are here to help your business prevent security attacks and social engineering. Let us help your business put a security plan in place to ensure your company information is safe and secure.

Smaller companies continue to contract and outsource their IT services to a managed IT services provider which is proven to be a more cost effective solution versus hiring technical staff.

Larger companies also enjoy the benefit from having a managed IT services provider available to help with management of key IT infrastructure such as switches, routers, firewalls and even servers, VMware virtual servers and other key network components.

Outsourcing IT is cost-effective, however the additional benefits include allowing a business to become more agile and prepared when responding to IT challenges that could have a positive or negative impact on the overall business. Keeping up with the latest trends, technology solutions and training on these technologies can be costly and take in-house professionals away from their day-to-day tasks.

According to a recent survey by Baseline Magazine, “CIOs are embracing the elastic workforce to gain access not only to more talent, but also to a specialized pool of workers at the top of their game who offer an outsider’s perspective.”

• 32% of those surveyed will increase outsourced IT investments in the next 12 to 18 months.
• 48% of these enterprises will bring in more contractors rather than full-time staff.
• 48 cents of every outsourcing dollar is being spent on application services.
• 35 cents of every outsourcing dollar is being spent on IT infrastructure services.
• 16% of data center operations are managed in the cloud.
• 35% of companies plan to increase the outsourcing of application hosting in the next 12 to 18 months.
• 23% of installed applications were running in a virtual machine (VM) in 2010 and now 48% of installed applications are currently running on a VM.
• 22% plan to increase the outsourcing of data center operations within the next 12 to 18 months.
• 21% plan to increase the outsourcing of network operations within the next 12 to 18 months.
• 17% of businesses plan to increase the outsourcing of disaster recovery within the next 12 to 18 months.

Outsourcing IT services continues to gain momentum and this is why having a trusted IT services firm who can help with application services, disaster recovery, cloud and data center management and help with day-to-day IT services is crucial to your bottom line and even top line revenues.

Our team is here to help. Give us a call and book a complimentary review of your entire IT network and lets see if outsourcing IT services make sense for your business.

Call Us Today.

This is common across the country and especially with business owners who think they need to be their own I.T. expert because hiring someone will just cost too much.

Most business owners are great at what they do. It could be accounting, law or even manufacturing a particular product and many have enough technology experience using computer systems that makes them believe they can become the I.T. guy for the company as well. In our experience, we have found business owners spending hours on a technology related problem and losing focus on what matters most to their business, taking care of their clients and making sure efficiencies are met.

In addition, they have spent hours of their valuable time on a computer problem when our team can have this issue tackled in just a few minutes. It’s not that you can’t do it, it’s that we can do it more efficiently, and isn’t that what saving money is all about?

Outsourcing your technology support to a trusted I.T. service organization is often the best answer for many businesses. Our team allows business owners to focus on what they do while leaving the I.T. service issues to our team of highly-skilled and trained I.T. support professionals.

Working with our team can have a direct positive impact on your business’ bottom line.

Here are four reasons to outsource your I.T. services to us:

• Access to a trained team of I.T. professionals – Technology can be pricey, especially technology that doesn’t work as designed. Additionally, while the thought of having your own in-house I.T. guy may sound appealing, it is also pricey. When you outsource your I.T. support to our team, you have access to a great team of professionals, more cost-effective than hiring your own I.T. person in-house.
• Remove focus on I.T. and focus once again on your business – Technology is the greatest thing to happen to business but it is something many companies are completely dependent on. Technology does break down and needs to be cared for. Our team of I.T. professionals will ensure that your focus is on your business and not on your I.T. We take that worry off your list.
• Control Operational Expenses – Many I.T. support organizations will group their services into one monthly package saving you time and money dealing with staffing, software licensing fees and in some situations, hardware expenses. Working with us allows your business to control overall I.T. expenses and save money at the same time.
• Reduce risk – You will hear this message from many I.T. support companies. It is true, I.T. systems do breakdown and they do require care and attention. Failing to take care of your systems can result in costly downtime to your business or even loss of business. Our I.T. service team will ensure that your I.T. systems remain operational and available while limiting exposure to harm in your business.

There are many options when choosing to outsource your I.T. support to a trusted I.T. company. We happen to be one of the top companies in the region and we are ready to help you.

If our team of technology professionals can be of service to you, please contact us and book a no obligation review of your I.T. systems and learn how we can help your Canadian business.

We your preferred IT Services company, call us today.

With almost every region in Canada now using multiple area codes and new ones being added annually, it will not be long before North America runs out of phone numbers.

What is driving this rush of phone numbers? Mobility and new telephony technologies are pushing the envelope. Mobile phones such as the iPhone and new Blackberry Z10 are a major reason for new telephone numbers. With the adoption of tablet computing using LTE or 4G numbers, they all need to have phone numbers assigned in order to operate on the cellular networks.

In addition to mobile devices, new services allowing for text messaging via a data service also require telephone numbers in order to function.

Check out the latest area code map.

Other services consuming available phone numbers include applications to control garage door openers or turn on the lights at your house. Many of these applications run on the cell networks and need their own telephone numbers.

Saskatchewan is the latest province to make the switch to 10 digit dialing. Their switch is currently underway leaving much of Canada now requiring users to dial all 10 digits of local numbers in order to connect.

A flurry of new area codes is coming this year including new area codes in the GTA. Toronto will get 437 added to the current 416 and 647 area codes and surrounding areas in the 905 area code will have 365 added to the current 905 and 289 area codes. Within the year, 236 will be added in BC and Nova Scotia & PEI will have a new area code assigned in 2014, followed by 226 added to the 519 area code and a new number in Alberta within 5 years.

Confused? Don’t be. As your trusted I.T. service team we are here to make sense of all the changes to technology that can and will impact your business. We welcome you to contact us and speak with our team of I.T. service professionals about all your technology needs and to have your questions answered.

Angered and loyal Google Reader users took to online services such as Twitter with trying to save Google Reader with calls to “Save Our Reader.” However it was never anyone’s reader but Google’s and their user’s frustration serves as a reminder of how fragile cloud services can be.

OK Google Reader may not make or break the average Canadian business but what happens if a service provider changes strategy midstream?

This was the case with LevelCloud, a popular cloud service sold by many IT service providers in the United States and we believe here in Canada as well shut down their partner program a few months ago leaving IT providers throughout the country scrambling and scratching their heads with how to deal with the shutdown of a cloud service.  Another glowing example of a cloud service provider changing their minds on the services they deliver and leaving us questioning, who owns the cloud?

The death of Google’s Reader and other services who have shut down their cloud services recently reveals the biggest challenge facing the Internet today. Many business owners fail to commit to making a move to the cloud because of this particular challenge; facing the ability of cloud service companies to shut down their services when they want.

What can the average Canadian business owner do today to make sure they are not one of the next victims of sudden cloud services shutdown?

One easy way is to have a cloud specialist on your trusted team of  IT advisors. This is what our team can do to help your business. We work with clients to make sure they have the right guidance on what cloud services are best. However for many cloud services, your cloud service subscription is only as strong as the commitment of the vendor and their service level agreement.

We are still your best bet before you invest in any cloud service. Call our cloud consultants and arrange a no obligation discussion of what cloud solutions make sense to your business.

The cloud holds many trade secrets, personal health information, confidential financial information and corporate documents. The cloud continues to collect droves of business information every day. Experts claim that ¼ of the world’s business data is in the cloud and a target for hackers to strike.

Did you know that the NASDAQ was victim to a cyber attack? In October 2010, the NASDAQ’s Directors Desk, which holds records for thousands of corporations, was hit with a security breach. This serious event prompted several federal investigations and speculation that cybercrooks could have easily spied on secret communications of company board executives. The NASDAQ remains tight lipped.

Definitions of cloud computing vary from solution provider to solution provider, but basically cloud computing involves a service accessible over the Internet. Cloud storage can save a company thousands of dollars and make it easy to retrieve from nearly anywhere online, for staff and hackers.

The cloud is also used to send email, print from mobile devices, exchange medical records and share information on social networks. Services such as Dropbox and Google Drive allow small business to store information online and services such as Evernote (which also experienced a serious compromise to their security recently) allow business to keep notes on clients, staff and other potentially confidential information online.

Even with all these potential security vulnerabilities, the number of subscribers will double from 625 million this year to 1.3 billion in 2017, according to market researcher IHS.

Small to midsize business and large corporations are the biggest adopters of cloud technologies. Gartner has predicted that global revenue from public cloud services will soar from $91.4 billion to $206.6 billion in 2016.

Symantec reported in January that 43% of the 3,236 businesses it queried had “lost data in the cloud.” Although Symantec research does not indicate how much was lost due to cyberattacks, we can assume it was a factor.

What is stopping cloud adoption for some corporations? The thought of government or legal action deters many businesses from keeping data in the cloud, while others accept the risk and ensure due diligence is completed to make sure data safeguards are met.

What will your business do when faced with the decision about cloud computing?

Our team of cloud consulting specialists is here to help you make the right decision regarding your cloud services and IT services.

Call us and speak with our cloud specialists today.

Steve Anderson, Executive Director of OpenMedia.ca said in a recent interview, “It’s pretty clear that Canadians are being mistreated by cell phone carriers.” We recently learned about another individual who was forced to pay a $3,600 cancellation fee when their son with Asperger Syndrome activated a cell phone service with one of Canada’s cell phone providers.

What cell phone company horror stories do you have? 

Many Canadians echo the same comments as the Vancouver man who had his legs crushed on the job and could no longer work, “You would have needed to die,” when asked about how to successfully get out of your contract with your Canadian cell phone company.

Compared to friends south of the border, Canadian cell phone providers are many times more expensive. We also learned about a Canadian technology firm in the Niagara region who activates cell phones on the Sprint network in the United States and roams in Canada. “The Sprint phones roaming in Canada are about 10x more affordable than having Canadian cell phones.”

Canadian businesses could not operate without their mobile phones. Mobile technology has allowed Canadian business the flexibility to work from any location and access company information from virtually anywhere.

The push to the cloud is driving the adoption of mobile technologies in Canadian business.

Does your business have a solution in place to manage the explosive growth of mobile technologies in your business?

Our team can offer your business a turn-key mobile device management solution that provides full management of all mobile phones and devices with access to your network in addition to helping manage all your assets.

We can’t do anything about the high costs of cell phone technology in Canada, but we can help your business manage your mobile phones more efficiently.

We all understand the importance of never cutting your marketing budget, after all business owners always want to increase revenues and smart marketing provides this. However, many fail to see the importance of having up-to-date technology systems as a key mechanism to increase operational output, improve employee morale and increase productivity and efficiencies even with fewer employees.

Company IT systems must continue to receive investment. Technologies such as cloud computing and cloud services provide an ability to have the latest IT systems and replace aging systems while decreasing costs related to hardware, software and maintenance. Cloud pricing models allow today’s business owners to get more bang for their IT investment buck without a significant CapEx investment. Many cloud services actually fit into an OpEx category on your balance sheet.

The latest in modern technology such as tablets (iPad and Windows Surface) are also great tools to invest in. In some situations, a tablet computer in the right hands could lead to significant revenue gains. Now a sales professional can close the deal, get the order and do up all the paperwork while with the client, saving the expense and time to come back to the office, print out any contracts and send them out via courier. Sales velocity increases dramatically when business invests in the right technology.

Old computer systems that you had back in 2008 may have been state-of-the-art back then, but today, these computer systems are dinosaurs. You may think you are saving more by holding onto to these old computers and laptops, however it is quite the opposite. Today’s computers are tuned to use less energy, run faster and increase efficiencies of the user. Plus they require less care and maintenance, once again saving your business money.

With all these cost savings in place, why do we say never slash your IT budget? The money that you were spending to keep your old legacy computers running or have an IT company take care of, can now be reinvested into other areas of your business where IT can assist in streamlining workflows and operational efficiencies. Maybe it is an investment in a Microsoft SharePoint solution or the latest smartphone technology. Perhaps your company website needs a major overhaul. Once you start looking at IT strategically, you can see other areas of the business needing attention that could net you a new contract or save money in other sections of the business.

Our IT Professionals help business across the region look at technology strategically, as a tool to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and streamline operations. If your existing IT guy is just fixing your computers and putting band-aid solutions in place, we need to talk.

Another popular online service has been hit by hackers and this one could have some serious privacy and even compliance fallout.

Online note taking service Evernote has been hit by hackers and all users are being forced to change their passwords. Evernote has over 50 million global users and the forced password change is being seen as just a safety precaution.

Evernote, based in Redwood City, California, reported on their website that a hacker or hackers had been able to access sensitive client information. What was the type of sensitive data compromised? This detail is unknown but what if it was legal information, healthcare related documents or any other information that falls under privacy or compliance rules?

The company sent an email on Sunday stating that they believe the attack followed similar patterns of many recent high profile attacks on other cloud based services.

Evernote has no evidence that any customer data had been tampered with or any payment information compromised. What they are saying is that the intruder was able to gain access to Evernote user information, including usernames, email addresses associated with Evernote accounts and encrypted passwords.

What does this mean for the average small business who used cloud based services like Evernote?

Sure, many of these applications can assist in the reduction of corporate software expenses and licensing fees. Evernote offers a free and paid service for business.

However, businesses with any confidential customer information, accounting information, credit cards and especially healthcare or legal information should never trust this information to a service such as Evernote.

We recommend speaking with our team of IT professionals to learn what solutions are available to business today. These business grade services ensure that your security is the number one focus and if your industry is tightly regulated, then a private cloud service may be in order to further safeguard all your business information.

There are lessons to be learned from the Evernote security compromise. Business must do their homework prior to moving parts of the business network to the cloud. Having a team of cloud consulting professionals to help chart your course is one of the best choices.

Speak with our experts about cloud offerings today.

Businesses across Canada are constantly reminded that disasters can strike at any time. Canadian business owners often believe weather is the primary cause of most data and business disasters.

Canadian IT industry research indicates that many of the primary reasons businesses experience data loss are not storms or natural disaster related but most are due to equipment malfunctions. Storms, weather and natural disasters actually rank quite low when it comes to potential business disasters, well behind technical failure, theft, human error and fire/flood.

A Server Crash Won’t Stop A Toronto Trucking Firm

Server hard drive failures or power surges are the leading cause of network crashes and loss of data when Canadian business experiences technology breakdowns. This was the case recently with a Canadian trucking firm in Toronto when alarm bells rang in the middle of the night.

The transportation industry in Canada relies on technology to manage waybills, truckloads and even GPS tracking of their fleet. Many of these services reside on Windows Server 2008, the leading server technology.

When technology fails business grinds to a halt. 

Trucking companies who view technology as a strategic investment understand all the risks associated with their business, including technology. These leading organizations are first to invest in solutions to prevent any interruption to business and understand that technology systems can be compared to their fleet of vehicles. Servers and user workstations must have preventative maintenance programs in place to ensure maximum efficiency and uptime.

When the alarm bells signaled a server crash for the Toronto trucking firm, they had a reliable backup and disaster recovery solution in place. This decision prevented costly downtime, serious interruption to their business and risk to their own corporate reputation.

In this example, the company was able to be back online immediately using a business continuity solution in the cloud and, according to estimates by the company owner, saved approximately $75,000 in extra labour, lost business and other potential expenses relating to the loss of data.

How Our Business Continuity Services Help Business Prevent Data Loss

Many of our clients enjoy having a technology support partner who ensures their data is completely protected from many threats including data loss. Our Business Continuity professionals ensures all clients have a fully functional business continuity solution allowing each client to continue business operations when technical issues occur.

Does your business have a business continuity solution that you are confident in? Are you confident in your ability to recover data from your backups and the ability for your business to recover fully when a disaster strikes?

If you are unsure or your computer does not have a business continuity plan in place…call us right now.

One of our favorite sources of business information and cloud coverage is CIO.COM. CIO.COM regularly offers a different perspective than what we are used to reading and following in the IT community circles.

In a recent CIO.COM article they spoke about the 3 Deep, Dark Secrets of Cloud Computing. This piece discusses the risks of when end-users drive IT decisions and especially decisions that involve cloud solutions. The main speaking points of the article focuses on how those without a full grasp of managing a cloud solution can fall into many common traps, many will stop a business’ ability to take advantage of all the benefits of cloud technologies.

We are not against end-users driving IT decisions however there are many additional moving parts that must be addressed as part of a business’ complete IT strategy. Businesses without any management of the cloud services will often pay later. Remember that the cloud service isn’t the most important part, your business data is.

What did the CIO article talk about?

Did I delete that file?

The first deep dark secret of the cloud focuses on file deletion. If your business faces a legal discovery process or a compliance regulation that requires deletion of files, you may think you are deleting the file on your system but it may not be deleted in the cloud. There is always a chance that another copy exists somewhere. This is something to think about if your business requires permanently destroying private data or personal files.

Who is your cloud steward?

Many cloud service providers will claim that your business is no longer required to invest in any on premise servers, backup disks or even worry about another software upgrade. Many of these promises are true to a certain degree and there are multi-million dollar organizations without a single server closet. This doesn’t mean that your business data is maintenance free, only the hardware.

We recommend business assigning a steward to oversee cloud services.  This person could be an internal IT director, office administrator or even a company like ours to make sure you are getting the right cloud technologies. A combination of business acumen and technical knowledge is a proven winning combination.

Is the cloud an easy replacement for traditional IT?

Can the cloud be an easy replacement for traditional IT infrastructure? The cloud offers lower CapEx, which is very attractive for many businesses who are looking at lowering CapEx investments and moving business expenses to the OpEx category. However, business must still have a trusted IT advisor who will ensure the cloud services you have invested in work just like traditional IT investments.

Who is your trusted cloud service provider serving the needs of your business? Our cloud consulting professionals will sit down with you and ensure you are making the right decisions regarding cloud technologies.

Call today to book a no obligation assessment of your cloud needs.