IT Support is Great. Unlimited IT Support is Better.

The ideal IT solution

In an ideal world, IT problems wouldn’t exist. Or at least they’d be easily solvable by any Tom, Dick, or Harry experiencing them. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world and technology doesn’t always behave the way it’s built to every time. 

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if every member of your staff knew how to resolve every small IT issue they came across, like your office printer suddenly disappearing from the network, so that your IT Support contract was utilised only for major, business-breaking issues? 

IT Support can be expensive

If not used appropriately, limited IT Support contracts can become expensive for businesses. 

It is quite easy for contracted IT support labour to get eaten up by cosmetic IT problems such as Bill in Sales not knowing how to print his latest sales collateral in duplicate, which lead to your business incurring expensive hourly charges for the more complex IT issues.  

This hurts business owners when the types of problems they get charged for are the very reason why they took out the IT Support contract in the first place. 

A mountain of unresolved IT problems

Situations like the above can sometimes result in budget-focused management putting rigorous checks in place on the use of IT support, creating a Catch-22 situation.  

Limited contracted IT support ends up being policed, and minor IT issues go unreported to avoid eating up contracted hours.  

The major drawback with this is that minor, and often easily resolvable, IT issues can build up over time and snowball into company-breaking problems that are much more difficult (and costly) to solve. 

So what’s the cheaper IT solution to the expensive IT solution? Aside from the obvious investment in better IT equipment and improved network reliability, we’d suggest an Unlimited IT Support contract with Pearce IT. 

Unlimited Support? Sounds expensive…

Look at it this way – what would really be the more expensive of these hypothetical scenarios? 

Situation A - You have a limited IT Support contract with your Managed Service Provider that allows you X number of ‘free’ hours of remote IT support for a fixed price each month. Any support provided over and above the free IT support labour is chargeable at an hourly rate. 

You have a small team so figure that you’re unlikely to use all your contracted hours each month so it shouldn’t be an issue. 

Then you find that your team face regular IT issues such as emails not sending, connectivity issues, printers requiring regular troubleshooting, staff activating spam and phishing emails, people forgetting passwords, ‘slow’ workstations, document recovery due to unintentional file deletion, and the list goes on...  

Soon, your ‘free’ hours are gone, and you’re charged £80+ per hour for simple IT fixes which continue to occur, your IT support costs continue to rise and, before you know it, you’re way outside your budget. 

Situation B - You take out an Unlimited IT Support contract that takes care of all your remote operational IT support needs for all your business’ IT equipment at a fixed cost each month.  

No matter how many hours of remote IT support your business requires, your Unlimited Support package has it covered, and you receive no extra charges for remote support labour. 

Not only do you feel confident knowing what your IT costs are each month and can budget accordingly, but your team has confidence that if they have a problem with hardware or software, they have a dedicated team available. 

This minimises your downtime, prevents simple issues from snowballing, and ensures that your IT estate continues to perform as it should, but you also know that should any more serious problems occur you will not be faced with unexpected IT support labour costs, as this will all be covered by your Unlimited IT Support package. The only extra costs you may need to pay would be for equipment replacement and parts, or on-site IT labour, etc. 

Ok. So, these scenarios may well be fictional, and Situation A may seem slightly dramatized, but it is not all that far from the truth in our experience. That list of IT issues we mentioned? All common IT problems. 

Unlimited IT Support from Pearce IT

This is precisely why we launched our Unlimited IT Support package. We wanted our customers to know that whatever IT problem they faced, they didn’t have to worry about costly support charges. 

Let us take care of the seemingly innocuous and mundane IT issues, so that when you do face a major IT issue, you have peace of mind that the remote IT support labour to fix it is still covered under contract. On-site labour and maintenance are still charged for of course, but if your network and equipment is covered through us, we can fix most common service issues remotely. 

You can get Unlimited IT Support with Pearce IT from as a little as £10 per user per month. Just get in touch to discuss your needs. 

Level Up your Security, and Streamline your Business.

Do I need Cyber Essentials?

It’s becoming increasingly obvious to business owners that cyber security is probably the most important thing to address if you want less risk to your business resilience, as most of the threats to business continuity are online these days – malware, ransomware, hacking, data-theft, spyware, and good old incompetence or just disgruntled employees can badly damage or destroy prospects, contracts, or even whole businesses.

As we are right now in the UK, many businesses have vastly improved their online and in-house cyber security, and awareness of threats and countering tactics are routinely taught and highlighted in organisations across the nation, but even with business owners and IT departments making inroads into safer business practices, there exists a very definite requirement for teams and organisations working in certain sectors and industries to provide services that meet a certain standard.

Why do I need contractors with robust cyber security?

If you are an aerospace manufacturer for example, it’s no good operating stringent security protocols for your in-house data handling whilst simultaneously retaining a business on contract to consult on design or finance when that company has little to no cyber security awareness or process. That is how leaks happen, which can have potentially disastrous results in terms of product launches, company data breaches and corporate espionage.

But how do you check that your providers or contractors have the security chops that you need to ensure safe and secure services? It goes without saying that the easiest way to achieve this is to have an accredited standard for cyber security that you know will guarantee a minimal level of security across all your suppliers, without you having to audit them individually or install compliance officers into their company infrastructure. Luckily, this exists, and it’s referred to as Cyber Essentials.

What is Cyber Essentials?

Cyber Essentials is a government-backed scheme, representing a system of best practices that ensure a reasonable level of safe and secure cyber operations in every type of network. Ostensibly, the Cyber Essentials certification declares that a certified organisation has gone through a set of technical checks and audits to make sure that there are no loose ends or open back doors on the organisation’s networks and endpoints. These are, by and large, common sense practices and contain such processes as checking to see which ports are open on a network firewall or router, and closing them if not used, or ensuring that all software in use inside an organisation is digitally signed and regularly updated. Networking equipment must be secure, with firmware under active support and with no factory-issue passwords. Endpoints, from phones to servers, must carry antivirus software and run no software that is not on an approved list specified by the organisations IT or security administrator.

Physical access to computer equipment may also need to be controlled, and with cloud services, admin level operations, and domain-based local logins, accounts must be locked with complex passwords, and multi-factor authentication (2FA or MFA) must be active across all accounts in the organisation.

Do I really need Cyber Essentials certification?

It depends, but our view on it is yes, you do need Cyber Essentials certification. For your business to operate in certain markets, it’s pretty much a requirement for gaining contracts. If you’re looking to supply for clients in the public sector, such as the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office, or the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, then you will need to be Cyber Essentials certified at a minimum. Many other businesses that supply into these public sector institutions will require you, as a subcontractor, to have Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certification. This is especially important if you are being considered as a provider in a SIAM or other distributed service model where you will be providing part of a range of services among multiple suppliers. You’ll be expected to provide assurances that your services or contributions will be secure to a specified minimum standard, and the easiest way of accomplishing this is to make everyone compliant with Cyber Essentials.

Cyber Essentials seems like a lot of effort…

It’s really not that bad. Yes, you may have to redesign areas of your network, and yes, you may have to purchase new equipment or ensure that any existing equipment is up to date and remains supported. You might even have to update internal policies and documents surrounding IT and device usage at work, as well as arrange things like cyber security awareness training. You could even be in the position where you have to move everything in your organisation to cloud services, ensuring they are removed from out-of-date infrastructure on your premises. Here’s the thing with all this though – you should be doing this anyway.

Cyber Essentials is common sense for business

We really mean it. You should be doing it. Regardless of whether you are contractually obliged to undergo an audit and certification, taking your business through the Cyber Essentials process is a bit like tidying up your workshop or garage. Everything is put in its proper place and recorded – any horded electronics, and anything extraneous or buggy software-wise is gone – it’s like a life-laundry for your business, and your staff and clients will appreciate it. At the end of the day you will have achieved three things; firstly, your staff will have a greater awareness of your, and their responsibility around making sure that business is conducted efficiently and securely; secondly, your network will be hardened, more secure, more streamlined, with authentication, regular updates, enforced backups, security software, firewalls, and telephony systems all functioning as they should, with nothing made difficult to find, overloaded, or cluttered; and thirdly, your clients will know at a glance that you take the security of your data and business (and therefore theirs) very seriously. It may even open avenues of business that weren’t available to you beforehand.

Get in touch for Cyber Essentials

Pearce IT, through our certification partner Assured Technical, is offering full Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus auditing and certification services, and our team will work closely with you to make sure that everything is assessed, identified, and resolved so that you can be sure of gaining that all-important certificate. We offer all the solutions that you need to move forward with a secure, safe, and prepared business infrastructure. Get in touch with us today on 01452 222000 or contact us via the form on this site to arrange a visit and a chat about your business IT strategy.

In an uncertain world, be certain of your Business Security.

Beefing-up business security never hurt anyone, so best start now.

The world is an unstable place. If you look at any aspect of nature there is constant change, and an ever-moving needle trying to point due-equilibrium. It’s the same with humanity, as stability is very hard to achieve in a global economy, let alone a global society. 

With the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we see once more how easy it is to poke holes in the thin sheet of stability that the developed world enjoys. The frankly horrible human situation and the emerging refugee crisis are obvious priorities for the international community to fix, and to try to prevent from happening in future. 

In the UK, most of us find ourselves removed from these events, with an unfortunate minority very personally involved, through family, friends or colleagues who have ties to Ukraine or Russia, making the pain of what is going on very real and present. It’s certainly struck close to home for us at Pearce IT, with some team members having very close ties to Ukraine. Recent events have left us all in shock; we’re doing what we can to support those affected, and we stand with Ukraine. 

The displacement of people isn’t the only disruption that stems from the crisis – fuel and energy prices, as well as food prices have been affected across Europe and the wider world. It’s important to consider these issues in perspective against the human tragedy involved, but the fact is that these issues do impact day-to-day routine in nations with fuel, energy, food, and other service and manufacturing needs affected by the current situation. 

Then, of course, there’s the issue of cybersecurity.  

Should I worry about foreign state cyberattacks? 

There’s a great deal of real fear surrounding the disruption of tech companies, banking, and service infrastructure across the globe by Russian state actors, and whereas this is not entirely unfounded, it’s important to consider the vulnerability of the UK national cyber infrastructure in a wider context. 

We have, currently, a relatively strong national cyber security and cyber warfare capability, with the armed forces and GCHQ working together to make sure that the country enjoys robust defence from nation states looking to harm areas of our society that require technology to function, and to protect national infrastructure from cyber attack. It would be reasonable to fear attacks in these areas during direct military action against the UK, but if there is no ongoing threat from a foreign power then it is reasonable to assume that our institutions would be able to defend us from normal levels of cyber-espionage. 

That leaves another, much more immediate threat that we need to guard against – cybercrime. 

 

How do cybercriminals take advantage of global disruption? 

International disruption is a call-to-action to cybercriminals everywhere. They know that elevated security on national infrastructure and a focus on foreign threats will allow them greater freedom of movement to concentrate on members of the public and businesses, and so cyber attacks by criminal groups on the general populace and the business community will be increasing right now.  

The current situation will be creating new opportunities for phishing, smishing, spoofing, and other message-borne threats to carry malware, ransomware, and harvest login or payment card information from unsuspecting users. Typical of these are emails and messages that look like they come from bona-fide senders, soliciting charity donations or assistance for people affected by the current crisis, but are in fact phishing for login or personal payment details. As many of these attacks are email-based, reliable email filtering and anti-spam software will be able to harden most networks and disallow cybercriminals access to the low-hanging fruit. Mail filtering packages such as SpamTitan Plus can make sure that no nasties are making it into your inbox, and that your team or family aren’t clicking on things that they shouldn’t be.  

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA or 2FA) is available on most online portals, email services, and websites, and if enabled means that there is an additional level of security in place that is very difficult to circumvent. By ensuring that MFA is enforced in your business or your personal email, you can remove most immediate cybersecurity dangers. Productivity packages and email platforms, such as Microsoft Office 365 use MFA to secure your logins and access to online data storage, and backup platforms such as Dropsuite can make sure that your emails and storage are backed up and proof against ransomware. 

That covers the threats directed at you purposefully, but what about the places that you visit online?  

How can I guard against visiting bad URLs? 

 

Surfing the internet has always been associated with issues around security, and although general website security has vastly improved in recent years, the web is still full of sites that carry malware, addresses that are insecure or redirect you to malware-heavy locations, or adware, spyware, and other privacy-based threats watching your online activity and harvesting your data. 

Installing a modern internet security package is the best way to ensure that you stay safe online, and cutting-edge software such as Bitdefender can help you to avoid dodgy sites and embedded malware with real-time site scanning, as well as maintaining a constant blacklist of known bad sites. Your payment details can be secured by fully encrypting all of your online card payments, so you can shop securely. 

How can I fully secure my network? 

With so many threats ranged against the average user, it’s essential to make sure that your cyber security toolkit is up to date and that you’re using everything you can to keep your network safe. If you need comprehensive cybersecurity advice and products, then please get in touch with Pearce IT today. We have powerful security tools on-hand to make sure you’re protected from the array of cyber threats out there, all at extremely competitive prices. We also offer unlimited IT support for as little as £10 per user per month, so you can rest easy knowing that you have a dedicated team of service professionals available to you, with no contracted time limits getting in the way of resolving your IT issues. Get in touch with us on 01453 222000 for a comprehensive security review and reliable advice. 

Why It’s Vital to Back-Up your Office 365 Data

As we move into deepest, darkest winter, pop another log on the fire, grab your cocoa with both hands, snuggle up, and get ready for a bone-chilling tale of ill-prepared users, and how you can avoid the pitfalls of not backing up your online data… 

Wind the clock back to a fictitious Christmas five years ago, and you’re just getting ready for shutdown, everyone has extra workload to make sure you can close your business over the holidays without loose ends flapping everywhere. It’s been snowing heavily, and the roof tiles give way slightly, letting a drip-drip-drip of near-freezing water seep into your on-premises server until…  

Well, you get the picture, but you learned from that and moved your emails, files, and working domain into the Cloud, using Microsoft’s excellent Office 365 platform. A few years on since ‘That Christmas’ you don’t have to worry about that leaky roof, dodgy servers, or users’ endpoints being critical points of failure. You’re relaxed. All-chill. Sit back and pop your feet up. Everything is in the Cloud. It’s all backed-up automatically, right? Nothing can go wrong.

Or so you thought…  

OK, enough with the theatrics 

Whilst we’re on the subject of stories, there’s a myth that if you have Office 365 data in the cloud, it’s backed up. Wrong - Microsoft don’t back-up your data as standard, so it’s vital to have a solution in place to protect yourself, your users, and your customers. It’s also easily assumed that your Office 365 data in the cloud is invulnerable and proof from equipment failure, and this is true to a degree; Microsoft for example do run a tight ship when it comes to making sure their cloud platforms have high-availability and geographical redundancy, meaning that the virtual machines that run all this wonderful cloud wizardry are ready to switch over to another physical host machine or data-centre elsewhere in the region, should a certain machine or server-hall develop a problem or get particularly swamped with operations, keeping your user experience fairly uninterrupted and consistently responsive. 

That, however, is not the entire spectrum of cyber-threats that you’re up against on the modern web. Data-thieves or ransomware attackers can still gain access to your Office 365 infrastructure through hacked user accounts (company directors or department heads needlessly having Admin rights with no additional checks is a classic security failure) and can possibly hold entire document libraries for ransom. Then there’s the good-old genuine mistake, where someone has deleted or changed a file, or moved something so it cannot easily be found, or permissions have been changed on cloud storage, with users are locked out of sites or libraries with no access to their data until a fix is identified and implemented. Let’s not even mention the damage that a disgruntled employee, or any other bad actor inside your organisation, can do in the space of minutes, let alone the hours, days, or weeks that they may still have access to your data during any notice period. It’s also worth looking at the wording on your cyber insurance, should you have a policy (most organisations should, and in some sectors it’s a legal requirement). Likelihood is, if you’re not backing up your cloud data, your policy is invalid.

We’re getting dramatic again… 

For good reason, as despite them running a high-availability, geographically redundant platform, there’s no secret-sauce that Microsoft pour on Office 365 that magically makes it significantly more secure than other cloud platforms, and as mentioned there’s no supplied backup solution. There are also still ways to get into Office 365 Cloud Tenancies uninvited, and organisations need to ensure that they are doing everything in their power to check that the doors are locked, and the drawbridge is up.

The X Factor 

 

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA or sometimes referred to as 2FA) is now used everywhere, from websites to banking apps, and even some Electric Vehicles now have the option to require input from a mobile device before they can start. There’s no doubt that knowing something (password) and having something (your phone) mean that any individual looking to gain access to your cloud platform account surreptitiously now has the serious problem of not only needing to know your password, but also needing physical access to your mobile device. It’s fair to say that simply by turning on and enforcing MFA across your organisation, the size of the attack surface (The sum of the different points, or attack vectors, that an unauthorized user can try to enter or extract data from an environment) available to your everyday hacker becomes very small indeed. 

That takes care of one threat, but we’re still left with zero-day ransomware, genuine error, or malicious disruption. If only there was a way you could just save everyone’s email, OneDrive files, Teams activity, and SharePoint files and folders to a separate cloud backup, that would back up these data at several points throughout the day without any prompting or interference, allowing you to just reload individual items or entire user accounts’ worth of files back to earlier versions or their original places… well, there is. 

Enter Dropsuite 

Cloud backup services have been around for a while, with varying levels of value and functionality for the admin or end-user, but the solution that we recommend is a cloud backup service called Dropsuite. 

Dropsuite is a brilliant system that, once it has access, can back up and save Office 365 data with incremental backups running every couple of hours. Everything is easy to control from a central console, making the platform a breeze to deploy and manage for in-house IT admins and MSPs alike. We make Dropsuite available to clients from as little £3.75 per Office 365 user, per month, which is an absolute steal if you’re looking to bulletproof your Office 365 data for a reasonable cost. 

In addition to highly granular file storage backup and recovery for SharePoint and OneDrive, Dropsuite’s Email Archiving solution helps organizations efficiently store, safeguard, manage, and discover data from most email systems through Journaling. This means that shadow copies of all selected email activity are automatically created and moved to a storage area in real-time. Retention, eDiscovery, Legal Hold policies, and Compliance Review are just a few items that make Dropsuite’s Email Archiving a super-strong tool for your business’ communications archiving and compliance. With unlimited email archive storage and powerful search functions, finding relevant communications for historic and current projects or legal issues is a doddle. 

Packed with other features, it’s a must-have if you’re looking to deploy some serious data-security onto your Office 365 tenant, or if you manage multiple tenants and are looking for a cost-effective backup and storage security solution.  So, with Dropsuite there’s really no excuse not to implement this vital layer of security, and in doing so make sure that you and your users don’t star in some dark wintery tale of your own. 

If you need advice or guidance on the best way to protect your data in the cloud, then pick up the phone or drop us a mail today. We’ll be happy to hear from you, call us on 01452 222000.

Are Hackers Hiding Behind Your MSP?

Managing your own IT can be a time-intensive and unrewarding task, and when your business requires maximum focus it’s a hindrance to have to constantly check on the health of your network, your hardware, and your cyber security. Small wonder then, that the first thing that most business owners do when things start to get busier is to retain a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to take care of things for them. Handing over your IT to a support provider can be wonderfully liberating, and should you be paying for all the bells and whistles, you can rest easy that your network is solid, protected from all the cyber-nasties out there wanting to get hold of your valuable data. Right?

Well, Maybe Not.

It’s worth remembering that MSP’s are businesses themselves, and they should by rights be making sure that they are doing as good (or better) of a job protecting their own systems and networks as they do yours. After all, these are the guys to whom you’ve just handed the keys to your (and your customer’s) digital kingdom, so it’s best to make sure their vaults don’t open on both sides as it were. Sadly, many MSP’s can be guilty of trying to maximise their margins by managing your network with cheap – and sometimes wildly inappropriate – software, data storage, or remote management systems. If you have a managed network, it’s worth checking with your current or future MSP whether they are running potentially vulnerable management software, as this could leave you wide open to a cyberattack if they are not secure.

Vulnerable… What?!?

RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) platforms are cloud-based systems that allow MSPs and IT admins to sign into an account and monitor or control entire networks of endpoints running remote agent software all from a central cloud dashboard. For just one MSP, this could be several hundred customer networks, running thousands of machines. All those businesses under your control… it’s a great deal of responsibility, so you only give your network into the care of those that are competent enough to take care of it properly. Sadly, it’s sometimes not enough to take an MSPs’ competence at face value, as however hard they try, their RMM (or another mission-critical software or hardware solution) may not be as secure as they, and by extension you, might think.

In the case of one major platform provider, SolarWinds, there have been massive breaches and zero-day attacks on their Orion IT management suite, first in 2020, and in July of this year, potentially exposing huge numbers of MSPs worldwide to cyberattack. In the July hack, likely perpetrated by a group of Chinese hackers dubbed ‘Spiral’, there was a vulnerability in the platforms file-sharing application, which resulted in the hackers being able to gain access to machines and networks connected to the platform.

Does It All Check Out?

It's vital to do your research, and there is always a very strict routine to follow when retaining the services of a platform provider, especially if you are responsible for other people’s networks in addition to your own. You should always check that the platform is certified for use on the networks and systems you will be using it on, that the provider has a strict, definitive, and above all, regular policy of applying updates, that their platform supports Multi-Factor Authentication, and if their platforms are notorious for being vulnerable or having significant outage. This should help keep the number of unauthorised access attempts to your, or your customers’, networks to zero.

Our Promise

We would just like to reassure all our customers – past, present and future – that Pearce IT uses no software or management systems provided by SolarWinds, and that we only touch your network with the most stringently tested and approved software and Remote Management and Monitoring systems.

We take the security of our clients very seriously, so if you’re looking for a strong partner to help you to protect your network, please get in touch with us today.

Disaster Prevention and Recovery

Running a business today often relies upon a huge amount of data. Whether that be data about clients, employees, contracts or financials, most, if not all, of this information will be stored and tracked digitally.

Suddenly losing access to all that information is a panic-inducing possibility that doesn’t bear thinking about for most business owners, but it’s essential to ensure your organisation has strategies in place should disaster strike. Developing these strategies can be a complex process, and the range of services available can each offer their own set of benefits and downsides.

One of the first steps to take is to get an understanding of the different threats and points of failure faced by your current IT systems. Several factors need to be considered; one clear point of failure is an IT systems vulnerability to power surges or fluctuations. Depending on the size of the business and the amount of equipment kept on site, different steps need to be taken to ensure any issues with power don’t lead to a catastrophic failure or data loss. Working via a cloud-based system that takes regular backups, like the service offered by Microsoft’s Office 365, can help solve this issue. Because data is stored remotely, it doesn’t rely on any one machine or network, and won’t result in data loss should a machine fail for any reason.

Cloud Services do vary by provider on how they protect data, and it’s worth double checking what each service guarantees as part of the deal, but it’s often part of the package for business clients that their data is stored with geographical redundancies in place. These redundancies ensure the data is protected in the event of emergencies on the client’s end, or even if servers fail in one of the providers’ data centres.

Another vector for potential disaster is the risk of a virus, malware, or ransomware attack. Cyber security threats can enter the system through an external source, often the internet, and cause immense harm to business infrastructure and its ability to operate effectively. Like the virus’ biological namesake, digital viruses can spread quickly throughout an organisation’s network, and there have been several horror stories in recent memory of large organisations having huge amounts of essential data held to ransom. In 2017, around 60 NHS trusts were hit with a version of the infamous ‘WannaCry’ ransomware, affecting healthcare professionals' ability to access patient records and other essential data.  

To maintain an effective defence against potential intrusions, it’s important to invest in reliable cyber security measures. There is a plethora of different anti-virus programs available, that differ in the exact safety measures and services they provide. Conducting a thorough evaluation of the specific needs faced by an organisation is useful in sorting through all the options. Making sure whatever choice you make is regularly kept up to date is also essential, as viruses and malware are regularly changed in order to try and circumvent security measures, meaning an out-of-date anti-virus program is almost as bad as not having any at all.  

Both the use of cloud services and anti-virus software are examples of preventative measures a business can take to safeguard data in the event of a disaster. While they are both important parts of the toolkit, they make up just single components of a wider disaster recovery plan. Some options can both serve as a precaution against a disaster occurring, while also playing an integral part in restoring operations to normality should the unfortunate occur. Any business, but especially those that deal with high volumes of sensitive data, should have a bespoke strategy in place to make sure any downtime incurred by security failures, data breaches or otherwise unforeseen circumstances is kept to an absolute minimum.  

If you want to talk to a professional team about how you can develop one of these plans or talk through some of your options for data security, contact the Pearce IT Team today!  

What Is Remote Monitoring and Management, and Do I Need It?

Having a faultlessly running IT infrastructure is a dream of every organisation, and the ongoing challenge that faces every single Managed Service Provider or IT department the world over. When you’re in charge of somebody’s network, there are many objectives and goals that vie for your attention every minute of every day; security, storage, software, internet access, and performance are all important individual factors, but the overarching goal for all IT professionals is to ensure that their network is running smoothly overall. 

Tools Of The Trade 

You simply cannot do this without certain tools, and the most important tool (and the one that usually sees the most use) in the IT pro’s arsenal is the Remote Monitoring and Management system, or RMM. This is a management platform that runs software agents installed on network endpoints. An endpoint can be any device - a server, workstation, laptop, even a tablet or phone – that connects to your network and essentially performs tasks. The RMM software monitors everything that happens on the endpoint; it has access to system logs, performance metrics such as system temperature, Hard Drive speed, memory and CPU usage, and is able to perform system tasks at an administrator level. It regularly checks in with a handler system – often a server in the cloud – which runs the management platform and collates all the reports and system messages from endpoints on networks it is monitoring. This is then presented via a sophisticated Graphical User Interface (GUI) to an IT professional responsible for the health of the network. 

It’s a two-way connection, meaning that at any point the IT professional can access your endpoints remotely, either overtly, with the knowledge and assistance of the user, or covertly, when the system is locked or there is no operator. Depending on the setup, there’s also the possibility of turning on systems remotely, completing tasks, then shutting down again. Remotely accessing a customer’s endpoints makes troubleshooting and repairing difficult software and system issues far easier. It’s far more efficient than attempting a fix solely over the phone, via email, and even in person, as RMM platforms seamlessly integrate with password management and antivirus software, so there’s no scratching around for logins, passwords and product keys - they’re all available at the click of a mouse. 

If there are clear advantages to break-fix scenarios for customers’ networks by using RMM software, then these are very much secondary when compared to the bonuses gained in preventing software and hardware issues. 

Prevention Is Better Than Cure 

RMM software is an incredibly useful tool for predicting when and where a network will fail, where the security holes are, and which machines are on their last-legs or in dire need of a tune-up. It can even show you which machines are running certain software, when that software was last patched, and how often launching that software creates problems for the rest of the operating system or indeed the rest of the network. Patching this software is a doddle and can be scheduled to be done out-of-hours or across certain parts of the network only. Installing certain patches and skipping others is also a feature of many platforms, keeping bloating of endpoints to a minimum. With scripting an option on many RMM platforms, entire user profile or software suite installs can be scheduled to run when a business is closed, or when a user signs-out for the day. 

Is There A Catch? 

So what are the downsides to having an RMM deployed on your network? Surely there are issues with having an all-powerful monitoring and management suite deployed on every machine in your network, silently collecting data and keeping a hidden eye on every task, click, and keystroke? Well, not really. If you’re worried about the security of your data, the depth of functionality of RMM software is completely adjustable when it comes to each network, and only you and the administrator, be they in-house or working for your MSP, can control the level of access and see the data that these systems collect.  

The More You Know… 

There’s always a place for refined data in keeping your network healthy, and in terms of system usage analytics, working out when you need to make changes to IT processes, or make purchases to replace ailing infrastructure or software, then RMM deployments are invaluable. If you’re interested in introducing an RMM system to your network, or elevating your service plan to include some of the more useful functionality of your existing RMM deployment, then get in touch with Pearce IT, and we can help you to make your network more secure and more efficient for a very low cost per-endpoint.  

After all, the more you know about your network, the more you can do with it. 

Review Your IT Strategy

September’s finally here, and hopefully with it comes a little peace and quiet as all the kids go back to school. With a bit more serenity and time to focus, now’s the perfect time to look at your IT strategy and check it's doing its best for your business.

The pandemic shifted many of us to working from home, only visiting the office when necessary. Many businesses had some degree of infrastructure in place to facilitate this shift but might not have had the time to look at how it affects their overall IT strategy.

An important part of modern business management is ensuring your IT strategy takes full advantage of any available resources. If every employee is aware of and understands your IT strategy, it can go a long way towards achieving your business goals and getting the most value out of your business’ IT infrastructure.

So, what is an IT Strategy, and why do we need one?

As part of your overall IT Capability, your IT strategy document lays out your business’ ability to utilise its technological assets and skills effectively, to add value. One thing to keep in mind is that your IT strategy is a business document that should be able to be understood by any employee, not just those with a technological background.

Beyond meeting business needs and improving organisational processes, the purpose of an overarching IT strategy is to clarify your long-term goals and create a framework that can be referred to when making short or mid-term decisions. Almost all companies have been forced to make changes over the last 18 months, so your existing IT strategy might need adjusting slightly to maximise the technological capability of your business.

Now that children are back in school, focus on your IT strategy and evaluate how your needs might have changed since it was first implemented, or even whether you need to start from scratch!

To get started, there are a few key elements and principles to bear in mind when thinking through a new strategy or amending an old one. Firstly, the core principle of any strategy is to enable your organisation to meet its goals. It is important to directly reference these business goals and reorientate, where necessary, to support your overall vision. While it's easy to get dragged into the minutiae of software, tools, and pipelines, it’s essential to keep the end goal in sight.

One of the most straightforward ways of getting started is to perform an audit. By speaking to employees, customers, or anyone else involved in the process, you can find out which areas are hindering processes and can even gain some valuable insight on how to address those issues. It’s important to make sure all aspects of your current IT strategy and infrastructure are included in any audits; any progress made could become redundant if anything slips through the cracks.

If you want some help getting started with your IT strategy, or want a hand performing a comprehensive audit, contact Pearce IT Today!

Windows 11 Update

Back in June, Microsoft revealed the latest version of its globally adopted operating system series, Windows 11. This came as a bit of a surprise, as Microsoft had previously touted Windows 10 as the final version of the software to be supported endlessly via regular updates.  

Supposedly, the new version was born out of a scrapped lite version of Windows destined for touch and multi-screen portable devices. Instead of going ahead with this mini or lite version, Microsoft has decided to roll the features designed for it into a major release.  

A few features were revealed in June, with several more being revealed in the following weeks. Microsoft is promising updates will be 40% smaller, hopefully a relief for those of us that put them off until the last possible minute!  

The user interface is one of the most obvious places getting a shake-up. The start menu has been moved to the centre of the screen, light and dark themes are available as default modes, and a rounded corner design has been adopted system wide. The taskbar is optimised for touch and other peripherals, as well as being centralised and renamed the ‘Dock’ in an ‘Apple-esque’ fashion. 

Microsoft is also promoting ‘Artificial Intelligence powered dynamic features’, enabling widgets to display different information according to the time of day, and which apps are currently being used.  

A much-needed improvement to multitasking features is coming too. Snap groups and layouts allow you to arrange multiple windows across the display, not limited to the side-by-side layout currently enforced by Windows 10, but in rows and columns too.  

Windows will also remember the arrangement of these snap layouts the next time you come back. This useful timesaver will hopefully yield a convenient boon for productivity. Multi-monitor support will also be improved and integrated to remember what apps were opened on a monitor when it is reconnected. 

Some more exciting changes are coming to the Microsoft store. Windows’ in-built media and app store is seeing a full redesign with some tighter content curation, to eliminate the high amount of low-quality, third-party applications that currently dominate the platform. Microsoft made a point of showing that popular apps like the Adobe Suite and Disney+ will be ready to go in the store on day one.  

One slightly more interesting development is the support of android apps like Tik Tok or Instagram, which will also be downloadable from the store. In line with the support of android apps are the improvements to the touch features, likely carried through from the earlier version of a touchscreen specific OS mentioned previously. 

Gaming fans will be pleased to note a welcome revision of the previously cumbersome Windows 10 Xbox app. The app will be replaced by a new Game Pass app, to integrate Windows more directly with Microsoft’s gaming subscription service. Players will be able to directly buy, manage and access games available on the service or through its affiliates like Bethesda and EA. Auto HDR and better full and widescreen support will also be welcome quality-of-life changes for gamers everywhere.  

It can’t all be good news though, and Microsoft has been under a little fire for making the required specifications too high for even some fairly recent machines. The earliest compatible CPUs listed on Microsoft’s website are only from a couple of years ago, but this doesn’t mean older processors won’t work at all, Microsoft has only officially validated more recent hardware.  

There are also, for the technically minded, requirements for UEFI, Secure boot and TPM. UEFI and Secure boot might eliminate some older machines from being able to run the new operating system, but the TPM issue is more complicated. In short however, most prebuilt systems from around 2016 should have a Trusted Platform Module already installed, whereas motherboards used for DIY systems are less consistent but have been increasingly included as standard since around the same time.  

Users of older machines without some of these features might be able to exploit some workarounds to access Windows 11, but many will stick to the familiar territory of Windows 10. The more adventurous users might be finally tempted to switch to a lightweight Linux distribution, well known for keeping elderly PCs on life support for a few more years.  

Should your current machine fall short of Windows 11 however, Microsoft has already stated that it will continue to support and provide security updates for Windows 10 through until 2025. Most of the advertised changes at the moment appear to be welcome benefits to productivity and quality of life. Windows 11 is expected to arrive on your screens this October. 

If you want a hand checking that all your gear will be ready to go when it rolls around, or you want to find out what the best option for your organisation is, get in contact with Pearce IT today! 

Green IT = Cheaper IT

With a heatwave roasting the UK at the moment, people may have felt a stark reminder of the broader climate change affecting the planet. In an increasingly online and computer dependent world, a significant part of the changes needed to reduce our waste and power consumption must be felt by the IT sector. Tech companies are inarguably responsible for some contributing issues, from the energy expended extracting the raw materials, to the power we use to run machines on a daily basis.  

Many organisations in the IT space have begun to adopt ‘Green IT’ policies, with the aim of minimizing or eliminating the negative impact of IT operations on the environment. This could be attempting to switch to renewable power sources, offsetting carbon use through tree planting, or trying to increase the lifecycle of equipment.  

One of the most significant points of waste and pollution for the IT sector is the relatively short lifespan of the equipment used. An adage within the IT industry entitled ‘Moore’s Law’, named for the former Fairchild Semiconductor founder and later Intel CEO who thought it up, predicted that the number of semiconductors in an integrated circuit would double around every two years. In layman’s terms, the relative power of a computer would double in the same period, rendering machines produced just two years earlier obsolete. While Moore’s law is no longer realistically thought to apply at anywhere near the same rate to commercially available products, the industry has emphasised the importance of regular upgrades to consumers. Although, most daily computer users are unlikely to feel the benefit of regular, incremental upgrades outside of 3D graphics or other industry specific intensive tasks. Focusing consumer attention on upgrades rather than maintenance means a lot of machines have a lifespan of just a few short years and there are a phenomenal number of resources and energy spent on producing replacements.  

Companies like Apple have historically fought the ‘Right to Repair’ movement at every turn, only faltering slightly in the past couple of years. Recently the tech monolith started supplying repair outlets with parts, though some suspect this may only be an attempt to cut out the lucrative third-party parts industry they were growing increasingly jealous of. The EU have recently introduced legislation requiring manufacturers to facilitate the repair of their electrical goods for at least 10 years after coming to market. This will directly benefit consumers who wish to extend the lifespan of their equipment and hopefully reduce the colossal sum of resources used to produce new machines, as well as supporting a fast-growing circular economy of professional repair shops and second-hand markets.  

Here at Pearce IT, we’ve been dedicated to implementing Green IT policies for a long time. The telecoms section of our business managed to achieve carbon neutral status all the way back in 2012!  

One of the significant changes we’ve made to offset carbon is switching to electric vehicles. Though our traveling around might have been limited since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, electric vehicles still save a huge amount of carbon emissions through our day-to-day activities.  

If you’re interested in finding out more and want to know how you could offset your carbon footprint through more environmentally friendly IT practices, contact Pearce IT, call 01452 222000.