Phishing continues to be the leading cause of data breaches, and these threats are targeting users everywhere, including the critical devices they rely on every day: their smartphones. Experts anticipate the threat will only increase in the years ahead.

Although many businesses continuously improve their email security filters, it’s important to remember that filters are not foolproof. To effectively shield a business from cyber threats, organizations should empower their teams to join the fight by deploying user-driven reporting of suspicious emails as an additional security measure.

Like driving, cyberattacks occur daily; new cyber events won’t subside any time soon. It’s not whether an organization will have a security event; it’s when.

Anyone who has personally experienced identity theft or fraud knows how challenging it is to fix — even if their credit is frozen. However, too often, businesses don’t consider the many fraud and cyber threats they face because they are frequent but “just not to us.”

For businesses, falling victim to a bad actor can mean the difference between staying in business or not. Instead, companies should shift their approach and invest in cybersecurity insurance.

Deploying TPx’s Managed Inbox Detection and Response (IDR), a predictive multi-vector detection, prevention and response technology that counters the growing cyber threats, users can eliminate the guesswork of deciding whether messages are suspicious by reporting emails with a single click from their inbox.

TPx’s Managed IDR service helps protect companies against phishing attacks, email compromises and advanced malware that traditional email filtering may miss.

Companies can further boost user security by incorporating IDR and Managed Security Awareness Training (SAT) services and providing online courses following National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines into their security strategy. By incorporating TPx’s SAT program, companies can mitigate risks by increasing alertness and educating employees on recognizing and avoiding cyberattacks. Phish rate reduction directly correlates to training completion.

TPx’s Managed IDR service allows users to easily submit suspicious emails from their inboxes, which are quickly and accurately validated to determine if they are malicious. Once reported, the emails are removed from the inbox and placed into quarantine while under evaluation.

The reported emails are continuously monitored and professionally evaluated using automated scanning and human threat analysis. This process relieves the burden on internal IT and security teams and improves accuracy and response times.

The emails are returned or permanently removed in just a few minutes, reinforcing good security habits. Furthermore, malicious emails are automatically and globally removed from the customer’s domain, preventing other users from falling victim to the same phishing attempt.

These solutions have proven to be effective at raising employees’ awareness, increasing report rates compared to the company’s old email method and reducing phishing events overall.

While no one can predict what challenges — and threats — will arise next, it’s never too early for companies to prepare for what they might face. Even if the fight against cyber-attacks won’t subside, companies are best served by bringing in reinforcements in the form of their employees. Get in touch with TPx to get started.

The post Leveraging Tech to Target Security Threats appeared first on TPx Communications.

Traditional time division multiplexing (TDM) networks have done an excellent job of delivering phone calls, managing test data, and even migrating data to new infrastructures. But it simply doesn’t have the flexibility of SD-WAN. Since TDM networks assign a static time slot for each piece of data, they can’t compete with internet protocol (IP) networks, which can divide, send, and regroup data in myriad ways.

The flexibility, scalability, and efficiency of IP networking pave the way for software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WAN). These give you control over how you move data, use your network, and manipulate traffic to meet your business’s goals.

What Is SD-WAN?

SD-WAN involves optimizing your wide-area network using software to direct traffic. You can think of an SD-WAN solution like a traffic control mechanism. Data moves like vehicles traveling down streets — but only the specific streets chosen by the traffic control managers. Those managing the system also decide how many cars can travel on each street, when, and which vehicles are allowed in.

It’s the same with SD-WAN. You can control the kind of data that can flow through the network, when, the paths it can take, and its destination.

For example, suppose a retailer uses a traditional, inflexible network for its internet service, communications across multiple locations, videoconferencing, point-of-sale (POS) system, and in-store intranet solution. Sometimes, everything works fairly well, and any delays or latency go unnoticed.

However, the retailer’s POS system often suffers latency or dropouts. This is because the combination of internet usage in each store, high-definition videoconferencing, and large data files sent from one store to another consumes too much bandwidth.

To fix the problem, the retailer installs an SD-WAN solution. Using SD-WAN, network engineers can “direct traffic” in a way that ensures the most business-critical services get the bandwidth needed to work without a hitch.

They prioritize the POS system, which is central to the retailer’s revenue model. When there are company-wide meetings, the videoconferencing system also gets priority, ensuring there aren’t dropouts or glitches during important presentations. In this way, businesses can leverage SD-WAN to optimize the performance of their networks.

How SD-WAN Solves Today’s IT Challenges

The modern business network has to be flexible enough to adapt to whatever changes a business makes. This includes adjustments to marketing strategies, operational approaches, and ways of meeting customer needs. SD-WAN gives you the control and flexibility you need to adjust your network’s performance — automatically or manually — in an unlimited variety of situations.

SD-WAN makes agile network management possible by meeting challenges such as:

• Bandwidth adjustments. Cloud-based services and applications, for instance, require varying amounts of bandwidth, and SD-WAN makes it easy to meet these needs.
• Unreliable networks. You can have your provider set up an SD-WAN architecture with automatic failover mechanisms. If there’s an issue with the primary network, your failover system can automatically spin up a backup solution.
• An SD-WAN system can come equipped with end-to-end encryption and access control systems that keep your data safe and intruders away from your digital assets.
• Application performance. Whether it’s a CRM your marketing team needs to launch a campaign, a POS, or an ERP that processes manufacturing data, there are some apps your business can’t live without. SD-WAN ensures these have the throughput they need to receive, send, and process important data.
• If you need to add a new location, connect more employees, or launch an additional product line, SD-WAN can make sure your network grows with you. Your provider can reconfigure network assets and restructure data flows to meet new needs relatively quickly.

Benefits and Advantages of SD-WAN

SD-WAN gives you the ability to design an intelligent network that delivers exactly what you need. Imagine a highway packed with cars, slowly edging forward, bumper to bumper, while there are other highways and streets alongside it that are empty. It’s inefficient and slow. SD-WAN gives you access to many different “streets” you can use to send and receive information, as well as the control necessary to decide what to send, when, and which data to prioritize.

Better Network Performance

Using your SD-WAN network, you can prioritize the applications that are most important to your business. There’s no need to worry about whether or not they get the bandwidth they need to provide the kind of performance your employees and customers expect.

For example, an IoT device may need to process a vast amount of information in real time without interruption, or a VoIP solution may have to manage dozens of calls simultaneously without glitches. SD-WAN ensures that your network provides these systems with the bandwidth they need.

Straightforward Network Management

Your IT team, whether you use in-house staff or an external provider, can control your entire network from a centralized interface. This gives them the power to:

• Monitor your network’s performance and traffic, looking for issues.
• Manage network performance so it satisfies the needs of your applications.
• Adjust your network to optimize performance.
• Use automation to expand or adjust your network according to predefined conditions.

In addition to the simplicity you get with SD-WAN, you also save considerable time because complex network adjustments can be made in a single software interface, either in your office or remotely.

Improved Security

SD-WAN solutions have built-in security features, such as web gateways, firewalls, and encryption. These prevent attackers from accessing your network and malware from flowing to your endpoints.

You can also have an SD-WAN system equipped with role-based access controls and similar systems that greatly reduce the chances of a malicious actor infiltrating a sensitive system.

One of the most significant benefits of the security features of an SD-WAN solution is consistency. You can apply one set of rules across your entire network, making sure different locations, offices, and employees follow the same operational protocols. This is especially helpful considering the diverse array of data protection laws and industry requirements. With SD-WAN, you can ensure every medical facility in your network adheres to HIPAA standards, for example. Or, if you do business with companies in the UK, you can establish GDPR-compliant data management systems across your entire ecosystem.

Analytics

When you have SD-WAN, you’re empowered not just to manage your network but also to analyze how data moves through it. Your system can collect information about which applications use the most data and when. This information is particularly valuable for organizations that need to scale as more or fewer customers interact with their applications. By understanding the bandwidth requirements of each app, you can make strategic decisions around the kind of internet service you need.

The analytics that an SD-WAN system enables are also useful for identifying trends. For instance, if the number of users accessing your mobile application has been steadily climbing over the last six months, your SD-WAN solution can surface this data. Using this information, you can decide when and how to grow your business.

Determining Whether SD-WAN Is Right for You

SD-WAN offers numerous advantages, but it may not be the ideal solution for every business. If your organization has no plans for growth or expansion and your current network infrastructure is functioning effectively, you might not need SD-WAN at this time.

To decide if now is the time to start considering SD-WAN, you can ask the following questions:

• Do we currently have any network challenges? For reference, if you never experience lag time, there aren’t any issues with latency, or your applications always perform up to end-user expectations, you may be able to delay the SD-WAN conversation.
• Is growing our business a high priority? For some organizations, maintaining the status quo is sufficient, and growth is not necessarily on the docket. If this is the case with your company, and your network is currently performing well, you might be able to put the SD-WAN conversation on pause until you decide to pursue growth.
• Do we need to tighten our security? While it’s hard to imagine a company that doesn’t have security concerns, those that have simple, intranet-based networks with strict role-based access control systems may not have SD-WAN on their radar. But if any of your business assets, such as apps, cloud-based services, or website, connect to the internet, SD-WAN can improve your security.
• Do we have a complicated network — or will it get more complicated down the road? Some companies may have only one location and run applications using an on-premise server. In this case, SD-WAN may not be necessary. On the other hand, if you have more than one location, use cloud-based apps, and need connectivity to manage multiple business functions, SD-WAN should be a priority.
• Are internet costs a concern? SD-WAN gives you the leeway to analyze your bandwidth and speed needs and optimize your current internet usage for your business. After an SD-WAN optimization, you may find that you can downgrade your internet service and still enjoy top-notch operations. This can save you money each month.
• Do we need greater network visibility? Because SD-WAN gives you a single pane of glass through which to view all of your network operations, many organizations use it to understand how data flows through their system and to pinpoint potential trouble spots. Some businesses also use the visibility that SD-WAN enables to troubleshoot network issues quickly. It speeds up root cause analysis and limits downtime.

If you answer yes to any of the above questions, it’s time to start exploring your SD-WAN options. Remember that SD-WAN is flexible, so even if your environment is fairly simple now, you can implement SD-WAN and scale up or adjust it as needed.

How to Choose an SD-WAN Provider

Choosing the right SD-WAN provider is crucial because you need a provider that understands how to improve your network’s performance, efficiency, and security. As you make your decision, here are some suggestions that may help:

• Take time to pinpoint what you need — both for now and for the future. Some companies need the ability to adjust how much bandwidth certain applications or services need. Others want a simpler, more centralized network management solution. By making a wish list, you can compare how different providers fit the bill.
• Compare the scalability each provider offers. Scalability comes into play in terms of how much a solution can scale and how quickly. Map out the kinds of scaling you’re most likely to need and check whether a potential provider can accommodate your growth.
• Think about the kinds of network environments you use. Do you use a hybrid, public, private, or on-premise architecture? Some providers may do a better job of managing hybrid cloud environments than others. In some cases, a provider may excel when it comes to the public cloud but may not be able to manage a multi-cloud system as well.
• Determine whether the company’s customer support is adequate. Can they take support calls on weekends or during holidays? What is the average time it takes to resolve network issues? Do you have to pay extra for enhanced support packages?
• Check each company’s references. Collect several references and dedicate a morning or afternoon to chatting with them. You should ask about how they handle challenges, average uptime, and whether they can think creatively to meet your business’s needs. You can also ask about each company’s weaknesses and determine which ones you’re willing to live with.
• Make sure you can afford the solution. Your total cost of ownership is often justified by the savings your solution provides or how it enhances your revenue stream. But it’s best to evaluate the expenses in the context of a long-term budget to make sure your solution will make both dollars and sense.

TPx’s team of SD-WAN experts understands how to decide the best solution for your industry. We also understand how to adjust your SD-WAN system to ensure it meets your company’s short- and long-term goals. To experience the potential of SD-WAN for your company, connect with one of TPx’s experts for a consultation.

The post 2024 Guide to SD-WAN appeared first on TPx Communications.

While many fear these innovations, they shouldn’t. There are reasons to approach these latest innovations with caution, but outright avoiding them? Not the smart – or sustainable – approach.

Think of AI and ML as the latest iteration of continuously evolving technology, which often leads to businesses evolving and growing. Like many technological advancements before it, the responsible deployment of AI and ML won’t replace humans. Rather, those who know how to leverage these tools in their jobs will replace those who don’t.

Organizations should consider how any new technology solution can bolster their business goals and accelerate growth, including AI and ML.

Why would a company want an experienced, expensive human performing mind-numbing, soul-crushing tasks, especially if they don’t provide significant value, and amid an ongoing IT skills shortage? Instead, companies need people to focus on delivering value to the organization.

Consider the significant cost savings companies can realize by cutting 45 minutes of triage time for every network event. Imagine the cost savings to the business using AI to predict theft in stores or ML to self-diagnose network issues and reduce downtime. AI also has implications that enhance digital collaboration and reduce the need for minute tasks like transcribing, summarizing, and recording.

Predicting traffic flows, generating smarter analytics, and monitoring overall network health may save a few minutes per instance. But the savings could be significant over time.

Anyone who’s used ChatGPT knows it will get to an 80% correct answer today. It may not be perfect yet, but it’s improving daily. Think of AI and ML the same way – as powerful tools in their infancy with massive potential – especially for businesses wanting to maximize the value of their IT investment to focus on running and growing their business.

To evaluate the return on investment in security spending, consider the cost of a data breach, lost customers, or diminished stock value. Any possible scenario from a cyberattack should convince every company to make security an integral part of its IT posture.

New technology is scary. So is being left behind. Are you confident your foundation is built for whatever the business worlds bring next? TPx can help you future-proof your IT infrastructure. Get in touch to get started.

The post Why You Shouldn’t (Totally) Fear AI appeared first on TPx Communications.

Navigating the complexities of IT compliance is daunting. This article debunks prevalent misconceptions, clarifying why compliance is an ongoing process, crucial for businesses of all sizes, and a shared responsibility across the organization. Discover why simply meeting standards isn’t enough and how partnering with experts can enhance your security posture. Prepare to rethink your approach to compliance and gain insights on creating a robust, future-proof strategy.

Myth: Compliance is a (long!) checklist.

Truth: Compliance is a continuous process.

Compliance is never one-and-done, and it’s not a simple checklist to move through. Instead, an effective compliance program must constantly be monitored and improved, especially as regulations change. Don’t make the mistake of checking the box on one risk assessment and one employee training to assume you’re done. For example, even if you’ve implemented the basics of PCI DSS 4.0, continue improving access privileges, password management, and enhanced encryption.

Myth: IT Compliance doesn’t apply to me because I’m a small business.

Truth: IT compliance standards apply to businesses of all sizes, including small businesses.

Regulatory bodies do not typically exempt small businesses from compliance requirements because security threats and data breaches can affect any organization, regardless of its size. In fact, according to a Verizon survey, 46 percent of data breaches happen to companies with less than 1,000 employees. Non-compliance can lead to significant legal, financial, and reputational consequences. Plus, adhering to compliance standards helps small businesses build trust with customers and partners. Ignoring compliance can result in vulnerabilities that may be exploited, leading to severe impacts on business operations.

Myth: I need to hire an expensive expert internally.

Truth: Outsourcing compliance can be more cost-effective.

IT compliance is expensive because it’s complex, confusing, and time-consuming. But an in-house expert isn’t always needed. Many businesses partner with a managed services provider to maximize their budget and gain direct access to experts without shouldering the cost of salary, benefits, and training. For example, TPx’s Virtual Compliance Officer (VCO) Solution designs, implements, and manages your security program for less than an in-house specialist, and offers comprehensive IT compliance solutions to maximize your defensibility to compliance frameworks and cybersecurity threats.

Myth: Compliance is just too much to keep up with.

Truth: With the right help, it’s possible to become defensible.

While keeping up with compliance can feel like an insurmountable task, working with an expert in IT compliance gives your business a competitive edge when it comes to defensibility, since they can combine knowledge of key compliance standards with cybersecurity best practices. It also alleviates the manual, repetitive tasks of ensuring compliance. It’s all about having the right processes, resources, and partnerships.

Myth: Compliance belongs to a single team.

Truth: Compliance is a company-wide effort.

Relegating IT compliance to legal or IT bottlenecks your strategy and reduces its effectiveness. Instead, IT compliance is the entire company’s job because it involves policies, procedures, and behaviors that affect all employees and departments. Effective compliance requires everyone to understand and follow security protocols, handle data responsibly, and adhere to regulations. Cross-departmental collaboration ensures comprehensive risk management and fosters a culture of accountability. Plus, breaches or non-compliance in one area can impact the entire organization, making unified efforts essential for protecting the business and its stakeholders.

Myth: IT compliance is enough to keep my business safe.

Truth: Relying solely on IT compliance standards leaves you vulnerable.

IT compliance alone isn’t enough to keep your business safe because compliance standards often represent the minimum required security measures, not necessarily the best practices for your specific business context. Threat landscapes continuously evolve, and new vulnerabilities and attack methods emerge that compliance standards might not yet address. Comprehensive security requires a proactive approach, including ongoing risk assessments, employee training, advanced security technologies, and incident response plans. Relying solely on compliance can leave gaps that sophisticated attackers can exploit, so a robust cybersecurity strategy must complement compliance efforts.

Myth: Compliance requirements stifle innovation.

Truth: Effective IT compliance helps future-proof your business.

IT Compliance prepares your business for the future and supports your team in adopting new technologies easily. With the right frameworks in place, you’ll feel confident in outpacing competitors while following appropriate regulations. You’ll stay ahead of evolving threats, and as attackers become more sophisticated, you will, too.

To maximize defensibility and build trust with customers, work with an expert team like TPx, who understands your industry, threat landscape, and the ins and outs of major compliance frameworks like HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC2, and more. Get in touch to get started.

The post Mythbusting IT Compliance appeared first on TPx Communications.

With a 60 percent reduction in operational costs, managed IT services are the ideal solution for businesses to maximize their IT budget for the highest value, especially in light of high inflation, decreased consumer spending, and higher-than-ever hardware and software costs. In tighter economic times, every line item counts on a business’s profit and loss statement, and IT is already a top expense. Get access to best-in-class technology and expertise with a managed service provider (MSP) who will act as an extension of your internal team and maximize your IT budget.

1. Reduce the cost of in-house employees while getting access to more specialized expertise for less

The average IT manager makes $152,916 annually, while a specialized cybersecurity analyst can make as much as $183,219 per year. Hiring and retaining top-tier professionals is incredibly expensive, adding up salary, benefits, ongoing training, and continuous certifications. Also, IT’s skills gap and talent shortage don’t make the competition any less fierce for highly experienced professionals. A serious cybersecurity talent shortage means you might not even be able to find the right people at all, regardless of job salary. Whether you want to outsource your entire IT team or augment a few niche skill sets, a managed service provider provides those experienced professionals for less.

2. Lower your overall cybersecurity risk

The only thing more expensive than cybersecurity employees, infrastructure, and frameworks is not having them during a cyberattack. Cyber incidents are crippling for most companies, with 60 percent of small businesses shutting their doors within six months. Ransomware payments exceeded $1 billion for the first time in 2023, and email phishing is getting more successful thanks to the implementation of artificial intelligence and sophisticated organized crime units. Reduce your overall risk and vulnerability by working with an MSP who can recommend, purchase, and implement exactly what your business needs.

3. Improve employee productivity and reduce turnover

The U.S. loses $1.9 trillion in lost employee productivity, and IT and admin teams are often overburdened with small, never-ending tasks like password resets, hardware fixes, and basic troubleshooting. Sourcing your equipment through your managed IT services provider is a smarter choice as they typically offer better pricing and terms thanks to their technology partners. This helps lower initial costs but also provides predictability to IT forecasting and budgeting. Plus, you’ll have clearer visibility on software and hardware costs for new technology in the future as your managed services provider knows multi-year plans for implementation.

4. Alleviate potential downtime

The average cost of downtime across industries is historically reported at $5,600 per minute, with recent studies showing an increase to a whopping $9,000 per minute. If critical systems went off for an hour, a day, or even multiple weeks, how long could your business afford to stay open? Consistent downtime also degrades customer experience and trust, potentially leading to churn. Managed IT providers support proactive backup and disaster recovery so that you can return to business faster and avoid alarming disaster recovery statistics.

5. Improved pricing on hardware and software

Hardware and software costs can quickly add up, especially if you’re upgrading multiple times a year. Sourcing your equipment through your MSP is a smarter choice as they typically offer better pricing and terms thanks to their technology partners. This helps lower initial costs but also provides predictability to IT forecasting and budgeting. Plus, you’ll have clearer visibility into software and hardware costs for new technology in the future as your MSP manages multi-year plans for implementation.

6. 24/7 support without overtime costs

Having human workers available 24/7 isn’t possible without massive overtime costs or a huge team. Managed services providers typically leverage both human and automated monitoring to protect your business around the clock, no matter the time zone. As your business grows and opens new locations, your MSP can scale for you instead of hiring additional staff, growing your company without incurring more hiring costs.

7. Access to best-in-class and emerging technologies to beat the innovation curve

Innovative technologies improve slow websites and applications, provide real-time inventory monitoring on supply chains, create a positive overall customer experience, and solve many other problems your business might face. Working with an MSP gives your organization unparalleled access to best-in-class and emerging technologies in artificial intelligence, machine learning, threat detection, and automation. Plus, you don’t need to hire and retain experts in-house to utilize the latest technology trends.

Partnering with an expert managed IT services provider saves money across your entire budget while getting your company access to world-class technology and expertise. At TPx, we help companies figure out how to maximize their IT budget for the highest value. Show us your IT bill, and chances are, we can help lower it! Get in touch to get started.

The post 7 Ways to Save Your Business Money With Managed IT Services appeared first on TPx Communications.

On the other hand, if you outsource M365 management to a managed services provider (MSP), you take the burden off your IT team’s shoulders and ensure you use this powerful suite to the fullest.

1. Maximize Your Investment

M365 has evolved into an essential component for many businesses, so it only makes sense to ensure you get the most from your investment by assessing what you need and how M365 can deliver.

Once you’ve determined how the suite aligns with your business goals, you can strategize how to use outsourced services to meet them. You can also take advantage of expert support and tips your provider may have about how to maximize your return on investment (ROI).

2. Better Value for the Money

TPx customers don’t have to pay more for licensing than they would if they went through Microsoft directly.

With an MSP, you get seasoned experts for deploying, configuring, and managing your 365 ecosystem. Microsoft does not directly provide these services, making your MSP a no-brainer.

3. Increase Productivity

When you outsource your Microsoft 365 management, your internal IT team has more bandwidth to focus on important initiatives. Without the distraction of M365 management, your IT team can get more done each day, including working on critical projects that truly move the needle for your business.

4. Reduce Overhead

It can be costly to hire and train Microsoft specialists internally. Hiring an MSP saves your organization salary, benefit, and retention costs while allowing your existing IT team to focus on the key functions of their job.

5. Access Better, More Responsive Support

It can be complicated and time-consuming to deal directly with Microsoft, and it often takes quite a while to resolve an issue. The relationships MSPs have with Microsoft give them better access to tech support than the average customer. As a client of an MSP, you benefit from these connections.

Thanks to years of experience, an MSP also often has the expertise required to tackle a wide range of questions and issues without needing to contact Microsoft at all.

6. Get Additional Services

A qualified MSP can do much more than simply manage your M365 system and can often provide backup, networking, or cybersecurity solutions. Taking advantage of a wide range of MSP solutions with one provider allows you to bundle costs and be more strategic with your IT spend.

7. Improve Cybersecurity

Your MSP can also maximize the security of your M365 implementation. This is critical as it is easy to place managing Exchange servers on the back burner, at least until something goes wrong. Instead of merely accepting these security risks, you can use an MSP to address and mitigate vulnerabilities and make sure every instance of M365 is properly configured and updated.

You gain a security advantage when outsourcing your Microsoft 365 management because your MSP can provide additional security features that protect your cloud applications.

8. Scale Quickly and Easily

If you need to add more instances of M365, your MSP makes scaling easy. And if you need to revert to fewer instances, scaling back is just as simple. Also, you know upfront what you’ll have to pay. This keeps your IT budget under control, eliminating unpleasant surprises as your business evolves.

9. Access M365 Consulting Services

MSPs serve as a strategic partner, helping you create a long-term plan for leveraging M365. By taking advantage of your MSP team’s deep experience with M365, you can benefit from innovative, forward-thinking strategies for using M365 to take your business to the next level.

Get the most out of your M365 investment with TPx. Connect with us to get started!

The post Nine Reasons to Outsource Microsoft 365 Management appeared first on TPx Communications.

Businesses are only as good as their network, and the network can be the difference between success and failure.

Despite the network’s critical role, most people don’t ponder it. They only notice when it’s down or not working properly, and they can’t email, participate in virtual meetings, make calls or complete an e-commerce transaction. Today’s app-based, cloud-centric environment demands a reliable network because, without it, the world stops.

The network is more important than ever as businesses move functions to the cloud and deploy edge computing, bringing information and computing capabilities closer to the devices and users that generate information. This approach improves application performance, reduces the bandwidth required for data transmission, and provides faster real-time insights by moving processing capabilities closer to users and devices.

As businesses grow, their needs evolve. So must their networks. In fact, companies cannot afford to build a network for today’s needs; they need it to meet tomorrow’s demands. Because it’s hard to predict the future, they must ensure it can quickly scale as their operations grow.

Companies must optimize their networks to achieve maximum scalability, reliability, and flexibility and build redundancies to maintain operations when encountering the unexpected.

Once an organization identifies and implements what it needs to make its ideal network a reality, it can use it to maximize its business outcomes.

A good network eliminates bad experiences.

When people say they have a poor network experience, they often don’t understand their network, its capabilities, or potential vulnerabilities.

Consider how many people have gigabit internet for their home office.

A few years ago, it wasn’t as common; few needed that bandwidth. Today, no one thinks twice about gigabit in-home internet as the average user moves large amounts of data depending on the application, particularly relying on video calls, file sharing, and Software as a service (SaaS) apps.

Apps have taken over the business world — both personally and professionally. Businesses must expand their network as more processes and workloads move to apps and leverage the cloud.

A perfect example is connectivity. Anyone who’s ever been in line at the coffee shop when the network goes down can attest to its importance. But more than leaving people needing a caffeine fix, it can sink a business as they cannot process credit cards, grinding commerce to a halt.

It’s the same in a business office environment. Anyone who’s been to a business meeting with problematic Wi-Fi knows how frustrating it can be.

As companies optimize their networks, they’ll ensure their teams can use apps more effectively. They’ll also make their entire network more plug-and-play by upgrading to newer — and inherently faster — technologies.

The biggest pitfall an organization can make is determining the solutions it “needs” without first considering how to operationalize them, how they will help drive business, and what will happen in a worst-case scenario.

Like a house built on weak ground, the best business solutions can fail without a strong foundation. Get in touch with TPx for expert advice on future-proofing your network. We can even manage it for you.

The post Why Networks Must Be Scalable appeared first on TPx Communications.

Reputation and trust are paramount for the legal industry. And while data breaches have devastating consequences for law firms, clients are negatively impacted as well. Trade secrets, intellectual property, merger and acquisition details, confidential attorney-client privileged conversations, and personally identifiable information (PII) are just a few of the damaging assets potentially exposed to hackers and criminals.

6 Best Practices to Secure Law Firm Data

If hardware is outdated, data is not backed up, or the firm still heavily relies on paper, it might be time to take a hard look at your IT infrastructure – and data security is a core component. Here’s where to start to protect your law firm data.

1. Implement a Strong Data Security Policy

A comprehensive data security policy is the foundation of client trust, improved confidentiality, and enhanced regulatory compliance. It serves as the cornerstone for maximizing your cybersecurity posture and should include clear business objectives and priorities, along with formalized documentation on risk management policies, data classification, encryption, physical security, awareness training programs, and an incident response plan.

Sound daunting? It can be. Many law firms elect to engage a cybersecurity expert to build policies and cybersecurity frameworks that take into account the company’s budget, individual threats, and industry landscape.

2. Enforce Strong Passwords

Common password mistakes, like using the same password on multiple platforms, making passwords personal like a birthdate, and not storing passwords correctly, are simple errors with big consequences. To act as a first line of defense against data risks, implement key measures like multi-factor authentication, verified password managers, routinely changing passwords, and encouraging passphrases instead of simple passwords.

3. Regularly Evaluate Your Cybersecurity Posture

In 2017, global mega-firm DLA Piper paid its IT staff 15,000 hours of overtime to recover from a malware infection. Beyond the financial implications, DLA Piper’s reputation with clients took a major hit.

Cybersecurity is not one-and-done, especially as technology and threat vectors rapidly advance. As a highly-targeted audience law firms must regularly assess and audit their cybersecurity posture to prevent long-lasting consequences.

TPx recommends partnering with a reliable managed services provider (MSP) with deep experience in the legal industry to alleviate the burden on internal IT teams and ensure you have core components like regular security assessments and automatic backups in place to mitigate your risk.

4. Purchase Cyber Liability Insurance

For improved peace of mind, increased regulatory compliance, and financial protection and coverage, cyber liability insurance is a must-have. While it doesn’t reduce your risk on its own, cyber insurance for law firms can be instrumental in covering the costs of data recovery, restoring compromised systems, damages due to business interruptions, and any legal or regulatory defense.

But take note: cyber insurance providers are stringent when it comes to policy adherence and claims are often not paid out. Think of cyber liability insurance as a key layer of protection – like wearing a seatbelt – but not one that can singlehandedly save you – driving recklessly with a seatbelt is still dangerous!

5. Perform Regular Employee Security Awareness Training

Employees and clients can be your biggest weakness when it comes to cybersecurity, whether through accidental disclosures that lead to breaches or through falling for common attacks, like phishing.

This prevalent cyberattack method can be mitigated through proactive security awareness training. Proactive training helps users build vigilance against common threats. In fact, data shows that effective security awareness training can drastically reduce clicks on phishing emails.

6. Don’t Neglect Patch Management

More than half of all data breaches are due to poor patch management – the process of updating firmware and hardware to improve functionality, tighten security standards, and optimize performance. Patch management is especially critical for law firms because attorneys and employees use many devices and work on a wide range of devices.

Manual patch management can quickly fall behind and snowball, leading to weak links that provide attractive points of entry for hackers. Instead, implement an automated tool with continuous scanning to search for patches, reducing the need for human intervention.

TPx Gets Legal

TPx understands the unique challenges facing law firms, allowing attorneys to focus on client acquisition and relationships. Not only do improved IT and security functions automate manual activities and increase productivity when billing hourly, but enhanced data security helps maintain a competitive edge. For affordable, robust security implementations for law firms, get in touch with us today.

The post Six Best Practices for Protecting Law Firm Data appeared first on TPx Communications.

Bonus: A future-proofed, flexible IT infrastructure is also resilient and incorporates intelligent automation while remaining efficient and cost-effective.

DO: Assess Your Current IT Infrastructure

Identify the components of your IT infrastructure and assess their effectiveness. Ask if these components (especially those that are critical) meet current business needs. Consider the scalability of these components — can they all handle increasing demand?

With the ever-increasing rates of cyberattacks and cybercrime, it’s also critical to ensure your current infrastructure can withstand an attack and be quickly updated to protect against future threats.

Finally, consider the costs. How expensive will it be to maintain or patch your current systems vs. upgrade them?

DON’T: Rely on Aging Hardware and Software

When assessing your IT components, keep their lifecycle in mind. What will be going end-of-life or end-of-support?

Once software or hardware reaches end-of-life, it will no longer receive important updates or security patches. Create a roadmap for what will need to be upgraded and replaced over the next one, three, and five years to stagger the cost and prioritize areas of greatest need while ensuring critical systems don’t go down and cost your business precious time and resources.

DO: Collaborate With a Managed Services Provider You Can Trust

A great managed service provider will act as an extension of your internal IT team, supporting and maintaining your IT infrastructure and helping evaluate your IT infrastructure based on current and future business needs.

DON’T: Rely on Legacy Systems

Legacy systems create challenges due to limited integration and scalability, higher maintenance costs, and limited support. At best, they may run slow and can lead to frustration and slower business outcomes. At worst, they present a security risk.

If your business relies on legacy systems to provide critical functionality, make these a top priority when considering the future of your IT infrastructure. What does migration look like, and what will it cost?

DO: Leverage the Cloud and Automated Cloud Migration

As you look to the future, consider investing in cloud infrastructure. Cloud solutions allow IT infrastructure to scale as needed, enabling improved operational performance. Cloud solutions will also offer improved disaster recovery capabilities and enhanced remote access for employees working outside the office.

Many organizations use a variety of tools to migrate applications, workloads, and data to cloud environments. However, these differing tools can lead to inconsistencies that can cause business disruptions.

While various cloud automation tools can help eliminate redundancies and associated outages, another approach to automated cloud migration is working with a managed service provider. A reliable MSP will create an automated migration strategy and test it before shifting the entire workload.

DO: Plan for the Long Term

With technology driving more and more business growth, IT is no longer a reactive cost center. Instead of doing IT planning in a silo, technology leaders must consider the organization’s overarching vision for the future.

How will intelligent automation, or the use of AI and ML, factor into the future of your business? What additional technologies may business leaders ask to be onboarded?

If your business has a five-year plan, what part will technology play in it? Will they be adding employees or locations? Consider the big picture to make your infrastructure future-proof.

DON’T: Overlook Cybersecurity

Securing your evolving IT infrastructure requires a strategic approach to cybersecurity. Similar to developing a roadmap to ensure IT infrastructure meets evolving business needs, organizations should focus on building a security approach that takes into account today’s threats while preparing for the future. Key elements to consider:

• Backup and recovery: If a data breach happens, what’s your plan? How long will it take to recover, and how much will it cost? Having a plan in place is key.
• Proactive threat intelligence: Continuously scan the environment, understand emerging threats, and be aware of potential exposure points.
• Continuous detection and response: Discover, prevent, and recover from cyber threats faster.
• Cybersecurity compliance: Understand regulatory and compliance changes that may take effect soon. Incorporate this into your strategic approach.

DO: Invest in a Scalable and Resilient IT Infrastructure

Scalability and resilience are essential factors for both protecting and growing your business. As your business grows and changes, so does the demand on the network.

As more devices are added to the network, so too is the amount of data that is being transferred. Your IT infrastructure must be capable of handling these new requirements, and it must be resilient enough to withstand failures, outages, and threats that may compromise business continuity.

Engage an expert managed services provider to help future-proof your IT infrastructure to meet tomorrow’s demands. Get in touch with TPx to get started.

The post Do’s and Don’ts of Future-Proofing Your IT Infrastructure appeared first on TPx Communications.

Your relationship with your managed services provider (MSP) should be more than a quarterly business review or monthly check-in with your account manager. To really maximize your investment in technology, think of your MSP as a business partner, not just the vendor who runs your network or cybersecurity. The truth is, most customers could probably be using their MSP for a lot more. Here’s what your MSP wants you to know.

#1 We Do More Than Just Solve IT Problems

Sure, we can manage your network, improve your cybersecurity posture, make communication seamless, or provide fantastic internet. But that’s not all.

We also exist to help you use IT as a universal problem-solving tool. Productivity concerns? Employee burnout and turnover? Business continuity issues? Challenges with scaling as your company grows? Trouble keeping people connected across locations? We can help.

Leverage technology to work smarter, not harder. We’ll do the heavy lifting for you.

#2 IT Is an Investment

No one is debating that technology is expensive. But instead of seeing IT as a costly line item, we find that our most successful customers think of it as an investment – one that more than pays off.

In other words, you’ll get a solid ROI on what you invest in IT. Whether it enables you to do more with less, save money through efficiency, increase customer satisfaction, reduce your risk of cyberattacks, investing in IT – especially with the help of the great managed services provider – is a powerful way to boost your bottom line.

#3 … But It Doesn’t Have to Break the Bank

The right MSP will work to understand your business and adhere to your budgetary constraints. In fact, an effective partner will often significantly reduce your expenses through cost-cutting strategies like:

• Using cloud-based IT, which saves money on software, hardware, and infrastructure
• Leveraging automation, resulting in faster, more accurate processes that cost less
• Reducing your IT spending by outsourcing services that would usually require heavy investment in your internal workforce
• Streamlining your IT services with a single vendor who will reduce your overall spend

#4 IT Isn’t One Size Fits All

Effective IT services are dynamic: They adapt to your business needs as your industry, landscape, and goals change. The right MSP doesn’t push off-the-shelf solutions. Instead, they understand:

• Current challenges
• Your business goals and technology roadmap
• Compliance requirements and cybersecurity threats you face
• The landscape of your industry

The more we understand about your business, the better we can help you leverage technology as an effective asset.

#5 We’re Here to Help

This may sound cliché, but it’s true: Our No.1 focus is to give you peace of mind and lift the burden of IT off your shoulders. We are more than just the folks who keep your IT running smoothly. We want you to see us as partners and trusted advisors, and we’re truly invested in seeing your business succeed.

Because we’ve seen it with (literally!) hundreds of happy customers, we understand that with the right support, you’ll be able to focus more fully on what matters: running and growing your business.

Are managed IT services right for you? Get in touch with us for a complimentary review of your current IT bill — chances are, we can help lower it while also providing better service.

The post What Your MSP Wants You to Know appeared first on TPx Communications.