Over the last several decades, the number of technical assets a modern company needs has multiplied several times over. With all these devices, applications, online platforms, and services to keep track of, it’s no wonder hackers are having a field day. Even the most talented and capable sysadmin in the world can’t personally keep track of every single technical asset in a company.

Luckily, there is one service that can help your IT staff more than almost any other called network monitoring. The concept of network monitoring is simple enough. Essentially it can serve as the eyes and years of your sysadmins. Continue reading for a list of four reasons your Southwest Florida business needs network marketing.

Immediately Detecting Problems

The first and most obviously useful application of network monitoring is the ability to detect issues the moment they occur. Network monitoring can eliminate the problem of undetected errors because the monitoring software can be configured to send an admin an alert the moment an error occurs. This gives your team the best possible chance of locating, troubleshooting, and solving the issue immediately, and hopefully long before a customer or client has a chance to encounter it.

Predicts Future Issues

Another great use of network monitoring is the ability to see patterns in the data and predict future problematic behavior. If, for instance, if a particular program is for some reason taking more resources every time it runs, this could be a sign of a leaky piece of code, excessive logging, or a large cache that isn’t clearing itself. Network monitoring can identify this kind of behavior allowing your technicians to investigate and solve before the growing program can crash a server by demanding too many resources at some point in the future.

Southeast Florida- Collier, Sarasota, Lee, Charlotte, Glades, DeSoto, Hendry and Manatee Counties- has been experiencing robust business activities since the end of the 2008 financial crisis in 2011.

Some of the most common businesses in this region are;
• Tourism and related services – hotels, holiday homes, serviced condominiums, etc.,
• Agriculture business activities in the landlocked counties of Hendry, Glades, and, DeSoto.
• Real estate businesses -Quantity Surveying, Construction Management, Interior Design, Urban Planning, Realtors, etc. – These businesses are more pronounced in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Southern Lee and Eastern Bradenton.
• Other Businesses – retail stores, auto sales and garages, malls, Insurance, Banks, transport, and communication, etc. just to mention a few.

With sustained positive growth over a period of more than seven years, businesses have to move to the next level and achieve a level of sophistication for future sustainability. IT outsourcing is one of the approaches that companies in this region can adapt to meet both short-term and long-term growth.

With the many advances in technology, businesses of all sizes, industries, and geographies are turning to cloud computing services. Cloud computing offers your Southwest Florida business many benefits. Understanding the advantages of cloud services can help you get the most out of your business technology.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

Reduced capital costs

Gone are the days of having to own and maintain your own server hardware or software. By moving your company’s data to the cloud, you can save substantial capital costs with zero in-house server storage and application requirements, which means less maintenance and power costs. Instead of spending money to maintain hardware that often goes unused, outsourcing your IT support can help you avoid wasting your valuable resources on such matters.

Scalability

Whenever your needs increase, it’s easy to scale up your cloud capacity, drawing on the service’s remote servers. As your business IT needs isn’t tied to physical server capacity, one can choose from a range of delivery mechanisms or applications and features on a monthly basis depending on the company’s demands. When running any business, it can be a challenge to predict what resources your business will need to scale and take advantage of opportunities. With cloud resources, you can react to needs as they arise and use what is required to manage your growth and enhance your efficiency.

Remote Access

With cloud computing, employees, partners, and clients can access information whenever they want from any location as long as there is an internet connection. Your team can edit and share documents regardless of where they are in the world enabling them to do more together and do it better. Cloud services are a lifesaver for business owners and employees who frequently travel on business to visit clients and prospects in person.

Data back –up

Is your business located in a flood zone or prone to natural disasters like hurricanes, severe lightning storms, earthquakes, etc.? Cloud computing ensures that your data is safe as your information will be remotely stored in the cloud provider’s data center, making it easier to establish disaster recovery plans. You won’t have to worry about losing clients’ files even if your business burns to the ground. You’ll be able to deliver continuity to customers and clients because you can recover from any natural disaster much faster.

Business Agility

With server management left to an experienced IT provider, your business can deliver results faster, cheaper and with more quality, giving your company an edge over the competition. Outsourcing your IT operations to a cloud computing vendor allows you to focus on your key business activities and objectives that may offer a greater potential value to your business.

Security

Data theft is real and can be quite frustrating. Many businesses aren’t immune to malware, hackers, and viruses. A Cloud-hosted software can significantly minimize security risks by storing data safely on hosted secure servers instead of your on-site server room. When your data is stored in the cloud, it is protected by experts whose job is to stay up-to-date on the latest security threats so that it’s never compromised.

If you want to learn more about cloud computing for your Southwest Florida Business, please feel free to contact us.

It seems like every day there is a new story about a company whose computer security has been breached. More and more advice seems to be available on the internet about determining whether your computer has been infiltrated, warning you about the problems that seem to be lurking everywhere. Now, your computer has slowed down to a crawl for no apparent reason and your coworker is telling that you have been hacked. There are many reasons why your computer could be reacting slowly and being hacked is, unfortunately, one of them. So, how do you know if you’ve been hacked or just need to tune-up your computer to enhance its performance?

When you notice a change in your computer’s performance, there are a few issues to check for that can also slow your computer’s performance. Having too many startup programs, keeping your hard drive nearly full,sharing the network with someone streaming video, and not updating your programs can all be causes of a slow computer. If these issues have been resolved, it is time for you to investigate what is happening while your computer is in use, so you can see just who is controlling its actions. Look for other common signs of hacking such as:

• Unable to Login. Especially if you are on your computer, where you know you are using the correct username and password.
• Frequent Popups. If popups, especially the kind that coax you to visit an unusual website or download software, are drowning you while you work, you need to investigate their source.
• Lots of Disk Activity. If you are just sitting still and your disk activity light is flashing away, it could be something as benign as your antivirus software running a scan or it could be malware searching your disk for information.
• Disabled Antivirus Software. If you know that you did not disable your antivirus and now you can’t seem to reengage it, it is probably due to a malware infection that is trying to maintain a hold on your files.
• Anything Running from Temporary Internet Files. When you launch Task Manager, if you see something running in TEMP and you are not downloading a file at that time, something is very wrong.
• Unknown Startup Programs. If you can’t identify a program that is pinned to your Windows startup, find out what it is. It may be not be anything bad but you shouldn’t risk it.
• Frequent Crashes. If your computer is continuously crashing and you are constantly rebooting, you should act immediately to keep from incurring lasting damage.
• Can’t Shut Down. Be concerned when you have trouble shutting your computer down. If a hacker has remote access to your computer, it will affect your control.

If your office is continually plagued by these and other problems, you might want to consider outsourcing your company’s IT services. SJC Technology, Inc. can help you decide whether you need to repair or replace your company’s computer network for the best productivity. The benefits of outsourcing your IT with SJC are many; we will maintain your original network on a regular basis at an affordable monthly rate. This cost includes the monitoring of your old network and resolution of the issues with it. SJC guarantees that if you let us replace your company’s network it will be well worth the expense. Contact SJC today to see the convenient solutions we have for your company’s computer network problems.

Repair or replace anything is usually a costly yet essential question that most companies find themselves asking. It would not make sense to use almost half the money you initially spent on installing a network to replace it, without any guarantee it will be worth. It is for this reason that most companies seek to outsource the IT services altogether. It sounds easy right! It is, but numerous risks come with having a third party provider. Hence, SJC Technology Inc offers solutions convenient to our clients.

Direct Control

The first is making sure you are working with the right service provider that is properly vetted and is well equipped to handle the security, resources and the strategic planning your company needs. That is why SJC Technology Inc. is the perfect company to manage your IT services. Founded in 2009, we have had years of experience. The primary focus is always to put technology within the clients’ control. This is as opposed to other third-party providers who deny their client direct control of the IT and the location of their data center.

Low Maintenance Expenditure

Outsourcing is cheaper and convenient when working with SJC Technology Inc. because they will maintain your old Network regularly at an affordable monthly cost. This cost will include monitoring of your old office Network and resolve network issues. Below are some advantages of outsourcing with SJC Technology Inc.

• Data Recovery: SJC Is well equipped to deal with data recovery and get the IT systems up and running in real time due to our workable plans and routine checks on data recovery. We also have state of the art hardware architecture and critical information backup

• Saves on Costs Effectively: This includes maintenance costs, labor costs, and equipment costs. With outsourcing, you will get all the above in one package and at a significantly lower cost. It will also save money because there will be no need to replace the Old office Network.

• Quality and Experience: Just like in medicine, IT faces recurrent problems, and this is where experience will beat qualification any time. Our Experts at SJC are qualified and experienced too. They are therefore the right people to trust with your sensitive company data.

• Increases Competitiveness and Efficiency: Outsourcing reduces the time for hiring qualified IT staff as well as installation and maintenance. These give the company time to increase productivity, develop as a business and improve competitiveness.

• Ability to Quickly Implement New Technology; which would otherwise take months or weeks to find a team, train them and provide support to the internal team. SJC would bring years of experience in repairing and upgrading the Old Office Network and save time and money in the process.

• Manage and Reduce risk for your company: With the experience, they bring to the table, SJC Technology Inc. is better positioned to identify and decide how to avoid IT-related risks. We will determine the risk and manage it for you. It includes updating your firewall, installing a DMZ and audit workstations and servers to ensure all security risks are eliminated.

•They give a level competitive ground for smaller companies who cannot afford the services and in-house support that big firms enjoy by providing similar services and Technology.

The incidents of natural disasters every year remind us of the vulnerability of our businesses or personal records to monumental data loss. Natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, and fires can strike unexpectedly and destroy all data especially in places like Southwest Florida. Data-driven businesses ought to ensure that they have a data recovery plan before the disaster strikes so that they can resume their business operations with ease. Storing backups online in cloud storage systems is a prudent way of providing additional protection. By storing data in the cloud, businesses can provide excellent protection for their data. Still, a pertinent question that most business managers grapple with is how can their business enterprises benefit from migrating their workloads to the cloud. Well, there is a lot to love about moving to cloud infrastructure. It offers greater flexibility, lowers overhead operations, and infrastructure cost. Much more, with the availability of the private and hybrid cloud options that provide control and transparency to an organization, there is no reason to fear cloud computing anymore.

Benefits Of Moving Your Business To The Cloud

The benefits of cloud computing in the current business world cannot be overemphasized. It is clear that business enterprises are continuing to move their workloads and applications to the cloud. This is mainly so because they have appreciated the fact that in the event of a natural disaster, they don’t have to worry about losing volumes of data worth millions of dollars.

1.Faster communication

The speed at which information is disseminated in the cloud is a major advantage. For instance, about 60% of the cloud-based enterprises are more likely to be satisfied with the speed of information dissemination than non-cloud-based companies. This is according to a report entitled “Cloud Analytics for the Larger Enterprise” released in June 2014 by the Aberdeen Group.

2.Seamless working with your employees

If your business mainly communicates via emails, you are sentient about the drawbacks. Managing workflows and tracking approvals is time-consuming. Software-as-a-Service-based tools alleviate such kind of headaches so that your employees can work together more efficiently. It embodies features such as document sharing, and real-time editing makes working in a team seamless. Many people can work simultaneously on a single document without the need of maintaining multiple copies. As a result, whenever a person makes any changes to the document, they become instantly visible to everyone else.

3.Data is more secure

Prevention of data loss is important to both small and big businesses, in which case data loss can mean you are out of business pretty fast. For this reason, cloud-based services are indispensable. The company’s data are automatically backed up to a site where the files are protected in case the primary systems of the business suffer a power outage, gross human error, and natural catastrophe.

Outsourcing

You may be wondering how your business can migrate from the traditional way of backing up your data to the cloud system. Just give SJC-Technology a call. Our team of experts can provide you with services that are scalable to your company’s needs at lower cost.

The bottom line is that cloud-based services are indispensable in this day and era and the benefits of migrating to the cloud are indisputable. Therefore, your business can escape the fierce wrath of the Southwest Florida natural disasters.

When hit with a natural disaster, computer users and businesses often suffer a technology blackout. Data centers are knocked offline, pulling down websites and databases. The key to protecting data during a natural disaster includes effective data backup and recovery methods. Cloud computing preserves and protects data during a natural disaster.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

• No need to maintain daily backups using tapes, disks, etc.
• Critical data can be kept at multiple geographic locations.
• Costly hardware does not need to be replicated.
• Easy and quick to implement.
• Offers high reliability.
• Can be scaled up or down easily.

Public Cloud

Using multiple geographic locations, a public cloud service provider handles data storage and recovery methods for you and your business. Protect your data by requesting storage at multiple locations. If one location is compromised, the second location is available to quickly and easily access data. Depending on how a storage solution is designed, geographic load balancing and data replication can be expanded, or scaled, as needed.
Certain cloud computing service providers offer additional options. High speed networks between cloud locations and scripts that help clone virtual machines are popular features. Cloning a virtual machine, data is quickly replicated and accessed from multiple locations. Virtual machines created in one location are reproduced in one or more disaster recovery locations.

Private Cloud

A private cloud allows you to take data storage and recovery into your own hands. When designing a private cloud computing solution it’s important to consider all methods needed to protect your data. Establishing a disaster recovery option for a new private cloud is vital to the health and preservation of your data.
One popular disaster recovery option includes establishing a second (or third, or fourth, etc.) private cloud. Another popular option includes using a public cloud service to back up the private cloud. This is generally referred to as a hybrid cloud. With several advantages and disadvantages, each disaster recovery option provides a method for efficient and effective data backup.
If you would like to avoid sharing servers with other people, a second private cloud may be the most beneficial option. If you require a cost-effective solution, implementing a hybrid cloud may be the best option. Ensure that your data is prepared for disaster recovery by planning ahead and choosing the best option for your needs and the needs of your business.

Advancements in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing companies and data centers are continuously working to advance operational efficiency. Several companies are already experimenting with alternative energy sources for data centers. Geothermic, tidal, and solar power may soon replace the traditional way of running a data center via the national power grid. Forward thinking, cloud computing companies are quickly advancing beyond traditional on-premises IT infrastructure.
Protect your data by implementing the most effective option for data recovery, cloud computing. With no need for large servers and cumbersome hardware, cloud computing minimizes IT infrastructure while preserving operational efficiency. When using a cloud storage and recovery option, data backups can be done in real-time and can be scaled up or down much quicker than other options offer. When protecting your data from extreme weather, power outages, and other emergency events, consider cloud computing.

Cloud computing is increasingly growing, and the business field is taking maximum advantage of using cloud and keeping pace with the advancing technologies. The transformative power of cloud has changed and improved the way the businesses work. The resource efficiency, agility, and cost-effectiveness of cloud computing has allowed it to be an essential part of the IT infrastructure. The presence of cloud computing has brought a significant change in the traditional firm computing and here are four ways in which cloud has triggered technological changes and improved small businesses:

Enhances business operations

Cloud technology allows small business to scale their computing solutions as the firms grow. The stress of having to forecast how many servers you want to purchase is eliminated. You will no longer experience the stress of trying to expand space by deleting some items to give way to other things. Cloud providers offer ample space. Moreover, the platforms are significantly scalable which is advantageous in dealing with the continually fluctuating storage in the IT field. Before the introduction of cloud, most industries were wasting a lot of time in upgrading servers and creating space, but now, it is an issue that can be managed right on the spot. This feature improves operations thus increasing production.

Significant savings

Shifting to the cloud allows you as a small business owner to cut your operational expenses and increase the efficiency of your resources. It also provides for minimization of equipment cost and costs used on paying staffs. Cloud providers will handle all security updates, therefore, no need to hire extra staff to do the job. The total cost is only a fraction of the amount you spend on onsite IT services since you will just need to pay a specific fixed monthly fee unlike the onsite where you have to pay every time there is a breakdown. Cloud servers are housed offsite, and the saved money can be used for the business’ system upkeep.

Enhances flexibility

In a scenario where your workers want to work from home with their computers or in a case where they want to share files across the globe, the cloud makes it easy for them. It allows business to access business documents easily from any place and share it with many users easily. Flexibility is also enhanced with the excellent sharing capabilities and unlimited spaces ensuring that businesses are connected at all times. Flexibility improves the performance of the company without any restrictions.

Enhanced data safety and security

Businesses involve a lot of sensitive data and confidential information which you would not want to be leaked. Storing this kind of data on a cloud platform could feel risky, but actually, it is very secured and reliable. You can trust it as it minimizes any possibility of hacking and data theft because it is stored safely away from the device. It is encrypted with a password, and only authorized individuals can access it to ensure that all stored data is protected.

Shifting to the cloud creates more opportunities for easy integration for small businesses. As a small business owner, you should take advantage of the specialized services and benefits you get by moving to the cloud. It helps you concentrate on other areas of your business leaving IT-related issues on capable hands. This in return increases your production, saves costs and enhances flexibility thus helping your firm to grow at a high rate.

As a digitally active business, the last thing you want is to lose data. Whether it’s at the hand of cyber attack, human error, or natural disaster, data loss is extremely risky and costly. That explains why your business requires a backup as well as a disaster recovery solution. The combination of disaster recovery and data backup solutions helps to maximize productivity, diminish data loss, and ensure uptime in the midst of natural disasters (which are very common in Florida), attacks, or other compromising situations.

https://sjctech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/data-backup-and-recovery.jpgAccording to Security Week’s research, the volume of data loss at an enterprise level has escalated to over 400% in the past several years. Unfortunately, the trend doesn’t appear to slow down anytime soon. Presently, with the upsurge of big data, BYOD policies at the workplace, and cloud computing, it’s turning out to be challenging for business enterprises to protect their data. Evidently, everything seems to point to why businesses need a data backup and recovery plan.

The following are some of the reasons why a data backup and recovery plan is essential in Southwest Florida:

#1: Protects against the effects of natural disasters

Whether it’s a blizzard, hurricane, earthquake, flood, or any other extreme natural disaster, a variety of uncontrollable circumstances can cause a business to experience downtime. The National Archives and Records Administration opines that over 90% of firms that experience around 7 days of downtime shut down business operations within a year. While having a plan won’t prevent natural disasters from taking place, it’ll be handy at not only protecting your data but also making sure that data center downtime doesn’t harm your company.

#2: Protects your valuable information

Just imagine for a minute you lose irreplaceable data! How would your clients feel? Such a situation is embarrassing. It can ruin your hard-earned reputation big time. Loss of data can leave your clients not only nervous but also irritated, perhaps even annoyed to cancel business with you. Losing data affects the way clients view you. They feel as though you’re incapable of protecting their data. To avoid this embarrassing and unprofessional situation, it’s prudent have a data backup and recovery plan.

#3: Reduces the chances of cyber attacks

As more data is moved online, cyber criminals escalate their efforts and focus on enterprises they believe are unprotected. In most instances, it means many businesses, especially the small ones become vulnerable. By having a plan in place, businesses can be able to reduce the impact of attacks. It goes miles to prevent companies from losing their valuable data.

#4: Protects client data

Businesses store plenty of valuable customer data. As such, companies can’t afford to lose such confidential data. Additionally, they can’t let it slip to get into the wrong hands. By setting up an effective plan, you’ll be able to properly control and store your data. Consequently, damaging your brand reputation is the last thing you’ll have to be worried about.

Final Thoughts

If you desire to not only grow your business but also increase efficiency, you must have a data backup and recovery plan. When was the last thing you reviewed your data backup system? Have you ascertained whether it’s the right one for the company of late? Having an effective data backup and recovery plan is highly important for business in Southwest Florida. The above are some of the reasons you need to have a plan in place.

Does anything tie up your mental bandwidth, money, and time much like technology? You did not start your business to spend every day dealing with complexities of networks, software, computers, and other gadgets necessary to run it. You can alleviate all these problems with cloud computing. By investing in the perfect combination of cloud services and software helps to streamline daily operations, improve your bottom line and tighten security. The other beauty of moving your business to the cloud is that you can access your apps and services on any device from anywhere.

So why should you move your business to the cloud? The following are the 4 reasons you didn’t think of to move your business to the cloud:

#1: Keeps your business resilient through natural disasters

Florida, the Sunshine State, is home to numerous natural disasters. Floods, wildfires, tornadoes, tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes frequently affect residents and visitors of Florida. The last thing you want is your business to come to a halt when an important contract or document is inside a cabinet within your red-zoned office. To improve the resilience of your business throughout the countless natural disasters in Florida, it’s prudent to move your IT system to the cloud. Rather than waiting for disaster to strike for you realize the significance of going digital, you need to plan ahead.

#2: Ability to access your office from anywhere

By shifting your operations to the cloud, all you need to do is snap and you are in your office. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on a beach in the Bahamas, or having fun in Las Vegas, when your system is in the cloud, everything is a walk in the park. Collaborating with your employees or colleagues becomes effortless since all operations are online. It goes miles to make your life easier. Your location geographically doesn’t need to affect your business progress or ideas when you have your business operations are on the cloud. You can be on another part of the world, or just in the next office cubicle, it doesn’t matter, everything will work out perfectly. You can access your business operations using any device.

#3: Enhances data security

Failure to secure your business operations and files effectively can cost you dearly. Even if your business is small, data loss prevention is of utmost importance. Cloud services are indispensable. Storing your data in a cloud based software guarantees protection from offsite breaches like in-house judgment and negligent employee (s). Are you thinking about physical security? Just picture your server securely stored in a storage room or inside a closet? Can your office cleaner manage to plug in a USB stick? To guarantee security, cloud providers provide 24/7 security personnel and a fully-managed Tier 4 data center featuring multiple locked doors. Business-class providers typically offer comprehensive security that ranges from malware protection and anti-virus to sophisticated data encryption and features that address compliance standards like PCI and HIPAA.

#4: Helps save money

Software licensing, cooling costs, upgrading of servers, maintenance of servers, and the space servers take up etc all cost money. This is in addition to the bill shock or clutter when emergency upgrades come calling. Instead of using this money to pay for these costs, you can reinvest it into your business. The best attribute about cloud service providers is the fact that they provide pay-per-user plans, which you can scale, based on the needs of your business. By shifting your business operations to a cloud-based service, you’ll be able to either reduce costs or shift them to a constant monthly fee.

Final Thoughts

Cloud computing has helped many businesses in an array of ways. That explains why many businesses are shifting to the cloud. In fact, 37% of small business in the United States have adapted fully to cloud computing. In future, more and more businesses will join the fray. The above are the top 4 reasons you didn’t think of to move your business to the cloud.