The Connection, Inc Blog

The entire premise of managed IT services is that they can save your business money, but in what specific ways does working with us make your budget more predictable? It’s really quite simple, and it encompasses three primary pillars: an established level of service, proactive maintenance and management, and the reliability and access to expertise that might otherwise put a stopper on your business’ potential.

IT support is a must for the modern business. Whether you have an internal IT administrator, a team of technicians on staff, or you outsource your management, you need to ensure that your business has the support and service needed to keep your business’ technology running efficiently. 

With cybersecurity a priority for every business that depends on their IT, there are a lot of different strategies being utilized out there to keep threats off of networks and data safe. One of the most advanced strategies being used today is enlisting a service that runs a Security Operations Center (SOC). Today, we’ll investigate what a SOC is and how it works to keep threats at bay. 

Technology is what keeps the modern business running, be it something as simple as a word processor or as complex as a server unit. Unfortunately, many businesses struggle with technology procurement, management, and maintenance. Let’s take a look at why this is the case and what you can do to help this process along, chiefly by implementing managed services.

A business’ budget is the biggest authority over it. As a result, each business needs to spend some time adjusting their operational investments to put itself in the best position to reach its goals… a process that a managed service provider’s help can make much simpler. Let’s review some ways that an MSP can help a business get that much more out of its investment into its IT.

Technology is a critical component of the modern office, but it’s only a matter of time until it breaks down and leaves you in a bind. In a way, it’s a lot like owning a vehicle. You need it to get from Point A to Point B, but when it doesn’t work properly, it winds up costing you an arm and a leg. Worse yet, extended periods of not having transportation make it difficult to live life and go to work.

Let’s explore this thought experiment further. In the same way that your technology can break down, so too can your car. Here are three ways that technology failure is just as crippling as having problems with your automobile.

Technology and Cars are Expensive
When you last went over your organization’s IT budget, did you notice how incredibly expensive certain hardware is? A server unit sets your business back a pretty penny, and if you’re a small business, you need all of the flexibility you can get with your budget. When you’re forced to spend so much capital at once, it can lead to deficits for months, or even years.

Think about it in terms of the automobile. If you take care of your car, it can last for five, ten, or even twenty years, depending on the make and model. Otherwise, you have to take a loan out to pay for a new vehicle every couple of years, which is both difficult and expensive.

Technology and Cars are Practically Necessary
There are a few notable exceptions to the above statement, but for most offices, technology has become a critical part of operations. Due to the increased involvements that technology has with automating workflows and providing more efficient access to productivity applications, it’s no surprise that technology is not just required, but absolutely crucial. Thus, if the technology systems break down, the organization is out of luck. They won’t be able to access their data or applications until the problem is resolved.

In a similar manner, the automobile is needed to drive places. If it breaks down, you’re stuck in one place, unable to move forward. This is especially a problem for those who live in an area where public transportation isn’t as developed as that of an inner city.

Technology and Cars Require Expert Attention
Have you ever bought parts for your vehicle and put the time and effort into fixing it yourself? Unless you’re an expert, this can be a challenging endeavor. If you can’t tell your engine oil from your windshield washer fluid, chances are that you should let a professional mechanic take a crack at your problem. Just like a vehicle, your technology solutions need professional maintenance. Someone with a few days’ worth of experience won’t cut it. You need someone who has dedicated their life to the craft--someone who knows the quirks of cloud computing, and the pains of productivity suites.

What you need is someone like The Connection, Inc.

Our professional technicians have been around the block a time or two, and we have the skills and expertise to help your business resolve even the most critical technology troubles. Furthermore, we take preventative and proactive measures to mitigate problems in the long run. To learn more, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.

Fact: There’s a shortage in the IT skills market. Yet, businesses now have more opportunity than ever to make up for this shortage. A simple solution is to outsource your IT services to a managed service provider. You might find that it’s a great way to save time and revenue on a department that’s becoming increasingly difficult to hire for. Here are three reasons why outsourced IT services can resolve the shortage of IT talent.

Qualified, Trained Professionals
When you’re looking for someone to lead your IT department, you want someone who has both the technological know-how and the skills to ensure they can provide a return-on-investment for your business. This often means that you want someone who has been around the block a time or two--someone who has plenty of experience, perhaps even certifications, and can offer ways to improve your IT management strategies. You don’t want to hire some hack to take care of your mission-critical technology. Also, some regions are landlocked in terms of talent available, and you may feel the need to give someone who is perhaps unqualified for the position the benefit of the doubt.

Instead, you can outsource the responsibility of an IT department to a managed service provider. Since most problems can be resolved remotely, you don’t necessarily need an on-site IT department, and you can instead invest in a relationship with a tried-and-true provider like The Connection, Inc.

Fewer Salaries to Pay
If you were to hire an internal IT department, you would have to add several salaries to your payroll and budget--not necessarily a cost that a small business can easily absorb. Of course, you could also have your employees be responsible for the upkeep of their technology, but this isn’t advisable, as they won’t have the formal or hands-on training required to prevent major catastrophe.

To resolve this issue, outsourced IT takes your IT expenses and consolidates them into a month-by-month service agreement, in which you only pay the specified amount for services rendered. This frees up the funds that you would use on a salary for more variable use on other aspects of your business.

Less Time Wasted on IT Troubles
A major cause for concern when dealing with IT troubles is that a ton of time and resources goes into resolving them. If you don’t have an internal IT department, this means that your office could be thrown into chaos by an unexpected IT complication. Even if your team is responsible for ensuring that your IT is managed properly, they could waste all sorts of time and resources on it, when they should instead be focused on their jobs--which certainly shouldn’t consist of managing your technology solutions.

Outsourcing eliminates the frustration that you’d undoubtedly feel if your organization were to manage its own technology. By having others handle your solutions, your team saves time that is better spent on other initiatives. These initiatives should be aimed at improving your organization’s operations and bringing new, exciting projects to the table.

Do you have any questions or concerns about outsourced IT support? If so, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938. We’d be happy to discuss what we can offer your business.

You know better than anyone that managing your business isn’t something to be taken lightly. Keeping your technology in proper working order is just the icing on the proverbial cake, making the task of managing your business even more difficult. If you’re using normal break-fix IT services, this might be the case. Alternatively, managed IT services aren’t designed to burden you.

As a business owner, you have plenty to worry about, and your technology doesn’t do you any favors. It’s difficult to oversee the responsibilities of managing technology like workstations, server units, and mobile devices, alongside the ordinary demands of your job. What a lot of organizations don’t realize is that they can improve operations and make their jobs easier by outsourcing the responsibility of technology management to IT professionals.

Outsourcing your company’s IT management needs offers a unique return on investment by taking expensive and time-consuming tasks and handing over this responsibility to someone else; notably, a third-party IT service provider like The Connection, Inc. Through the use of remote monitoring and management technology, professional technicians keep an eye on your organization’s network and address problems as if they were in the office themselves. To give you some examples of how great managed IT can be, we’ll explain how three noteworthy services can benefit your organization.

Remote Patching and Maintenance
Have you ever tried to actually update each and every one of your business’s workstations or servers with the latest patches and security updates? It can take hours, or even days to complete. Worse yet, these updates are practically necessary if you want to ensure that all of your business technology works as intended. If you don’t take care to implement them as soon as they are released, you run the risk of being subject to various developing threats and vulnerabilities.

Outsourcing the responsibility of managing and maintaining your technology via an RMM tool is ideal, as you will no longer have to worry about finding the time to update your systems. This also helps make your systems more secure in the long run.

Remote Management Means Fewer On-Site Visits
One of the most beneficial aspects of remote technology maintenance is that you don’t have to wait for a technician to arrive before handling various technology troubles. Instead of dealing with travel time, the majority of your problems can be resolved simply by remoting into your PC and fixing the problem.

Break-fix IT companies don’t want you to know this, as they benefit by charging you for on-site maintenance. Managed service providers like The Connection, Inc don’t want to do that unless you absolutely need on-site assistance, so you can count on us to always be conscientious about your business’ technology management by proactively preventing problems that require on-site visits from happening in the first place.

Despite this, it’s important to remember that it’s impossible to keep all problems from happening. Eventually, you might be unfortunate enough to run into a problem that can’t be fixed through remote access. When this happens, you can count on our technicians to be there when you need us most.

Responsive Threat Detection
There are countless threats that exist on the Internet, and they threaten your business every day. With troublesome entities like viruses, spyware, and ransomware, your business needs a platform in which to mitigate its exposure to these threats. Understanding that your business is a target is the first step toward protecting it.

How would your business react to a data breach? Would you be able to sustain operations following a crippling leak? You don’t have time to keep track of all the latest developments, let alone monitor your entire network. Hiring a third party like The Connection, Inc can take these responsibilities off of your shoulders and ensure that you stay focused on what matters most: running your business.

If you’re sick and tired of dealing with troublesome IT issues, reach out to The Connection, Inc at (732) 291-5938. We’ll make sure that your business stays in action through preventative IT maintenance and management.

Selecting a managed service provider should be like selecting any employee. You need to make sure that your expectations are going to be fulfilled, and that your selection will be there when you need them to be. However, the criteria you examine your potential IT service provider by should be a little different than how you evaluate your other prospective team members.

To help you out, we’ve assembled four of the big considerations you should make when weighing your options when choosing an MSP.

Industry Experience
Having an MSP with plenty of experience isn’t enough. You need to make sure that your MSP candidate has experience with the information technology needs of your particular industry. Otherwise, you may find yourself stuck with a provider who doesn’t have the know-how that comes from dealing with certain things hands-on.

Response Times
It’s one thing to work with a technology resource who knows what they’re doing, it’s another thing entirely to work with one who knows what they’re doing and gets right to doing it. Your time is valuable--too valuable to waste waiting for your IT management resource to start working on your problem, and the same goes for your employees. Time is money after all, so the longer it takes to return the given resource to productivity, the more it will cost.

Scope of Service
Returning to the thought of hiring a new employee, one of the big considerations that is taken into account is how well-rounded their experience is. After all, having an employee that can serve one purpose isn’t nearly as helpful as an employee who has the ability to step into whatever function you need them for. Your MSP should be the same way. Your company’s IT covers a wide range of solutions and devices, all of which your MSP should be able to manage and repair if needed.

On-site Services
While a great many IT issues can be identified and resolved remotely, there are some that need a hands-on approach. Your MSP needs to be willing and able to visit your location and attend to your technology issues if it should become necessary. While remote maintenance is preferable for many reasons, there are occasions that call for a technician to be present. You don’t want to find yourself without a reliable resource if your hardware is on the fritz and the only way to return to production is to have that hardware functional.

At The Connection, Inc, we hold ourselves to these considerations and strive to live up to them every day, making us an excellent candidate to fulfill your IT requirements. Give us a call at (732) 291-5938 for more information.

It’s no secret that a business owner has more than enough to deal with, regardless of that business’ size.

Whether the business has 10 employees or 100, the business owner has to deal with the stress of managing the minutiae of everyday operations, along with any other issues that may pop up. As one might assume, financial concerns can contribute considerably to that stress.

For instance, an owner needs to keep their finger on their organization’s budgetary pulse so they can be sure that cash is flowing as it should be--not just in, through invoices and bills, but also out, through payroll and operative costs. These matters must all be tracked to ensure that the business’ finances are all in order. It wouldn’t be very helpful if a business’ power was shut off, which is precisely what would happen if the electric bill went unpaid.

There’s more to managing a business than just the financial aspects of it--a business is made up of employees who will seek out leadership from their employer, the business owner. An owner needs to walk the fine line where they are seen as a resource for employees to turn to, but also as a motivator for these same employees to remain focused on the task at hand. There also needs to be an effort on the part of the owner to keep their employees happy, comfortable, and engaged, as this will help benefit the staff’s collective productivity.

Those employees who seek to excel will need to be provided with the opportunity to grow professionally, while underperforming employees will need to have their behavior analyzed so that the issue can be identified and resolved so that company time and resources aren’t being wasted. These matters commonly travel up the chain of command to reach the owner, especially if an employee’s poor performance becomes a Human Resources issue.

Of course, a business can’t function without its clients, and so that is another area that an owner must devote their attention to. A business exists to provide goods and/or services to their clientele and customer base, and in order for the business to do so, there should be a culture of respect and professionalism when dealing with clients. It is a business owner’s job to encourage that kind of environment, observing that business processes are followed and promises are fulfilled post haste.

Additionally, a modern business will need technology in order to properly function, which in turn needs to be maintained so it remains in secure operation. To keep these maintained, an owner needs to make sure that their resources are all up to date and accounted for, all patches and security updates applied, and that their backup solution is tested.

Lastly, a business owner has a life outside of the business to attend to as well. Familial responsibilities and private matters come in and create friction that will often seep into the workplace, and vice versa. Totaled up, that’s some considerable pressure that the manager has to contend with.

The Connection, Inc can help to relieve some of that pressure by managing your organization’s IT on your behalf. That way, you can go about business, secure in the knowledge that your IT will be ready to enable your success, with the support you’ll need if things don’t work out. For more information, give us a call at (732) 291-5938.

There quite a few reasons that it makes sense for a small-to-medium-sized business to lean on outsourced assets. Let’s go over a few of the biggest benefits that you could see from bringing on these kinds of services, from both a financial and operational stance.

For the small business, times are increasingly tough. Many businesses have been forced to close down until after the coronavirus outbreak has been mitigated, but for those businesses who are still at it, you must be looking to save some money. Outsourcing your IT to a managed service provider may be just the thing you are looking for in order to get the comprehensive IT support your business needs, while also strategically cutting organizational outlay for IT support and services. 

If you were to poll all the business owners in your general area, one point of contention they would all have is that their workforce investments stay static, while their returns are seemingly variable. A lot of the variance is tied to the fluctuations of staff productivity. Anyone who has paid someone else to do work understands that even if the jobs are all the same, people bring a fairly wide range of issues to work with them, and they can have troubling effects on the ability of a business to move forward. Today, we will take a look at the modern worker, their motivations, and how the right IT can work to leverage more consistency for your business.

Any project manager will tell you that there are countless issues that can get in the way of a successful implementation. To nobody’s surprise, business technology can aid project management by streamlining operations and making the entire process much easier for everyone involved. We’ll dig into the details about how project management software and value-based managed IT services can help you complete projects on-time and on-budget.

How much money does your business waste on managing its technology solutions? You might be surprised by the answer to this question. Depending on the way that your organization takes advantage of technology, you’ll have different needs than other businesses, but no matter what kind of organization you manage, it’s critical that you try to get the best return on investment for your solutions.

Let’s start by talking about the way that the average business might leverage technology maintenance solutions. Depending on your business’ staffing capabilities, you might have an in-house IT department that is responsible for general upkeep and maintenance. If you don’t, then chances are that you are either having your employees manage the maintenance of their own technology, or your devices simply aren’t being maintained as well as they need to be. Either scenario isn’t ideal, especially since you can’t take any risks nowadays when it comes to your technology maintenance.

For example, let’s say that a mission-critical patch has been issued for an important piece of software that your organization relies on. Without it, you would be at risk of infection from all manners of threats, including some of the nastiest ransomware on the Internet. Devices need to be periodically updated with the latest threat definitions to ensure that they don’t go unprotected. But the issue here lies in the fact that it’s time-consuming and troublesome to update several devices at once with the latest patches and updates.

Let’s take this a step further and think about a hypothetical worst-case scenario. What would you do if your organization were to suffer from a crippling data loss incident? In the event that our organization falls victim to a flood or fire, your data infrastructure could be destroyed… unless it’s backed up and maintained off-site.

Another service that presents substantial value for any business is one that supplies some form of proactive maintenance and management. This can be an effective way to keep your network free from threats, while keeping all your infrastructure monitored and in working order. Since an outsourced provider can accomplish this maintenance remotely, you can see much less downtime and higher degrees of productivity.

This type of maintenance can be difficult to come by for small businesses if they choose to do it themselves, but a managed service provider can keep your organization from having to stomach some of the largest expenses a thoroughly monitored, maintained, and supported IT infrastructure can incur. Not only do you save money by not adding salaries to your budget, but you also save time and resources by outsourcing the majority of the time-intensive work elsewhere.

To learn more about The Connection, Inc’s professional managed services, call our consultants today at (732) 291-5938.

How much does your business rely on technology to keep your organization running forward? As business technology becomes more complex, it’s becoming increasingly popular for organizations to have their own internal IT departments to manage and maintain it. Yet, small businesses don’t often have the necessary funds for such a feat. How can your company afford quality IT service? You can start by pursuing managed IT solutions from a managed service provider.

Unlike break-fix IT solutions, which depend on your technology breaking down, managed IT solutions aim to keep your technology in proper working order, as well as take action to proactively treat issues before they become long-term problems. Here are some of the best ways that managed IT can help your organization take better advantage of its technology.

Guaranteeing Flexibility
Let’s say that you choose to hire more employees for a specific department of your business. This means that you have more users, which can lead to more software licenses needed, more email accounts to archive, more endpoints to secure, and much more. Basically, as your workforce needs change, so too must your managed IT service agreement. The Connection, Inc offers scalable solutions that can be customized to fit the needs of your business.

Supplementing In-House Maintenance
Let’s say that you do have an in-house technician or a small group of workers dedicated to IT maintenance. They might be able to get most of their work done, but generally speaking, your in-house technicians probably have their hands full. They might have their hands full with acting as help desk support, or they might be too busy maintaining the status quo to help the everyday worker with their technology. A managed IT provider helps to augment and work beside your in-house team to create greater success for your organization as a whole.

Working with Your Vendors
You work with a lot of vendors to give your company the access to the products your organization needs to be successful. This includes hardware vendors for your workstations and server units, software developers for all of your productivity suite needs, and any other service providers that you have. Reaching out to all of these can be time-consuming, which is why managed service providers like The Connection, Inc offer vendor management services to create a single point of contact to keep your attention on your business and not your vendors.

Improving Operational Efficiency
Your business will generally function better by working with a managed service provider. The reason for this is simple: hands-off IT maintenance that takes up little, if any, of your time. The Connection, Inc can remotely monitor and maintain your business’ technology infrastructure to provide as much of a hands-off approach to IT maintenance as you can get. To learn more about what The Connection, Inc can do for your business, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.

Your business relies on its technology being maintained properly, but it’s not always as simple as updating a software application or replacing a hard drive following a catastrophic failure. You have to think about who you’re paying to maintain your technology solutions, if there’s anyone doing it at all. You need to consider what happens when you lose data or when your organization experiences downtime. How do you keep technology from becoming a hindrance for your business?

Managed IT is one of the best ways your organization can capitalize on its technology without worrying about whether or not you’re maintaining it properly. The ideal way for a small business to manage its technology is to have professionals handle it while you focus on other aspects of the management process.

In other words, let’s ask you a question; is your business running as smoothly as possible? Can you honestly say that you have time in your day to handle multiple technological troubles, as well as all of your other responsibilities? Upper-level executives like the CEO and COO have other responsibilities that are more pressing, and as such, technology maintenance is often left to your employees, who may (or, more likely, not) know what they’re doing. Technology maintenance is something that should always be done by professionals, as any mistakes could become costly mistakes that lead to downtime caused by having to do the same work twice, or even your technology failing completely.

Imagine what would happen if a hardware failure occurred and you lost the entirety of your business’ data. What would you do then?

Instead of relying on your employees, who have other jobs to do as well, managed IT can make sure that your organization’s technology is always maintained. Since a managed IT provider like The Connection, Inc is dedicated to maintaining your business’ technology, you won’t have to worry about other tasks getting in the way of it happening. You’ll receive customized service and solutions based on your service agreement, as well as the opportunity for more great tools such as unified communications, security solutions, data backup and disaster recovery, remote monitoring and maintenance, and so much more--all to make sure that your organization can run as optimally as possible.

To learn more about managed IT services and support, reach out to The Connection, Inc at (732) 291-5938.

You started your business because you have a particular skill set. This is what allows you to continue doing business as usual. However, this also means that there are some topics that you might not understand completely. This is why you hire employees from diverse backgrounds, and it’s one reason that you should consider outsourcing what you can to professionals in specific fields.

When it comes to technology, it’s often difficult to understand how every bit of it fits into a complete IT infrastructure. In fact, if you were to ask your staff to communicate with your technology vendors, would they know how to do so? Understanding where your technology comes from, namely your vendors, is an important part of streamlining your business’s operations.