Some of the options of data backup available to you include local back up and remote backup, which we go into detail here.

1. Local Backup

This involves storing your backup information on physical media such as external hard drives, CD/DVD –ROM, magnetic type media, local network backup as well as additional internal hard drives. The main benefits of local backup options include:

• They are quite easy to use
• They offer you tangible storage for both your original and backed up information

However, this method of data backup should only be used to give you a temporary solution. In deed most people tend to use this method of backing up their data only as a secondary option to store their data externally on a regular basis. The disadvantages of local backup of data include:

• It requires people to use manual operations in order to have their information updated because it is not completely automated
• It exposes your data to dangers like theft, fire, terrorism or natural calamities like earthquakes and floods.

2. Online/Remote Backup

This is considered to be one of the best ways for you to back up your data as it keeps it safe from natural disasters and other forms of danger. The advantages of these network backup solutions include;

• They are automated and this makes them quite efficient in storing your information
• They are safe as they store your data away from your office or home where it can be exposed to system failure, natural disasters or other forms of danger
• They offer you unlimited data storage space
• They have been proved to be a lot faster in restoring your data
• They are less expensive than other data backup solutions that are not internet related

Data backup is important in ensuring that your data is safe. The network backup solutions that you choose should enable you to access your information fast enough when you need it and this explains why online backup solutions have gained great popularity among many users.

Although it may only take a little time and effort to come up with a disaster and data recovery plan, it is worth all of this because the knowledge that you can continue working even after the unthinkable happens gives you a peace of mind. Planning for disaster recovery requires you to analyse your business processes as well as your continuity needs because you should indicate how your organization intends to deal with potential disasters.

Remember that the needs of every business are unique, which is why a business continuity plan should take into account how a given business is run as well as the different elements needed to keep your business going. In other words, all the elements that are critical to your business must be taken into account. You should also consider the time frame required for disaster recovery and then take the necessary steps to ensure this happens.

Data recovery on the other hand refers to the whole process of recovering data from a removable disk, a hard drive or indeed any other type of storage media when it is not possible to access it using normal means. It does not really matter how reliable storage media is as it is likely to fail at one time or another. Data recovery therefore helps you to access data when the normal methods of doing so fail. This may be necessary if:

1. There is failure in an operating system – the goal at this point is to copy all the files required to another disk. You can mitigate this by partitioning disks in addition to consistently storing important data files on a different partition from the replaceable operating system files.
2. There is failure at the disk level – this may include hard disk failure or a compromised disk partition or file system. In all these cases, the data cannot be read easily and data recovery will vary depending on the situation.
3. You delete files from storage media – deleted files do not get erased immediate and this means that original files can be restored.

Both disaster recovery and data recovery help your business to get back to its feet after a disaster occurs and should thus be taken seriously by all. However, the main focus should be in preventing the loss of data all together.

Cloud computing services can be divided into three main categories: SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. Here we go over each to highlight the differences from each cloud computing service model.

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS is basically a provision model that enables an organisation to outsource the equipment that are used to support operations and may include hardware, storage, servers as well as networking components. The users typically pay on a per- use basis while the service provider owns the equipment and has the responsibility of housing, maintaining and running it.

The components and characteristics of IaaS include:

• Connectivity to the internet
• Services that are policy based
• Utility computing services as well as the billing model
• Administrative tasks that are automated
• Desktop virtualisation
• Scaling that is dynamic

2. Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS refers to a software distribution model which allows for applications to be hosted by a service provider or a vendor and then the same are made available to users over the internet. Some of the benefits that you can derive from the SaaS model include:

• It makes administration easier
• It allows for automatic updates as well as patch management
• Has global accessibility
• Has great compatibility since all users have access to the same version of software
• Provides for easier collaboration

3. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS refers to the way through which you are able to rent operating systems, hardware, storage as well as network capacity over the internet. It is a service delivery model that makes it possible for users to rent virtualised servers and other associated services for developing and testing new applications or for running existing ones. It has various advantages for users such as:

• The ability for teams that are not physically together to work together on software development project
• Ability to obtain services from diverse sources
• Ability to change and upgrade operating system features frequently
• Reduced initial and ongoing costs

A private cloud makes use of the concepts of cloud computing but is only accessible to a single company instead of being divided amongst different clients. Although it can lead to reduced costs, it tends to reduce some of the savings that are often associated with cloud computing.

The greatest benefit of this type of cloud is found in the high level of security and sovereignty that comes with it. Also, if your business has applications that are highly customised, it often provides a more practical way to integrate these additional applications. With a private cloud, it is like you try cloud computing at home in which case you get all the benefits of a public cloud without having to cede control and security to a service provider. You also pay the recurring costs as opposed to having this met by a service provider.

The technology underlying a private cloud allows for scalability, flexible management of resources, maximum utilisation of hardware and data centre automation. With charge-back metering, a business is able to see the real cost of IT. It also offers identity-based security which ensures that only people that are authorised get access to the application infrastructure and resources that they require.

The major concern you are likely to have with a private cloud is the fact that your IT department still has to buy the infrastructure, build and maintain it thus depriving your organisation the privilege of experiencing the full benefits of cloud computing. Although most businesses make use of public cloud services, a good number is making good use of the private cloud.

1. When you do not have the staff to address IT problems in the office – many offices avoid employing IT experts because of the high cost that comes with it. As a result, if you do not have staff to handle the IT problems that you may experience, onsite computer support should help you out. Remember it is not advisable to try and fix a problem that you do not understand because you may only make the situation worse.
2. When you need immediate support – some operations are quite critical to your business. If for example you are running a point of sales system and it stops working, this type of computer support should help you to get your business back on its feet. In such a case, when your computer fails to work, your business will come to a quick halt while you try to fix the problem.
3. When troubleshooting remotely – some problems may remain unresolved because repair is done online. If you are trying to troubleshoot your computer unsuccessfully, onsite computer support may help you out. Such support will try to establish what exactly the problem is as they have physical access to your computer and then go on to fix this out. In other words, online computer support will help you to establish what exactly is wrong with your computer as well as what needs to be done in order to fix the problem.
4. If the network is down – if this happens, then online computer support may not be an option because such support is internet-based. Providers of onsite computer support will visit your premises and fix the IT problems you could be experiencing and thus enable the network to be functional once again.

Onsite computer support is a great way to have your IT problems fixed because it is very convenient. You do not have to carry your computer to a shop and probably wait for days before it is fixed. Therefore, you should not hesitate to get this kind of computer support when the situation requires you to do so.

1. Tape Storage and Media

This option offers enormous scalability to enable your business keep pace with the unpredictable growth of its data. This data backup solution also delivers high availability and data security as it allows for data encryption and is therefore a great option for large enterprises.

2. NAS Systems

This enterprise backup solution stores a lot of file data and manages it with great ease. It has a great impact on businesses because of its rapid growth in file storage that is driven by rich media as well as document and backup files and emails. The ability to consolidate file data with a NAS solution can go a long way in helping you address your file serving needs that will most likely keep changing thus reducing your cost of ownership. This happens as a result of simplified management, data protection, better resource utilisation as well as centralised growth.

3. Disk Backup Systems

• Store once backup systems – this data backup solution offers you worry-free data protection that you can depend on as well as well as rapid restoration of data. You are likely to enjoy using this enterprise backup solution because it automates, simplifies and generally improves the whole process of data backup.
• Virtual Library systems – this enables you to easily integrate disks into your current backup environment and thus improves backup and recovery a great deal.
• Removable Disk Backup – this is a data backup solution that is quite affordable and easy to use. It is ideal for both small and big businesses.

Big businesses require lots of storage as well as strong encryption so as to meet the needs of their businesses as well as ensure their security. An enterprise backup solution is therefore a great option for such businesses.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is basically a network that makes use of a public telecommunication infrastructure like the internet to provide individual users or remote offices with secure access to the network of their organisation. The main objective of a Virtual Private Network is to provide your organisation with capabilities that are the same but at a cost that is much lower.

A VPN uses shared public infrastructure while ensuring privacy through security procedures as well as tunnelling protocols like the layer two tunnelling protocol (L2TP). Since the protocols encrypt data at the sending end and decrypt it at the receiving end, the data is sent through a tunnel that cannot be used by any other data that is not encrypted properly. For additional security, both the originating and the receiving network addresses are also encrypted.

By using a VPN therefore, your business ensures security as anyone that intercepts the data cannot read it because it is encrypted. Since the internet is more accessible now than it has ever been, your business can also take advantage of this without compromising performance and security. By adding a Virtual Private Network to your business, you can therefore extend your resources to other employees that may be working from their homes or from remote offices.

Some of the benefits that a Virtual Private Network can offer your business include:

• Improved security while exchanging data
• Flexibility for remote employees as they are able to use a business intranet as if they are connected directly to the internet
• Improved productivity among remote employees
• Extended connections across several geographical locations
• Savings in expenses and time for employees working from virtual workplaces as they communicate with each other.

A Virtual Private Network can therefore help take your business to the next level.

The applications offered by SaaS are at times referred to as hosted software, software on demand or web-based software. The provider generally manages access to the applications, availability, performance as well as security. This relieves customers of the burden of installing, maintaining or updating hardware or software. To access these applications, all a user requires is an internet connection.

Some of the characteristics Software as a Service will offer you and which will help you answer the question what is SaaS are as follows:

1. It is a multitenant architecture- this means that all users and applications make use of a single, common infrastructure as well as a code base that is maintained centrally. This enables vendors to innovate more quickly thus saving valuable time that would initially have been spent in maintaining different versions of outdated codes.
2. Allows for easy customisation – every customer is able to customise applications so that they can fit into their business processes and without necessarily affecting the common infrastructure. These customizations are rather unique to each user or company and are often preserved through making upgrades.
3. Provides better access – SaaS improves access to data as you can access it from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. This makes it easier for members to collaborate with one another as they can access the same information irrespective of where they are located.

Many organisations are turning to SaaS because it is easier to implement and does not require users to pay any up-front licensing fees. It is also inexpensive and hence its popularity with small and medium sized companies.

In today’s economy, every business is out to save some money. SaaS seems to be working positively for many businesses and a good number has already embraced it. Although large companies have been a little hesitant to embrace it because of the limited functionality that comes with it, many others have already taken up this technology and only time can tell what its future will be.

It is important for every business, irrespective of size, to have an IT strategy because all businesses make some level of investment in IT. To be able to maximise on what you get from IT services, an IT strategy is necessary. The following steps are important in defining an IT strategy:

1. Analyse your business strategies as well as projects that are likely to support them. This basically helps you to determine what you need to do in order to drive your business to the next level.
2. Establish priorities as well as a work plan for the year ahead as this will help you determine which investments you ought to make.
3. Project the future IT environment that you expect as well as how these can be incorporated into the company. Remember you do not want to create an IT environment that will not be of use in the future. It should be flexible enough to match the changes that will take place in your business environment.
4. Develop a transition plan that will help transform the current IT environment so that it becomes the kind that you are interested in having. This has got to be taken seriously if your business is to realise benefits from IT services.

Some of the benefits that you can reap from an effective IT strategy include:

1. Reduction in cost – this means that even small companies that have to deal with limited budgets can implement IT initiatives at relatively reduced costs.
2. Customer satisfaction – It services that are well implemented can result in customer satisfaction.
3. Improved revenue generation as a result of increased efficiency.

A superior IT strategy as well as a solid execution of the same can help propel your business to great heights. It helps you to plan for initiatives that will help you obtain great business outcomes. Indeed, if it aligns well with your business objectives, then you are bound to realise the benefits of IT services.

These include any transactional or informational application processes that emulate human users and use a single, mailbox for contact access. The main purpose of unified communications is to break down barriers so that people are able to use different modes of communication, different devices as well as different media to communicate with others that may be located anywhere and at any time that they may wish to do so.

Unified communications makes use of many communication models or systems including:

•  Unified messaging – this is great for your business as it allows users to access fax, email, voice as well as other mixed media from a single mailbox irrespective of the access device they are using
• Multimedia services – these include messages of mixed media types like pictures, sound clips and videos. They also include communication that is done through short message services also referred to as (SMS)
• Collaboration and interaction systems –they involve applications like scheduling, workflow, calendaring, integrated voice response as well as other enterprise applications that generally help workgroups and individuals to communicate effectively
• Real-time as well as near real-time communication systems – they focus on how people communicate with each other using applications or systems like instant messaging, conferencing, traditional private branch exchanges as well as paging
• Transactional and informational systems – they focus on the provision of access to e-commerce, m-commerce, weather, voice web-browsing as well as other enterprise applications

Unified communications comes with great benefits for your business and can result in more efficiency from company executives, improved collaboration as well as improved productivity. It optimizes business processes in addition to enhancing human communications by managing flows, reducing latency and eliminating media and device dependencies and is therefore a great addition to your business.

A public cloud is basically one that is based on the standard model of cloud computing and involves resources such as storage and other applications being made available to the general public over the internet by a service provider. This means that a it is involved in selling services to any person that needs them. Although some public cloud services are available to users free of charge, others are offered on a model of pay-per-usage.

There are various benefits of using public cloud services some of which include:

• You only pay for what you use and this means that cloud computing does not allow for wastage of resources
• Allow for scalability thus enabling you to meet your needs. You can scale up or down depending on what you require
• Are inexpensive and quite easy to set up as the cost of bandwidth, hardware and applications are all covered by the provider.

A public cloud is quite different from a private cloud or a hybrid cloud. This is because whereas it is managed by the provider, a private cloud is managed by the organisation that it serves while a hybrid cloud is managed by both external and internal providers.

Cloud computing has several benefits for your business and has really changed the way people do business. It has made it quite easy for members to collaborate with one another even if they are not necessarily at the same place. Your business can also benefit from the services that are provided by a public cloud.

The aim of virtualisation is mainly so as to centralise administrative tasks while at the same time improving scalability as well as the overall utility of hardware resources. There are different types of virtualisation which include hardware, software, desktop, storage, memory, network and data

Hardware virtualisation is also referred to as platform virtualisation and involves creating a virtual machine which acts like a real computer and has got an operating system. The software that is executed on the virtual machine is separated from the hardware resources that are underlying. In this case, virtualisation takes place on the host machine while the guest machine is the virtual machine. The host is basically the software which runs on the actual machine while the guest is the software which runs on the virtual machine.

Hardware virtualisation comes in the following different types:

1.  Full  – this involves an almost complete simulation of the actual hardware so as to enable software that is typically made of a guest operating system to run without being modified.
2. Partial – in this type of hardware virtualisation, simulation is done on some and not the entire target environment. To run in this virtual environment, some guest programs may require modification.
3. Para – it doesn’t involve simulation of a hardware environment although execution of the guest programs is done in their own isolated domains as though they were running on a separate system. To run in this environment, guest programs do not have to be specifically modified.

Hardware virtualisation helps to improve the efficiency of hardware. It requires you to employ CPUs that are specially designed as well as hardware components that help to improve how a guest environment performs its work. However, hardware virtualisation should not be confused with hardware emulation because they are different. In hardware virtualisation, a piece of computer hardware or even the whole computer is imitated by a piece of software while in hardware emulation; a piece of hardware is imitated by another.

Outsourced IT services can reduce operation costs by cutting down on the number of full time employees a business requires. Full time IT employees require insurance benefits among other benefits. By outsourcing IT services, your business does not have to incur these costs because you only pay for IT services when you need them. This frees important company resources that you can then direct into other high impact activities.

It eliminates the need for office space as providers of managed services will only come in when you need them and leave after work is completed. You therefore don’t have to pay for office space for such employees. This money can thus go into running other important areas of your business and thus helps reduce overheads.

Outsourced IT services give your business access to IT consultants that have a good understanding of the latest technologies. Since managed services allow you to call in professionals when you need them, this means that you do not have to pay them when there is no need to do so and can thus save your company a lot of money.

It eliminates the need for you to invest in technical training for your IT staff which can be very expensive. Remember that for your IT employees to remain on top of their game, they will have to regularly update their skills. With outsourced IT services, you do not have to pay for your employees to get such skills because you do not have such employees. You only seek for services when you need them and it is not your responsibility to have such professional update their skills.

Running complex IT infrastructure can be quite expensive and involving. Managed services give you the assurance that someone else is accountable for the delivery of the services that you require. It also means that you can direct your resources to your core business.

By looking for ways to get rid of some of the costs that are associated with your IT department, you can save your business a lot of money. Outsourced IT therefore helps you to cut down on costs in addition to enabling your business benefit from the knowledge and expertise of specialists.

Most cloud options offer both free and paid services. With free options, you are likely to get storage that is much less than that offered by paid options. However, some cloud storage options may offer you significant storage although they may lack other amenities like customer service that is readily available as well as automatic backup solutions.

There are many cloud storage options that you can choose from. Some of the free options available are covered below.

1. Sugarsync

This option allows for syncing of files on multiple computers in addition to enabling you upload via email. The main advantages of this storage option include:

• Ability to back up any folder on your computer and to up-load changes in real time
• Ability to edit files using the web interface and this comes in handy when you need to make simple edits
• Ability to stream music

2. Dropbox

This cloud storage option offers 2GB of free storage. It also:

• Enables you to sync files automatically online and across your computers
• Makes it easy for you to collaborate with other people as you are able to easily share files
• Gives you the ability to access files even if you had previously deleted them

3. Box.net

This comes with great features as well as compatibility options like flash video, Microsoft office files, Photoshop and illustrator as well as mp3 files among others. However, this option only offers you free storage of 1 GB and does not allow for shell integration.

4. Memopal

This storage option starts you off with free storage of 3GB and allows for a good degree of shell integration.

5. Windows Sky Drive

This is a cloud storage option from Microsoft and makes a great choice if you have to share lots of small files. It does not have built-in shell extension although this can be made possible if you install Sky Drive Explorer.

6. Google-Docs

Google Docs has recently made an addition to the ability to upload files of any type. It has free storage of 1GB as well as an upload file size limit of 1 GB.

Cloud storage is a great option for any business that does not wish to rely on its own backups. As indicated, there are various free options available although paid services may offer you greater storage, guaranteed continuity as well as the kind of security your business requires.

To begin with, every business should have a business continuity management policy because it ensures that you are well prepared to overcome the effects of any disaster that your business may experience at any given time. It makes you ready to tackle any incident that may disrupt your business. This means that even when the worst happens, you are able to quickly overcome this and soldier on.

With a business continuity plan, you can protect the reputation of your company. This is mainly because a business continuity management policy ensures that you continue to operate, thus allowing you to meet your obligations to your customers and suppliers. Your customers will not in any way miss out on the services and products that they require, thus helping build consumer confidence. This is likely to propel the growth of your business as your customers see your company as one they can rely on to deliver services and products.

Also, business continuity enhances the efficiency of your business. This is because it helps you respond quickly and effectively to incidents that may disrupt your business. Your business can recover fast enough even in the face of adversity. It also ensures that employees are well informed as to what actions to take to ensure that your business continues to function even after a disaster strikes.

Finally, a business continuity management policy helps you prevent monetary losses. Remember that if a disaster strikes and you have not put in place systems that will help mitigate its effects, it may be inevitable for you to close down your business until you seek alternatives that will enable you to continue functioning. Closing down any business is a sure way of losing income and may further lead to loss of customers. With a plan in place for business continuity, this is not likely to happen.

As indicated, there are various reasons why every business should have a business continuity management policy. It is an essential part of any organisation that takes its business as well as its clients seriously. With all the potential disasters that your business is exposed to, it is quite unwise for you to fail to take the necessary steps that will help you prevent the devastating effects of such catastrophes. Your business can’t therefore afford to ignore the importance of a plan for business continuity unless you want your customers to seek services from your competitors.

Computer network security often starts with authenticating the user and this can be achieved at 3 levels:

1. One- factor authentication – this is commonly achieved through the use of a username and a password. It requires one detail to authenticate the user name which is in this case a password that the user knows.
2. Two-factor authentication – this involves the use of something that the user ‘has’ and could range from an ATM card, to a security token or ‘dongle’ or even a mobile phone.
3. Three- factor authentication – this involves the use of something that the user ‘is’ and could include a retinal scan or a fingerprint.

In computer security, once authentication is complete, a firewall goes on to enforce access policies such as the type of services that can be accessed by the users of the network. Although this is quite effective in preventing unauthorized access, it may fail to check content that is potentially harmful thus allowing Trojans or computer worms to be transmitted over the network. To achieve computer security at this level, an intrusion prevention system (IPS) or antivirus software may help in detecting and inhibiting the action of such malware.

Also, to monitor the network for any form of suspicious content or behaviour in addition to protecting resources, anomaly- based intrusion detection systems may be helpful if you are to achieve computer security. These may prevent employees from accessing files at odd times. It may also be necessary for individual events that occur on the network to be logged for purposes of auditing as well as high-level analysis at a later time.

Computer network security also requires that privacy is maintained. For this to happen, it is important that communication between two hosts that may be using the network is encrypted. In addition, computer security may also require that honey pots are deployed in a network as a form of surveillance and early-warning tools because they are not normally accessed for legitimate purposes.

Any techniques used by attackers that are keen to compromise the decoy resources are studied both during and after the attack as a way of keeping an eye on any new form of exploitation techniques. This type of analysis may even help to tighten further the security of the particular network that the honey pot is protecting.

Remember that in computer network security, different kinds of situations call for different forms of security.

1. Determining the extent of the network

An auditor can establish this by examining the network diagram which is basically a map showing all the routes that are available on the network being audited. It is important to establish the accuracy of this map because large networks keep evolving with change in business needs. In essence, such a diagram may not be helpful if it is not updated. Determine whether the organization whose network security is being established has got processes for updating and maintaining the accuracy of the network diagram. A software tool can be used to generate an accurate diagram. The network diagram may also provide information on the types of devices and protocols that are used in the network. This network diagram is important in any network security audit and should constantly be referred to.

2. Determining the critical information assets in the network

Through a systematic risk assessment, an auditor can establish network security by putting in place protection that is related to the risks that are associated with the assets. It is important that the auditor has knowledge of the critical assets, systems as well as services that need to be secured. For this reason, the security and access mechanisms surrounding the servers and applications need to be robust.

3. Determining which people have access to the systems on the network

This also includes how they access the systems. Establish if the system is only accessed by employees or whether vendors and customers also have access to the systems. Also, establish whether employees are able to access the systems from outside the office as well as how customers and vendors access the systems. Remember that all this is likely to have an impact on network security and must be involved in the audit.

4. Determining the connections that are available to external networks

Generally, most networks are connected to the internet through service providers. Network security requires that an internal network is secured from the external world at the gateways although threats can also come from within. A network security audit therefore tries to establish whether external and internal threats are dealt with appropriately.

5. Determining the protection mechanisms that are in place

A audit requires that an auditor evaluates protection mechanisms for effectiveness and adequacy.

Disasters can be divided into 2 main categories:

1. Natural disasters – these may include hurricanes, floods, earthquakes or even tornadoes. Although it is rather difficult to control natural disasters, good planning can help reduce or avoid losses that could arise from these disasters.
2. Man-made disasters – these may include bio-terrorism, the failure of infrastructure or hazardous material spills. To avoid or reduce the losses that may result from such events, mitigation planning as well as surveillance is necessary.

Disasters often have a negative impact on your business. However, with a good disaster recovery plan, you can reduce or eliminate the threats posed by such disasters to your business. A disaster recovery plan involves planning for resumption of applications, communications, data, hardware and other IT infrastructure. Business continuity management on the other hand ensures that there is continuity of services to your customers and therefore helps protect your brand as well as reputation.

Before choosing a disaster recovery strategy, reference should be made to the business continuity plan of your organisation. With this in mind, you should be able to come up with a strategy that is best suited for each system.

Some of the precautionary measures you may undertake as you come up with your plan include:

• Fire prevention through the use of fire extinguishers and alarms
• Use of anti-virus software as well as other security measures
• Surge protectors to help reduce the effect of power surges on electronic equipment
• Local mirrors of systems and data as well as the use of disk protection technology
• Uninterruptible power supply or a backup generator to ensure that systems keep going even after power failure.

Business continuity management therefore helps you plan for incidents that may affect your business instead of having to play ‘catch up’ when disasters strike. Both large and small companies need business continuity management although every business continuity plan has got to be tailored to meet the needs of an organization.

1. It is cost effective – it is quite costly to employ in-house IT staff because you may need to give them additional company benefits as well as training to keep their skills updated. By outsourcing IT support, you only pay for services that you require.
2. You have access to staff with great expertise – It may prove quite costly for your organization to hire staff with great expertise because of the amount of money that you may be required to pay them. If you outsource IT services, you can get the services of such experts and still manage to pay them because you will only be required to pay for the services that they offer you.
3. It keeps your business in touch with the latest technology – if you build a relationship with a good provider of IT support services, you will be able to know if there is a new product, an upgrade or a tool that might be useful to your business. A good provider of IT support services is likely to monitor the market and assess innovations to try and establish what works best for their customers. This helps you stay ahead of your competitors.
4. It helps you access additional services – A good provider of IT services is likely to offer you additional services. Such a provider is likely to make recommendations that could greatly improve your systems thus helping you save money.
5. Helps you focus on your core business – Once you outsource IT services, you do not have to worry about maintaining your systems or handling any IT related problems that your business may encounter. This is left to the provider of IT services and allows you to focus on other core aspects of your business.
6. It gives you access to constant care – instead of having to fix problems when they occur, IT support providers can proactively monitor your systems, identify problems and go on to fix them even before you notice thus eliminating downtime.
7. It provides your business with risk management and legal redress – by partnering with experts, you are likely to experience fewer IT problems and incase of a crisis, the provider of IT services is responsible for the same. With the right contract in place, you may seek damages if things go wrong.
8. It eliminates skills crisis during recruitment – If you choose the right IT support provider, you are likely to have a highly trained team at your disposal instead of having to worry about recruiting people with the right IT skills.
9. It reduces downtime – if you outsource IT services from a good provider, your systems will be monitored 24/7. This enables threats to be detected in good time and any IT problems to be solved before things become worse.
10. It improves efficiency – since outsourcing IT support eliminates downtime, the efficiency of your business is improved significantly as customers will not miss out on services or products that they require.

1. Recovery time objectives

Every IT disaster recovery plan should indicate how long a given business can continue to operate without the necessary IT services. This should help you determine how quickly you should recover IT services and with a good data recovery plan, this should take the shortest time possible. However, the recovery objective should be based on the requirements of your business.

2. Response action plans

Your IT disaster recovery plan should have different response action plans that will be undertaken if different disaster scenarios are experienced. You could include actions that should be undertaken if:

• Your business is vandalised and in the process computers and servers are destroyed leading to loss of data
• Your main server crashes and has got to be rebuilt all over again
• Your business is destroyed by disasters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods among others

3. Offsite backup and storage

Once a disaster strikes, it may not be possible to access an onsite data backup. For this reason, your plan should include a data recovery process that includes offsite backups as this ensures that you are able access important information even after a disaster strikes.

4. Budget

Your plan should include a budget for disaster recovery operations. This enables you to plan for data recovery operations that your business is able to support. It will not help to have plan that is way beyond what your business is able to provide for financially.

Whatever the size of your business, it is always a good idea to plan ahead before disasters strike. A good disaster recovery plan therefore ensures that your business is up and running in the shortest time possible after a disaster strikes. After all, information is at the centre of the success of any business and data recovery ensures that you do not lose any data that may be crucial to your business.

Need help with your company’s IT disaster recovery plan? Computer Networks’ experienced team of IT consultants can help create a plan for you that can help get your business up and running quickly after a disaster strikes. For more information please contact us online or call 1300 88 66 76.

1. Transparency

Cloud computing infrastructure has to ensure that all services are delivered transparently irrespective of the physical implementation that takes place within the cloud. The actual implementation of cloud computing services is obscured from the user. Hence multiple resources appear as a single resource to the user. To allow for transparent horizontal scaling to be done on demand, it is required that there is transparent application delivery as well as load-balancing. By automating and integrating the application delivery solution that is used to provide load-balancing services that are transparent, resources will be available on demand and at any time.

2. Scalability

Cloud computing infrastructure has to allow scaling up as well as building out ‘mega data centres.’ If the proper application delivery solution is deployed in cloud computing, scalability is easy enough. However, the application delivery solution needs to provide for the ability to transparently scale itself, as well as the service infrastructure. It is also important to integrate the virtualisation solution as well as the ability to be orchestrated into a process or work flow that manages provisioning in cloud computing.

3. Intelligent monitoring

This refers to the need to understand when network conditions are adversely affecting the performance of applications or when a given server is overwhelmed. The cloud computing infrastructure needs to know the services and applications being offered from the cloud, in addition to understanding when behavior is outside the norms that are accepted. Also, when it comes to the cloud, the application delivery mechanism should be in a position to take action based on the information that is available.

4. Security

Every cloud computing infrastructure solution that is deployed has got to be done with security in mind. To prevent potential attacks, it is therefore necessary that cloud computing providers ensure that full application security is provided.

Want to find out more about cloud computing? Computer Networks specialises in helping businesses transition to the cloud. For more information please contact us online or call 1300 88 66 76.

When it comes to data recovery Sydney businesses have cited the following major issues and means for recovery.

1. Physical damage to storage devices

Different failures can cause physical damage to your storage media. This could range from breaking of tapes to the metallic substrate or dye layer of CD-ROMs being scratched off or hard disks suffering mechanical failures like failed motors and head crushes among other damages. When physical damage occurs, some form of data loss is likely to follow. Although it may not be possible for end users to repair physical damage, data recovery techniques may involve replacing parts in the hard disk or recovering every readable bit from the surface through a specialized-disk imaging procedure. Providers of data recovery in Sydney services may also recommend hardware repair if necessary.

2. Media errors and corrupt partitions and file systems

In some cases, media errors or damage to the file system or partition table can make the data on a hard drive to be unreadable. Specialised data recovery software like Test Disk can be used to repair the damaged file system or partition table. This makes it possible to recover all or some of the original data. This method requires end-users that are knowledgeable since special physical equipment will have to be used.

3. Online data recovery

This is another popular method of data recovery Sydney businesses use to restore deleted or lost files. It is a method of data recovery that is performed over the internet without necessarily having the computer or the drive in possession. When using this method your data is regularly backed up online and therefore if any data is lost you are able to recover the last backed up version of your data. This method of data recovery is quite convenient although it is not quite common because it requires a broadband internet connection that is stable for it to be performed in the correct way.

Clearly, there are various methods to recover important data. For more information on our services in data recovery Sydney wide, please contact us online or call 1300 88 66 76.

There are various levels of computer network support services available to your business, each tailored to different IT needs and level of support required. Here we look at the various levels of IT support available to businesses and organisations to help you determine what type of support you need.

1. Onsite managed IT support

Onsite support means that you have access to computer network support services whenever you need them as you have an IT support team on location, in your office. You can obtain onsite support for a limited time or on a long term basis depending on your IT needs.

2. Remote support

A more affordable option than onsite support is remote IT support. These computer network support services help resolve your issue from an offsite location, yet IT consultants are still available to come to your office should they not be able to resolve the issue. Once you call, our IT team will help you determine the nature of the problem that you could be experiencing. Once the problem is identified, if you allow it, our consultant will activate a screen sharing session through which we can help you troubleshoot your computer.

3. Ad-hoc support

This IT support service is available to any customer that is not on an existing plan. It can cover your entire technology needs such as unplanned downtime caused by failure in software, hardware, servers and networks. Our ad-hoc support services are available both onsite and remotely.

4. Hourly blocks

This is where customers have a stipulated amount of support hours available at volume based pricing. If you require more than an ‘emergency fix’ and less intensive level of support then hourly blocks are a goof option for your IT needs.

5. Contracted IT support plans

Given that different businesses have different IT needs and requirements, computer network support services ensure that you have a peace of mind as far as your IT infrastructure is concerned. Some of the IT support services you can enjoy include:

• Increased performance and stability
• 24/7 monitoring
• Shorter contact-to-resolution time as well as increased response time
• Reduced cost of IT systems as a result of budgeted IT expenditure
• Predictive and proactive management of systems.

You can also start enjoying the various computer network support services that we offer by getting in touch with us. For more information please contact us online or call 1300 88 66 76.

Cloud computing is revolutionising the business world because cloud services enable us to access complicated software and platforms on demand, online. This means that businesses can access as much or as little of a service that they require. Here we look at the core advantages of cloud computing, how it is changing the way we all do business and exactly what is cloud computing.

1. Flexibility

One of the main advantages of cloud computing is the fact that it enables staff to access information from any location as long as they have an internet connection. This means that people can work from home, while travelling or virtually anywhere they are via their mobile device. Staff members can also easily collaborate with one another even in situations where they are not physically together. They can view and edit documents from any location as long as they have access to the internet.

2. Reduced Costs

Cloud computing reduces pressure on a business’ bottom line as cloud computing enables them to treat advanced software and platforms as an operating expense rather than capital expenditure. This is frequently viewed as one of the most important advantages of cloud computing. Cloud computing has proved to be much cheaper and less labour intensive for many organisations. This is mainly because companies do not have to buy and install expensive software or platforms to host the software. Apart from various cloud computing applications being offered free of charge, you are only required to subscribe to services that you need instead of having to buy the software. You can scale up or down depending on your needs.

3. Increased storage

With cloud computing you have unlimited storage in comparison to what servers and hard drives can offer. If your business grows and you realise that you need more storage, all you need to do is to slightly increase your monthly fee as opposed to having to upgrade your servers and equipment.

4. Highly automated

Automation is another of the core advantages of cloud computing as it allows for automatic updates of software. This can be quite useful for purposes of financial or legal compliance because if tax rates change, cloud computing allows for the systems to be updated automatically.

5. Focus

Cloud computing allows businesses to concentrate on their core objectives by eliminating the need for specialist IT staff because maintenance and upgrading of systems is left to the providers. This means that businesses can direct their energies towards areas that drive them instead of worrying about maintenance and upgrading of systems.

If you are still wondering “what is cloud computing?” give our friendly team a call on 1300 88 66 76 or contact us online. Computer Networks offers a range of cloud services including Office 365, cloud hosting, SAP Business ByDesign and variety of public and private cloud solutions. Contact us today to see how we can help transition your business to the cloud.

1. Network and server failure

This is the partial or complete failure of the components of a network due to some sort of malfunctioning or natural disasters as well as those caused by people. If this happens, your outsourced IT support team will help you detect the causes of network failure and come up with ways to help you fix the problem in good time.

2. Natural disasters

These can strike at a time when you least expect them and could range from earthquakes to flooding and fires among others. Once disasters strike, having emergency IT support ensures that your business overcomes the effects of such disasters in the shortest time possible. This may be possible if you have a good backup system in place and your IT support team can also ensure that this is in place.

3. Security breach

This occurs when people access information that should not ideally be accessible to them. Remember that there are many hackers waiting to strike at all times. To prevent any form of security breach, your IT team can help create access controls so that only authorised people can access your data. Once this is done, then such unauthorised users will be denied access to your systems.

4. Hardware failure

This involves the hardware components of your computer failing to perform their work as required. This could range from hard disk failure to memory errors and system timing problems. Since the hard disk basically stores all your data and main programs, its failure can bring your business to a quick halt. An emergency IT support team ensures that you have backups in place to avoid any form of data loss if there is a problem.

Some of the IT problems that you may encounter are inevitable. It is therefore important to have an emergency IT support team at the ready to come to your rescue if you experience any of these problems. By investing in the appropriate level of IT support services you will be enable your business bounce back if you are faced with any of these problems.

Computer Networks offers emergency IT support services to businesses of all sizes, with a variety of different packages and IT support options. For more information please contact us online or call 1300 88 66 76.

1. Viruses

This is a very common computer support issue as your computer can get a virus simply by visiting another website. To help you get rid of viruses, you need to install anti-virus software. There are different types of such software available in the market and you need to look out for one that meets your needs.

2. Malware

This is a malicious kind of software that can infect your computer. It is a very common issue witnessed in computer support Sydney wide. It usually infects your computer through the use of p2p programs or even through email attachments. At a severe level, malware can easily destroy your entire hard disk. Since it is quite difficult to get rid of malware, computer support providers will often recommend that you have a system restore done or have your operating system wiped and reinstalled.

3. Spyware

This is another common computer support issue as your computer can pick up spyware from just about anything. One common symptom of spyware that you are likely to experience is a significant slowdown in the performance of your computer. You may also notice programs that you may never have installed on your computer. You can use any of the various programs available in the market to remove spyware.

4. Hardware Failure

This refers to the physical failure of hardware components or the hard drive of your computer. Given that all your programs and valuable data are stored on your hard drive; its failure can cause your business a lot of harm. Computer support providers will advise you to ensure that you have a good backup system to help you overcome this challenge.

5. Out of Date Software

This is bound to happen when you fail to update your software. It makes your systems vulnerable to hackers thus compromising on security. To ensure your security is guaranteed, you need to ensure that you update your software regularly.

These are just but some of the common problems that IT support providers have got to resolve each and every day. However, luckily they are easily preventable by taking the necessary precautions. Computer Networks offers computer support Sydney wide, as well as throughout Queensland and the Central Coast.

When it comes to the main benefits of outsourcing IT support Sydney businesses frequently cite that it’s cost effective, enables them to focus on their core business, improves efficiency and gives them flexibility. This is even more true for SMEs where the bottom line is so important, resources are more tight and most are experiencing growth.

Here we look at the how the core benefits of managed IT services benefits SMEs in the short, medium and long term.

1. Cost Effective

Outsourcing your business’ IT support significantly reduces the operational cost of SMEs. This is because it reduces the cost of having an IT department in-house, bearing in mind that when there is nothing wrong with your infrastructure, such a department will be redundant but you will be expected to pay this staff all the same. An outsourced IT model therefore allows you to only pay for services that you receive. It also allows SMEs to access IT professionals that may otherwise have been out of reach for them. This allows them to compete with other large and established businesses.

2. It allows SMEs to focus on their businesses

Remember that SMEs may have to spend a lot of time and resources trying to ensure that their servers and systems are well maintained. However, by outsourcing IT support, SMEs leave this work of maintenance of their IT infrastructure to professionals with vast experience. This means that they can concentrate on the core activities of their businesses instead of wondering about maintaining, upgrading or expanding their networks as this is left to providers of IT support Sydney wide.

3. Improves Efficiency

Your business is able to achieve efficiency since you can outsource IT services such as installation and configuration, servicing of your computers, installation and upgrading of hardware and software as well as provision of backup services.

4. Greater flexibility

By outsourcing IT support Sydney SMEs are helped to react quickly to the conditions of a changing market in which they operate. This is because outsourcing IT services helps give them access to the latest IT infrastructure, thus ensuring that they remain on top of their game.

Remember that with the growth of the IT industry, there is a lot of work to be done by companies if they are to remain in competition. It may be difficult for SMEs to meet these demands and hence the need for such companies to outsource IT support.

Computer Networks offers professional IT support Sydney wide. We offer a range of different IT support levels and packages suitable to all business sizes. For more information please contact us today on 1300 88 66 76.

There are various advantages of onsite computer support some of which are listed below.

1. Fast Response Times

When systems fail, the sooner you can get things back to normal, the better it is for your business. Remember that it may take a day or more for your computer to be repaired and this can have a major impact on your ability to do business. Good computer support providers should be able to have a technician visit you as soon as you call. To avoid enlisting the services of companies that will disappoint you, it is important that you carry out some research to enable you end up with a computer support company that has reliable services.

2. Convenience

It is rather inconveniencing to disconnect all the cables of your computer and take it to a repair shop. With onsite computer support, a professional will visit you at home or at your workplace. This saves you the inconvenience of having to move around with your computer looking for a technician to fix it.

3. Expertise

It gives you access to IT professionals with great expertise. Onsite computer support ensures that any issues you may have are handled by experts. After all, this is what such professionals specialise in doing and it is unlikely they will be unable to solve the problems your computers or systems may be experiencing. If there are any threats, they will detect that in good time.

4. Learning Opportunity

It gives you an opportunity to learn – by observing these professional perform their work, you may be able to fix similar problems in the future, on your own. It therefore helps you learn a thing or two about common problems that your computers may be experiencing.

5. Access to Advanced Tools

You are able to access professionals with advanced IT diagnostic tools that you may not have had access to. This means that the problem will be fixed in no time and an immediate solution found.

Computer Networks offers onsite computer support throughout Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle and Queensland. For more information on how we can help your business, contact us today on 1300 88 66 76.

Computer networks can be grouped into two sections:

1. Client server networks – these use one or more servers to share applications, files and printers
2. Peer-to-peer networks – these allow users to share files without the need for servers

Computer networks can also be grouped in terms of geographical location:

1. Local Area Networks (LANs) – these are computer networks that connect computers that are found within a single geographical location like an office suite, an office building or a home.
2. Wide Area Networks (WANs) – these are computer networks that use phone lines or satellite links to span over different countries or cities.

When designing, rolling out, configuring and managing computer networks, there are some steps that need to be followed. Here is how to set up computer networks:

1. Designing Computer Networks

In this step you need to plan on the phase of design and this may take 1-3 working days depending on the size of your network as well as how much help you have at your disposal. Key tasks in this step include:

• Determining the type of network that you require i.e. whether peer-to-peer or client/server
• Selecting the software that your network system requires
• Selecting a network language
• Establishing the type of hardware that you need
• Deciding on the level of security your information requires
• Choosing software and hardware solutions that can handle your day-to-day management tasks

2. Rolling Out Computer Networks

This step includes tasks such as:

• Running and testing network cables
• Installing servers if necessary
• Setting up the workstation hardware
• Plugging in the cables and the network interface cards which connect the network to the LAN
• Installing the hubs if necessary
• Installing printers
• Loading up the server software for client/server network types
• Installing the workstation software
• Installing modem hardware for remote dial up to enable users to dial into the network
• Installing the programs that you require

3. Configuring Computer Networks

This step involves customising the network to meet your own needs. This requires that you:

• Create network accounts for your users
• Create areas on shared disk drives to enable the sharing of data files and programs
• Set up print queues to enable your users to share printers that are networked
• Install network support on the user workstation to enable your users to ‘talk’ to your network

4. Managing Computer Networks

This is important as it can help you save a lot of time. You need to:

• Map your network for easier troubleshooting and management
• Put in place appropriate security measures to ensure that your data is protected against harm
• Tune up your LAN to ensure that you get the best speed possible
• Create company standards for adding software and hardware as this will help to avoid compatibility problems later
• Put in place backup systems to ensure that you have copies of programs and files if your hardware fails
• Install diagnostic and monitoring hardware as this will help you get an early warning if there is an impending problem and also to enable you to check on the health of your network
• Plan ahead on how to handle troubleshooting.

Citrix Utility AppEdit

This is a network support tool that allows for quick management of published applications on a Citrix server farm. It works by quickly moving and changing published applications between servers so as to take a suspect server out of the problems it may be experiencing or to isolate a test environment.

NetFlow Analyzer

This is an IT support tool that generates instant reports on network traffic as well as its users. It collects Netflow exports and correlates them and generates reports and graphs that can go a long way in helping you understand and troubleshoot network traffic.

123LogAnalyzer

This is a network support tool that helps you see who visits your site, where they come from as well as where they go. It is quite fast and powerful, has high-speed processing, low disk space requirements as well as built-in mapping and unique capabilities for filtering. This tool is quite easy to use as it has detailed maps and charts that are quite easy to understand.

AppResponse Expert

This is an IT support tool that monitors and analyses the experiences of the end-user. It supports an in-depth analysis of the behaviour and performance of the underlying infrastructure of your network. With this tool, you are able to see the users and their transactions across the enterprise. It also provides information on end-user response times, route quality, utilisation, ISP performance as well as traffic patterns.

Colasoft Capsa

This is a network support tool that is designed for packet decoding as well as network diagnosis. It monitors the network traffic that is transmitted over a local host and local network thus enabling you to troubleshoot network problems. This tool enables you to quickly and efficiently fix any network problems that you may be experiencing as it makes your network transparent before you.

There are many other IT support tools that are available in the market. Be sure to look out for those which will help you resolve your network problems. It is important to do research and read reviews as this will help you see what other people have got to say about any given product.

1. How much do you charge for computer support services?

Most computer support services are billed per service and will vary depending on the complexity of the services that you will receive from the support team. You will be charged more for complex tasks and less for simple tasks. However, this cost can only be determined once a consultant has assess your computer problems and determined the correct solution. Many IT services companies offer their support in hourly blocks or plans, this enables you to only pay for the support you need, as you need it.

2. How long will it take to fix the problem that I have?

It is rather difficult to state how long it will take an IT support team to fix your problem. However, the nature of the problem will determine how long it may take to fix it. If you only require a simple hardware replacement, it may take less than an hour. Some problems may take a matter of minutes to be fixed while others may require a little more time.

3. Is there a guarantee for the computer support services that you offer?

Yes, for most IT support services, a guarantee of 30-90 days is generally given.

4. Should I expect to pay any other charges for the computer support services I will receive?

No, IT services should not come with any hidden costs. Make sure your IT support team does not charge any extra fees for the standard services that they offer. You should only pay for the services that you will receive from your IT team.

5. Will my files be safe during repair?

Yes, most It service providers will take the necessary precautions to ensure that your data is safe during the repair process. Your IT support team should make a back up image of your hard drive and store this information on their server until repair is complete.

With remote support, you can focus on the main goals of your business, rather than IT. Here the work of network maintenance and repair is left to the professionals. Time that you would have spent worrying about how to fix your IT problems can be channelled to other issues that may be more critical to your business operations.

Remote support also provides you with rapid response once you experience any type of problem. You do not have to wait for days before your problems are fixed and this ensures increased production as well as effectiveness. With remote IT services you can receive quick guidance through the process of troubleshooting thus reducing downtime. Remember that downtime costs your business money and it can have a negative impact on your business. Therefore, remote support is a great way to save your business money, time and resources.

Remote IT support is cost effective for your business. It may be quite costly for your business to employ a technician to handle IT problems. It may also be quite costly to access advanced networking tools that may be required to fix problems. With remote support, you only pay for IT services when you need them and the fact that your problems are handled by professionals, means that they have access to advanced tools that may be required to fix complex problems.

Remote IT services are quite convenient since you will not be required to unplug your system and carry your computer to a repair shop. Problems are fixed remotely from the comfort of your workplace.

Remote IT support ensures that you get quality services. Your IT problems are handled by experts that have great experience. You therefore get the best value for your money. Indeed, with remote support services, you are bound to receive solutions that are reliable and efficient.

All the benefits given explain why remote IT support has become quite popular in both small sized and medium sized companies. Your business stands to gain a lot from remote support services because even if a big problem strikes, it can be solved quickly and efficiently thus minimising on the damages that you may be exposed to.

Data Storage

Information is central to the success of any business. You therefore need a data storage solution that is appropriate to the needs of your business. With IT solutions, you should be able to access your data from any location.

A Proactive Monitoring System

This IT support service ensures that all firewalls and computer systems function properly. It also monitors your network and notifies you of any attacks or problems with your network. With this service, even the most basic problems can be resolved quickly, before they can impact your business.

Disaster Recovery

Your business needs IT support services that ensure that if your network is damaged or your systems shut down, you are able to access information that you have stored in your database. An online backup system may be a good way for your business to back up its data, as it ensures that information is secure and can be accessed and retrieved at any time.

Web Protection

These IT solutions are necessary if you are to be assured about the safety of your data. They help control who accesses the files that you upload thus ensuring that unauthorised people do not get to access information that may be crucial to your business.

Hosting IT solutions

You may have realised that owning and maintaining servers can be quite costly to your business. You can therefore outsource such services so that you do not have to worry about the maintenance of servers and have a team at the ready to solve any related problems. Such IT support services help you to focus on achieving the objectives of your business.

Small and medium sized businesses cannot ignore the benefits that come with IT solutions as they have enabled businesses to access services that were initially out of their reach. They have only made it easier for you to deliver the services that your users require.

Here is how IT consulting can help you to meet your business objectives:

1. It can help your business to take full advantage of opportunities that are technology driven. It is a form of IT support that helps you discover the best way that you can use IT to meet your business objectives, in addition to implementing, deploying and administering IT systems that are efficient. With the solid advice of an IT consultant you are therefore able to make informed decisions that will ultimately be beneficial to your business.
2. It enhances efficiency of business processes. This form of IT support helps you to make the right choices at the right time thus improving the efficiency of business processes that you undertake. It also helps you get rid of inefficiencies and inaccuracies in the affairs of your company.
3. With IT consulting, your business is likely to build IT infrastructure based on a well drawn budget instead of investing in hardware and software that your business may not require in the long run.
4. It maximises the value of IT investments. An expert IT consultant can help you to achieve this by ensuring that IT architecture is less complex. Remember that it does not help to have technology that you cannot make good use of. Optimum use of technology contributes to business growth and IT support services helps you achieve this by offering you a method that is easier and practical in as far as the carrying out of your daily tasks is concerned.

When looking out for providers of IT consulting services, be sure to do some research if you need a provider that is legitimate and reliable. Also, choose a provider that is affordable because you need IT services whose cost can be met by your business. IT support offers you an easier and more convenient way of carrying out daily tasks thus ensuring that you remain on top of your game and gain an edge over your competitors.

To begin with, the rollout of the National Broadband Network should give Australia infrastructure that will enable faster transfer of data. Once this happens, then consumer confidence in cloud computing will be created as providers will be in a position to meet the demand for cloud services. This is further likely to result in growth in managed IT services as providers will be able to service client faster and more efficiently than ever before.

We must not forget that there are various users in Australia that rely on the cloud infrastructure of other countries. The National Broadband Network will ensure that such users will have the infrastructure that they need to get the services that they require in the country. This also means that providers of managed IT services in Australia will be protected as this will help them overcome latency problems also referred to as network delays.

With the National Broadband Network, managed IT services are likely to experience growth for various reasons:

• Availability – users require an internet connection in order to access cloud services. The National Broadband Network helps make this a reality through increased internet speeds and capacity.
• Scalability – cloud computing allows users to start small as they only subscribe for services that they require. They can then increase this gradually as their needs increase. This means that people do not need high amounts of capital in order to access managed IT services. This is one of the major reasons why adoption of the cloud is likely to grow in Australia.
• Lower cost –the cost of installing servers, software and hardware, and then maintaining them is usually high. However, with managed IT services, this work is left to the providers who have the capacity and the resources to do so. Also, users only pay for the services that they require and this helps them avoid paying for services that they do not need.

Cloud computing is set to grow greatly in Australia. With the National Broadband Network, things are looking up for providers and users of managed IT services because the infrastructure that comes with it can only make things better for companies moving towards the cloud.

To begin with, an offsite data backup service ensures that your data is safe from catastrophic loss that may happen if onsite storage is affected by disasters such as break-ins, fire or even system crashes. Quite often, a power outage or a natural disaster may result in your business coming to a quick halt if you are backing up data onsite and this is not good for your business.

Also, an offsite data backup service ensures that you can access all your data remotely. It therefore saves you the burden of having to buy external hardware to enable you back up your data. You can also access this data from anywhere and at any time as long as you have an internet connection that is reliable. Better still, such files will be stored and secured for as long as you require.

Furthermore, an outsourced IT support company is likely to offer better security than that which you can provide cheaply for your business. As a matter of fact, online data backup services have become quite affordable and you therefore have no reason to continue hosting your own network internally as it can be quite costly to your business.

Finally, an online data backup service is quite efficient because it works in the background. This means that it does not take away valuable resources from workers that need desktop, networking as well as server capacity and access.

It is important for your business to invest in a data backup service. This IT support service helps to ensure that your data is protected from onsite hazards thereby keeping it safe and secure.

Remember that without data, your business lacks the necessary tools to make decisions and even satisfy your customers. You may even find it impossible to run your business and thus, such IT support services need to be seen as a valuable business investment rather than an expense.

Here we list the key things you should consider when creating your strategy.

Focus

You should identify what your business needs to focus on in order to succeed. Every business needs to develop good services and products and this can be achieved by looking into the objectives of your organisation. By doing this, you will be able to identify the specific goals that your business should realise. With IT support, you will therefore be able to identify the kind of software and hardware that your business will require.

Growth

Determine how your business enterprise is likely to grow to ensure your IT is scalable and flexible to grow with you. Business growth may entail creating new product lines, targeting new groups of customers as well as exploiting new channels. Your company’s IT strategy should therefore ensure that operating systems make provisions for the growth of your business.

Capabilities

Creating a strong strategy requires you to identify the capabilities that are required in order for your business to succeed. Identify some of the projects that are required for the changes in IT provision to be implemented and IT support services can be helpful in this case.

Agility

If your business is to adapt to a changing demand or competition, then flexibility is required. Although this will come at a cost, you need to recognise the kind of business processes that will need to be adapted. Use past accomplishments and information to establish additional investments that may be required so that you end up with a strategy that is beneficial to your business.

Your IT strategy should ultimately help you in making purchases, hiring IT staff and help potential suppliers to understand the specific requirements of your business. Every business should therefore have a strategy as it generally provides a roadmap on how IT will be implemented.

Compliance and Risk Management

You must remember that when shifting your business to the cloud, you have to make sure that there is compliance as well as risk and security management. Take time to understand what compliance entails as well as your roles and responsibilities and those of the provider as well.

Service Integrity

The Microsoft cloud must be operated with security in mind. For this to be achieved, you have to integrate operational processes into the security management of your organisation. You can easily control permissions, features and policies through online administration and management consoles, which make it possible for you to configure office 365 in such a way that your specific security needs are met.

Identity and Access Management

Office 365 achieves this security consideration by enabling collaboration across the organisation and even beyond country borders. With Microsoft cloud services, you have the ability to maintain control over user accounts as well as security policies. This means that you can quite effectively enforce the private and security policies of your organisation.

Information Protection

Microsoft cloud services ensure that information is protected before, during and even after each transaction and interaction in the cloud. Your data is also protected from unauthorised access as well as harm from natural disasters. In addition, provision for encryption ensures that if someone without authorisation intercepts a transmission, they will not be able to read this information.

Endpoint Integrity

Since Microsoft cloud services originate and are further consumed on premises, the compliance and security as well as integrity at the endpoint must be taken into account. Indeed, office 365 has inbuilt security features that are automatically updated as well as regular security audits that ensure that your business is protected at all times.

Office 365 makes it easy for you to use data and services while ensuring that the best security practices are in place for your business. This enables your business to benefit from all the cloud has to offer with peace of mind.

Cloud computing enables your data to be hosted on a network of computers that form the cloud. It makes use of processing that is internet based where software applications, computing infrastructure, business processes as well as collaboration and information capabilities are delivered on demand to computers and other devices over the internet.
Cloud computing has changed the way people use the web as well as how they store their files. Users can subscribe for as many services as they may require at any given time and these services are managed by the provider. They do not have to store files or software on their computers but rather pay for services that they need and to access them. All that a consumer requires is a personal computer as well as internet access.

With cloud computing, users can access and update information from wherever they are located. This basically means that with the cloud, employees do not have to get to the office in order to get work done. They can work from any location as long as they have access to the internet. This has made it quite easy for members of a team to collaborate with one another irrespective of their location.

Cloud computing recognises the fact that different businesses have different needs. It allows you to only pay for services that you use. This means that if you do not need a given service, then you do not have to pay for such a service.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that the cloud has changed the way people use the web. However, of greatest significance is the fact that it has significantly reduced the amount that businesses have to pay towards the use of IT services. It has also reduced the amount that you spend when it comes to buying hardware. With cloud computing you do not have to buy expensive software or worry about its maintenance as this is done by the provider.

IT as a managed service can also help increase your business efficiency as it allows you to focus on what you do best, without getting bogged down with complex IT problems that are sure not to be your business’ core competency. Read on to find just a few of the many pros of having an IT team outsourced and at the ready to respond to any IT issues you may have as they arise.

Website Management

A lot of people spend their time online and logically you’d want future clients and customers to be able to reach you online as well. An IT support team offering their assistance as a managed service will be able to help you with that. They’ll be able to help get your business online and keep it there. And the best thing about it is you don’t have to handle it yourself.

Backup Solutions and Recovery Plan

Your data is important, it may in fact be the most important asset your company has. While you may want to keep your data safe, sometimes running a business just gets in the way of your backup responsibilities. The solution? An IT support team that provide a managed service that will take care of all your data backup and recovery needs. With a support team taking care of your data backup, you can focus more on running your business instead.

Hardware and Software Support

Making sure that all your hardware and software are running and up-to-date can be a full-time job, especially when licences are up for renewal. In fact, some businesses hire a full-time IT specialist or even a whole IT department to take care of their hardware and software needs. One of the pros of having an outsourced IT team is that they can and will take care of all your IT related hardware and software, and do it at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time IT department.

IT Professionals

Another of the pros of having an offsite IT support team offering a managed service is that you get very professional advice. As IT service providers employ a number of IT professionals, your business will also benefit from their IT experts. Meaning, not only will you have trained IT professionals watching over your business, you will also enjoy the best service and expert advice.

These are just a few of the pros of having an IT team managing your service. Many businesses are enjoying the benefits of taking advantage of their services. In fact, at their very affordable pricing, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t hire an IT support team and reap the benefits that a lot of companies are now already enjoying.

Computer Networks has recently achieved Microsoft Partner Midmarket Solution Provider Gold Competency.

Microsoft Gold Competency signifies to the market that a company has demonstrated the highest level of skill and achievement within a given technology specialisation.

To earn a Microsoft Gold Competency, organisations must complete a rigorous set of tests to prove their level of technology expertise, have the right number of Microsoft CertifiedProfessionals, submit customer references and demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction by participating in an annual survey.

CN’s Chief Technology Officer, James Gao said “Achieving CN’s Gold Competency demonstrates CN’s commitment to technology development and innovation that would benefit our customers. Currently CN is also in the process of obtaining competencies in other technology areas as well as ‘Cloud Accelerate’.”

To take advantage of Computer Networks Gold Competency specialisations and Partner benefits, contact your BDM, Account Manager or email info@computernetworksit.com.au

The desktop version of Microsoft Office has Excel, PowerPoint, Word and OneNote. Microsoft 365 on the other hand has 4 elements which include Office Web Apps, email and calendar, video calling and conferencing as well as file storage and management. Office Web Apps is basically a mini suite of online versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint as well as OneNote.

The desktop version can perform various tasks that the cloud version may not perform. For example, it may not be possible to carry out a word count or even to perform tasks such as ‘find’ and ‘replace’ while you can successfully do this using the desktop version. Also, with Office 365, Excel cannot run charts or macros.

To overcome the challenges mentioned above, Microsoft 365 makes it possible for you to open documents stored in the cloud using the desktop version of Microsoft Office. These documents can then automatically be saved back to the cloud by the program. This flexibility enables you to work on your documents regardless of an internet connection.

Also, Office 365 being a cloud based product enables you to access your work from anywhere as long as you are connected to the internet. This therefore makes it very easy for you to collaborate with other members of your team even if you are not in the same location. This is not a service that you can enjoy when using desktop version of Microsoft Office.

Although 365 is considered to be a far superior offering than the desktop Microsoft Office version in some instances some features are not quite there. It is therefore better to combine Microsoft 365 with desktop Microsoft Office because then you can work offline when away from your work place and also benefit from the features that come with Office 365.

Move Online

A lot of people are spending their time online, so why isn’t your business doing the same? Whether you’re offering personal massages or employee leadership training seminars, or the most cutting edge products for your industry, being able to put your business or product online increases your business reach tremendously. That’s a lot of boost for your business’s marketing and sales. Moving your business online, both internally and externally, will require IT support to help ensure your business runs smoothly and if any hiccups occur along the way that you have professional assistance to minimise the damage.

Professional Troubleshooting

Let’s face it – you can’t always ask friendly Uncle Mike to come over to the office and tinker with your computer every time there’s something wrong with it. In fact, one of these days you’re going to need professional help, the kind of assistance good old Uncle Mike isn’t trained for. With a professional IT support service, not only will they be able to troubleshoot every time a problem occurs, they can actually help you prevent such problems from occurring in the first place.

IT & Business Consulting

If there’s efficiency to be had from your business, your IT support service provider will find it for you. One of the best things that IT support providers can do for your company is actually suggest ways and strategies to make your business even more efficient. And the good thing about that is that you only have to pay for the services that you actually need and use. Targeted coverage and packaged pricing make these services a must-have for your business.

Cost Efficient

This is probably one of the best ways that IT support service providers boost your efficiency. By taking your mind off the budget and removing the idea that anything IT will cost your business big time, IT support service providers are able to offer you the benefits of Information Technology without breaking your budget. Not only does your business become efficient, you can also use the money that you save to upgrade other aspects of your business.

There is a lot to expect with Windows 8 including a brand new interface that has the traditional desktop hidden underneath. Instead of having separate windows for every function that you wish to perform, the new interface puts all your basic file management functions such as copy, rename, move and delete functions into one window. It is also expected that the new OS will run on both Intel processors and ARM thus opening up a wide range of devices that are Windows 8 powered such as tablets, laptops and desktops.

In addition, it is expected to come with an OSX-style Mac App store which could further be integrated with Microsoft Cloud services like Office 365, Sky Drive as well as other free web apps. Other improvements that you can look forward to include an overhauled version of Explorer, a USB 3.0 support as well as a windows file management tool.

The new start screen to come with this operating system will have large panels that can be manipulated by a mouse, but are also ideal for touch screens. In addition to these changes, the traditional Windows interface will still be available for those that prefer. Better still, with just one click, the integrated app store should enable you to download new software for your device.

Microsoft Cloud will make it possible for various online services such as Office 365, Windows Live and Office Web Apps to be integrated into Windows 8. Although some form of integration with cloud services already exists, there are still many shortcomings that this new system can overcome.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that Microsoft Cloud is the way to go, coming with various benefits for your business. Combined with Windows 8, there is a lot for you to look forward to.

Some of the different Microsoft cloud services include:

1. Office 365

This form is quite simple to use and administer. With office 365, you can access your emails, contacts, documents and calendars on nearly any device. With the pay-as-you-go pricing options, Office 365 allows you great flexibility.

2. Office Web Apps

this form of Microsoft cloud makes use of a Microsoft Office Ribbon interface that is familiar and this makes it quite easy for the user to get started. It has lots of free space for documents but is rather limited in its functionality.

3. Windows Intune

Of the Microsoft cloud services, this delivers one of the best Windows experiences. It is a comprehensive solution that brings together cloud services, in addition to upgrading subscription for the Windows 7 operating system. This form simplifies pc management as well as security in addition to leveraging the power of Intune services and software.

4. Windows Live ID

This is a form of Microsoft cloud that allows you to get software and services which to a large extent help to make what you can do on your pc and web just amazing. It combines Microsoft’s best software with its online extensions. You can get a Windows Live ID by installing the Windows Live suite.

5. Windows Azure

This service allows for wide distribution of data. The data is distributed over a large number of smaller machines rather than having it sit on the one computer. With this form of Microsoft cloud, you only need to pay for what you use.

There are different types of Microsoft cloud services for businesses to choose from.  The different offerings have different benefits, making it important that you choose the style most suited to your business needs. With that in mind, it is unlikely that you could ever go wrong with office 365.

There are various pros & cons to cloud computing SaaS services. The pros of which include:

1. Cloud computing enables you and your staff to easily access data and business computing programs at any time and from any location as long as there is an internet connection. This means that staff members do not have to get to their offices in order to get work done. It is possible for them to work remotely from any given location.
2. Cloud computing SaaS applications are not only cost effective, but they can help you save time as well. Given that software that is provided online is generally maintained and upgraded by the provider, you do not have to buy the newest version of a software program in order to use it. You can still access such programs by paying your monthly or annual subscription. It also reduces the need for IT support since you are not responsible for the maintenance of software. With the expansion of SaaS Australia wide, we can only expect more competitively priced and more productive offerings to come onto the market.
3. SaaS is scalable as well as flexible. This helps to reduce unused capacity thus increasing efficiency. You can either scale up or down to meet the ever changing demands of your business.

Some of the Cons of cloud computing SaaS applications include the following:

1. Cloud Computing may make your business vulnerable to hackers, natural disasters and power outages. If this happens, you are not in a position to access information that you may have stored. All leading providers of SaaS Australia wide would have strict security measures in place to combat any attacks. The risk of this is therefore quite low.
2. If you have no access to the internet, you cannot access your database. This can be problematic if you rely on the stored information in order to get your work done. Many applications offer both offline and online versions to enable you to continue working when you do not have access to the internet.

As indicated, cloud computing has its pros and cons. To fully benefit from Software as a Service, it is important to carefully choose your provider, in order to minimise the risks your business is exposed to. Keeping this in mind, your organisation will undoubtedly reap rewards by moving to the cloud.

There are various benefits of using Microsoft Office 365 within your business. Some of these benefits include:

• Office 365 has user productivity that you can count on. It doesn’t matter where you are located because you can access your documents from virtually any place.
• It enables you to use various devices such as the Blackberry, PC, Windows Phone, Mac and Android among others. This creates great flexibility as it does not limit you to using any one device.
• You are able to use software that you are already familiar with such as PowerPoint, OneNote, Word and Excel. You therefore do not require any new skills to be able to use this service.
• The office Web Apps that come with Office 365 make it possible for you to view your office documents, format, edit and even create new documents using the office interface that you are already familiar with.
• Microsoft Office 365 comes with an administration console that is easy to use and which enables IT administrators to remain in control of user accounts as well as other access rights.
• With Office 365, you are well protected as it helps you maintain great defence against viruses and spam. It also ensures that your information is safeguarded thus providing you with great reliability.
• It generally reduces the cost and time that your IT staff are likely to spend upgrading, patching or updating services.

As indicated, Microsoft Office 365 comes with great benefits for your business. With it you can expect great productivity and reliability as all your employees can access the same office tools and information with great ease.

Infrastructure as a Service continues to grow each day and saves you the burden of having to worry about the initial cost of setting up computer infrastructure. Instead of buying software, servers, network equipment or data-centre space, IaaS enables you to buy those resources as a fully outsourced service. It therefore helps to ease the burden that often comes with infrastructure management and is quite helpful to small businesses.

Infrastructure as a Service also helps you save on space as it eliminates the need to house large server rooms. It therefore ensures that you direct your energy towards pertinent issues that your organisation is involved in instead of worrying about the infrastructure.

It is worth embracing IaaS as it allows for scalability and your company is therefore able to scale up or down depending on your business needs. This basically means that you can actually control the number of resources that your company uses at any given time. With this system, you only need to pay for the resources that you actually use. This means that you are likely to pay less if you have a small customer base while you will pay more if you have a higher customer base.

Finally, with IaaS you are assured of disaster recovery, which is crucial in order for your company to continue functioning in such an event. This is extremely important as it allows your business to avoid far-reaching damage through recovering files as quickly as possible.

Infrastructure as a Service currently presents great opportunities for both small and large organisations and the technology can only get better. It enables your business to access resources and expertise that are otherwise way beyond your reach.

PaaS is a service delivery model that enables customers to rent virtualised servers a well as associated services for developing and testing new applications, in addition to running those already in existence. It is a way through which your business can rent hardware, storage, operating systems as well as network capacity over the internet.

With Platform as a Service, developers are in a position to build web applications without the need to install any tools on their computers. These developers can then deploy these applications without any form of specialized administration skills or systems, thus making it very user friendly.

With PaaS, the features of an operating system can be upgraded and changed frequently. The initial as well as the ongoing cost can be reduced significantly by the use of infrastructure services from a single provider, instead of maintaining various hardware facilities that may often suffer from incompatibility problems or perform duplicate functions. In addition, Platform as a Service enables users to only pay for what they use and is therefore quite cost effective.

The major challenge that users experience with this service stems from lack of flexibility, as some offerings have failed to evolve with the ever changing user needs.  Despite this concern, there has been growing interest in Platform as a Service which has mainly been driven by industry developments as well as the maturing of offerings.

If you are looking to build web applications without the need for specialized expertise, then this is the way to go. Although PaaS may vary from one provider to another, it is gaining great popularity as a system that has increased the number of people that can develop, maintain and deploy web applications. Indeed, there also seems to be a growth in related jobs and this could be a pointer to its growth.

1. A problem can be fixed at any time whether it occurs during business hours or outside business hours. This means that employees that may want to complete unfinished work are able to do so uninterrupted because even if the computers fail, they will be fixed in good time.
2. 24 hour IT support ensures that businesses remain productive and profitable at all times. If you are running an online business, it means your clients reside in different parts of the world. If your computers crush, it is unlikely that your customers will wait for you to fix the problem so that they can purchase what they need. Chances are that they will move on to other websites and this means that you will be losing out on business. Round the clock IT support ensures this does not happen.
3. If your security gate malfunctions, round-the-clock support ensures that things are restored in good time so that employees can leave and access the office when they are required to do so.
4. Ensuring that your company does not lose important data as this can be a big blow to the success of your business. 24 hour IT support therefore maximises on privacy as well as security and helps companies that are starting off with maintenance and disaster recovery.

Whether you have a small or large business, 24 hour IT support has numerous benefits and is worth the investment. Ensuring that a problem is fixed if and when it occurs, round-the-clock support will effectively minimise any possible down time. The service helps to avoid client and employee disappointment through minimising the chances of experiencing lengthy technological problems.