Make the Most of Your Tech

Onsite IT support will help establish a strategic plan that propels you toward your business goals. Onsite IT support will help prevent problems before they arise. IT systems should be maintained, updated and patched with regularity to guarantee they operate as designed. So don’t hesitate to hand over network maintenance to our IT support team in Sacramento that can take on any problems that develop. Regular maintenance provided by the experts at Noverus will pinpoint issues as soon as they occur. This will thwart problems in a timely manner so that they do not prove costly and even more troublesome.

Our IT support crew has all sorts of methods to monitor and track activity on networks. We can identify issues and patterns in data that are most likely to cause problems as time progress. This analysis will even make it easier to pinpoint patterns in sales data and other data that can help your business improve its bottom line. So, don’t assume onsite IT support is all about preventing and remedying complex tech issues. Our IT team really can help your business in other important ways.

IT Planning

IT planning is certainly necessary, yet it can prove problematic if it chews up too much time. Review the amount of time you invest in this planning. If you spend an abundance of time formulating this plan, you might be neglecting your business. Let the IT experts help you so that you can return your focus to advancing your business’s bottom line. Strategic IT planning, when done right, will fortify your business infrastructure today while still allowing for growth. Strategic IT planning also helps form the optimal practices for customer interactions, communication, the tracking of sales and so much more.

Strategic IT planning allows for the integration of hardware into the current network so that you can reap all the rewards your tech has to offer. Once your tech is properly implemented, the current system will enjoy seamless communication with new options. This fluidity is essential for workplace efficiency. The moral of this story is IT must be a fundamental component of every organization’s overarching plan. It is really important for continued success across posterity, regardless of your line of business.

You can reach out to Noverus for your IT needs. Outsource some or all of your IT work to our crew and your operations will prove that much smoother. We provide 24/7 IT support for Sacramento businesses, virtual CIO services and plenty more. Reach out to us today to coordinate an initial consultation.

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What is Virtualization?

There are a variety of ways to reorganize your offices, such as network or storage virtualization, but the easiest to accomplish and most frequently used is server virtualization. This is a way of splitting up one server into many different virtual servers so each workload can run at the same time and are not restricted to a particular piece of physical hardware. This has a large number of benefits, and once you have had your servers virtualized with the help of our managed IT services team in Sacramento, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.

Benefits of Server Virtualization

By splitting a server up into many different virtual servers, you negate the need to have a large number of servers clogging up your offices. Not only will less hardware mean you save on initial costs, but you will also benefit from more space, as well as a reduction in expenses related to cooling and power, making your offices greener into the bargain. As an added bonus, because your virtualization will be taken care of by an IT service provider like us at Noverus Innovations, Inc., you will also get firewalls, adware, and spyware, plus a whole host of other security measures when your servers are virtualized.

Disaster recovery is extremely important as hackers are constantly trying to infiltrate both small and large companies worldwide. Being able to produce a backup of all your data by creating a replica site is simple when your servers are virtualized, and if the worst were to happen, moving from one virtual server to another is a quick and safe procedure. In this way, you can be sure you have almost seamless business continuity, as everything can be moved so quickly.

Finally, it is an excellent way to improve business communications, as by having virtualization, it matters less where your employees are working. They will be able to work with efficiency and speed wherever they are situated, which leaves you able to employ staff in remote sites or open up offices in new locations without the need for expensive hardware purchases and setups.

It is time to let a managed IT services provider in Sacramento update your company, so you can take advantage of the increased productivity and efficiency. At Noverus Innovations, Inc., we have years of experience in this particular field and can help you with server virtualization or anything else, such as network or storage virtualization, to bring your business into the 21st century. Contact us today so we can streamline your business processes and save you money at the same time.

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• Phishing Scams
• Social Engineering Attacks
• Security Breaches

Phishing Scams

One of the most pernicious and prevalent issues defining security compromised comes from phishing. IT support providers in Sacramento are familiar with the variety of phishing scams that currently define the market today–but there are quite a few of them out there, and new ones are always developing. The best way to get around phishing scams is education. You want to find an MSP which can help educate your staff pertaining to the dangers arising from phishing scams. Additionally, that MSP should provide BDR–or Backup and Data Recovery–support. This will ensure that even if someone manages to break through your educated security solutions, you still don’t lose data or find yourself subject to paying from “ransomware” scams and the like.

Social Engineering Attacks

Social engineering attacks basically use human psychology to invade systems. For example, if you’ve got business with the CEO and it’s fairly urgent, you may be able to bull past a secretary through sheer momentum. Oftentimes this isn’t the case, but it happens. In business, professionalism dictates varying modes of either pleasantry or rebuff. Some CEOs get bombarded non-stop and are therefore under a general policy of non-admittance. Some aren’t and have an open door policy.

Social engineering requires a very little computational hacking and a great deal of conversational savvy. Basically, the “hacker” tricks an individual into giving out personal information which will allow them to hack the company. Here’s a great example of this: a young lady acts like the spouse of a man with a cell phone number. She puts on the sound of a baby crying in the background, acts busy and flustered, and gets the email address of a man who is totally unrelated to her. The only thing she did was “spoof” from his number, and that doesn’t require a lot of skill.

Security Breaches

Beyond social engineering and digital phishing scams, you’re going to have blunt-force attacks on occasion, as well as malware. You want traditional antivirus protocols in place and these require a skilled MSP to implement. Additionally, you should expect regular patches to silhouette operations.

Everyone On Duty

Because of the perniciousness behind phishing scams and social engineering, it’s integral that everyone is conscious of the hazards which define daily operations. Proper password protection is absolutely integral as is security support from a trustworthy IT company. IT support providers in Sacramento through Noverus Innovations can cost-effectively reduce instances of operational intrusion by educating staff as well as providing antivirus software and continuous proactive monitoring solutions. When your business is monitored closely, and everyone has a security-conscious attitude, you’ll see fewer security compromises.

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Capturing Data for Backup

Companies offering IT services in Sacramento use sophisticated methods to capture data either in real-time or nearly real-time replication of data to realize continuous data protection. While traditional data backup methods capture data changes in predetermined intervals, they’re not your best option for a comprehensive backup plan. A systematic data backup plan involves duplicating all forms of data in your IT system including simple data files, metadata files, software application files, and system configuration data. Technically, you have two methods of capturing data for backup:

• File backup
• Image backup

While both methods are practical options, the image backup method is superior because it also captures system metadata files. File backup is quite a time-consuming and resource-intensive method of capturing data. It comes with excessive overheard since the system has to go through the following steps to create a copy of every file:

• Locate the blocks where folders are held
• Read the contents of the folders
• Identify specific filenames
• Read and duplicate the blocks

In contrast, when you sign up for IT services, your chosen service provider will set you up for an optimized data capture process using image backups. It will serve your business well, since you will overcome contention of hardware and software resources and reduce backup time.

How to Store Your Backup Data Safely

With an image backup, you don’t have to worry about missing files since this method bypasses the overhead of file look-up commonplace in file backups. Instead, it relies on copying blocks to backup system data end to end with a complete record of all files on the system disks. Image backup is designed with the ability to identify and read data files in such a way that you’ll only make copies of the specific files that have been modified since the last backup. With image backup, you can efficiently identify individual files and execute accurate file recovery. In addition, you will enjoy the flexibility of inspecting the image to ensure the integrity of your backup copy.

Overall, both file backups and image backups can take the form of full, differential, or incremental backup which you can deploy depending on your IT needs. Your backup policy can run on either scope— whatever your desire.

At Noverus Innovations, we offer reliable backup solutions as part of our IT services in Sacramento to improve business productivity. Call us today to learn more about our IT services.

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Types of Cyber Crime

Hackers generally try to infiltrate a company’s infrastructure by installing their own software that can give them access to sensitive data and financial information or cause damage so the company can no longer function. Examples of this are viruses or malware that delete or scramble programs or data and ransomware that will only allow access to the company’s systems after a fee has been paid.

Criminals gain access to a company in various ways, from phishing to circumventing passwords, and these methods are constantly being refined. Phishing is very low maintenance for the hackers as it is relatively cheap to send out a barrage of emails in the hope someone will be fooled by them. However, there are different levels of phishing. There are mass-produced emails purporting to come from large, well-known companies and more directed emails that look like they are being sent from someone on an individual’s contact list. Both attempt to persuade the recipient to divulge login information and passwords by pretending to be a trusted associate or company, and the access is then used to steal or corrupt data.

Protect Your Company from Cyber Crime

Unfortunately, employees are the easiest target for cybercriminals looking to gain access to a company. Your staff must be aware of all possible methods of deception. They should be vigilant, and never trust a request for password authentication or financial information. If there are safeguards in place to double check before information is emailed, or before downloads or unfamiliar websites are clicked, there will be a much greater chance that hackers will be prevented from gaining information about your company. At Noverus Innovations, Inc., our mission is to safeguard businesses like yours against cyber threats, and we’ll always be there to educate your staff about the right things to do.

It goes without saying that virus checkers and malware tools should be in place and updated as frequently as possible. It is a sad fact that updates will always be slightly behind the hackers. However, by installing regular patches, chances are the majority of incursions will be stopped before they become a problem. Our managed IT services experts in Sacramento recommend having two-tier authentication when anyone logs in to your IT system and passwords that are strong and changed regularly.

In order to make sure your company is completely protected from hackers and criminals, it would be wise to partner with a managed IT services provider in Sacramento like us at Noverus Innovations, Inc. for help. We have experienced technicians that are not only capable of protecting a company from hackers, but also able to help your staff recognize any potential threats. Contact us today to see how we can help protect your company.

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Considerable Factors in ERP Deployment

IT support in Sacramento that provides your business an effective ERP solution can save you tens of thousands of dollars annually. When everything can be consolidated into a single software solution and monitored directly, it will cut down costs substantially. Installing such a system and getting it to its proper “cruising altitude” may take a little while, but once you are there, you can immediately start optimizing. You will see where certain operational practices are not doing your business any good and where others need to be encouraged. Re-apportioning priorities accordingly can shave percentage points off costs and add percentage points to profits. A business big enough to benefit from an ERP solution will be adding and subtracting tens of thousands of dollars with each operational “course correction” as facilitated through ERP software. Several direct advantages you can expect from ERP include:

• Reporting enhancement
• Increased customer service
• Compliance simplification
• Integration possibilities

Reporting Enhancement

This was touched on but in a nutshell: you can generate statistical operational analyses as you need them, instantaneously. You do not have to send “Fred” from the analytical department off to generate you a report— you just click a button, look at the results, and make the move you need to.

Increased Customer Service

Here is a hypothetical situation: a customer asks if something is in stock. Without ERP, you send someone to notify a manager to ask one of the guys in the warehouse, who must then take a little golf-cart down the labyrinthine corridor between toiletries and towelettes to find whether the item is available. Alternatively, you could do a “Ctrl + F” command in your ERP software and immediately provide an answer.

Compliance Simplification

Compliance is no joke— or if it is, it is not very funny. It is also a complex operational necessity. ERP comes with built-in audit capability that can help you automatically retain operational compliance. This is a huge time saver.

Integration

The right ERP software through the right provider can be integrated into existing software solutions to compound and expand utility. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) can be combined with existing sales stats to help you see if there is a relationship, or how that relationship should be fostered. The possibilities are essentially endless.

Optimizing Your Operation

IT support in Sacramento through Noverus Innovations can help you employ ERP solutions that optimize your business cost-effectively. Contact us for ERP implementation.

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Common Threats

Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly complex on a daily basis. For example, an employee can open an infected e-mail and spread it to the entire office without even realizing it. Many forms of malicious software are easily spread and may lurk for months within a device before it is detected by a user. These types of malware can record various forms of data such as keystrokes, screenshots, and important work files. Some forms of malware even allow hackers to control workstations from a remote location. The longer a computer is infected, the more likely usernames, passwords, and confidential data is stolen. Fortunately, companies that use IT services in Sacramento can counteract these attacks with the latest software updates and improved employee training.

Ever-changing Landscape

The use of cyberattacks will steadily rise and render many common preventative strategies obsolete by the year 2020. Companies that begin taking action now through the utilization of a managed service provider are much more likely to be protected and prevent becoming the next victim to cyber criminals. Investing in IT analytics will allow you to monitor network activity and automatically inform you of any unusual behavior.

IT Analytics Solutions

Through the use of IT analysis, companies are able to identify areas that need improvement and are more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Companies are able to use a pro-active approach and repair problems before they become a major issue. Instead of waiting for a problem to appear, actively seeking solutions will enable your business to stay ahead of the various forms of cyberattacks.

Improve Employee Training

Employees need to fully understand the wide variety of cyber threats and how to avoid becoming the next victim through increased training on a regular basis. Employees that fully understand the various cyber security threats are able to avoid common mistakes and prevent the loss of valuable data. Continual education will keep them informed of the ever evolving cyber security climate.

As you can see, companies that use IT services in Sacramento are able to prevent cyber security attacks through IT analysis from a managed service provider. Noverus Innovations is an IT provider that offers the latest security updates and analysis to prevent the wide variety of security threats. Whether you are a large or small company, we can help you stay protected and prevent you becoming the next victim to cyber criminals. Contact us today and let us help you educate employees and provide IT analysis to further combat the wide variety of cyber security schemes.

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Reduced Staffing Expenses

Managed services providers in Sacramento can help you to reduce unnecessary staffing expenditures. One thing technology is great at doing is retaining time. Consider how much time a microwave oven can save you in terms of cooking over a traditional stove. Well, expand that out to massive organizations. With cloud computing, you can outsource entire departments. You can even outsource your internal IT to the cloud, saving you in terms of equipment and employees. At Noverus Innovations, Inc., we can help show you where you have the ability to upgrade in a way that saves you money. You don’t have to make the switch all at once. If you like, you can do it sequentially; whatever fits your operation’s needs.

Service Availability 24/7

If your systems crash at two in the morning, you want to be notified and you want a fix before things open around daybreak. Additionally, if you’re running a night shift and something happens, you want some kind of support to help you iron out the issue. With internal IT, this may not be possible; and even if it is, it will require your techs waking up and coming on site; that or you’ll have to pay one to be there perpetually, which is, generally, not going to be cheap. 24/7 service through an MSP solves these problems while reducing cost.

Efficiency Expansion

One reason MSPs provide better support than internal options is that they have built-in efficiency. An MSP for your business is like a rapid lube oil-change place for your car. Sure, you could change your own oil in your driveway. It will take you an hour, make a mess, cause you discomfort, and perhaps incidentally teach the kids a few expletives you did not intend them to learn. Or, you could spend 10-20 minutes at the rapid lube. Now, you spend more at the lube joint, but you save time. What’s your time worth? If your time is worth more than $40 an hour, then you actually lose money by changing the oil yourself. It’s the same with your business. IT professionals have solutions that are swift and comprehensive like those inside a lube facility. They’ve got a process defining provisions and diverse experience with multiple business “vehicles”. This means you get taken care of better, quicker, and collaterally at greater cost-effectiveness.

Managed services in Sacramento through Noverus Innovations, Inc. can provide you greater operational efficiency, continuous service availability around the clock, and solutions which ultimately reduce costs in terms of both equipment and staff. Contact us for the latest in technology solutions and increase your operational profitability. We can help you identify where to upgrade.

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Why IT Support Should Offer Cloud-Based Phone Systems

There are many reasons why businesses that need IT support in Sacramento should consider taking their phone systems to the cloud. One of the most important reasons is that you will maintain business continuity during and after a disaster if your cloud provider uses redundant servers that store your data in multiple locations. The system can be configured to automatically redirect your calls to various locations.

Traditional phone systems, on the other hand, can experience extended downtime if a power line is knocked out of service. Another problem with the traditional phone system is that it relies on the physical capabilities of its local infrastructure. But in the case of flooding, fire, or other unexpected disruptions, an old phone system will possibly be out of commission, while a phone system that operates in the cloud doesn’t have this vulnerability.

Business Growth Benefits

One of the catalysts for business growth is being able to cut costs while enhancing technology. Simple scalability is a primary benefit you get when you migrate your phone system to the cloud. You will be able to plan your growth more clearly and predictably, since you can add as many accounts to your database as you need with an exact idea on costs. It gives you more flexibility and room for experimentation, along with these other cost-saving benefits:

1. Extensions and features are easily integrated into cloud services
2. Hosted PBX doesn’t need to distribute hardware to customers
3. Provides remote access to anyone anytime anywhere
4. Less need for technicians to visit customer locations for troubleshooting
5. Latest upgrades can be delivered seamlessly to devices

Mobility is another dimension of technology that integrates well with the cloud. Your business can expand its geographic reach by hiring employees in remote locations, since the cloud is an excellent environment for real-time collaboration. It allows team members to have the same phone functions as in an office with a traditional phone system. The fact that workers provide endpoints from multiple locations gives the company a chance to become a global operation without expensive long distance phone costs.

Ultimately, your customers will have a more hassle-free experience by moving your phone system to the cloud due to reliability for business continuity. If you’re not ready to make this change, consider a hybrid solution, in which you can connect your existing phone system to the cloud. This issue is solved through a process called Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunking, which delivers video, audio, data, text, and more.

Consider adding cloud-based phone services to your IT support in Sacramento. Find out more about how our cloud-based VoIP phone systems can help cut costs and grow your business by contacting us at Noverus Innovations to discuss your phone situation and options. We help businesses improve communications internally and externally.

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While this is a considerably new class of IT solutions, it has become indispensable in modern organizations. In most MSPs, the service is referred to as EDR for endpoint detection and response. However, it can also be grouped as part of advanced threat protection or ATP. This technology addresses the critical need for commercial networks to be monitored. Moreover, it ensures that technicians can respond to problems quickly.

The Mechanism of EDR Solutions

Endpoint detection and response solutions are not complex in their mode of function. In general, these tools work by constantly monitoring the activities in the endpoints and general networks. They also collect the information on all the occurring events in a centralized database and perform a complete analysis. The central database uses a software agent to perform the analysis as well as detecting problems, performing investigations, generating reports and sending alerts on suspicious activities.

When you engage EDR services from an IT services provider in Sacramento, you will enjoy better security for your network. In simple terms, the monitoring tools and analysis software will help the MSP discover any problems as early as possible. The tools will make it possible for technicians to detect unusual activities caused by an attack. Therefore, they will respond with haste, preventing damage to your network and subsequent downtime.

In addition, the EDR can have functionalities which allow automated response to destructive entities. For example, the solutions can deflect common malware attacks when detected without the direct intervention of technicians. All the endpoint detection and response solutions do not work in the same way. There are significant differences in the detection processes, analysis methods and levels of automation in the response to threats. However, they will all work towards detecting and preventing cyber threats.

More than Tools

While endpoint detection and response was a term designed to refer to a group of tools, the scope of the related solutions have expanded. In short, there are numerous EDR systems and solutions provided by MSP which can perform more processes than the ones outlined above. For example, some EDR tools can offer services such as data encryption, privileged user control, application control and network access control in addition to the normal detection and response functionalities.

Still, the most important aspect of an ideal EDR solution is the ability to identify anomalies such as unrecognized connections, activation of rare processes and the use of the network for risky activities. Moreover, the network should be able to trigger alerts to allow further investigation or resolution of potential network problems.

If you would like to understand the potential benefits of endpoint detection and response from an IT services provider in Sacramento for your business, consult our expert technicians at Noverus Innovations for more information.

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