How much do you spend on data storage? Data storage costs probably take a big chunk of your IT budget, especially data stored in the cloud.
Let’s take Google Cloud, for example, which, at $0.026/GB/month (at time of writing), is one of the more affordable data storage solutions. Storing 60 TB of data will set you back $1,597.44 every month. And that’s before you add processing and bandwidth fees.
Nowadays, organizations generate a mindboggling amount of data. While only a minuscule amount of that data is ever stored, it’s easy to see how data storage costs can quickly start to add up.
Do you feel like you’re paying too much for data storage? Do something about it. Follow these five simple tips to cut storage costs without compromising your data estate.
While redundancy is key to maintaining data availability, it can be wasteful. To be clear, we’re not talking about backups. Redundant data, in this case, refers to duplicate copies of the original data. There’s no need to keep multiple copies of the same data if you already have a reliable backup—they just take up valuable storage space.
Get rid of all abandoned data too. This is data that’s no longer useful in your business and no longer needs to be retained.
The file types and formats you store can have a huge impact on storage costs. This is especially true for files and data sets with lots of redundant data (e.g. tabular data, audio, images and video). Take advantage of file compression tools that provide optimal compression ratios for storage and without impacting compute performance.
Not all data is created equal. Some sets of data may be more valuable or sensitive than others. Also, some data sets are accessed, manipulated, or used more frequently than others. So it doesn’t make sense to store all your data in one place.
Tired storage lets you optimize storage facilities and costs depending on the various classes of data. For instance, keep your frequently accessed data in the more expensive quick-access storage while archival data resides in slower, low-cost storage.
There’s often a need to keep multiple versions of data in order to track changes throughout its life cycle. That’s all well and good, but the traditional way of data versioning by storing each version separately is extremely storage-intensive. Managing countless versions of the same data is not cheap either.
Fortunately, we have less costly ways to version data nowadays. Powerful version control tools, such as lakeFS and Git LFS, and filesystems with snapshot functionality, such as ZFS, enable data versioning by storing only the changes between versions. This way, you can still track changes on any data, even on large files, without incurring unnecessary extra storage costs.
Did you know that the average cost of a data breach is nearly $5 million? Such a financial loss would be a huge blow to your business. Losing data through other mishaps, such as accidental deletion, hardware/software failure, or natural disaster, would be devastating too.
Minimize the risk of such financial losses in the following ways:
With the ever-growing proliferation of data, you simply can’t afford to ignore storage costs. Storage space has become such a valuable resource that every byte counts. So take practical measures to optimize your data storage for cost savings, efficiency, and security.
Develop a cost-efficient data storage strategy with Highway 99 Technology Solutions. We’ll help you get the most out of the latest data storage solutions.
Let’s get started with a free consultation.
As technology advances at an ever-increasing pace, more organizations are realizing the need for an IT modernization strategy. Also, prevailing business trends and challenges, such as remote work, cyber threats, and environmental sustainability, call for modern IT practices.
It’s about time you, too, embraced IT modernization. Let’s start by understanding what IT modernization means, why it’s important, and how to go about it.
IT modernization basically means upgrading IT systems, processes, and strategies. In other words: moving away from legacy equipment and workflows to newer systems and better ways of doing things.
There are four main approaches to IT modernization:
Modernizing IT is a big deal. Entrepreneurs spend millions every year on IT modernization. Plus, it’s a massive undertaking for most tech-centric businesses, which can span weeks or months.
But why go through all the trouble of modernizing IT?
Here are some compelling reasons to take the modernization route:
IT modernization involves multiple parties, substantial investments, and many moving parts. It, therefore, requires careful planning and consideration.
Follow these six crucial steps to ensure successful IT modernization.
Start by thoroughly analyzing the existing IT estate. Identify obsolete, inefficient, insecure, and clunky software, hardware, and processes.
In other words, list all the faults with your IT setup. How is your IT letting the business down? That’s how you determine which areas need modernization.
What do you hope to get out of your modernization strategy?
Set clear and achievable goals for your efforts. These may include improved user experience, better security and compliance posture, faster IT operations, etc. Whatever they are, ensure they align with your organization’s overall mission.
Once you’ve set your modernization goals, develop a plan to get you there. Engage all stakeholders in coming up with a solid IT roadmap.
The plan should tell you exactly what to do in order to achieve your modernization goals. It also considers crucial factors such as future IT demands, changes to business processes, scheduling, and budgeting.
With a modernization plan in place, you can start upgrading old IT systems and processes. This could mean migrating to the cloud, replacing outdated servers with new ones, restructuring IT operations, revamping network connectivity, etc.
Create a list of upgrade priorities. Start with the most crucial implementations, then work your way down the list.
Offer user training and support to facilitate a smooth transition to the new IT processes and systems. This is crucial since drastic IT changes always have a bit of a learning curve.
IT modernization is an ongoing process. You must regularly review and adapt your modernization strategy to the evolving tech landscape. Also, your organization’s digital needs and priorities may change over time; ensure your IT infrastructure accommodates these changes.
Modernize your IT with expert guidance from Highway 99. We’ll walk with you every step of the way, from developing an effective modernization strategy to offering continuous IT support. Let us empower your business with the latest tech solutions.
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Emailing is one of the earliest forms of digital communications over the internet. Yet email is still the most preferred communication medium in business. Over 360 billion emails are sent and received every day. This popularity is in part due to email’s simplicity and flexibility.
Email appears to be so simple, in fact, it's tempting to host your own email server. You could easily set up what, for all intents and purposes, would be a functional email server using some readily available hardware and software.
Imagine not relying on email services such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or Zoho. The premise of self-hosted email is quite tempting. But is it really worth it?
Sadly, "no." While it might appear simple, the modern email landscape adds significant risk and complexity to running your own email server. Let's discuss what makes self-hosted business email servers such a bad idea.
Let’s start on the brighter side. Here are three main reasons why you’d want a private email server:
With an on-premise email server, you can be sure that your email data never leaves your business. No email service providers could snoop around your data or use it to train AI (although note that the commercial offerings from Microsoft, Google and Zoho do have stronger privacy policies than the corresponding free editions)
A private email server frees you from the bureaucracies of big email service providers. No more storage limitations, bills at the end of the month, or features you don’t even need.
An on-premise email server gives you complete control over your email data and security. You can decide what security measures to implement, and your data never goes through third-party tech companies. However, as you’ll see later, this is a sort of double-edged sword.
So, what’s so bad about hosting your own email?
Self-hosted email comes with its own set of issues, many of which may not be worth tackling. These issues include:
In this blog's introduction we may have oversold how easy it is to set up and run an email server. While it’s true you could run it from a typical laptop, configuring and running the server correctly calls for skill and dedication.
It takes expert-level knowledge in networking, database management, server administration, and coding to build a working email server from scratch. You may even need to hire a dedicated expert to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Email security is no joke. Even big players like Google and Microsoft cannot guarantee 100% email security. Cybercriminals are always finding new and more sophisticated ways to compromise business emails.
Between April 2022 and April 2023, Microsoft Threat Intelligence investigated 35 million business email compromise (BEC) attempts. That works out to 156,000 attempts daily. And according to the latest data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), in just the first half of 2021, BEC scams resulted in $26 million in reported losses.
Are you still confident about securing your own email server?
The server’s uptime will depend on many factors outside your control. For example, the strength and availability of your internet connection, the available ports on your network, and your hardware’s reliability will all play a role in keeping the server online.
The slightest issue can render your email server unavailable for hours or even days. Unless you’re prepared to build expensive redundancies around anything that could go wrong, the server may never achieve 100% uptime.
An email server's reputation matters when it comes to deliverability. Other email servers may flag your very unique email server as suspect, especially if you do not have SPF and DKIM set up properly. If this happens, most of your outgoing emails will end up in spam folders or might not be delivered at all.
Clearly, the trouble of running an on-premise email server is not worth it. The cons far outweigh the pros. So, what should you do instead?
Why not select an established managed email services provider such as Microsoft, Google or Zoho? You’ll still get a custom domain and unlimited control over your data. But you won’t have to worry about the server’s security, uptime, or maintenance.
Even better news: Highway 99 Technology Solutions can make that happen. Talk to us about your email needs, and we’ll help you find a fitting, hassle-free solution.
The tech landscape evolves at a rapid pace. You hear about newer hardware and software systems all the time, each more sophisticated and capable than the last. This also means that existing tech fades into obsolescence faster. And that’s a big problem for tech-reliant businesses.
It’s a problem because running old IT systems can be risky. And given how quickly tech advances nowadays, some businesses may not even realize their IT is outdated.
This article sheds light on the dangers of running old IT systems and how to keep up with emerging tech curves. But let’s start with the telltale signs of ageing IT.
An outdated system is a piece of hardware or software application that hasn’t been updated for a long time or is outright obsolete. It is basically an asset that has fallen behind the times or reached its end-of-life. These are sometimes called legacy IT systems.
IT obsolescence is not always obvious. Old systems sometimes work just fine. But sooner or later, their age starts to show in noticeable ways, such as:
Running legacy devices and applications is not always a good idea. They may be riddled with insoluble issues that pose serious dangers to your business, such as:
Outdated technology is more likely to harbour exploitable security vulnerabilities. Newer versions of software applications, for example, come with more robust security features. Vendors also continuously release patches and fixes to update the security posture of their supported systems. That doesn’t happen with old tech.
In 2023, 14% of all breaches targeted unpatched system vulnerabilities. Zero-day exploits are on the rise, and old, outdated systems are the prime targets for these attacks.
Legacy tech stands in the way of digital transformation. Most old systems are stubbornly inflexible and incompatible with newer technologies. So, they can’t be modified or retrofitted to improve performance or support modern digital processes.
Refusing to let go of that old server or network infrastructure could be holding your IT back. You can’t modernize your business without first addressing legacy tech.
Today’s computers are magnitudes of times faster than computers from a decade ago. Newer tech is always better in terms of performance and efficiency.
Slow legacy systems rob your business of valuable time. They may also take up more resources (power, human input, space, etc.) to keep going. So, old IT costs more to run, and you get much less out of it.
Clunky systems are often difficult and frustrating to use. In the workplace setting, this results in delays and low employee morale.
A study conducted in the UK found that the average employee loses 46 minutes every day waiting around for or fiddling with outdated tech. This not only translates into monetary losses but also poor productivity and workplace experience.
Old tech breaks down more frequently since there’s just a lot that can go wrong. Unplanned IT outages are painfully costly. On average, SMBs lose between $10,000 and $50,000 per hour of downtime. This cost includes lost business opportunities, lost productivity, and the cost of repairs.
Plus, it’s not a good look on your brand if your systems keep breaking down.
Old IT systems are inefficient and costly to run. They also pose serious cybersecurity risks, not to mention they hinder productivity and modernization. So, why not replace old tech with newer, more capable systems?
Well, it’s often a little more complicated than that.
IT upgrading is a rather intricate process involving careful planning, considerations, employee training, data migration, and systems integration. No wonder so many businesses stick with clunky IT.
But you don’t have to do it alone. Highway 99, your trusted managed services provider, is here to hold your hand through every step of the modernization journey. Our IT experts will help you design a solid IT upgrade plan with cost-saving, efficiency, performance, useability, security, reliability, and scalability in mind.
Contact us today to learn more.
As businesses become more tech-dependent, IT infrastructures are growing too complex and dynamic for in-house teams. There’s a growing demand for managed IT services to relieve the mounting burden on internal IT teams. So much so, in fact, that 87.5% of SMBs use a managed IT service provider or plan to do so.
However, some entrepreneurs are uncertain about managed IT. And that’s mainly because of the myths, misconceptions, and misinformation surrounding managed IT services.
This article sets the record straight by debunking the top five managed IT myths.
It’s understandable to think that hiring an IT provider would be more expensive than working with in-house staff. But actually, the opposite is true. Managed IT services save you money in the following ways:
Depending on your IT footprint, a managed IT provider can save you a significant chunk of your tech spend—all while improving your digital productivity.
In-house support vs. managed IT—which is better?
Well, the answer is not all that clear-cut. The better approach will depend on your overall IT needs. However, managed IT services have a stronger case for most businesses. You essentially get a lot more from managed IT than from an internal IT department.
Here are some of the reasons that make managed IT superior to in-house support:
Engaging a managed IT services provider means delegating some or all IT tasks to a third party. The IT provider does not take exclusive control of your systems or operations.
The IT provider’s role is clearly outlined in the master service agreement (MSA), a binding contract defining the working relationship between both parties. The MSA is also where you draw the IT provider’s scope—what they can and cannot do.
Most SMBs have a relatively small IT infrastructure. But that shouldn’t mean they’re unfit for managed services.
Managed IT works for both big and small enterprises. In fact, one might argue that smaller businesses benefit more from signing up with a managed services provider. Partnering with an IT provider unlocks the full potential of the IT infrastructure, making the most of limited resources. Plus, managed IT providers make professional IT support accessible and affordable to SMBs.
This is simply not true. Not all IT providers are created equal. Support services, delivery models, costs, and terms of engagement differ widely from one provider to another. Some even specialize in particular industries, niches, or business models.
In other words, managed IT is not one-size-fits-all. Also, you shouldn’t dismiss managed IT based on a bad past experience. It could be that you haven’t found the right IT partner for your business.
Speaking of finding the right managed IT provider, try Highway 99 Technology Solutions. We provide responsive and reliable Managed IT Services that will support your business goals. Get in touch with us to learn how you can leverage our vast expertise, resources, and experience in business technology.
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Data is one of your most valuable business assets. As such, you’ve probably invested quite a lot in protecting it from bad actors. And it’s just as well considering that in Q1 2023 alone, over 167,000 data records were exposed in data breach incidents.
However, did you know that the greatest threats to your business data actually come from within? Your internal workplace practices may be jeopardizing your data’s security, availability, and integrity. The worst part is that such vulnerabilities are difficult to identify and mitigate since they are deeply engrained in everyday workflows and activities.
Let’s look at five common workplace practices that put your data at risk.
Are you storing, processing, or transferring data using outdated hardware or software? Doing so poses a big risk to your data. Old or new - a system is "outdated" if the vendor no longer supports the solution with security updates.
We understand the temptation to keep outdated IT assets going. For one, it’s cheaper—IT upgrades do come at a cost. Besides, why replace what isn’t broken? The outdated systems may not be broken, but they may lack vital security features to safeguard your data against modern threats.
Upgrade and update your IT systems with data security in mind. The potential cost of losing data far outweighs the price of an up-to-date IT infrastructure.
The username-password login is not the strongest way to secure accounts, and the use of weak passwords amplifies that weakness.
Some of the passwords employees use are ridiculously weak. In Canada, “123456,” “admin,” and “password” were the most commonly used passwords in 2023. NordPass reckons it takes less than a second to crack these.
Other poor password practices include sharing and reusing passwords. Some employees will even have passwords to sensitive accounts jotted down on a sticky note or saved on their browser.
Take a long, hard look at your password policy. Better yet, supplement passwords with other authentication methods.
A traditional workplace can sometimes create the false illusion of data safety. Yes, your employees may not have a malicious bone in their body, but how they access and handle sensitive data can unintentionally introduce risks.
Security accountability breaks down when everyone has access to every set of data. This is especially common in small, close-knit workplaces.
Review your access management policy to limit who has access to what data at any given moment. For instance, an HR rep would have no business looking at customer information. Allow only a few trained and responsible individuals access to sensitive data. Keep in mind that awarding data privileges just adds to the list of things that can go wrong.
How do your employees move and share data in the workplace?
Some data transfer mediums are more secure than others. Email, social media, and flash drives are some of the least secure means to transfer sensitive data. By using such flimsy methods, you risk the data getting lost or falling into the wrong hands.
Ensure data circulates only within a secure internal network. That’s where you’ll have the necessary safeguards and unlimited control over data movement and access.
A big part of securing business data is ensuring data availability at all times. And what better way to do that than with a solid backup strategy?
However, your staff may lack the time or motivation to follow data backup guidelines. In some cases, employees get the backup procedures wrong, resulting in incomplete, unrecoverable, or insecure backups.
The best solution to this problem is to automate or outsource data backup. Data backup and recovery are simply too important to entrust to individual employees and manual processes.
According to Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, 68% of data breaches involve a human element. That involvement ranges from using weak passwords and sending sensitive emails to the wrong persons to ignoring security protocols.
Highway 99 Technology Solutions can help you identify and seal workplace vulnerabilities before it’s too late. We provide comprehensive managed IT security services, including end-point management, backup and disaster recovery, systems updates, staff security training, and more.
Book a free appointment to get started.
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As your business grows, so do your IT needs. Your IT needs may evolve so much, in fact, that they creep outside the scope of your IT support provider. And you might not realize this until it’s too late.
Do you suspect you may have outgrown your IT provider? Well, below are the telltale signs to look out for.
Are your employees or customers experiencing more IT breakdowns? That is usually the first sign that your IT is beyond the current provider’s capabilities.
Occasional IT issues are not alarming or even surprising. But once you start getting endless complaints about frequent breakdowns, you should look at your IT provider. The service provider might lack the capacity to handle your expanding IT infrastructure.
A good managed services provider resolves IT issues as soon as they happen. But a great managed services provider strives to prevent IT issues from occurring in the first place—that’s part of proactive maintenance.
If you’re only solving problems as they happen, the IT provider is failing you. A break-fix approach to IT management is not only inconvenient but also disruptive and costly. In today’s business landscape, even brief IT downtime can set you back thousands of dollars.
Is your IT provider taking too long to address queries and support tickets? Perhaps they’re overwhelmed by your IT’s growing support demands.
You simply can’t afford to wait around for IT support, especially on urgent matters. So the only solution is signing a more responsive and capable managed services provider.
For the most part, newer tech is always better. Outdated software and hardware systems are slow, inefficient, and unreliable. They are also more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Your IT provider must not allow your business to run on outdated systems. It’s their job to continuously phase out ageing assets or retrofit them with the latest devices, tools, and security patches. If you’re stuck with cumbersome legacy systems nearing obsolescence, it’s time to change IT providers.
IT management requires careful strategic planning that involves:
An IT plan is essentially a blueprint for your IT investment. Without it, you risk making critical and expensive decisions that cause more harm than good. That’s why you need an experienced managed services provider to help you draw and implement a result-oriented IT plan.
Any business handling customer or employee data must comply with one or more security regulations or standards. These include PCI DSS, PIPEDA, and PIPA to mention just a few.
A good IT provider ensures that your business meets the ever-mounting compliance demands. If you keep failing to achieve the required standards, it’s probably because your managed services provider is not knowledgeable or keen enough on matters of compliance.
Not all IT providers are created equal—some are more capable and flexible than others. While your current IT provider may have been sufficient in the past, they could be falling short of your expectations today. It might be time to look for the best IT provider to meet your growing tech needs.
Luckily, you don’t have to look far. Highway 99 Technology Solutions is here to take your IT to the next level and grow with you. We’ll provide IT solutions tailored specifically to your business, ensuring that your digital performance aligns with your growth trajectory.
Book a free consultation today and tell us about your unmet IT support needs.
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An IT plan defines your IT vision. It’s a technology roadmap to ensure your IT investments work for your business and align perfectly with its goals. IT planning touches on every aspect of IT management, including:
Every tech-reliant business needs a strategic IT plan. It’s the only way to get the most out of tech investments.
However, developing a successful IT plan is often easier said than done. Planning is easily the #1 challenge for IT leaders. Let’s look at the top five factors that make IT planning so difficult.
The vast tech landscape never stands still. Tech evolves at such a rapid pace that it can be overwhelmingly tricky to track down the right solutions.
While you might be spoilt for choice, you can’t just pick tech investments out of a hat. Every app and bit of hardware must be carefully selected to meet strict criteria such as cost, compatibility, and performance specs.
In 2023, companies spent between 5% and 19% of their revenue on IT. Depending on the enterprise, a 5% revenue share could translate to millions of dollars. What’s more, most businesses plan to increase their annual IT budgets in a bid to sharpen their digital edge.
The point is, IT is not cheap. That’s why budgeting is such a crucial part of IT planning. And it’s not just about going for the most inexpensive products or services either. An IT budget aims to balance cost, performance, and ROI.
Security compliance is now part and parcel of IT planning. You must consider the compliance implications of every IT decision you make. For instance, you must check how every new implementation, policy, or process fits with your compliance objectives.
An IT estate is basically an assembly of several different devices and software applications working harmoniously as a single unit.
It takes a lot of effort and expertise to set up a working IT system. Synchronizing multiple assets, even at the hardware level, requires skills. This is especially true when trying to integrate legacy systems, such as old servers, with newer solutions, such as Kubernetes.
This is such a common problem that there’s a name for it: “integration hell.” Integration hell occurs when systems work just fine on their own but crash when combined.
It’s important to consider user experience (UX) when planning an IT setup. Will the user find the system easy and pleasing to use?
In a business setting, UX can even influence employee productivity and IT costs. For example, a cumbersome software application or routine could create a steeper and costlier learning curve for the users. Also, you don’t want a system that stumps or frustrates your employees all the time.
You don’t have to tackle IT planning alone. Why not bring in the experts to help draft a solid IT plan?
At Highway 99 Technology Solutions, we understand the importance and headaches of IT planning. With our managed IT services, we will help you formulate a strategic plan that addresses all your concerns and objectives, from cost efficiency to next-level performance. We’ll also continuously assess your IT infrastructure and revise/update the plan whenever necessary.
Get in touch and learn more about how partnering with us can streamline your IT logistics, operations, and ROI.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most disruptive technology today. In just a few short years, AI went from powering basic chatbots to closely mimicking human behaviour, reasoning, problem-solving, and language.
As such a powerful and readily available tech, it was only a matter of time before AI started making waves in the cybersecurity landscape.
Some are calling it the new era in cybersecurity. There’s a lot of talk about the immense devastation potential of intelligent malware. And how current security systems don’t stand a chance against AI-driven cyberattacks. But most of this is nothing but wild speculations and fearmongering.
That said, the risk of AI-based cyber threats is very real. For instance, in 2017, security researchers discovered a first-of-its-kind malware that used rudimentary machine learning to shapeshift and avoid detection.
AI and cybersecurity are two sides of the same coin. On one side, threat actors are actively trying to weaponize AI. On the other, we see the growing integration of AI cyber defences. And the good side seems to be winning, at least for now.
According to some experts, AI is lowering the barrier to entry for new threat actors. It’s also helping unsophisticated threat actors level up their malicious trade. In a recent survey, 75% of security professionals said they saw an increase in attacks over the past 12 months, and 85% of them attributed that rise to bad actors using generative AI.
AI introduces the possibilities of unique cyber threats too, such as:
AI is not new to cybersecurity. Digital security experts started blending cybersecurity tools with AI and machine learning back in the early 2000s. Today, thanks to recent advancements, AI is commonplace in various aspects of cybersecurity, including:
AI technologies are getting better and better by the day. We should expect to see more AI-based threats and even more AI-based defences. The cybersecurity landscape has always been a never-ending game of Whac-A-Mole. As AI joins the arena, cybersecurity teams have new moles to whack and, crucially, better mallets and a stronger handle on the game.
For now, even with powerful AI, cybersecurity is still a hands-on effort. AI security tools alone are not advanced enough to take the wheel. We still need human intervention to guide AI and make sense of what it does.
Speaking of an expert guiding hand, Highway 99 is here to help you enhance your cybersecurity, from endpoint management to cloud security. Highway 99 is your trusted managed services provider committed to ensuring you get the best out of your IT.
Get started today with a free consultation.
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Do you run your IT fully on the cloud? You’re not alone; according to a recent survey, 34% of businesses reported using public cloud in all areas of their enterprise.
And it’s a good idea too. Going fully cloud presents several advantages, from cost savings and easy IT scalability to enhanced data security.
Since the cloud is basically self-sufficient, you might think that fully cloud businesses do not need managed IT support. But you’d be wrong. Professional IT support is especially valuable for businesses running exclusively on the cloud.
You need managed cloud services for these five reasons:
IT providers offer cloud management services, a big part of which is ensuring that your cloud infrastructure is as efficient as possible. This includes:
Cloud optimization reduces the complexity of your cloud operations. It also ensures that you only pay for the resources you need, eliminating unnecessary cloud spend and saving you money.
Cloud managed services provide robust disaster recovery support. While the cloud is an excellent data backup solution, it’s of no use if not managed properly. Even on the cloud, you run the risk of losing valuable data.
An IT provider will help you develop a solid backup and disaster recovery plan that covers all the bases:
A cloud managed provider ensures your cloud infrastructure is up to date. Your cloud IT partner will make efforts to install the latest security patches and software updates. They’ll even suggest system upgrades where necessary.
IT providers work with unique tools that automate cloud updates. And by continuously monitoring your cloud performance, they can easily tell when certain resources are due for an upgrade.
Working with a cloud partner ensures you never fall behind on crucial updates and upgrades, thereby minimizing the risk of costly downtime and vulnerabilities.
The cloud is often praised for its impenetrable security. But that’s not entirely true; your cloud will only be as safe as you can make it. Furthermore, cloud systems are prime targets for cybercriminals. According to CrowdStrike’s 2024 Global Threat Report, cloud intrusions jumped 75% from 2022 to 2023. It’s no wonder cloud security is the #1 concern among cloud-dependent businesses.
Fortunately, most cloud providers allow users to configure and customize nearly every aspect of cloud security. Rather ironically, security misconfigurations are one of the leading causes of cloud breaches. So, you don’t want to get your cloud security setup wrong. And that’s where a managed services provider with cloud experience comes in.
As a small business, you might find it difficult to click with cloud vendors. Big vendors, especially, are not all that enthusiastic about working with small clients. Some lack the specific facilities for small-scale cloud migration and accommodation.
An IT provider bridges the gap between you and the cloud provider. Their voice holds some weight and they are better able to communicate your cloud needs. Some IT providers even form partnerships with big cloud brands such as IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon, so they are able to broker favourable deals on your behalf.
Plus, if anything goes wrong, the managed IT provider will quickly raise the issue with the vendor. So, you’ll get swift responses to queries and support tickets.
Enhance your cloud operations with expert support from Highway 99 Technology Solutions. We’ll help you optimize, secure, and streamline your cloud infrastructure. Our company is a strong tech advocate for SMBs, meaning we can tailor cloud management to your business, regardless of its size or niche.
Let’s talk about boosting your cloud experience.