Professional IT Services that Andromeda Provides for Elk Grove Village, IL Businesses:

Managed IT Services
Elk Grove Village,IL

Andromeda offers a range of IT support plans—anything from month-to-month "time & materials"-based assistance to fixed IT service contracts that permit "no-brainer" conformance to an annual budget. Beyond the functions you would expect from a full-service MSP, you'll have a dedicated C‑CATs team that includes an Account Coordinator directing the same field and remote technicians day-to-day, month-to-month, and even year-to-year to manage your IT network needs.
This isn't simply a glorified Virtual CIO offering. Imagine the cost of hiring your own CIO AND tech team for this same level of customized service and knowledge of your particular (and evolving) network setup!

Cloud Services & Migrations

Typically, the biggest issue you'll face when initiating Cloud IT services is not the services themselves, but rather the proper migration of your existing IT services to the Cloud without loss of functionality, downtime, and scores of other details that could undermine the whole process. Andromeda has a long history of expertise in physical on-premises systems. Don't make the mistake of turning all your current systems over to a "Cloud expert"; we'll save you from a lot of heartache and pain with a virtually seamless Cloud migration from your current setup— whatever it is.

Data Backup & Recovery
Elk Grove Village,IL

It's a crazy world. Literally thousands of people you don't even know attempt to break or steal from systems like yours every day. Good 24/7 monitoring is a first line of defense, of course. But no matter how great and state-of-the-art your defenses are, you'll almost certainly succomb to a successful attack in time. That's why advanced data backup and data recovery need to be tools that you and your IT partner have at the ready from Day 1. Don't be tempted to "shortcut" this element of your network in the name of expediency or to save a few dollars. Ultimately, you'll lose out on both counts with that thinking. You need a complete and integrated solution that addresses every contingency as well as IT professionals who know how to make that happen.

Cyber Security

Not only do we provide multi-tier approaches to your network security, but Andromeda also provides built-for-you solutions for disaster recovery and business continuity devices. We provide, manage and monitor a variety of devices including physical hardware, Cloud-based and hybrid options. Our team actively monitors over 403 servers and 101 physical backup devices in the field. All with 100% local engineers and technicians.

Onsite/Remote Support
Elk Grove Village,IL

Andromeda's team is completely staffed by local technicians near Elk Grove Village,IL. No matter the hour, your issue is resolved quickly and professionally. In fact, 68% of incoming calls are connected to a live technician for immediate response. When a technician isn't available, our average response time is less than 30 minutes. And if that isn't impressive enough, emergency after-hours support response times average less than 10 minutes!

IT Network Management

IT networks are our bread-and-butter. We have provided these services to clients since 1994. Some have continued to rely on us for their evolving network needs since the very beginning. We stand behind our work day to day and year to year because we foster relationships with our client-partners that absolutely demand that of us. It's in our DNA and how we prefer to do business.

AndroPedia Tech Library

As part of our service, it is important to keep our client-partners well informed on IT developments, news, and best practices. Here is just a sampling of typical items from our AndroPedia^SM library archive:

Why have a Network Security Assessment at least once per year:

Our digital world is being attacked constantly and your corporate network is one of the biggest targets on the market. Why? Because it also tends to be an easy mark.  Year after year we see large scale attacks against corporations, but did you know that the majority of cyber incidents occur against small to mid-size businesses? Ask yourself: When was the last time I had a professional network security assessment? We’ve listed out some of the top reasons why Network Security Assessments are a vital piece of a multi-layered approach to cyber security for your business.

Let’s start by stating something that you might not expect a tech company to express. Being a victim of a cyber attack is inevitable. No amount of effort or software can protect you 100% of the time. The solution is to implement as many precautionary steps as you can to lessen the likelihood of becoming a victim. No approach on the market can guarantee you will never be breached. If you ever run into an IT firm or product that tries to make this a “guarantee” . . . run and don’t look back because this is 100% false.

Now, there are the obvious steps that you can take to protect yourself and make it harder on the criminals:

• Proactive Email habits
• Anti-malware software
• Firewalls
• Proper Employee training
• Professional Disaster Recover (DR) plan/device

However, there is another tool in the arsenal that you should use regularly and that is an annual (at minimum) Network Security Assessment.

What Does A Network Security Assessment Involve?

Your IT support company should perform an initial assessment; after, they should give you a detailed risk report displaying areas that need to be optimized or adjusted. If your IT company does not perform these, it may be time to start looking somewhere new. Cyber threats are more prevalent every day and it is important to partner with an IT company that recognizes this and protects your business accordingly.

We find that our assessment usually uncovers security threats and holes; even when a business has the right practices and has done their research. Cyber security is a daily battle for businesses of every type. When we run our assessment we use the results to constantly improve the defenses of our clients. And that is why, like most things in tech, an assessment should be a regular event.

The Network Security Assessment Is Done. What’s the Next Step?

The network security assessment itself is not the only thing to request though. It is equally important to make sure that your firm supplies you with a report of their findings. This report should be simple to understand, contain an overall score and give you a breakdown of each issue found, along with how serious those specific issues are.  Ask for an action plan that goes over any adjustments in detail for any issues that are found. Why go through the assessment process if you aren’t going to apply any changes with the data?

How important and helpful are these reports?  We are an IT company with a background protecting our partners from risk. We also put protections in place for our partners and still find ways to improve our customer cyber safety every time we run an assessment.

Why? Because cyber security is a dynamic, ever changing landscape and you need to proactively search for issues. Don’t let yourself learn the hard way. You never want to discover there is a hole in your cyber security when it’s too late from an attack or breach.

Interested in a Network Security Assessment?

If this article has you questioning your current setup, or peaked your interest in starting a conversation regarding the cyber security protections necessary for your business, a network security assessment with Andromeda is a great place to start. With this in mind, we will be discounting our network security assessment thru 1/31/19. Fill out the form below for access to our promotional rate and begin a discussion with one of our security experts.

Fill out the form below to receive a $500 discount on a Network Security Assessment valid for the month of January:

The post Start 2019 Out Right – Have a Network Security Assessment Completed appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

The solutions, procedures and technologies business owners and staff depend on are continuing their move to the cloud at a steady pace.

Predictions and trends point to over 80% of all enterprise workflow to be managed by the cloud by 2020.

While total adoption of cloud in the workplace is still believed to be 10 or more years away, the benefits to business are clearly driving the adoption of cloud technologies and solutions.

This does not mean that you should perform a cloud migration just because everyone else is doing it. You want to make sure that when you migrate different elements of your business to the cloud, you are doing so in the most secure, compliant and pain-free ways.

That being said, there are some questions you should really ask yourself when planning for or considering your migration.

4 Key Questions About Cloud Migration

1. What are the long term costs for my IT when I migrate to the cloud?

 There are quite a few different aspects of your budget that a cloud migration can impact. The first thing you will want to consider is the overall cost of the project. For example, if you have a server and you are considering the costs of a cloud migration vs. buying new hardware, there are a few things you want to look into.

• What is the physical cost of the hardware including labor for install and setup?
• What is the initial setup and migration cost if you move to the cloud?
• What are your anticipated maintenance costs for a physical server over the next 3-5 years?
• What are the maintenance costs and recurring costs for your cloud environment for the next 3-5 years?
• If you stick with an on-prem solution, how long until you have to replace your new hardware on average?

All of these questions you should ask yourself and your IT vendor/department when considering the cloud. Often, when you take long term maintenance and hardware replacement into consideration, you will end up being more cost effective with a cloud solution. But, this is not always the case.

2. What areas of our business will see benefit from a cloud migration?

The cloud has offered many benefits to business. The cloud environment lends itself to collaboration in many ways. Staff will likely enjoy the ability to access data, software and systems remotely. Departments will notice that different integrations are easier when software is in the cloud as well. Companies like Zapier, IFTTT and even Microsoft with Microsoft Flow are in the business of helping you integrate workflows and get a whole lot more done.

This means more productivity, automating repetitive tasks and hopefully better results for both your employees and clients.

3. Do you have specific security/compliance requirements?

Different industries have specific security requirements and compliance standards for data. This means that you will want to consult with experts in your industry to make sure that the solutions you choose are above board.

For instance, if you chose to migrate your email server to a hosted cloud solution, you still need to make sure that the email service is secure. Solutions like G Suite and Office 365 state in their user agreements that they are responsible for the security of the cloud environment but that YOU are responsible for all of your data.

Meaning – Microsoft or Google makes sure the cloud is secure, YOU make sure that you have backups of your emails and all of your data in case of emergency.

Additionally, if your industry has requirements for sending secure/encrypted emails, you’ll want to make sure that the solution you choose meets said requirements.

This was just an example of how security and compliance can impact your choice of cloud email solution. Depending on what you want to move to the cloud (infrastructure, software, OS etc.), you will want to consult with industry experts to ensure success.

4. Public, Private or Hybrid Cloud Solutions?

On the surface, the concept of public or private cloud solution is straight forward.

A public cloud is owned by a company like Microsoft (Azure) or Amazon (AWS). This company owns the physical space where the ‘cloud’ is hosted. In a public cloud, your business essentially leases space to host your environment. This space is technically shared but can be segmented for security purposes.

This decreases your overall time and material cost for maintenance of the environment. You access services and can manage your account by logging in from your internet browser. These public solutions are best for email solutions, office software, applications, testing environments, development environments and more.

A private cloud is owned and managed by one specific entity (either you or your IT service provider). There are no other businesses sharing your space or stored on the equipment. This is definitely a more secure solution for highly regulated industries.

A benefit with privately hosted cloud environments is that they are more customizable for specific business needs. Additionally, a private cloud is easily scaled to grow with your needs – you will just have to account for any additional hardware or bandwidth needs as you grow.

A hybrid cloud solution is a mixture of any or all solutions including: on-premises solutions, public cloud and/or private cloud.

For some industries, there may be specific elements of the business that must remain on site. In other instances, you may have proprietary software that just isn’t cloud compatible or doesn’t make sense to migrate.

You may also have certain needs that make sense to offload into a public environment where you aren’t responsible for maintenance.

The beauty of cloud migration solutions for business is that they are highly customizable. They help you get more done and stay connected in innovative ways. There is a reason that technology is steadily migrating to the cloud across our professional and personal lives.

If you have any questions about the cloud or want to discuss how the cloud can elevate your business, please give us a call at (815) 836 – 0030 or send an email to Contact@WeNetwork.com. Our team is ready and eager to help you.

The post 4 Key Questions Any Business Owner Should Ask Before Performing A Cloud Migration appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

The popular video site Vimeo now finds itself in hot water and are facing a lawsuit for allegedly violating the Illinois Biometrics Information Privacy Act.� The act requires all private companies collecting biometric information to maintain a publicly available, written policy that explains their practices concerning this type of information.� It also includes guidelines relating to the retention and destruction of such information.

According to the lawsuit filed:

"Vimeo is actively collecting, storing and using--without providing notice, obtaining informed written consent or publishing data retention policies--the biometrics of thousands of unwitting individuals throughout the country whose faces appear in photographs and/or videos uploaded to the Magisto "smart video editor" application in Illinois.�Each face template that Vimeo extracts is unique to a particular individual in the same way that a fingerprint or voiceprint uniquely identifies one and only one person."

The lawsuit is being brought forth by Illinois resident Bradley Acaley, who downloaded the Magisto app in 2017.� He purchased an annual subscription for $120, uploaded several photos and videos of himself and then could no longer access them after his subscription ended.

A Vimeo spokesperson had this to say about the recent filing:

"The lawsuit is based upon a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Magisto video creation app works.� To help customers create better videos faster, Magisto uses machine learning technology to help identify objects within video frames.� Determining whether an area represents a human face or a volleyball does not equate to "facial recognition," and Magisto neither collects nor retains any facial information capable of recognizing an individual.� We look forward to having an opportunity to clear this up in court."

It's an interesting case and its outcome will no doubt have ramifications and ripple effects that extend far beyond Vimeo.� Stay tuned.

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