Category: outsourced IT

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Microsoft 365: Stay Updated or Lose Connectivity and Support

Microsoft Office is a staple of business software, setting the standard for productivity applications across the globe. Unfortunately, popularity often means “target” and the bad guys out there are gunning for your system, looking for vulnerabilities they can exploit. This is among the reasons to make sure your Office applications are staying up-to-date with the latest fixes and security features. The easiest way to do this is to turn on automatic updating for Windows via Microsoft Update so that your system gets Office updates for earlier versions of Office you might have installed, such as Office 2010 or an Office volume license install.

Security updates aren’t the only reasons to keep your systems up to date. Sometimes an update addresses compatibility with other applications or services. In recent days, Microsoft has reminded businesses of the roadmap for Microsoft 365 services where certain versions of the Office and Microsoft 365 applications will stop communicating with the Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services.

Microsoft Outlook for Windows

Effective as of November 1, 2021, older versions of Outlook for Windows (starting with Outlook 2007), will be unable to connect with Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services, including hosted Exchange mailboxes. Versions that are only a little bit out of date might work, but are likely to experience connectivity issues with the back-end services. Here’s the list of retired versions of Outlook for Windows:

  • Office 2007 All Versions
  • Office 2010 All Versions
  • Office 2013 Versions prior to 15.0.4971.1000 of Office 2013 (Service Pack 1 with the October 2017 Update)
  • Office 2016 MSI Versions prior to 16.0.4600.1000 of Office 2016 (With the November 2017 Update, KB 4051890)
  • Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise;(formerly Office 365 ProPlus) 1705 and older
  • Microsoft 365 Apps for business(formerly Office 365 Business) 1705 and older

OneDrive sync on Windows

Microsoft is now aligning the OneDrive sync on Windows systems with the Windows operating system support lifecycle policy.  In short, OneDrive sync on Windows will only be supported on supported versions of Windows beginning in January 1, 2022, If your version of Windows is no longer being supported, then the OneDrive sync on those machines will no longer receive updates or fixes of any sort.

  • Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will be supported until January 10, 2023
  • Windows 8 reached end of support on January 12, 2016

If you are running the OneDrive sync app on Windows 8.1, you will no longer receive feature updates but will receive security fixes until January 10, 2023.

If you are running the OneDrive sync app on Windows 7 (and are participating in the Extended Security Update (ESU) program), you will continue to receive critical and important security updates until January 10, 2023. Extended Security Updates don’t include new features, customer-requested non-security updates, or design change requests.

If you are running the OneDrive sync app on Windows 8, you will no longer receive updates or fixes of any kind, as Windows 8 is no longer supported.

Businesses concerned with keeping their systems up and running should take care to ensure that PCs and servers are updated with current, supported operating systems and application software. Ignoring PC updates and Windows upgrades can create unnecessary disruption and leads to lost productivity and lost profits. For PCs, Windows 10 or 11 is the OS to be running. For Windows servers, Server 2019 is the most current version.

Mendelson Consulting’s NOOBEH Cloud Services team knows how important it is to keep your core operating software and applications current, compatible and supported. That’s why we only deploy modern servers and current operating systems on the Microsoft Cloud platform, ensuring our hosted clients have the foundation they need to keep workers performing and operations running.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Direct-to-Consumer Causing Manufacturing Logistics Issues

Manufacturers have traditionally been positioned as a link in the long chain of supply. Somewhere between raw materials and finished products is where the manufacturer exists, transforming the materials into products that can be resold via distributors and wholesalers.

The supply chain was linear and relatively predictable, but that is all changing. With the introduction of broad internet connectivity, web-based services, large e-commerce platforms and increasingly innovative and competitive new logistics players, the supply chain is becoming a spiderweb of connectivity and communication, with linear approaches out the window and, to some extent, predictability along with it.

The economy we have today is an environment where customers demand more direct and personal approaches, and producers are being forced to find ways to accommodate. With the huge e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Alibaba, along with more direct-to-consumer channels, manufacturers are being turned into direct-to-consumer suppliers. Acting as drop shippers for the seller, the manufacturer isn’t shipping bulk or volume to distributors or wholesalers but smaller shipments direct to the consumer.

Many retail stores have now become more fulfillment locations than the place where the customer buys. This is causing tremendous change in logistics tools and approaches because the size of shipments is becoming smaller while the number of deliveries – and delivery locations – is only increasing.

Customers can go right to the brand’s website and buy direct, driving increased focus on building brand value and improving the overall customer experience. With the demand from consumers for flexibility in how and where they buy, retailers have shifted their approaches to bring e-commerce into the brick-and-mortar stores. This is where online and offline sales channels come together, creating pressure in ordering and fulfillment systems to offer the flexibility and experience consumers want.

While this converged channel model requires businesses to make new and continued investments in e-commerce and digital solutions to enable the flow of orders and information, it also delivers several potential benefits to the business, including the ability to better manage growing customer expectations, better compete in the digital marketplace, and address disruptions in the supply chain by having alternative options.

Delivering the goods has always been an operational challenge, with success often measured in performance and cost. Today’s marketplace requires more agility and flexibility, which means the role of supply chain managers is more strategic than ever. Simple logistics now has a direct impact on the customer’s decision to buy now, as well as buying again later.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Considering Deploying Microsoft365 for Your Entire Organization? Success is in the details.

Technology is ever advancing, and even the smallest of businesses must keep in step to remain competitive. Efficiency is the key to modern, effective operations, yet keeping teams aligned and working towards the common goal can be tougher than ever when members are remote working. Microsoft solutions can help the business increase productivity and modernize their operations, and at the same time provide stronger security and enhanced protection.

For just about every business, it makes sense to consider using Microsoft 365 services. But there are a lot to choose from, and not all services work as you might expect, so here is a little information that might help with making service selection a little easier.

Does it make sense to implement Microsoft Teams for intra-company calls, meetings, and collaboration?

Teams is great for calling your co-workers, sharing screens, presenting content, and collaborating in workgroups or with the whole company. But be warned that Teams meetings don’t work for everyone, particularly those outside your organization or for users that don’t have useful Internet connectivity.

  • To use Teams with people outside the company, or even for users that don’t have Internet connectivity, you’ll need to also have a calling plan for each user.
  • A calling plan allows Teams to connect a phone number to the Teams meeting, creating a means for non-Teams users and those without internet to connect to the meeting audio.

Should you migrate employee email inboxes to MS365 (Outlook Desktop and/or Outlook Online)?

Using Microsoft for email services make a ton of sense, especially with the advanced phishing and threat protection that comes standard with the service. It is pretty much foolproof for most businesses and is a great value. If your business is migrating to Microsoft from a legacy email platform or from a different mail provider, there are a few things to consider.

  • Many companies use their desktop Outlook email folders as a sort of file cabinet, storing and categorizing emails for future use. In older MS Exchange environments, Public Folders were also used, enabling company-wide access to certain email folders and the file attachments within.
  • MS365/Office365 email services don’t support public folders, and every email box comes with a storage quota. If the business is used to saving lots of emails, then it might create difficulties with mailbox management.
  • Outlook Desktop still has limitations on the file size it can reasonably handle. This means that Outlook, when connected to hosted Exchange mail (Microsoft365), should run in cached mode, keeping only recent data in the Outlook file on the computer and leaving the rest of the mail on the server. Mail on the server is still available for search by Outlook; the program will simply search in the local data file first.

Can you, or should you, migrate your company’s files to the Microsoft cloud?

Keeping your files on the “cloud” is a concept that sounds convenient, but it isn’t quite as straightforward as it sounds. In this case, the idea is to migrate files from PCs and servers to Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint, where the files can be available to all users regardless of where the user is working from.

  • Putting a big hard drive on your PC or server can be relatively inexpensive. “Storage is cheap” we hear quite often. Yet all storage facilities are not alike. It might be a cheap option to add a big hard drive or USB drive to your local system but paying for storage space on the web becomes a different deal. You may find that safe, protected storage for your files is not quite as inexpensive as you thought, especially over time. When you must pay every month for the storage you use, you rapidly realize why file housekeeping is essential.
  • File and folder permissions do not translate from your Windows file system to a SharePoint or OneDrive. You must create your own groups and set file and folder permissions as you want them AFTER the data is uploaded to the cloud platform.
  • Once the files are in the cloud platform, each user must determine what and how the files will sync with their local computers. There may be an option to “sync on demand” (depends on device platform) that can allow users to selectively sync files to/from their computers, but the fact remains that the data is being downloaded to the local computer so that it can be worked on. This still means that the local computer must have the necessary software installed, and the PC should be protected with backup, anti-virus and anti-malware and MFA.
  • Database files cannot work in a web file location. This means that programs that have associated database/data files must still have their files located on a network server for users to access them. QuickBooks, tax software, trial balance software, workpapers and fixed assets, inventory management or manufacturing, and more may require the server to serve the application and/or data to the users. This means that servers and networks and the need to manage the network and the individual computers remains in full.
  • If all other data is stored on the cloud platform, then you now have data and resources to manage both places.

What does the new Microsoft365 Cloud PC mean for small businesses?

  • The new Cloud PC from Microsoft365 can solve a tremendous problem for the very small business in that it can become the IT infrastructure and it is fully cloud platform.
  • Cloud PC is meant to replace your local PC as your operating environment. Rather than installing software and storing data on your local device, the idea is that your software gets installed on your Cloud PC and your data is stored, ideally, in your OneDrive, or maybe on the drive of your Cloud PC.
  • This makes the Cloud PC a perfect solution for that single user that needs to run their QuickBooks or other applications from anywhere.
  • The thing with the small business Cloud PC is that it cannot be networked. It may be able to “see” and work with your local device hard drive or even mapped drives that your local device is connected to, but it isn’t able to work with a network server or share like a local PC would.
  • This means that you may be able to store and retrieve files from servers or other drives on your local PC or network, but you won’t be able to access databases or other server or network-based applications that need the network to function.
  • This also means that you can’t share data on one cloud PC to another cloud PC… they aren’t networked together.

Why NOOBEH’s Cloud Service model is better

There’s a reason why businesses adopt NOOBEH QuickBooks on Azure services, and the benefits are as great as ever. Businesses work with NOOBEH and our QuickBooks on Azure services because we have the flexibility to do what the business needs, and to offer a comprehensive approach that doesn’t leave applications, services and data hanging around on local networks or unprotected computers.

Where the Microsoft365 Cloud PC is a great answer for the single-user, NOOBEH’s cloud servers are designed for multiple users needing access to common applications and/or data. Multi-user QuickBooks desktop applications, Sage or AccountEdge, MISys Manufacturing or Acctivate Inventory, ShipGear or Starship, Fedex or UPS and much more… we host the applications that businesses use every day.

NOOBEH keeps the applications and data securely running on private Microsoft Azure cloud servers. Centralized, server-based management of applications and data means that software does not have to be installed and maintained on individual computers, so the need for local PC backups and anti-virus and malware protection is also minimized. All users work on the same version of the same software, and everyone accesses the same data in real time. Version control issues and sync problems are entirely avoided when everyone is working in the live system with live data, and Microsoft’s Azure platform ensures that issues due to transient hardware failures are a thing of the past.

When the company has workers that must operate from their local computers, NOOBEH can enable a solution to keep SharePoint in sync with the cloud server, ensuring that workers on and off the server are able to reach the most current version of the files. Users working in QuickBooks can interact directly with SharePoint files and folders by using the native Windows File Explorer where users operating on their local PCs access SharePoint via OneDrive or via the web. This approach delivers the best of both worlds to businesses who need more flexible modes of operating.

Contact us today to find out more about how we can help your business do more in less time, improve efficiency and work more effectively with a system that works where and when you need it.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Considering Cybersecurity as Cloud Work Expands

When the pandemic forced many business users to move to remote work, it also forced the network security “boundary” to expand greatly and with great speed. Companies quickly adapted their tools and work so that it could be done somewhat effectively even as the employee working environment changed.  But new security models to match with new working models have not as quickly been adopted.

Business cloud workloads grew, by some estimates, as much as 20% just in the first 6 months of 2020. Yet many of those businesses electing to bring cloud working models to their business also made of the mistake of not expanding their security as they expanded the cloud network. This leaves systems and information vulnerable. Phishing, ransomware, credential theft and web app attacks have increased, catching businesses in their vulnerable states.

“In April to June of 2020 alone, security incidents increased by 188%.”

Even more than on-premises systems, it was the external cloud-based data and applications that were under attack because so many companies expanded their use of cloud services without enhanced security as part of the plan. Any expansion to include the cloud as network also significantly increases security risks. One report found that 35% of businesses made their cloud storage openly accessible to the public, allowing anyone to access it via the internet.

Don’t let your critical information be exposed or put at risk. When you begin using a cloud service, make sure to also address security for the new working mode or it could lead to lost or leaked information or a system breach.

Mendelson Consulting and NOOBEH cloud services take security very seriously. We help our clients keep their applications and data working properly and have a focus on methods to keep information safe regardless of what cloud you work on.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

1 ( https://duo.com/blog/growing-security-safely-in-canada )

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It’s Not Easy Being Small – Thoughts on the Disruption and Rethinking Business Priorities

The global pandemic has been the source of disruption to business and personal lives for over a year now and businesses have found that, regardless of the challenges they face, business must continue.

With operations and supply chains strained and positive cash flow at a premium, companies everywhere are focusing on the fundamentals while enabling work-from-home and distancing mandates. COVID-19 has, in many ways, become the event that is forcing many businesses (and entire industries!) to rethink how they operate, and to look to transform their global supply chain models.

A fact that can’t be argued with is that the pandemic has exposed where many businesses are vulnerable, being heavily dependent on supplies of raw materials or finished products that are no longer readily available.

What’s also been exposed is the lack of agility in business I.T. infrastructure, as operations struggle to find ways of continuing operations with reduced personnel or users working from various locations and finding that their systems aren’t really helping in those efforts.

“Supporting small manufacturers has probably never been more important that it is now”, said a panelist at the “National Conversation with Manufacturers” session hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP). While larger companies are certainly impacted by what’s happened this year, small manufacturers face the challenge of running a company with a smaller available base of resources, technology and supporting tools.

“The conversation’s participants represented very small manufacturing companies with fewer than 20 workers. They all recounted a mad scramble over the past six months. First, they had to figure out whether their operations were essential enough to stay open under their state-mandated shutdown orders.

Then began the efforts to keep their workers safe, implement cleaning regimens, source protective materials, respond to public health protocols that evolved during the pandemic, determine what emergency support they qualified for, and go through the steps to access funds. All of this was being done with a small staff that needed also to continue getting product out and deal with obstacles to normal operations. Hurdles included delays and disarray in the supply chain, disruption in cash flow, with both account receivable extensions and overnight changes in credit terms, shipping impediments and customers still expecting on-time deliveries.”

https://www.nist.gov/blogs/manufacturing-innovation-blog/sometimes-its-not-easy-being-small-manufacturer?utm_medium=email&utm_source=marketingcloud&utm_campaign=

To add to the troubles, disruptions in global trade with China have created significant impact in supply chains worldwide. Companies who rely on direct and secondary suppliers in China are currently experiencing significant disruption, and this is likely to continue. But it isn’t just China… countries around the globe are experiencing challenges with having enough personnel, materials and technology to deliver their goods.

For so many years, businesses have focused on optimizing their supply chains to minimize costs, reduce inventories, and increase asset utilization. This streamlining has also removed the buffers and the flexibility to absorb disruption. COVID-19 has shown that many companies aren’t aware of their vulnerability when supply chains suffer from a global shock of some type.

So, how can organizations respond to the immediate challenge?

There are steps that businesses can take to help address the changing conditions facing businesses today, and a major item that should be addressed is the alignment of IT systems and support to evolving work requirements. Further, enhancements in operational systems should be made to illuminate the extended supply network and enhance inbound materials visibility, and a new focus on production scheduling agility as well as evaluating alternative outbound logistics options should be approached.

NOOBEH’s cloud solutions have been the foundation for business continuity and operational support throughout these difficult times.

We’ve helped companies around the country implement Microsoft Azure cloud servers where they are able to run their entire operations. From order entry, manufacturing, inventory management, pack and ship, and through to accounting and finance – businesses run their applications, integrations and services that allow them to keep the business operating even with reduced personnel or as their users are forced to work from home. OneDrive and SharePoint file storage, and TEAMS for closer collaboration and simplified access to information, helps hybrid working models and distributed workgroups stay in step with projects and business goals.

As a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, Mendelson Consulting and NOOBEH provide and administer Microsoft 365 and Azure services, enabling us to more closely manage the licensing and computing platform to make sure it works in the best possible way for your business. With NOOBEH managing your services, you get predictable performance at predictable costs, allowing your business to operate without interruption or subscription overages.

As the past year has proven, life is unpredictable. Let Mendelson Consulting and NOOBEH help your business implement the cloud services and technologies that will give your organization the ability to adjust to changing conditions because you’ll have the most agile IT platform available.

jm bunny feet

Make Sense?

J

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Where in The World is Your Data?

Where in the World is Your Data? Even better.. where would you like it to be? In a datacenter near you? In a datacenter far away from you? Maybe you’d like your production system nearby, but backups stored on the other side of the country. Or perhaps you want redundant systems on each coast as well as something somewhere in the middle.
With Microsoft Azure as your platform, you have all the choices in the world, literally.

Microsoft Azure is the platform of choice for businesses of all sizes, offering virtualized infrastructure and services that can be tailored and tuned to meet the unique needs of any organization. No longer tied to on-premises infrastructure, companies find that they can implement better and more comprehensive solutions because they have the agility to adapt systems to immediate needs while retaining the ability to adjust as conditions change.

With Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 Services, NOOBEH enables businesses to focus on transformation and improving efficiency, not the IT that supports it.

NOOBEH cloud services, part of the Mendelson Consulting team, sets up Azure infrastructure and manages it for their clients. Business users focus on getting their work done, not on the IT supporting it. NOOBEH QuickBooks on Azure services give small and medium size businesses the most flexible and resilient infrastructure available to run all their desktop and network applications.

Because QuickBooks is rarely a standalone solution, NOOBEH QuickBooks on Azure services have no limitations on what add-ons, extensions, integrations or other applications the business may need to use. All the software a business needs can be deployed on the platform, allowing the company to keep its information systems and assets secure, fully-managed and available when and where they are needed.

While NOOBEH uses Azure platform and Microsoft 365 services to continue to deliver new capability for private sector users, Microsoft is advancing innovation in the delivery of connected services and computing power for private and government sector users wherever it is needed. Azure Modular Datacenters represent a partnership that delivers computing and communications capacity anywhere in the world… and beyond.

Microsoft Azure Modular Datacenters and SpaceX

The Azure modular datacenter is basically a “data center in a box”. It comes with everything needed to deliver computing capacity anywhere in the world.

“We designed the Azure Modular Datacenter (MDC) for customers who need cloud computing capabilities in hybrid or challenging environments, including remote areas. This announcement is complemented by our Azure Space offerings and partnerships that can extend satellite connectivity anywhere in the world. Scenarios range from mobile command centers, humanitarian assistance, military mission needs, mineral exploration, and other use cases requiring high intensity, secure computing on Azure.”

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-microsoft-azure-modular-datacenter/

It has power and everything else it needs, and now it also has the connectivity needed, even when there is no (zip, zero) infrastructure. Microsoft has partnered with SpaceX, using SES satellites to bring Internet connectivity to remote areas.

“We can connect via satellite links any element on the Earth to another point on the Earth..”

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/10/microsofts-new-data-center-in-a-box-will-use-spacex-starlink-broadband/

They’re calling it part of “a multi-orbit, multi-band, multi-vendor” approach to connectivity. That’s pretty cool, if you ask me.

It takes the whole bookkeeping in bunny slippers philosophy of “work when and where it works for you” to an entirely new level.

Make Sense?

jm bunny feet

J