Tag: remote access

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Help Your Business Streamline Operations and Bolster Agility

The landscape of information management is swiftly evolving, demanding that businesses prioritize enhanced efficiency and innovation within their IT infrastructure to attain peak performance and profitability. Cloud platforms emerge as indispensable allies in this pursuit, empowering businesses to streamline operations and bolster agility across various workflows, from finance to customer service and beyond.

In today’s technology-driven business environment, a modernized IT framework is imperative. While web-based applications and cloud-based software are often seen as panaceas, they frequently fall short of expectations, leaving businesses entangled in a web of inadequate solutions. The crux lies not just in software, but in establishing a robust IT foundation that seamlessly integrates applications and processes, enabling efficient data flow without the risk of errors or loss.

Cloud platforms not only facilitate seamless collaboration and remote access but also provide centralized data access, enhancing workflow efficiency and inclusivity (no more data silos!). Furthermore, the integration of connectivity solutions ensures smooth data flow throughout the system, minimizing errors and maximizing accuracy.

As businesses increasingly rely on interconnected data ecosystems, there arises a demand for professionals who are adept at navigating and optimizing these connections. Traditionally the realm of IT specialists, this responsibility is now shifting towards accounting and finance teams, reflecting the profound financial implications of every business operation.

Noobeh cloud services and Mendelson Consulting teams work with accountants, CFOs and operations professionals who wish to transform business activities into digital workflows and dynamic sources of intelligence and insight.

Using platforms such as Microsoft Azure, PowerBI and more, plus leveraging solutions such as Clearify’s QQube for QuickBooks, Noobeh helps growing businesses implement the platforms and services that support greater efficiency now, and which have the agility to adjust and adapt to changing conditions, ensuring future support and service.

Gone are the days when accounting and finance were mere repositories of historical data; today, they serve as frontline guardians of business viability. Microsoft Azure cloud platform and services from Noobeh, your business applications, and direct data integrations furnish businesses with real-time insights, transcending conventional silos of historical data and illuminating the intricacies of business performance.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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The New Not-So Normal

Millions of people are out of work. Restaurants and shops are shuttered… some permanently. Manufacturing production is largely halted, and the US economy comes to a screeching stop. “Essential” services are available and medical and service workers continue to perform their jobs, but things are anything but normal even for those who remain at work.

The global pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of daily life and it feels like uncertainty is all we can expect for the time being.

Change is a normal part of daily life – adjusting to varying conditions and forces in and out of our control. But the current climate of not knowing is something none of us has ever faced before.

We take certainty for granted. Our society assumes that things will continue to go pretty much the way they have. We’re used to operating within a standard set of boundaries, and we are just beginning to understand what happens when those boundaries which define “business as usual” go away on a global basis.

We understand that things can happen to disrupt daily life, but there is always somebody or something there that remains… something there to prop up the impacted. You think about global relief efforts where people from all over the world gather to help those in need wherever that need occurs. What happens when the need becomes global? That’s where we are now.

Never in my lifetime did I believe we would see the northern and southern borders of the US closed to regular travel. I wouldn’t have believed that we would see all travel to other countries restricted in some manner, not to mention the locking down of cities, districts, counties and townships worldwide. Essential businesses and their employees continue to operate in increasingly difficult conditions, and hoarders are pillaging the available supply of goods, making things unnecessarily difficult on everyone.

It is kind of like a bad horror movie with all the stuff to freak you out…

  • Global pandemic.
  • Researchers working feverishly toward a treatment or cure.
  • Borders closed and travel restricted.
  • Shortages in medical and other supplies.
  • Field hospitals being setup and morgues being overloaded.
  • Gun and ammo sales skyrocket along with unemployment.
  • Limits on goods available due to hoarding.
  • National Guard deployed to cities.
  • Politicians trying to appear sincere while they take advantage of the situation.
  • Fake news and fear mongering.

The real kicker is that we don’t know when it will end. Maybe things will be better tomorrow… or in a few weeks, which is more likely. But still things won’t be as they were before. Not for a long time.

But there are a few things we have learned already. One of them is that we need to better-prepare businesses to operate with some agility… to be able to find ways to continue doing business even when the workforce isn’t able to go to the office. There are always some jobs that must be done on-site, like grocery, restaurant, factory or warehouse work. But there are also typically administrative and support staff that don’t necessarily need to be present in the building in order to be productive.

Supporting the work-from-home or anytime/anywhere access models aren’t just luxury items any longer. It isn’t just a matter of offering options to make the job more attractive. Having a means to continue the operation and allowing workers to do their jobs while away from the office has become a business imperative. Schools are forced into distance learning models, and physicians have instituted virtual doctor visits.

Via remote is the way most things are getting done right now.

And it isn’t really just about having that option to work from anywhere or keeping social distancing in mind. Consider also the resilience of the IT infrastructure. With travel restricted and people operating under stay-at-home orders, getting on-site IT repair or replacement service may not be an option. On-premises systems are completely dependent on the facilities and if something goes wrong there may not be a way to address it.

There are a great many reasons why moving your systems off-premises and into a cloud hosting situation is a good idea. Creating predictability in IT costs is a big one. Increasing the fault-tolerance of the systems is also important, as is improving performance while not over-purchasing for possible future needs.

But right now, today, it is all about having the access your workers need while building a level of agility in the system to meet changing requirements. And I think we can all agree that things are changing, so adapting your business IT strategy to address change is no longer an option. That is one thing that is certain and it is our new normal.

Make Sense?
J

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Working from Home: Remote Access Capability to Address Coronavirus Concerns

Scanning electron microscope image of the  coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (blue) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. Image credit: NIAID-RML

COVID-19, as the new human coronavirus is now known, is spreading around the world and that means that individuals and families – and businesses – should prepare.

The Centers for Disease Control has said that it fully expects community transmission in the United States and is asking families to be ready for the possibility of significant disruption to our lives. This shouldn’t be a call to incite panic and doomsday scenarios, but it also isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Business need to consider how they will help keep their workforce working as symptomatic individuals quarantine themselves and others look to reduce their exposure in public.

Being at risk personally isn’t the only reason to prepare. Many will feel that the risk to them is small, recognizing that the disease is quite mild in most of those that become infected. But the primary reason to prepare is to help lessen the risk for everyone. Taking preventative steps to limit the spread of the disease is essential for everyone.

Prevention means doing more of what you should already be doing to help prevent the spread of any communicable disease…

  • Wash your hands
  • Cover your mouth when coughing
  • See a doctor if you’re sick
  • Avoid other people if you are infected or showing symptoms

This means staying home from work if you are even a little bit sick.

Look at what’s happening in Japan, a country known to promote spending long hours in the office as a crucial element to success. Authorities there are urging companies to break with that long-standing belief system. They are encouraging businesses to have their employees work from home to help limit the spread of the virus, yet most businesses aren’t prepared at all to handle a remote workforce.

Panasonic, NEC, and Mitsubishi are among the growing number of firms that have mandated or recommended remote work for tens of thousands of staff. The change is testing the ability of the nation’s companies to embrace a more flexible work style—overturning a workplace culture that dates back decades and values physical presence and endurance of long hours over productivity or efficiency. https://fortune.com/2020/03/01/coronavirus-japan-government-remote-work/

This is where cloud hosting services can be a big benefit for the business. Migrating the desktop and networked applications to a cloud-hosted platform allows the business to continue using the software and systems already working in the business, but to run them from a cloud platform that enables workers to access from anywhere… including from home.

Rather than trying to convert to web-based applications, requiring retraining of employees and conversions of data, businesses find great success in simply moving their in-house systems to an agile, scalable cloud platform that can be accessed via the Internet. Particularly when it comes to enabling remote offices and at-home workers, a cloud hosting approach is the way to rapidly move critical IT infrastructure out of the office, providing a means to support remote workers almost immediately.

Businesses find great benefits from hosting their applications and data in the cloud every day and without the pressures of global disaster and pandemic facing them. When the need to support remote and mobile workers becomes a work-from-home mandate, the business is already poised to meet the demand and still get the work done. It’s just another form of prevention for the business.

Make Sense?
J

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4 Rules of Thumb for Better Mobile Device Security

Security threats are everywhere, lurking in alley ways and around corners and even in your favorite coffee shop. Yet mobility is in demand, and people will use their smartphones and other mobile devices because it’s convenient, even if company policy suggests against it.

This is a big deal for IT and security professionals and CIOs, which is why it took a while for IT to recognize the need to address mobile device security rather than simply deny mobile device use. With data breaches, ransomware attacks, hacks and information leaks happening on an almost daily basis, businesses must find ways to protect their valuable applications and data from loss or misuse while at the same time enabling mobile device use.

The following 4 rules of thumb are not comprehensive but are four essential rules of thumb to help guide business owners in addressing mobility management and security within their organizations.

Rule 1: Make sure there are clear mobile device use policies and support them with ongoing administration and strict enforcement.

I can’t say enough about having good security and mobile device policies and keeping them modernized, relevant, and actually enforcing them. Too many businesses say they have a “security and use” policy in place, yet it is outdated and doesn’t reflect the actual tools or processes currently in use.  Even more frequently a business will develop a policy just to say it has one, but won’t actually train workers or enforce compliance.

Rule 2: Require and enforce strong passwords, manage access in real time, and force password changes with some frequency.

It is essential that all user access to applications or data be controlled at minimum by password-protected logins to the device and corporate resources coupled with periodic forced password changes. Users often prefer to not require passwords or other authentication for device access, but corporate policy should not only require them but also enforce their use.  Also, user access should be managed in real time, meaning that any aspect relating to access should be disabled or revoked immediately upon employee termination or reassignment. Too often these forgotten chores are relegated to after-the-fact IT administration, which allows users to access resources beyond their rightful boundaries.

Rule 3:  Do something to contain the applications and data on the device.

Whether the approach is with containers, cloud hosting, server-based computing or something else, it is really important to try to “contain” the applications and data accessed from the mobile device. Risk is created when users sync data directly to the device’s storage or install applications directly on the device to access corporate data. Password and other security measures prevent unauthorized access, but allowing applications, credentials or data to be stored directly on the mobile device allows those things to interact with other things on the device.  Containers, hosting and server-based computing models keep the applications and data within secured spaces, often not even storing essential items on the device but only accessing them via the device. This allows the business to provide users with the access and functionality they need to do their jobs, but also reduces the vulnerability of applications and information assets.

Rule 4: Keep device software up to date and download fewer apps.

Updating mobile device operating system versions and release levels is important to make sure the device has the most current security patches and threat protection.   Some mobile OSes even have capabilities which can help keep personal and work apps separated.  Limiting the number of apps users can download to their devices should also be considered. Users may randomly download and install applications to their devices with little regard for the quality or security of the app, and often accept terms of use without really reading them. Consumer apps from app stores may pose risks to data and the device, so IT should check regularly for problematic apps if the device is used to access the corporate network, applications or data.

Mobile and wireless are in demand

Just about every business has people who use their phones and tablets for some business use, and every one of those mobile devices and the apps running on them could open the door for a hacker, ransomware, data theft or compromise. While there are many benefits to be gained by enabling remote and mobile devices in the business workflow, unrestricted access only creates risk.

Keeping mobile devices secure for business use takes multiple approaches, as there is no single method or solution that works for every situation. Our 4 rules provide a basic foundation for business mobility management, offering a starting point for developing a more thorough and detailed plan.

Make sense?

J

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Channel Partners: Selling Telephony With a Side of Remote Access and Cloud Hosted Applications

Channel agents and telephony resellers are facing stiff competition these days. Line access or voice service isn’t as easy to sell as it once was, and the convergence of digital voice and data has made things even less simple. Business customers demand comprehensive solutions that can address a variety of business problems, and they tend to seek out those solutions from the advisors they trust. The “advisor” could be a software reseller, an accounting professional, the local IT guy, or the professional that delivered great telco, voice or network access.

Convergence isn’t only for voice and data solutions; convergence is the combining and compressing of channels delivering those solutions. MSPs and “pure” IT resellers are also feeling the squeeze, finding telecom agents and channels among those challenging the VARs and MSPs operating today. Marketing budgets are increasing, but differentiation is not.  Reselling is a crowded space and everyone has become a service provider. Having the right messages to win new customers and retain existing ones is essential not just for success, but for survival.

Once a channel partner or provider has established a solid customer relationship, it is important to capitalize on that goodwill (and develop even more) by delivering the other value-added services the customer needs. Access, connectivity and voice solutions are just a start when it comes to servicing small and growing business customers. Having come from an application hosting background, I am very aware of the demand for mobility and “always-on, always-available” computing services among businesses small and large. When the partner is working with the customer and is solving connectivity and telephony problems, the likelihood of successfully selling additional IT solutions to address mobility is quite high. The challenge has often been with the investment required for training and certification; development of new competencies which are viewed as diversions from the core business. Evolution of technology, markets and demand suggests that offering a broader base of solutions isn’t a diversion any longer, it has become a core requirement.

Secure remote access to on-premises systems, managed hosting on cloud servers delivering always-on service or disaster recovery, and collaboration tools that keep everyone on the same page – these are the solutions that savvy businesses are looking for, and which represent the additional value channel partners and service providers could be delivering to their valued customers. After all, if the customer can’t get what they need from their trusted reseller/advisor, they will find somewhere else to buy, removing their “advisor” from the mix. Most business owners would agree that it takes less to nurture and maintain existing customers than it takes to find new ones, so the investment in offering and delivering value-added solutions is well worth it.

The best way for channel partners to retain their customer relationships is to offer a full range of solutions and value-added services to meet the variety of needs of their business clientele.  MyQuickCloud, for example, is a highly successful partner solution and add-on for resellers of IP telephony services and line access. MyQuickCloud offers very flexible and affordable secure remote access and cloud hosting solutions that do not require investments in training or certification to resell, giving channel partners and telecomm agents the right stuff to beat out the competition and keep small business and growing enterprise customers happy and coming back for more. Partners leverage their expertise and creativity in developing solutions with MyQuickCloud, resulting in cost-effective and powerful network, application and continuity services not previously available.

MyQuickCloud secure remote access creates a secure business cloud from on-premises systems, with hosted or co-located cloud servers, or any combination of on-prem or offsite hosts. The on-premises capability leverages investments in existing infrastructure and adds value and capability to locally installed systems, a benefit which is not available with traditional hosting models. Able to be positioned as simple remote access, managed hosting or complete disaster recovery, MyQuickCloud gives channel partners a simple yet comprehensive approach to meeting customer computing needs regardless of the applications in use or mobile devices to support. MyQuickCloud is also used by installers and support technicians, enabling remote access to client on-prem systems, turning service and support into a more streamlined and efficient effort and improving customer service and retention.

I wrote an article a while back about how it all comes down to 3 applications for small businesses… applications to address fundamental business requirements. Among those requirements is the need to communicate.  Whether it be via voice or electronic mail or other means, every business communicates and every business needs communication tools.  Chief among the communication tools is the voice service (telephone), whether it be on-premises or hosted, digital voice or IP (not much analog out there anymore) or some combination of all of the above. Extending telephone systems to service a remote and mobile workforce or to connect multiple business locations is a high demand business and has proven to be very lucrative for many partners.  Adding value to these solutions by delivering remote access or hosting service simply increases the overall value of the system and allows business customers to take full advantage of mobile, connected and integrated working models.

Make Sense?

J

 

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The best first step to getting started with the #cloud might be to address #remote access and #mobility

The best first step to getting started with the cloud might be to address remote access and mobility

It can be a confusing and convoluted trip if the first steps to cloud enabling the business are not the correct ones.  Rather than stumbling about and approaching the problem with trial and error, it makes sense to start by enabling the solutions already in place, creating secure remote access and mobility for the desktop solutions the company has already invested in.

Extending workflows to embrace mobile workers and remote offices is the first step to developing an efficient anytime/anywhere business.  Once the organization has developed an understanding of how remote teams work best together and has put in place the processes and framework within which they will operate, then it make sense to take the next step to investigate new applications and tools which could further improve and streamline operations.

Address remote working and mobility first to better understand what the other benefits and impacts might be with cloud computing models in the business.  Then, when the business is operating from a more informed position, does it make sense to map the strategy to more fully embrace cloud technologies.

jmbunnyfeetMake Sense?

J