With apologies to Thomas Jefferson, not all IT support plans are created equal.
Selecting an IT services company can be daunting, you need secure managed it service providers to produce what you need daily. To deliver on your mission and keep your company’s promises, it’s necessary to manage and protect the systems that you and your staff depend on each day. Let’s face it, when you arrive at work, one of the first things you do is boot up your computer and go online. Your network is an essential hub of information and connectivity that is necessary to complete your daily tasks.
IT service management might be better served by an expert with a diverse set of IT skills. Hence, if your company has a mixed environment with Windows and Mac OS devices, you can outsource it to an IT management company like BFA Technologies, Inc., (that has managed mac services before) to get better device management support.
Over the past several years, in response to the success that hackers have had in gaining access to our personal data and key information, we have all had to modify the way we approach our IT systems. If you’re using the same strategies that you employed five years ago, then you are vulnerable, and you need to change your security plan. For those of us in the IT support field, that change has come in the form of our service offerings: we now offer Managed Service Plans or MSP. An MSP is a comprehensive combination of services designed to prioritize security without negatively impacting productivity.
Most IT support firms have made the transition from providing ad hoc, on-demand IT services to being Managed Services Providers or MSP’s. Modern MSP’s have developed a suite of services that we know small and mid-sized businesses require in order to keep their systems functioning. However, it is important to be aware that there are significant differences between MSP’s.
For example, a good MSP will provide support for your firewall system. A firewall is a device that sits on your network between your Internet services and your internal systems. As the name implies, a firewall provides protection between you and the outside world. A firewall is a critical component in the list of services that an MSP provides; however, like every item on the list, the degree to which each provider delivers on those services can vary considerably. Some MSP’s simply apply the standard blacklist to firewalls to ensure that your network is protected from the known problem Internet locations. When evaluating your prospective vendor, you should understand the steps they take to “harden” your firewall. Proper configuration of the shield between your critical data and the outside world ensures that your internal security policies are supported by your network appliance.
Understanding your business needs first and then ensuring that your technology supports your mission and goals requires close collaboration and regular, effective communication with your IT provider. It is critical that you understand whether your MSP is delivering the custom, business-oriented solutions that enable your organization to meet its objectives. Thus, whenever you do decide on getting in touch with an MSP (similar to the ones providing IT support in Boise) for your business, it becomes prudent for you to be clear about the needs of the company and communicate the same to them.
Over the next several months, we will use this blog space to highlight each of the services provided by MSP’s to help you better evaluate Managed Service Providers and the components offered within their Managed Service Plans. Like so many other things in life, the devil is in the details.
Nick Eckman joined NetCenergy in 2016 from an international gaming company. Nick’s experience with supervising and implementing secure, fiber and copper wire infrastructure services provides our clients with a team of highly trained and experienced technicians. In addition to the skills required to manage our infrastructure services department, Nick brings a very experienced and focused approach to project management and is a stickler for accurate documentation for every project designed and built by his team.
Peter Lachapelle joined NetCenergy in 2015 and is responsible for leading all of NetCenergy’s operations and accounting functions. Each department within NetCenergy reports through Lachapelle. He brings his years of experience to maintain a pragmatic, efficient, client-focused team at NetCenergy. Lachapelle joined NetCenergy after completing a 27-year career with a Rhode Island, federally-charted bank which culminated in his senior management position as COO and CFO for the bank.
Peter Nelson has 25+ years of technology and management experience and has been with NetCenergy since inception. Peter serves as the VP of Engineering at NetCenergy. His role consists of managing the engineering staff, driving the companies technology strategy, and ensuring NetCenergy keeps up to date on new technologies and solutions.
As a Founding Partner, Dan is a result oriented individual who is always focusing on what is best for his client. He understands that business applications empower an organization and that technology must support those critical business applications. Dan’s technology career started in 1990 at EMC Corporation. Through the years, he has represented technology and consulting services for several organizations until 2003, when he and Don Nokes founded NetCenergy.
As President of NetCenergy, Don is responsible for ensuring client satisfaction, overseeing overall performance, and for providing direction to the organization. Prior to co-founding the firm with Dan Charland, Don held senior leadership positions with IT service firms ranging in size from $3 Billion to $10 Million in annual sales.
With decades of hands-on HR experience, Margery Ahearn is our Director of Human Resources, overseeing all hiring of new positions for NetCenergy with a careful eye on sourcing technology savvy engineers and skilled office-based professionals who fit our company culture, understand our commitment to our clients, and bring their time and talents to our team. Margery has both a BA and MBA in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.