Category

Cloud Services

Jun 14
0

Cloud Security Needs to Be a Priority Focus

By | Cloud Services

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It’s inevitable that more and more operations are shifting to the cloud for data storage and network security. It’s efficient, cost-effective, and makes it much easier to employ a mobile workforce. But if you don’t know where your data is being stored or who owns it, your shift to the cloud can be fraught with risks.

Ensuring Cloud Security

The best way to ensure cloud security is to know where your data is and who has access to it. And in choosing a cloud service provider, the following factors should be considered:

  • Access to your data. Your cloud service provider should have adequate network availability to ensure you have access to your data in the cloud regardless of when or how often you need it. While not truly a security issue, if you can’t access your data, it’s no different than a denial of service, a cyber-attack, or a data breach.
  • Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR): Your cloud service provider should make backup and disaster recovery processes their highest priority. As a business leader, you need to have confidence in knowing that your business operations will continue even if there is a disaster – either at your location or at the location of your cloud services provider. Protecting your data is a full-time job.
  • Complete transparency. The cloud services provider with whom you choose to work should become a partner in your business continuity, working diligently with you to ensure your IT goals are met and taking the time to understand your specific needs, security requirements, and constraints.
  • Proactive security. Your cloud service provider should offer aggressive, proactive security by providing enterprise threat detection, which screens potential threats before they become a risk to your business by blocking malicious connections, blocking threats by malicious domains, and detecting and blocking threats from any compromised device.

thinkCSC has not only invested in owning its own cloud but has developed partnerships to enhance security and services that ensure our clients:

  • Avoid revenue losses from downtime
  • Enjoy the ability to predictably plan business development with an OPEX approach to IT
  • Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing their proprietary information remains private, secure, and in the U.S.
  • Are compliant with regulatory, industry, and corporate requirements

Every business has data in the cloud. To ensure your cloud security, contact us today.

Jul 17
0

Secure Mobility Is the Key to Productivity

By | Cloud Services | No Comments

file0001376718168There is nothing like a sunny summer day to remind you of why you enjoy the flexibility of being able to manage your business away from the office.

Today’s technologies make it easier to work anywhere, but if you operate a corporate or government entity, it’s not enough to just consider convenience; you have to consider security too.

Having secure, adaptable tools that allow you and your team to work from anywhere can improve productivity, help you attract new talent and ensure that the work of your business is complete, even when the pleasant weather is luring you away from your desk. thinkCSC offers a variety of tools designed to increase your freedom without sacrificing security.

Cloud Services: Anywhere Can Be Your Office

Put mobility in the hands of your team without risking your data. From hosted email that you can access from anywhere and any device to mobile device management that ensures a successful BYOD program, thinkCSC cloud services provide your organization with the necessary protection to let you offer flexible work programs with peace of mind.

VoIP FollowMe: Receive Phone Calls Wherever You Are, Provide Better Service

VoIP is more than just a phone system. thinkCSC’s hosted VoIP is a complete customer service system as well:

  • Assign dial-in codes that put clients in touch with your on-call team.
  • Set up calls so that voicemail is delivered anywhere that is convenient, from your cell phone to your laptop.
  • Maintain consistency across multiple locations, by having a single number with assigned extensions that reach your team members wherever they choose to have the calls delivered.
  • Manage calls and voicemails without sacrificing security.

SyncedTool: Collaborate Securely and Access Documents from Any Device

Most organizations recognize the benefits of using collaboration tools, and Enterprise File Synchronization and Sharing (EFSS) is becoming the norm. Even with the newest updates to Dropbox that allow you to share read-only versions of documents, the risk of relying on such a solution is extremely high. thinkCSC’s  EFSS, SyncedTool, offers enterprise-grade security as a foundation to the document-sharing-and-collaboration solution, and it’s all housed on a private cloud that we manage for you.

Lync:

To take mobility to new heights, thinkCSC has introduced Microsoft Lync to its collaboration offerings. Lync incorporates all of your communication tools and enables you to communicate with your staff over a secure connection from wherever you are.

Don’t stare out your office window and let summer pass you by. Escape and enjoy – and let your staff do the same – without losing productivity or sacrificing security. thinkCSC mobility tools give you the solutions you need to be flexible.

May 06
0

thinkCSC Adds Microsoft Lync to Collaboration Offerings

By | Cloud Services | No Comments

thinkcsc-lyncAt thinkCSC, we are always on the lookout for ways we can help our clients work more efficiently and cost-effectively, which is why we are excited to announce the addition of Microsoft Lync to our collaboration offerings.

Lync 2013 is currently available to those that are using CSCloud Hosting Services. CSCloud Hosted subscribers who have agreed to use Lync services will have full access to Lync 2013 for Windows or Lync 2011 for Mac. If you do not have Lync currently installed on your system, thinkCSC can provide you access to the full client experience.

The benefits of Lync are considerable:

1. Significant Increases in Productivity

Microsoft Lync, in combination with thinkCSC’s other hosted services, change the way businesses of all sizes communicate and interact. It is a true game changer, incorporating a variety of multimedia communications into a single tool that enhances productivity.

2. Global Connectivity

This software enables you to communicate with other staff members over a secure Internet connection from anywhere in the world:

  • Instant Message (IM) your colleagues over a safe and encrypted connection.
  • Integrate the software with your email account and Microsoft Outlook, the Outlook Web App, and SharePoint.
  • Voice Chat with one or more colleagues for quick conference calls to those who have a microphone.
  • Video Chat with one or more colleagues for quick face to face meetings for those who have webcams.
  • Share all or part of your desktop or share documents with your colleagues so you can easily collaborate, get help with a problem, regardless of where your colleague works.
  • Set up meetings and conference calls using Lync’s built-in meeting features.
  • Communicate with people outside of your organization using Skype.
  • Control Your Presence. Your presence tells others your real-time availability. Lync automatically sets your presence based on your activity and your Microsoft Outlook calendar.

3. Cost Savings

One of the most significant benefits of Lync is its ability to allow businesses with offices in different parts of the country or world to collaborate effectively without the need for face-to-face meetings, reducing travel costs and increasing productivity significantly.

Lync is truly a global communications solution, allowing secure communications with employees, vendors and partners.

If you’re interested in CSCloud Hosting Services or learning more about what Microsoft Lync can do for you, contact our team today.

Jan 14
0

New Storage Technologies Take Center Stage

By | Cloud Services

thinkCSC-NimbleFrom filing cabinets to wireless hard drives, file or data storage has always been a key consideration for any organization. Adequate, reliable storage is a critical means of protecting your data and that of your customers. As well, your choice of data storage directly impacts server and application performance, making storage a critical component of your IT infrastructure.

The storage industry is in the midst of its largest transition in more than 20 years. Solid state storage (also referred to as flash storage) is becoming standard in most new laptops and tablets. Established storage companies are racing to integrate flash storage into their legacy devices, and new storage companies are emerging with new designs for flash. These new storage technologies introduce staggering benefits: power, density and incredible speed improvements

thinkCSC has recently partnered with one of the most successful pioneering storage companies: Nimble Storage. Nimble has developed a unique way of optimizing the best of both disk and flash storage options into a simple, easy-to-use storage solution, creating a “Hybrid Storage” technology that we believe will provide a significant advantage to our clients.

Nimble vs. Traditional Storage: Performance

  • Nimble’s file system provides 50 times more performance than the traditional disk equivalent.
  • Hybrid storage offers speeds that rival flash performance but at disk prices.

Nimble vs. Traditional Storage: Simplicity

  • Nimble Storage setup takes less than an hour, and storage management is a breeze. We can add more storage in just a few minutes.
  • With Nimble’s cloud-based InfoSight, our storage array is monitored by Nimble support in real-time.
  • Using the InfoSight portal, we are able to track usage and performance data over time, providing you with much more transparency and information than with traditional storage methods.

Nimble vs. Traditional Storage: Data Protection and Security

  • Nimble offers near-instant data protection and data recovery with its built-in snapshots. Snapping data every 15 minutes with several months of retention gives us a very simple, yet complete protection strategy with very little space utilization. In the event of data loss, entire volumes or individual files can be recovered.
  • Since snapshots and replication are included for free, we can easily add an offsite array for offsite date retention and disaster recovery.
  • Nimble’s snaps require less space and provide extended retention capabilities without impacting performance, thereby offering a huge improvement over traditional storage technology.

If you’re interested in seeing how Nimble can save your business time and money while providing better data security and protection, contact our team today for a demo.

Dec 09
0

Support Remote Workforce without Sacrificing Productivity

By | Cloud Services | No Comments

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhile there may be a number of technical and administrative hurdles preventing you from getting work done, during this time of year, inclement weather and a variety of holiday disruptions make doing so even more difficult.

thinkCSC offers a variety of solutions to help you foster productivity during the holidays while allowing employees to work from home. And we can help you protect your data at the same time.

Not only will you be able to minimize security risks, fostering a remote workforce can reduce risk of personal injury due to hazardous commutes and can keep your team members happy through the holidays. All of this can be realized without sacrificing your business. The goals of implementing a successful remote workforce program should include security, ease of use and flexibility.

Improve Security with Controlled Access

When you allow staff to work from home, one of the biggest concerns you’ll have to address is information security. From ensuring your secure data doesn’t land in the wrong hands to keeping relevant data with the appropriate employees, SyncedTool is a cloud-based solution that allows you to control who can access what files. This tool even provides a remote wipe option in case an employee opts to take a permanent vacation.

Make Working Off-Site Simple and Seamless with Remote Desktop and VoIP

When an employee logs in from home, regardless of the device they are using, it should be a seamless experience. The employee should be able to have exactly the same data set at home as they would at work. A remote desktop allows your employee to have access to everything he or she would have at the office, without the company’s security being compromised. VoIP allows any customer to call your employee’s extension and have it ring through to their cell phone wherever they are.

Improving Worker Flexibility Is Good for Business

Bob Schulz, a professor at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, co-authored a book on the benefits of what Canadians refer to as teleworking. “It makes a lot of sense for not only corporate productivity but also reducing emissions, reducing accidents and also improving productivity. It really is difficult from an analytical perspective to see why companies aren’t encouraging more telework,” explains Schulz. Ensuring business as usual during the winter months can be one of the most pressing issues this time of year for any organization; however, allowing your employees to work from home and providing the means to ensure the successful launch of a remote workforce is a viable answer to this often bitter-cold challenge. And freeing your employees from the chains of a cubicle can improve productivity, loyalty and service.

When implementing a flexible work arrangement, whether this includes your whole staff or a single employee, the most important factors to address are the security of your data and the seamlessness of the experience. thinkCSC’s cloud solutions, including SyncedTool and Remote Desktop as well as VoIP, will help you develop flexible work policies that offer measurable benefit to the company without the risk to your data or your employees.

Aug 07
0

Lose DropBox: Get in Sync with thinkCSC’s SyncedTool

By | Cloud Services | No Comments

anchorthinkCSC has partnered with Anchor, combining thinkCSC’s powerful hosting and managed services with Anchor’s sync, sharing and collaboration platform to give partners unprecedented collaboration on a secure, locally hosted network. SyncedTool provides a distinctive and secure way for you to do business. Implementing SyncedTool will allow businesses to eliminate the need for VPNs and FTPs, which can represent a significant cost savings.

SyncedTool is a true business solution.

Dropbox vs. SyncedTool: Collaboration

SyncedTool gives employees the ability to collaborate on documents, as files can be opened and revised simultaneously from multiple sites. It is a powerful and secure collaboration tool. Dropbox will recognize only one version of a file; therefore, there are no shared files, and employees working on identical files run the risk of overwriting one another’s versions.

Dropbox vs. SyncedTool: File Access

Many companies have moved their files to the cloud or are giving serious thought to making the transition to a cloud-based collaboration solution. Whereas in the past most companies have relied on local file servers to store and revise documents, this method has proven over time to be inefficient. Yet another drawback presented by local file servers is that, while users can access a file server via a virtual private network (VPN) or using file transfer protocol (FTP), there is no offline access. This prevents mobile access and forces users to email themselves files, which presents both a security risk and a risk that the most current version of the document is not available to the entire team. Furthermore, users provided with access to the file server may also have access to your system. Utilizing local file servers is not only inefficient; it is an insecure way of doing business.

Dropbox vs. SyncedTool: Security

SyncedTool can be scaled to the number of users who are required to work internally. If you have 50 internal employees and only 15 need to work offline, then you only need to have 15 users added to the service. Employees and guest users can be added as needed; however, you maintain control over what documents may be accessed by each user. When employees leave your company, access may be restricted as necessary. With SyncedTool, you can remove employee accounts from the system and remotely wipe file access from computers and handheld devices.

Google Drive and Dropbox provide ways to improve file access and efficiency, but they do not provide network security, nor do they allow users to work on the same file simultaneously. With these solutions, a stranger hosts your data, and everyone uses the same encryption key. There is no way to track employee data usage or document access, and there is no revision history.

Dropbox vs. SyncedTool: Secure Hosting

External hosting also means that your information will be stored on a remote, third-party server, without the benefit of local administration. And should the remote server go down, your documents go with it. There is no integration with your business environment or applications. Ultimately, these external hosting services control your data (deleting revisions and files without your consent) and provide no true means of backing up or restoring your files. These hosting services are consumer solutions, not business solutions.

One of the primary benefits of SyncedTool is that if you do have an issue, you can call thinkCSC. A stranger isn’t hosting your data anymore, a neighbor is. Other offsite data hosting services may be free, but in the end, you get what you pay for. SyncedTool is an investment worth considering to empower your teams for better collaboration without sacrificing security and compliance. When choosing between Dropbox and SyncedTool, there is only one choice.

Nov 11
0

Physical Security Goes Digital

By | Cloud Services | No Comments

thinkcsc phys securityWhen you’re talking about physical security, the first thing that might come to mind is the “rent-a-cop” who drives around in his jeep, flashing a light on your building to make sure there are no hooligans hanging around. Of course, we’re not living in an 80s movie, and hooligans have been replaced by high-tech digital criminals. In this technological age, even physical security has become a digital endeavor – and one most businesses should consider, especially if they store valuable or sensitive data. What is digital physical security? Digital physical security covers everything from video surveillance to security systems, key card access systems to IP cameras – and it is the IP camera that is really revolutionizing the physical security industry. There are several advantages to choosing IP cameras over analog.

No Cables Required

Analog video provides composite outputs and requires you to run video cable through the walls between the camera locations and back to either a closed-captioned TV system or a digital video recorder. IP cameras, however, function more like IP phones, where the device uses network traffic instead of an analog signal in order to deliver feed to a network video recorder (NVR). In other words, with an IP camera, you can send the video to a monitor without running a bunch of cable to do it.

Offsite Monitoring Capability

IP camera security offers companies a much more robust system with the power to capture and save data. An IP camera security system allows you to capture the data in order to keep a history of your surveillance. It offers you the the capability of playing back the recorded data, and you can search for specific data if you need to. It can be delivered to an offsite monitor because you can deliver the video over your network and not have it hardwired to a closed-caption system.

High-Quality Video

One of the biggest advantages of the IP camera is the quality of video. You can think of the difference between analog and IP cameras as you would think of the difference between standard definition TV and HDTV. The resolution of an analog camera is D-1. The IP camera has a new H.264 video codec (the video encoder scheme). Commonly seen codecs are mpeg and QuickTime, but the codec for an IP security camera allows the video feed to be compressed in such a way that it does not affect the quality of the video but substantially affects the size. This ability to compress the video without losing quality makes it possible to send that video stream over the internet and over your network without having to use too much of your bandwidth to do it. It is a major evolution in physical security.

Superior Flexibility

The main reason to choose IP camera security instead of analog is flexibility. An analog camera uses a DVR, and DVRs are fixed appliances. It’s no different than the cable service you have at home for your television, which, until recently, required you to have a DVR for each TV – what you stored on the DVR in your living room could not be watched in your bedroom, and vice versa. When it comes to network security, an analog DVR is just like your old cable-box DVR, where you were locked to that one device for recording. There is no way to access one camera system from another device. There might be remote viewing software, but it still is locked to a DVR.

Every analog camera physically has to have a cable run to the back to the DVR system. You might have 30 – 40 cables running to the DVR from all of the analog cameras, and each building would have to have a separate system. Because IP cameras are network devices, instead of running hundreds of feet of cable, we can use switches to plug in the IP camera cables. The camera grabs an IP address just like your computer or VoIP phone would, and you are able to access the network and use NVR software on a server or a virtual server and – and here’s the critical point – access that feed from wherever you are. It makes adding additional IP cameras incredibly easy, and you can add cameras (just like VoIP phones) in a variety of different locations but have them feed back to the same NVR system. Corporate offices can monitor the physical security of their regional branches. The ability to funnel your physical security monitoring from your IP camera over the internet and utilize that network to access your video streams from a remote location is a real game-changer in physical security.

thinkCSC offers a cloud-managed hosted IP camera security service to safely archive and access your video from anywhere. For more information on IP camera security and how thinkCSC can help you, please contact us.

Apr 11
0

VoIP Makes a Virtual Office Work

By | Cloud Services | No Comments

csc_voipAre you still not convinced that you should convert your traditional PBX (multi-line) phone system to a Voice over Internet Protocol system (VoIP)? If your company employs a virtual structure, there are many reasons to make the switch. VoIP easily solves those pesky challenges that often plague virtual businesses.

Connecting Employees Anywhere

Do you have employees who work exclusively from home or in offices scattered across the country? With nationwide distribution, no matter where your offices are or where your employees work, VoIP can connect you. If you currently use PBX, you know that you have to use 800-number dialing hubs for each company location or employee work center. VoIP eliminates the need for that dialing hub.

Phones on the VoIP system are pre-programmed with a server address, and they use the Internet to place calls. No more dialing hubs or phone lines; VoIP just needs a working Internet connection. You can also get creative with VoIP and customize your system. A follow-me service can be extremely useful for those employees that work in multiple offices or travel frequently. VoIP can be programmed so that calls literally follow you where you go. For example, calls to your office phone can ring for one second, and the call is not answered, VoIP will redirect the call and ring your mobile phone.

One-Stop Voicemail

Along with managing multiple offices, employees of virtual businesses are often tasked with managing multiple mail boxes. VoIP allows you to contain all voicemails in a central location. No more checking multiple assigned voicemails on multiple phones or numbers. Again, because VoIP can be programmed specifically for you, your voicemail will go wherever you need it: your email, your home or work office, or your mobile phone.

Who’s Calling Me?

With PBX, you know the frustration of receiving an internal work call and not knowing who it is, because one central number is displayed. The nature of the PBX native-line format can often disrupt Caller-ID functionality, omitting extension or internal caller information on the display. VoIP preserves that caller information, and it can be as detailed as you need it to be. Because you can program VoIP to your own specifications, you can decide the call display and extension information that makes sense to you.

There is one wrinkle in both the PBX and VoIP system Caller-ID set-up: the lack of ability to relay appropriate information to 911. For example, if you have an employee working at home and his Caller-ID information is set-up to display the head office number, calls into 911 from that home office will direct emergency responders to the head office instead of the employee’s home. However, because of the ability to customize VoIP, it is possible to assign a unique number to each virtual office. Another option would be programming your Caller-ID information to display corporate information for outgoing business calls, but local information for calls to 911.

With VoIP, you can let your imagination run wild and customize the office communication system you’ve always dreamed of. If you’ve been thinking about converting to VoIP, the question isn’t “what can it do for my virtual office?” The question is “what can’t VoIP do?”

Call thinkCSC’s sales team to schedule your Technical Needs Assessment today!

Sep 21
0

Is Your Head in the Cloud?

By | Cloud Services | No Comments

thinkCSC cloudWe’ve talked about cloud computing before, but technology is an industry that moves quickly, and Cloud – or Sky – computing, is something everyone from individual computer users to CEOs and IT managers need to start considering as a mainstream component to the way you store data and provide solutions for clients.

In cloud computing, data and software are stored on servers, and devices like smartphones and computers access them through the Internet. The move toward cloud computing allows for music and video streaming, photo storage and sharing, and document retention. From a business standpoint, it can also mean improvements in efficiency and the ability to better collaborate on projects across the miles. As more people use gadgets with limited data storage, cloud computing may become an everyday convenience.

When Apple unveiled their version of cloud services to compete in a fast-growing market led by Amazon, Steve Jobs announced, “We’re going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud. Everything happens automatically and there’s nothing new to learn. It just all works.” Wall Street analysts say with Apple’s iCloud service, the foundation has been laid cloud computing to effectively transform the way we store, access, share, and manage data.

Many users are already using cloud services without knowing it. Turbo Tax, with its internet-based tax preparation, Google Picassa and Yahoo Flickr are all well-known examples of the cloud at work. Even Facebook is a cloud-based interaction application. To most users, it’s just a popular web site, but they have an element of cloud computing to them: All the games – Farmville, Wheel of Fortune, Gardens of Time – are internet based with nothing stored locally on a computer.

Concerns for security and privacy are valid. Apple, Google and Amazon offer plenty of security promises about their cloud services, but promises don’t stop people from worrying about lost documents or privacy breaches. On the other side, PC and laptops are vulnerable to theft, loss or unrecoverable data damage. One of the advantages of cloud computing from a user standpoint is that if your system is compromised, you can log in from anywhere and recover all of your information.

The cloud has some pitfalls and bugs to address, and as technology increases, the concept becomes more appealing to business owners who can see the advantages of information being accessible to team members wherever they happen to be in the world. When handled correctly, the transition is less challenging. Netflix (the lack of popularity of their new pricing structure not withstanding) is a great example of a company that rebuilt its applications from scratch and smartly designed a successful cloud platform. Security issues need to be addressed with a more holistic approach. Traditional security techniques and aggressive monitoring by IT departments effectively apply to the cloud as well as existing hosted products.

thinkCSC believes that the future lies in the cloud. We understand security, privacy and the benefits of web-based data storage, and offer solutions that can help you and your clients achieve your data protection and storage goals. The advantages of thinkCSC managing our own cloud provide our clients with a local option and better service – with the same engineers that know your network — as well as fewer security concerns. We are ready to assist you to move forward – and upward. Meet you in the cloud!

Jul 27
0
remote work

Expand Your Workforce with Remote Work Possibilities

By | Cloud Services

Do you remember how it used to work, way back in the 90s, when you wanted to hire someone with a specific skill set for your company? Before social media venues like LinkedIn changed the employment landscape forever, companies used to have to place ads in these archaic forms of communication called newspapers.

These newspapers only reached a specific audience: local readers who were actively seeking employment. It severely limited a company’s options. Of course, technological advancement brought things like Monster and CareerBuilder, and other online job search engines, so you could reach a larger labor pool, but companies then had the cost of bringing people in for interviews and paying for relocation expenses in order to be competitive.

The way people work and live is changing rapidly

As with everything in the tech industry, things change fast, and the last few years have brought a number of improvements to the way people work and live. Job seekers don’t use classified ads; in fact, they rarely use job sites anymore. Job seekers network, are comfortable conducting business over the Internet, and don’t need a tour of the corporate office to know whether or not you’re a good employer. It can be easier to find skilled employees who meet your criteria. For businesses, particularly in the tech industry, the biggest advantage of the changing nature of work is that instead of having to draw from the local labor pool, you can now draw from anywhere in the country they can find the talent – without having to pay relocation costs.

What does offering a flexible work environment and remote work options mean for your business?

With the right tools and security in place, such as hosted exchange servers, cloud data storage, and encrypted security protects your information, data, and intellectual property, you can change the nature of your workforce, reduce overhead costs, and improve efficiency. Not only do you have more options for hiring, but your employees don’t have to give up their lives and homes to work for you. Remote work environments give you the advantage of having happier, more productive employees who are more likely to remain loyal. It can also free you to hire contractors on an as-needed basis and avoid the costs of paying for salaries and benefits when work volume shifts.

Whether your employees work from home or are out meeting with clients and away from the office, working remotely adds efficiency and immediacy to your ability to service your clients. Your employees simply need access to the Internet to be able to collaborate on projects, access needed information, and complete work. In the long-term, it’s possible that the typical corporate office will disappear and be replaced by virtual companies with employees who connect from all over the world.

Will you be ready?

We can help – get in touch today.