Blog - Page 3 of 8 - Bellwether Technology

Cybersecurity Beyond the Basics: Compliance Frameworks

Posted on June 23, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

When it comes to creating a cybersecurity process that can consistently translate security expectations into actionable tactics, you need a framework. Frameworks are how regulations for data confidentiality and safety are communicated and enforced in many industries. For example, any company that gathers and stores information about your health or medical care must be compliant with HIPAA. What is a Compliance Framework? A cybersecurity compliance framework is a set of guidelines and best practices that enable consistency and clear communication about security expectations. Compliance frameworks communicate cybersecurity standards, but they don’t provide instructions for exactly how those standards should be […]

How Much Do Managed IT Services Cost?

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

When you’ve decided that managed IT services are a good option for your business and you’re evaluating different companies, you need to understand what’s included and what’s not included in their monthly fee. Evaluating managed services provider (MSP) costs isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison, so having questions to guide your conversation about what to expect as far as costs is imperative. Before we go any further, let’s identify a range for managed IT services prices. In general, you can expect to pay between $75 and $250 per user per month. That’s a pretty wide range, so you can see why you […]

Always Thorough, Always Prepared – Spotlight on Brian

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

Brian is known for being thorough. Whether it’s revamping a network closet’s cabling or getting answers to questions before they’ve even been asked, Brian likes to be prepared. This quality serves him well as an Escalation Engineer for Bellwether and the end result is that clients feel taken care of. According to Brian, there are a combination of factors that come together to create a client experience where people feel heard and attended to. One is the personal interaction. When he’s troubleshooting an issue, he likes to go directly to the individual to talk with them to find out exactly […]

Cybersecurity Beyond the Basics: Systems Hardening

Posted on May 19, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

What do cyber-criminals do when they need more computing power? They steal it, of course, and something connected to your network could be captured and enslaved in a global botnet army if you haven’t hardened your systems. This is what occurred in 2016 when a huge Denial of Service attack targeted high profile websites and hosting providers.* Here’s how it happens. A cyber-criminal searches the internet for devices that have weak, default or no passwords or other holes that can be exploited. When they find an open door, they confiscate the computing power and turn it in the direction they […]

Is My IT Company Understaffed?

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

When you’re disappointed with the service and results that you’re getting from your IT support company, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why but one reason could be that they’re understaffed. The decline may have happened over a period of years or perhaps you’re a year into your relationship and it’s become apparent that the IT company can’t deliver what they promised. Either way, when your IT company is understaffed, it shows up in your business as frustration, recurring problems, and plain incompetence. Is this happening to you? IT keeps fixing the same issues. We never know when we’ll get a […]

5 Ways Managed IT Services Solve Your IT Staffing Problems

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

What if your IT manager resigned today? What if two or more of your internal IT team needed time off at the same time? What if maternity/paternity leave for multiple IT staff overlapped? What if everyone in the IT department got food poisoning from the takeout meal they shared? We’re getting a little melodramatic here but the point that we’re making is that when you have a small internal IT team, you’re just one situation away from big trouble. How can you make sure that you’re always staffed even if something happens to pull IT staff away from their work […]

How to Evaluate a Managed IT Services Company

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

As a business leader, you might be hesitant to make a change with what you’re doing with IT because you don’t have the technical background needed to compare different managed IT service companies. If your goal is to augment your internal IT team, there will certainly be some technical questions that your IT manager will want answered. However, whether you’re looking for a co-managed or fully outsourced solution, what you, as an executive, really need to determine is: As you gather the information that will answer these two questions, you’ll be able to paint a picture of what it will […]

Cybersecurity Beyond the Basics: Penetration Testing

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

When you want to know if what you’re doing to protect your organization from cyber-attack is effective, you should check your security controls with a penetration test (or pen test). A pen test simulates what a real attacker might do to get into your network and capture the credentials and privileges that would give them ultimate power to do anything they want in your IT systems. Discovering if your systems can be compromised is a good thing for you to do if you’re a business leader managing risk. However, the need for a pen test may be dictated by someone […]

Account Management with Integrity – Spotlight on Michele

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

Every day is different and holds its own challenges for Michele, and she likes it that way because it keeps her thinking and learning. As an Account Manager at Bellwether, it’s Michele’s job to be the go-to person whom clients call on when they have questions about anything at all having to do with their Bellwether IT services. She may not always have the answer right away, but she’ll find it or get them to the people who do. In her role, Michele works closely with Bellwether’s vCIO’s (Virtual Chief Information Officers) to make sure that the lines of communication […]

All-Inclusive or Partial Managed IT Services: Which Option is Best?

Posted on March 29, 2022 by Merrick Sloss

When your business runs on technology (and whose doesn’t?) you need to be confident that your IT team has the expertise and bandwidth to do everything that needs to be done. Whether you have an internal IT manager and staff, or someone “good with technology” overseeing IT, there can come a time when you’re not convinced that what they can provide is enough. This puts your organization in a precarious position because when the balls start to drop, you’re going to suffer the impact. Impacts like downtime, employee and customer frustration, loss of competitive advantage, and even cyber-attacks. The good […]

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