What is Managed Services?
Managed Services is a new way IT companies are helping customers maintain day-to-day operations by keeping their network up to date. IT companies that provide this service often go by the term MSP (Managed Service Provider)
Much like a car or house you need to maintain it, you change the oil, change filters, insure it, etc. With Managed Services you pay a flat rate per device each month and the MSP performs maintenance behind the scenes on your network equipment. What is included usually depends on the MSP and the pricing.
Why do I need a managed service plan?
Have you heard the terms Ransomware, malware, viruses, or attacks on a network; these often happen because computers are not being maintained properly. This is a list of few of the maintenance that should occur on your network:
- Update Microsoft applications
- Update Adobe products, FlashPlayer needs to be removed.
- Update Java if you need it
- Update your web browsers
- Update antivirus software
- Maintain good backups, this should include cloud based/offsite
Who at your company is looking at the maintenance? If you have to think about this, you are probably relying on the vendor to push updates. Your MSP pushes and verifies updates to various software applications, monitor backups, and can provide reports on problems. DK Systems can help with the maintenance of your network.
Will this protect me from an attack?
There is no way any IT company can protect you 100% from attacks, if they say they can, they are lying to you. What they can do is help reduce your chances of being attacked. Take a moment and think of organizations like the IRS, Equifax, Home Depot, and TJ Maxx. What do they have in common they are some examples of big companies that have been attacked successfully? These companies have teams of IT professionals dedicated to patching and securing their networks. Now I am not saying an MSP will not be able to protect you, but they can help reduce exposure and provide a solution to get you back up and running if something happens.
The idea behind managed services is you it provides your network with a layered approached to security. By having to get past several layers it decreases your likelihood of an attack.
What is meant by layers of protection for my network?
Before going into what is a layered approach, think about your house. You probably have locks on your doors and windows, blinds on the windows, motion detection lights, maybe an alarm that contacts the police, etc. Why? Like most of your home protected, without knowing it, these are steps to layered protection for you house.
Your office has physical security to keep people out. Let us look at your computer network are you using passwords, have antivirus installed, update your Windows when told to and backup your information. These are layers of protection, someone needs to figure out a password, after that they may try to send an infected file, and bad people try to exploit missing patches. A last resort is you restore from backups which the bad person did not know where to find this.
Many IT companies offer different services and different tools to help maintain the customer’s network. It would be a good idea to reach out to your current IT company and see what they offer.
How DK Systems does Managed Services.
Our basic package starts at $19.99 per computer per month, servers $10 more per month, what’s included:
- Our Managed Service software that applies updates, installs some basic applications, reboots devices, and provides us with reports on each device.
- Bit Defender Antivirus
- Remote control software
- Every five (5) machines include one (1) hour of remote support a month
The basic package is a great way to help reduce risks to your company’s IT network.
Advanced offerings
For those looking for advanced security solutions we have additional services available for an additional charge:
- Backup solutions
- Cloud backup for PCs and Servers
- Advanced backup solutions
- DNS Filtering, blocks access to malicious sites or block by category, Unified Threat Management (UTM)
- Realtime monitoring for malware
- Advanced AI Antivirus protection
- Security training for your employees
- Network Firewall protection, web filtering, Bit Defender AV, and Active Directory integration
- Office 365
- Advanced Spam Filtering
- Office 365 Cloud backup (Email and SharePoint)
- For compliance requirements:
- Internal and External network scans to look for security flaws
- Penetration testing
Ask yourself this question, if anything in my network is down, how long can I go without my internet, computers, and server?
Questions call today to schedule some time to discuss further: 414-764-4465