LSeven Solutions Blog

Just over a third (36 percent) of businesses don’t back up business data at all, and apparently this number isn’t keeping some IT providers up at night (not the case for us). Your businesses’ data is precious, irreplaceable, and extremely expensive to lose. Let’s talk about how delicate and dangerous it is to not have it backed up.

Whenever you install software on your computer, you agree to certain terms put in place by the developer or vendor. Even free software, such as Google Chrome and Firefox, have terms that the end-user opts into during installation. One of the most important terms business owners need to be aware of are those that pertain to software licenses; if you aren’t, someone else will be.

How big a role does security play in your business’s network management? If it takes a secondary role more in favor of operations, you might want to reconsider why this is the case. After all, your organization’s critical assets--namely sensitive data like employee information, payment credentials, and usernames or passwords--all hold immense risk for exploitation from hackers. Therefore, even if you don’t fear a potential attack, you should at least consider it as a possibility.

It’s a far too common scene in businesses: an employee is working on an important project when their workstation starts acting up. Flustered, they call in the IT department, but they won’t be able to make it up to them for an hour at least. So, what’s a worker to do? Just sit there and wait? With a Help Desk solution, this wouldn't be an issue.

A business’ critical operations aren’t something that can be casually postponed. Therefore, any issues that present themselves must be attended to as quickly as possible in order to avoid wasted time and lost productivity. A Help Desk solution allows an employee to call in the cavalry, so to speak, the moment something begins to go wrong.

Once the employee contacts the help desk representative, the underlying issue can be identified, rooted out, and resolved. This can all be accomplished without disturbing other members of the business. The employee’s coworkers will not need to be disturbed by a member of the IT team coming up to troubleshoot the problem, and IT will have one less distraction from their innovating responsibilities to deal with this problem.

Finally, the employee will be able to return to their work much more quickly and easily than they would otherwise--minimizing the effects of the issue on all fronts.

If a comprehensive Help Desk solution sounds like it would be a welcome addition to your support, let us know! Reach out to us at (954) 573-1300 for more information today.

When it comes to a business being successful, it’s only natural to eliminate any wasted expenses and focus on those that can serve multiple purposes. Many businesses are very good at doing this, but they overlook a great opportunity to cut costs through the consolidation of their telephony system.

While at first glance, a telephone may seem to be just a telephone, this communication technology is not quite so cut and dry. More and more businesses have embraced a Voice-over-Internet-Protocol approach to handle their voice communication needs, with benefits that have a very real impact on their business. Let’s go over some of the ways that VoIP can directly assist your organization.

Significant Cost Savings
First and foremost, a major benefit to VoIP is the fact that it can take a considerable chunk out of your operating budget by eliminating some or all of your existing telephone bills. Since VoIP uses the Internet to send and receive sound, you have the potential to save in the long term.

This is helped by the fact that many VoIP solutions don’t require particularly specialized hardware, meaning that you will not only be saving on the phone bill, but in some cases, you might not need to replace all of your existing equipment.

Record-Keeping and Collaboration
Both the ability to document what progress has been made and the ability to work cooperatively with teammates are crucial to a business’ success. VoIP can enable a user to do both of these things. Whether it’s used to hold a meeting, recording what was discussed, or to allow clearer communication between two coworkers working on the same project from different locations. Either way, VoIP assists in keeping the lines of communication clear.

Convenient Utility
With the right setup, a VoIP line is extremely adaptable to the needs of the user. If a user has many virtual phone numbers for whatever reason, they can all be set to ring on a single headset. On the flip side, a single number can be set to ring on assorted devices, and any device can be set to forward the call to another, based on time of day. Calls can even be sent and received by smartphones.

Therefore, for a busy business owner, VoIP is an excellent option if they’re looking to stay connected to their business. L7 Solutions can help you set up this option in your business. Give us a call at (954) 573-1300 for more.

Business owners require ubiquitous access to certain information stored on their organization’s infrastructure. Thus, there’s an immediate need to safeguard this data from any sort of impending destruction. We’ll discuss ways that you can prevent the worst when it seems like your data will fall victim to a loss incident.

Do you understand what the event logs of your network are, and how they keep your organization secure? If not, you could be ignoring one of the most basic components of network security. Event logs are important for spotting significant issues on a workstation or laptop.

They say that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and matters of cyber security are no exception. Threats will often follow trends, and so by reviewing what has happened in the past, we may be able to glean some insight into what will be important in the future.

When your technology breaks down, can you rely on your IT provider to be there in a moment’s notice? What if you need someone to talk you through a troubleshooting procedure? During the weekday you expect them to be available, but what if you’re burning the candle at both ends over a weekend to finish an important project? Furthermore, your office might be closed, but your IT infrastructure still needs to be attended to.

Too many businesses suffer due to issues with their information technology. The IT department, that is supposed to be innovating, is just too swamped down solving immediate technical problems to do so. However, if left unchecked, having an IT management deficit could swiftly create larger problems throughout your organization.

When it comes to using technology to improve your business, it’s hard to beat the benefits that cloud computing provides. The cloud can help to boost your functionality in a variety of ways. As a result, cloud technologies have seen explosive adoption rates--and it’s no wonder, when you consider what the cloud is capable of, and how it can benefit your workforce.

A small business is just as susceptible to the many problems that face large enterprises, and the dangers only multiply with the more technology you implement in the office. The larger your network gets, the more difficult data distribution and storage becomes. The more employees you work with, the more devices that will appear in the office. The more data you work with, the more likely you are to get hacked. These are all very real risks. What are you doing to protect your company from these threats?

Let’s say that you receive an email from a software vendor, say, Microsoft. When you are contacted by a major company like this, do you automatically assume that it’s secure, or are you skeptical that it’s a scam? Ordinarily, it might not seem like a big issue, but all it takes is one click on an infected attachment or malicious link to infect your business’s infrastructure.

New technology paves the way for businesses to leverage their resources in exciting ways. Of course, it’s impossible to take advantage of these benefits if you don’t even know these new technologies exist. Therefore, to help you achieve an edge over your competition, consider how these four new technologies can enhance your business model.

While news sources might lead the layman to believe that most issues facing the typical SMB come from cyber criminals lurking online, the reality is far less dramatic. However, this misconception makes these issues no less serious, and still things to prepare for. Let’s review some of the most common causes of technological issues in the office environment.

The online business environment is a dangerous place, especially with threats such as viruses, malware, and worse, all hiding in plain sight. Organizations need to take advantage of comprehensive security solutions that can cover all modes of attack, but finding an affordable enterprise-level solution can be challenging for SMBs. Thankfully, a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution provides comprehensive coverage that today’s businesses need.

To help you out, we’ll discuss the four key UTM features in detail, including how each part contributes to your overall network security.

Firewalls
You can think of a firewall like a bouncer for your network. A firewall is essential for every user to have, especially those handling corporate data. Firewalls analyze the data flowing into and out of a network. This helps to ensure that only data that’s safe enters your organization’s IT infrastructure, while keeping threats locked out and promptly eliminated so as not to spread across your network.

Antivirus
In comparison to the firewall, antivirus solutions focus on eliminating threats that have already made their way into your network infrastructure. With the proper threat definitions, antivirus can detect and eliminate most known variants of threats, such as viruses, malware, spyware, and more.

Content Filtering
Content filtering is another preventative measure that focuses on keeping threats from entering your infrastructure. Content filtering looks at which sites your employees are accessing in order to determine whether or not dangerous content is being accessed. This includes sites that host malware or other malicious code on their web pages. Furthermore, content filtering can be used to limit user access to specific sites, which is exceptionally useful for problem employees who can’t stop browsing social media or watching pornography in the workplace.

Spam Blocking
Again, this is another preventative measure that keeps threats out of your email inboxes. For hackers, email is the preferred mode for a variety of attacks. Malware and viruses, and in particular ransomware, are all spread via infected email attachments or malicious links found within the body of the message. Spam blocking solutions keep these messages from hitting your inbox in the first place, practically eliminating the risk of user error.

Considering how a UTM takes advantage of these four solutions by consolidating them into one convenient package, it is without a doubt the best way to protect your organization from the threats found on the Internet. The end result for businesses is a much more secure network that’s suitable for getting work done.

Of course, due to the fact that no one solution can fully cover the security needs of every organization, you’ll first want to have IT professionals assess your network’s needs before implementing a solution like UTM. L7 Solutions can do this for you and equip your network with the right-sized UTM model, or even point you toward a different security solution altogether. For help selecting and implementing a security solution that hits the mark, contact L7 Solutions today at (954) 573-1300.

Social media is a phenomenon that has invaded the business world in more ways than one. While it might be a great way to endorse your brand and communicate with your local prospects, it can be a huge distraction for your in-house workers. A new study by communications agency, We Are Flint, claims that 84 percent of adults in the UK use social media, and two-thirds of them use it every day--be it at the office or at home.

Your business relies on technology to keep operations moving, but your technology relies on you to stay functional. While many small businesses will choose to forsake an in-house IT department in favor of a self-service model, this is a costly maintenance practice that could put your IT in jeopardy. Instead, your organization should invest in our managed IT services, which have the possibility to show your business an entirely new way of managing technology assets.

Instead of taking a break-fix approach to IT, managed technology services take preventative measures to keep problems from escalating into major disasters. Here are three ways that managed IT services can help your business.

Cost Savings
One of the biggest ways you can save on your IT is by implementing managed services. Due to the way managed services work, you get a service for a monthly fee. Now, compare this to the usual way of managing technology. When your technology breaks, instead of reaching out to a company that can diagnose and fix your problems for a steep cost, a managed service provider can administer the care needed as per your service level agreement.

Furthermore, the majority of problems can be prevented through careful maintenance and management, which is something that a break-fix IT provider won’t tell you. After all, they profit from your technology consistently breaking down. Managed IT providers want to save your business money through preventative maintenance. This means minimal hardware replacements, as you’ll only need to replace technology that’s in danger of an imminent failure.

Less Wasted Time
Chances are that you don’t have an internal IT department, and even if you do, it’s probably buried in work that nobody has time to get to. When there’s too much work that needs to get done, it’s easy to accidentally cut corners in order to guarantee that something of critical importance doesn’t go unanswered. One of the most frequent cut corners could include the administration of patches and security updates, which are crucial if you want to keep your business safe from online threats.

Managed IT services give your administration or internal IT department a break from constant technology maintenance. Instead, the responsibility is outsourced to an MSP whose sole responsibility is the upkeep of your technology solutions. This lets you stay focused on operations without worrying about your technology.

Peace of Mind
We mentioned that some companies leave the management of technology up to their employees, but we failed to mention how dangerous this can be. When you have untrained employees working with complex machines like workstations or servers, the chances of user error skyrocket. This can lead to downtime and other problems that could hinder the productivity of your organization.

The biggest benefit of managed IT services is that you know for sure that your technology is being handled by professional, proven technicians. This virtually eliminates the possibility of user error stemming from large technology revamps or maintenance projects. When a project is done right the first time, everyone benefits--especially your bottom line.

If your business wants to cut down on the amount of expenses and save on capital costs, managed services are the way to go. L7 Solutions can provide a number of managed services designed specifically for your business. To learn more, give us a call at (954) 573-1300.

Now that mobile devices have taken over the workplace, you need to consider the security of your business’s data more than ever before. You need to think about which devices access certain data, as well as what they do with that data. In particular, you need to make sure that only your employees can access corporate information, and there are several ways to do so.

When it comes to cloud computing, the small business has plenty of choices. There are several different types of clouds, but depending on your business’s specific needs, you can narrow it down to three: the public, private, and hybrid varieties. Many businesses are finding that the public cloud is a more valuable asset than a private or hybrid cloud. We’ll dig into the details and explain to you what these benefits could mean for your business.