Category: IT Services Los Angeles

Data protection is critical for every industry today as cybersecurity threats become more sophisticated. IT services in Los Angeles are crucial to help protect your business against data loss. 

Every day, businesses and organizations fall victim to data breaches through malware, ransomware, phishing, and insider threats. Cybercrime is estimated to cost the world $10.5 trillion yearly by 2025. Herein are essential safeguards you can implement to prevent data loss.

1. Develop a Security-First Culture

It’s imperative to foster a security-first culture where data security is everyone’s shared responsibility. The human aspect is often the weakest link in any organization’s cybersecurity. Employees compromise data systems unintentionally or maliciously. 

Take a proactive and ongoing approach to training your workforce on data security threats and countermeasures. Communicate the impact of data breaches on the organization and hold periodic security sessions. Issue rules for mobile devices, internet browsing, email, and social networks.

2. Secure Database Access

Database security is one of the most important aspects of a data loss prevention strategy. You can secure your database through:

• Database hardening – disable services or features that you aren’t using. Limit privileges and user access to the minimum needed for business operations. You can also enlist an IT services provider in Los Angeles to conduct a security audit of your database.
• Managing database access – examine who can access what in your database. Limit the number of users with administrative access. Also, reduce dependencies such that one database vulnerability doesn’t impact the entire system.
• Secure authentication – implement strong password policies for database accounts. Utilize multi-factor authentication for administrative access.
• Secure communication – databases support several communication channels, including APIs and services. Ensure the communication methods are secured through encryption and authentication.

3. Encourage Password Security Best Practices

Passwords are the first lines of defense against data breaches. However, they are also the “front door” for cybercriminals. Implementing strong password best practices across your organization is a simple way to safeguard your systems from unauthorized access. 

Encourage all your employees to create strong, complex passwords. To increase password complexity, include punctuation, misspellings, alphanumerical character combinations, spaces, and symbols. Other password best practices include excluding personal information from passwords, using different passwords across multiple accounts, and changing passwords periodically.

4. Patch and Update Your Operating Systems and Software

Regular updates and patches are a critical element of any data loss prevention strategy. Cybercriminals exploit software vulnerabilities to infect your systems, leak sensitive data or modify data. Operating system and software updates protect your data from unauthorized access by fixing the vulnerabilities in the software. 

Update your IT infrastructure with the latest software versions and security patches. Also, don’t limit security updates to software patches. Adopt improvements and new features that strengthen your overall cybersecurity.

Conclusion

The importance of data security in today’s cyberthreat landscape necessitates external professional managed services. IT services companies in Los Angeles can help you conduct thorough system audits and implement proactive data protection measures. Advanced Networks understands the significance of data security and the impact it can have on your business. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you secure your data and manage your IT infrastructure’s security.

IT services providers in Los Angeles help businesses upgrade to the latest tech solutions on the market. Some are going to be more appropriate to a given business than others, but one which tends to be advantageous regardless of the business involved is VoIP, which stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol”. VoIP combines telephony costs with internet costs. Except for niche situations where there is no other solution, VoIP tends to be recommendable, cheaper, and more qualitative than landline phones–this is one of the biggest reasons why things are changing substantially in modernity.

Considerable Differences

In order to determine if VoIP is best for your business, you’ll want to do a little research. Generally, businesses large and small have a similar experience with this innovation. Some of the most considerable factors include the following:

Differences Between Landlines and VoIP

Landline phones require physical hookup. VoIP merely requires internet hookup, which can involve routers, satellites, DSL solutions, or whatever works for your primary location. Without VoIP, you’ll need landline tech infrastructure in addition to internet tech infrastructure. With VoIP, you just pay an extra subscription fee, basically, and whatever costs are involved with physical phones; you don’t have to bury an additional physical phone line.

Pricing and Sound Quality Differences

IT services professionals in Los Angeles also recommend VoIP in terms of costs, as it tends to be less expensive while including more features businesses tend to need. Now granted, there can be a slight declination in certain qualitative areas owing to the way in which signal is transmitted. If you’re having internet outages, you might have VoIP outages. This is negligible, though, and the benefits in terms of reduced price and added features tend to outweigh occasional outage issues. In fact, many businesses prefer VoIP quality over landline quality. 

Technology and Features

VoIP technology includes voicemail to email, which saves a lot of time and complication. Easier conferencing options are available, you can utilize “smart” call queues, “smart” monitoring, and many other features depending on the VoIP system you go with. All these things are superior to the majority of landline options.

The Remote Component

VoIP itself is internet-facilitated, so wherever you’ve got internet, you can access your business telephony system. This makes remote work a lot easier for everyone involved, which is key in a modern business environment that is increasingly decentralized.

Securing the Most Optimal Business Phone Solutions

Our IT services team in Los Angeles can help you determine if VoIP is right for your business. Remote facilitation, better features, technological innovation, pricing, sound quality; all tend to be superior through a VoIP telephony system. Contact us at Advanced Networks to learn more. 

Research shows that many businesses are outsourcing their time-consuming and intricate IT tasks to Managed IT Services Providers (MSPs). These tech experts are your best option if you want to grow and maintain your business while saving more on technological costs. An IT services firm in Los Angeles has their responsibilities to a business well-specified including, maintaining devices, testing, and installing the networks. They also maintain software systems that store, send, and receive data.

In addition to these skills, an invaluable IT support specialist should have other qualities that support their proficiency and professional expertise. Since different MSPs offer varied IT services, selecting the best fit for your business can be pretty challenging. In this article, we’ll highlight some important qualities of a great IT provider.

Technical Knowledge

Your IT specialist is responsible for taking a tactical view of your IT setting and aligning tech-based solutions with your business objectives and incoming opportunities. While there are different levels of technical expertise, an IT technician with substantial IT knowledge and experience can be an invaluable asset to your business. Hiring an experienced IT services provider in Los Angeles can take the strain of handling your IT infrastructure on your own, and the new tech skills and talent can significantly transform your in-house IT team.

Exceptional Problem-Solving Skills

As most businesses continue embracing the hybrid work system, it’s essential to scale your IT infrastructure and ensure your employees get the necessary tech support. Your prospect IT specialist’s job will primarily be about ensuring that all tech is running smoothly, preventing and fixing problems as they arise. A brilliant IT tech should be an exceptional problem solver. They need to be skilled and innovative enough to identify, diagnose, and solve the issue quickly to everyone’s satisfaction. Your MSPs should ensure that they are available when needed. While most MSPs provide 24/7 support through a team of specialists who are a phone call way and skilled enough to provide tech-related support remotely, your business may still need on-site IT services once in a while.

Proactive

A great MSP strives to prevent technical hitches from occurring in the first place rather than reacting to problems after arising. For instance, your tech specialist should swiftly bring the systems back up in case of a sudden downtime before operations are crippled completely. They should also monitor and detect any arising issues and inform you in advance to prevent your business from experiencing any significant setback and maintain a competitive advantage.

Should You Hire a Managed IT Services Provider?

Receiving reliable support from a good IT services provider in Los Angeles is vital to the success of your business. Great IT support prevents technical difficulties from increasing in addition to keeping your data secure. Hiring experienced MSPs allows you to focus entirely on other essential business objectives. Contact Advanced Networks for more on how to outsource your IT services for great productivity.

Greenhouse gas emissions occur when goods and services are produced and consumed. IT services providers in Los Angeles are now advocating “Green IT”. The direct impact that large-scale computing can have on global warming is getting noticed by investors, regulators, and customers. Interestingly, it’s also starting to factor into purchase decisions. In 2020, global emissions reduced by approximately 2 billion tons due to a decline in fuel usage in the transport industry. A recent IDC report predicted that cloud computing could reduce CO2 emissions by about a billion tons in four years. 

How to Limit Your Carbon Footprint through Cloud Computing

Estimates from recent studies show that in four years, 76% of data traffic via global data centers will be based in the cloud. As more companies make the switch to the cloud, a 2020 survey estimated that 41% of businesses would be running most of their operations on public cloud platforms before the year ends. Even as the cloud saves money, time, and space, how sustainable is it at reducing your carbon footprint?

Efficiency and Less-Bulky 

Most companies that use numerous servers only utilize about 5-10% of the energy. Switching to the cloud allows you to have multiple computers operating on the same server, thus saving on energy. This makes the server have an efficiency rate of 70-80%, making cloud computing to be the green solution to the reduction of carbon imprint. 

Economies of Scale

Centralized servers can be customized to operate optimally. The combination of separate company data centers to large-scale facilities is a key factor in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Large-scale facilities efficiently enhance cooling, power the most energy-efficient servers, manage power capacity, and increase server operation rates. Reduction of the carbon footprint will vary by geographical location, with the highest impact being seen in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Additionally, IT services providers in Los Angeles note that cloud data centers take advantage of the environment to reduce the energy required to cool the environment. As a result, more energy is spent running the equipment than on cooling. Setting up data centers near renewable power sources (solar, wind, etc.) can also help lower the carbon footprint. 

Commit to Reducing your Carbon Footprint by Switching to Cloud Computing

As the urgency of the climate change campaign increases, more companies are expected to join the global efforts and capitalize on cloud computing to reduce their carbon imprint. IT services providers in Los Angeles also seek new avenues to make data centers more efficient. Wondering how you can engage reliable IT services to make the switch into cloud computing? Get in touch with us at Advanced Networks. Our IT support team in Los Angeles will go over all your options with you and assist you in picking the best cloud solution for your business needs. 

Synching and sharing files while using a laptop and other devices is a reality for any remote employee. Using the cloud to upload files makes it easy to stay productive while working outside of the office. However, keeping a few IT security tips in mind is important to ensure this information remains safe. An IT services provider in Los Angeles can work with your employees to help them understand common safeguards to ensure your data always remains safe.

Here are a few tips shared by IT professionals to keep your data protected:

Use Strong Passwords

One of the first steps in protecting sensitive information is to require remote employees to use strong passwords. A password manager is a great option for handling multiple passwords. An employee will only need to remember the master code, while the password manager will automatically create secure passwords for each account.

Enable Version History

Another way to keep files safe is to turn on version history while synching files. Using this technology is especially helpful to avoid accidentally duplicating outdated files. A remote employee can go back at any time if they need to make any changes due to a mistake. Training employees on how to use this feature is a great way to make their jobs easier.

Manage Access Controls

Dealing with a data breach can devastate your reputation and make it impossible to regain the trust of customers. Turning on access control for syncing files is one way to protect your information, as it only allows a select group of employees to synch files while they are outside of the office. An IT services provider in Los Angeles can work with your team in determining the access levels for each worker.

Advanced Networks is one of the leading IT companies that offer state-of-the-art IT support services for small to mid-sized businesses in Los Angeles. Providing each client with robust security solutions is always our priority. Our team is also happy to answer any of your questions. Feel free to reach out to us to learn more about our IT services in LA.

It’s about time. IT department is gradually developing from a service provider to a business innovator, straightforward and smooth. Unfortunately, the reality is usually different – this development process is hard work for everyone involved. In 2021, this has been the focus of leading providers of IT services in Los Angeles.

New demands on IT

Today, users of communication solutions expect different technologies such as communication, directory and messaging systems, video and web collaboration to be integrated into a uniform platform. These products should be able to be ordered, operated, and administered over the Internet.

IT plays a decisive role in saving process costs (i.e., in the “bottom line”) and expanding sources of income (“top line”). To do this, the IT sector has to give up the role of a mere accomplisher and become an engine of innovation.

The overall picture of IT is made up of three dimensions: Operational Resilience (Ability to deliver), Business Intimacy (relationship with the business units), and Innovation Leadership (support for the further development of the business). Every improvement that is achieved in one dimension expands the scope of IT as a whole.

If an IT department wants to be a business innovator, IT services professionals in Los Angeles stress that it should first offer reliable and good IT support. Flagship projects in the IT sector that are intended to deliver added value must directly impact the top or bottom line.

The added value for the company can result from different factors:

• Expansion of market shares
• Cost reduction
• Shortening the “time to market.”
• Expansion of distribution channels
• Expansion of the range of services and
• Intelligent interpretation of business-relevant information

Operational resilience is the combination of excellence and flexibility in the provision of IT services. It creates trust in the efficiency of IT. It is thus a basis for the further development of IT in the direction of Business enablers or even business innovators.

The next dimension, known as the “business enabler”, assumes that IT contributes to the automation of the business model. In addition to supporting business processes with values and data flows and information about the business itself, it is about automating core processes and keeping an “Enterprise Ecosystem “that integrates partners and suppliers.

For IT to become a “Business Innovator”, it should ensure that it is directly involved in the product life cycle. For example, when defining performance features, integration solutions, or operator models, when it comes to the requirements for serviceability, or when testing communication solutions.

The internal IT services are obliged to support the leaps in innovation in the business model and product. What does it look like in detail?

• Define goals and evaluate the situation
• Create suitable structures
• Promote change with concrete initiatives

The fundamental trust of decision-makers and employees in the efficiency of IT and the development of new skills in the IT area form the foundation for a successful transformation. This requires employers and employees to discuss things on an equal footing, understand the business model, add value, and make it credible.

Do you want to get the most from your IT infrastructure? At Advanced Networks, we provide top-range IT value optimization services in Los Angeles. Contact us to learn more.

A virtual data center is an alternative way to host your information without the need for on-premise infrastructure. Working with an IT services provider in Los Angeles is a great way to experience the many benefits of using a virtual data center for your business. Learning more about how to take advantage of these services is well worth it for any company. Here are a few of the main benefits of using a virtual data center with the help of an IT provider.

Scalability Options

One reason to consider a virtual data center is that it’s highly flexible. You can easily add or remove virtual components with only a few clicks of a button. Using this technology is great for expediting release cycles and improving project turnaround times due to its scalability.

Less Downtime

Another reason to consider using a virtual data center is that it can help your company keep downtime to a minimum. Working with an IT services provider in Los Angeles is a great way to fully take advantage of this technology, as these IT professionals are always available if you have any questions or need technical assistance at any time.

Cost Savings

Finding ways to keep costs down is always a top concern for businesses. One way you can save your business money is by implementing a virtual data center. These cost savings can be wide-ranging, as you won’t have to spend resources on new hardware, maintenance, or spend additional money on electricity due to everything being available on the cloud.

Easier Management

Using a virtual data center is much easier than trying to manage everything on your own. The cloud provider is responsible for maintaining the infrastructure, which saves you a lot of time and allows your employees to focus on other tasks.

Advanced Networks offers IT servicesfor small to mid-sized businesses in Los Angeles. Our IT team can help you take advantage of the latest technology, such as learning more about the many benefits of a virtual data center. Reach out to our IT support team in Los Angeles to learn more about our services!

IT services professionals in Los Angeles advise small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that it would be very wise for them to initiate digital asset defense specifically designed to rebuff the latest cybercriminal attacks. Hackers and other cybercriminals often target SMBs owing to their vulnerability.

How to Protect Your Business

Owing to the cost of cybercriminal protection and the perceived lack of desirability for hackers, many SMBs incidentally leave themselves wide open. However, costs are a real issue. What’s the best move? IT companies in Los Angeles recommend the following:

Outsource Tech Management

First, find some sort of security solution that’s not orchestrated in-house. It is advisable to outsource IT management and security to IT services professionals in Los Angeles that specialize in such solutions proactively, understand what the dangers are, and can provide you with requisite security solutions.

Educate Staff Pertaining to the Latest Threats

Outsourced IT solutions may even be able to help you more efficiently educate staff in terms of best practices overall. Tech threats are in constant flux, as they trail behind technological developments. A system perfectly protected from 2015 threats will be wide open to cybercrime tactics in 2021 and 2022. Keep staff up-to-date so they know what to look out for.

Install The Latest Protective Software, Monitor Operations

You should secure and install the latest protective software. This includes patches, antivirus software, and associated programming. Also, as it’s feasible to, you should have a team who monitors network operations overall. Sometimes despite the best protections, hackers slip through. Monitoring catches their anomalous activity.

Keeping Digital Assets As Secured As Is Feasible

Our IT services team in Los Angeles can help you with tech management, effectively educate staff pertaining to the latest threats, and assure the most effective protective software is available on your network. Also, we can help you figure out how best to monitor operations. Contact us at Advanced Networks for more information.

Are you aware thousands of hard drives crash every week in America? That means a business can lose 100 percent of its data if it doesn’t do regular data backups. Here’s how hiring an IT services provider in Los Angeles to handle your backups saves you time and money.

Investing in Digital Storage Hardware

A simple option for making data backups is to use external hard drives, making it easy to retrieve files when you need them. These devices include USB Flash Drives for portable convenience and network storage drives for stationary systems.

Setting up and configuring a local computer network takes more time and expertise, which is why it’s helpful to consult with IT support experts in Los Angeles.

Make Regular Backups of Your Data

An IT services provider in Los Angeles can ensure copies are always available of your most recent critical files and applications. That way, you don’t need to comply with cybercriminals if your system is ever breached with a ransomware attack.

There are different ways to back up data depending on your hardware and software systems. Microsoft Windows users simply need to click the Start button then follow this path:

Control Panel > System Maintenance > Backup and Restore

This option requires doing a mass backup rather than for individual files. For Mac OS users, backups are made in Time Machine through this path:

Select Backup Disk > Choose External Drive > Use Disk

Time Machine will then make automated backups if the drive remains plugged in.

Store Data Offsite

It’s important to store your backups in at least one offsite location to avoid damage that might occur onsite from a natural disaster. Many businesses choose cloud-based data centers for this option.

Conclusion

It’s advantageous for any business to invest in both IT services in Los Angeles and strategic data storage solutions. Protecting and backing up your data can prevent your business from collapsing overnight due to a cybersecurity breach. The challenge moving forward for all businesses is to prepare for data disasters so that they don’t become too costly. At Advanced Networks, we can help you secure your data with our data backup services. Contact us now for more information.