IT Support in LA: The Future of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

The Future of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

A string of natural disasters and online attacks have prompted organizations around the world to establish and test their business continuity and disaster recovery measures. If you don’t have such systems in place or haven’t updated them in a while, our IT support providers in LA can help.

Here’s a look at what to expect for business continuity and disaster recovery in the new year:

A Push to Migrate Data with Prospective Threats in Mind

An increasing number of organizations are shifting toward being proactive against attacks and natural disasters as to being passive or reactive. Some will go as far as migrating data to avoid a specific threat. Business owners and managers are taking the bull by the horns, proactively planning for attacks, natural disasters and other forms of interference. Organizations will spend that much more time, money and effort attempting to identify risks that have the potential to hijack or ruin data. Preparation is now the name of the game.

An Increase in Cryptojacking and Ransomware

Ransomware attacks might be less random than in the past yet they are larger in scope. It appears as though cyber thieves are transitioning to targeting massive organizations as opposed to the small and medium-sized businesses that were in hackers’ sights this past year. There is an emerging shift in targeting those with large amounts of information.

Cryptojacking schemes appear to be on the rise. This attack relies on compromised websites to sabotage devices and pilfer cyprtocurrencies. Cyber thieves access the targeted cryptocurrency instead of waiting for a business to follow through on a ransomware ransom payment. Ransomware really does have the potential to cripple your business. If you aren’t prepared it is time to establish the proper defenses. Our IT support experts in LA are here to help.

Company Reputations Closely Tied to Crises Responses

Look for customers and entire communities to begin judging businesses by their responses to crises. That many more people will focus on how businesses respond after natural disasters, ransomware attacks and other digital threats emerge. Those that respond with grace under fire will win favor amongst the buying public, protect their brand and stay in business for the long haul. After all, a business that cannot protect its data should not be trusted with customer information. Some customers might even go as far as judging businesses by their level of community support following a crisis.

Is your business continuity and disaster recovery up to par? Do you need assistance with IT or other tech solutions? Our IT support team in LA is at your service. Contact us at Advanced Networks for more information about our company and services.

IT Consultants in Los Angeles Provides Necessary Disaster Recovery Solutions

IT Consultants in Los Angeles Provides Necessary Disaster Recovery Solutions

IT consultants in Los Angeles can be an integral component of disaster recovery. If you don’t have some kind of solution in place, you’re very likely to experience downtime. So, consider these questions:

  • Have you ever had downtime?
  • Can you afford to lose all your files suddenly?
  • When was the last time you experienced a system crash?

Downtime

IT consultants in Los Angeles providing disaster recovery can reduce downtime expenses, which are often substantial. If you only lose $1,000 an hour from downtime, then one eight-hour day of losses comes to $8k. 10 days like that in a year comes to $80k. If you can find disaster recovery solutions under $1k a month, you’ll find they pay for themselves many times over. If you’ve ever had downtime, imagine seeing that lost productivity essentially erased. With a cloud-based backup and disaster recovery solution, you’re going to see failover that reboots systems almost instantaneously. Data mirroring is one way this becomes possible. Basically, data is mirrored on the cloud, and when a system starts to crash, the mirrored network launches, allowing for continuing operations while whatever issue undermined primary systems are addressed.

Data Retention

You need to have data retention solutions that are continuously in play, because if you don’t, something could erase all your files in an instant and leave you no recourse. Consider ransomware, as an example. This is a program that holds your information for ransom under encryption. If you don’t pay the ransom, your files are destroyed, often within a 24-hour period. What’s worse is that you may be ransomed again if you don’t have a disaster recovery solution in place. Ransomware tends to hide itself and can be very hard to find once it has wormed its way into your systems.

System Crashes

Some businesses use data that must be maintained on-site for security purposes. Having a backup solution of this variety is commendable; but you’ve still got to test it as regularly as you can. When was the last time you had a system crash? Was it three or four years ago? Have you tested your backup recovery solutions since then, or have they remained invisibly operating in the background?

It’s absolutely essential to have a regular regimen of tests for your backup solutions. They’re no any good to you if they can’t restore systems when you need them most. This is especially true considering Moore’s Law predicts technology will double on itself every 1.5 years or so. This trickles down to businesses, for example, laptop purchased five years ago will be presently so anachronistic it’s near unusable. If you haven’t tested your backup in the last three to five years, you may not have one.

Securing Backup

IT consultants in Los Angeles providing disaster recovery through Advanced Networks helps you be sure systems are at their most secure in a perpetual way. You’re likely going to come against situations where tech doesn’t function as it should. Not having disaster contingencies in place is catastrophic. Contact us for backup solutions designed to avoid such situations.

IT Support in LA: Tips to Safeguard Your Data

Tips to Safeguard Your Data

One of the most common things IT support providers in LA do is help clients preserve digital assets in terms of information. Backup and data recovery (BDR) is an important feature here. It is getting to the point where not having such protection is actually a legal liability and you can be fined for it; that is the case with HIPAA, anyway.

Now, HIPAA specifically pertains to the healthcare industry. You may be in a business with no such government organization scrutinizing operations. But then again, that is more of an outlying reality than something generally defining most network-intensive operational situations.

Following are several tips to help you ensure disaster recovery solutions are comprehensive and will work how you need them:

  • Ensure that regular backups happen
  • Test backup systems comprehensively and regularly
  • Ensure backup copies are maintained outside primary facilities
  • Virus protection solutions must be contemporary and active
  • Make sure cutting-edge firewalls circumference your business

Ensure Regular Backups

IT support providers in LA can back up systems instantaneously through the cloud. Whenever new data is entered into a system, it is automatically backed up. However, this may be more expensive for some agencies, and additionally, such disaster recovery solutions can bog down the system. This is certainly intolerable for businesses that must use every ounce of technological assistance in daily activities. If you cannot use the cloud option, you want to have backups at least at weekly intervals; daily is better.

Test Backup Systems

You need to do full backups, which incorporate an entire data “restore.” This should be done at least once a month, if not once a week. Technology has a frailty that does not escape entropy. Components could easily break-down in a test backup server without you knowing it the day before a crash occurs. Again, it is generally more comprehensive and cost-effective to work with an outsourced IT solution. However, that may not be your prerogative. If you do keep backup solutions on-site, just be sure you test them.

Offsite Data Copies

You want to have a backup solution beyond your primary facility. Outsourced cloud computing can be this offsite backup. Additionally, you can keep hard drives in safe storage, or you can have an entirely separate remote backup server. Whatever option works best for you will be more than adequate. Keep in mind you can save more via the cloud.

Virus Protection Solutions

You need to have antivirus or anti-malware software available and operational. This should be the latest antiviral software, and it is not any good to you if it is not activated. So, ensure it is both new and activated— update (and patch) regularly; MSPs can help you manage.

Firewall

You need the latest in firewall protections surrounding your business. Technology transitions, no “static” firewall option will do; hackers always find a way around. Ensure you always have the latest firewall.

Disaster Recovery Solutions

IT support in LA through Advanced Networks can help you institute firewalls and virus protection of the latest kind, offsite data protection, assist clients in the test-backup process, and provide continuous backup via cloud computing innovations. Contact us for the latest in network protection helping safeguard an environment with expanding cybercriminal activity.