Windows Vista support is ending - Good Riddance

After April 11, 2017, Windows Vista customers will no longer receive new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates from Microsoft. Microsoft has provided support for Windows Vista for the past 10 years, but the time has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources towards more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences.

If your running Windows Vista , you won't be one of our customers , but please upgrade to a new version of windows or contact us to help you!

https://support.microsoft.com/af-za/help/22882/windows-vista-end-of-support

Bye Bye Exchange 2007 End of Life Today - Users of Small Business Server 2008

Exchange 2007 has officially now been dropped by Microsoft today

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/exchange/2016/04/11/exchange-server-2007-t-1-year-and-counting/

A great product which was the base for Exchange 2010 and up helping with DAG setups and using powershell , it will be sad to see it go!

This was bundled in with Small Business Server 2008 so if you are using this version you will need to look at migrating your users elseswhere! 

What are your migration paths?

1) Upgrade and Migrate to the Cloud e.g. Office 365 (using their FastTrack service if you have a Minimum of 50 Users Seats) 

2) Upgrade and migrate your server to Exchange 2013 ( Can only do one jump so no Exchange 2016 ! ) 

Office 365 - Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) similiar and complimented well with Exchange Online Protection (EOP) , is a service that helps you prevent zero-day malicious software attacks in your email environment. It does this with clever analytics, the same as webroot antivirus uses, where it puts attachements into sandboxed enviroments and tests what they do before forwarding them to you once they know it's safe

Safe Links

It also uses Safe Links technology to rewrite each external link through 365 ( acting like a web proxy ) to block any Phishing sites or websites that have been marked as unsafe due to malware or blocked file extensions. This means that even home users will get the protection they need via Webmail or via their Mobile device

Protect against unsafe attachments

All suspicious content goes through a real-time behavioral malware analysis that uses machine learning techniques to evaluate the content for suspicious activity. Unsafe attachments are sandboxed in a detonation chamber before being sent to recipients. The advantage is a malware free and cleaner inbox with better zero-day attack protection.

Reporting

A rich reporting dashboard gives you realtime stats to see what user clicked what link and where milianious links where sent from enabling you to stop future attacks and mitigate risks of existing attacks

This service comes bundled with the E5 Package in Office 365 and can be purchased as an add on for 1.50/User/Month

What is Microsoft Azure Rights Management Services (RMS)?

Azure Rights Management Services (RMS) is the solution to the problem of protection documents after they have left you organisation as they move across different platforms such SharePoint, Exchange, and OneDrive, and maintains permissions while saved online and offline.

Rights management doesn't just encrypt files; it encrypts them so only specific people can open them (rather than anyone with the password) and works on all Microsoft Office documents including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and even email within Outlook. Full list of growing applications here :

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/information-protection/get-started/requirements

The RMS sharing apps for Android and IOS can open protected versions of .TXT, .XML, .JPG, .PDF, .PNG, .TIFF, .BMP and .GIF files (with the usual variations like .JPE and .JFIF). 

Previously you would of needed a standalone server and trust to other Active Directoy domains, however now with Office 365 any size company and use this service

To make sure the viewers of the file are the correct recipients ..

This is done by the collection and monitoring the following information about the file

  • What device it’s accessed from

  • What device it’s sent from

  • What device it’s sent to

  • What application accesses it

  • Whether it’s accessed online or offline

Uses

Look no further than the recent US elections of how this solution could of saved some embarrassment! 

http://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/05/25/trump-spokeswoman-accidentally-sends-email-to-a-reporter-instead-of-her-coworker-heres-what-it-said/

Limitations

If you send an RMS protected email to a Gmail account then the recipient will not be able to open it using the browser-based Gmail interface.  Instead they will see an error that reads: “This message uses Microsoft Information Protection solutions. Open this item using an email application that supports protected messages, such as Microsoft Outlook.”

You can block printing and screen capture, but if someone with enough time can capture an image of the open document with print screening or they can just pull out a phone and take a picture. 

It is recommended that before purchasing this solution you sit down and test this with a provider to make sure this is the right solution for you!

Cost

£1.50 / User / Month

Give your employees the tools they need to work so they don't have to burden you...

 A 2014 report, showed more than 80% of employees use non-approved software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications at their jobs. The reason for this and what we find is they are looking for services to make their job easier instead of a service not to do their job. If you find tools that can do all these service in house , it leads to easier management of single apps through the business as well as shared expertise of Company Apps throughout the business

Some examples of this are below

Installation of Dropbox for sending and receiving large files and having a realtime document sharing platform

The old method we see of this is using email to transport documents between third parties to a central store at either end. Dropbox changes the way this happened by bringing a simple to use consumer product which was hosted in the cloud. Methods for companies to leveraging this technology have been to purchase dropbox for business for better auditing and security of files or use One Drive for business which is free on select Office 365 plans to bring the same functionality. Once either of these where setup and training dropbox for home was not being used anymore

Messaging - For communicating to Third parties and internal employees in real time

Again for the above this was used for real-time communication usually matching with the dropbox service for getting immediate group feedback for changes or discussion to file changes. Services being used for this were Facebook, Skype, Whatsapp and iMessage. It seemed uses where after a mobile way to always be in communication with their team especially as deadlines got closer. Skype for Business again free with Office 365 plans adds all of the above however enables history tracking into the users Outlook for searching for previous chats and also governance to make sure all communication is audited. It also adds the functionality of Video and Audio calls and mobile worker Phone Services.

 

Meraki now introducing Video Camera's to their great portfolio

Response IT are a big believer in Meraki brand, the way it's simple, stable and most easy to manage. We are really excited to know they have now added Video Camera's to their portfolio.

Having helped setup existing customers with security solutions for their Offices, DataCenter and remote sites we bundle this into out wide offerings of services.

Dream of eliminating servers and video recorders? Looking to spend less time on complex security camera deployments and maintenance? Look no further. 

Cisco Meraki is bringing the magic of Meraki cloud management to MV Security Cameras. Like all Meraki products, MV cameras provide zero-touch provisioning, allowing IT admins to add a serial number to the dashboard and begin configuring before hardware even arrives on site. 

On top of that, MV security cameras feature:

  • intelligent motion indexing with search engine
  • ability to export and share historical video
  • secure encrypted control architecture
  • video walls with up to 12 cameras per layout
  • remote monitoring and troubleshooting from anywhere in the world 

Device encryption - Why it's important and sometimes necessary

You might of read in the news recently about a Secret Service Laptop being stolen out a car with Plan's of the U.S. presidents home on it

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39310793

The laptop was encrypted so the chances of anyone else apart from the Secret Services being able to read the files on this laptop are zero.

Laptops/Tablet and Phones when used out the box come with Zero encryption, which means if they ever get into the wrong hands there is a chance information could be captured. Even if you have a password on the device, the information from memory cards , hard drives and device storage can still be opened up on another device. If you hold customer information on devices which leave company premises the risks of this are even higher.

The following software is the top three Windows Encryption Services

  • Bitlocker
  • Disk Cryptor
  • True Crypt

How to encrypt tablets/phones?

The moment you set a passcode or enable Touch ID on the device running iOS 8 and above, the full device encryption is turned on automatically without you having to do anything.

 Lock Screen > Security > Other Security Settings. If you have a Galaxy S6 then you’ll need to head there and then tap on Encrypt phone to enable encryption.

A MDM Platform ( please see our other blog post about this ) is a good way to ensure anyone with company email has this enabled

Two top reasons to migrate to Windows 10

No New Processor Support

Intel's new 7th generation of i series chip, Kaby Lake will officially be supported only by the company’s flagship Windows 10 OS. Intel also appeared to be on board with Redmond’s decision, saying it

“will not be updating Win 7/8 drivers for 7th Gen Intel Core per Microsoft’s support policy change.”

AMD is also on the same bandwagon

"To achieve the highest confidence in the performance of our AMD Ryzen desktop processors (formerly code-named ‘Summit Ridge’), AMD validated them across two different OS generations, Windows 7 and 10,” AMD said in a statement in response to a question from PCWorld. “However, only support and drivers for Windows 10 will be provided in AMD Ryzen desktop processor production parts.”

You cannot buy Windows 7 or 8.1 anymore

As of October 31st 2016 Microsoft Ended the sale of Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 pre installed on Machines. Any new purchase of Hardware will now land your enviroment in a mixed version of Windows making it harder to : 

  • Create a standard SoE across your enviroment
  • Creat User training as this will need to be duplicated across two Operating Systems
  • Testing Company Applications 

 

There are multiple ways to roll out Windows 10 across your organisation such as Microsoft Deployment Tool , Image X and or Acronis True Image. Speak to Response IT today about solutions and time lines of a Windows 10 Deployment!

The Three Clouds went to market .... What they are and what they do

Cloud infrastructure can actually be split up into three different types

Public Cloud - These are the clouds you see being offered by Amazon, Google, Microsoft to name the big players. Services offered on Public Clouds are Office 365 on Azure , S3 Buckets on AWS and Google Code projects on Google. These are usually the cheapest but limited in regards to customizations.

Internal Self Hosted Cloud - These are servers hosted and owned by the business providing totally customizable features to the business for their software and speed requirements.

Private Cloud - This is a mixture of the above which entails a third party provider such as Response IT hosting or providing your IT infrastructure giving you ultimate customizability in your hardware and speed needs with the reduced support of hardware and network by your organisation.

What solution is right for your business?

Business Size - Most small business and startups will start off on the Public Cloud with applications like Office 365 , One Drive for Business and Skype for Business. This gives them all the services they need to start the setup their company at a small cost which can grow. More developed companies will start to use a custom applications for their industry and this will need to be hosted on a standalone server if the application provider does not provide a hosted solution. This will then leverage into Private or Internal Cloud

Latency - So applications are very time sensitive which means hosting them on the public cloud will be a non-starter to begin with. Application providers will only support the Application with SLA's in regards to round trip times from the server so an Internet Cloud will have to be used but usually backed up with a Private or Public Cloud

Data Sovereignty - Legalities on each industry and country change the rules on where your data can or can't be stored. Companies such as Goverment, Legal and Finance usually have strict requirements of keeping their data in country with proof. Other industries face Audits of proving to their users where their data is at any time. Internal clouds are the best for this , however Private and now Public clouds are making themselves full compliant with Data Sovereignty issues

Contact Response IT for Solutions in all three clouds. We see three as better than one

Office 365 for Large Enterprise Automatically creating groups

“Beginning in March 2017, managers who have 2-20 direct reports, do not already have a direct reports group, and have permissions to create groups in Outlook, will automatically have a private group created for them with their direct reports. The manager will be added as an owner, and the direct reports of the manager will be added as members by default. The group will be named "<Manager's Name>'s direct reports", but that can be edited.”

“To help managers collaborate more effectively with their employees, we will automatically create Office 365 Groups containing the manager's direct reports. Managers can easily update, delete, or modify the group at any time.”

https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Manage-automatic-creation-of-direct-reports-group-Admin-help-8387f129-19cc-4426-9911-e36fa0a01043?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB

How to Opt out:

https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Manage-automatic-creation-of-direct-reports-group-Admin-help-8387f129-19cc-4426-9911-e36fa0a01043?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB

How to sell MDM ( Mobile Device Management )

Mobile device management is software to be able to manage a fleet of mobiile devices used by your workforce for security, monitoring and deployment. Mobile devices can be provided by a company or BYOD ( Bring your own Device ) is used where people use their existing devices.

Some example MDM products we use and support at Response IT : 

  •  Office 365 Mobile device management 
  •  Vmware airwatch
  •  Mobile Iron
  •  Blackberry Enterprise server

What does and doesn’t work in a communications plan to get users to enroll in an MDM? 

Are there incentives you have used that have helped to get user buy in to enrollment?=

What types of communications have been most effective?

See some below reasons why Users should enroll in company MDM Platforms : 

  • Full Vision of Polices applied to devices to the User 
  • Users get a VPN back to work to access work Files 
  • Users get Work Email for working outside and on the way to the office
  • Restricting limits such as Data useage and Apps to save shock personal bills
  • MDM platforms actually can reduce bandwidth bills
  • MDM can Automatically manage patching for you , weather it being forcing a security fix or stopping one
  • Compliance, having your own device is fine , however we need to make sure we meet out statatutory obligations to protect company data
  • Back out plan ( Easy to remove policys )
  • Easy Location of Device
  • Support of Device

Contact Response IT for support of an existing MDM platform or the creation and adoption of a new one today!

Test your Employee's - Internal Company Phishing Exercise

You can email out to the whole company explaining things such as Spear Phishing:

 http://www.response-it.co.uk/news/2016/10/23/spear-phishing-how-to-mitigate-risks?rq=phishing

and Ransomware explanations and examples: 

http://www.response-it.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/ransomware-the-small-business-guide?rq=cyp

But do these go unnoticed? It's difficult to tell until this is put to the test.... A short test could be to wait until you get infected or breached and diagnose the attack and seal the hole, but a better proactive test is to test your employees before the attack happens.

We have worked recently with a few companies after Management approval to create a test Phishing site's to monitor how many people would fall for the above attacks which give great insights such as

1) How many people and who opened the email
2) How many people entered credentials
3) How many people clicked a link
4) How many out of dated devices opened the link

After the above is found, user training can be employed to fix all the below and the whole process can be repeated on occasion automatically.

Contact us today about pricing for the service.

The cost of outdated Technology for Business'

Per the microsoft article here https://news.microsoft.com/en-gb/2017/01/19/people-spend-day-every-year-waiting-old-computers-boot/#sm.0000012c2ze3vacu5rmyddvyd145k

'People in Britain spend a day every year waiting for old computers to boot up'

Yes this is a marketing from Microsoft to sell it's Windows 10 Operating System , but it does bring out some interesting true facts ..... Computer shelf life or Out of the Box warranty is usually supplied for 3 years depending on what it is used for, and Microsoft OS is usually around every 3 years as well.

Below we would like to share of reasons to keep your Hardware and Software Up to Date

  • Not getting the new features new software and hardware gives you such as Virtualisation ( Multiple servers on a single box ) or leveraging the cloud with means no server!
  • New technology is usually built with less parts, thus less to go wrong and cheaper to buy and greener to run !
  • Out of Date software leaves you open to security problems, e.g. Microsoft not releasing anymore security patches for your operating system
  • Increased costs and time in fixing problems with your old hardware / software. Yes it usually can be done by sometimes by a quick fix instead of a long term fix
  • System Downtime due to Security problems or reliability problems
  • Cost of Warranty Extensions -> Usually manufacturers or Software and Hardware will rapidly increase the warranty cost extensions which means buying new can be cheaper!
  • Stress! (two-thirds of Brits with computers aged between 5 and 10 years admitted to hitting or shouting at them, with a further 6% being reduced to tears)
  • Legal risks of being audited depending on your business with can lead to fines due to unsupported software

Call us today to help us get you into the new!

 

M25 IT support and Services

Due to Response IT's office being located within 5 minutes of the M25, depending on the notorious M25 Traffic in London we can cover most business inside the M25 within an hour using Car or Train whatever's faster!

This gives you on call services such as

  • Network Support
  • Microsoft and Mac Computer Support
  • Disaster Recovery
  • Cloud Consultants
  • Malware / Cryptolocker fixes and prevention
  • Outsourced IT
  • Managed Services

For a fixed monthly fee or pay as you go rate! Contact us today to get a price and support for your IT emergency or prevention.

The M25 Area

 

The postcodes available for IT Support in the M25 are business that start with the following

  • AL2
  • BR1
  • BR2
  • BR3
  • BR4
  • BR5
  • BR6
  • BR7
  • BR8
  • CM13
  • CM14
  • CM16
  • CR0
  • CR2
  • CR3
  • CR4
  • CR5
  • CR6
  • CR7
  • CR8
  • DA1
  • DA2
  • DA5
  • DA6
  • DA7
  • DA8
  • DA14
  • DA15
  • DA16
  • DA17
  • DA18
  • E1
  • E2
  • E3
  • E4
  • E5
  • E6
  • E7
  • E8
  • E9
  • E10
  • E11
  • E12
  • E13
  • E14
  • E15
  • E16
  • E17
  • E18
  • E1W
  • EC1
  • EC2
  • EC3
  • EC4
  • EN1
  • EN2
  • EN3
  • EN4
  • EN5
  • EN6
  • EN7
  • EN8
  • EN9
  • HA0
  • HA1
  • HA2
  • HA3
  • HA4
  • HA5
  • HA6
  • HA7
  • HA8
  • HA9
  • IG1
  • IG2
  • IG3
  • IG4
  • IG5
  • IG6
  • IG7
  • IG8
  • IG9
  • IG10
  • IG11
  • KT1
  • KT2
  • KT3
  • KT4
  • KT5
  • KT6
  • KT7
  • KT8
  • KT9
  • KT10
  • KT11
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  • KT13
  • KT14
  • KT15
  • KT16
  • KT17
  • KT18
  • KT19
  • KT20
  • KT21
  • KT22
  • N1
  • N2
  • N3
  • N4
  • N5
  • N6
  • N7
  • N8
  • N9
  • N10
  • N11
  • N12
  • N13
  • N14
  • N15
  • N16
  • N17
  • N18
  • N19
  • N20
  • N21
  • N22
  • NW1
  • NW2
  • NW3
  • NW4
  • NW5
  • NW6
  • NW7
  • NW8
  • NW9
  • NW10
  • NW11
  • RH1
  • RH2
  • RH8
  • RH9
  • RM1
  • RM2
  • RM3
  • RM4
  • RM5
  • RM6
  • RM7
  • RM8
  • RM9
  • RM10
  • RM11
  • RM12
  • RM13
  • RM14
  • RM15
  • RM19
  • RM20
  • SE1
  • SE2
  • SE3
  • SE4
  • SE5
  • SE6
  • SE7
  • SE8
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  • SE19
  • SE20
  • SE21
  • SE22
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  • SE25
  • SE26
  • SE27
  • SE28
  • SL0
  • SL9
  • SM1
  • SM2
  • SM3
  • SM4
  • SM5
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  • SM7
  • SW1
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  • SW11
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  • SW13
  • SW14
  • SW15
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  • SW18
  • SW19
  • SW20
  • TN14
  • TN16
  • TW1
  • TW2
  • TW3
  • TW4
  • TW5
  • TW6
  • TW7
  • TW8
  • TW9
  • TW10
  • TW11
  • TW12
  • TW13
  • TW14
  • TW15
  • TW16
  • TW17
  • TW18
  • TW19
  • TW20
  • UB1
  • UB2
  • UB3
  • UB4
  • UB5
  • UB6
  • UB7
  • UB8
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  • UB10
  • UB11
  • W1
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  • W5
  • W6
  • W7
  • W8
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  • W10
  • W11
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  • W13
  • W14
  • WC1
  • WC2
  • WD2
  • WD3
  • WD4
  • WD5
  • WD6
  • WD7
  • WD17
  • WD18
  • WD19
  • WD23
  • WD24
  • WD25

Azure now offers a 99.9 percent service-level agreement (SLA) commitment option on single-instance virtual machines with Premium Storage

Just to show Microsoft's commitment to it's infrastructure in Azure to host your Virtual Machines, it has now increased it's SLA to the highest yet 99.9%

Previously, receiving an SLA required a minimum of two virtual machines configured for high availability. However, some IT organizations need SLAs for single-instance virtual machines, forcing those virtual machines to stay on-premises. With this new option in Azure, we are empowering organizations to move more workloads to the cloud.

To qualify for the single-instance virtual machine SLA, all storage disks attached to the virtual machine must be our Premium Storage, which offers up to 80,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) and 2,000 MB of disk throughput per virtual machine. Customers can continue to build for high availability by having two or more virtual machines deployed in the sameavailability set, which provides a 99.95 percent SLA, or by utilizingAzure Virtual Machine Scale Sets.

For more information about our SLA for Azure Virtual Machines, please visit the SLA for Virtual Machines webpage. For more information on Premium Storage and how to begin migrating your workloads, please visit theDisk Storage webpage.

What is an SLA?

This stands for service level agreement. It is what service providers agree with their customers on uptime of a service before a payment or credit will be applied to their bill.

What is the Refund?

Microsoft are not offering a refund, but service credit which can be used for the following months server : 

< 99.9% Uptime = 10% Service Credit

< 99% Uptime = 25% Service Credit

 

Disaster Recovery Plan Template (DRP) / Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

As Wikipedia put it a  Disaster Recovery Plan is

a documented process or set of procedures to recover and protect a business IT infrastructure in the event of a disaster. Such a plan, ordinarily documented in written form, specifies procedures an organization is to follow in the event of a disaster.

As Wikipedia put its a Business Continuity Plan is

the process of creating systems of prevention and recovery to deal with potential threats to a company.

THE TWO ARE DIFFERENT!

Disaster Recovery Plans should be oriented towards business recovery following a disaster, and mitigating the negative consequences of a disaster. In contrast, Business Continuity Plans focus on creating a plan of action that focuses on preventing the negative consequences of a disaster from occurring at all.

Business Continuity Plan

You should identify any potential risks and threats facing the company and the likely hood of them happening. Then you should list the likely hood of these effecting the company in what ways e.g. Loss of Sales , Fines and loss of customers

Disaster Recovery Plan

Some questions that should be put forward are

1) Is my Data covered in the event of a Diaster , can I recover?

2) What is my current recovery time in regards to services and 100% Business Availability

The cloud helps business' keep their data offsite usually in well-equipped data centers that are also replicated between different data centers to cover a natural disaster affecting their service. However customers should always operate the 3 level backup model and use methods to be able to make sure they can export and backup their cloud data.

Here's a link to a predefined template which can be filled out and actioned by a company and their IT Provider

Let Response IT help build your Disaster Recovery Plan and Business Continuity Plan to failure proof your business ! Contact Us Today

New "GoldenEye" Ransomware installed via Job Resumes/C.V.

There is a new ransomware out nickednamed "GoldenEye" like the movie, which is targeting HR Managers through fake Job interview application attachements.

The attackers are also targetting Recruitment companies and HR Consultants.

It uses existing specific exploits in existing Microsoft files such as .doc / .xls to run macros which install the virus

How to stop yourself getting infected?

Please see our article here about steps to prevent infections 

http://www.response-it.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/ransomware-the-small-business-guide?rq=Ransomware

I am already infected...

Please contact us today as there might be some methods to retrieve your data 

Could your business benefit from an IT Security Assessment?

According to the UK Government, in 2014, 60%* of SMBs experienced a security breach. The same survey has estimated that a severe cyber attack on a SMB costs upwards of £65k.

*UK Gov, The Information Security Breaches Survey – Department of Business, Innovation & Skills

Since 2014 Security risks and attacks have increased in quantity and sophistication

The government has put together some free training for companies to train staff of how to protect security

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cyber-security-training-for-business

What do you get from a Security Assessment?

We look at your current system as it currently is to locate and identify an potential security vulnerabilities and risks. It's a great way to get a third party audit of your current network and system and also a list of recommended upgrades or changes in a single report.

Access Control - Who currently has access, do they need access, how they access and what to

Patch Management - What is up-to-date and what isn't in your company with list of security exploits that can currently be used against your system

Malware Protection - What current defense do you have against virus, spyware and spam

Firewalls - Your current firewall configuration  

Backups - Your current backup configuration

Why should I get a security assessment?

A security assessment can prove beneficial to companies to not only reduce the risk for future attacks, but it can also offer up significant financial advantages. One of these advantages is the review of your current spending of the above to check for any unnecessary overspending on certain security solutions and suggest the most cost efficient alternatives available

Contact Response IT Today via our Contact Us Page to Inquire about our IT Security Assessment 

Office 365 Business Essentials Offerings in Surrey and London

Security

Your data has never been more secure and safe:

  • A 99.9% uptime guarantee with a financially backed SLA to ensure downtime is a thing of the past.
  • Secure encrypted datacentres which are compliant with world class industry standards such as ISO 270001, EU Model Clauses, HIPAA-BAA, FISMA and the Data Processing Agreement.
  • Backups are taken automatically and data is replicated in geo-redundant datacentres to ensure even if an entire datacentre went down, you are not affected.

Microsoft’s cloud offerings are far more secure and redundant than most small to mid-size businesses could ever hope for.

What do I need?

  • A computer with a minimum of Windows 7 Operating System
  • An existing company domain name where your email is hosted e.g. @smallbusiness.com
  • A steady fast internet connection - As all the services are hosted on the internet, you will need a good connection to upload your existing email
  • The latest version of Office 365 - Companies with Office Installations older than 2010 will need to purchase new licenses or purchase an Office subscription which enables you install this as part of your 365 offering

What do I get?

Office 365 is not a one-size-fits-all solution. There are multiple plans available to suit different business sizes and needs. The Office 365 Business Essentials plan costs £3.10 per user per month and includes:

  • The Office suite – always have the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher and Access.
  • Office on more devices – experience Office on your PC, Mac, Windows tablet & Mobile and other select devices.
  • Office on any PC – stream full versions of Office programs on any PC with Office on Demand.

Plus these online services:

  • Email and calendars – Use business-class Outlook email, including a 25 GB mailbox per user, shared calendars and task-list tools.
  • Public website – Design and maintain your own public website with no additional hosting fees. Use your own domain name to promote your brand.
  • Team sites – Enable easy access and sharing of documents with 10 GB baseline storage plus 500 MB of storage per user.
  • Web conferencing – Host online meetings with audio and video using one-click screen sharing and HD video conferencing.
  • Instant messaging – Simplify how you connect with instant messaging and Presence (your online status).