How Managed IT Support for Remote and Hybrid Teams keeps your small business operations secure and efficient
The rise in popularity of remote and hybrid work in recent years introduces new IT support and security challenges for small businesses. Along with the considerable budgetary, employee health and happiness, and efficiency related benefits that our newfound work configurations afford, they also introduce new challenges, particularly when it comes to IT support and security.
Working with an IT Support Managed Service provider (MSP) that is focused on small business remote teams can ensure that businesses working remotely are able to stay productive, efficient and secure. Here are some of the most important beneficial effects we’ve seen, working with remote based teams:
Managed IT Support for remote and hybrid teams helps businesses stay safe
Security is a critical concern for any business, but especially for a remote based teams. An IT support managed services provider (MSP) can help ensure that your remote team is protected from threats and that all necessary precautions are being taken and monitored. An IT Support team can perform audits and assessments to identify vulnerabilities in your systems and implement measures to mitigate those vulnerabilities. Here are some areas where an It Support specialist can help:
- Evaluating the safety of remote workers’ internet connections in real time: This helps to ensure that remote workers have secure and stable internet connections, which is essential for maintaining productivity and protecting sensitive data.
- Installing and monitoring antivirus and anti-ransomware software: Antivirus and anti-ransomware software help to protect against malware and ransomware attacks, which can compromise the security of a remote team’s data and systems.
- Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) to prevent unauthorized access: MFA adds an additional layer of security by requiring users to provide multiple forms of authentication before they can access certain systems or data. This helps to prevent unauthorized access and protect against cyber threats.
- Setting up VPNs and secure, encrypted connections for remote workers: VPNs and secure, encrypted connections help to protect the data and privacy of sensitive company information by encrypting internet traffic and preventing unauthorized access to their devices.
- Conducting ongoing cybersecurity assessments: Regular cybersecurity assessments help to identify and address potential vulnerabilities in systems and processes, ensuring that they remain secure and compliant with relevant regulations.
- Securing Email: An IT support provider can help by auditing and adjusting the email system in a secure way, including implementing protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, which help to authenticate emails and prevent them from being spoofed or impersonated.
Data integrity: the importance of cloud services backup
Since remote teams have employees spread out in several physical locations, a lot of the critical information that needs to be safeguarded exists inside cloud services like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Since most default backup by these services will only save data for 30days, it’s essential to backup of all the data in those services, like email, contacts, calendar, onedrive and google drive. To maximize data protection, it is recommended to use a third-party backup service to regularly back up this data. This helps to protect against data loss due to technical issues or human error, as well as data breaches and ransomware attacks. By implementing a robust backup and disaster recovery plan, managed IT support providers can help remote teams maintain data integrity and ensure that they can continue to work effectively even in the event of a data loss or disruption.
On-Call Helpdesk that knows your team
One of the main benefits of partnering with an IT support managed services provider MSP is the availability of support. An MSP Helpdesk can provide nearly instant support to your team via phone, email, or chat, ensuring that you have access to help when you need it. When there is an issue or one of your staff has a question, a support team technician can quickly access their desktop remotely to assist in a timely manner. This is especially important for remote or hybrid teams, as it can be difficult to get timely support when employees are not physically located in the same place. Fast, robust support ensures that your team has access to the support they need to stay productive, regardless of their location or the time of day.
Stay Up to Date with the Latest Technology and Software
An IT support MSP team can help you stay up to date with the latest technology and software, which is pretty much the lowest hanging fruit in establishing a baseline of good security. Normally, with staff spread out and working from home, it can be challenging to track that everyone is staying up on updates. An IT support provider generally will have specific tools that monitor the upgrade and security status of each employee endpoint, so that security standards are maintained at acceptable levels across your organization.
True North IT partners with small businesses with 5-100 employees to take IT Support off their plate, so that they can focus on what they do best. Please reach out if you would like to discuss how a full service IT team might benefit your organization at 303-928-1107 Ext 2 or [email protected]
