HOSTING - Awareness

Cyber-attack – why having no backup and continuity plan could be terminal for your business

Your small business is now the preferred target of the cyber-criminal UK businesses still have a lot to do regarding effective backup and continuity planning in the event of a cyber-attack. Despite the clear rise in documented cyber-crimes against UK Businesses, a worrying number remain ignorant to the severity of the risk. Many incorrectly conclude that it will never happen, choosing to believe that their size or niche would not be of any interest to the cyber-criminal. However, failure to take the appropriate steps to adequately protect yourself could result in costing you more than just money. What are the most common forms of cyber-attack? Your enterprise can be targeted in a number of ways; the most common being: hacking/spoofing phishing/spear phishing malware DoSA ransomware. Any network, large or small can be open to attack. But if it is not continually monitored, patched or updated, you are leaving yourself vulnerable to developing exploitable weaknesses. Consequently, you could face your data being encrypted, damaged, lost or stolen, which could have disastrous implications, particularly if sensitive personal information is involved. Prioritise acting now, and protect yourself from cyber-attack EU regulations implemented in 2018 govern the protection of personal data. Not taking cyber-security seriously could mean non-compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This, in turn, could result in a fine for your business, which could be as much as 4% of your turnover. Obviously, this could be catastrophic for any business, which is why being proactive about cyber-security and planning for a cyber-attack is a must. The action you can take now includes: updating your passwords installing the latest versions of antivirus/malware software regularly updating software/patching training your staff to make them aware enlisting the help of a professional to effectively identify vulnerabilities, detect and stop attacks and planning for continuity in the event of the worst happening. ASL can help you protect your business from attack Data that has been researched and published by our partner, Symantec, identifies how small businesses are being targeted with spear phishing. More than 52.4% of all reported attacks, where an apparently trusted email is used to elicit personal information from the recipient, were against SMEs. The statistics clearly demonstrate that hackers are very aware that a smaller business is less likely to defend itself as vigorously as larger ones, and will take advantage wherever possible. However, by combining our expertise in cyber-security with that of Symantec, we can help you: plan for disaster and assist with continuity services advise on how Cloud technologies can help with security recommend tailored cyber security solutions in line with your specific needs and budget The main issue is lack of awareness of the threat as well as the consequences of doing nothing to mitigate it. As experts in systems monitoring and cyber-security, we can help you identify how your business is most likely to be targeted and where the weakest points are in your network that could be easily exploited. Ignoring the problem, and failing to take any action could prove terminal for your business. To discuss how best to protect your business from the increasing threat of cyber-attack, call us on 0345 862 0350 or email sales@aware-soft.com.

Why it is vital to have a first-class cloud-hosting services partner

The hidden pitfalls of transitioning to public cloud-hosting service environments Attracted by cost-saving opportunities at the same time as being able to improve the quality of resources, many UK businesses have transitioned from a privately hosted on-premises environment to a public cloud-hosting service. However, research by ‘415’ has revealed a range of issues that can arise from transitioning, and of the businesses surveyed, 21% advised they were considering a return to an on-premises based solution. A possible explanation for this could be that businesses often underestimate the complexities of switching to a cloud environment and find themselves dealing with issues of reliability and efficiency that are beyond their level of expertise. Working with a first-class cloud-hosting services partner can give you that depth of knowledge and technical skill that reduces risk and enables you to fully benefit from the transition. Public Cloud-Hosting– advantages vs. risks Advantages A public cloud service provider offers resources over the internet, such as software, data storage and applications. For a growing number of businesses, it makes sense to transition their on-premises environment to a public cloud-hosted environment for three main reasons: inexpensive – pay for what you use on an ongoing basis flexible – instant provisioning and on-demand access to high-quality services from any device scalable – easy to expand server base in line with business needs. Another appealing benefit is the ability to take advantage of these high-level services without facing the same set-up costs. Risks The reasons for transitioning your environment to the cloud are compelling, however, without the proper expertise to correctly configure and manage the environment, you run the risk of: uncontrolled escalation of ongoing costs confusion arising from increased complexity using the wrong tools leading to ineffectiveness inaccurate reporting and tracking of digital assets lack of proper support from the providers themselves. Choosing the right cloud-hosting services partner Working with a partner who has the right kind of knowledge and expertise can help you to develop, implement and deploy an effective plan for transitioning, as well as maintaining it properly afterwards. This would mean: costs being kept to a minimum and maintained at a predictable level solving issues of reliability and efficiency faster response times assessment of virtual machine use correct use of tools effective analysis of workloads. With over 20 years of experience in assisting UK businesses with their IT requirements, Awareness offers first-class expertise and technical skills in supporting your business migration to a cloud-hosted environment. We partner with you and your cloud service provider to maximise the advantages for your business while keeping costs at predictable levels. We can offer valuable insight into how your virtual machines are performing and help with aspects concerning efficiency, agility and flexibility. For further information on our cloud-hosting services, call us at ASL on 0345 862 0350.

Virtualizing your SCO or Linux based environments with VMware

Why virtualize? Virtualisation is a practical way to fully utilise your server’s potential; increasing the security of your data, sharing workloads and reducing your overall IT costs. It’s a way of capitalising on a server’s potential without investing in additional hardware. Virtualisation allows you to reduce the amount of physical IT hardware your business needs to operate and grow, which in turn reduces the time and cost involved in deployment of new servers, maintenance and upgrades. How does virtualisation work? The process of virtualizing your Linux environment and other servers is achieved using VMware. VMware is a hypervisor installed on the physical server as the ‘host’ operating system. VMware controls the hardware and allows for multiple ‘guest’ operating systems to run at the same time. One great advantage of virtualisation with VMware, is that it fully supports SCO OpenServer definitive, SUSE, Redhat and other Linux OS’s. It also allows legacy software to be fully virtualized and deployed on new hardware. What can you expect from VMware virtualisation software? Flexibility – hardware can be added on demand and growth in the system accommodated without any downtime. Efficiency – save deployment time, server room space and money on utility bills by utilising a server’s full capacity. Security – increased security of new servers as well as the option to move into a datacentre (which improves your data security). Recovery – compatible with Quest Rapid Recovery to backup and quickly recover your data in the event of an outage, attack or other disaster. Economy – reduced amounts of hardware means reduced expense on hardware and software replacements and updates as well as systems management and maintenance. Customer Case Study – ASL virtualize the server environment and SCO OpenServer for Music Exchange Our client, Music Exchange, came to us with their virtualisation needs. Problem: Music Exchange had a Microsoft and SCO environment with multiple servers that they wanted to upgrade and make more resilient. ASL’s solution: We recommended a highly available VMware platform solution from Dell. This hardware system, along with Quest Rapid Recovery, allows for a fault tolerant on-premise server environment with on-site recoverability, where data can be restored to any point in time. It replicates the critical data to our secure off-site datacentre, thus protecting the data in case of disaster. Benefits: In the event of hardware failure, the server environment will immediately bring up the failed ‘guest’ servers on the remaining hardware, therefore minimising the downtime to minutes rather than days. In the event of a complete disaster, all replicated data can be used to recreate the server environment in our secure datacentre and allows the customer to have remote access to this completely hosted system within a few hours. Not only does this save money on actual physical server hardware, but the business operates more efficiently and securely than before. To find out about the benefits of virtualisation, contact ASL on 0345 862 0350.

Provisioning for data backup and disaster recovery

Why is lethargy and ignorance as much of a threat to business continuity as disaster itself? An essential part of maintaining business continuity in the event of a disaster is backing up your data and keeping it secure, because, should disaster strike and your data prove unrecoverable, your business could be forced to close. Regardless of such dire consequences, the fact is, that over 50% of UK SMEs remain ignorant of the risk. Instead of planning for a disaster, they do nothing, risking both their own livelihoods and those of their workforce. Awareness of the dangers and implementing business continuity solutions gives you the opportunity to do something about it, helping to safeguard your business today – and tomorrow. But, what are the dangers and where do the threats come from? Disaster and recovery – obvious threats The more familiar threats to the integrity of your data come in the form of cyber-criminals, natural weather-related occurrences, and human error. Recent high-profile cases point to the rise in ransomware attacks but major disruption has also been caused to businesses by flooding, or people simply disconnecting a power supply. Without a proper disaster recovery plan in place, it could take you weeks to get back up and running. By consulting with an expert business continuity service provider, you can insure your business against such events. The continual automated backup of your systems means that any data lost can be quickly and easily restored in a very short period of time. Disaster and recovery – less obvious threats Moving to the Cloud – as your business evolves, a less obvious threat comes in the form of transitioning your environment to the Cloud. As your data grows in volume and your network expands to accommodate mobile users, adequate backup and recovery and network monitoring are essential to secure your files and alert you to any unusual activity. Lethargy and ignorance – according to market sources, more than half of all SMEs don’t perform a daily backup. The assumptions could be that backup is time-consuming and costly or that they don’t need to because they are ignorant of the consequences or maintain a ‘won’t happen to us’ attitude. The dangers of not having a disaster recovery strategy include: loss of data loss of revenue high cost of replacing costly hardware/software loss of client confidence inability to continue to operate. Reasons to use ASL’s disaster recovery services ASL are a specialist provider of disaster recovery services with 20 years of experience helping SMEs guard against the worst happening. Planning for a disaster means your systems and files are protected against human error, natural disaster or malicious attack, enabling you to continue to operate your business with minimal disruption. We consult with you to fully understand your business needs, and offer tailored backup and recovery solutions that match your requirements. To find out how to provision for data backup and disaster recovery, contact us at ASL on 0345 862 0350.

Why is it vital to have an effective PRTG network monitoring solution?

Has moving your network to the Cloud put your data at risk? The rising popularity of expanding networks to the Cloud, coupled with the increased threat of serious cyber-attack, means that effective systems network monitoring is more important than ever. As more businesses move to using a mix of public and/or private cloud services, network management needs have become more complex. However, regardless of this fact, many businesses still fail to seek expert advice from a specialist provider, and instead bury their head in the sand and take a ‘hope for the best’ attitude towards both cloud and security. Cloud-based hosting. Why can network monitoring be more complicated with cloud-based hosting? Expanding your system to public and/or private cloud hosting options means that your workforce can use their mobile devices to access your system, enabling them to work at any time and in any location. Although the advantages are obvious – including improvements in speed, availability and application, the downside is the loss of systems visibility. A lack of visibility means an inability to accurately track the performance and behaviour of your system’s workload. Left unchecked, this could lead to downtime, negatively impacting your bottom line as well as your brand’s reputation. Cyber-attack – how can network monitoring reduce the system’s security threats? It is not only large organisations such as TalkTalk, Reddit and Twitter that are at risk of being targeted by cyber-criminals, smaller businesses are under threat too. However, this threat can be significantly reduced by using an effective system monitoring tool that not only alerts you to system malfunctions but also to any unusual activity, which could mean you’ve been hacked. Becoming aware of this at the earliest opportunity allows you to investigate and respond appropriately, minimising the risk of disruption. The benefits of PRTG network monitoring Having the right network monitoring solution is imperative to maintain your system’s levels of reliability, PRTG network monitoring offers: increased uptime – problems identified before they become an issue increased network performance – improvements identified and made increased application performance – performance issues detected and diagnosed enhanced security – potential threats detected and flagged Contact ASL and solve your network monitoring issues. ASL are specialists in network monitoring and are a PRTG service provider. Our solutions can give you insights into Cloud infrastructure and effectively monitor your environment. We offer a transparent approach to cloud-based hosting and offer peace of mind with no-fuss contracts that don’t tie you in legal knots. Our terms include an initial contract of one year, which becomes a 90-day rolling contract thereafter. At ASL, we deliver simple PRTG network monitoring solutions, to discuss your requirements in more detail call us on 0345 862 0350.

ASL industry leading IT support services across Manchester, Cheshire and the UK

Wide-ranging IT support available on your doorstep. As a Manchester based IT service support provider, we are perfectly positioned to deliver industry-leading, managed IT support services to businesses around the UK. We have years of experience helping small, medium and large corporations with their IT issues, and offer an extensive range of services that deliver flexibility and value, that can be easily scaled up or down according to your business needs. 6 reasons to choose ASL Fully trained locally based IT experts – we offer first-line IT support services to businesses based anywhere in the UK by phone and email. Wide-ranging IT experience – we deliver industry-leading IT support. We are specialists in Microsoft Technologies, Microsoft Dynamics, Cloud and High Availability Systems. We offer advanced support covering a wide range of hardware and software products – including SAN’s, printers, firewalls, PCs, and SQL servers. We can help you, whatever your requirements and deliver affordable IT support so that you don’t have to pay to hire, train and manage your own IT department. Easy access to disaster recovery – outsourcing your backup and disaster recovery to us ensures your business quickly gets back up and running after a disaster, whether that’s a malicious ransomware attack, human error, power outage or weather-related disruption. With our help, you can remain operational. Onsite Surveys – we provide onsite surveys to give you the opportunity to discuss your business IT support requirements. Cost control – recruiting and training your own in-house IT support team, and keeping them up to speed with every development, can be very expensive. We constantly update our skill set, provide training and keep up to date with developments in the marketplace, so you don’t have to. Stay competitive – because your resources are not being stretched by maintaining your own IT department, you can direct your finances and expertise towards developing your business. To discuss your IT support needs, call us at ASL on 0345 862 0350.

ASL implements a backup and recovery solution for Boutinot Wines

Ensuring business continuity during head-office relocation. An effective and up-to-date backup and recovery solution is vital to ensuring business continuity. Failing to restore data can have far-reaching consequences, which is why we at ASL design and implement backup and recovery solutions that minimise service disruption and quickly get you back to work. We have 20 years of experience and have helped many UK businesses plan for disaster, which proved to be crucial during Boutinot’s office move. Customer– Boutinot wines Established in 1980, Boutinot is one of the leading UK-based distributors of quality wines from around the world. Distributing more than 1400 wine varieties, totalling 44 million bottles each year to UK and International retailers, restaurateurs and wholesalers. Boutinot’s requirement is for an IT infrastructure that is as robust as its supply chain. Having worked with Boutinot since 2015, ASL were engaged to help manage the IT systems relocation; when the company moved to a new head office in Cheadle Point, Manchester. The ASL approach A major hardware upgrade and virtualisation project was planned to coincide with the move. By upgrading at the same time as relocating, we could resolve any issues that arose using the new platform, which would minimise disruption. Our approach was to ensure the Boutinot back-up and disaster recovery environment was 100% up to date. We commenced work at 6pm on Friday evening, making sure everything was powered down and prepared for the move. After Boutinot’s IT infrastructure was professionally moved to their new site, it was then our job to rebuild the server environment in the new location. We re-attended site at 8am on Saturday, and within a matter of hours, we had all of Boutinot’s servers back online, with one critical exception. The critical issue – during transit damage had occurred which prevented a server from booting up. The ASL solution – using our powerful Backup and DR solution, we were able to export a brand new virtual copy of the server onto Boutinot’s new hardware platform. This was completed in under 2 hours, and all system functionality was fully restored. The benefits – the new hardware platform has enabled Boutinot to embark on a series of Windows Domain upgrades, Exchange upgrades, remote desktop services upgrades and SQL server upgrades, which are all built on their highly available platform. Within 3 weeks of the office move, we had successfully migrated all Boutinot servers onto their new hardware platform. In addition, we also implemented our managed network monitoring solution, to actively inform Boutinot about all aspects of their IT infrastructure, hardware and networking. Had our Network monitoring solution been in place, it would have identified the issue with the failed server before the move. If you would like to discuss implementing or upgrading your disaster recovery solution speak to us at ASL. Call ASL today on 0345 862 0350 and let us help your business to remain up and running.

ASL private Cloud hosting solutions for ERP vendors

Taking a flexible approach to hosting ERP solutions Many claims are made about cloud computing, in particular – cloud-based solutions are faster, easier, and cheaper to implement than traditional ‘on-premises’ alternatives. While the cloud certainly requires less upfront capital investment and alleviates some technical complexity, the claims made don’t always match reality. As an ERP vendor, it’s likely that your customers and prospects (heavily influenced by software giants such as Microsoft), are expecting you to offer a cloud-based alternative to your traditional ‘on-premises’ ERP solution. With so much hype, it’s not surprising that your customers are being persuaded that the future belongs to the cloud. Overcoming the complexity of ERP hosting. Unfortunately, ERP in the cloud is not quite as simple as the hype would have you believe. ERP is often complex, customer specific and must be capable of changing to meet differing business demands. The one size fits all philosophy doesn’t apply, and that has implications for the cloud deployment of solutions where: customisation is the norm integrating with third-party ‘on-premises’ solutions is essential exporting data is a daily occurrence 24/7 access to the entire operating environment is non-negotiable adding to existing IT resources needs to be fast, efficient and cost effective multiple environments are necessary for testing and upgrades. Where companies are able to standardise their business processes, it may be true that cloud-based ERP software, on platforms such as Microsoft Azure, are faster to implement than traditional ‘on-premises’ solutions. However, in reality, it’s often the case that standard packaged solutions fail to meet the needs of many businesses, which is particularly true within the manufacturing and distribution sector. These businesses need: package software that can be modified to meet their specific requirements IT environments that can adapt quickly to a change in market conditions freedom to change software to gain competitive advantage immediate access to systems during unexpected emergencies a flexible charging structure to reflect the uncertainties of complex ERP implementations pricing models that are transparent and allow reliable budgets to be set throughout the lifetime of the project. The implications for independent software vendors (ISVs) are clear: project delays, resourcing issues, capacity planning, shifting goal posts and bespoke software can be costly and inefficient under a restrictive cloud model. A flexible approach to hosting is therefore required for ERP vendors. Why ASL’s private Cloud ERP hosting is the right way to go. Our Private Cloud Hosting Solution for ERP vendors overcomes the challenges of ERP hosting. Our pragmatic approach enables ISVs to work with professionals who understand the challenges of implementing ERP solutions. We come from an ERP background and have more than 20 years of experience providing robust hardware and infrastructure solutions that truly accommodate the needs of fast-paced, high transactional manufacturing and distribution businesses. We’ve taken everything we know about robust on-premises deployments of ERP solutions and made certain that our cloud solutions follow the same principles. Our ISV partners can confidently promote the cloud without worrying about the restrictions and pricing uncertainty that typifies the big cloud providers. The following table identifies key points of difference between ASL and Microsoft Azure: Requirement(s) Azure ASL Hosting Availability requirements with SLAs âœ“ âœ“ Ability to respond quickly to incidents *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Incident escalation *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Disaster recovery and business continuity *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Ease of integration with third party in cloud and on premise solutions *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Speed of deployment âœ“ âœ“ System performance âœ“ âœ“ Proactive system monitoring âœ“ âœ“ Moving out of the cloud to on-premise *Refer to MS guides âœ“ Easy management of the system *Refer to MS guides âœ“ WAN Integration (e.g. MPLS) âœ— âœ“ No in-house IT Knowledge required âœ— âœ“ Pricing clarity âœ— âœ“ Working with ASL, you can be confident that your customers’ cloud deployment will be straightforward, expertly managed and delivered on time with no hidden or unforeseen costs. To learn how your business can deliver ERP cloud solutions that work in the real world, call 0345 862 0350 to discuss partnering with ASL or email sales@aware-soft.co.uk

Essential hardware & infrastructure considerations for ERP upgrades.

Why factor hardware and infrastructure into your ERP software upgrade plan? When planning an ERP upgrade, it makes sense to take time to examine the hardware and infrastructure systems underpinning your business. The reason for this is to ensure that your ERP software is supported by the right hardware and infrastructure types, to ensure long-term ERP success. When conducting a systems review, there are many factors that you and your software supplier need to consider: Does your current system meet the minimum requirements for the latest software release? Is there sufficient capacity to run both the new software and a test upgrade environment in terms of: memory resources hard disk space processor requirements If you’re considering the implementation of new hardware and infrastructure to support your ERP software upgrade, has your provider explained the options and made recommendations on best practice in relation to: physical or virtual deployment of servers scaling the deployment to cover all aspects of both the IT systems in place and new systems proposed system resilience and high availability SQL server mirroring or other protection and performance offloading deployment for a consistent experience restrictions in terms of scalability ease of backup system monitoring remote access to the application based on latest technologies Does your wider IT environment adequately support and allow for the most effective deployment of the hardware/software upgrade in terms of: internet bandwidth internal networking PCs /printers server room environment suitability power capacity Have the implications of integrating with existing 3rd party products been considered from an infrastructure point of view, particularly relating to overall system performance such as: EDI WMS BI tools Prior to implementing an ERP upgrade have you ensured that all your IT assets are up to date in relation to: security patches firmware updates expiring service contracts end of life issues and vulnerabilities Recovery point objective (RPO)* relates to the age of files to be recovered from backup storage in order to allow normal operations to resume after a network, system or computer outage due to a program, communications or hardware failure. It’s an important consideration in disaster recovery planning (DRP). RPO is expressed backward in time from the moment the failure occurred, and is specified in time units ranging from seconds up to days. Once the RPO for a given network, system or computer has been defined, the minimum backup frequency can then be determined. RPO, in conjunction with recovery time objective (RTO), enables administrators to choose optimal disaster recovery technologies and procedures. Recovery time objective (RTO)** is the maximum length of time a network, system, computer or application can be down after a failure occurs. It’s a function of the extent that the interruption disrupts normal operations, and the amount of revenue lost per unit time due to the failure. These factors both depend on the equipment and application(s) affected. RTO is measured in time units ranging from seconds up to days and is an important consideration in any disaster recovery plan. Disaster Recovery considerations In addition to making certain that both your hardware and infrastructure meet the minimum requirement for the successful deployment of an ERP upgrade, you also need to address the broader issue of your organisation’s attitude to risk. Specifically, has your organisation clearly defined what is acceptable in terms of system loss and downtime? When considering this, you must factor in: What is the acceptable Recovery Point Objective (RPO*) for critical business data? How long can critical systems be unavailable? Recovery Time Objective (RTO**). Backup and disaster recovery points to consider: If there is a system failure or ‘disaster’, what are the options for rebuilding the system and recovering data? What elements of the system are replicated (if any), and how are they replicated? How frequently is data replicated and what is the methodology? Is it onsite or off site? How reliable and secure is this methodology? How quickly and how far back can data be restored? If it’s only the data that’s replicated, what are the implications if a critical server fails, and how does that impact your RTO? What is the hardware provider’s response time, and what are the guarantees for getting engineers onsite with replacement parts? Following hardware failure, are system rebuilds reliant on the close cooperation between the ERP software provider and the hardware engineers? What is the true cost to the business of system downtime – such as the loss of productivity, time required to “catch up” and staff overtime, and has it been discussed at Board level? If you would like help in answering any questions you might have regarding ERP upgrades or you would like to discuss related hardware, infrastructure and backup & recovery considerations call us at ASL on 0345 862 0350.

SQL Server troubleshooting

Getting to the root of your Microsoft SQL Server problems The success of SQL Server as the world’s leading database for midmarket ERP software applications is no surprise. Its ability to process thousands of simultaneous queries and operations without missing a step is down to a robust design and continuous Microsoft development during the last 30 years. Nevertheless, SQL Server frequently gets blamed by IT administrators when ERP users find their systems slowing down or ‘hanging’ completely without warning. Understanding SQL Server, and the wealth of tools available for monitoring performance, can lead to the wrong conclusions in determining where the fault lies. The business consequences can be significant. If system performance problems remain unresolved for any length of time, it’s not just the system users who become frustrated, customer service suffers too. Need help overcoming your SQL Server performance problems? At ASL, we can help you to get to the bottom of your SQL issues. We take the time to understand precisely how the problem manifests itself: slow inputting of orders/transactions slow response times to queries application ‘hangs’ or ‘crashes’ slow screen draw slow report generation. We undertake a thorough evaluation of the SQL server deployment: we check whether the database deployment meets the minimum requirements recommended by Microsoft and their sizing documentation we identify the precise application activity where the performance problem is manifested we use SQL’s inbuilt tools to monitor the problem as the user experiences it. We undertake a thorough evaluation of the entire IT environment: we look at all the IT resources involved in the tasks that are underperforming we perform tests to rule out factors such as network latency and under specified end-user devices such as old PCs, we run further diagnostics to see whether overall ‘system load’ is a factor in the manifestation of the problem. Once we’ve completed our analysis we’ll come back with recommendations for resolving the problem. It may be something as simple as tuning the database or it may involve improving the specification of some part of the system. Whatever the problem we have the SQL Server experience and systems know-how to get to the bottom of the issue quickly and propose remedies that work. If your business is struggling with performance problems that appear to be SQL Server related get in touch by emailing sales@aware-soft.co.uk or calling 0345 862 0350.

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