Google Jamboard Shutdown – Save Your Jams

As previously announced, Google is shutting down Jamboard on December 31, 2024. Even if you never bought a physical Jamboard, the Jamboard app has bounced around the Google Workspace ecosystem for a while as both a stand-alone app (jamboard.google.com) and as the whiteboarding tool in Google Meet. Jamboard’s end-of-life is December 31, 2024. This is […]

What is Pen Testing and Why You Should Care

Cyber threats are evolving at an alarming rate, posing significant risks to your business. Penetration testing, commonly referred to as “pen testing,” is becoming a vital, proactive tool for assessing your risks. Pen testing simulates a cyber attack on a computer system aimed at identifying vulnerabilities and testing the security of IT systems. Pen testing […]

Google Gemini Licensing Explained

Google’s recent announcement that Google Gemini is now a core service within Google Workspace has led to some confusion regarding the distinction between the Gemini App and Gemini for Google Workspace and your Gemini licensing options. This blog post provides clarity on the products and their pricing. The Gemini App The Gemini App runs at […]

Preparing for Your Cyber Insurance Renewal

As you approach your annual cyber insurance renewal, you can take specific steps to ensure you have appropriate coverage and reasonable premiums. The cyber insurance market has matured greatly over the past two years and continues to evolve rapidly. Insurers have become significantly more savvy regarding risks, protections, recovery costs, and potential liabilities. As a […]

Understanding the Google Class Action Lawsuit Notice

Beginning on September 23, 2024, Google Workspace administrators began receiving notices from Google Operations related to a class action lawsuit filed against Google in 2020. This Service Alert blog post summarizes the information and discusses next steps as they relate to users with Google Workspace accounts. Background In July 2020, a class action lawsuit was […]

Prevent Your Email From Being Pushed Aside or Blocked

With the ever-present nuisance of spam and threats of cyber attacks, email services continue to add features and protections. Some of these will prevent your email from being delivered, and others will prevent your message from being seen.  Here are 3 actions you need to take so your messages arrive and are seen. Ensure Your […]

3 IT Trends We See Now

Working with hundreds of small and midsize businesses, we often see trends in IT interests, plans, and initiatives. Given all the hype, we expected to see Generative AI as a big trend this fall. While our clients are interested in it and beginning to use it, Generative AI is not among the top three trends […]

ALERT: Threatening Emails are Spiking

In the last 72 hours, our clients have reported an alarming increase in threatening emails. These emails contain enough personal information to legitimately trigger worry, fear, and in some cases, panic.  This post covers three types of threatening messages and how to respond. The Attacks This type of attack is known as a “Exposure Threat” […]

5 Cybersecurity Standards for Small and Midsize Businesses

As small and midsize business leaders, we understand the need to comply with regulatory and industry requirements. We also want and need our IT services to support our business priorities and fit within our budget. So how much cybersecurity is enough? Our cyber insurance partner, Datastream, analyzed policies and coverages for nearly 8 million businesses across […]

Best Practice – 3 Ways to Get Better IT Bids Quotes

A common statement we hear from sales experts and consultants is that 60% of IT buyers believe that they have found the solution they need before they contact their first vendor. While we are not sure of the accuracy of this claim, anecdotally we see more small and midsize businesses asking for IT quotes for […]

Leadership Thoughts: Noteworthy Blog Posts – Aug ’24

As small business owners and leaders, you carry the responsibility for the direction and success of your business.  And while Cumulus Global provides managed cloud services that help you thrive and grow, we understand your responsibilities are broader than just IT. As a way to share some leadership thoughts, here is a curated list of […]

Cumulus Global Offers Free IT Asset Disposal with Managed Cloud Services

Cumulus Global Offers Free IT Asset Disposal with Managed Cloud Services The company adds IT asset disposal and  lifecycle management to the Basic and Business tiers of its Managed Cloud Service offerings. Cumulus Global proudly announces the addition of IT lifecycle management services to our Managed Cloud Service offerings. Available at the Basic, Business, and […]

Sustainability: 1000 Trees and Growing

Back in January of this year, we announced that Cumulus Global was expanding its sustainability program. To help offset the carbon footprint of our offices and operations, we have strengthened our partnership with Evertreen and are committed to planting 100 trees per month. Our forest has grown to over 1,000 trees across 7 countries and […]

A Model for Business Resilience

The recent global systems outage, caused by CrowdStrike’s failed update, exposes a key flaw in how we view business resilience. When asked how we make our businesses resilient to failures, human acts or errors, disasters, and other disruptions, we tend to focus on the technologies and services we put in place to prevent/protect and restore/recover. […]

Resilience, the CrowdStrike Failure, and the Real Impact on Your Business

We have not written or posted much about the CrowdStrike failure. CrowdStrike is designed and priced for large enterprises. We offer endpoint protection, detection, and response services that are better designed for the small and midsize organizations we serve. In large part, the CrowdStrike failure has not directly impacted our clients and other smaller businesses. […]

7 IT Blind Spots Small Businesses Miss the Most

Your small business depends on your IT services to run effectively and efficiently. Even so, like many small business leaders, you likely have one or more “IT Blind Spots”. The blind spots are not “all or nothing.” They evolve from decisions about what IT services are needed, wanted, and worthy of spending on at a […]

Leadership Thoughts: Noteworthy Blog Posts – Jun ’24

As small business owners and leaders, you carry the responsibility for the direction and success of your business.  And while Cumulus Global provide managed cloud services that help you thrive and grow, we understand your responsibilities are broader than just IT. As a way to share some leadership thoughts, here is a curated list of […]

Cybersecurity in the Whitespace

A recent online post pointed out that the whitespace in the FedEx logo, between the “E” and “x”, creates an arrow.  Once you see the arrow, you cannot miss it. You will see it every time you look at the logo. The subtle, almost subliminal, arrow symbolizes a sense of forward motion and subconsciously reinforces […]

Improve Your IT Atmosphere

For those of us who have played video games over the years, even though we are not hard-core gamers, the experience has changed. The technology has certainly advanced over time. More importantly, the user experience – the IT atmosphere – has improved. Back in the day, video game sound provided basic contextual clues to guide […]

Best Practice – The Lowest Price May Not Save You Money

Small businesses face many challenges as they start up, grow, and thrive. Technology and IT services are one such challenge. While small businesses can find the technology and IT services they need, and want, IT costs often poses a barrier to entry. The range of competing solutions, evolving security requirements, the need for cyber insurance, […]