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Exchange Server Zero-Day Threat

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On March 3, 2021, Microsoft issued an emergency Microsoft Exchange Server patch alert for multiple zero-day vulnerabilities that are being exploited by a nation-state affiliated group. The order impacts on-premise Exchange Servers 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019. Older editions are past end of life and do not receive security updates. Microsoft highly recommends that you take immediate action to apply the patches for any on-premises Exchange deployments. The first priority is servers which are accessible from the Internet (e.g., servers publishing Outlook on the web/OWA and ECP).

To patch these vulnerabilities, you should move to the latest Exchange Cumulative Updates, followed by the relevant security updates on each server.

The vulnerabilities and risk do not exist for any version of Microsoft Exchange Online. The risk does not impact any version of Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office 365.

As discussed in past posts, one of the benefits of cloud-based solutions is the integrated management of the environment. You are not depending on how well your IT provider of staff keep up with maintaining your systems and your security updates. Moving your infrastructure to the cloud shifts the burden of maintenance and operations, letting your team focus on activities that help your run and grow your business.

Want to learn more, contact us and schedule a complimentary Cloud Advisor session.

SMBs Benefit from Office 365 Business Premium Enhancements

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Office 365

Office 365 Business Premium is a comprehensive productivity suite designed to help businesses streamline their operations and increase their efficiency. This cloud-based infrastructure service from Microsoft offers a range of powerful tools and applications that can help teams collaborate, communicate, and work more effectively. With features like email hosting, file sharing, online meetings, and more, Office 365 Business Premium is an all-in-one solution that can help businesses of all sizes improve their productivity and achieve their goals. In this era of remote work and digital communication, Office 365 Business Premium is a valuable asset for any business looking to stay ahead of the curve as they improve their managed cloud services.

Key Benefits of Business Premium Office 365

There are several benefits of using Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium for your business. Here are some of the key advantages:

  1. Cloud-based productivity: With Office 365 Business Premium, your team can access their files, emails, and other applications from anywhere with an internet connection. This allows for greater flexibility and remote working capabilities, which is increasingly important in today’s digital world.
  2. Collaboration and teamwork: Office 365 Business Premium includes a suite of powerful tools for collaboration and teamwork, such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. These tools enable your team to work together on documents and projects in real-time, regardless of their location.
  3. Scalability and cost-effectiveness: Office 365 Business Premium is a subscription-based service that can be scaled up or down as needed, allowing businesses to easily adjust their plans based on their changing needs. Additionally, Office 365 Business Premium can help businesses save money by reducing the need for on-premises infrastructure and software.
  4. Security and compliance: Microsoft takes security seriously, and Office 365 Business Premium includes a range of security and compliance features, such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and advanced threat protection. These features help protect your business from cyber threats and ensure compliance with data protection regulations.
  5. Constantly updated: Office 365 Business Premium is a constantly evolving platform, with new features and updates being added on a regular basis. This ensures that your business always has access to the latest tools and technologies, and that you can stay ahead of the competition.

New and Existing Enhancements to Office 365 Business Premium

One of the value propositions we see with Microsoft Office 365 is the aggressive manner in which Microsoft continues to add services, features, and apps to the service without changing price.

Recently, Microsoft announced the addition of two new capabilities to the Business Premium license:

Outlook Customer Manager

A simple CRM tool for small businesses, Outlook Customer Manager lets you track your customers, contacts, sales activities, and important events from your Inbox.

Microsoft Bookings

Microsoft Bookings offers convenient, flexible online options that make it quick and easy for customers to schedule appointments with your small business clients. A customizable public webpage allows customers to find available times and book appointments, anytime. A private calendar enables your small business clients and staff to manage their schedules; automatic confirmations and reminders help to save time.

Myth-Busting Monday: On-Premise is Safer Than Cloud

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Office365-Logo-and-textJust because you can see it and touch it, does not mean it is safe and secure. With the number of successful ransomware attacks up more than 400% in the past year, it is increasingly clear that on-premise systems are not inherently more secure than they would be in the cloud. Many companies are hacked and remain unaware for weeks or months, as the use by cyber criminals of advanced persistent threats continues to rise.

Microsoft Office is secured with technologies and resources beyond the reach of nearly every small and mid-market business.

Large enterprises know that security is a full-time job, requiring a team of expensive experts and advanced technologies. And while large enterprise can afford to make this investment, most small and mid-size businesses do not have the resources to prevent, detect, and mitigate security issues.

Moving to Office 365, you enter an environment designed for security, backed by a team of security experts, industry leaders in regulatory compliance, and the latest security technologies and methods. Office 365 complies with the latest rules and regulations, including but not limited to:

  • HIPAA
  • Sarbanes-Oxley
  • Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
  • ISO 27001
  • European Union (EU) Model Clauses and U.S.–EU Safe Harbor framework
  • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
  • Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

And, with this security, you get a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Thinking of going cloud — or expanding your cloud use — and remain concerned about security and data privacy, give us a chance to assess your needs and map out a solution.

This is the third of a multi-part series designed to help companies better asses the opportunity and value of cloud-based solutions.  Contact Us for more information or a free Cloud Advisor session.

Myth-Busting Monday: Cloud Means Less Control

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Office 365 CloudCloud adoption continues to grow. Many business and IT leaders still have the misconception that moving data into the cloud means giving up control of your data or your technology.

In fact, when you move into Office 365 and other cloud services, you still have control over your IT environment. You have the admin tools to control the who, what, where, when, and how of your information and systems.

The role of your IS team shifts from technical issues to business issues.

When you move to the cloud, you give up most of the time spent maintaining hardware and upgrading software.  You no longer need to focus on maintenance, repairs, daily admin tasks, and upgrades. You free up the time you need to focus on improving business operations, developing new analytics and insights, and launching new and agile initiatives.

When you move to the cloud, you stop spending ever-increasing capital dollars on servers and storage while trying to match capacity with need.  Cloud solutions let you focus your IT spend on specific capabilities for specific roles and needs within your organization.

Moving to the cloud lets you think strategically and select solutions that support and respond to the needs of your managers and staff.

Think about how you want to improve your business, and contact us; we will help you select and deploy the cloud solution that can make it happen.

This is the second of a multi-part series designed to help companies better assess the opportunity and value of cloud-based solutions.  Contact Us for more information or a free Cloud Advisor session.

Be Able to Recover

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Backup Man
Accidents will happen. And while accidents that damage or destroy data are more common, malicious attacks will happen as well.  The rate of ransomware is on the rise and large companies are not the only targets. Whether by phishing attack, advanced persistent threat, or other means your company is seen as having data valuable enough to extort a ransom, you are a target.

In short, if you are reading this, you are a potential target.

While improving your endpoint protection and educating users can greatly minimize your risk, no malware solution can provide you with a guarantee against ransomware. So, if you are hit, you need to be able to recover.

For your on-premise systems, you most likely have a backup/recovery solution. In the event of ransomware, you can delete the encrypted files and restore from a point in time prior to the attack. Yes, you lose data, but a solid backup plan can minimize the loss and the impact.

Your cloud data needs the same protection. You want the same recovery process.  

Traditional and cloud backup services can be installed and connected to cloud servers in much the same way as they work for on-premise servers. For cloud file services, like Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, traditional backup solutions will not work as they cannot connect to the service. The same holds true for data in SaaS applications like Salesforce.com.  You need a specialized solution.

Our Recommendation

For most of our Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365 clients, we recommend Backupify as our preferred solution for several reasons:

  • Multiple backups per day for some or all users
  • Unlimited backup space
  • Unlimited backup retention
  • Multiple admin accounts with delegation
  • Powerful search
  • Fast restores
  • The ability to archive data for past users (Google Apps)

Our Offer

Try Backupify for free for 21 days. If you like what you see, we can save you money on license and support.  If not, we discontinue the service.

Interested? Let us know.

Cloud Competition Has Growing Impact for SMBs

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redmoney

Over the past few years, major cloud providers have been aggressively competing. At times, it’s been an all out price war with Microsoft, Amazon, Google and others lowering prices to beat the others. But it’s also been a race for new features and capabilities, as innovation and unique services can attract and retain customers.

The challenge for small and mid-size businesses, however, is that much of the competition as been focused on the Infrastructure and Platform as a Service (IaaS and PaaS) segments of cloud computing. And while lower prices on cloud processing and storage are great, most SMBs are using Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions.

Change is happening and you can benefit.

As an incentive for companies with Enterprise Agreement (EA) pricing to move off Microsoft, Google started things off by offering Google Apps for free until customers’ EA agreements end. The program, available to companies with 150 or more licensed users, removes the “double pay” period for companies that want to “go Google”.

More recently, Microsoft lowered the minimum licensed user count from 150 to 50 for its FastTrack program, which provides Microsoft partners with resources and customers with rebates to cover the cost of migration.  Companies with 50 or more licensed users can save up to 75% (or more) on their deployment and migration.

Enter Cumulus Global and More Savings

Focused on serving small and mid-size businesses, these programs are good, but not good enough. So, we are adding to the deals.

New to Google Apps for Work

  • Google Apps for Free through the end of your Microsoft EA term (150 license minimum)
  • 14 months for the price of 12 (5 license minimum, 12 month renewal terms)

New to Microsoft Office 365

  • FastTrack discounts and rebates (50 license minimum)
  • Migration savings of 35% to 70% (5 to 50 licenses)

From Direct to Partner

  • Existing Microsoft O365 and Google Apps for Work customers can save up to 10% on licensing and up to 20% on support and other services through our Switch & Save program.

The Next Step is Yours

To learn more about which discount is best for you, fill out the form, below, and speak with a Cloud Advisor.

Cumulus Global Grows In Southern New England with New Haven Office

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News-Beacon
We are proud to announce the opening of a regional office in New Haven, Connecticut in response to the expanding interest in, and demand for, business-effective cloud solutions and services across Connecticut and Southern New England. Located at The Grove New Haven, Cumulus Global’s new office will connect us, our industry-recognized services, and our best-of-breed cloud solutions with small and mid-size businesses and local governments throughout the region.

“With this new office, we are better able to meet the needs of area businesses,” notes Allen Falcon, CEO of Cumulus Global. “While we are national in scope, our New Haven office gives us better insights into the local economies within Connecticut and helps us better respond to the needs and priorities of our clients.”

A Microsoft Silver Cloud Partner and Google Premier Partner, Cumulus Global focuses on their customers’ results — helping small and mid-size enterprises enhance, augment, or even replace their current IT systems with more productive and cost-effective solutions. Cumulus Global has seen rapid growth over the past few years, landing at #914 on the 2015 Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. 

“The Grove and New Haven give us a great location for serving Connecticut and Southern New England,” stated Falcon. “In addition to the local connections we will foster, we have a great space for events through which businesses can learn about cloud computing and trending IT issues while networking with peers.”

As a cloud solutions provider, Cumulus Global focuses on bringing cloud and hosted solutions into the IT mix for small and mid-size enterprises. As such, Cumulus Global works with and complements — rather than replacing — customers’ existing IT resources.  This cooperative strategy helps customer gain the most value from their IT spending.

SMB Cloud Pioneer Cumulus Global Takes on Microsoft Cloud

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Microsoft 0365 icon
A pioneer in cloud computing solutions for small and mid-size businesses, Cumulus Global (www.cumulusglobal.com) announced today the addition of Microsoft Cloud Solutions to its portfolio of solutions. The addition of Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Azure services expands the range of cloud platforms, services, and applications that Cumulus Global provides directly to its customers.

“We are excited to have Cumulus Global join our partner network,” stated Jennifer Heard, vice president, Worldwide Corporate Account and Partner Sales at Microsoft Corp.  “As a born-in-the-cloud solutions provider, Cumulus Global understands that any successful migration to the cloud depends on user adoption of enhanced collaboration and information access capabilities. This opens up massive opportunities for partners and helps our mutual customers realize the true value of their solutions.”

In addition, the company is an authorized Microsoft Surface reseller, offering the tablet-based devices as a replacement for traditional desktops and laptops.

“As a cloud solutions provider, we have always focused on giving our customers solutions that help them succeed, directly or as a broker,” notes Allen Falcon, CEO of Cumulus Global, “Our relationship with Microsoft empowers our customers with a broader range of solutions that we can directly design, plan, migrate, manage, and support.”

Beyond email, file services, and collaboration, Cumulus Global is offering platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a- service (IaaS) solutions. The company has existing relationships in place to assist with integrated CRM solutions.

For more information, or a free consultation, contact us today.