Trying to get your head around IT for your business? It can be a confusing topic, even for those with years of experience, because the industry is always changing and adapting to new technology.

When it comes to managing IT issues, there are two main support models: managed services and outsourcing. Although the terms outsourced and managed are used interchangeably, there are a few key differences. In this blog, we’ll discuss what sets each option apart and help you identify the right option for your business.

Most qualified IT providers will offer a range of services and let you tailor them to your needs. Their purpose is to align with your business goals and objectives to ensure the most success.

Managed Services vs Outsourcing?

So, what is the difference between managed services and outsourcing? It typically depends on the type of engagement and length of time. Find out more below:

Managed Services

Managed IT Services takes a holistic approach to the needs of a business. It’s an ongoing contract with a dedicated team of IT professionals that operate your IT department on your behalf. They provide ongoing support and maintenance to relieve the pressure of managing day-to-day IT needs.

Having a large team of skilled IT professionals provides access to a diverse array of services. This means they can ensure software and hardware are up to date, troubleshoot any issues, set up new products and train staff on using applications. This arrangement is set up as an ongoing service for a fixed monthly fee and promotes long term success.

Managed Services — Example

An E-commerce business with 100 staff is looking to offload the day-to-day IT tasks so that they can focus on running the business. Enlisting the help of a managed services provider, they can ensure an expert team is looking after their IT, minimising downtime and providing ongoing maintenance support that would be far more expensive and less comprehensive with an in-house team.

Outsourcing

In contrast, outsourcing is used as a way to access support for executing company projects or managing specialised areas within the IT department. This allows the IT manager to place greater focus on the day to day running and divert unique issues to an external IT professional as they arise. It also allows for overflow in case of an emergency or coverage if the IT manager is away.  

Outsourcing — Example

A law firm has an in-house IT manager that ensures daily operations and tasks are taken care of. An emergency situation arises and the company loses access to it’s systems, so an IT support team is contracted to assist in the data recovery process. Their expertise and capacity allow the recovery process to be accelerated and systems are back online much sooner.

Explore IT Solutions With Deployus

Are daily IT issues impacting the productivity of your team? Perhaps you have an IT project that could benefit from additional knowledge and expertise? Regardless of the scope, Deployus can help create a tailored IT solution that works with your goals and objectives.

Established in 1998, Deployus has been supporting businesses across Australia, Asia and the United Kingdom with their IT management. The friendly and experienced team are passionate about all things tech and it shows in the reliable and efficient service they provide.

Deployus offers a full range of IT services and solutions including preventative maintenance, infrastructure virtualisation, cyber security, offsite backup and disaster recovery.

Contact us to learn more or schedule a free consultation.

With the digital transformation of business, many small business owners often wonder what a managed services provider does and how they can help.

The simplest summary is they help ensure your systems run without errors and ensure maximum up-time, remain secure and up-to-date, and solve any technical issues that come up so that you can focus your efforts and productivity on the core of your business.

The deeper version — MSPs take responsibility for one, or a multitude of your business’s IT services, including email, networking, cloud integration, technical support (help desk), cybersecurity, networking, data storage, backups, disaster recovery, and more. The MSP monitors, updates, and manages the service remotely while providing reports on the quality, performance and availability of the service. MSPs can also set up your business with software and hardware and keep track of the relevant licenses.

Now let’s look at how MSPs benefit small businesses in greater detail:

On-Demand IT Expertise

A Managed Services Provider gives you access to qualified IT staff that would otherwise have to be hired as full-time employees, regardless of the level of IT services you need. Managed Service Providers are experts in multiple technologies, as well as training on new innovations continuously so that they can provide support for a range of information technology issues without additional hires.

MSP’s also have flexible support hours, so you won’t need to staff for shifts around the clock or on-call. As a small business, you can enjoy the benefits of IT expertise on-demand and not have to pay for the overtime and benefits.

Access New Technology Sooner

Although many new technologies can transform the way small businesses operate, the barrier to entry for adoption can often be too high. Common barriers include training for new systems, sunk capital costs for current infrastructure and costly migration projects, and the research effort to decide on your options.

With an MSP, the research is already done for you. They can suggest new providers, hardware and software applications that are cost-effective and bring value that otherwise would have been missed. MSPs can help overcome constraints on access by providing infrastructure management, managing license agreements, assisting migration and training your employees. With the new insights and regular reporting, MSPs can help you make informed choices on which decisions serve your business objectives.

Eliminate Distractions From System Issues

Do you find day-to-day operations plagued by errors and low performance IT systems? MSPs bring efficiency, experience and scale that allows issues to be resolved faster and mitigating them before they happen. Due to helping many businesses in a similar position, they have the buying power to provide better monitoring tools and help desk systems that a small business wouldn’t be able to afford on their own. Acting as an extension of your team, your business can keep running with minimal disruptions to productivity.

Enhanced Security

When it comes to cybersecurity, many small business owners are lagging behind because it’s not considered a priority. However, security threats are an ever-increasing issue, with digital attacks becoming more and more sophisticated. MSPs are able to stay informed and monitor activity to identify potential attacks and strengthen protection with antivirus software and security configurations.

With an MSP on your side, you’re protected from malware, viruses and hackers. This means fewer attacks, less downtime and increased client confidence, as well as less stress for you.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

In order to safeguard your business from a disastrous data-loss event, an MSP can provide a backup and restore service, along with disaster recovery planning. Ideally, the disaster recovery plan will never need to be implemented, but it provides peace of mind knowing it is there, should a situation arise. MSPs provide regular backups and ensure that all of your data is secure no matter what happens. This helps you refocus your attention on customers as soon as possible.

How Does It Work?

Every business has unique requirements for its IT systems. MSPs provide a broad range of services to meet your needs and create a tailored solution that will help your business grow. If you’re a new client, it usually begins with an assessment of the company to understand what you need to run your day-to-day operations, areas for improvement and opportunities to support your business goals.

Services such as maintenance, help desk support, infrastructure, monitoring, security and reporting can be outlined in the Service Level Agreement (SLA). The service agreements also define the parameters of what to expect — performance targets, response times, security assurances and more to ensure the budget is used effectively.

Find Out More:

• Learn about our Managed IT Services
• Veeam Availability Suite provides simple, reliable and flexible data protection.
• Create and implement virtualised networks with SD-WAN

Are you looking for a proactive IT support team that can provide the right services for your business? Let us handle all of your technology needs.

Book a Technical Site Survey to discover how Deployus can provide your business with expert, cost-effective support and security. 

Deployus is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) that provides customised services designed to enhance your business. Contact Us today if you want access to world-class customer care from industry experts who will help keep your business running smoothly.

One buzzword that has organisations rethinking their networks is SD-WAN technology, and it’s easy to see why. Whilst it was once only available to large enterprises with the budget to match, it’s gradually evolved into an affordable solution for small and medium-sized organisations? So, what is SD-WAN and is it worthy of the hype?

What is SD-WAN?

SD-WAN stands for software-defined WAN (wide area network). It refers to a network that is abstracted from its hardware, creating a virtualised network overlay. Instead of complicated network designs, this solution occupies a software layer on top of the network, allowing you to control connectivity, management and services between separate business branches far more simply.

In essence, it’s a technology that simplifies the operation and management of the many network (internet) connections between sites in an organisation.

Benefits of SD-WAN

The primary benefits of SD-WAN technology are the ability to connect multiple branches of a business or sustain a network in the event of a connectivity failure.

Traditionally, WAN connectivity comes in the form of a dedicated circuit from one provider – if that goes down or isn’t fast enough to support your business needs, you lose access until it is restored. With SD-WAN technology, you can simply swap between your chosen providers.

SD-WAN technology offers reliable, secure performance for latency-sensitive applications like VoIP, Salesforce, Office365, cloud based point-of-sale, and other SaaS application without having to rely on expensive MPLS links between your networked sites.

With the adoption of cloud applications and services ubiquitous, downtime can be especially costly. An internet disruption could mean no phones, productivity apps, or invoicing capability. How can you work without these fundamental business tools?

How SD-WAN Differs From MPLS and VPN

SD-WAN vs MPLS

With traditional networking approaches like MPLS, isolated packets of data are forwarded on predetermined network paths and providers can assign a high priority to certain network traffic. The downside is bandwidth cost, as modern media such as video hogs the bandwidth and the high per-megabit cost that MPSL demands can be out of reach. This hinders productivity and the user experience. It also doesn’t offer built-in data protection and if implemented incorrectly, it can create vulnerabilities in the network.

On the other hand, SD-WAN has no bandwidth penalties and users can easily upgrade by adding new links, without the need to make changes to the infrastructure or network. Other key benefits include security, visibility, scalability, performance and control.

SD-WAN vs VPN

Another widespread network approach is VPN, a cost-effective solution that provides a secure connection to an organisation’s network. However, there are significant downfalls when comparing cost, performance and reliability to SD-WAN.

Whereas VPNs rely on the public internet for speed and bandwidth, SD-WAN offers enterprises the comfort of service-level agreements for performance and cloud optimisation.

SD-WAN With Deployus Is Different

Deployus has experience in a wide range of SD-WAN deployments over the past five years. Our partners for SD-WAN Technology are Palo Alto Networks and Cisco Meraki, both industry-leading providers with outstanding records of delivering world-class security and connectivity performance.

Our engineers can configure, secure and maintain your network without any disruption to your day-to-day operations. We also have an incredibly skilled service desk that’s available for support whenever you need.

Save yourself from a network disaster and partner with a Managed Services Provider with international connections. Want to take advantage of SD-WAN or simply learn more? Contact the experts at Deployus today.

With the rise of digital transformation, organisations are becoming increasingly reliant on information technology. Companies are realising that to help manage the transition process, they can turn to an IT support consultant with managed services.

Providing expert knowledge, training and a friendly approach is the foundation of a great IT support consultant. They can improve efficiency dramatically and enable you to focus on more important aspects of your business, with your IT systems ticking away soundly in the background.

Traditional methods of handling data and processes are being overhauled. On-site hardware and infrastructure are being replaced with external data centres. Software as a service is dominating thanks to its flexibility. Enabling it all is powerful cloud computing services from major providers around the globe.

Despite the obvious advantages, keeping up to date with the latest changes can be a time-consuming task and it requires a great deal of maintenance to keep processes running smoothly after making the switch.

This is why IT outsourcing has grown exponentially in popularity — two in three businesses are partnered with at least one IT support consultant. Still wondering what all the fuss is about? Here are the five best reasons to use an IT support consultant.

Technology is the key to growing your business.

You can build powerful end-to-end business solutions by connecting Power BI and Power Automate across the entire Microsoft Power Platform—and to Office 365, Dynamics 365, Azure, and hundreds of other apps—to drive innovation across your entire organization.

If you want assistance to optimise processes, maximise data and innovate at rapid speed, find a partner that understands the particulars. Deployus is a Managed Service Provider in Brisbane at Bowen Hills that provides a range of IT solutions including Software as a Service for 300 businesses across Australia, Asia and the UK.

Let’s take a deeper look at Microsoft’s Power BI and Power Automate programs.

What is Power BI?

Power BI is a Microsoft Power Platform service that provides interactive data analytics and connects it to your entire organisation in the cloud. Power BI allows you to build insightful dashboards and share them with your organisation for knowledge creation.

Organisations collect vast amounts of data about customers, operations,  marketing and more but making strategic decisions based on results can be challenging. There’s simply so much unorganised data, that it may be obsolete by the time it’s extracted.

The solution is Power BI, which lets you can connect and visualise any data using a unified, scalable platform suitable for individuals up to an organisation as a whole. These deeper insights can help bridge the gap between data and decision making.

Further capabilities include the ability to create remarkable reports personalised with your KPIs and brand, AI-powered answers to business questions using conversational language and Excel integration. Additionally, industry-leading security capabilities protect data including end-to-end encryption, sensitivity labelling and real-time access monitoring.

How will this impact your organisation? It will infuse a culture of business intelligence that is data-driven and enable all employees to make confident decisions using up-to-the-minute analytics.

What is Power Automate?

Power Automate is another service that forms part of the Microsoft Power Platform which lets organisations build automated processes for a range of business management tasks. This allows repetitive tasks and paperless processes to be streamlined so you can focus resources elsewhere.

It provides low-code, drag-and-drop tools and hundreds of pre-built connectors that make it easy to create automated workflows for repetitive, mundane tasks.

Wondering what functions you can automate in your organisation? Process advisor is a tool inside Power Automate that can record and visualise your procedures and provide recommendations for what can be automated, taking out the guesswork. 

Another valuable tool to enhance automated workflows is AI Builder. AI Builder analyses elements in your procedure and lets you quickly process forms, process approvals, detect images and text or start with prebuilt models.

Imagine how much you could boost your efficiency by automating simple, everyday tasks? Power Automate lets you automate across desktop, web and mobile allowing for truly universal automation software, anytime and anywhere.

Unlock new insights with Deployus

If you have an organisation that could benefit from these tools but are unsure how to implement it, partnering with an experienced managed IT consultant can help get you connected.

Deployus offers a diverse range of IT support services with a proven success record from small businesses and large organisations. We work with each client to deliver bespoke services that are flexible to their needs and resources.

To find out more, get in touch with our friendly team today!

Your data is priceless. As a business owner, you know this all too well. You put everything into your company and don’t want to lose anything. The effects of someone hacking your system, having it go down due to technical difficulties or losing it in a natural disaster could be detrimental.

We offer an online backup service that will protect your Office 365 files including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams.  Our BaaS (Backup as a Service) uses Veeam® Cloud Connect technology which stores your data in a Brisbane-based Data Centre.

What Is Cloud Backup For Office 365?

Although Microsoft 365 delivers powerful tools to its users, it does not offer a comprehensive backup of your data. Of over 1,000 IT Pros surveyed, 81% experienced data loss in Office 365 – from simple user error to major data security threats.

Common applications for Office 365 are Outlook, OneDrive, Office Apps, Teams and SharePoint. All these applications are powered by data, and this data needs to be protected.

You can protect yourself with a backup service such as Veeam® Backup for Microsoft Office 365. This is stores your data in a secure offsite location, even after it’s been sent to the trash bin or physical hard drives have been lost. Being online means it’s also always accessible, making it a powerful tool for digital collaboration and work-from-home employees.

Why backup Office 365? 

The infrastructure for Office 365 is provided by Microsoft, but it doesn’t replace your responsibility to back up critical data. Their user policy states:

“With Office 365, it’s your data — you control it — and it is your responsibility to protect it.”

Did you know that 60% of sensitive cloud data is stored in Office documents, and 75% is not backed up? Cloud Backups from an external entity protects your Office 365 business information from security threats and retention policy gaps. (Retention policy gaps are the length of time an item will be stored once moved to the trash bin, after which they will be deleted forever).

A cloud backup lets you quickly restore and recover data that may have been unmodified for years. Simply search for key terms and you will be able to retrieve important contracts and documents stored in the backup system.

Other threats include a rogue administrator or hacker who can delete data in Microsoft 365, malicious ransomware encryption that locks you out, system failure or user error.

An effective cloud backup ensures productivity and business continuity. Simple as that.

Protect Your Data – Get Cloud Backup For Office 365 Today

Your business data is your advantage. Eliminate the risk of losing access and control over it with a Cloud Backup for Office 365 today — so that your data is always protected.

Deployus is a managed service provider based in Brisbane, Australia. We provide IT solutions and support services to a diverse range of businesses. Cloud Backup For Office 365 is a service we offer clients, as well as a host of other technical services.

Learn more about our backup services or contact us to get started. 

The world has changed forever in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As working from home becomes a normal part of many workers lives, changing culture means that many businesses will need to review how they manage their technology systems. When convenience is expected and staying connected is essential, a lagging network or system meltdown can have catastrophic effects on a business. Whether you are aware of it or not, there are rapid changes occurring in technology and you must innovate your business in order to stay competitive. 

Online collaboration, remote onboarding and cyber security will be hot topics in 2021 based on what we’ve seen post-pandemic. Let’s look at these new trends in IT and dive into how they may affect your business. 

A Rise In Online Collaboration

One of the largest trends in IT is the rise in online collaboration between work teams, clients and B2B enterprises and it’s only going to increase. Online collaboration is the process of users from anywhere in the world connecting virtually and working on tasks simultaneously, all facilitated by software applications.

Many of us are familiar with Zoom, which grew from a startup in 2011 to a public offering in 2019 and became a household name during the pandemic as the go-to choice for video conferences. Other corporate tools like Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts joined the party soon after and gave users a suite of powerful tools to communicate via video, audio and text. 

Basic communication isn’t the only thing being turned on its head. With the insatiable demand for content-driven communication, new ventures such as Figma, Slab and Tandem continue to emerge and fill niches for content creation and sharing, project tracking and employee training. These tools help create a virtual office that replicates working together and makes communication and collaboration easy. 

There’s no understating the importance of online collaboration for modern teams to succeed and expectations in this area will only grow.

Increased Remote Onboarding

Another new trend in IT that has caught our attention is the rise of remote onboarding. This goes hand in hand with the acceptance of working from home (or anywhere) and could be applicable to new clients, staff or contractors. Although this brings many advantages, it also creates challenges with sharing data efficiently and securely.

If you use a private network to store or transfer important data related to your business, you will want to ensure that it remains secure for the entirety of its journey between each device. Cloud infrastructure and networking is a solution that gives users access to networking resources — data, information and hardware devices – through a group of interconnected servers. For example: if you bring a new team member on board, you can provide a laptop that has network access and logins pre-installed. This speeds up onboarding, removes unnecessary stress and makes the process less complicated.

Remote onboarding with this solution becomes significantly more simplified as data exchanges will be fast, secure and reliable. If your business is considering hiring remote contractors or simply wishing to improve current staff and client integrations, look into cloud infrastructure and networking.

Tighter Cyber Security Measures

Gone are the days when it was only governments and corporations who needed to protect against hacker attacks. Hacking has become increasingly sophisticated and small to medium enterprises make easy targets for system shutdowns, data ransom and intellectual property theft. Cyber security is the practice of protecting systems, networks and programs from digital attacks. 

It is particularly challenging to implement effective cybersecurity measures due to the sheer number of devices available and the innovative attack strategies of the attackers. Common threats include phishing, ransomware, malware and social engineering. 

Vulnerabilities in a business environment typically come from people, processes and technology. In order for cyber security to be successful, improvements in all of these areas are essential. This includes training staff to gain an understanding of basic data security principles like choosing strong passwords, being wary of email attachments and backing up data. Another step is creating a framework for dealing with attempted and successful cyber attacks that will guide you to respond to threats and recover more quickly. Finally, protecting hardware and software devices like computers, routers, networks and the cloud with firewalls, DNS filterings, malware protection, antivirus software and email security ensures all main entities are protected. 

Deployus Helps You Prepare For Now And The Future

Business is always moving fast and keeping up to date with new technologies and trends is essential to staying ahead of the curve. If you’re unsure how to facilitate these trends in IT, speak to Deployus. 

We’re an expert managed services provider with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Far from getting stuck in the past, we’re constantly looking for new technology that will enable our clients to service their customers better and scale according to growth. Deployus take the hassle out of technology integration and back it up with support when you need it most. Contact us today to find out how we can help.