By Rachel Noe
Searching for a managed services provider and determining exactly the services your business needs is an easily overwhelming process. There are many options available to you. We have been asked many times what different
managed services there are and how an organization might employ them. As an entry in our Q&A series, we take a look at a few of the different managed services options available to you through a provider like Claris.
Managed Computer Support
Let’s say you have the IT hardware but lack the time or technical staff to maintain it. This is a common experience among growing businesses, and is the point where managed computer support comes into the picture. This service ensures that each issue that affects your company’s devices is handled by a competent technician with experience resolving issue. This can also include remote monitoring of computers (and other hardware), which enables your provider to resolve many issues remotely, minimizing the effect on your workday and productivity.
No, we’re not talking about cirrus, stratus, and cumulus clouds. However, just as there are different clouds in the sky, there are different aspects of cloud computing that make up what we say when we refer to the Cloud.
First, the
public cloud.
In this model, the infrastructure is owned by an organization selling cloud space as-a-service, and is widely available on a pay-per-use basis. RackSpace and Amazon Web Services are two of the most commonly used public cloud services. Pursuing this model typically requires considerable front-end technical knowledge. Additionally, it is dependent on a consistent, robust internet connection. If the connection goes down, you will be unable to access your cloud-hosted data or applications.
“Guten Tag! Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” When Aaron Sachs started working with Claris, he didn’t know his skills in German would make him valuable to one of the clients here. We sat down with Aaron to learn a bit more about his background and what makes the German-speaking systems admin technician tick.
What started your "fix-it" mentality?
“I’ve always had a ‘fix-it’ mentality. It really drove me throughout college, and landed me firmly in the IT world. On top of that, I’ve always been ‘The Computer Guy’ for family and friends. I started disassembling my parents’ computer when I was about 9. My parents got so mad, they made me fix it instead of paying someone else to do it. That’s just part of who I am. When I see a problem, I really want to solve it. IT meshes well with my personality.”
One of the hot technology topics these days is the coming of “wearable technology.” We have all been wearing technology of some form or another for years: watches, cell phones, etc. Google, Apple and other tech innovators, however, are ramping this up to a whole new level. This year, Google released it’s Google Glass product to developers, and Apple’s iWatch is rumored to be released later this year. Each of these products represent a potential paradigm shift in the way consumers will both interface with technology and share their lives with others. Dan Thompson visited with Cindy Sexton on WRCB-TV’s “3 Plus You” in Chattanooga, Tennessee recently to discuss this exciting technology.
China hacking US businesses has been all over the news lately. A report by Mandiant, a security-consulting firm, outlined a deep-dive investigation into where, how and who China was cyber-attacking. And the report has many US businesses watching their backs. Mandiant uncovered that the Chinese government currently has an army working on hacking into private businesses in the U.S. Dan Thompson and Mike Smith from Claris Networks visited local stations in Knoxville and Chattanooga to discuss the security threats to businesses’ information technology.