It’s an unfortunate fact that cybercriminals are motivated to attack places that contain large volumes of sensitive data, but typically lack the budget or in-house skills to sufficiently protect it. It’s even more unfortunate that this description directly applies to many schools and school systems.

Let’s talk about what schools have to offer cybercriminals, and what they need to do as a result.

The businesses that make up the bustling economy of Montgomery County have a lot to offer, but in order for these goods and services to properly exchange hands, there needs to be consistent technology supporting the processes that lead to these exchanges. This makes it important that you have the resources to keep this technology in working order, and while Montgomery County has a few options, it is important that you make the best choice possible.

For many years, IT has been stigmatized as an overhead expense for businesses. The costs have been challenging for organizations of all shapes and sizes. A lot of newer organizations might even be technically savvy and understand the value of technology, but focus on the costs without taking into account the value of properly managing and implementing that technology.

We have to say… Columbia is a pretty nice place. We aren’t the only ones who think so, either! Over the past few years, Columbia has been recognized as one of the happiest, best, and healthiest places in the nation. From our perspective, it’s also a great place to do business.

In short, we’re proud to call Columbia home.

Your business’ technology is critical to its productivity, but unfortunately, this technology can (and at some point, likely will) break. So, what do you do if and when it does?

Let’s go over some of the options that you have to consider.

Most things in your office depend on technology in some way. That’s just the simple fact of life these days. Let’s examine just how much of your business depends on the technology that powers it and how companies increasingly depend on IT to manage the countless devices that have permeated the office environment.

Any successful business likely has some kind of relationship with at least a few vendors as it likely depends on their services and available technology and supplies. Having said that, it can be truly challenging to juggle all these providers. How is it that this challenge can be overcome?

Be honest with us: when you hear the phrase “tech support,” what comes to mind? If your thoughts turn exclusively to painful phone calls or a guy coming over to bill you by the hour to fix a broken PC, we want to show you a better way. Managed IT offers far more than just that. Let’s go over three aspects of managed IT that are crucial to Maryland small businesses, and help keep your operations running smoothly.

As a managed service provider, we are very aware that the term “managed service provider” isn’t particularly familiar to most people. To many, we’re computer people or an IT department, but that’s really just the top layer to what we do for our clients. To help mitigate this, we wanted to answer a few questions we’ve found people often have about the nature of our services, and how they can make your business processes more efficient and reliable.

For most people, the term tech support is pretty self-explanatory. The terms managed services and MSP… not so much. Let’s go over what makes managed services and what we do as a managed service provider so different from the IT support you may be used to. To start, we’ll review where the idea of an MSP came from, and end with what one like us can do for you.

When you see that we offer tech support, you almost certainly have an idea of what that means. However, upon hearing about our typical service delivery for the first time, many people are really surprised by how different our services—as a managed service provider—are. These differences are not an accident. Let’s go back in time a little while to explore how managed services came about, and what difference they could make for you.

It’s no secret that 2020 has been relatively tough on all of us, down to the technology that so many use and rely on each year. Now that we’re in the home stretch towards a hopefully better 2021, let’s look back at some of the technologies that didn’t deliver as promised and some of the other issues that we saw this year—some relatively harmless, and some decidedly not.

Being told by an IT provider how important it is for you to update your software is probably a bit like your grade school teacher telling you how important it is to do your homework: of course they’re going to say it, it’s their job to do so. However, we’re telling you what the Department of Homeland Security announced when they released a warning to update your Google Chrome web browser.

With the amount of technology that the modern business relies on today, each business needs to maintain comprehensive documentation outlining it. As a managed service provider, we can provide an expert perspective on what needs to be included in this documentation. Let’s get into it.

Your business’ critical IT systems are on the fritz again, and you aren’t sure what’s causing the problem. Fortunately, you have access to help. When you don’t feel well, or something’s wrong with your body, you visit your healthcare provider. They’ll examine you, diagnose the problem, and prescribe a solution. This process has been in place for millennia. Much more recently, it was also adopted by a very different sector: the information technology industry in what is known as managed IT services. 

Productivity is generally one of the top goals for a business, which is why there are so many technology solutions intended to increase your capability to work more productively. However, if these solutions don’t work as advertised, these businesses could quickly find themselves in a tough spot as their efficiency plummets. How can these deficits and delays be avoided?

When a budget comes into play, it is important to remember that there are a few ways that you can adjust it beyond eliminating line items. For instance, you can instead optimize some of the most egregious financial requirements your technology has--its support costs--by translating the unpredictably variable costs you likely deal with now for your support, to the much more sustainable agreement that a managed service provider will operate through.

Since 2000, the International Association of Cloud and Managed Service Providers -- also known as MSPAlliance -- has helped its members improve their capabilities as managed service and cloud service providers, while also promoting good service practices among Cloud and Managed Service Providers. As membership requires adherence to a strict code of ethics as well as an internal set of best practices, working with a member like Dresner Group provides the assurance that a consumer can expect high-quality and transparent services.

There is no question that today’s business operations require technology, but even that doesn’t tell the whole story. Not only do businesses need technology, they need to maintain this technology as well. Below, we’ll review the three basic steps to technology maintenance… and how we can help simplify these steps for you.

When you need something done that requires a level of skill or experience or knowledge that you don’t have, what do you do? Generally, you call in someone who has the required skill, experience, or knowledge that is required. Your business’ information technology strategy should be approached in the same way. As we continue our series on how managed services can make a business more efficient, we’re considering consultants.