What is a Managed Network Service Provider?

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As a Managed Network Service Provider, our focus is on working with your business to assist in managing your network. Unlike our managed service offering which is focused on your business’ end user computing. Services covered under our managed network package can vary depending on your business’ needs, such as business internet, private WAN, managed Wi-Fi and network security.

How can a Managed Network Service Provider support your business?

As each business is unique, we tailor our services to suit your budget and needs. Investing in a Managed Network Service Provider assists businesses in controlling their IT costs while providing you with access to the newest technology. You will have access to qualified IT specialists who are dedicated to ensuring your network security exceeds industry and government regulations.

Other benefits to engaging a network provider includes 24/7 monitoring of your IT system, guaranteed fast response time, provides proactive support and efficient data backup. If you are interested in finding out more information on what to look for in a managed service provider, read our blog.

How to select a Managed Network Service Provider?

Finding the right managed network service provider for your business can be difficult and lengthy. You will need to define your business’ needs and start navigating the number of potential service packages. By setting clear goals and expectations, you are more likely to find a provider that suits your business. Below are some suggestions on the areas you will need to consider when talking to providers.

Understanding the Essentials

An IT department is an essential aspect of a business; therefore, choosing the right provider is vital for a business’ success. Before searching for a provider, you will need to assess your business requirements, your internal and industry environment, and your business’ objectives. Understanding these aspects will help you find a provider that has tailored service packages to support your business’ practices, supply chains, and customer management.

Service-Level Agreement Basics

As a business, when you are engaging with a potential provider, you will want a good understanding of their network availability, reliability, and security. These are commonly outlined in a Service-Level Agreement (SLA) which is the contract between you and the service provider. Use this as an opportunity to ensure that the service aligns with your business goals and needs.

Questions you should ask your service provider

When choosing or assessing your IT support provider, you may want to ask the following questions:

  1. Does your provider track and monitor the end-to-end network of your business?
  2. Can they secure your network traffic and manage priority traffic across other networks?
  3. Do they have a minimum threshold for network latency or availability?
  4. How do they measure network performance?
  5. Are there set procedures followed during trouble escalation, load rebalancing, network security assessments, or regular data backups?
  6. Can their data centre support your businesses IT requirements for physical and network security, capacity, availability, operations, and backbone connectivity?
  7. How quickly does their team respond to changes to your business?
  8. What happens if your network goes down or is there a procedure for when the service is not maintained?

At eStorm, we understand each business is unique and often requires a custom network solution to suit their needs. To accommodate this, we offer a variety of services to unlock your business potential, including business internet, private WAN, managed Wi-Fi and network security. View our full list of services here.

If you are unsure if your business is ready to make the transition to a managed network service provider, book an appointment with the friendly eStorm team today.

It is time to start teaching cybersecurity in schools

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It is Australian Cyber Week and to celebrate, we’ve decided to dive into why teachers need to start teaching students about cybersecurity.

We teach children about crossing the street and avoiding strangers from a young age, and it is now just as important that we do the same with cyber safety. Students are being introduced to new technologies at a rapid rate from a young age. Now, hackers and fraudsters are increasingly targeting young students online.

Why do students need to be aware of cybersecurity?

Students are every bit as skilled as their parents when it comes to modern technology. They know how to download apps, create multiple accounts, circumvent age restrictions and access “blocked” sites. Further to this, young students have their own way of seeing and understanding the world. For example, sharing their internet access or personal information is often not seen as ‘big deal’.

Hackers are now targeting more children as they have easy access to the internet and smartphone apps, and are not educated on cyber risks. When targeting adults, cybercriminals will send phishing emails or links, hoping users will click on them. When targeting children or teenagers, they often disguise the attack through “free games” links and advertisements.

When should we start teaching students about cyber safety?

While it may seem like the only option is to block computer access, it may not be the best long-term approach. Students will always find a way around restrictions, and by not teaching cyber safety, cyber-attacks will continue to increase.

Schools are well versed when it comes to teaching about cyber-bullying; however, students are very naive to cyberattacks. Teaching cyber safety doesn’t need to be dull or difficult – by using age-appropriate teaching materials, you can link safety tips to situations students can relate to, and make it easy to understand for all ages.

How can you teach cyber safety?

There are many well-established cybersecurity programs available for schools. However, finding time in the week to teach these safety modules will likely result in over-stretching teachers and students. Ideally, teachers should be integrating cybersecurity tips into other lessons where it is relevant.

For example, if students are signing up to a new educational tool in class, you can talk about the dangers and ramifications of signing up to an untrusted website. Alternatively, when working on iPads with younger students, you can reiterate that they should never give out their address to anyone on the internet.

However, the responsibility for teaching cyber safety is not just on teachers; parents need to become more involved as well. By parents becoming more familiar with cyber safety information, they can better support and guide their child through new technology. If you are unsure about how to approach a cybersecurity matter, you are best to remain cautious and check in with the Australian Cyber Security Centre for support.

Cyber attacks are one of the greatest threats to businesses, governments and societies. When new technologies are introduced, they often carry new, unpredictable and damaging vulnerabilities. However, the future does not need to be bleak when it comes to cybersecurity or avoiding cyber attacks. As we continue to incorporate technology into every aspect of our lives, we need to take opportunities to teach our students basic cybersecurity skills and prepare them for the future.

For more information on how your student devices can be protected from cyber attacks, contact the friendly eStorm team today. If you would like more information on classroom technology, read our recent blog on how to incorporate technology into the curriculum.

Using Technology to Support Curriculum Development

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Technology has changed our day-to-day lives, the way we work and study, and how we spend our leisure time. Technology has an important part to play in the design and development of a curriculum and has the potential to be an engaging and challenging experience for students. Utilising current technology in the classroom supports teachers in improving learning outcomes.

Integrating technology into the classroom and our everyday teaching isn’t just about replicating what we already do. It is about offering new ways of working and offering students new ways of interacting with information.

As an Apple Education Solution Partner, we have worked extensively with schools. Over this time, we have noticed that to successfully implement technology into the curriculum, schools need:

  • A strong and supportive leadership team,
  • Clear priorities and goals,
  • Careful planning to achieve a shared curriculum vision,
  • Involving teachers at all levels in the curriculum change, and
  • Having a well-managed and robust technical infrastructure.

What do you want your curriculum to achieve?

When looking for opportunities to improve your curriculum with technology, you will need to establish a clear vision. In this vision, you will need to identify your key priorities, record your starting point (to reflect on later), and define goals.

When identifying your priorities, you will need to consider what you need to focus on to ensure that technology is enriching and enhancing the curriculum. A good foundational start is considering how you can build on your students’ engagement, their motivation to learn and encourage their aspirations.

By recording your starting point, you can identify how the school and its curriculum is currently supported by technology. You can also use this opportunity to judge your students’ and teachers’ ICT (Information Communication Technology) capability. From here, you can set clear goals and expectations that you want to see through extending and supporting the curriculum through technology.

Where does your current pedagogy fall short?

When first analysing and experimenting how technology could fit into your classroom, look for available opportunities. Start by researching for apps that could help students understand difficult concepts. You may notice that there may be a device or tablet that assists students struggling in some areas. For example, visual learners may benefit from a tablet when understanding literacy.

Shaping the curriculum in real-time

Tracking progress and differentiating learning through technology is useful for understanding if students have grasped concepts. Polling and quizzing apps can be integrated into lessons to gauge when you can move forward with a lesson. Using classroom workflow apps can also assist you and your teaching team to help deliver lessons that are customised to individual students’ needs.

Keep looking for new opportunities

The key to maintaining a modern and valuable curriculum is continually looking for new ways to incorporate technology to maximise student participation and learning. Signing up to mailing lists, a quick search of the web or browsing Pinterest can help provide you with information on the newest technology suited for the classroom.

How technology can impact a student

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that our curriculum needs to be flexible in adaptation to accommodate the student’s location. Using technology to vary the pace and space to make learning more engaging is a step closer to meeting the needs of every student. Technology can now support virtual visits for teachers and students as well as ‘virtual tours’ to support lesson plans.

Some educators are using online technology to facilitate 1:1 support or moderate safe social networks, and encourage students to collaborate by sharing work. Some are also using online messenger services of email and encourage tailored support for students in need of extra support.

Why should you update the curriculum?

Teaching and learning takes place in different forms for different students and different classes. The core purpose of the curriculum is to set out what all students are required to learn. However, new studies continue to show that each student learns in unique ways at their own pace. Therefore, their learning expectations and experience is not going to be at the same rhythm or the same location as others.

Integrating technology makes it possible for teachers to become more flexible about when and where teaching and learning can take place. This also makes it easier for the curriculum to be built on students’ interests and abilities.

To learn about more opportunities to integrate technology into the classroom, or if you are wanting to upskill your teachers to effectively use these new tools in lesson plans, contact the friendly eStorm team at any time on 1300 378 676 or [email protected].

 

Pokemon Go’s plans to make 3D scans of the world

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In 2016 we saw the world go crazy for Pokemon Go. The game sent hundreds of millions of people of all ages wandering the streets searching for virtual creatures. This game has paved the way for augmented reality in today’s technological landscape, and the ability to overlay computer-generated imagery onto real-world environments. Niantic (developers of Pokemon Go) are leading the way in advancing augmented reality technology, especially in their new proposed update.

Niantic plans to encourage users to create and upload 3D scans of real-world locations while they play Pokemon Go. With the incentive of unlocking “new kinds of planet-scale AR experiences”, avid Pokemon players will be helping develop the future of AR gameplay.

The Future of Augmented Reality

Given Niantic’s success, Big Tech companies are now in an arms race to see who can develop and execute this technology the fastest. Businesses such as Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are currently developing similar AR products. By using simultaneous localisation and mapping technology (SLAM), the companies can regularly scan and collect data about a user’s environment.

We consume new technologies very quickly, so it is easy to imagine a world where augmented reality is integrated into our everyday lives. However, there are growing concerns about pervasive augmented reality being used by big companies to create more targeted advertising. Other organisations have warned against these new technology developments with concerns over the potential influence on surveillance and control.

Using augmented reality in the classroom

It can be tempting to ignore this technology, given the potential threats or concerns on how it can be used for ‘evil’. However, there are many benefits and positives in using augmented reality into today’s educational setting.

While the new 3D scanning feature is yet to be implemented, the current game provides opportunities to build lesson plans around the game now. For example, in an English lesson, you may have primary students write a fact file on a certain pokemon. A Maths lesson may involve high school students measuring the distance travelled, defining speed, the area covered and so forth. There are numerous lesson plans relating to the app in computing, design technology, art, geography and PE classes.

For more inspiration on how you can create fun and engaging lessons using the latest technology check out our blog on the newest education tools.

To learn about more opportunities to integrate technology into the classroom, or if you are wanting to upskill your teachers to effectively use new tools in lesson plans, contact our friendly eStorm team at any time on 1300 378 676 or [email protected].

Is my business fit for managed cloud services?

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The “Cloud” is a new and disruptive trend that has been gaining momentum in businesses for some time. With many businesses unsure how cloud computing and cloud services can fit into their business strategy. Managed Cloud Services may sound like a complex concept; however, it is simply storing your data offsite in a data centre or a private cloud.

Benefits of the Cloud

Businesses who make the shift to cloud software often do so for many different reasons. The most common include flexibility, scalability, cost savings, as well as the uses of cloud services such as data backups, disaster recovery, and so forth.

Managed cloud services are not limited to small businesses or start-ups, and are beneficial for companies of all sizes. Many businesses will often associate managed IT services as unaffordable and unnecessary. However, managed cloud services are affordable, easy to deploy and simple for businesses to manage.

Evaluating your business needs

Before obtaining managed cloud services, you need to evaluate your business from a strategic and operational perspective. Does your IT demand fluctuate throughout the year? Do your IT costs negatively impact on your ability to grow your business? If your answer is yes, making the move to managed cloud services may be in your best interest.

Businesses will typically choose a cloud service from three distinct types of models: private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud. Unlike a public cloud, private and hybrid clouds require businesses to maintain, manage and update their data centres through dedicated administrators. Often the cost and ability to execute these tasks are not in the best interests of the business; this is where managed cloud service providers step in.

What cloud service is best for you?

Each business is unique, their size, business objectives, industry and IT software; therefore, every business deserves a customised service. With a variety of cloud packages available, you can choose which services and features are best for you, your budget and strategic needs.

Co-location providers

Co-location services provide businesses with an opportunity to install their own servers in a managed facility. The location provider then has the responsibility of keeping the servers on and maintained. However, the responsibility of physically maintaining the servers rests with the owner of the server (i.e. the business).

The next step up – Managed Co-location

Providers have begun to offer managed co-location services, where businesses can buy a server from the provider, who then oversee the installation and ongoing management. Using this framework allows businesses to reduce operational overheads as well as take advantage of the increased resilience of off-site systems.

Experience more freedom – Managed Apps and IaaS

The next service in the managed cloud includes full hosted and managed applications in the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This also includes large platforms such as Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure, allowing businesses to move key applications to the Cloud.

The support, management and maintenance of their cloud infrastructure is the responsibility of the service provider; everything else is left to the business to handle.

The Saving Grace of Cloud Services – Fully Managed Cloud

Fully managed cloud services allow you to hand over the management and stress of the entire platform, as well as all of its parts to a third party (that’s us!). Here at eStorm, we take the time to understand your business’ IT needs and identify and deploy new services that help you reach your goals.

Why we recommend Managed Cloud Services

Including managed cloud services into your business strategy, your business will experience the following benefits:

Cost Saving

Managed cloud services can help you control and reduce your costly IT maintenance costs. Maintaining an in-house IT department is expensive and is often unnecessary for businesses with simple networks. Making the switch to a managed cloud service provider means you decide how much you are willing to pay for IT services and have a consistent monthly bill.

Future-proofed technology

Migrating your data to a secure cloud is the first step in setting up your business for success in the future. The friendly technicians at eStorm are always prepared with the newest technology. We are by your side when new technology comes on the market, or a required update is released, supporting you every step of the way.

Custom and integrated service

At eStorm, we understand each business is unique and requires a custom cloud solution for a seamless transition and minimal downtime. To accommodate this, we offer a variety of services to unlock your business potential, including, private and hybrid cloud, Microsoft Office 365, Sharepoint, Amazon Web Services and many more. View our full list of services, here.

If you are unsure if your business is ready to make the transition to the Cloud, book an appointment with the friendly team at eStorm Australia today.

Is your business ready for the Essential Eight?

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At the beginning of 2020, the Federal Government and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) announced the Essential Eight (E8). The E8 is a strategy for businesses to mitigate cybersecurity incidents, protecting their systems against a range of adversaries.

What is the “Essential Eight”?

The ACSC has admitted that no single mitigation strategy guarantees total prevention of cybersecurity incidents. However, they encourage organisations to implement the eight essential strategies as a baseline. These mitigation strategies are also deemed cost-effective with regards to time, money and effort when compared to the resources needed to respond to large-scale cybersecurity incidents.

  • The E8 strategies are categorised into three groups:
  • Strategies to Prevent Malware Delivery and Execution,
  • Mitigating the Extent of Cyber Security Incidents, and
  • Recovering Data and Maintaining System Availability.

For more information on these strategies visit the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

How will the Essential Eight affect your business?

These new strategies are now a benchmark for any business or organisation who is required or aspires to work with the Government, Health or other contracts containing sensitive data. Whether your business is compliant with these strategies or is not is now a big factor when it comes to Government tenders, contract pitches and so forth. It is also likely that other big corporations dealing with data will also require their business partners to be compliant with the E8 before starting any work.

Complying with the Essential Eight

As a business owner or IT professional, your first task will be running an IT security audit and comparing your current system to the strategies outlined by the Government. From here, you will be able to identify your weaknesses and gaps in security. Your business can begin implementing the eight strategies anytime, and suggested approaches from the Australian Cyber Security Centre are available.

How eStorm can help

You do not need to handle or manage this change on your own. Our team understands auditing your current system and updating your strategies to suit the new benchmarks is not an easy task. Our friendly IT support team is here to help your business obtain a high-security standard, going beyond the E8 strategies.

Currently, the E8 strategies are heavily based on Windows-based systems. However, our team covers this and more to ensure your business’ IT is secure. Our broad services include Mac Controls, Perimeter Security (Firewalls and Universal Threat Management), and breach mitigation (honeypots and intrusion detection systems).

If you have questions regarding how the Essential Eight will impact your business or how to maintain high-security standards, the eStorm is here to help. Contact us today!

 

3 Cyber Security Tips When Working Remote

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Remote working can be a blessing. More time spent with the family, less time commuting and sitting through meetings from the comfort of your own home. But as companies across Australia continue to offer flexible work environments to prevent the spread to COVID-19, it is important to understand the security and privacy risks that both the business and employees may encounter.

Employees who are usually protected by corporate networks are working from much less secure locations, and cybercriminals have used COVID-19 as an opportunity. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASCS) has seen a significant increase in Australians being targeted with COVID-19 related scams, and advised everyone to stay aware and up-to-date. To help you get started, here are three things you could do to protect both your employees and the business.

Implement multi-factor authentication

According to the Australian Government, multi-factor authentication (MFA) is considered to be one of the most effective controls you can implement to prevent unauthorised access to computers, applications and online services. Using multiple layers of authentication makes it much more challenging to access your systems.

Multi-factor authentication can use a combination of:

  • Something the user knows, whether it be a passphrase, PIN or an answer to a secret question
  • Something the user physically possesses such as a card, token or a security key
  • Something the user inherently possesses such as a fingerprint or retina pattern.
Update your software & operating systems

Often software updates for operating systems and applications are developed to address security issues. Updates often include new security features that protect your data and device. Quite often cybercriminals take advantage of software vulnerabilities in common applications like operating systems and browsers.

Here are some best practices when it comes to software and operating system updates:

  • Stay current: software vendors release updates regularly and many of them relate to important security issues. Appoint someone to be in charge of staying on top of these updates.
  • Keep up with regular maintenance tasks: appoint someone to be in charge of keeping software licenses up to date and keeping software current.
  • Automate what you can: this will lessen the burden in the long run.
  • Back up everything: if you experience any crashes while updating you’ll be glad you did.
Outsource a Managed IT Service Provider (MSP)… like us!

Managed IT Services are a subscription-based outsourcing of IT systems management for businesses, which also includes the management of other IT processes and functions intended to improve business operations and reduce costs.

The goal of managed IT services is to help your business run more effectively by transferring the burden of managing and maintaining your IT software, hardware and environment to us—the managed IT service provider. As your IT managed service provider we then maintain responsibility for the day-to-day maintenance, upkeep and functionality of your IT service, equipment and overall infrastructure, as well as any short or long-term IT strategy and expansion.

Partnering with an MSP offers many benefits to your business. Some of these include:

  • Minimised downtime and cost reductions: with 24/7 proactive monitoring of your IT systems, we’re able to identify and address any issues before they cause damage, interruptions to your business or financial loss.
  • Security: with over 43% of cyber attacks targeting small to medium businesses, it’s vital vulnerability assessments, threat management and secure user access and verification become a commonplace for your business. We’re always working with leading technology vendors and testing the latest world-class technology, tools, systems and security to deliver the best and safest IT solutions.
  • Peace of mind knowing that no matter where you are or what issue arises, you have skilled professional IT experts in your corner who are prepared and ready to help you.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses continue to adapt to the fast-changing environment and develop strategies to protect their business and staff from cyber attacks. Here at eStorm, we encourage Australians to remain vigilant and to review your current strategies to ensure you incorporate cyber security measures.

If you’d like to learn more about outsourcing your IT or Managed Services, or have questions about Network Security, get in touch today by emailing [email protected] or calling (07) 3120 0640.

Office 365 supports your business to work remote

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In these ever-changing times, the ability for an organisation to adapt and change is what will allow you to stand out from competitors, continue to serve customers, and ensure you maintain momentum. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing more and more businesses prepare for social distancing by setting up their systems to allow for remote work and collaboration. At eStorm, we’ve been supporting our customers to ensure they are set-up and using Office 365 to its full potential.

Whether working on a PC, Mac or mobile device from home or in the office, Office 365 is providing workplaces with the tools to continue driving efficiency and productivity. Here are just a few ways Office 365 can support your business in working remotely:

Real-time collaboration

For businesses to continue operating and supporting customers, collaboration on projects and tasks needs to continue. Office 365 provides multiple tools to ensure collaboration doesn’t stop when teams are working remotely. The Microsoft Office suite most of you are used to gives you the ability to have more than one person working on a Word document or Excel file at the same time, and be able to see each other’s work — great for collaboration.

To take it to the next level, there are also a number of newer tools such as SharePoint, Skype for Business and Teams — all designed to help your organisation achieve its goals and provide greater opportunities for workplaces when working remotely.

Teams

Teams is a Microsoft Office 365 tool that allows you to keep your teams communicating, collaborating and working together no matter what location they’re in! The Teams tool is used by businesses to support teams of all sizes, from small teams of 2-5, to large teams of 20-30, even to bigger groups of 100+. No matter the size of your team, Teams provides a great option for organising projects and getting the right people together to have conversations and meetings.

Teams also works as a way of recording and tracking conversations, and offers an easy format for online meetings and chat sessions. Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen more and more businesses take advantage of Teams to ensure they are delivering projects, communicating in a timely manner and continuing to achieve their organisation’s goals.

Microsoft is currently offering a free version of Teams during the COVID-19 pandemic — learn more about the free version and speak to us about how we can support you to set-up Teams today.

A simple tip for your employees when using Teams to facilitate group chats while working remote — if you’re somewhere with a distracting background, there is a handy little ‘background blur’ tool to help reduce distraction and keep teammates focused.

Secure Cloud file storage

Office 365 also allows your team to access files from anywhere, in a secure and safe manner. The cloud-based storage, OneDrive, provides global accessibility and real-time collaboration to support your business in working both in-house and remote as needed. It allows for full visibility, control and collaboration for internal and external stakeholders, as you can easily share documents and control who can view and edit each file. 

Microsoft Office 365 also offers enterprise solutions when it comes to ensuring your business’s documents and work stays secure. Its collection of threat-protection technologies helps protect against spam, malware, viruses, phishing attempts, malicious links, and other cyber threats to your business.

Continuation of business

The huge benefit of Office 365 to businesses is that it offers an easy way to continue ‘business as usual’ no matter what challenges may come your way. The tools are there to help your teams collaborate, plan workflows and tasks, and manage projects. With Office 365, your business can continue to meet its goals and deliver services/products to your customers. 

Need help to get your business working remote using Office 365?

At eStorm, we offer Office 365 support and troubleshooting, as well as deliver general IT Managed Services. What does that mean exactly? With a wide range of plans, deployment options and services, our IT experts can get your business set up and working efficiently in no-time. With access to the latest information and deals on offer, our team is here to support you during the COVID-19 pandemic and into the future.