Fortress IT Consulting Blog

Have you ever met the IT Director or Network Security Manager who was the proverbial brick wall to get any decent technology implemented at your company? I have met so many of these IT dictators in my career, it’s almost laughable. I can’t really pinpoint whether it’s apathy, laziness or fear that drives this behavior.

There’s supposed to be a fine line between features/functionality and overall network security. The total cost of ownership needs to be weighed against the benefits to the company. It’s called acceptable risk, and the better managers understand this.  But I have seen decisions made by IT managers that really had me scratching my head.

If you are one of these dictators, hopefully this article will wake you up to reality. Or if you have to deal with one, you may learn something that will break through that barrier.

Often times, IT managers have the God complex. Or as Patrick Swayze would say, “It’s my way or the highway!” And this is the absolute wrong way to look at it your job. About ten years ago, at the company I worked for, IT was referred to as the necessary evil. It was part of our business that made us functional, but IT was a cost center. The internal departments were our customers and if they wanted a particular technology, we provided it. We would set up internal SLA’s and expectations in order to protect all interested parties, and we took whatever steps necessary to design, implement, manage, secure and improve that technology. Bottom line, if a particular solution was needed or wanted, and it had management approval and budget sign-off, IT came through.
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In an earlier posting, I wrote about Disaster Recovery and Backup Solutions. In it, I stated that approximately 50 percent of businesses that experience data loss goes out of business almost immediately, and 90 percent within two years. If that doesn’t paint a picture of reality, I don’t know what will. Now, we’ve experienced events such as 9/11, Katrina and other hurricanes, tornadoes in Kansas, and most recently the California fires.

Those dozen or so fires in California, like most natural disasters, have dual impact on the community. Not only are businesses being devastated, but so are peoples’ homes. Read the rest of this entry »

We at Fortress IT Solutions try to stay on top of, or ahead of, the curve. When it comes to backups and disaster recovery, that is a daunting task. Every customer is different, which means their needs are different.

It’s important to provide solutions to meet these needs no matter what. Fortunately, there are many solutions available on the market that can accomplish this, but at what cost? Hardware and software can get expensive. And if you are outsourcing your IT processes, what are your expectations?

Fortress IT has many small business and home business customers, many of whom do not have a legitimate backup plan, or one that is stable. That is why we have partnered with BeeBackup, a provider of online backups. Backing up your laptops, workstations and servers can be done at the click of a button, or scheduled as a service. What’s important to understand, this is a software only solution. No hardware to install, no tapes to periodically change. And the storage cost is laughable.

The way it works, the software, on command, will backup your files (the files you choose to backup or your entire system) to a secure storage server over the internet. The connection uses 3DES encryption for security and the location is protected. The backend servers are fully redundant with multiple points of entry to the internet backbone.

For more information, contact Fortress IT Consulting!

Whether yours is a small organization or a Fortune 500 company, today’s highly dynamic and competitive environment demands that your company efficiently organize and manage the flow of information both internally and externally. In this digitized information age, a common challenge for many companies is how to handle its paper and electronic documents. One of the tools available to help any sized business address this challenge is known as a document management system.

A document management system takes many forms, but at its heart it provides a systematic method for creating, categorizing, storing, locating and retrieving documents. A good document management system facilitates collaboration, sharing and secure distribution of documents, and helps the organization reduce filing and distribution costs, improve and protect access to information, comply with government regulations, and improve operational efficiencies.