Info Advantage Blog

According to HP, more than 92% of companies use services that are connected to or run in the Cloud.

The Cloud has changed the face of business computing. For Info Advantage, that means your servers are now able to be housed on our secure data center and maintained by our technicians. Hosted solutions ensure that your company is delivered a secure and efficient computing infrastructure that enables you to focus on the administration of your business and not your IT.

Cloud computing is a major shift from the traditional ways that businesses thought about IT resources. With Cloud computing you get the delivery of computing services – including servers, storage, databases, networking, and software – over the internet.

While the first Cloud computing services are barely a decade old, a variety of organizations are already embracing Cloud technology for all sorts of reasons. Cloud services even let you do things like create cloud-native applications, stream audio and video, analyze data, and embed intelligence.

One thing you should know is that not all clouds are the same; there are several different models, types, and services that have evolved to help offer the right solution for your business needs. The three different ways to deploy Cloud services are through a public Cloud, a private Cloud, or a hybrid Cloud.

If you already use any cloud services for your business then you’ve already realized some of the perks, but, according to IBM, these are the three major benefits of the Cloud:

• Flexibility: Users can scale services to fit their needs, customize applications, and access Cloud services from anywhere with an internet connection.
• Efficiency: Users can get quickly get applications to market, without the worries of underlying infrastructure costs or maintenance.
• Value: Cloud services give businesses a competitive advantage by providing the most innovative technology solutions.

Other notable benefits of the cloud for businesses of all sizes include data security, mobility, disaster recovery, quality control, sustainability, and potential cost reductions.

Additional computing options, or hosted IT solutions, offered by Info Advantage include hosted email exchange, email filtering/spam protection, desktop virtualization, hosted VoIP, and hosted security and backup.

At Info Advantage, we believe that Cloud computing presents solutions for any of your business’ problems; from e-mail, to communications, to a full-scaled hosted infrastructure. To this regard, cloud computing is presenting companies of all sizes with considerable benefits.

For more information about Cloud-based computing options that work to increase your company’s efficiency and productivity, and how those solutions can benefit your business, contact us today!

Did you know we partner with the among the world’s leading technology companies to help transform people’s lives and scale businesses? With Dell Technologies, your business is always ready to move forward, allowing you to bring your brightest ideas to life and securely drive continuous innovation with intelligent technology. Every organization needs to be a digital organization powered by data, running in a multi-cloud environment, and able to harness artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, edge computing and more.

Info Advantage’s IT ingenuity, combined with Dell’s quality technology, delivers proven technology solutions time and again!

Cloud: Organizations are adopting multi-cloud to get the best of breed capabilities they need to support their applications and data. With Dell you get simplified and consistent multi-cloud, operational and strategic agility, multi-cloud without compromise, and can stay in control of your data.

Hybrid Client: Exclusive cloud-managed client software solution ensures access to apps and data, wherever they are hosted. Designed for anytime, anywhere access, Dell Hybrid Client brings simplicity and flexibility to every workspace and enables your workforce to work confidently in the office or remote.

Security: Cyberattacks never sleep, but with Dell Technologies you can have peace of mind that your data and IT assets are secure, protected, and available. We stop at nothing to help thwart cyber threats with intrinsically secure infrastructure and devices, comprehensive threat detection and response, data protection and cyber recovery.

Servers: Dell has the only server vendor offering a cross portfolio solution for cryptographically verified hardware integrity, dynamic system lockdown, and robust firmware and boot protection. Anchored by a well-established silicon Root of Trust, we provide security that starts at design and continues through the supply chain and full lifecycle.

Storage: From the exponential growth of data to hybrid clouds to constant cyberthreats, it’s never been more important to deliver a future-ready storage experience. Dell's software-driven storage solutions help you automate IT, gain multi-cloud control and mobility, and innovate securely.

As a business technology provider, we understand that we need to provide only the best solutions and products for our clients, which will in turn offer the best chance of success. Regardless of what your technological needs are, Info Advantage can outfit your business with quality, cost-effective, and comprehensive solutions.

With the power of Dell’s hardware and software, and Info Advantage’s trusted IT consultants, you can achieve your business goals. Contact us today and take the first step toward making your business dreams a reality!

Did you know that Info Advantage has multiple New York State Contracts? These contracts allow us to consistently leverage our collaborative agreements with partners to better serve our clients in obtaining products and services faster and at a more competitive price.

According to the White House, during the 2020 fiscal year, the U.S. Federal government spent nearly $600 billion on good and services. Although these are larger scale purchasing decisions than those of the state of New York, they stand to provide an example of how investment and innovation can be spurred through government contracts.

The Office of the New York State Comptroller offers that state contracts can provide many necessities for local governments and school districts like road salt, fuel, vehicles, heavy equipment, food, furniture, computer hardware and software, and much more. These goods and services contracts fall intro one of three general categories: commodities, service, and technology.

In addition to potential monetary savings, New York State contracts meet the competitive bidding requirements of New York State General Municipal Law. Thus, local governments and school districts have assurance that the necessary research, solicitation, and negotiation has been done! The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) notes that the government wants to buy from or contract with small business for several reasons, including:

• To ensure that large businesses don’t “muscle out” small businesses
• To gain access to the new ideas that small businesses provide
• To support small businesses as engines of economic development and job creation

On top of our New York State OGS Contracts, Info Advantage is proud to be a New York State Certified Woman-Owned Business! To satisfy the state’s Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise (MWBE) Supplier Diversity Program, Info Advantage offers procurement services to New York State agencies including state, county, and local government offices.

A contract with the New York State OGS helps to define discounted pricing for products when sold to eligible buyers in New York State. These buyers typically include state/county/city/town/village office, public K-12 and SUNY schools, and various types of non-profit organizations. If you’re an eligible buyers that is looking to take advantage of the opportunities provided by these contracts, contact us today to learn more about how our services could benefit your organization.

According to a recent survey, three out of five Fortune 500 executives believe that up to 25% of their workforce will continue to work remotely, full-time, after the pandemic ends. Words such as hybrid, flexibility, and remote were mentioned by more than 53,000 employees in surveys gathered by Great Place to Work between early 2020 and May 2021. These words came in response to the question of what employees liked about their workplace or what could make their workplace better.

The main takeaway of that information? The hybrid work model is here to stay! The hybrid work model allows employees to split time between in-office locations and remote locations. But, for it to be effective, on top of being beneficial to employees, it also has to bring value to a business. This is where we believe technology play a big part in the equation!

Security will continue to be a major focal point for organizations in the modern technology age, especially as businesses continue to navigate between on-premises, remote, and hybrid work models. Making it even more important that ever to make sure devices are protected and secure. Technology, specifically solutions focused on connectivity, communication, and teamwork, will allow you to bridge the gap between on-premises and remote employees and enable your teams to function seamlessly regardless of location.

To help navigate the changing working model, Dell Technologies has introduced the Dell Hybrid Client, the world’s first client computing software with hybrid cloud management enabling seamless access to application and data wherever they may be. Designed for anytime, anywhere access, Dell Hybrid Client brings simplicity and flexibility to every workspace and enable your workforce to work confidently in the office or a remote setting.

The Dell Hybrid Client experience is one of a kind, providing:

• Instant Access: Convenient and secure single sign-on, provides immediate access to necessary apps and data.
• Simplified Workflow: One time login and seamless use of an array of IT-approved web apps, Linux apps, virtualized apps, and storage.
• A Consistent Experience: A “follow me” feature allows employees to get a consistent, personalized experience no matter which device they log in from.
• Ready on Day One: All features are available right out of the box, with intelligent, low-touch deployment from the cloud.

It offers multiple ways to deliver apps, multiple cloud providers, and multiple form factors, as well as safety at every touchpoint! At Info Advantage, we want to ensure that your business can grow and move forward, regardless of where your employees are working! It’s a simple philosophy that allows us to help businesses solve their IT issues permitting them to become more profitable and successful. If your business is trying to navigate the hybrid work model or you’re interested in learning more about the this solution, contact us!

For small and midsized business, the Microsoft 365 productivity suite is a staple in the software cupboard. How would you feel about spending a fraction of the cost of other licensed software, but still get some of the most revolutionary collaboration tools available? With Microsoft 365 you can do just that! It's a suite of applications that help you stay connected and get things done; providing you with powerful tools that help you work, learn, organize, connect, and create.

Info Advantage would like to share insights into the different ways you can buy Microsoft Licensing:

• OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) – This option is a box product, downloadable retail copy, preinstalled on a device with a 1 time user license.
• Advisor – This option is applied to M365 and O365 and the customer pays Microsoft directly.
• CSP/NCE (Cloud Services/New Commerce Experience) – This option is procured through a reseller and applies to M365, O365, Windows Server, Windows CALs, SQL Server, SQL CALs.
• Open Business – This option includes all Microsoft Products Perpetual, or Perpetual with Software Assurance (2-year upfront payment). Discontinued as of 12/31/2021.
•  Open Value Annuity – Annual or Full Pay options (3-year upfront) – VLSC Distribution of Licenses.

On top of all that, Microsoft has recently announced changes to their Microsoft Customer Experience Platform. These changes allow you to unlock the value of your customer data to create personalized experiences, delivering more relevant customer engagements and building deeper connections. Best of all, Info Advantage is here to make sure that you have the guidance you need to set it up and manage it properly.

Do you want to find out where you currently stand in your licensing based on all the changes in 2022? Claim a Free Microsoft Licensing Summary Report by emailing . This report takes 72 hours to generate, but ultimately will provide your business with all documentation of licensing purchased with Microsoft. After which, we can talk about next steps for your business and how to best leverage your licensing!

It’s our goal to provide enterprise-level IT practices and solutions to your business and our experiences have allowed us to build and develop the infrastructure needed to keep our clients up and running. You can listen to our recent webinar on "Microsoft Program Changes 2022" for even more details. 

IT is expensive, it's time consuming, and it can be downright frustrating. You pay your employees to work, but if their workstations aren't working or the server is unreachable, they can't do their jobs.These are just a few reasons why it’s important to work with a good MSP, and even more importantly, one that’s well connected.

Info Advantage strives to help businesses utilize technology to improve their operational efficiency, increase productivity, and strengthen network security! A process that’s made easier when you have partnerships with industry leaders across the technology landscape!

Today, we want to introduce you to our friends at Sophos! A worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, Sophos protects organizations and consumers from today’s most advanced cyberthreats.

Sophos delivers a broad portfolio of advanced products and services to secure users, networks and endpoints against ransomware, malware, exploits, phishing, and a wide range of other cyberattacks. Sophos began producing antivirus and encryption products over 30 years ago. Today, their products help secure the networks used by millions of users in 150 countries and over 500,000 businesses! Their products allow you to secure every endpoint of your network, from laptops to virtual desktops and servers, to web and email traffic and mobile devices. What’s more, Sophos ensures your network’s security by providing the one thing no one else can: Simplicity.

One of our favorite Sophos products is their Managed Threat Response (MTR) solution! Offering 24/7 threat hunting, detection, and response delivered by an expert team as a fully managed service, Sophos MTR takes targeted actions on your behalf to neutralize the most sophisticated attacks. Some key benefits of Sophos MTR are:

• High-Fidelity Detection: Spot suspicious behaviors and the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the most advanced adversaries.
• Proactive Defense: Discover indicators of compromise identified through threat hunts, proactively protecting your environment.
• Elite Expertise: 24/7 investigation of anomalous behavior and actionable defense against threats.
• Outcome-Focused Security: Decision-driving data that enhances configurations and automated detection capabilities.

Working with companies like Sophos allows us to provide you, our clients, with the best technology solutions from industry leaders. At Info Advantage, we know that, with the help of these partnerships, we’re able to translate your operational needs to technology initiatives, navigate manufacturers and different technologies, and align the best solutions to solve your business needs!

Contact us today to learn more about our partners, our solutions, and what Info Advantage can do for your business!

We know how important your data is to your organization. When your computer crashes and data is lost, it feels like your entire world has crashed with it. Don’t be defeated by data loss!

Data Services in today’s business environment should be driven by modern technology solutions. Info Advantage partners with leaders such as HPE to make sure you’re protecting your assets in all the right ways. Our next event on March 30^th will be a Lunch N’ Learn with HPE at The Del Monte Lodge!

As a technology consulting company, Info Advantage helps businesses improve operational efficiency, increase productivity, and strengthen network security using technology. While we design, procure, install, and support technologies that connect businesses to their customers, we also rely on our partnerships to go above and beyond in the services that we provide our clients!

That’s where our friends at Hewlett Packard Enterprise come in! A global edge-to-cloud company built to transform your business by helping you connect, protect, analyze, and act on all your data and applications wherever they live, we’re excited to have them joining this month’s event.

HPE can help you harness the right experience, expertise, and economics to solve your most pressing IT challenges and figure out what’s next for your evolving business. To thrive in the connected, data-driven world, you need a partner with the experience and expertise to help you realize the value of data, everywhere. That’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise and their leading storage solutions.

We partner with many types of businesses in the area and strive to eliminate IT issues before they cause expensive downtime, so you can continue to drive your business forward. We stand by our belief that your success is our success. Learn how to Protect Your Assets With Modern Data Management, enjoy a brief presentation on leading IT solutions, as well as food and great networking!

As an individual, you probably have health insurance or homeowner insurance, car insurance, maybe life insurance; but what types of insurance does your business have? Better yet, do you know what types of insurance your business should have? One thing we want to make you aware of is the importance of Cyber Insurance. In fact, we think it’s such an important topic that we’ve made it the focus of this month webinar!

That’s right, along with our friends at Cyberstone and techrug, we’re excited to bring you a webinar that explains why Cyber Insurance is a must have for any type of organization! The webinar will include a panel discussion with industry experts that will share expected changes, predictions for common risk events and attack vectors, and how you can act now with the right technology strategy to mitigate your risk.

Cyberstone is a cybersecurity professional services company that helps managed service providers (MSPs) and value-added resellers (VARs) build effective cybersecurity programs for their customers. Their comprehensive suite of security and compliance services helps your customers combat hackers, reduce overall risk, and meet regulatory compliance demands. Cyberstone provides Risk Assessment, Vulnerability Assessment, Penetration Testing, Cybersecurity Maturity & Compliance Assessments, Information Security Policy Development, and Incident Response Planning services!

techrug understands the unique risks your IT business is exposed to every day and has created a complete, customized insurance solution to better protect your company. They work with you to identify, strengthen, and manage your security exposures. techrug provides continuing education to understand, identify, and address risks, risk management resources that include informational webinars, checklist downloads, and access to useful industry news, and a team of live insurance experts available to answer all your data security, data privacy, and cyber liability exposures questions.

At Info Advantage, we partner with many types of businesses and strive to eliminate IT issues before they cause expensive downtime. Your success is our success, and as you grow, we grow! The webinar, Cyber Insurance: Why & How To Act Now, will take place on Thursday, March 10^th beginning at 11:00 AM. Not only will the webinar feature valuable industry knowledge on the importance of Cyber Insurance, but everyone who attends will receive a free Ransomware Assessment! Click here to review all of the event information and to register for the Cyber Insurance webinar! You can also learn more about the event and register on LinkedIn. We’re in this business to help other small businesses grow and move forward; it’s as simple as that. Contact us with any questions regarding this event, other events, or any of Info Advantage’s IT solutions!

Amidst all the chaos in the world, it’s more important than ever to have the right ally to help guide your business. Not only does this apply to your business, but to ours as well! As a technology consulting company, Info Advantage helps businesses improve operational efficiency, increase productivity, and strengthen network security using technology. And we couldn’t do that without the partnerships we’ve developed and maintained over the years!

Which leads us to our friends at Dell Technologies! Creating technologies that drive human progress, Dell is among the world’s leading technology companies helping to transform people’s lives with extraordinary capabilities. From hybrid cloud solutions to high-performance computing to ambitious social impact and sustainability initiatives, what Dell does impacts everyone, everywhere! Dell is #1 in data protection appliance and software, a proven provider of modern cloud data protection. Their solutions allow your business to innovate and simplify cloud data protection through automation and secure your business with cyber confidence.

One of our favorite Dell solutions is their EMC PowerProtect Data Manager, which delivers next generation data protection that enables faster IT transformation, while giving you the assurance that you can easily safeguard and quickly unlock your data’s value. PowerProtect Data Manager offers efficient data protection capabilities, including:

• Software Defined: Provide flexible data protection and compliance across applications and cloud-native IT environments.
• Multi-Cloud Optimized: Extend protection to the cloud with backup to cloud, backup in-cloud, long term retention and cloud disaster recovery.
• Self-Service: Backup and restore directly from native applications.
• Cloud-Based Monitoring and Analytics: Telemetry, machine learning, and predictive analytics to proactively take action and speed time to resolution.

At Info Advantage, we partner with other businesses in an effort to eliminate IT issues before they cause expensive downtime, so you can continue to drive your business forward. We’re excited to have Dell joining us for our upcoming Lunch N’ Learn on February 16^th. Dell, along with Barracuda, will join us at The Del Monte Lodge for lunch, networking, and engaging presentations on leading IT solutions for Protecting Your People, Processes, & Technology!

Don’t miss out on the February 16^th Lunch N’ Learn with our friends at Dell and Barracuda! Learn more about Protecting Your People, Processes, & Technology, register today!

In the IT industry, partnerships are a critical aspect in sustaining business growth. Partnerships can broaden the ability to provide adaptable and compliant technology recommendations that are designed to drive your business. At Info Advantage, our network of partners has unique areas of expertise, helping us to serve a wide range of industries and technology needs.

We’re excited to highlight our friends at Barracuda! Businesses of all sizes and around the globe trust Barracuda solutions to safeguard their employees, data, and applications from a wide range of threats. They continually innovate and expand their offerings to cater to growing technology needs.

Their solutions serve companies in a wide array of industries including Healthcare, Finance, Education, Manufacturing, and much more. Named a Visionary in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Network Firewalls, Barracuda’s product portfolio includes comprehensive solutions for email protection, application and cloud security, network security, and data protection. Here’s more:

• Email Protection: Complete security that stops all 13 email threat types and protects O365.
• Cloud Security: Web App and API Protection (WAAP) platform to better secure your workloads.
• Network Security: Products ranging from CloudGen Firewall to Secure SD-WAN to Industrial Security (IoT/OT) solutions, allowing you to meet all your network security needs.
• Data Protection: Backup, Cloud-to-Cloud Backup, and Data Inspector solutions that allow you to protect data and prevent data loss. A.K.A.. the peace of mind you want with your data.

Barracuda is trusted by over 200,00 businesses worldwide! Backed by the best customer support in the business, they provide security solutions that are highly effective, easy to buy, and easy to use.

We’re also excited to announce that Barracuda, along with Dell, are joining us for our next Lunch N’ Learn on February 16^th at The Del Monte Lodge in Pittsford, NY. Register today and join us for lunch, networking, and presentations for Protecting Your People, Processes, & Technology!

At Info Advantage, we aim to not only understand your organizations technology, but also how your business operates. Having great partners, like Barracuda, allows us to go a step further with the process to craft solutions and implement plans that will help your business succeed now and in the future.

To learn more about Info Advantage, our solutions, and our partnerships, contact us today. And don’t forget to check out our upcoming events page and sign up for that February 16^th Lunch N’ Learn! We hope to see you soon! 

Businesses are being faced with significant challenges when attempting to secure their digital assets from the increase of sophisticated cyberattacks. How strong is your current security posture?

We can help you find the answer to that question. Our complimentary Cybersecurity Self-Assessment is designed to provide insight to those responsible for achieving your business’s regulatory compliance and protecting its assets. It’s a high-level evaluation that can help determine your business’s cybersecurity preparedness level based on the widely adopted National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework. It generates a score that will help explain your current security posture. 

Take it a step further and share your assessment with Info Advantage so we can help provide more details into any gaps or opportunities when it comes to your business technology. We offer fully managed security solutions to protect all of your endpoints from both external and internal threats.

We agree with what Henry Ford once said, “The only real security you can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.” That’s why we offer cybersecurity solutions that range from Dark Web Monitoring to Phishing Simulations and more. This assessment touches on these areas and is segmented into five important sections – Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover.

We believe that the Cybersecurity Self-Assessment is a great addition to our cybersecurity solution portfolio; complementing our iaGuardianSecure and managed IT solutions. We even have a Cybersecurity Program Guide to help you understand what a solid security program should look like.

At Info Advantage, we are committed to protecting your business, your staff, and your customers. Doing so requires you to take IT security very seriously and to make cybersecurity a priority! We don’t want you to lose valuable time trying to resolve issues when you can prevent them before they happen.

It’s our goal to help businesses improve operational efficiency, increase productivity, and strengthen network security using technology. If you have any questions about your IT, please contact us!

Cyber insurance is a type of insurance policy that provides business with a combination of coverage options to help protect the company from data breaches and other cyber security issues. In today’s cyber landscape, it’s not a question of if your organization will suffer a breach, but when. As technology becomes more complex and sophisticated, so do the threats that business face. This is why every organization needs to be prepared with both cyber insurance and an effective cyber security plan to manage and mitigate cyber risk.

Cyber insurance can often provide coverage in the following ways: Lost Data, Lost Devices, Notification Requirements, and Forensics; it also can play a role in protecting your company long before a breach occurs! If a data breach does occur, cyber insurance can be essential in helping your organization recover as costs incurred can include business disruption, equipment damages, forensic analysis, legal fees, public relations expenses, and revenue loss.

All of these are reasons why Info Advantage is excited to provide you with our upcoming webinar – Cyber Insurance Is Evolving: What You Need To Know For 2022! It will occur on Tuesday, January 25^th from 11:00 – 11:30 AM (EST) and will feature a panel that includes our executive vide president, Mitch Weller, and president of Cyberstone, Joe Vetto, as well as the CEO of Techrug, Justin Reinmuth.

Cyberstone is a channel-only cybersecurity company that operates with the sole focus of helping MSPs to offer cybersecurity professional services to their cherished customers by offering a comprehensive suite of security and compliance services to help combat hackers, reduce overall risk, and meet regulatory compliance demands.

Techrug, the specialists in cyber liability errors and omissions insurance, understand the unique risks that an IT business is exposed to every day and has created a complete, customized insurance solution to better protect the companies it serves.

The discussion will focus on the importance of cybersecurity insurance in protecting your business from cyber risk and the damages that attacks can cause, as well the must-haves when it comes to navigating today’s threat landscape. You don’t want to miss out on this webinar; register today at Info Advantage or via LinkedIn to save your spot!

Did you know that client reviews are an essential part of our business process? Reviews allow us to better understand your experience, improve services, and expand offerings! It’s one of our favorite ways to make sure you are satisfied and receiving nothing but best-in-class support from our team.

Two great ways to review our business are through Google Reviews and BizRatings! We’ve been reviewed 4 times in the past month on Google and have overall have a perfect “5 Star” rating. Our BizRatings score is 9.83 (out of 10!) and 18 of our 178 client reviews have occurred in the past month.

We take pride in being your IT ally. Here is some insight into what our clients are recently saying:

• “Strong knowledgeable team. Never forcing a preconceived idea or solution. Always finds the best solution or mix of solutions for the situation at hand.”
• “All the tech support people I’ve dealt with are knowledgeable, patient, and fixed the problem.”
• “We have partnered with Info Advantage since 2001, utilizing their technical services to manage and maintain our IT infrastructure. We have expanded our company from under 10 employees to over 30 employees and Info Advantage has helped us grow our IT systems to match.”

At Info Advantage, our team of experts can become your outsourced IT department to help respond to issues quickly often before you even know about them. We cover everything from your servers and network infrastructure to your computers, workstations, and mobile devices. We can be your one-stop-shop if you’re looking for end-to-end solutions for all your technology needs.

We’re driven by the philosophy that if we help businesses solve their IT issues so they can become more profitable and successful, then we will inherently grow along with them. We mean it when we say there is no catch, no gimmick, just experience and best practices that we’ve honed over the years.

If you’re interested in learning more about our services and solutions, contact us today! If you’re a client, please be encouraged to leave a BizRating or Google Review. If you leave a review before December 31, 2021 we will donate to PAWS Animal Shelter on your behalf. We appreciate you taking this journey with us and we look forward to continuing to serve our community in the New Year!

As we look back at 2021 it’s evident that cybersecurity strongholds were surrounded by cybercriminals waiting to pounce at the sight of even the slightest crack in defenses. Threats and risks from all angles soon closed in on businesses of all sizes, bringing with them updated tactics and greater motivation to affect targeted industries. These breaches included modern ransomware attacks, Covid-19 related scams, and more developed social engineering threats.

Here are a few stats to consider as you look to increase your security in the New Year:

• The amount of cyberattacks across the U.S. increased by 900% and is still rising.
• The most common attack vector remains Phishing emails to expose personal data.
• Over 85% of breaches included a human error due to lack of cybersecurity awareness.

When a disruption occurs, your business stops. The Info Advantage team can help you avoid that. Now is the time to strengthen your IT and create a stronger security culture within your business. Here are three areas our team can help you get started with right away:

• Use Phishing Simulation & Awareness Training to reduce employee risks.
• Find out if your data has been stolen with a complimentary Dark Web Scan.
• Evaluate your existing IT and create a roadmap to protect your business.

We don’t want you to be the business that has their fair share of horror stories. From tales of downtime brought on by computer or network problems to disappointment with what your business is paying to keep your IT up and running, we’ve heard it all. We focus on:

Predictable IT Budgets: We provide predictable IT budgeting with a flat-rate service plan. We offer a variety of services so we can find the right fit for your business that will increase efficiency and peace of mind. With us, IT issues won’t stand in the way of your profitability. 

Reduce Costly Downtime: We ensure your employees can focus on what they do best, and not your IT. Having us as your all-in-one IT ally allows staff to work without interruption from technical issues that plague less efficient companies, which will only help you scale.

Dependable Service: We put in the time to make sure your needs are met. You’ll experience nothing but efficient and high-quality IT consulting and support when you choose us. We’ve been in this business for over 30 years – and we are proud to deliver best-in-class service.

The New Year will bring new cybersecurity concerns, but it will also bring new opportunities. We want you to be able to focus on the positive opportunities that arise for your business and help you stay protected 24/7/365. If you depend on technology to maximize daily operations or have ever been let down by technology in the past, then you should contact us.

Businesses now require a multi-layered security fabric to navigate this hyperconnected world – and that’s why Info Advantage trusts to partner with an industry leader like Fortinet!

Fortinet secures the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations around the world, empowering its customers with intelligent, seamless protection across the expanding attack surface and the power to take on ever-increasing performance requirements of the borderless network.

They have spent over 20 years as a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security by providing network security solutions that are the most deployed, most patented, and among the most validated in the industry. When you pair Fortinet solutions with Info Advantage, you grant yourself access to a broad, complementary portfolio of cybersecurity solutions that are built from the ground up with integration and automation in mind. Here are key advantages:

• Security Fabric: A highly integrated, automated, all-in-one cybersecurity platform.
• Artificial Intelligence: Provides superior NGFW and SD-WAN performance and efficiency.
• FortiGuard: Certified effective, enterprise class security services across the kill chain.
• Experience: Focused on all stages of security – detection, prevention, integration, and ROI.

The Fortinet Security Fabric can continuously assess the risks and automatically adjust to provide comprehensive real-time protection. Are you confident in your current security? Quick health check:

• Have you assessed and optimized your existing technology to ensure you’re getting the maximum ROI? Have you enabled your workforce to work remote effortlessly and securely?
• Have you enabled Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to secure remote VPN access?
• Is your endpoint protection capable of handling modern attacks?
• When is the last time you upgraded or replaced your firewall?

If you’re not 100% confident, you can speak with an Info Advantage team member to learn about our simplified and budget-friendly approach that comes with utilizing our partnership with Fortinet.

Digital innovation has impacted every industry; today’s perimeter is no longer easily defined and has expanded across the entire infrastructure, dramatically increasing the attack surface. Want more good news? Info Advantage’s managed service plan ensures proactive care to stay ahead of the threats in the first place and 24/7 support. Contact us to learn how we can strengthen your business for 2022!

We know in order to adapt to the rapidly changing digital landscape we have to allow our managed IT service offering to mature and evolve. We realize the days where simply ensuring that your computers were working properly are far behind us. Your business requires technology that drives productivity, encourages collaboration, and is both easily accessible and immaculately secure. That’s why we established the iaGuardian Suite. It’s made to enhance, support, and protect your business.

It offers fully managed, cloud-based efficiency, security, and protection. iaGuardianUC is the Unified Communication (UC) arm of the suite and provides comprehensive communication tools that are designed to be scalable and flexible - allowing it to meet any of the hybrid work model needs.

Too often, business owners find themselves in situations where their phone systems can’t scale without incurring large upfront costs, making it difficult to upgrade or expand their hardware. Such barriers slow down progress and leave organizations limping along until the work is paid for and completed.

Modern VoIP solutions give you the flexibility to scale as you need without the massive upfront costs. Adding users is done through the software, and phones can be deployed as software on a computer or as an app on a mobile device, along with traditional desktop-based handsets. Key features include:

Unified Communications: Leading solutions that offer real-time integration across your entire business, allowing you to optimize business processes and enhance the human communication.

VoIP/Hosted PBX: A cost-effective, flexible, and fully featured solution that offers enterprise-level telecommunications to businesses looking to get the most out of their in-house phone system. All the features of a solid enterprise-class VoIP system, while eliminating the geographic boundaries.

Boomea: Ever had to work remotely and the only convenient way to talk to your team would be to call them? Now, you can simply open the Boomea application to chat with your co-workers. With the seamless, easy-to-use ability to send photos, videos, and any other file type, you can feel confident that you’ll be prepared in any situation. 

SIP Trunking: Solutions that scale based on your users, not your usage; allowing you to get unlimited inbound and outbound calls and save money when compared to your traditional phone bills.

On top of all that, IaGuardianUC delivers cutting-edge telecommunication capabilities. As an authorized agent for over 400 carriers across the United State, the Info Advantage team has worked with numerous telecommunication solutions to meet clients’ needs. We know what works.

Most importantly, we’re here to support you every step of the way. Our team can manage your telecommunication systems and handle upgrades and software patches, as well as phone support as you and your team need it. Contact us to learn more about how we can enhance your communications.

Have you signed up for our next in-person event? If not, you might want to check this out!

Featuring Unitrends and Arctic Wolf, this Lunch N’ Learn will focus on How To Mitigate Cyber Risk To Your Business. In honor of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we’re focusing on all things cyber so to help you strengthen your security posture. Now is the time to put extra emphasis on protection!

We are proud to partner with industry leaders to help get you everything you need to know.

A 2021 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards Gold Winner, Unitrends, introduces backup appliances and Cloud data protection that leverage cutting edge technology to automate manual tasks, eliminate management complexity, and deliver tested hardware and software resilience. They also offer effortless data protection, resilient protection built for the unexpected, and customer-driven innovation. With 30,000 customers and a 98% customer satisfaction, Unitrends provides leading solutions worldwide.

Named the 25^th Fastest Growing Company in North America on Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500, Arctic Wolf is a market leader in security operations. Using the Cloud-native Arctic Wolf Platform, they help organizations end cyber risk by providing security operations as a concierge service. They also allow you to simplify your security operations with one platform, delivered by experts, leading to 90% less IT effort, and providing 24x7 security operations. Who wouldn’t want IT peace of mind like this?

Cybercrime continues to be a hot topic item in 2021. In fact, a report from McAfee indicated that cybercrime cost the global economy as much as $600 billion in 2017. That same report estimated that global cybercrime costs in 2021 would reach almost $6 trillion. Hackers are not slowing down now.

At Info Advantage, we stand behind the belief that cybersecurity is a priority that needs to be taken very seriously. This event will take place at the Del Monte Lodge in Pittsford, New York, on October 20^th from 11:30AM – 1:00PM. Register today to join us for lunch, networking, and engaging presentations about leading technology solutions that can benefit your business. We hope to see you there!

Fall is finally here and while some may be celebrating pumpkin spice flavors and Halloween, we’re celebrating Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Let this be a month where you focus on cybersecurity too.

Launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in October 2004, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a broad effort to help all Americans stay safer and more secure online. This year’s theme “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.”

In today’s tech-fueled times, your homes, societal well-being, economic prosperity, and our nation’s security are all impacted by the internet. That’s why the National Cyber Security Alliance has chosen to focus on the role we all play in cybersecurity awareness as this year’s theme for the month.

You’ve heard all of the statistics before, but here are some of the ones we think you should see again:

1. The yearly cost of cybercrime in the U.S. is roughly $600 billion.
2. 43% of all cyberattacks directly target small businesses.
3. Human error results in 95% of all cybersecurity attacks.
4. Every 14 seconds ransomware infects a business computer.

The world has learned that small businesses need a multi-layered security approach. It must focus on everything from 24/7 Network Security and Unified Threat Management to Endpoint Security and Mobile Device Management to Email Encryption and Multi-Factor Authentication, and more.

Doing so requires making cybersecurity a priority – and looping in experts that know how to do it best.

Gone are the days were setting up antivirus and a firewall were enough. Today, you need 24/7, active, managed IT security solutions to protect all of your endpoints from both external and internal threats. Our iaGuardianSecure solution is a big piece of the puzzle – bringing together strategy and technology.

This month at Info Advantage, we’ll be sharing more tips that will empower you and your business to own your role in protecting your part of cyberspace by implementing stronger security practices, raising community awareness, educating vulnerable audiences, and training employees! We also have an in-person event later this month about Cybersecurity on October 20^th – sign up!

Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter to tune in for more!

Want to know more about an inventor and patent holder of technology that provides the highest levels of optimization, reliability, security, and acceleration of Wide Area Networks (WANs)?

FatPipe Networks provides software-defined networking (SD-WAN) for hybrid multi-line wide-area networks with high security – and Info Advantage is proud to partner alongside with them.

With products that cover an array of features and benefits for companies that run mission-critical applications over any type of WAN infrastructure, FatPipe Networks has ranked within the top quarter of Utah’s fastest growing companies for the past three years and was #189 on the Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S. list!

SD-WAN is similar to software-defined networking in that is decouples the wide area network from the underlying transport network. Companies use SD-WAN to create a software-defined overlay network that is independent from the carrier or physical underlying network. It provides organizations with multiple connections, centralized control, last mile connectivity, and major cost savings!

FatPipe’s SD-WAN solutions takes it a step further offering these key benefits:

• Simple to deploy, use, and manage
• Untethered connectivity to low TCO
• Secure, scalable, and flexible
• 18 years of deployment experience

At Info Advantage, we know how important it is to have good technology partners. That’s why we’re proud to share that market research organizations note the following about FatPipe’s strengths:

• A leading vendor for WAN link load balancing with very good WAN path control capabilities.
• Supports comprehensive application identification, classification, and control capabilities.
• Offers detailed network visibility and reporting capabilities.
• Solutions are easy to operate as all functions are integrated into one platform
• Provides a range of commonly used WAN features, including substantial storage for caching.

FatPipe Networks will be joining us on Wednesday, September 22^nd, for our Lunch-N’-Learn at The Del Monte Lodge in Pittsford, NY. FatPipe will join Scale Computing to provide guests with an opportunity to network while also observing presentations about leading technology solutions that can benefit YOU!

Are you interested in learning more about a leading IT solution that can benefit your business?

That’s exactly what why we want to tell you more about Scale Computing!

When ease of use, high availability, and total cost of ownership matters, Scale Computing HC3 is the ideal IT infrastructure platform for SMBs, distributed enterprises, and edge computing.  The HC3 software uses self-healing and automation to maximize application uptime and performance, simplify management, scale easily and quickly, and protect data. Info Advantage can help you adopt this.

IT infrastructure doesn’t have to be complex; with Scale Computing and our team of experts working together, you can achieve highly available infrastructure without connecting multiple vendors.

Our goal is to eliminate problems in the infrastructure in real-time, enabling applications to achieve maximum uptime even when local IT resources and staff are scarce. Key benefits include:

• Edge Computing: Improves response times and saves bandwidth.
• Virtualization Technology: Allows you to do more in this digital world.
• Business Resilience: Secures your spot in the digital transformation and scale your business.
• Data Protection: A simple, scalable, and highly available option for your valuable assets.
• Remote Work: Adapts your business goals to the new hybrid workforce we live in today.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: Solutions that fit your budget and allow you to work anywhere.

Scale Computing even ranked No. 1 on CRN’s 2021 Annual Report Card!

Info Advantage is excited to welcome Scale Computing to a Lunch N’ Learn at The Del Monte Lodge on Saturday, September 23^rd at 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM at 41 North Main Street in Pittsford, NY. This event will provide an opportunity to network while observing presentations about this leading solution!

You can register for the event or to speak with a member of our team regarding Scale Computing. Simply contact us for more information about how your business can better leverage technology!