January 19, 2023

What is Business Continuity Planning and Why Do You Need It?

Why You Need Business Continuity Planning

Good leadership involves great planning. As a business leader, you know it’s important to have an emergency preparedness plan to keep your employees and customers safe if the worst happens. But do you know how to keep your business running in the face of disaster?

Many business leaders assume that emergency preparedness is the same thing as business continuity planning, but in fact they’re quite different. A business continuity plan can make all the difference during difficult times.

What is Business Continuity Planning?

Business continuity is a company’s ability to maintain crucial functions during and after a disaster. A business continuity plan is a proactive, companywide system that’s implemented long before emergencies occur so you can quickly get back to business.

A business continuity plan contains clear guidelines on what your business needs to maintain operations, from management all the way down. If emergencies happen, you don’t waste time getting everyone up to speed because they exactly what must be done to move forward.

IT companies offer business continuity plans because nearly all businesses rely heavily on their IT to power operations. From accounting and payroll to online commerce, your business needs connectivity. With solid processes in place, you can get computers, servers, networks up and running fast even if they’ve been disrupted by disaster.

Benefits of Business Continuity Planning

We’re a hyper-connected society and consumers have low tolerance for downtime. Being able to respond to customers, even at a reduced level, helps maintain trust and relationships. Continuity prevents negative business outcomes, preserving job security for your employees. Maintaining operations means you can meet the needs of consumers during a possibly difficult time. Here’s what continuity might look like for your business:

• Reduced downtime — Having access to your essential functions as soon as possible after disruption keeps operations functional and avoids costly downtime.
• Increased flexibility — Cloud options provide data backup, giving you the power to bring back primary operations first and minimize data loss.
• Maintained productivity — Limited downtime enables you to maintain productivity and keep data secure.
• Customer satisfaction — When you can continue operating, you build trust and satisfaction with your customers. Plus, they’ll feel comfortable knowing that their data has stayed secure.

How to Get Started on Your Business Continuity Plan

There are three main ingredients to a good business continuity plan: resilience, recovery, and contingency. To plan for resilience, you must clearly determine which business functions are essential. These are the functions you’ll bring back online first when time is of the essence. The next step is to create a system of data backups so you’ll never lose critical information needed to maintain operations. Rapid recovery involves setting recovery time objectives for various functions, systems, and networks. Contingency plans involve preparing for eventualities like property and hardware loss. Developing a chain of command that distributes contingency responsibilities can expedite the execution of your contingency plan.

GUT Consulting Offers Business Continuity Consulting Services

GUT Consulting specializes in helping small businesses prepare for the worst. We offer a no-cost assessment meeting to learn exactly where your vulnerabilities are and how to address them. When you choose GUT, you’ll gain the right relationships, product understanding, and know-how to solve business needs and setbacks. Contact GUT Consulting to learn how we can help you create and implement a business continuity plan today.

November 11, 2022

What Are the Benefits of a Server Maintenance Plan?

Benefits of a Server Maintenance Plan

Imagine this: you’re commuting to work for another productive day at the office. When you arrive, you pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit down at your desk, and fire up your computer. But you notice that nothing works properly. You can’t check your email or access the files you need to complete your tasks. You’re experiencing a server failure.

In today’s hyper-connected world, a server failure would be a serious setback for most companies. Nearly all the information you need to do business is digitized and stored on servers. If you can’t access mission-critical information you might experience delays in production or services. Worse yet, if your server hasn’t been properly maintained you could lose years of important data. Luckily, there is a simple solution to prevent delays or catastrophic data loss: a server maintenance plan.

What is a Server Maintenance Plan?

A server is a type of computer designed to hold substantial amounts of data and perform demanding computational tasks. They’re connected to networks so other computers can request and retrieve data stored on the server. To function optimally, servers require regular physical and virtual maintenance. These tasks can include:

• Regular cleaning and dusting
• Temperature regulation
• Regular data backups
• Software updates and patches
• Security reviews
• Antivirus configuration and updates

Each task has its own demands and frequency. For example, a server should be cleaned and dusted three times a year but must be backed up every 24 hours. Keeping up with a long list of maintenance tasks can be complicated, which is why you need a server maintenance plan.

A server maintenance plan is a schedule that tracks all the tasks required to keep your server running optimally and ensures that they are performed in a timely manner. With a server maintenance plan, you’ll stay on top of issues to prevent problems before they happen.

What Are the Benefits of a Server Maintenance Plan

A server maintenance plan is crucial for your business. When your servers are properly cared for, they’ll last longer (which saves you money) and you’re much less likely to face server failure and data loss. It’s difficult to overstate how much your business will benefit. In addition to peace of mind, a server maintenance plan will provide:

• Reduced Downtime—Servers don’t last forever and sometimes they crash. Having a data back up makes recovering your information faster and easier. And if you need a new server, data migration will be smooth, saving you time and money.
• Minimized Vulnerabilities—Thanks to regular antivirus updates, a server maintenance plan protects you against cybersecurity attacks. You’ll receive timely alerts regarding suspicious activity so you can keep your data and your business operations safe.
• Improved Efficiency—You need your server to work smoothly. With remote monitoring, an expert will keep an eye on your server’s health and performance to keep it running in top shape.

Contact GUT Consulting to Create a Server Maintenance Plan

If your server safety keeps you up at night, GUT consulting can help. GUT consulting brings over a decade of experience to every server maintenance plan and its execution. We work with businesses of all sizes to create and implement ideas that will increase their profits, efficiency, and sales. Contact us today to get started on a server maintenance plan that works for you.

October 26, 2022

How IT Outsourcing Can Improve Your Business (and Your Bottom Line)

Are you a leader struggling to manage the IT demands of your company? You’re not alone—IT problems are a common pain point for many businesses. In our digitally driven environment, it’s impossible to run a business without technology infrastructure but not every business has the expertise to troubleshoot problems or handle security.

Outsourced IT services could be the answer to your IT troubles. When you engage managed services from a reputable IT consulting company, you immediately gain access to a team of experts—often at a lower price than a single, full-time employee. Read on to learn more about the benefits of IT outsourcing and find out if it’s a good fit for your company.

The Benefits of Outsourcing IT Through Managed Services

If you’ve noticed a decrease in efficiency, higher instances of cybersecurity problems, or frequently unresolved customer support issues—you likely have an IT problem. You can gain immediate relief and enjoy several benefits when you hire IT Consulting Services.

1. Reduced Cost

Engaging managed services from an expert IT company often costs less than hiring a new, full-time employee. Managed services can tackle problems right away and bypass expensive training and onboarding time.

2. Scale Staff

With managed services, you only pay for what you need. That means, you can bring on more staff to handle the demands, and then reduce numbers when the project is completed. And each time you engage more staff, you can rest assured that they bring high levels of experience with a commitment to quality outcomes.

3. Increased Security

Managed services are customizable and give you access to services that you need. IT consulting services can monitor data, audit your security, and manage essential software like anti-virus protection and firewalls. Extra protection guards you against data breaches that can cause expensive downtime and a host of other problems.

4. Greater Efficiency

When companies manage IT in-house, finding and implementing solutions often includes many hours of research and development. IT professionals providing managed services don’t have to reinvent the wheel and can quickly implement new technologies solutions for your company.

5. Improved Focus

Managed services remove the burden of complex IT decisions and frees up current employees to focus on core business affairs. The extra focus can help improve morale, outcomes and move your company forward.

Things to Know Before You Choose to Outsource Your IT

As a leader, you’re responsible for making choices that are in the best interest of your company. Before you engage IT consulting services, there are a few things to consider to determine if it’s truly right for you.

1. Less Control

Some businesses leaders hesitate to outsource their IT needs because it entails trusting a third party with important business functions. This potential loss of control makes some leaders uncomfortable, which is why it’s important to thoroughly interview your prospective IT consulting company before engaging them.

2. Communication

Depending on the provider, communication can be less straightforward when compared with an in-house employee. If you experience long periods of silence from your IT provider, consider this a red flag and consider looking for services from a more communicative company.

3. Security Issues

Generally, managed services increase your cybersecurity protections and monitoring—which is a benefit. However, if the IT company you engaged doesn’t share your standards or is compromised in some way, your data may be at risk. It’s a good idea to inquire about a provider’s processes, procedures and philosophies before bringing them on board.

What To Look for in An IT Outsourcing Partner

You’re convinced that managed services from an IT consulting company is the right answer for your business but how to do you find the right one? The criteria for hiring the right company is similar to hiring the right person. You should look for a track record of success, aligned values, and trustworthiness.

Your IT consulting company should demonstrate a wealth of experience and easily be able to discuss way in which they helped their clients succeed. After all, one of the benefits of outsourcing is having access to an entire team of experts. Another important aspect to a productive partnership is ensuring that your company values are aligned. A mismatch in goals is a recipe for frustration. Lastly, it’s important to know about a company’s client retention, quality of work and facilities. Feel free to request client testimonials or references and be sure to take a tour of the prospective company’s facilities to get to know them well.  

Contact GUT Consulting for IT Outsourcing

The world of technology can feel overwhelming and be expensive. GUT Consulting specializes in helping stressed and small businesses achieve goals and gain peace of mind. With us on their side, businesses save money, secure tools, and solve problems.

Make better IT decisions for your business. Contact us to start working with an information technology consulting firm that cares about your success and satisfaction.

July 8, 2022

What is VoIP and How Does it Work?

What is VoIP and How Does it Work?

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a technology that allows users to make phone calls via the internet instead of a traditional phone line. With VoIP, your voice is converted into a digital signal that travels over the internet. People who use VoIP can make calls from their computers, a specially designed VoIP phone, mobile phones, or traditional phones with an adapter. All you need is the device of your choice, a VoIP service provider, and an internet connection.

What are the Benefits of VoIP?

If your current phone provider is working fine, why should you consider switching to VoIP? The simple answer is that VoIP will save you money, while providing the same or better service. In fact, there are many benefits to VoIP.

More affordable—In most cases, VoIP costs less than a traditional phone provider. You could lower your phone bill by over 60%

Excellent sound quality—VoIP provides crisp audio. You’ll be able to hear your conversation partner better and no longer have to tolerate distorted sound.

Facilitates remote teams—A major feature of VoIP is the flexibility it provides. Employees working offsite can use a mobile app on their desktop or smartphone to make business calls from anywhere.

How to Choose the Right VoIP Provider

As we’ve seen, VoIP offers a host of benefits. The key to having a great experience with VoIP is choosing the right provider. You want to work with a provider that operates as effortlessly as the VoIP technology itself. Here are several qualities to look for when choosing the right provider for you:

Around the clock support—You never know when you’ll need help. Your VoIP provider should offer 24/7 support to get you up and running in no time.

Proven record—A quality VoIP provider’s work should speak for itself. Look for a provider with a reputation for reliability and consistency.

Compatible with your network—keep the headaches to a minimum. When you work with a VoIP provider that’s compatible with your network, you’ll use your existing systems to get up and running in no time.

GUT Consulting: Ohio’s VoIP Provider

The VoIP services from GUT consulting are different because we eliminate jitter, distortion, and echo while offering phone numbers in any area code. Our VoIP consulting services are reliable with robust phone service and multiple perks and calling features. Find out what GUT Consulting can do for you and your business. Contact us today to get started!

January 13, 2022

What is Desktop Support?

What is Desktop Support?

IT support is imperative to any business. Your networks, servers, devices, software – everything relies on structured IT support to run at its best.

It can cost a business a lot of money to run its managed IT services. Employees with those skills make high salaries. And to maintain your equipment properly, you need round-the-clock availability, not just when something breaks.

GUT Consulting can help. We can create a plan to help run your IT services with our technicians and specialists, maintaining your systems 24/7. Call today for a quote from our managed services department and see how we can help improve your remote desktop support.

Necessity of desktop support

Your network, systems, and devices are the heart of your business. The more technology-driven your business, the more necessary keeping the highest optimization of operations is.

Having technical support specialists in remote access and desktop information technology (IT) can monitor and manage systems and networks 24/7, saving you the expense of full-time employee salaries and benefits.

That kind of routine maintenance will keep your systems running more smoothly and prevent costly downtime.

Managed services will improve your customer service and keep employees connected when they need to be, wherever they need to be.

Benefits of outsourcing IT services

There are many benefits to outsourcing your desktop support and IT services.

• Always available — GUT Consulting specialists and technicians can monitor and manage your networks, systems, software and devices 24/7.
• Cost-saving — Running an in-house IT department can be more costly than contracting services when you factor in high salaries and benefits of capable and skilled technicians.
• Routine maintenance — This can prevent unnecessary or lengthy downtime. Technicians are better able to identify pressure points or potential data breaches quickly and execute plans to get systems back up and running.
• Preventing downtime — which can be costly. When a system is down, a website could be affected and keep customers from accessing it. Your employees could be without remote access from a job site to complete work.
• Improve efficiency — Specialists can provide well-rounded approaches to managed services and plan for efficiencies to improve processes from sales to customer service.

December 16, 2021

Business Continuity Plan

Business Continuity Plan

Every home and business has an emergency response plan to get humans out of a building safely.

Your technology also needs an emergency response plan. A business continuity plan enables businesses to maintain Information Technology (IT) function with minimal downtime.

GUT Consulting offers a free business continuity evaluation to determine a plan that fits your business’ needs and budget.

Why you need a business continuity plan

Most businesses rely on IT to power operations. A continuity plan outlines how to resist disaster impacts and prevent long recovery times that can slow operations and stall profitability.

Human resources, accounting, payroll, your business’ web functions, all of it needs functioning IT service. GUT Consulting can offer IT managed services to keep your devices, laptops, desktops, servers, networks and more up and running regardless of the disaster.

Our business continuity plan for your business will include disaster recover to restore operations and infrastructure after a crash. We ensure your organization is supported and gets back to regular operations as quickly as possible.

Benefits of business continuity

• Reduced downtime — Keep operations as close to normal as soon as possible to avoid costly downtime and loss of operations.
• Increased flexibility — Having cloud options can help your business avoid data loss and GUT Consulting can customize your disaster recovery plan to bring back primary operations first.
• Disaster Recovery functionality — Get back online quickly with minimal data loss or downtime.
• Increased productivity — Limited downtime keeps your organization’s operations going smoothly and data secure.
• Increased customer satisfaction — Your business continuity plan will ensure your organization’s operations stay as close to normal as possible, keeping customer information secure and your business functioning.

Contact GUT Consulting today to arrange your free consultation.

November 4, 2021

What is Information Security’s Importance?

Every piece of information your company stores is proprietary to your business needs. You need to keep it as secure as possible by locking down your cybersecurity and hiring an IT consultant and management team to monitor systems and processes throughout your business for security threats.

It takes more than an antivirus installation to keep cybersecurity threats at bay. GUT Consulting can assess your business’s needs and manage a plan to protect what you need.

What can threaten my business’s information and security?

Several threats to your information include ransomware, spyware and viruses. Your business can be breached by phishing scams or sophisticated hackers, creating a data breach for your business.

Phishing schemes perpetrate digital fraud, usually from emails of imposter accounts. The data breach can be used most often for identity theft or access to banking information.

Malware and ransomware can infiltrate your digital footprint with hurtful code, creating backend damage and could have long recovery times. It can damage data, software and devices that can slow your business operation or shut it down completely.

How can you protect my business?

GUT Consulting does more than simply secure digital data. Our tools and processes protect your business information from theft and hacks. Our certification includes cloud security, network security and endpoint security.

Our certified information systems security services strengthen businesses.

What are the benefits of information security management systems?

• Be ahead of the game. Prevent malicious attacks and neutralize threats to your business before they occur.
• Prevent a system meltdown after a cyberattack. The IT management mitigates damage during security breaches.
• Ensure the only access to your data is authorized.
• Maintain the data integrity of your business and give yourself peace of mind and be a trusted organization.

Call GUT Consulting to set up an IT management consult and develop a plan to keep your data secure.