As a business, you NEVER want to worry about downtime, EVER. What you DO want is to be 100% confident your network won’t go down and STAY down. In order to do that, you need to eliminate technology problems that bring your operations to a screeching halt and be up and running 100% of the time. It’s an uphill battle when you’re constantly dealing with internet slowness, hardware failure, chronic computer problems, or (knock-on-wood) a data breach caused by an employee. Being exposed makes you feel vulnerable and what you do is TOO important for you to have to live/work in fear.

Are You Ready For The Next Disaster?

FREE 27-Point IT Systems Security And Performance Assessment Reveals How Exposed Your Company Is To Expensive Downtime, If Your Backups Are Configured Properly, And If your Truly Secure From Hackers, Viruses, And Rogue Employees. Click Here to Request Your Free IT Assessment NOW!

Imagine…. Tomorrow morning, you walk into your office to find your company’s entire computer network is down due to hardware failure, cyber-attack, an internet outage, or a power outage like we experienced in the 2021 Texas power crisis. What do you do? You PANIC because every minute that goes by and your network is still down, you’re losing money, and you know if you don’t get it fixed quickly you will suffer a devastating blow to your reputation that could likely lead to the demise of your entire company. Pretty scary thought, right?

That’s why we’ve made this 5-point Downtime Exposure Checklist of steps you can take now to significantly reduce your network’s risk of downtime…


Downtime Exposure Checklist:
Factors that can contribute to downtime include hardware failure, fires, floods, internet outages, power outages, and ransomware caused by an employee clicking on a malicious link encrypting your data. We suggest you use this checklist to pinpoint where YOUR company is most vulnerable:

    • 1. Check your backups. Ask your IT service provider to provide proof that your backups actually work. Many companies have lost millions of dollars’ worth of data and in almost every case, these businesses had some type of backup system in place but were sickened to find out it wasn’t working when they needed it most. This is why knowing what backup methods you have and how effective they are is something you NEED to know. Request proof from your current IT services provider that your current backups are working and can be restored quickly. If your current provider is not proactively providing you with this crucial information, that is unacceptable, and you need to ask them WHY they are not providing it.
    • Another thing to confirm with them is whether you have both an onsite AND cloud-based data backup and security solution in place. That way, if anything happens to your physical backups, you can still be up and running quickly with crucial data recovered from the cloud. As an added bonus, you can save (on average) 20% to 50% on your IT costs by moving some or all of your network functionality to the cloud, making data backup and recovery quicker, AND putting less of a strain on your bank account. For more information on cloud computing, click here: Could Moving To The Cloud Be A Game-Changer For Your Business?
    • 2. Check the health of your servers, computers, and other hardware to avoid unexpected failure. The unfortunate truth is 100% of hardware will eventually fail and without proper and reliable backups this can spell disaster for a business. 6 out of 10 businesses will experience some type of major network or technology disaster that will end up costing them between $9,000 and $60,000 in repairs and restoration costs on average. Ways to prevent sudden hardware failure catching you off-guard include:
      • Knowing the end-of-life on all devices including servers, computers, and laptops.
      • Knowing if all devices are up to date with the proper security patches.
      • Making sure all devices reside in a safe, dry place, away from any possible day-to-day mishaps.

      Hardware failure and having reliable backups go hand in hand when trying to prevent network downtime as much as possible. Staying on top of your hardware is incredibly important, however, the ONLY way to COMPLETELY protect your data and GUARANTEE that you could restore it all quickly after a major disaster is by maintaining an up-to-date copy of your data offsite in a secure facility.

    • 3. Have a cybersecurity professional scan your network for security vulnerabilities. What does your company’s threat surface look like? The National Cyber Security Alliance reports that one in five small businesses have been victims of cybercrime in the last year. OVER HALF of the cyber-attacks that happen are aimed at small to mid-sized businesses and there are over 80,000 new malware threats being unleashed every day. The simple fact that a single employee clicking one of these malware links could cause a security breach that could be DEVASTATING to your business is an immense cause for concern. Assessing your cybersecurity risk is essential to preventing downtime as viruses, malware, and ransomware brought on by cyber-attacks can cause serious halts in productivity, potentially affecting not only your bottom line but your company’s reputation. Not maintaining a solid reputation due to a data breach has led to the demise of many successful, thriving companies. Read more about how your anti-virus falls short here: What You Think Your Anti-Virus Does And What It Actually DOESN’T Do.
    • Are you utilizing encryption to keep your data safe? – Encryption is the process of jumbling up data into an unreadable format that can only be made readable with a designated decryption key. This is a great tool to keep your company’s data safe, whether it is sitting idle on a computer or being actively sent through the internet. Even if a cyber-criminal did manage to get their hands on it, they would not be able to read it without that file’s specific decryption key.
    • 4. Check if you have a redundant internet connection and backup WiFi solution so you’re always connected. Having a redundant internet connection and backup WiFi solution is highly recommended when trying to prevent internet downtime. If you have a redundant internet connection in place, you won’t even notice your main internet connection going out. Business will continue as normal with no unnecessary loss of productivity or profit. UNLESS of course, the internet towers in your area lose power, as they did for some during the “deep freeze” of 2021 where all of Texas had to deal with power grid failures and loss of internet. When the power grids fail, internet towers have to rely on backup power that has proven to be anything but reliable in a crisis. We at Juern Technology look forward to the emergence of satellite internet technology that will hopefully eliminate the risk of losing your internet connection in case you lose power.
    • 5. Check if you have a backup power solution. If you do, test your backup generator to make sure it will actually work when you need it. You cannot afford any downtime PERIOD and unforeseen power outages are no exception. Have a generator in place as it will kick into action should your company’s main source of power go out, allowing you to stay up and running. Not only do power outages halt productivity but they almost always cause potentially catastrophic data loss due to accidental and sudden system shutdowns. We recommend you choose a generator that performs self-tests at least weekly that will automatically send you status reports notifying you the generator is working and ready to provide power if necessary. Although we believe having secondary power is necessary for a complete business continuity plan, no generator is immune to gasoline shortages. As we learned from the 2021 Texas power crisis, secondary power may survive extreme temperatures, but if there’s no gas and no way to get to the generator to fill it with gas, you’ll be wishing you had a generator that runs on solar power.

 

Take a closer look at your network now. DO NOT wait until a network disaster happens to check your network. Now that you have a proper course of action, you can ask your professional IT consultant to take any action necessary so your company can  AVOID (most) embarrassing and extremely costly data loss catastrophes. Instead of suffering the financial and reputational blows due to network downtime from hardware failure, connectivity failure, and/or data breaches, take the steps to stop the disasters you can BEFORE they happen.

 

Secure IT Solutions Delivered With Proactive Support And Excellent Recommendations You Can Trust

A HUGE benefit Juern Technology’s professional team provides to our business is technology and services that allow our remote workforce to work more efficiently and securely so we’re not worrying about downtime, slowness, and other computer headaches.

We have peace of mind knowing that their experienced Help Desk stays on top of the latest security threats and is proactive instead of reactive in providing all the required updates.

When you need to decide on hiring an IT firm, the experts at Juern truly have the client’s best interests in mind with excellent recommendations you actually need that help you reach your business goals faster.

Rhonda Chadwick

Firm Administrator
Ridout Barrett
San Antonio, Texas

 

Frightening Trends and Cases You Should Consider:

    • The #1 reason for data loss is hardware failure
    • Tape drives fail on average 100% of the time; that means ALL tape drives fail at some point and do NOT offer complete protection for your data if a natural disaster or fire destroys your office and everything in it.
    • 93% of companies that lost their data for 10 days or more filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster and 50% filed for bankruptcy immediately. (Source: National Archives & Records Administration in Washington.)
    • About 70% of businesses have experienced (or will experience) data loss due to accidental deletion, disk or system failure, viruses, fire, or some other disaster (Source: Carbonite, an online backup service)
    • 20% of small to medium businesses will suffer a major disaster causing loss of critical data every 5 years. (Source: Richmond House Group)
    • This year, 40% of small to medium businesses that manage their own network and use the Internet for more than e-mail will have their network accessed by a hacker, and more than 50% won’t even know they were attacked. (Source: Gartner Group)
    • The first reaction of employees who lose their data is to try to recover the lost data themselves by using recovery software or either restarting or unplugging their computer — steps that can make later data recovery impossible. (Source: 2005 global survey by Minneapolis-based Ontrack Data Recovery)

 

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” – Maya Angelou

 

Why Juern Technology Is Uniquely Positioned To Protect Your Network:
With more than 8 years of experience serving over 40 small to mid-sized businesses in the San Antonio and Austin areas, we can tell you there is no question that every business owner or executive should thoroughly assess their company’s exposure to downtime. What you do is too important to leave to chance so give Juern Technology a call today at (210) 245-6900 or visit us online at https://www.juerntech.com/15-minute-discovery-call/ to book a brief, 15-minute initial consultation. On this initial call we will discuss your specific needs, any concerns you have and, of course, answer any questions you have about us.

 

Their Integrity is Unmatched

As a fast-growing commercial real estate firm, we needed an IT company that could keep up with our growth. Juern Technology upgraded us to the professional level of IT support that we needed, enabling our remote employees to have all emails, contacts, and calendars sync across all devices and making sure we’re not down during critical work hours.

They respond quickly and don’t nickel and dime us – their integrity is unmatched. I also appreciation that they explain things in non-technical ways (layman’s language) and find solutions that fit our actual needs instead of pushing pricey solutions that are unnecessary.

Very likable people and very easy to work with.

Charlie Malmberg

Partner
Valcor Commercial Real Estate
San Antonio, Texas