Many small and mid-sized businesses waste valuable time and money interviewing multiple Managed Services Providers (MSP) without a strategy or budget in place. This puts way too much faith in the hope of formulating a plan after reviewing 5-10 different proposals from organisations not likely to be in the same service class. National IT providers are different from regional providers, local boutiques, and “one-man bands.” With this in mind, the following considerations will empower you to be more intentional in your search and help you spend more time getting to know fewer, but more viable candidates. Budgeting Although there is no such thing as a perfect formula to determine how much you should invest in IT systems, Gartner Group Benchmark Analytics provides a real-world recap of spending across all major industry categories. Updated annually, they track IT spending as a percentage of revenue, and they arrive at a cross-industry average of 3%. Before you question whether 3% of annual sales is the right reference point for you, keep in mind the right IT investment varies by a host of factors including, but not limited to operating mentality, maturity of the business, IT staffing levels, categories of equipment, subscription services, as well as hardware and risk tolerance. As you might have guessed, they conclude that under-spending on IT can adversely affect productivity, efficiency and customer relations. The MSP industry Fixed-fee MSP services for small and mid-sized businesses are relatively new -- gaining popularity over the last 10-12 years -- and the barriers to entry are extremely low, creating wild swings in business outcomes for end-users. Best in class MSPs charge a set fee per person per month. This general “all in seat price” includes a bundle of security services, vendor management, support for line of business apps, phone systems, carrier services, user help-desk and network support; so it’s much broader than headcount. It’s also much more than reactive, user support. Eighty-five percent of what a good MSP does is “behind the scenes” administration, strategy, documentation, backup, monitoring, troubleshooting, maintenance and enforcement of cyber security policies and best practices. When these dynamic pieces work in unison, your systems are quieter, your users need less assistance, your business risk is lower and your entire company is in much better stead to excel in its core competencies. When MSPs make dramatic pricing concessions and undercharge, it’s almost impossible to deliver and operate in a profitable manner, which means their clients suffer, too. Comparing the options A common tactic for offering upfront pricing concessions in a fixed-fee managed services proposal is either scaling back the deliverable or including all potential deliverable and hoping the client will not request coverage for the services that are more difficult to deliver. Vendor management, network management, user training, vCIO consulting, business continuity planning and portable documentation are notoriously under-delivered. Another tactic is quoting a low-ball, monthly budgeted amount, then using a metered billing rate for remote and onsite support. For instance, some companies charge as much as R1000 per hour-billable in quarter-hour increments for remote support, and R1500 per hour-billable in quarter-hour increments for onsite support. This is a reactive approach that quickly absorbs the low-ball budgeted amount and can rapidly escalate into unpredictable price swings and monthly accounting headaches. Forget about creating and sticking to budgets with this type of contract. It also puts clients in an uncomfortable position; thinking twice about calling their IT services provider because every ticket is “pay to play,” so they develop a habit of self-resolving, which not only affects operating agility but can also mask deep-seated issues within IT infrastructure. The last, most popular tactic is top loading your MSP with Level 1 engineers and claiming you have a coverage advantage over MSPs that may have fewer engineers but only employ Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 resources. The former are less expensive to keep on the payroll. They are also less efficient than the latter -- higher level engineers who may cost the MSP more to employ, but justify the investment by being the first to know when there is an issue, quickly resolving problems under pressure, and proactively preventing further complications in the future. The team at Multi IT & Telephony Solutions is always glad to be a resource when it comes to formulating IT strategies and budgets. We look forward to lending a hand. Contact us for a MSP solution that will truly benefit your business.

For businesses of any size, getting on the first page of Google search results is important to drive traffic to the website. Although most search engine optimises will focus more on getting organic results, the limitation of this approach is that it only reaches users looking for a particular service and not your specific brand. For those looking for tips on how to advertise services as well as brand identity, we have a few tricks. These tips will help you in customising search results for your brand. Customising search results One of the ways you can improve your branded search visibility is by ensuring your brand name is mentioned multiple times throughout your site. Make sure to link the brand name to the homepage of your website, include the brand name in descriptions of the company, and add meta descriptions to the site. Because Google’s site indexing service is completely automated, just about anyone should be listed in the results. The goal isn’t getting listed, it’s getting listed first. Little things like placing your sitemap in an easy-to-find location, including descriptive titles, and always filling out meta descriptions to increase the chances of your brand links appearing on the search pages. The role of Social Media Social media may technically be a different story, but it works hand-in-hand in today’s search engine optimisation efforts. These pages are very likely to be listed when customers are making ‘brand’ searches. Make sure you maintain profiles at every “big” social media site, and add as much information as you can concerning your brand identity. Because the ultimate goal is to drive traffic to your site, link to your website in every field that allows it. Your reviews are very important Lastly, Google business reviews are more important in getting branded search results than most people realise. Claim your business on Google My Business and frequently encourage your top customers to leave positive reviews concerning your brand. The more positive reviews your website has, the higher your site will appear in the rankings. All things Google and Web SEO is important for business, but so is creating a brand identity. An intersection of these goals may seem difficult, but not impossible. For more information on SEO, customising search results for your brand and anything related to your Google search rankings, contact Multi IT & Telephony Solutions today. Having a website in today's digital world is critical for business success, talk to us about getting your you business online if you need a website.

Social engineering is the ability to manipulate people into wilfully giving up their confidential information. The data varies, but in terms of cyber security this usually means passwords and bank information. Criminals are using social engineering to gain access to your business and its network by exploiting employees who often don’t have a clue about what is happening. Avoiding it is a matter of training, and we’re here to educate you on the subject. As more and more of our information moves into the digital realm, criminals are turning to social engineering to trick people into trusting them with their delicate information. People often trust others too easily and make themselves the targets of easy attacks from criminals. These attacks may come in the form of messages, baiting scenarios, fake company responses, and many others. Most often, messages are sent to users in the form of an email that might contain a link or something to download. Although they may look legitimate, these emails often contain viruses; once the link is opened or you attempt to download it, a virus latches onto your computer, giving its creator free access to your email account and personal information. Emails such as these can also come with a compelling story about needing help, winning the lottery, or even paying taxes to the government. Under the veil of legitimacy, criminals will ask you to trust them with your account details so they can either reward you or help you avoid fines and punishments. What you actually get is a bad case of identity theft. In another scenario, criminals will bait their targets with “confidential information regarding their account.” This may come in the form of fake company messages that appear to be responses to your claims, which are followed up by a request for login details. While victims believe they are slamming the door on a crime by providing their information, they’ve actually provided their attackers with the keys. There are several ways people can avoid becoming victims of social engineering. First, always ensure that you delete all spam from your email, and thoroughly research sources before responding to claims from a company -- even if it seems like the one you normally use. The same applies for links. Confirm the destination of any link before clicking on it. Sites like bit.ly are often used to shorten long and cumbersome links, but because users have grown accustomed to them they are often used to hide malicious misdirection. Never give out sensitive information that includes your password, bank information, social security, or any other private details. No respectable financial institution will request this type of information through email or a site other than their own. If you’re unsure, navigate away from the page you’ve been sent to and visit the page you believe to be making the request. If the address doesn’t have the letter ‘s’ after ‘http,’ it’s likely a scam. Last but not least, check that all your devices are protected by the most recent antivirus software. While the strength of social engineering lies in the fact that it’s people-driven rather than technology-driven, antivirus software can help detect and prevent requests from known cyber criminals. Cyber security is essential to the success of any modern business. Don’t let yourself become victim to criminals who have mastered the art of social engineering. While we’re proud of our extensive experience as technology professionals, we also have more than enough expertise to keep your business safe from those who are using people-based exploits. Contact Multi IT & Telephony Solutions now for all your security concerns.