Your IT infrastructure never sleeps, so it can fail in the middle of the night. You need a remote-ready IT environment to allow for quick support. Whether you have remote staff that need access to your applications while they are on the road or need to set up an environment where IT can support your infrastructure, you need the right technology plan.
The Essential Pillars of a Remote-Ready IT Environment
Today’s secure IT environment requires infrastructure that you likely don’t have already if you need to set up remote access. This means that you’ll need new equipment before your network is remote-ready. Each item in this list can be deployed by you or a managed service provider (MSP). When you look into MSPs, here is a list of items they will recommend:
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VPN, Zero-Trust, and Multifactor Authentication (MFA): A virtual private network (VPN) will secure data traveling over the internet, so your data is safe even if an employee works from a vulnerable location like public Wi-Fi. The Zero-Trust aspect of VPN is a methodology used to authenticate and verify users as they continue to request data from your internal servers. Finally, MFA reduces the chance of a data breach should an employee fall for phishing or social engineering where their network credentials could be disclosed.
Managed endpoints: Every mobile device, laptop, and remote desktop is an endpoint. Endpoints must be secured and managed by IT staff. Your security policy details what users must have on their devices to connect remotely, but antimalware and remote data wiping are two must-haves. Antimalware applications stop attackers, and remote data wiping removes sensitive data should a user lose their device.
Email security: Every organization is a target for cyber-criminals. Today’s largest data breaches start with a phishing email. Email security filters out suspicious links, spoofed email addresses, and messages with malicious attachments.
Cloud application protection: Your cloud vendor has tools to protect data at the vendor’s location. Ensure that these applications are enabled to stop attackers from breaching cloud infrastructure.
Backup and disaster recovery: Whether you keep backups on-premises or in the cloud, you need them in case of a disaster. For example, if ransomware affects your environment, the quickest way to avoid damage is to restore data from a backup. Backups are also useful for natural disasters like floods or fires.
Business-grade Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi can be set up around the office to offer remote access for staff if they don’t have a desktop. You need a setup that offers speed for enterprise applications and security to protect from outsiders.
What Breaks First When SMBs Go Remote
Even with the best and finest hardware, things break. It could be from a misconfiguration or a bug in the hardware. In rare cases, hardware fails from a faulty component. Whatever the reason, you need to be prepared. Here are a few common failures:
- VPN bottlenecks
- Personal devices mixed with business data
- Weak Wi-Fi signal
- Missing patches
- Lack of compliance controls
- Shadow IT
All of the above issues can be proactively addressed with the right IT controls and deployment. After some time, your VPN might need upgrades as your business grows and adds more users. Your MSP can monitor the VPN for any speed issues and handle upgrades before they impact productivity.
Patch management handles any issues with security upgrades in your environment. Shadow IT is also a security concern. Your MSP should monitor the environment for any devices that aren’t authorized, and they can handle patch management to ensure that your infrastructure is up to date.
Compliance controls necessary for your environment depend on your industry. A good MSP will help guide you on the right controls. For example, if you must be HIPAA compliant, then you need the right monitoring and audit controls. MSPs install these tools to ensure that you aren’t vulnerable to compliance violations.
Step-by-Step Setup Checklist for Business Owners
Before you engage an MSP, you might want to go over your current infrastructure to determine what you need. An MSP can help determine the right hardware and software for your business, but it doesn’t hurt to take a look at what you have and make a checklist of your own. With this checklist, you can then engage with an MSP that can deploy and configure each item.
- Audit your systems: Review each component of your environment including routers, networking equipment, cloud infrastructure, and user devices like desktops and mobile devices.
- Check your internet speed: You need reasonable speeds and bandwidth to handle remote users, so ensure that your ISP account has enough bandwidth. You will also need a static IP, which is often given to business accounts.
- Create a policy for remote use: Document the steps for remote access and an acceptable usage policy for users.
- Get VPN equipment: An MSP can help with this step, but if you decide to do it yourself, it’s likely that you need a router to handle incoming VPN service and applications to authenticate users.
- Review security policies: Ensure that your environment has tight control of who can access data remotely.
- Set up monitoring: To quickly handle any potential security breaches, monitoring infrastructure will benchmark data requests and send notifications during any anomalies.
How Corporate Technologies Builds a Remote-Ready Workplace
As a small business owner, you might be overwhelmed with all of the requirements for remote access to your environment. You can choose from several MSPs, but we offer local onsite IT help that competitors can’t offer. We have a remote help center, but our professionals are local to our clients as well.
Cybersecurity is a primary concern. Once you open your environment to remote users, the network becomes a target for remote threats. Corporate Technologies deployed email filtering, a security operations center (SOC) that monitors the environment, endpoint protection, and backup procedures to keep your data safe from attackers and permanent damage.
After we deploy your remote-ready workplace, we then offer continued protection and monitoring with:
- Unlimited onsite support under Total Advantage
- Flexible models under Technology Advantage
- A security-first bundle under Secure Advantage
Why SMBs Need Local IT Support for Remote Work
For many SMBs, technology concerns grow beyond what a local person can do, especially if they aren’t trained in IT. Corporate Technologies caters to small businesses with offices across the US. You need this support for full coverage of your environment. For example, if you suffer from a network outage or ISP interruption, a remote MSP can’t help. Corporate Technologies can remediate these types of issues with local technicians near you.
A few other ways local IT support can help you:
- Device swaps including user workstation replacements
- Onboarding and offboarding of new or terminated employees
- Compliance documentation
- Hands-on repair and configuration of networking equipment
If your business is ready to take the next step towards remote access, see what Corporate Technologies can do for you. Contact us today.
FAQs
No, you need an MSP that has offices near you with pricing plans that include onsite support.
Infrastructure necessary for remote network access depends on your environment, but common IT equipment includes routers, VPN service, monitoring tools, and authentication services.
Wi-Fi is necessary if you want to offer remote access to employees with mobile devices or other equipment that does not connect using standard Ethernet cables (e.g., tablets and smartphones)
Yes, small businesses are primary targets for phishing attackers since they know that small businesses don’t have the security infrastructure to stop malicious messages.
Yes, in a hybrid environment where your business mixes onsite and offsite IT infrastructure, you need support for both to manage and maintain it.
