NexusTek Names Bill Wosilius Chief Executive Officer

NexusTek Names Bill Wosilius Chief Executive Officer

NexusTek Names Bill Wosilius Chief Executive Officer

Tenured executive brings 20 years’ IT services expertise and an extensive track record of accelerating growth and increasing profitability to award-winning MSP

Denver, CO – [August 6, 2019] – NexusTek, a leading national provider of managed IT services, today introduced Bill Wosilius as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).  Mr. Wosilius replaces Mike Jenner, who vacated the position in order to pursue other opportunities.

Mr. Wosilius brings more than 20 years’ experience to NexusTek and an impressive track record of building successful IT services practices by accelerating growth and profitability.

Prior to joining NexusTek, Wosilius spent five years as Vice President and General Manager of Global Technology Management Solutions for Optiv Security, the world’s largest pure-play cyber security systems integrator. Under his direction, the technology services line of business delivered solutions to over 5,000 clients, which included 70% of the Fortune 500, and executed 1,500 cyber technology projects per year while driving overall profitability for the business. During his tenure at Optiv, Wosilius grew the business both organically and inorganically, contributing to a highly successful recapitalization of the company with private equity firm, KKR.

From 2011 – 2013, Bill served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Operations at CoreSite, where he was responsible for all technology infrastructure, business applications, service delivery and other CIO functions for a $250M publicly-traded data center REIT. With Wosilius as one its top executives, CoreSite grew to become a national leader in the wholesale data center industry.

“For an MSP like NexusTek, which offers an all-inclusive managed IT services portfolio in a national footprint, there is unprecedented demand from businesses across the country,” said Bill Wosilius. “NexusTek is a nationally-recognized leader in managed IT that is uniquely positioned to provide businesses help in designing, deploying and managing their IT environments. Over the past year, I have watched NexusTek become a national platform that delivers best-in-class service to its clients, and I am honored to join this team.”

NexusTek was recapitalized by leading North-American private equity fund, Abry Partners, in December 2017.

Brian St. Jean, partner at Abry, said in a statement, “We are thankful for the significant contributions Mike Jenner has made to help develop NexusTek into a leading, national MSP during his time as CEO, and are elated to have such an able and experienced successor in Bill Wosilius. His remarkable track record as a leader and executive, and substantial operational expertise will be invaluable to NexusTek as the company continues on its growth trajectory.”

Wosilius began his two-decade-long career in IT services at Inflow, a national provider of data centers and managed IT services. Following the company’s acquisition by SunGard Availability Services in 2005, Wosilius oversaw numerous SunGard/Inflow integration initiatives. In 2009, he took over as Vice President of Operations for Critigen, leading a $25M global IT outsourcing business.

During his time at Accuvant, a Denver-based cybersecurity services firm he joined in 2014, Wosilius, in conjunction with the Blackstone Group (BX), directed the services due diligence and integration with FishNet Security to create Optiv, which at the time, was the world’s largest cyber private equity transaction.

“NexusTek has earned a reputation for providing small and medium-sized businesses with reliable, truly end-to-end outsourced managed IT services and an unyielding commitment to delivering exceptional customer experience,” said Bill Wosilius. “The company’s unyielding commitment to always delivering an exceptional customer experience has earned it a well-deserved reputation as a national leader.”

Prior to his career in the IT services industry, Mr. Wosilius served for eight years as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Air Force and received his Bachelor of Science in management from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

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In the Era of Advanced Phishing Attempts, Email is a Weapon

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email is a weapon

In the Era of Advanced Phishing Attempts, Email is a Weapon

Phishing emails have come of age over the last two years. No longer are misspellings and obvious 419 scams the hallmark of an email scam. Instead, attackers use sophisticated HTML and spoofing tricks to make messages from dangerous phishing sites look legitimate. They’ll impersonate your boss or your CFO and ask employees to make wire transfers, or they’ll pose as your business partners and send fake invoices asking for real payments.

Although some email filtering programs can detect this kind of deception, the call is often coming from inside the house. Once an attacker figures out a way to take over an Office 365 account, they’re invisible from the perspective of security tools. They can spam your contact lists, impersonate the legitimate owner of the account, and do their best to spread malware and steal money. It might be days or weeks before anyone detects the ongoing fraud.

Mapping the Scale of Business Email Compromise (BEC)

This new form of phishing is so different from its predecessors that it’s earned a new name – BEC, for Business Email Compromise. BEC is no joke – research suggests that incidences of BEC increased nearly 500% between 2017 and 2018, and the growth shows no sign of slowing down. According to the FBI, losses due to BEC recently reached $1.2 billion, doubling in just 12 months.

BEC is so effective because businesses have fairly rigid hierarchies and processes. If your boss asks you to do something – and if you have no reason to suspect that it isn’t your boss talking – then you do it. If an invoice comes in, and it looks like the invoice is legitimate, then you pay it. As long as an attacker has enough knowledge to create a reproduction of your internal communications, they have a green light to steal from you.

How Can Businesses Mitigate BEC?

For many businesses, training is the first line of defense. There are a few characteristics to watch out for that can help employees recognize and deflect a BEC attack:

  • Malformed Domain Names
    A poorly spoofed domain name looks like the genuine article at first glance. On closer inspection, you’ll notice that an email that purports to come from Office 365 might actually come from “0ffic∃ 365.”
  • Uncharacteristic Behavior
    Does your boss typically email you at 5:00 AM in the morning and ask you to wire money to an unknown address? If not, then you’re better off calling them to ask for confirmation.
  • Verbal Abuse
    Attackers will sometimes use a threating tone in their emails and can use abusive language if you don’t comply with their demands. If you’re unsure about how to handle the situation, it might be best to correlate their instructions with a knowledgeable third party.

Training is great, and it does have measurable effects on BEC – but it doesn’t cancel it out entirely. A Lithuanian man recently confessed to stealing over $123 million via BEC. His victims were Facebook and Google, two of the most well-capitalized companies in the world. What can your organization do in terms of training and technology that there’s couldn’t?

Find Out How to Derail BEC at the NexusTek Webinar

Join experts from NexusTek and Barracuda Networks on August 6, 2019, as we talk about the best and latest strategies for defeating scammers in your email inbox. Advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning may have a better chance at noticing the signs of BEC than your own employees.

Don’t let the next big fraud happen to you – sign up for our webinar today!

Phishing is Changing – Can You Change Too?

READ TIME: 4 MIN

Phishing is changing - can you change too

Phishing is Changing – Can You Change Too?

Phishing attacks can leave enterprises of all sizes vulnerable. One single successful phishing attack can result in a number of consequences for a small business, including loss of important data, a compromised system, brand damage and expensive recovery costs. The increased digitization of businessesthe popularity of online billing operations and the growth of eCommerce are all factors in the prevalence of phishing campaigns. 

Small businesses are particularly at risk because they typically lack the dedicated resources, like an IT department or significant financial assets, to thwart such attacks. With that in mind, Small business decision makers may find it difficult to determine what can be done about their phishing vulnerabilities. 

Understanding the New Phishing Problem

According to the 2019 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, the number of recorded phishing attacks fell by 4.1 percent in 2018 to 26 million. Even though small businesses have become more proficient at blocking phishing attacks in recent years, the decline in the number of phishing attacks cannot be completely attributed to their efforts.  

An important factor in the reduction of attacks is how criminals have changed their phishing tactics by becoming more creative and focused. Instead of implementing global campaigns, they are now executing spear phishing, or attacks that are sent to specific parties in an enterprise, typically targeting those employees who are responsible for the financial aspects of a business. 

If they are preoccupied with completing their work tasks and do not closely examine their emails, employees can easily fail to detect phishing attempts. Attackers are using very sophisticated emails that are designed to resemble emails with legitimate professional branding from trusted clients. The malicious business emails, which often requests sensitive data from the recipient, can also be designed to appear as if they were sent from high-level executives. 

Phishing attackers are also using tools that the employees at your company are using regularly, such as Microsoft Office and PDF files, as email attachments to spread malware and ransomware. The same SonicWall report states that for the third consecutive year, malware attacks have increased, with 10.52 billion malware attacks recorded in 2018. In that same year, there were 206.4 million occurrences of ransomware, a statistic that is an 11 percent year-over-year increase. 

Arming Your Small Business against Phishing Attacks

In addition to not having an internal IT department or substantial financial resources, a smaller workforce with procedures that are less stringent than those at larger enterprises means that small businesses will continue to be prime targets of phishing. The question on the minds of many small business decision makers is what can be done to safeguard their organization against the destructive attacks? The answer is to be more vigilant. 

The changes that are occurring in the phishing landscape mean that small businesses have to also make changes to protect their customers and assets. There is virtually no way to accurately predict the evolving tactics phishing attackers will try to obtain sensitive data.  

However, because the focused phishing attacks are targeting mostly employees, you can establish an anti-phishing plan that ensures your employees are properly educated about the current trends in phishing schemes Email security as a part of a proactive network security strategy has become a priority for business leaders looking to significantly reduce risk. Additional security measures should include, at minimum, the use of mandatory complex passwords and the enforcement of regular password changes. 

Given the substantial financial and intangible consequences associated with a successful phishing attack, not properly protecting your small business can result in catastrophic outcomes that will be difficult to overcome. Having a proven security solution is critical for effective protection from online threats.  

At NexusTek, we can help you develop a plan for mitigating the impact of phishing or other cyber attacks against your small business. 

How to Budget for IT Hardware & Software

READ TIME: 3 MIN

How to budget for it hardware and software

How to Budget for IT Hardware & Software

Believe it or not, tech budgeting doesn’t have to be painful…if you have supportWith the justification of your technology budget becoming more and more correlated with KPIs and tangible efficiencies, the explanation of having a 5-year-old server that needs to be replaced because it’s just getting too “old” will not win the day.  

Trying to secure a maximum amount of dollars to cover any unforeseen issues with your technology is the wrong approach and rarely adopted by any long-lasting business. Your IT budget should be based on a clear cut technology strategy supported by real numbersFor example, if you’ve proposed a project like migrating a complex server infrastructure to the cloudyou can easily highlight the operational savings and tangible efficiencies as justification for an increase in expenses 

Every line on your IT Hardware & Software budget should tell a story that maps back to your business objectives, to numbers and to your technology strategy. The work required to justly tell this story will vary depending on the complexity and sophistication of your environment, the size of your organization and projected short term growth, and your long term business goalsBelow is a high level example on how to achieve Hardware/Software IT budgeting success: 

 
  1. Identify the set of hardware or software that need to be upgraded or replaced
  2. Will your projected revenue growth model be limited if you maintain the same hardware or software framework?
  3. Determine the criticality of that hardware or software
    • If downtime were to occur due to aging hardware malfunctions or software end of life (EOL) support, how much would this impact your business
      • Refer to https://www.nexustek.com/blog/are-you-prepared-for-business-downtime/ to assist with calculating downtime
    • It’s best to connect this section to specific dollar amounts & KPIs
  4. Determine the security risks of the hardware or software
    • What is the likelihood that a hacker would enter your infrastructure through aging hardware or out-of-support software? (This will most likely need to be answered by an IT professional)
  5. How will an upgrade or replacement positively affect your business in terms of efficiencies and reduction of downtime?
    • It’s best to connect this section to specific dollar amounts & KPIs
  6. Can new technology be introduced to reduce your hardware footprint and further optimize IT processes?
  7. Consult with your Account Manager at NexusTek to put together a plan to be used for budget proposals.

Why does IT budgeting matter?

Without the appropriate budgeting and planning, your overhead will be significantly impacted when you are forced to request and justify expenditures on a reactive basis. IT spending and project planning that takes business goals into consideration starts with a set Managed Services Plan for consolidation and transparency.  

  • Similar to a project plan or road-map, using a strategy for your 2020 IT budget provides a holistic view of your department and its funding requirements. It lets you quickly determine whether resources are over-committed in one area or another. 
  • The budget is a tool that can help prioritize your IT initiatives and validate your ROI. If one of your proposed initiatives is a move to mobile apps, but your hiring and training budgets are minuscule, you’ve likely set yourself up for failure before you’ve even started.  
  • Identify areas where you may be overspending. A disproportionally high software budget might reveal that you’re spending on unused or unneeded software licenses or on support expenses for an older version of a tool, when a hardware refresh or a cloud migration may be a better return on your investment 

Presenting your IT budget as the mechanism that runs your organization is the mindset of every successful business which is a far cry from 10 years ago when IT professionals were in the background. Building in your IT budget as an overall business strategy is imperative.  

Schedule a free consultation with one of our experts to discuss your budget strategy for 2020.
We can help you identify gaps in your plan, cost-savings, and more.

NexusTek/Barracuda Event – Business Security for the Cloud Era

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webinar security for the cloud era no button

NexusTek/Barracuda Event – Business Security for the Cloud Era

Security, Access, and Reliability for Cloud-Connected Networks and Applications

In a recent report by our security partner Barracuda, 62% of enterprises said their on-premises security exceeds their cloud security. And 83% of IT professionals spoke of concerns about deploying traditional firewalls in the cloud.

Join the discussion with our guest, Ezra Hookano, Vice President, Channels at Barracuda Networks. As a veteran in IT security for more than 20 years, Ezra will bring valuable insights and useful information on how you can overcome some common cloud security challenges in this 45-minute webinar.

The topics of this presentation will include:

  • SD-WAN
  • Advanced secure remote access
  • Protection against zero-hour threats
  • Secure migration to public and hybrid cloud environments
  • Secure connectivity for IoT and ICS connected devices

Webinar Details

DATE: Tuesday, August 6th, 2019

TIME: 11:00 am – 11:45 am (PST)

NexusTek Ascends to Number 22 on 2019 Channel Futures MSP 501 List

NexusTek Ascends to Number 22 on Channel Futures MSP 501 List

NexusTek Ascends to Number 22 on 2019 Channel Futures MSP 501 List

Record growth fuels 2018 MSP of the Year’s continued rise among upper echelon of cloud and managed IT services providers worldwide

Denver, CO (July 16, 2019)NexusTek today announced its position as number 22 on the Channel Futures’ 2019 MSP 501 list, an annual, prestigious ranking of the world’s leading cloud and managed IT services providers.

MSPs named to the 2019 MSP 501 list have distinguished themselves among the largest pool of applicants the MSP 501 has ever received. Last year was a record-breaking year in terms of the number and quality of submissions, and 2019 saw a 35 percent increase in applications from 2018.

“To be recognized as one of the world’s foremost managed services providers by an authoritative industry voice like Channel Futures is a tremendous honor,” said NexusTek CEO, Mike Jenner. “In 2018, NexusTek achieved record growth. This success not only validates the efficacy of our strategic roadmap, but also reflects the continued fulfillment of our promise to provide better services to our valued clients.”

NexusTek empowers small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in local markets across the U.S. and Canada with best-in-class IT solutions at an affordable price, and without complexity. Limited by neither geographic footprint nor technological acumen, NexusTek enables SMBs to access cloud and IT services otherwise available to only large enterprises.

Competition in this year’s MSP 501 was fierce and those named to the list have shown commitment to taking calculated risks on strategic business decisions, dedication to customer support and intuitive knowledge of the managed services market.

NexusTek recently introduced four flexible MSP plans with fixed-monthly, per-user pricing through which businesses can leverage helpdesk, backup, disaster recovery, dedicated engineers, security, 24×7 remote support and network monitoring services while creating predictable IT budgets. Reimagining how managed IT services are delivered and consumed has furthered NexusTek’s ability to support SMBs looking to stay ahead of their competition by adopting the latest technologies to help drive their business and improve cost efficiencies.

NexusTek’s national workforce is comprised of hundreds of tenured and skilled IT professionals who bring extensive experience in cyber security, IT support and helping businesses migrate mission-critical and line-of-business applications to the cloud. The company’s engineers and IT consultants can architect, manage and support IT deployments in public cloud, managed private cloud, hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

This unparalleled breadth and depth of expertise is another one of NexusTek’s many critical differentiators and a contributing factor to its top rank on this year’s MSP 501 list.

To view the full Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings, visit https://www.channelfutures.com/msp-501/channel-futures-reveals-2019-msp-501.

ABOUT CHANNEL FUTURES

Channel Futures, Channel Partners Online, Channel Partners Conference & Expo and Channel Partners Evolution are part of Informa, the international business intelligence, academic publishing, knowledge and events group. Informa serves commercial, professional and academic communities, helping them connect and learn, and creating and providing access to content and intelligence that helps people and businesses work smarter and make better decisions faster. Informa has over 10,000 colleagues in more than 20 countries and a presence in all major geographies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100. 

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NexusTek placed # 225 on CRN’s 2019 Solution Provider 500 list

NexusTek Recognized As A Top Solution Provider

NexusTek placed # 225 on CRN’s 2019 Solution Provider 500 list

NexusTek has been named a top managed IT services provider by CRN Magazine, ranking as #225 on the prestigious CRN Solution Provider 500 . Every year, the Solution Provider 500 spotlights North American IT channel partner organizations that have shown their exemplary performance over the past year. It is the industry standard for recognizing the highest performing technology integrators, strategic service providers and IT consultants. Recognized worldwide as the industry’s premier list of channel partners, the CRN Solution Provider 500 serves as a valuable resource for technology vendors looking to partner with successful managed IT service providers.

NexusTek is trusted by thousands of businesses across the country to manage and optimize their respective IT environments for business continuity, productivity, operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Leveraging highly skilled people, enterprise class processes and industry leading technology, NexusTek provides the SMB marketplace with true end-to-end, outsourced IT management. For over 22 years, NexusTek has helped companies implement and operate complex technologies while staying within their budgets and enabling them to achieve their desired business outcomes.

The complete 2019 Solution Provider 500 list is available online at http://www.crn.com/SP500 and a sample from the list will be featured in the June issue of CRN Magazine.

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Top 3 Hottest IT Projects for Small Businesses this Summer 

READ TIME: 4 MIN

Summer Projects

Top 3 Hottest IT Projects for Small Businesses this Summer 

As a small business, you are more agile when it comes to adopting new technologies. With small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) with a strict budget, you must also be cautious about spending. The challenge is how to determine which IT project should be a priority and will offer a proven return on investment (ROI)?

Here are three summer technology projects that are popular starting points among our SMB clients:

Cyber Security Assessment

The prevalent headlines about security breaches affecting Fortune 500 companies often give the perception that larger companies are the primary target of cybercrime organizations. When in fact, according to Verizon’s 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report, small businesses make up a whopping 58% of data breaches.

To protect your organization from costly cyber-attacks, it’s important to deploy proven security strategy that combines a perimeter around your network and protection at the end-user point. The standard starting point is a Cyber Security Assessment. An assessment will reveal your vulnerabilities and potential risk factors.

TECH TIP: Use these summer months to educate your employees. Then, consider incorporating a cyber security best practice reminder into your regularly scheduled meetings. As cyber security continues to become a commonly accepted part of your business planning, these reminders will keep your workforce in tune with their actions in regards to keeping your business secure.

Office 365 Migration

Whether you manage remote employees or a large in-house staff, modern collaboration tools have become a staple in running a successful business. If you still have some employees on Google Suite, some on Microsoft Office 365, some on Yahoo or even an on-prem exchange server – consider the benefits to your business productivity with your entire team on one stable and scalable platform!

While each department may require different functionality and therefore a different tool, only Microsoft Office has the robust features you need to perform seamlessly across departments:

  • Management: MS Projects
  • Collaboration: MS Teams
  • Storage/Intranet: MS SharePoint
  • Communication: Skype for Business

When you align your Office 365 migration with a long-term business strategy, you’ll identify opportunities, potential challenges, and see value within your collaborative environment.

TECH TIP: An Office 365 migration, when done correctly, has minimal impact to your day-to-day operations.

Cloud Migrations

Migrating your business’ data to the cloud requires a properly prepared and executed roadmap. Don’t forget, you don’t have to migrate every application, folder, or file. Mission-critical apps and sensitive data, like financial information, are logical starting points.

Part of any cloud migration strategy involves choosing the most appropriate environment. Is Azure right for your business needs? Or Google / AWS? What’s the difference between each of these platforms?

Before you rush to a brand name, consider the advantages of private or hybrid cloud configurations. Based on your business’s needs and growth strategy, they may be the more cost-effective solutions for the long-term. Your decision on whether to go on a public cloud platform, such as Azure, or on a private platform should be carefully determined with a cloud migration expert basing the decision solely on your specific business requirements.

TECH TIP: Before migrating to the cloud, talk to your provider or IT consultant about industry regulations. Any extra safety measures or regulatory requirements needs to be considered, but taking the time to consider your options and requirements will ensure you stay secure and compliant.

Have You Already Identified an IT Project to Complete this Summer?

No matter what IT project you’d like to start, create a systematic approach to evaluating, prioritizing, and deploying new technology. Consult with an IT Professional to ensure your logic is sound and that you are making a profitable move. Moving forward, you’ll have an easier time aligning IT demands with your operational strategy and budgetary requirements.

Luckily, NexusTek’s local IT experts are available to guide you through your summer IT projects. Schedule time with an expert here.

5 Quick Tech Tips for Properly Disposing of Your Technology

READ TIME: 3 MIN

5 quick tech tips

5 Quick Tech Tips for Properly Disposing of Your Technology

Today, your device is practically a window into your soul. Well, that may be overreaching, but many would agree that the thought of their device in the hands of an unknown entity is certainly a reason to take care when disposing of that smartphone, laptop, or tablet.

This is a brief review of what actions to take when disposing of your old technology. If you have more questions, feel free to reach out to your account manager or a NexusTek expert for more information.

  1. Make sure you have retained all information you need

Surprisingly, the exclamation of “I just can’t find that file” is uttered too often. When disposing of your technology items (whether selling, giving away, recycling or throwing in the trash) the most important thing to remember is to have a copy of anything on the device so you can transfer data when setting up the replacement item. Depending on the item and the provider, you may have to contact them directly but typically transferring that data is a straightforward process. This is simply a reminder not to forget to do it!

  1. Turn off any tracking/find me services

Virtually every device manufactured today has a method to locate the device should it be misplaced or stolen. Many of these tracking services are subscription-based. So, make sure you notify the vendor to cancel the subscription or have it transferred to the new device.  When you add a new device without canceling the previous subscription, you run the risk of being billed for a device you no longer have.

  1. Log out of any services that are continually running on your device

With today’s reliance on cloud services, make sure you have logged out of any cloud services/apps and if possible notify them that the device is no longer allowed access. This step is often missed and yet very important to implement. This could be a cost-drain that may be neglected for months.

  1. Save and erase all content

Although, cell phones now have the app stores that know what you have installed, computers and tablets usually do not have this level of visibility into activities. However, they do have removable hard drives, which is the best way to access what needs to be erased.  It is not difficult to revert the erased content from a hard drive if a mistake is made or you want the data bad enough.  But, if you neglect to save the content before you dispose of the device, that content is gone. When your IT professional pulls a drive, they may hold it for up to six months before destroying it, just in case they need to retrieve more data.

  1. If Applicable, remove any cellular sim cards

This last instruction only applies to cellular connected devices (phones, tablets, watches, etc.).  Remove the sim card and check with your carrier on what to do with it. The sim cards are a direct connection to your account. You want to make sure someone does not have any data that could allow unlawful access, even though the carrier has protocols in place to identify users. But, sometimes that information is easy to obtain.

Follow up with us by emailing info@nexustek.com or just give us a call at 877-470-0401.

NOTE: Don’t forget to check into e-cycle programs or electronic recycling facilities as an option in your local community for ways you can be environmentally conscious!

EOL: The Real Risks of Running Outdated Platforms 

READ TIME: 3 MIN

EOL

EOL: The Real Risks of Running Outdated Platforms 

Advancements in technology move at a faster pace than any other industry. The routine updates recommended for your tech assets are not meant to annoy you, although it may seem that way. In short, the improvements being developed are purposeful for security reasons and to optimize efficiency.

The same goes for End of Life announcements by technology brands. By definition, the term “End of Life” (EOL) refers to a product’s lifecycle. As new products are being introduced by say, Microsoft, former products are phasing out. End of Life means the product, whether it is software or hardware, will no longer be supported including important security patches that protect your infrastructure.

Here are a few things you should know about EOL: 

Security Hazards Ahead 

A firewall and anti-virus are not enough protection against unpatchable vulnerabilities, which hackers are quick to exploit. Your End of Life (EOL) technology is an easy target. Hackers have much more knowledge and resources than ever before and they are looking for an “in” or weakness in your network. Don’t be an easy target! 

Trusting Old Operating Systems (OS) and Applications with Critical Data 

If you’re like most companies today, you have some compliance requirements. And, you know you’re under the watchful eye of the regulatory industry. Your sensitive customer data is the underpinning of your entire organization and your decade-old Operating Systems (OS) or unsecure applications put you at risk for a potential security breach or Ransomware attack. The first step in staying compliant is as easy as picking up the phone and setting an appointment with your managed IT services provider 

Legacy Applications Keep Your Business From its Full Potential 

Technology advancements help your business run more efficiently and securely and staying up-to-date can position your company as a market leader. New applications are optimized to utilize the features of the most recent operating systems. That means when using EOL software, you can’t upgrade to the latest and greatest, leaving you with those legacy applications (which are likely also EOL or soon to be). Don’t fall behind your competitors simply because your technology is antiquated.  

Uptick in Operating Costs of PostEOL Tech 

As a business leader/owner, you have enough decisions to make. Hiring, P/L, payroll, etc. – which is why you have an in-house or outsourced managed IT providerOften, investing in an upgrade project receives a red flag from your finance team, but is the right decision over the security issues of running post-EOL technology and mission-critical apps at risk of failing. The cost of a cyberattack or unplanned downtime will most definitely cost more than the planned investment to secure your systems and data. 

DowntimCosts vs Investing in Uptime 

Chances are, if you’re still running legacy apps or old versions of Windows (as well as aging servers and workstations), you are adding to your risk because the EOL software and out-of-warranty devices are prone to causing significant vulnerabilities and downtime. Consider that significant downtime alone is costlier than moving forward with an upgrade.  The best approach is to be proactive when it comes to your technology environment, versus reactive. 

For many, Microsoft’s announcement to terminate support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 may a blessing in disguise. Running older systems can be keeping you from realizing your full potential as a business where efficiencies and the ever-evolving security threats are concerned.  

Give NexusTek a call to learn more about an upgrade project before your tech reaches “End of Life!”