NexusTek Honored with Microsoft US Partner Award

July 21, 2021

NexusTek Honored with Microsoft US Partner Award

Managed IT services provider receives the 2021 MSUS Partner Award in Modern Workplace for SMB

Denver, CO (July 21, 2021) – NexusTek, a national provider of managed IT services and full IT outsourcing solutions to businesses across the U.S., today announced it was honored with a 2021 Microsoft US Partner Award in the category of Modern Workplace for SMB. The MSUS Partner Awards program recognizes outstanding work by Microsoft’s US partners.

2020 was a challenging year and, like many businesses, NexusTek had to pivot. After utilizing remote IT solutions to transition hundreds of its own employees to work from home in less than a week, NexusTek was well-equipped to enable prospective and current clients alike with similar solutions. One such client, a nonprofit called Raise the Future, was highlighted in NexusTek’s winning Partner Award nomination.

Raise the Future needed to modernize its technologies and operations to maintain and strengthen the success of its mission in reducing the amount of time youth live in foster care—even in a pandemic. NexusTek led the nonprofit’s digital transformation journey that combined Microsoft’s Azure Active Directory and Intune for system and device management, and Teams and OneDrive for file storage. This modernized workplace solution was just the ticket Raise the Future needed to help children find a caring and permanent home in a world on lockdown.

“NexusTek is honored to receive such recognition from Microsoft. We’re passionate about helping our clients achieve their business goals through technology, and implementing the latest Microsoft solutions is critical for organizations to establish a more modern workplace,” said Bill Wosilius, CEO of NexusTek. “2020’s transition to a remote workforce demanded innovative, collaborative solutions to allow employees to securely and productively work from home. Being a national IT services provider that serves small to mid-sized companies, a market that was significantly impacted by the pandemic, we were well-positioned to support many businesses by transforming their IT operations and empowering them to work from anywhere.

“We’re particularly proud of our work with the client featured in our winning nomination. Helping Raise the Future modernize their operations to better connect youth to permanent homes in the middle of a global pandemic, holds a special place in our hearts. It’s why we love what we do,” he concluded.

Microsoft celebrated NexusTek and the other winning partners during the Microsoft Inspire US – Live Community Connection session, led by Bryson, on July 14.

About NexusTek

Trusted by thousands of businesses for over two decades, NexusTek, a national provider of managed IT services and full IT outsourcing solutions, offers a comprehensive portfolio comprising end-user services, cloud, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and IT consulting. Ranked among the top MSPs in North America and a multi-year CRN Triple Crown Award winner, NexusTek’s 24/7/365 domestically-staffed support team designs holistic technology solutions to improve business continuity, productivity, operational efficiency, and cost-effectiveness for companies across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. As an SSAE 18 SOC II certified company, NexusTek conducts yearly rigorous security audits to ensure customer safety and provide optimal service.

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Cyber Security: 8 Steps to Cyber Resilience

READ TIME: 4 MIN

July 7, 2021

Cyber Security: 8 Steps to Cyber Resilience

You’ve heard of cyber security, but have you heard of cyber resiliency? Let’s start with definitions:

Cybersecurity includes the technologies and measures utilized to thwart cyber threats.

Cyber resilience is the ability to maintain business operations despite a cyber attack or breach.

No cybersecurity solution is infallible. Cyber resilience involves the understanding that a security threat will eventually penetrate network systems and a robust business will have proactively prepared processes and methods to minimize damage and ensure business continuity. Both cyber security and cyber resilience are essential to protecting the bottom line, productivity, and brand reputation of a business. With a 69% increase in internet crime in 2020 and a 40-60% chance that a small business will never reopen after data loss, both cyber security and cyber resilience are critical to a company’s endgame. Let’s breakdown 8 steps businesses must take to optimize cyber security and cyber resilience strategies.

Cybersecurity

Vulnerability Assessment
Perform a comprehensive analysis of business assets to identify gaps or weaknesses that cyber criminals can exploit. Use tools and techniques, including infrastructure penetration testing, to scan for vulnerabilities and assess their potential impact. The findings and their necessary mitigations will guide the rest of your security and resiliency journey.

Defensive Barriers
Shore up weaknesses with the first line of defense, including antivirus protection and firewalls; remember to keep software updated and deploy regular patches. Spam filters decrease the social engineering attacks upon fallible employees. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of identification to stop cyber threats from slipping through unsecured devices.

Security Awareness Training
Despite cyber defenses, phishing attempts will still slide into inboxes. In a 2020 survey, 89% of Americans thought they were good at cybersecurity but only 10% received an ‘A’ grade. With 23% of data breaches caused by human error, companies must invest in training to help employees identify common social engineering tactics and how to report them.

Proactive monitoring
Cybersecurity demands vigilance. A business must continuously maintain infrastructure and eliminate vulnerabilities with frequent updates. IT teams must proactively monitor network systems and alerts for potential cyber threats. If a security threat breaches the cybersecurity defenses, then hopefully the business has prepared adequate cyber resilience.

Cyber Resilience

Risk Assessment
An enterprise risk management framework assesses potential risks or scenarios that can negatively impact a project or business. The three-step process of risk identification, analysis, and evaluation provides a foundation for the development of business continuity and disaster recovery plans to maintain operations during an internal or even external crisis.

Incident Response Plan
In the event of a cyber breach, a previously tested incident response plan can save up to $2 million, according to IBM. The plan outlines what to do during a system failure or breach; who is responsible for such duties; how to inform team members and customers; and how to assess the effect of any defensive and responsive measures to improve them against future attacks. A well-tested incident response plan can reduce the time needed to identify and contain a data breach by 74 days.

Business Continuity Plan
Another essential proactive plan is the BCP, a set of processes and policies for various circumstances to ensure an organization remains functional despite a crisis. 90% of companies that are unable to recover business operations within five days of a disaster fail within a year, and yet only 49% of companies have a business continuity plan. From automating processes to data restore, a BCP can make all the difference.

Disaster Recovery Plan
A subset of the BCP, the disaster recovery plan focuses on minimizing damage and restoring the data and information systems of a business. Data should be frequently backed up and preferably stored at an offsite location so that it can be restored promptly in the event of a disaster and prevent data loss. A robust BC/DR plan promotes a swift rebound and improves business uptime, no matter the crisis.

While essential to protect your business, cybersecurity is not enough on its own to guarantee your organization doesn’t sink in the storm or its aftermath. Building cyber resilience ensures your business rolls with the waves. Your IT department may have super cyber defense measures but an outdated or even nonexistent business continuity plan, or vice versa. Checking off all 8 cybersecurity and cyber resilience steps from the to do list takes a full-fledged team with bandwidth for proactive maintenance, monitoring, and testing.

Many companies, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, do not have the personnel headcount, expertise, or time to fulfill all 8 steps. NexusTek’s certified engineers can augment your IT team and provide some or all of the criteria for healthy cybersecurity and cyber resilience. As an award-winning managed service provider, NexusTek helps businesses across the U.S stay vigilant and improve resilience.

Stay secure and resilient with NexusTek

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Don’t Fear the Great Resignation. Here’s Why.

READ TIME: 4 MIN

June 30, 2021

Don’t Fear the Great Resignation. Here’s Why.

Last year revolutionized workforce standards. By April 2020, 70% of workers were off-site either fully or part-time. A year later, COVID-19 vaccinations are sparking conversations around a return to the office environment. But many people refuse to sacrifice the flexibility of their remote work lifestyle. A record 4 million people quit their jobs this April, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Likewise, a record 9.3 million jobs opened in April. While the Great Resignation may be a liberating movement for individual workers seeking more compatible accommodations, business leaders might start biting their nails in panic. We’re here to tell you that companies need not fear the change but embrace it. Let’s review the insights and trending needs of remote workforces, and then we’ll discuss a technology solution to keep your employees motivated and secure with the work lifestyle they’ve grown to love.

Insights from Remote Workforce Research

Work from home is no longer just an added perk, but a standard expectation of employees and new hires.

A Harvard Business School survey revealed that 81% of respondents would prefer to work from home permanently or have a hybrid schedule. And it is not just employees who enjoy the flexibility. Another survey found that 80% of executives intend to offer a hybrid workweek after the pandemic, which is a good thing because 1 in 3 people would look for a new job if they were required to be back in the office full-time.

Remote work capability not only improves employee loyalty but also morale and motivation.

Consulting firm Gallup discovered that employees who spend the majority—but not all—of their time working remotely have the highest level of engagement and satisfaction. Popular reasons people prefer remote work include: 91% better work-life balance, 79% increased productivity and focus, 78% less stress, and 78% avoiding a commute. Gallup recommends a 60/40 hybrid schedule with 3-4 days at home during a 5-day work week.

Working from home saves both companies and employees time and money.

From decreased real estate costs to increased productivity, certain companies can save an average of $11,000 per year for every employee who works remotely part-time, according to a survey by Global Workplace Analytics. Additionally, some employees can save up to $3,000 and gain 14 days a year in money and time they would have devoted to their daily commute.

Trending Needs of Remote Workforces

The results are in: Working from home—at least part-time—is here to stay, which means companies will need to invest in supporting technologies. Let’s discuss the business needs of your remote workforce.

Anywhere operations—crucial for remote employees—goes beyond working from home.

Gartner identified anywhere operations as one of the top strategic technology trends for 2021. The research and advisory company predicts that by the end of 2023, 40% of organizations will have implemented anywhere operations, whose remote access will support employees and enhance the customer experience while managing business services across infrastructures.

Employees must be able to remotely and securely access data and applications from any device.

The rapid shift to a remote workforce has caused the demise of the legacy VPN, which cannot handle the massive volume and must be replaced with a more secure method for employees to access critical company information. The transition also highlighted how many employees cannot bring their desktops and monitors home, and consequently, 56% of remote workers are using their personal computers. If a device fails, they summon another personal device, such as a tablet or phone, to perform their work while they wait for a replacement to arrive on their doorstep. Remote technologies must account for such fluidity between devices, supporting and securing all endpoints for uninterrupted productivity.

Remote employees may have unsecured networks, increasing the chances of cyberattack.

85% of Cisco survey respondents believe cybersecurity is more important now than before the pandemic. In an IDG survey, 33% of firms plan to spend more time on security management activities this year. Businesses must utilize technology solutions that shore up vulnerabilities of remote workers and stop security threats from exposing the sensitive information of both employees and customers.

Technology Solution for Your Remote Workforce

What technology solution answers the remote access, device supportability, and security needs of employees working from home? Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, or VDI.

Cloud-based VDI is a Desktop as a Service (DaaS) solution that allows users to access a virtual desktop from any device and any location. The virtual desktop is in turn hosted on the company’s central cloud infrastructure, which offers several benefits to employees working from home:

Remote Access

Employees can access critical information from anywhere at any time.
IT departments can troubleshoot remotely, reducing time, costs, and health and safety concerns.
After connecting to the virtual desktop, the applications will run off the virtual server’s bandwidth, not a user’s potentially unreliable home network.

Device Supportability

Any device can be used to access the virtual desktop, supporting on-the-go workers.
Companies can cut hardware costs via Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policies or supplying simple thin clients.
Failed or damaged devices can be replaced instantly, ensuring business continuity.

Security

The cloud-based service is built with security and compliance in mind, and extra security steps such as single sign-on (SSO) and data encryption can also be implemented.
Security updates can be rolled out to all virtual desktops simultaneously, saving time and eliminating risk of a delayed or incomplete update.
No data is saved on a device, but rather in the cloud, so no security breaches will come of a lost or stolen device.

VDI effectively supports the needs of a remote workforce, increasing security as well as productivity. The cloud-based solution also improves budgeting through hardware savings and a reduction in IT hours. VDI is so competitive that its market is set to grow to $30 billion by 2026.

Optimize technology solutions for your remote workforce before the Great Resignation sweeps through your staff. NexusTek’s cloud engineers are at the ready to assess your business needs and recommend the best cloud solution optimized for your organization. As an SSAE 18 SOC II certified company, NexusTek partners with high-security Tier 4 and Tier 5 data centers to safely store your data and sensitive information. As an award-winning managed service provider, NexusTek supports thousands of businesses across the U.S. You could be next.

Enhance and secure your remote workforce with VDI.

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3 Ways Energy & Utility Companies Can Increase IT Security Now

3 Ways Energy and Utility Companies Can Increase IT Security Now

READ TIME: 4 MIN

June 9, 2021

3 Ways Energy & Utility Companies Can Increase IT Security Now

You’ve seen the panic in the news; you’ve experienced the fuel shortages at the gas station; you’ve lit your darkened home with flashlights and candles when the power fails…sometimes for days. The health and security of your energy company’s IT systems and network infrastructure do not just impact your bottom line, but the lives of millions—or billions—of people.

After the recent ransomware attack against the largest U.S. fuel pipeline—now considered the biggest known cyberattack on U.S. energy infrastructure—President Biden issued an executive order to improve the nation’s cybersecurity. Oil & gas companies, utilities, and alternative energy producers and suppliers must take their IT seriously as a matter of national security.

Here are ways businesses in the energy sector can improve their IT for healthier, more secure IT infrastructure.

1. Increase uptime to increase security

The energy sector’s infrastructure is aging. Outdated or overworked equipment are more likely to fail more often, leading to egregious system downtime. The 56% of utility respondents in a Siemens and Ponemon Institute survey had at least one system shutdown or operational data loss per year. For a resource that people and businesses utilize daily, even one system shutdown is too many. According to McKinsey & Company, hardware and software failures account for 45% and 39%, respectively, of widespread, unplanned downtime incidents in the energy industry. As utilities expand power grids and oil & gas companies lay more pipelines, the need for reliable technology intensifies, not only for operational efficiency but security. In IBM’s 2020 study of the energy market, system glitches caused 23% of data breaches. The U.S. energy sector will spend $14 billion a year through 2023 to modernize and build a smarter infrastructure. Improving power production and delivery reliability—and decreasing system downtime—drives 44% of power companies to digital transformation, ultimately leading to more robust security from cyberattacks.

Learn more about our customizable managed IT plans.

2. Increase monitoring to increase security

Utilities cannot rely on infrastructure integrity alone. Consistent monitoring and proactive maintenance are required to ensure the health and security of IT systems. In 2020, malicious attacks caused 55% of data breaches in the energy sector, reports IBM, and human error caused 22%. With a 13% increase in security breaches last year over 2019, utilities and oil & gas companies need to be on the defense more than ever. Unfortunately, only 55% of utilities respondents in Utility Dive’s 2020 survey are using systematic and prompt patching for existing systems. This statistic is concerning and could indicate a lack of automation for managing large quantities of assets. Maintaining top network performance in an energy business is critical to prevent security breaches, outages, and the continual availability of heat, electricity, and fuel to protect people’s lives and livelihoods.

3. Increase cost savings to increase security

According to the Department of Energy, power outages cost the U.S. $150 billion annually. Not only that, but one hour of downtime costs electric utilities $300,000. The average power outage in the U.S. lasts 5.8 hours. Multiply that by the cost of one hour and it totals $1.7 million in downtime costs. Utilities and oil & gas companies can modernize their infrastructure to decrease unplanned downtime. In doing so, digitization can also reduce operating expenses by up to 25% and a 20-40% increase in safety, reliability, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance. Digitized utilities cut maintenance costs by $50 million in 18 months, according to McKinsey & Company. And don’t forget that modernization and proactive maintenance decrease data breaches, which on average cost an energy business $6.39 million. Plus, any cost savings can be put back into your business to further improve infrastructure and security, keeping pace with compliance standards and presidential executive orders. Utilities and oil & gas companies are growing so quickly that they must outsource their operations. It is likely an energy business does not have the time or skills to also handle modernization and maintenance of IT systems and hiring enough experts can be costly. Outsourcing IT to a managed service provider (MSP), who has the resources and expertise to manage and maintain an energy company’s IT systems for a predictable monthly fee, is an effective strategy. Here are a few ways managed IT can benefit the energy sector:

Fulfill all IT needs or augment an existing IT department to quickly complete tickets and projects, preventing IT burnout.
Deliver routine and proactive monitoring of networks and devices to eliminate IT malfunctions, reduce system downtime, and decrease data breaches.
Provide 24/7/365 IT help desk support.
Offer data backup and recovery in the event of a security breach.
Advise on strategic IT planning and budget with a virtual CIO (vCIO).
Switch your energy business’ IT budget from a CAPEX model to OPEX with a fixed fee.

Everything managed IT does circles back to the security and integrity of your IT systems, protecting your business, your customers, and your country.

At NexusTek, we take the health of your energy company’s infrastructure seriously. As an award-winning MSP with hundreds of IT consultants and best-in-class technology partners, NexusTek has the expertise and resources to ensure utilities and oil & gas companies maintain optimal technology performance. Our multiple network operations centers (NOCs) monitor and maintain your IT systems, installing the latest software updates and patches and offering 24/7/365 IT support for a fixed monthly fee. Our managed IT, cybersecurity, and IT consulting packages can be tailored to fit the needs of your energy company so that your experience is truly “electrifying”, all for a fixed monthly fee. The bad puns come free.

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NexusTek Honored on CRN’s 2021 Solution Provider 500 List

NexusTek Honored on CRN 2021 Solution Provider 500 List

June 1, 2021

NexusTek Honored on CRN’s 2021 Solution Provider 500 List

Managed IT services provider ranked among leading solution providers across North America for third year in row

Denver, CO (June 1, 2020) – NexusTek, a national provider of managed IT services and full IT outsourcing solutions to businesses across the U.S., today announced its placement in the 2021 Solution Provider 500 list by CRN^®, a brand of The Channel Company.

This annual list recognizes and ranks the top IT channel partner organizations that earned the highest revenue in North America over the past year. The SP 500 list is widely acknowledged as the industry standard for identifying the highest-performing technology integrators, strategic service providers, and IT consultants. This year’s impressive list represents a remarkable combined revenue of over $403 billion, underscoring the immense impact and influence these partners have on the IT industry today.

“It is an honor for NexusTek to be featured on CRN’s 2021 Solution Provider 500 list,” said Michael Hamuka, Chief Revenue Officer, NexusTek. “2020 was a challenging year for businesses across the globe. Our certified IT consultants worked diligently with our clients to assess their needs, identify the optimal IT solutions for their business goals, and quickly implement said solutions to maintain and improve peak technology performance, even during a pandemic. Our diligent focus on delivering the best products with excellent customer service has led to our success. We continue to lead innovation discussions with our customers to ensure they are always prepared for whatever life throws their way.”

“CRN’s Solution Provider 500 list serves as the industry standard for top-performing technology integrators, strategic service providers, and IT consultants, which makes it a valuable resource for technology vendors looking to partner with today’s best-of-breed IT solution providers,” said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. “On behalf of The Channel Company, I’d like to congratulate these companies for their incredible contributions to the growth and success of the IT channel.”

With 25 years of experience, NexusTek provides holistic solutions that combine best-in-class technology and an experienced workforce of highly-skilled engineers and IT professionals to design, deliver, on-board, and maintain IT operations for thousands of businesses across the U.S. and Canada.

The 2021 Solution Provider 500 list will be featured in the June 2021 issue of CRN Magazine as well as online at www.CRN.com/SP500.

About NexusTek

Trusted by thousands of businesses, NexusTek is a national managed IT services provider with a comprehensive portfolio comprised of end-user services, cloud, infrastructure, cyber security, and IT consulting. We design holistic technology solutions for business customers that deliver a superior end-user experience, backed by a 24/7/365 domestically staffed support team. NexusTek Managed Service Plans offer end-to-end IT management 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.

Included in its all-encompassing products and services portfolio are: IT support and outsourced help desk backed by multiple domestic NOCs (Network Operation Centers) for redundancy; hosted infrastructure, cloud services, and Microsoft Azure; professional IT consulting and virtual CIO (vCIO) services; disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS); cyber security services; server and network monitoring; unified communications and voice-over-IP (VoIP); Office 365; enterprise content management (ECM); and many more IT solutions. An SSAE 18 SOC II certified company which, as of 2018, has also qualified for the GDPR rider, NexusTek adheres to rigorous, industry-accepted auditing standards for service companies. This achievement reflects the transparency and control that comes from managed private cloud service environments.

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5 Reasons Why Financial Institutions Need Managed IT

READ TIME: 4 MIN

May 12, 2021

5 Reasons Why Financial Institutions Need Managed IT

It is all about the now. Consumers crave instant gratification. That means businesses need to support every customer at any time from anywhere—and the finance industry is no exception. With nearly 70% of millennials utilizing mobile banking applications and 361 million people sending money via Paypal, server downtime in the finance sector is intolerable.

Here’s why banks and financial institutions need managed IT to keep customers satisfied.

1. Technology

The finance sector is known for its outdated legacy system architecture that cannot handle increasing data volume. Most high street banks had more than 10 system shutdowns in 2018, while six of the major banks had at least one downtime incident every two weeks. In a Which? Money report, there were 302 reports of IT system failures impacting customer transactions between April and December 2018—that averages one incident every day. The cost and complexity of updating such systems prohibits banks and financial firms from progressing their technology for fear of impacting business. According to the Powering Potential survey, over half of IT professionals struggle to keep up with the pace of technology, with two in 10 saying they had fallen behind the pace of change.

2. Security & Compliance

Outdated technology leads to impaired security. System glitches cause 27% of financial data breaches, according to IBM and the Ponemon Institute. In Varonis’ 2019 Data Risk Report, 21% of sensitive files in financial services were exposed, averaging 352,771 unprotected files and resulting in non-compliance. Fenergo reported that 198 fines for Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know your Customer (KYC), data privacy, and MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) regulations were levied against financial institutions in 2020—a 141% a year-on-year increase. As a result, 48% of customers believe companies poorly protect their personal information, according to a Salesforce survey, and 59% believe their personal information is vulnerable to a security breach.

3. Spending

System outages at financial institutions cost an average of $9.3 million per hour of downtime. It is not just large companies that rack up a high bill of downtime costs. ITIC’s 11^th annual Hourly Cost of Downtime Survey showed that 47% of SMB respondents estimate that a single hour of downtime can cost their firms $100,000 or more in lost revenue, end user productivity, and remedial action by IT administrators. System downtime can result in security incidents and, consequently, non-compliance. Financial data breaches due to system glitches or downtime cost $213 per capita. A 2020 study revealed that the average cost of a data breach in the financial sector averages $5.85 million. Additionally, in 2020, financial institutions were hit with $10.4 billion in global fines and penalties for non-compliance, with the U.S. taking the brunt of it with $7.5 billion in fines.

Upgrade Your Finance IT Now

4. Customer Experience

In a revealing Salesforce survey, 70% of consumers say connected processes are very important to winning their business. Furthermore, 66% of customers want instant, on-demand engagement, and 45% will switch brands if a company does not actively anticipate their needs. A brand’s commitment to the customer’s success or satisfaction strengthens their loyalty to the brand in 61% of customers. The companies that do successfully provide an excellent customer experience strengthen the loyalty of 64% of customers, reports Salesforce. Banks and financial institutions striving to meet their clients’ expectations of exceptional customer service and demands for instant gratification are modernizing their systems and digital services. In a 2019 survey, 29% of surveyed financial firms planned to use IT to improve accessibility for both employees and customers.

5. Expertise

To improve accessibility, 23% of surveyed banks and financial institutions will modernize their legacy network systems. One method of modernization is software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN), which is flexible, secure, and a gamechanger for the finance industry. FinTech Futures reports that while 50% of IT decisionmakers in the financial sector see the benefits of SD-WAN, 30% lack the implementation skills; 26% lack an understanding of the technology; and 31% fear disrupting daily business operations. In order to move forward with modernization, many small, internal IT departments in financial services outsource their IT, and 87% of IT decisionmakers in the finance industry state that expertise is the most important element in an IT vendor.

Customer satisfaction is everything, and the modern consumer expects support from anywhere at any time. Banks and financial institutions must modernize their legacy infrastructure to become more secure, compliant, and accessible to reduce costs and fines, improve the customer experience, and maintain customer loyalty. However, IT teams in the financial sector may not have the expertise or bandwidth to keep pace with changing technology. That’s where a managed service provider comes in.

For 25 years, NexusTek has offered managed IT services to banks and financial institutions across the U.S., increasing uptime, enhancing accessibility and security, and improving customer experience. With current SSAE 18 SOC II Type II certification, NexusTek is experienced in FINRA, SEC, GDPR, CMMC, and NIST compliance standards. Our trusted IT consultants have the expertise to augment the IT team at your financial firm, assisting server support, infrastructure penetration testing, network security, data backup and recovery, and system maintenance, all for a fixed monthly fee that cuts CAPEX costs.

Don’t waste billable hours trying to get your technology and IT systems to work.

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NexusTek Honored on the 2021 CRN Tech Elite 250 List

May 10, 2021

NexusTek Honored on the 2021 CRN Tech Elite 250 List

Managed IT services provider recognized as one of the most certified solutions providers in the IT industry for the fourth consecutive year

Denver, CO (April 16, 2020) – NexusTek, a national provider of managed IT services and full IT outsourcing solutions to businesses across the U.S., today announced its placement in the 2021 Tech Elite 250 list by CRN^®, a brand of The Channel Company, for the fourth consecutive year.

This annual list comprises solutions providers of all sizes in U.S. and Canada who have earned the highest level and most certifications from leading technology suppliers, including Amazon, Cisco, Dell, HPE, and VMware. These qualifications allow the solutions providers to deliver exclusive products, services, and customer support.

“It is always an honor for NexusTek to be featured on CRN’s Tech Elite 250 list and the continued recognition for the fourth year in a row is truly exciting,” said Michael Hamuka, CRO, NexusTek. “Our determination to provide the best products and customer service to our clients has led us to this moment. We plan to continue in this direction, acquiring even more certifications and offering more solutions to our clients.”

“CRN’s Tech Elite 250 list highlights the top solution providers in the IT channel with the most in-depth technical knowledge, expertise, and certifications for providing the best level of service for their customers,” said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. “These solution providers have continued to extend their talents and abilities across various technologies and IT practices, demonstrating their commitment to really conveying the most exceptional business value to their customers.”

With 25 years of experience, NexusTek provides holistic solutions that combine best-in-class technology and an experienced workforce of highly-skilled engineers and IT professionals to design, deliver, on-board, and maintain IT operations for thousands of businesses across the U.S. and Canada.

The 2021 Tech Elite 250 list will be featured in the April 2021 issue of CRN Magazine as well as online at www.CRN.com/techelite250.

About NexusTek

Trusted by thousands of businesses, NexusTek is a national managed IT services provider with a comprehensive portfolio comprised of end-user services, cloud, infrastructure, cyber security, and IT consulting. We design holistic technology solutions for business customers that deliver a superior end-user experience, backed by a 24/7/365 domestically staffed support team. NexusTek Managed Service Plans offer end-to-end IT management 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.

Included in its all-encompassing products and services portfolio are: IT support and outsourced help desk backed by multiple domestic NOCs (Network Operation Centers) for redundancy; hosted infrastructure, cloud services, and Microsoft Azure; professional IT consulting and virtual CIO (vCIO) services; disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS); cyber security services; server and network monitoring; unified communications and voice-over-IP (VoIP); Office 365; enterprise content management (ECM); and many more IT solutions. An SSAE 18 SOC II certified company which, as of 2018, has also qualified for the GDPR rider, NexusTek adheres to rigorous, industry-accepted auditing standards for service companies. This achievement reflects the transparency and control that comes from managed private cloud service environments.

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Is Your IT Help Desk Overwhelmed?

READ TIME: 5 MIN

April 28, 2021

Is Your IT Help Desk Overwhelmed?

The IT help desk can be an unforgiving job. In a 2019 survey by Ponemon Institute, 73% of 1,400 IT professionals believed their IT department was understaffed due to difficulty in attracting and retaining skilled engineers. Often, IT professionals work longer hours to manage the ever-increasing requests from frustrated users. A study of 38 cybersecurity professionals reported that their average weekly workloads required 64.5 hours to manage projects in theory, but in practice estimated 73.5 hours. The Ponemon Institute stated that 65% of IT professionals quit because of burnout.

But that was before 2020.

Since the shift to a largely remote workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 37% of IT professionals have seen an increase in their workload, according to a survey of 1,600 IT professionals. Additionally, 39% of the IT professionals experienced a rise in the number of incidents and support requests. The potential for IT engineer burnout is higher than ever before.

Here are some signs that your business’ IT help desk is overwhelmed.

Response time takes a few days

A sure sign that your IT help desk is struggling is its response rate. The average internal IT help desk receives 492 tickets per month with an average first response time of 28.7 hours, according to Zendesk. If your help desk is responding after two or three days, then the IT engineers are likely juggling countless tickets of varying complexity. Another telltale sign is how quickly the help desk gets new employees set up and vacancies secured. If a new employee starts their first day with no necessary devices or has issues logging in, the potentially already nervous new hire may feel even more stressed or uncomfortable or begin to question their decision to join your company. As for exiting employees, whether the person left the company on good terms or not, it is best practice to swiftly secure the device, erase logins, and remove access to data and applications. This routine is especially crucial with the current remote workforce where devices may remain in the possession of ex-employees for days or even weeks at a time. Companies and employees value immediate response times to ensure the security and continuity of their business. If your IT help desk cannot establish new hires or secure exiting employees in a prompt manner, then they are likely too overwhelmed with the countless tickets and IT projects also demanding their time.

There is no redundancy

For many small and medium-sized businesses, the IT help desk is a one-person band. The tickets, the projects, the devices all start and stop with this one very capable, very brave individual who took up the torch. But what if they go on vacation? For two weeks. On a remote island to completely disconnect. And then your server crashes from a phishing attack. What then? Who are you going to call?

With a one-person team or even two-to-three-person team, there may be no redundancy plan if one is on vacation, another out sick, and the last stuck on the tarmac for four hours of Monday morning because they chose to fly a budget airline for a “quick” weekend getaway. Small teams often have a single point of failure with no recuperation strategy if the IT help desk is MIA—and as luck would have it, that’s usually when things hit the fan.

Resolution time takes longer than it should

In addition to too few staff and too many tickets, skillset is also a driving factor in an IT help desk’s ability—or inability—to meet users’ needs. Much like doctors, whether they are a surgeon or a cardiologist, engineers have their own disciplines like cloud architect or cybersecurity professional. Hiring a few internal IT staff may be insufficient to meet all the needs of your business because those new hires likely do not possess enough cross-discipline expertise amongst them. Finding desired skills in emerging areas comprises 52% of the factors driving a difficult hiring environment in the IT industry, according to CompTIA. Additionally, a limited pool of available workers in a region accounts for 35% of the hiring difficulty. If the IT help desk is not equipped with the necessary expertise, it may take longer to resolve one IT issue while others pile up around it.

Projects fail and/or deadlines are missed

In a study of 38 IT professionals, 55% felt that their workload “rarely” or “never” supported a level of performance that was sustainable. Insufficient time, resources, and training impacted their ability to turnaround a high volume of tickets quickly and accurately. As a result, 47.4% acknowledged that at least half of their projects failed or missed timelines. These errors could lead to system downtime or security breaches that cost your business revenue and incur compliance fees. If a company does not have a dedicated team for the help desk, but instead just one skilled engineer, that individual will have to do the work of multiple engineers. Let’s say a Los Angeles company pays their Senior Network Engineer a yearly salary of $118,000, but they’re forced to spend half their time resetting passwords or performing daily monitoring on infrastructure. That company would be wasting the talent of that engineer, who could easily find a better use of their time and provide a better service to the company by migrating the legacy systems to cloud infrastructure or establishing cybersecurity defenses against financial data breaches. No matter how talented that one engineer may be, the daily operations of an SMB will limit their bandwidth, increasing risk of failed projects, missed deadlines, and potentially disastrous incidents.

Long-term strategic planning is minimal

Understaffed, overworked, and buried under tickets, an internal IT help desk may be just staying afloat. Time and resources are allocated to responding to present IT concerns and incidents with little energy spent planning for the future. If they are always putting out the fires, then they will never have the time to take proactive steps, like system maintenance, that would prevent forthcoming fires. With limited time, an engineer may not make regular audits of the infrastructure, identifying weaknesses, installing patches and software updates, and ensuring the overall health of the IT systems. Without long-term strategic planning, the IT help desk will constantly perform reactively rather than proactively.

Plagued by long hours, insufficient resources, and high turnover, the IT help desk is a challenging position that can easily burnout IT professionals. An overwhelmed help desk leads to deficient response time and inaccuracies that could prove costly for your business.

So, the question is no longer “Is your IT help desk overwhelmed?” but:

“What do you do now?”

A managed service provider (MSP) can augment a business’ IT help desk to prevent burnout, improve end user experience, and provide 24/7/365 support to keep your business functioning all day. At NexusTek, an award-winning MSP, we understand the pressures placed on internal IT and are equipped to successfully complement your team.

Focused on delivering supreme customer service, we establish our mean time to engineer (MTTE) and mean time to resolution (MTTR) goals with responsiveness targets optimized for customer satisfaction. Our 300 staff possess various certifications in specialized disciplines across IT, cybersecurity, cloud computing, business continuity, and more to assist with any number of simple or complex information technology concerns. Our IT help desk and 24/7 Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are equipped to handle all your business’ low-priority tickets while your IT team focuses on strategic projects or vice versa.

One of our skilled dedicated engineers can be scheduled once a day, week, or month or fulfill a certain number of pre-determined hours to supplement an internal IT team and help improve project success rate and meet deadlines. Our virtual CIOs (vCIOs) provide technology leadership, trends insight, and strategic IT planning to help your business proactively update and secure applications and data against changing demands.

Across our 300 staff, NexusTek has the talent, depth, and breadth to apply specialized skills and sufficient time to make your business’ IT needs a priority.

Take the quiz to find out if your IT help desk is overwhelmed.

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6 Reasons Why Managed IT is Critical for Healthcare

READ TIME: 5 MIN

April 21, 2021

6 Reasons Why Managed IT is Critical for Healthcare

Healthcare IT departments need to uphold robust IT maintenance and cybersecurity procedures the way clinicians need to perform extensive sanitation practices. However, the bandwidth and expertise it requires to maintain and monitor IT infrastructure 24/7 is far more complex than handwashing. Partnering with a managed service provider is a critical advantage for health IT teams, who are frequently understaffed and overworked.

Here are six reasons why Managed IT definitively impacts clinical workflow, costs, and patient satisfaction.

1. Interoperability

Health information technology (HIT) interoperability, or the seamless exchange of patient health data, can improve clinical workflow, promote patient-centered care, and reduce healthcare costs by an estimated $30 billion. The healthcare industry has made strides towards HIT interoperability in recent years, but the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for more progress. In Medscape’s 2021 Physician Burnout Report, 58% of physicians reported that completing too many bureaucratic tasks was one of the most common contributing factors to burnout. One study found that physicians spend over 10 hours a week entering information. The automatic availability of patient data from across systems and applications could not only lessen administrative tasks and reduce potential for physician burnout, but also decrease medical errors, which according to one study, account for 9.5% of deaths in the United States. With 1.4 million unfilled computer science jobs in 2020, a managed service provider supplies the IT expertise a healthcare organization needs to keep electronic health records (EHRs) available and secure for timely decision-making.

2. Telehealth

Telehealth comprised over 30% of total outpatient visits during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Almost 80% of patients believe telemedicine is more convenient to schedule, and 77% of physicians say telehealth is a more efficient use of their time. Cloud-based telehealth improves clinical workflow and patient satisfaction, and its use will only increase. Healthcare organizations must maintain a robust IT infrastructure to keep up with telemedicine demands. Medical providers estimate that their telehealth solutions fail 15% of the time. With network operations centers (NOCs) in various locations and co-located datacenters, a managed service provider assesses, upgrades, and maintains IT infrastructure and cloud platforms. Managed IT services ensure a medical facility has the newest equipment and latest software patches so that virtual patient visits proceed without a glitch.

3. Security

Cyberattacks have pelted healthcare institutions since the start of the pandemic. In 2020, over 26 million people had their protected health information (PHI) exposed in 599 security breaches—a 55% increase since 2019. Hacking and IT incidents led to 67% of healthcare security breaches and were the largest driver of compromised PHI at 91%. Additionally, the cost of a data breach increased from $429 to $499, resulting in a $13.2 billion loss for healthcare organizations. Medical providers can hire an MSP to proactively identify and resolve vulnerabilities, vigilantly monitor critical systems and components for potential risks or threats, and quickly respond to incidents following prepared procedures. As an external partner, an MSP has the expertise and bandwidth to provide health institutions real-time monitoring via their 24/7/365 fully-equipped Security Operations Center (SOC). Security awareness training educates clinicians on social engineering attacks that would otherwise expose PHI. An MSP also offers customized alerting and applies a complete incident response strategy to contain and eradicate breaches. Managed IT handles the cyber threats so medical providers can focus on the health threats.

Upgrade Your Healthcare IT Now

4. Compliance

In 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received $13,554,900 to resolve 19 cases of HIPAA violation. Eleven of the violations obstructed HIPAA Right of Access, and the penalties ranged from $3,500 to $160,000. Meanwhile, five out of the eight noncompliance violations were fined over $1 million, the highest amounting to $6.8 million. The amount of global healthcare data and cyberattacks on said data are ever-increasing. Projected healthcare data grew from 153 exabytes in 2013 to 2,314 exabytes in 2020. Strapped for specialized IT expertise and pressed for more advanced technology solutions, healthcare IT departments are working overtime to meet demands. An MSP can augment healthcare IT departments to relieve pressure and ensure that EHRs and PHI are shared and protected through HIPAA-compliant systems. A managed service provider executes HIPAA compliance assessments throughout the health institution’s systems and infrastructure to identify potential risks and improve cybersecurity against costly data breaches and their ensuing violation fines.

5. Spending

A 2017 study found that administrative tasks comprised 34.2% of health costs in the United States, which spent $2,497 per capita—4.5x the $551 Canada spends per person. Meanwhile, 59% of healthcare CIOs reported operating cost pressures and 41% conceded insufficient funding in an early 2020 report from Gartner. Additionally, the financial impacts of health IT downtime can range from $7,000 to $17,000 per minute, according to the Sixth Annual Benchmark Study on Privacy and Security of Healthcare Data report from Ponemon Institute. Healthcare organizations can reduce downtime and variable IT expenses with a managed IT plan. MSPs offer customizable, cost-effective options for a predictable, fixed monthly fee that will not increase, no matter the month’s latest IT incident.

6. Patient Experience

The patient experience is everything in the healthcare industry. System downtime can prevent physicians from accessing EHRs, delay patients’ test results, or postpone their medical treatments. In 2014, 96% of surveyed healthcare organizations reported at least one unplanned downtime in the previous three years, and 70% had a downtime lasting eight or more hours. Downtime from a security threat can cost revenue, HIPAA violation fines, and even loyal patients. In a Software Advice survey, 54% of patients said they would switch medical providers after a data breach. But it is not just the medical institution’s reputation at stake. A high patient satisfaction score on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey also impacts how much a healthcare organization receives from Medicare. The timeliness of interoperability and telehealth and the protection of cybersecurity measures and compliance standards all influence patient experience. A 2017 study found that strong incident management procedures in the event of downtime increased response outcomes and end-user experiences from 57% to 86%. A managed service provider upgrades health IT infrastructure with the latest equipment and software patches, monitors systems 24/7/365 for cyber threats, and implements effective incident response strategies to decrease interrupted patient care and increase patient satisfaction.

As an award-winning managed service provider, NexusTek has worked with healthcare organizations across the U.S. and understands their specific needs. Knowledgeable in HIPAA compliance, our IT professionals harbor the healthcare IT expertise to augment a medical facility’s IT department. We assess a medical provider’s systems for vulnerabilities and noncompliance and implement robust IT maintenance and monitoring practices to ensure uptime and uninterrupted patient care. Our 24/7/365 NOCs and SOCs understand time is a matter of life and death and are at the ready to support a hospital’s needs at any hour of the day. For a fixed monthly fee, your healthcare IT could be better with NexusTek.

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The Difference Between IT & “Almost” IT

READ TIME: 5 MIN

March 31, 2021

The Difference Between IT & “Almost” IT

What is IT and “Almost” IT? Well, IT is a Managed Service Provider (MSP), that employs hundreds of tenured IT experts available 24/7/365. “Almost” IT are 10 IT professionals in a 20-person company with 200 customers. Think Amazon versus a local delivery service: one has a multitude of staff, resources, and partnerships to deliver purchases the next day—or even the same day—across the country, and the other is a kind of local mom-and-pop service that has limited resources and takes a week to distribute packages two towns over.

If you think that “Almost” IT gives you the most bang for your buck, read on as we’ve broken down the differences between IT and “Almost” IT in a few light-hearted memes that could prove beneficial to your business’ IT strategy.

You’re welcome.

IT

An MSP’s Network Operations Center, or NOC, hosts a team of skilled IT professionals who work in shifts throughout the day, addressing tickets and IT concerns, monitoring systems, updating with security patches, and ensuring clients experience optimal IT performance. MSPs usually have not one but multiple NOCs in different locations. Think Marvel Avengers-style command centers on Helicarriers.

VS

Almost IT

A group of 10 or even 20 IT consultants may sound sufficient for your business’ needs…but physical limitations, including time and resources, adversely affect their bandwidth and capability to address your employees’ needs and resolve crises in a timely manner. Tickets can pile up quickly. “Almost” IT is kind of like Peter Parker running around in a ski mask before Tony Stark gave him the high-tech suit that made him both more capable and more efficient in helping the neighborhood.

IT

If there’s something strange in your network system at 2 a.m. Tuesday or 2 p.m. Saturday, who are you going to call? Your MSP. The NOC is a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year beehive on a caffeine craze. They are there for you whenever you need them. Even if a blizzard in Texas knocks out a NOC, there’s another in Colorado ready to help.

VS

Almost IT

Everyone has to sleep, including the “almost” IT team that operates on normal business hours. Even if the 10 IT professionals put in the extra effort and stay up all night fixing your system, they won’t be efficient—or awake—the next day. Also, don’t mess with their weekends. Trust me, they’re not answering your Saturday call even with their phones clamped in their hands.

IT

Being proactive is an essential IT strategy, which an MSP is all about. Their team of IT experts will not only install antivirus software and firewalls, but also audit your systems for risks, patch up weaknesses, and monitor your systems via their 24-hour Security Operations Center (SOC). An MSP can also implement data backup and disaster recovery services to ensure business continuity in case of a loss. Security does not sleep, and the SOC is ever watchful.

VS

Almost IT

Loaded down with tickets in a 9 to 5 setting, an “almost” IT business tends to be reactive, only having the bandwidth to respond to events rather than working ahead of time to prevent them; kind of like finding out your smoke detectors don’t work when you really need them instead of testing them every month. Antivirus software and firewalls are not enough. It takes a large team to effectively monitor systems 24/7. Also, what if your system is hacked the one week their lone cybersecurity expert is on vacation? Gulp!

IT

Innovation is one of an MSP’s greatest strengths. The size and experience of the organization allows the MSP to stay ahead of the digital curve. It acquires the latest technologies to keep its clients productive and secure and updates systems and processes to help businesses meet changing compliance standards.

VS

Almost IT

Your “almost” IT provider may still be putting out the fires from the weekend and digging themselves out of tickets. Their small business cannot invest time and finances into new equipment and systems as often as an MSP or hire as many IT specialists with varied backgrounds and expertise as an MSP. Let’s face it: They won’t mention the new standards unless you do.

IT

An MSP thrives or dives by their customers. If a client isn’t happy, an online review or verbal testimonial can damage an organization’s reputation. That’s why an MSP is committed to providing their clients superior customer service. A hundred live help desk and client care representatives are trained on the optimal protocols for various IT incidents and equipped with top-notch tools and IT specialists to efficiently resolve issues 24 hours a day. Basically, they close tickets like Yoda closes duels.

VS

Almost IT

The problem with hiring your friend’s small IT business to manage your company’s IT systems is the familiarity. The very thing that was supposed to make the business alliance easier is the very thing that makes it that much harder. Have you ever tried to tell your friend they’re overcharging you? Or they’re listening but not really hearing you? Or that their one customer service representative had you on hold for an hour on Friday and since they didn’t get to it then, you request the security breach be fixed over the weekend? But it is their cousin’s best friend’s baby’s 1st birthday party! Oh, and you’re invited. Don’t forget a gift!

IT

Who doesn’t love predictable spending for reliable budgeting? A fixed monthly fee ensures that your business will receive the utmost care and end user experience, all for a consistent sum, even if there is an incident like a downed server. That kind of cost savings is something to shout about.

VS

Almost IT

Unpredictable costs are no laughing matter. If a server goes down, your “almost” IT provider will charge your company for extra hours and maybe even overtime if they work outside the normal business hours. That bill will throw your budget for the month out the window. And that makes Leo snicker.

Now that you know the distinctions between IT and “Almost” IT: Who would you rather have maintaining your business’ IT infrastructure, supporting your employees’ IT needs, and securing your sensitive data?

As an award-winning MSP, NexusTek strives to help your business’ IT infrastructure and operations thrive, even if it is just enlightening you with IT-related memes. As a true IT provider, NexusTek’s 300 staff and 24-hour NOCs and SOCs can help your business step up its managed IT and cybersecurity game and balance its monthly budget, all while delivering a local and dedicated customer experience.

We welcome you to join NexusTek, a true IT provider that focuses on the customer experience.