Business & Technology

Many businesses have started charging high prices and offering mediocre or questionable services with little to no perks or incentives. In the world of IT, managed service providers have revolutionized how you can get high-quality, affordable IT.

Getting a great deal on IT services shouldn’t be a one-time transaction or only available to new customers at the time of sign-up. Besides flexibility and freedom to change or renew your IT services as needed, ThrottleNet has come up with several ways to make your IT services more affordable on an ongoing basis.

Getting a free month of IT services or actual cash back with ThrottleNet is as simple as just spreading the word about our services to your trusted network. It doesn’t end there: not only do we offer a no-risk, no-fuss 30 day trial period, we’ll actually pay for cancellations before the end of the trial period! Not only do ThrottleNet’s customers have nothing to lose by trying out our affordable IT services, but there’s also potential to gain!

Here are three ways that ThrottleNet makes outsourcing your IT services more affordable:

Referral Program for Affordable IT Services

Our approach to providing high-quality and affordable IT services revolves around trust. We want our services to be as accessible and flexible as possible so that you can get the options you need without worrying about being locked into expensive long-term contracts. With our referral program, we reward you for referring great clients to our affordable IT services.

Our referral program can make your IT services more affordable in two ways:
Managed network service plans can earn a free month or discounted month of service with a successful referral. It’s a win-win for everyone involved!
Successful workstation referrals can earn $1,000 for ten eligible workstations or $500 for successful referrals for fewer than ten workstations.

Either way, you’re making money just by spreading the word about the IT services you’re already using.

30 Days Commitment-Free and $1000 Guarantee

We give new meaning to the concept of satisfaction guaranteed. Not only will trying our IT services not cost you money, but we’ll actually PAY YOU $1,000 if you decide to leave before the end of the 30 day trial period. How’s that for an incentive? Why would we do this? For one, we understand that finding a new IT service provider is no small feat. It’s also not cheap in most cases.

In addition to making our IT services as flexible and affordable as possible, we’ll kick in an extra incentive to help you hedge your bets and throw in a little peace of mind to make the decision easier for your company.

No Contracts and No Onboarding Fees

Whether you’re with us for six months or five years, you’ll never be locked into a contract or oppressive terms of service. We offer month-to-month contracts, so you’re free to cancel at any time should your business needs or budget change. You’ll also save money on additional onboarding fees.

We don’t just want to offer you the best managed IT services at the best prices. We want you to profit from your investment with us! Contact ThrottleNet today to get started!

A virtual Chief Information Officer, or vCIO, is an experienced IT professional with deep knowledge and understanding of business technology and strategy. vCIOs advise their clients in many ways, from IT security to operations. The main job of a vCIO is to keep your business’s technology running smoothly and performing optimally. What is a vCIO and how can one help your business?

How a vCIO Can Help Your Business

Adding a vCIO to your team can give you a serious edge over the competition by supporting the growth of business in alignment with your IT goals.

Strategy

You’ll have access to their expertise when you need it most. Most vCIOs provide their services on-demand, meaning you can access their wealth of knowledge and experience when you need it instead of keeping a full-time vCIO in house.

They will help you build a robust and long-term technology strategy. Since vCIOs don’t have to focus the majority of their time trying to sell you more services or products, they are dedicated to the well-being of your organization. As such, they work to help build long-term business technology strategies that will align with your company’s unique goals and needs. vCIOs have a vested interest in the future success of the companies they work for, giving them every reason to help ensure a successful and smooth digital transformation.

Productivity

A vCIO will help boost employee productivity. When you count on the expertise of a vCIO, you don’t have to scramble to call every employee into your office when the network is down. You won’t waste time trying to track down that one employee who is more tech-savvy than the rest. Instead, you’ll simply alert the vCIO, who is a dedicated IT professional, and they will take care of it for you. This allows you and your employees to spend more time focusing on the daily operations of the business, which leads to a boost in productivity and focus.

Reduces Risk

Reducing your operational risk should be a high priority for your business. When in the wrong hands, your data is at risk of being stolen or compromised. A breach can cost your company its credibility as well as a large chunk of change. A system failure can leave your business unable to function properly, which will lead to substantial losses. When you work with a vCIO you are proactively reducing your risk by simply investing in an experienced professional.

Future Planning

In this day and age, technology is the foundation of most businesses. When things go wrong with technology, it can have severe impacts on your operations, both in the short and long term. Ensuring your infrastructure is protected and has space to grow is essential in today’s market. Working with a virtual Chief Information Officer is both a proactive and strategy-driven choice that protects your valuable assets while allowing you the time to discover new opportunities and improve on your daily operations and practice.

Watch our video explaining more about the role and importance of a vCIO. For more information and to find a managed IT provider, contact ThrottleNet today.

ThrottleNet is an all-inclusive outsourced managed IT service provider. We provide organizations with a full-time team of IT experts that combines advanced IT solutions to keep your network running smoothly and safely.

With emerging data security and privacy laws that are making impacts at the global scale (like GDPR and CCPA), many businesses are beginning to closely scrutinize their IT processes to make sure they’re in compliance. We’re willing to bet that your IT department has more on its plate than keeping up with the latest regulations, so we compiled a list of four common IT compliance mistakes your department is likely overlooking.

Avoiding Internal IT Compliance Audits

Your business has a long list of responsibilities and, on a day-to-day basis, checking for IT compliance mistakes probably isn’t at the top of your list. However, far too many companies make the mistake of waiting for a regulatory audit to come around before they take a close look at their policies and procedures. Doing so is sure to cost you.

If you wait until a regulatory audit happens, you’ve put it off for too long. You should work an internal audit into your schedule on a routine basis, ensuring that you’re aware of issues far in advance of any regulatory audit so you can work through things before they become a threat to your business. By conducting routine audits, you’ll be ready when a professional regulator makes observations or asks questions.

Failing to Analyze Business Events

Getting a complaint, laying off an employee, a missing document — individually, these seem like small, independent issues, yet looking at them all together may help you realize that they’re connected. As a business, it’s important that you analyze business events and work to connect the dots, recognizing when small events could reveal a bigger issue.

You can liken this process to looking for a fire when you see smoke, and it plays a big part in making sure you aren’t blindsided by issues when a regulatory officer comes along.

Using IT Compliance Policy Templates

These days, you can find a template for just about every document your business could ever need. For a startup, using one of these templates can feel like a huge time- and money-saver. However, in the long run, these templates are sure to cause problems. If your policies and procedures are based on a template rather than written under the guidance of an advisor (and legal professional), your business is setting itself up for issues.

Customized compliance policies are crucial, especially as your business grows. If you haven’t already consulted an advisor, pencil it into your schedule. Any template-based procedures or policies need to be closely scrutinized to ensure they actually work for your business. Moreover, all of your policies — custom-written or not — should be reviewed and updated regularly as needs change.

Ignoring The Impact on Business Value

If you have any plans for your company to be sold or acquired, you simply cannot overlook the connection between compliance problems and business value. While it may be forgotten during early negotiations, any due diligence process is sure to reveal compliance problems and they can have a far-reaching impact on the valuation of your business and your ability to sell it.

So, are you making any of these common mistakes? The right IT compliance services can help make sure you’re on the right track. ThrottleNet can ensure your business is in compliance with the latest standards, providing peace of mind and business security. Reach out to us today to learn more.

There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has dramatically altered our lives, both personal and vocational, especially the processes for how all and medium-sized businesses operate from day to day. The question of how the transition away from the office, and towards the new digital reality of remote working is an interesting one.

Some businesses have adapted quicker than others, but it has opened up a plethora of opportunities that won’t be subsiding just yet. We’re going to explore this issue in more depth to find out more about this matter that’s so vital to SMBs right now.

The Shift Towards Remote Working

The shift towards remote working has presented businesses with a range of challenges, but it’s a shift that can’t be overlooked. The pandemic has led to varying and ever-changing restrictions depending on location.

Many businesses have been forced to adopt remote working out of necessity, including businesses that have never adopted remote working as a company policy or an option for employees before now. Since the start of the pandemic, the percentage of people working from home has risen sharply to 42%.

What the Transition Means for Businesses

The pandemic is an example of a disruptive force for many, even most, businesses. The need to adapt means adopting new digital protocols that facilitate remote working, team collaboration over longer distances, and managing teams no longer stationed at the office. Each of these disruptions and challenges break down into a series of further challenges, each of which have had to be overcome in a short period of time with very little prior warning.

How Successfully Have SMBs Adapted?

Many businesses are adapting faster because they had already begun implementing remote work principles and resources earlier, and many are also now considering making it a long-term staple.

Deloitte found that businesses that are coping better tend to make use of cross-functional teaming in order to create faster responses to situations as they develop. They also found that a clear communication strategy from the top of the company was key in order for businesses to respond positively to the new situation.

Another example of how businesses have had to adapt comes from a study carried out by Visa. They found that SMBs are reporting taking fewer cash transactions as more and more customers switch to contactless card payments in response to the health and hygiene risks posed by COVID-19. This has forced more businesses to accept contactless card payments if they weren’t doing so already. And that’s a trend that won’t reverse anytime soon.

Essential Tips for SMBs Adapting to Remote Working and Going Digital

If your business is in the process of transitioning to remote working and going digital, there are some tips that should be on your radar. Find out more about them below.

Simplify Employee Communication

A simplified approach to employee communication is key. In order for your team to be able to collaborate across distances, it has become essential for them to be able to communicate digitally. Rather than leaving this for employees to organize among themselves, you need to put a structured plan in place, along with the right software, to facilitate fast, smooth and easy communication between staff members.

Scale Up Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is now more important and more useful to businesses of all kinds than ever before. Cloud computing makes it possible to share, edit and collaborate on documents in a team, even when the team is spread out across different locations. So it’s no surprise that so many businesses are now discovering its utility.

Work with a Managed IT Services Provider

Working with a good managed IT services provider is a good idea. Now more than ever, businesses are reliant on their IT systems as they attempt to collaborate remotely, many of them for the first time. Having a managed IT services provider ensures that things remain running smoothly at all times.

Implement High-Quality Tech Solutions

High-quality tech solutions are vitally important and certainly shouldn’t be ignored. If you don’t have the right hardware and software in place for both managers and employees to use from day to day, your new remote working arrangements simply won’t function in the way you need them to.

It’s clear that there are some businesses coping better than others with the transition away from the office and towards the new digital reality of remote working brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. If your SMB is still transitioning, the tips discussed above should help you get where you need to be faster.

Some Managed Networks Are Better Than Others

Your company needs technology to thrive, but you don’t have time to get into the technical weeds. Hiring a large IT team is costly, and managing one distracts you from focusing on your business. Trusting your IT services to a managed network provider can help you get the technology solutions you need while freeing up time and resources to focus on the big picture.

Some managed networks are better than others, though, so look for all of the following when selecting an IT company.

Dedicated IT Success Team

The simplest way to get the best managed network is by partnering with an IT company that realizes their success is tied to yours. When you find a true partner, you can lean on them to provide the most appropriate IT services for your specific needs. Look for things like the following from your dedicated success team:

Virtual Chief Information Officer (VCIO) who will meet with your internal team on a regular basis to discuss network performance, ongoing IT support, technology budgets, and more
Network engineer with experience supporting businesses like yours
Dedicated onsite support analyst to install new equipment, set up new users, and provide other IT services
Remote support technician to perform nightly backup checks and routine patches for your applications

IT Security Services

Your technology isn’t worth much if it isn’t secure. The cost of ransomware is high enough that it can seriously hurt a business. Make sure your managed network comes with an anti-virus and anti-malware solution. Real-time management, maintenance, and monitoring can go a long way toward protecting your business. Security is one of the most important parts of your technology plan because it can prevent data breaches, financial losses, and unplanned downtime.

Vendor Management

You shouldn’t have to juggle IT companies or spend time coordinating between different technology vendors. The right managed service provider can handle procurement and resolve issues with your other hardware, software, and service vendors without putting extra work on your plate. After all, outsourcing IT is supposed to make life easier for you, not harder.

Local Help Desk Support

Here at ThrottleNet, our award-winning customer service team is locally based right here in St. Louis. We offer unlimited remote support, and you can also opt for a plan that includes unlimited onsite support and project labor. No matter which type of plan you select, you’re only paying one fixed fee per month. That way there are no surprises that might otherwise blow up your IT budget. This ability to balance remote and onsite support is something you will only get from a local IT support team. Not every customer needs an onsite IT partner, but many feel more comfortable knowing we are nearby if needed.

A great managed network provider won’t just set up your technology, they’ll teach you how to use it. At ThrottleNet that means our team will conduct a thorough onboarding as we begin our partnership with your company. We’ll introduce ourselves to your entire staff, show them how to get support, and give them other training. Every one of your employees will learn about the best practices for avoiding common security risks and getting the most out of your managed network services. An effective managed network should tie everything together while making your other essential IT services easier to scale and customize.

How to Choose the Right Managed Network Service Provider for 2021

Here at ThrottleNet, we follow a three-phase approach to providing a managed network. This allows us to get to know you, assess your needs, then make customized recommendations to facilitate success. We’re regularly ranked among the best IT companies in St. Louis because we provide a level of hands-on attention that other IT service providers just don’t. Contact us today to find out what it’s like to have a more reliable technology partner.

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“Out of adversity comes opportunity.” - Benjamin Franklin

2020 brought an unexpected journey for just about every business. Companies and individuals all over the world saw everything get turned upside down in a hurry, and suddenly we couldn’t take anything for granted anymore. The importance of technology hasn’t been in question for quite some time, but reliable business IT became even more of a necessity in 2020. It’s hard to see so many local businesses in St. Louis struggling, but the silver lining is that we’ve become more resilient and more adaptable.

The things we learned this year will help us achieve business goals in the future, and the ability to learn from bad situations is what defines successful companies.

Here are four of the most important business technology lessons we learned this year.

Secure Remote Work Is Critical to Business Continuity

Allowing employees to work from home occasionally is not the same as having a truly remote workforce. Many companies were prepared for some contributors to work online but weren’t ready to manage full teams without any central workforce in the office. When employees are only out of the office one or two days each week, it’s also possible to wait to go back into the office to complete certain tasks. One of the biggest lessons from the past year is that secure remote access and remote desktop connections are absolutely necessary for most businesses.

Trust Is Key

Trust is important, and it needs to extend in every direction:

Managers need to trust that employees are working productively.
Employees need to trust that they’ll receive all of the support they need.
Customers need to trust that their data and transactions are secure and that their experience won’t be interrupted.

We have a lot of award-winning capabilities here at ThrottleNet, but we can’t build a trustworthy company culture

Security Is Essential

It’s easier to gain trust when you can provide a completely secure environment. Hackers don’t take breaks, and many opportunists actually tried to prey on businesses during their moments of confusion in 2020. As more and more companies in St. Louis prepare for prolonged periods of remote work, cybersecurity will become even more important. If you’re still concerned that there may be soft sports in your business technology, ask a local IT company to perform a vulnerability audit and identify weaknesses before hackers do.

Technology Can’t Solve All Your Problems

This may not be what you expect to hear from one of the most award-winning IT companies in St. Louis, but it’s the truth. Technology can’t solve all of your problems all by itself. Even the best MSPs can’t be all things to all businesses at all times. It’s important to focus on defining efficient processes and keeping the lines of communication open. To that end, make sure you’re working with a managed IT company that understands their role as a supporting partner for your business goals.

Better IT Services for 2021

The best IT support companies understand that their success depends on yours. Instead of offering you a cookie-cutter solution, our team at ThrottleNet will take the time to understand what your business really needs and how we can help. How did your technology fail you in 2020, and how can outsourced IT services get things back on track for 2021? Connect with us today to see how the right MSP can keep you focused on growing your business.