All the advantages of a dedicated IT team but for less
The cloud offers scalability, availability, storage capacity, and cost savings like never before. It has taken off the pressure from businesses to maintain data centers, skills, software and hardware, and outsourcing workloads and applications instead to providers who are better suited to handle security, compliance, and overall IT performance. Say hello to Managed ITaaS (IT-as-a-service).
ITaaS is not exclusively cloud based. It is often a hybrid of on-premises and remote IT management. Although the framework is generally applied to cloud environments, ITaaS is essentially about shifting IT operations toward managed services on an as-needed, pay-as-you-go basis.
On top of significant cost-savings from a traditional IT operations model, here are 5 more benefits UDT’s suite of managed services, that work together to optimize IT infrastructure performance:
1. Tech On-Demand
Staffing full-time employees on rotating shifts is neither practical nor desirable, both operationally and financially for many businesses. A large number of them have several offices, across several time zones, and operating on a 24×7 basis. Typically, staff members work from home, on the road or respond to emails outside of regular working hours. While operating hours are 9-5, having no e-mail for a weekend will pose a real issue for most businesses.
UDT’s Managed ITaaS serves as a client’s single point of contact for all incident, problem-management and request fulfillment. The Service Desk is perhaps the most critical component of an IT support agreement. It allows users to log technical faults, application queries or similar issues. For larger organizations with existing IT capabilities in-house, the service desk can handle your first-line calls, or act as a second-line escalation point for more advanced queries.
For a predictable per-user monthly subscription charge, the Service Desk delivers 24×7 support and maintenance, software licensing, and the latest security control, either from your office, data center or cloud environment. If required, it can also include DaaS (Device as a Service) where your servers, desktops and laptops are included as part of the subscription.
2. IT Operations Simplified
When a business doesn’t have the time, bandwidth, and scale needed to manage, support, and secure an entire fleet of EndPoints. UDT is able to provide an end-to-end solution for lifecycle management delivered as a service with a flexible, scalable, and predictable consumption model. Spend only on what you need to achieve your organization’s IT goals.
UDT’s data-driven operations help organizations refine their strategy and put it to use through advanced analytics and BI. With data-based insight, business leaders can make informed and sustainable IT budgetary decisions.
As more companies migrate operations to the cloud, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage complex public and private digital environments. 24/7 remote monitoring, antivirus software, patch management, backup and disaster recovery management can overwhelm an already stretched-thin IT staffing and resources.
Together with an ITaaS provider, companies can discuss where capacity concerns are the greatest, then shift those workloads or services to a consumption-based model. This simplifies IT management, while freeing personnel from time-consuming routines.
3. Full-Service Monitoring and Maintenance
It’s a given that there’s an ongoing IT skills shortage. However, it’s quickly becoming a business risk factor. ITaaS providers have industry expertise and technical knowledge to support IT organizations where need is greatest — such as time-consuming software updates and patching.
UDT handles all hardware components, systems availability, software counters and systems events.
The NOC (network operations centre) receives and responds to alerts generating by your infrastructure, including security events. These events could be informational (i.e. regular), warnings (i.e. thresholds have been exceeded) or exceptions (i.e. abnormal behavior). Capturing all of these events and then undertaking event correlation may uncover faults that otherwise would have been difficult to diagnose.
Patch Management
The security element is the most important and often overlooked. In fact, according to the annual Verizon data breach report, more than 70% of all cyber-attacks exploit known vulnerabilities, with many dating back to 1999! Maintaining up to date systems is essential for keeping your operations reliable and secure. With a pro-active patch schedule, your business can gain access to the latest features, performance enhancements and security fixes.
A coordinated patch schedule ensures your systems are less vulnerable to exploitation and attack – which significantly reduces your exposure to cybersecurity incidents. The first step in any pro-active patch regime is to assess your current environment. What systems do you have? What are their current patch levels? What is the impact of an upgrade?
Pro-Active Monitoring
Pro-active monitoring aims to identify the symptoms or indications of a fault or issue before it develops into something that could cause a business impact. Monitoring platforms will track utilization, health metrics and undertake trend analysis. This monitoring will significantly improve overtime, and in the event a potential fault is identified, it will substantially lower MTTR (mean time to repair).
Performance and SLA monitoring
An ITaaS contract, underpinned by a Service Level Agreement (SLA), will lay out the response times and other metrics relating to the monitoring service. The parameters contained within the SLA should align with the demands of your business. Does your business require an immediate 1-hour response? Or can it wait for 4 hours? The components of an SLA typically include response times, prioritization of faults and time to fix. You also need to validate that the scope of the SLA matches your expectations. Does it include user faults? Third-party systems? Vendor management? The ITaaS provider will generally offer several SLA plans that vary in cover and also in application.
4. Expert Advisory
To get ahead of cyberattacks, many companies are looking to build an in-house cybersecurity team. However, not every business owner can afford the necessary resources to get this team up and running. Finding and hiring a full-time Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) with the necessary experience can be challenging for organizations of any size. The right resource is critical to an organization’s security resilience and ensuring the organization maintains regulatory compliance.
UDT (UDT) offers a unique service to the cybersecurity field: Chief Information Security Officer as a Service (CISOaaS). This service provides a client with the necessary expertise to navigate the changing cybersecurity landscape without needing to hire an entire team.
What are some the benefits of CISOaaS?
- No need to hire someone full time
- Leverage expertise from a pool of former CISOs
- Provide oversight and management of day-to-day activities
- Provide insight on reporting and cyber events
- Fill gaps in key strategic security componentsThis dedicated team of technology professionals advises clients on the specific solutions that will help them reach their goals.
5. Advanced Security
Fact: around 90% of breaches happen at EndPoints. Without a proper EndPoint Protection strategy in place, securing a fleet of devices can become complex and overwhelming. Besides the risk of data being compromised through unwanted access on an unsecured device, there’s the issue of configuration compliance necessary to fulfill industry security standards and legal requirements.
Protection against malware and cybersecurity threats are an integral part of UDT’s Managed ITaaS solution. This means that besides supporting your IT infrastructure; UDT also safeguards your systems, network and end-users from security threats. Your infrastructure is protected by managed firewalls, endpoint protection, 2FA and web filtering. Information security is also incorporated into the very fabric of our ITaaS solution.
Service Bundles
UDT offers custom Manged ITaaS service bundles that make the most sense for your organization.
The following is an example FINTECH – UDT’s Managed IT-as-a-Service portfolio for the finance sector designed to protect the infrastructure, networks, data and users against sophisticated threats while ensuring compliance with regulations such as GLBA/FFIEC, SOX, PCI DSS and FTC Red Flags Rule.
ESSENTIALS
- 24x7x365 Log Collection, Analysis and Archiving
- Network Device Security as a Service
- Managed Threat Detection
- OpenDNS
- Quarterly UDTSecure RiskIntel Scans
- Customer Portal Access
- Online Self-Assessment Tool
- Information Security Policy Template
- Security Awareness Training Materials
PREMIUM ADD-ONS:
- Device Management (Moves, Adds, Changes, Deletion Requests)
- Managed Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
- Managed Advanced Anti-Virus (AV)
- Managed File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
- Managed Web Content Filtering
- Managed e-Mail Security
For Businesses Of All Sizes
For rapidly growing businesses, ITaaS ensures your IT capabilities will increase to support your expansion. This scalability, along with 24×7 support and access to an expert technical team, will contribute towards your growth. There will be no unexpected, expensive purchases or requirements for IT staff – this is all covered in the IT Service Level Agreement (SLA).
For established businesses that heavily rely on IT for their business operations, ITaaS offers a dependable, cost-effective IT service model with the highest levels of support and service.
If you already have your own IT department, you can maximize this resource with an external ITaaS provider. ITaaS could handle the server and core infrastructure, leaving the desktop and end-user support to your existing IT function or vice versa.
