Going on holiday, or just out of the office?

This step by step guide will help you to easily set up an automated email reply.

Step 1) Click on the File Tab

Step 2) Click Automatic replies

Step 3) Click “Send automatic replies”

Step 4) Click “Only send during this time range:”

Step 5) Click here

Step 6) Click on the date required

Step 7) Click here

Step 8)  Select the time you want the out of office message to start

Step 9) Click here

Step 10) Click the end date

Step 11) Click here

Step 12) Select the time you want the out of office message to end

Step 13) Type your message under the “Auto-reply message for people inside my organization” tab

Step 14) Click “Outside My Organization (On)”

Step 15) Type the message you want those outside your organisation to receive “Auto-reply message for people outside my organization” or copy from the previous message.

Step 16) Click “OK”

If you have any further queries about how to set this up, please feel free to reach out and contact our friendly team at Ultra IT here.

Microsoft Loop is described as a co-creation experience that brings together teams, content, and tasks across your tools and devices. It is essentially a virtual workspace where teams can collaborate on projects, share documents and ideas, and keep track of tasks and deadlines.

It’s made up of three key parts which are Loop components, Loop pages, and Loop workspaces.

Loop components are portable pieces of content that stay in sync across all of the places they have been shared regardless of where they are being updated. So, you can think of Loop components as being building blocks of content, so things like tables, lists, and paragraphs. When you create a Loop component such as a table, you can share that in Microsoft Teams, Outlook, or Word, and regardless of which application your colleagues update that table in it is going to remain in sync across all places. The idea with Loop components is that Loop is not another tool you have to learn but rather is providing a platform for people to use whichever Microsoft collaboration tool they prefer to work with, without sacrificing productivity that is impacted by having to switch between multiple applications or dealing with content that is out of sync.

Loop pages are flexible canvases where you can organise the components and pull in information such as links, files, or data.

Loop workspaces group together the Loop pages so you can have all relevant content to a particular project or purpose in a central workspace.

The Loop app is now available in public preview and is where you can access all these three parts of Microsoft Loop. The Loop app is going to help you organise everything that’s needed for particular projects into a single workspace. Before the Microsoft Loop app was available, Loop components would all be stored in your OneDrive but in different folders depending on the application that was used to create the Loop component. With the Loop app, this is now going to be centrally available in one place. It also helps you find content that’s relevant to the project you’re creating the workspace for. When you create a new workspace in Loop and give it a title, you can add keywords and based on those keywords it’s going to suggest content and documents that could be relevant for you to include in the workspace.

Collaboration

You can collaborate with others by either sharing an entire workspace (which will include all the Loop pages and Loop components), or you can choose to share individual pages or Loop components. For example, you might be working on a Loop page with just a few people but you might want input or feedback from a wider group on a particular table in the Loop page. In this scenario, you can just share a component, so you can just share the table or the task list they can update it will sync to your Loop page if you make changes in the Loop app it’s going to sync to the table that they have in their Teams, Outlook, or Word so you can collaborate on that specific piece of content without needing to share your entire page or your workspace.

There is a presence indicator in Loop, much like in the other M365 apps, so you can see if your colleagues are also actively working on a Loop page or component.

Versioning is also available in Loops, so if somebody messes up your content or makes changes you don’t like, you can easily revert to previous versions.

Templates

Currently, there are 10 templates that you can use when you create a new Loop page which include project planning templates, meeting notes, issue trackers, product wikis, etc with pre-designed layouts and components to get you started.

If you’re starting with a blank page and you can type a forward slash which will bring up a list of all the components you can add to your page such as a table, a bullet point list, an image, etc.

Copilot in Loop

Copilot will be coming to Microsoft Loop, so we are then starting with a blank page you can use Copilot to spark inspiration to get you started. There will be four options, Create, Brainstorm, Blueprint, and Describe, and Copilot will generate content based on what you ask it to create. One of the cool features of this is that you can continue to work with Copilot on the content even after it’s generated the initial text, so for example, you could use Copilot to generate a paragraph, and if your colleague who you are collaborating with has ideas for improvements, such as making the content more concise, then could ask Copilot to make the changes and continue to work with it.

Multi-Geo

Multi-Geo enables customers to expand their Microsoft 365 presence to multiple regions or countries within an existing Microsoft 365 tenant while meeting data residency requirements. The SKU allows a customer to relocate a user’s data to a specific regional datacenter (known as a satellite geography location). Per General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements, the user’s data isn’t copied in the original geo the user was in. The relocated user data is limited to a user’s mailbox, OneDrive, and Teams chat data.

• M365 Multi-Geo add-on SKU for CSP will be available June 1st, 2023
• 1 year commit, 3 year commit, and 1 month trial available
• These are user-level add-on licenses. Partners will need a subscription license for each user to be hosted in a customer’s Satellite Geography location in their Microsoft 365 tenant
• Customers must purchase enough add-on licenses to cover at least 5% of the customers total number of eligible seats
  • A: 200x M365 E3 seats – must purchase at least 10 multi-geo seats
  • B: 1000x M365 E3 seats – must purchase at least 50 multi-geo seats. Alt. if they only wanted 25 multi-geo seats they could set up a separate tenant for the e3 subscription with <500 users to meet the 5% requirement.

Price Alignment

Microsoft is implementing a defined cadence to its existing process of aligning Microsoft Cloud pricing globally to US dollar levels and OnPrem pricing across regions. This is to ensure customers across different geographies and currencies will have consistent pricing. Price alignment will happen at semi-annual intervals, every September and February starting September 1^st, 2023.

• Microsoft will adjust pricing resulting from local currency fluctuations to align with global US dollar pricing.
• Pricing may be raised or lowered to align with global USD pricing.
• Not all local currencies will be impacted in each semi-annual cycle.
• Local currency fluctuations will be observed between adjustment periods.
• Impacted currencies will be announced up to 60 days ahead of the price change effective date.
• Notification to partners and customers of price list changes will follow our typical process and timeline with 30 day price list preview where required.
• Percentage changes will be announced on Partner Center up to 60 days ahead of the new price effective date.
• Azure subscribers will receive a price change e-mail notification approximately 30 days ahead of the price change.

If you would like any more information on Microsoft Loop please do not hesitate to contact us here.

Employee effectiveness is key to business success. When your people can do the right things well, you’ll see improved results. That leads to the question: How can businesses improve employee effectiveness? A managed service provider (MSP) can help your employees meet their goals effectively and efficiently.

Supporting employee effectiveness

To perform effectively, your employees first need a couple of things from you. It’s up to your business to provide the tools your people need to get their jobs done right, and that’s where an MSP can help.

The MSP’s role in employee effectiveness

Set your employees up for greater effectiveness from day one. This starts with provisioning your staff with the right technology to do their work. Whether your teams are on-site, remote, or in a hybrid of both, you’ll typically need to provide IT devices.

An MSP can track your IT inventory to know what’s needed. They can also meet with new hires to set them up online (on- or off-premises). Their experts can walk employees through the remote-working tools to support effective communication and collaboration from day one. The MSP may also provide remote monitoring services, which can secure personal devices your employees use for their work.

Many businesses today have moved to the cloud. This can be a change for some people. With an MSP, you can offer the flexibility of cloud computing as a low-friction experience for your users. The MSP’s experts can secure your cloud environment, plus, they can manage vendors and track licensing. They can also take charge of software and hardware updates, keeping you secure while scheduling patches and upgrades to maximize uptime.

Having ready access to the MSP’s IT expertise can also simplify troubleshooting. Free up your own technology experts to focus on more value-add business initiatives. Meanwhile, the MSP’s people can provide support for employee tech issues at any time of the day. Reducing tech disruptions not only enhances effectiveness but also boosts employee satisfaction, especially when the employee can count on a single point of contact for their IT concerns. Enjoy working with someone who already knows your business systems and processes.

Finally, the MSP can work to protect your business from unexpected downtime. If the worst does happen, you know you already have someone on your team to get you back up and running sooner. MSPs can also help you create a disaster recovery plan and ensure you have data backups in place.

Make an MSP your IT Partner

The right technology can improve employee effectiveness. The best business tools also boost employee satisfaction, which can counter costly turnover.

Don’t risk the inefficiency that comes with unhappy and unmotivated team members. Empower your employees for success by partnering with our IT experts today. Contact us here

The advent of modern data has offered many advantages, yet all that data also presents a formidable challenge: data sprawl. When you lose control of your data, you risk compromising productivity, security, and compliance. This article shares strategies to help you address the thorny issue of data sprawl.

What does data sprawl look like?

You’re probably dealing with data sprawl if any of the following sound familiar:

• Your business loses track of crucial files.
• You don’t know who has access to what information.
• Employees use both personal and business tech to do work.
• People repeat work that’s already done.
• You can’t keep track of file revisions or who still needs to comment or edit.
• Employees leave necessary files at home on days when they work in the office.
• People send themselves emails with important files to ensure remote access.
• Various departments use different applications, which siloes data.

These examples capture what it’s like to try and work amidst data sprawl. These issues drain productivity and waste resources. Data sprawl can also leave you open to cybersecurity vulnerabilities and compliance concerns. After all, you can’t back up or recover data you don’t know exists in the first place.

Instilling a sense of order in your data

Regain visibility to control support, streamline processes, enhance security, and improve efficiency. The following strategies can help.

#1 Audit your data

Start tackling your data sprawl situation by mapping out your existing data landscape. Thoroughly assess your data sources, storage locations, and data repositories. Once you have an idea of where your data is:

• Categorize it by importance, frequency of use, and/or sensitivity.
• Identify and clean up redundant or obsolete data.
• Create a data catalog to improve visibility.
• Install access controls and permissions.
• Encrypt sensitive data.
• Establish clear data-governance policies.
• Train employees on data management best practices.

#2 Use cloud storage

Employees now work on-site, at home, and in other remote locations, or perhaps all three, which often causes data sprawl. A staffer might use their desktop computer in your office but their personal laptop at home. Even if everyone works in the same place, they might use desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Migrating to the cloud provides access to centralized storage. Avoid version-control concerns with everyone accessing the same data, no matter where they are. You can also ensure data is securely backed up, no matter the user’s device.

#3 Install cloud applications

Another way to keep employees on the same page is to give everyone access to the same business tools. For instance, Microsoft Office or Google Workspace can simplify communication and collaboration, especially in a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) workplace. Cloud-based tools can create cohesion, as everyone logs into the same software to get their jobs done.

#4 Prioritize data control

In a data sprawl situation, it’s easy to lose track of where data lives and who has access to it. Then, when you move on to that next project, you might leave that old data unattended. If it’s breached, you might not even know.

Instead, track and log data to understand what’s where and who can get at it. When a project is over, have a policy in place for properly archiving or deleting data that is no longer needed.

Create a more structured and organized data environment

Is data overwhelming your business? Our IT experts can help. Contact us here to support your data management strategies. We’ll get to know your systems and provide strategies to effectively combat data sprawl. 

This month, our new high level Cyber Security provided by Huntress detected a log in for one of our local clients from Kenya with multiple attempts made to login. Immediately the login was disabled and the hacker was stopped in their tracks.

Here we share snippets from a real life example of the report that we receive on a monthly basis that provide us with an overview of the security work that goes on behind the scenes. This gives you an insight in to the in depth analysis and monitoring that goes on continuously.

You can read our recent article about the change to Huntress Cyber Security here.

Overall Security Summary

During just one month, our cybersecurity platform analyzed 397,588 changes to the computer systems on our network in order to detect malicious activity.

Cyber Threat Hunters reviewed 331 potential threat indicators that were previously unknown or suspicious. In-depth investigations were conducted as needed and 2 cyber incident reports were created and responded to by our security team. This defense strategy continues to reduce our clients cyberattack risk, maximize security, and minimize downtime and damage to your businesses

Looking at this, you can see that 331 potential threats were identified and two incidents were reported This means that the system is automatically flagging anything that looks even slightly out of the ordinary.

What is a persistent foothold?

Whilst this may sound more like something you should see the podiatrist about, Persistent Footholds are mechanisms attackers use to gain long-term access to a network by exploiting common auto-starting applications (autoruns), such as Skype or Google Updater.

By abusing and masquerading as legitimate system components, attackers can slip by other security tools, remaining undetected while planning their next move!!! Scary stuff.

During this month alone, our cybersecurity platform analyzed 397,588 changes to your systems in order to uncover persistent footholds that, if not remediated quickly, become malicious threats to your business. Cyber Threat Hunters (who are real people) manually reviewed 84 autoruns that were previously unknown or suspicious. As a result, our security team identified no persistent footholds on your computer systems. Phew!

Ransomware Canaries

Like the old canary in the coal mine, Ransomware Canaries enable faster and earlier detection of potential ransomware incidents. When deployed, small lightweight files are placed on all protected endpoints—and if those files are modified or changed in any way, an investigation is conducted.

What is Managed Antivirus?

Managed antivirus helps your security team proactively scan and enforce policy settings on your organization’s devices ensuring they are protected against the latest cyber threats. By aggregating antivirus findings into a single-pane of glass, your security team uses MAV to filter out noise and focus on the threats that are not mitigated by Antivirus alone.

During this timeframe, your Managed Antivirus (MAV) Service identified 42 suspicious detections, and automatically blocked 79 pieces of malware or potentially unwanted programs on Windows endpoints. Of the detections, 42 were auto-remediated by MAV and 0 required investigations by the team of cyber threat hunters.

What is MDR for Microsoft 365?

As a widespread and integral productivity suite, Microsoft 365 is a high profile target. MDR for Microsoft 365 monitors for suspicious and malicious behaviors that indicate compromise.

When a potential threat actor is detected in a Microsoft 365 service, a human reviews the activity, a remediation plan is established, and an alert is delivered through your Managed Security Platform.

During this report’s timeframe, MDR for Microsoft 365 analyzed the output of 189,010 events from your Microsoft 365 users and environment. The analysis revealed 4 events detected as potential threats that were manually reviewed by Cyber Threat Hunters. The review resulted in 4 in-depth investigations by our Cyber Threat Hunters. As a result, your security team identified and reported 3 malicious events among our tenants and took the necessary steps to secure our tenants.

In Summary

A cyber incident that is identified and remediated in a timely manner can save your company thousands if not millions of dollars depending on the size of your organization and the value of your data.

The best thing about all of this, is that you don’t need to do anything. Just sit back and know that we are taking care of everything in the background. Whilst no Cyber Security system is foolproof, this gives you an idea of how much monitoring is taking place on a 24/7 basis.

To discuss your individual requirements or to find out about the advantages of being on a Managed Service Plan and receiving this level of monitoring contact us here.

You can’t just swipe right or left when looking for a managed service provider match. Identifying the IT partner that will be best for your business takes time. This guide shares 14 questions you can ask potential MSP partners to find the right fit. These include:

• What are your areas of expertise?
• What kind of response time can we expect for critical services?
• How will you reduce our costs?
• What training will you offer our employees?
• What is outside of the scope of our engagement?
• What business continuity/disaster recovery do you have in place?
• What kind of pricing plans do you offer?

Here we explore each of these question in more depth:

How long have you been in business?

This is not to say that a new company can’t be a good one, but there is something to say for experience. Knowing they work with businesses like yours or on similar systems boosts credibility.

Also, you might ask how many people are on their staff. A small shop can do the job, but if you expect to have heavy needs, you don’t want to worry that the one person you work with will get ill. Then, you’d need to train up a brand-new backup person.

What are your area’s of expertise?

Most MSPs will share certain skills. Still, find out what specific competencies a particular MSP offers. They may have certifications related to healthcare cybersecurity or focus on financial services. If certain things are important to you, you’ll need a provider with the tools to address that.

As a follow-up, it can also help to ask how their IT experts remain current with the latest technology. After all, this is a rapidly evolving environment, and you don’t want a partner whose people are content with what they learned six years ago. You need support that stays up to date and can keep your infrastructure current, too.

How will you provide I.T support?

A typical MSP delivers ongoing network, application, infrastructure, and security services. They may do this via remote administration, on your premises, or through a hybrid of both. They may have their own data center, or they could be relying on a third-party data center.

You might partner with an MSP that provides technical support with a break-fix focus, or align with an MSP that helps you avoid issues with consistent maintenance, security, monitoring, reporting, and more.

What kind of response time can we expect?

Every moment you are down can be costly to your business. Downtime can damage employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty. You’ll want to get an idea from each MSP of what kind of critical service response time to expect.

What will you do to improve our processes?

Partnering with an MSP is more than setting up a relationship with a break-fix repair shop. A good MSP will get to know your business and find ways to help your people do their daily work better. They may also work to anticipate short- and long-term needs, and to secure your business to avoid unexpected downtime. You may even partner with an MSP that wants to help you build an IT business strategy.

How will you reduce our costs?

The answer to this can depend on how much you want to turn over to the MSP. For instance, you might decide to let them take over your IT help desk. Or you’ll have them take on your full system maintenance and security monitoring. These could lead to cost savings.

Ultimately, you want the cost of an MSP contract to be offset by the return on investment you get.

What training will you offer our employees?

Your people are going to be hands-on with the technology every day. You don’t want to partner with an MSP that suggests new software and hardware and then leaves you to learn it on your own.

You may want an MSP partner that provides recommendations and trains your employees. This can help ease the deployment of new tools and reduce friction when you make changes.

What will you handle?

This is your business tech, so you’ll want to be clear about what services the MSP will handle in-house. They may contract with other vendors for some services, whereas other things they may automate. You want to know what areas are which.

Keep in mind that an MSP outsourcing some services isn’t always a bad thing. Automation isn’t terrible either: both can free IT experts to focus on essential tasks and ensure you get the best quality of services.

What is outside the scope of service?

Especially when you are paying a flat rate, you’ll need to know what they will and won’t do for you. It’s helpful to get all the services they do provide listed out in the service-level agreement. You can see who handles things such as network monitoring, server upgrades, software patching, hardware installation, and more.

Some services may be available to you also as an add-on. You’ll need to know what you need to effectively evaluate these terms in the agreement.

Additionally, there may be contractors dealing with your critical data, so you’ll want to know what security measures are in place.

What business continuity plan do you have?

They should speak to you about data backup, business continuity, and disaster recovery. Yet this question targets what they are doing themselves. They should have plans to ensure consistent services in the event of issues.

You don’t want your MSP to go down for an extended period because of a breach or natural disaster. They won’t be able to help you recover if they’re struggling to get back online themselves.

What kind of pricing plans do you offer?

Just as there are many MSPs available, you’ll encounter different pricing models. You might pay a flat-fee, all-inclusive rate. Other options include a custom plan, where you pick services à la carte, or you might have to select from certain minimum blocks of service.

Your business may be able to fit into a pre-existing box for what a particular MSP offers. Or you might need a partner who can be flexible to meet your specific needs.

What do you include in the pricing?

Once you know how the company bills, also ask what that bill includes. Get an itemized list of what’s included in your all-inclusive plan or whichever type of model you select. This can vary across providers.

How often will the contract renew

Many MSPs offer contracts on one- or three-year terms. A longer contract can be more cost-effective, but it also means you’ll be stuck with that MSP longer if you’re unhappy. Be sure to negotiate a cause-for-termination clause in the three-year contract if you take that route.

Most MSPs will want to auto-renew. Schedule a calendar reminder to review your MSP services halfway through your contract. That way, you’ll have time to find a new provider if that’s what you decide you want to do.

Can you provide referrals?

There’s a reason word of mouth means so much to potential buyers. An MSP can tell you whatever it wants, but an actual customer is more likely to provide a true picture. Talking to current partners allows you to learn more about how the MSP delivers its services and whether it keeps its promises. If the MSP can’t provide references or provides contacts for customers that are impossible to reach, that’s not a good sign. Yes, it adds a step to your buying process, but getting that business to talk about their firsthand experience with the MSP could provide essential insights.

Knowing the right questions to ask is a great starting point. As an MSP, we’d be happy to discuss all these issues with you and more. Reach out to our experts today to see if we are the right fit for your business IT needs. Reach out to our friendly team here at Ultra IT to ask these questions specifically of us.

Microsoft Bookings is a scheduling tool that allows businesses to manage and accept appointments from customers. It helps customers to schedule appointments, and businesses to manage their schedules, manage appointments and communicate with customers.

In July last year, Microsoft released a new capability called “ Microsoft Bookings with Me”, a personal scheduling app that helps individuals to schedule appointments and manage their schedules. 

So what is the difference ?

The difference between Microsoft Bookings and Microsoft Bookings with Me is that Microsoft Bookings is meant for businesses or teams, while Microsoft Bookings with Me is for individual users who want to manage their appointments and schedule meetings efficiently. 

What are the advantages of Microsoft Bookings with me?

• Enables users to eliminate the back-and-forth scheduling by providing users with their own bookings page that is integrated with their Outlook calendar, so customers can choose a meeting or appointment time that suits them based on the person’s availability.  
• Provides customers a platform to schedule their own meetings or appointments with staff, streamlining the scheduling process and saving time for both parties. 
• As the owner of the Bookings calendar, you have complete control over the scheduling options, such as what hours you make available, and how much lead time you require for new appointments. 
• It’s integrated with your Outlook calendar so your busy times will not be available on your Bookings page to avoid double bookings. 

Bookings with me is available in all the following subscriptions:

• Office 365: A3, A5, E1, E3, E5, F1, F3
• Microsoft 365: A3, A5, E1, E3, E5, F1, F3, Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium

How to set up Microsoft bookings with me?

Set up your Bookings page

1. Go to https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/ 

2. At the top of the page, you will see your name. Under that there is a progress bar, which says ‘Get started by creating your first meeting type’. 
3. You can create public or private meetings.

Public meetings can be viewed and scheduled by anyone that has your Bookings with me page link. You are in control of who you share that link with. All public meeting types will be visible to anyone that has your Bookings with me page link.

Private meetings can only be viewed by people who have the link for that meeting type. The difference between public meetings and private meetings is private meetings can have different links and the links expire after 90 days. You can also set private links to expire after a one-time booking. When accessing the scheduling view for a private meeting, only that meeting type will be visible.

4. Create a meeting type by clicking the ‘+’ next to the public or private option.

5. Enter the following details for the meeting:
   1. Title
   2. Description
   3. Location (or set it as a Teams meeting)
   4. Duration
   5. Privacy (public or private meeting)
   6. Meeting hours (regular or custom)
      1. Regular – this uses your outlook calendar meeting hours. You can view your meeting hours here:  https://outlook.office.com/mail/options/calendar/view
      2. Custom – set custom hours for the meeting. For example, you might work from 8:30am-5:30pm, but only want clients to be able to book meetings between 9:00am-5:00pm.
   7. In the advanced options, you can configure the following settings
      1. Buffer time before meeting (I recommend adding buffer time for onsite meetings to cover travel)
      2. Buffer time after meeting 
      3. Limit start time to (15min intervals, 30 min intervals etc)
      4. Minimum lead time (set this to how much notice you want before a meeting can be scheduled)
      5. Maximum lead time

6. When done click ‘Save’. 
7. Add any other meetings you want to add

Note: When you first set up Bookings with me, it may take some processing time to complete the creation of your bookings page. The share button will be greyed out until the creation is completed. When the progress bar is fully coloured (below), or the progress bar has disappeared, the Share button with be enabled and you can starting use the bookings calendar.

Share your bookings calendar 

When you click on the ‘Share’ button, there is 3 options: 

Copy link: Copies the link to your clipboard, you can paste the link in a Teams message, email etc

Share via email: A ‘Share via email’ window will pop up. Enter the client’s email address and a message and click ‘Send’

The email they receive will look like this: 

Add to email signature:

You will need to create a new email signature. Tick the ‘Include a link to my bookings page in my signature’ and the ‘Book time to meet with me’ link will automatically be added to the signature.

Attendee View

The attendee view is what your clients will see when you share your bookings page with them. They can select the meeting type, date and time that suits them. 

When they select a time and click Next, they will be prompted to enter their name and email address and any additional notes about why they are booking the meeting. If they are already signed in with their Microsoft work account, their name and email address will be auto filled for them. 

If they are not already signed in, when they open the bookings page, they will be prompted to either sign in with their Microsoft Work or School account or continue as a guest.

 If they choose to continue as a guest, they will need to enter their name and email address and select ‘Email verification code’. 

A verification code will be sent to them via email. If they cannot see the email, make sure to check the junk folder (it went to junk for me). 

Once the verification is complete, the meeting will be booked, and the client will receive a confirmation email with the calendar appointment.

In Summary

If you require any further assistance with this, please feel free to reach out to one of our friendly team at Ultra IT. 

Cyber Security is one of the key focuses for all of our clients businesses.

Sometimes it may seem like there’s some new malware or data leak or hacker exploit revelation on the daily, making you feel like you always have to be doing more about cybersecurity to remain protected.

Meanwhile, you want to balance security measures with usability, convenience, and cost. That balancing act puts you somewhere on the sliding scale of security.

Usability and convenience anchor this sliding scale at one end, while security sits at the other. You have to find the right balance to create effective and user-friendly solutions.

Tipping the Scale of Security

Of course, you can maximize protection by being highly restrictive. This might include multi-factor authentication, strict access controls, and encryption with long and complex keys. Still, these measures can slow down workflows. They make it more challenging for users to access the resources they need. We wrote an article recently on some of the basics of security here.

On the other end of the scale, you might focus on ease of use and convenience. You have lower-level security measures that are less restrictive. This could mean fewer access controls or simpler authentication. These measures make it easier to perform tasks and access resources, but they may also expose systems to unauthorized access and data breaches.

The key is finding the right level of security, which is specific to each particular system, application, or situation.

Calibrating Your Security Balance

As your managed service provider (MSP), Ultra IT can help balance security needs and maintain usability. We take into account factors such as:

• the sensitivity of the data;
• the potential impact of a breach;
• user experience;
• regulatory requirements.

We also consider your specific needs and contexts. For example, a medical facility may want to be more security conscious. As technology evolves and threats change, your business also needs to adapt. Again, your security needs are specific to you and your business, and we can help you with this.

Levers on the Security Scale

IT experts have several ways they can help you reach your security-scale sweet spot. They can provide balance when they:

• install anti-spam and antivirus tools to operate in the background;
• determine and control who has access to what resources and under what conditions;
• set up password managers to help users keep track of unique, complex passwords;
• adjust the strength and type of encryption used for data at rest and data in transit;
• use monitoring and logging mechanisms to detect and promptly respond to security incidents;
• update and patch software while remaining sensitive to system uptime and compatibility;
• secure remote access with virtual private networks (VPNs) or install other endpoint protection;
• set policies for data retention and data backup;
• develop plans for responding to security incidents and breaches.

Let Ultra IT help

Your business should continually revisit its security and usability trade-offs. The right balance considers system requirements, potential risks, and usability needs. Cyber Security is always evolving, and at Ultra IT we have recently upgraded our security which you can read more about in this recent article.

Partner with us for the regular assessments and adjustments you need. We can help you maintain an optimal position on the security scale as technology and threats evolve.  Contact us here to discuss your specific requirements.