What do your support contracts cover?
We provide support on anything that you would expect to see on a typical network. Specific areas that we cover include servers, workstations, operating systems and applications, printers, routers, switches, hubs, network infrastructure, Internet connections, firewalls… basically if anything goes wrong on your network, we would be your first point of contact.

Do you provide hardware maintenance?
No. If we investigate a problem that turns out to be caused by faulty hardware, we will try and secure replacement parts and install them for you. Most companies these days buy hardware with 3-year warranties, so it’s already covered. After this period, replacing parts as needed is a lot more cost effective .

How do you charge for network support?
We charge a basic quarterly fee which entitles you to an unlimited amount of telephone and remote diagnostic support. We also supply a Managed Service which is a regular scheduled visit to your site for pro-active maintenance, and is cheaper than our standard rates. If you need more support than your contract provides, we are happy to provide it for an additional hourly charge.

How do you respond to problems?
We set up remote links to all of our customers’ sites using a VPN. This allows us to take control of servers and other critical network components within seconds, so that we can respond to problems immediately. A lot of problems can be fixed within minutes, but if we cannot resolve a problem remotely we will go onsite. We aim to be onsite within 4 hours of identifying a problem that cannot be fixed remotely, but it’s usually a lot quicker than that.

What’s different about you?
No grey areas, no finger-pointing, and a pragmatic approach to problem-solving. We see many customers who have been suffering with some sort of problem for months because the hardware supplier says it's a software problem, and the software vendor says it's a hardware problem. We don't operate like that. In most cases our customers don't especially care where the problem lies; they just need it fixed. We take ownership of problems, and do everything in our power to get the result that you need.

Why should I be concerned about security?

 Any organisation that uses email or has a connection to the Internet is at risk. There are hundreds of thousands of viruses, worms and Trojan Horses circulating around the Internet, many of which will destroy data and even cause permanent damage to servers and workstations. As well as losing data, IT systems that are infected with viruses or worms will often be down for days, sometimes even weeks. In some cases it’s bad enough to put a company out of business permanently.

I have anti-virus software, so presumably I’m safe?

Not at all. There are all sorts of other risks – hackers can break into your network through Internet connections or via Trojan Horses sent via email or downloaded from the Internet. Then of course there are disgruntled employees – perhaps staff who bear a grudge or who have been given their notice; they can cause an enormous amount of damage to an unsecured network. The vast majority of networks – even those not connected to the Internet – are shockingly vulnerable.

Why would hackers be interested in my company?

It used to be the case that hackers would target large systems - typically government, military or large corporate sites. These days hackers are after any unsecured server they can find, so that they can store their programs on it and use it to launch attacks on other networks. And because they use automated tools to scan the Internet for servers which aren’t secured, you are just as likely to be hit as anyone else. During tests, we connected an unsecured server to the Internet to see how long it would take someone to find it. It was probed within sixty seconds.

What would happen if our servers were compromised?

Compromised servers are typically used for launching attacks on other networks. If this happens, the attack would be traced back to your servers and you could be held liable for any damage caused to others. If your mail servers are unsecured, they will be found and used for relaying junk email (known as “spam”) around the Internet. At best this will make you very unpopular and cause your mail server to be blacklisted; at worst this will bring your mail server to its knees and prevent you from sending or receiving your own email. We have seen mail servers used so heavily for relaying spam that the mail server has crashed, and crashed so badly that it wouldn’t boot up again. If you’re infected with a worm, you may have to re-install every server and every workstation from scratch in order to get rid of it.

What can you do for me?

We can carry out security surveys to see how vulnerable your networks and servers are. We then discuss our findings with you, and identify the issues that need to be addressed most urgently. We will then work with you to secure the network and make sure that you are protected against the most common threats. We supply a wide range of security products such as anti-virus software, firewalls and authentication devices to protect your networks and servers.

What if I can’t afford to spend any money on security?

You can’t afford not to. You could lose your data, lose your systems for weeks, lose your reputation – you could lose your entire business if you’re unlucky enough to get hacked or catch a nasty virus or worm. In any case, it doesn’t cost a lot to implement basic security measures which will protect you from the most common threats.