Common Scenario: I’m called in to consult with a company looking for IT support. My meeting is with…let’s call him “Andy.” Said company has the “latest and greatest” security devices already in place:

  1. Firewalls with content filtering, intrusion detection and gateway security.
  2. Upgraded servers running Windows 2008 with Windows 7 (or at least Vista) desktops.
  3. Anti-virus, malware software, anti-spam and a variety of other network security services are in place.

So I ask, “What can I do for you today?”

The usual reply? “Well we’ve recently had an issue with (insert issue here). Which should never have happened since we’re so up-to-date.”

The “issue” is often viruses, spyware, concerns about employee surfing habits, safeguarding intellectual property, etc. At this point I ask if I may be permitted to review their documentation on the issue. The predictable blank stare is all the answer I need.

First, it’s important to state that Andy’s predictable blank stare is not an incorrect response. It’s understandable. He’s busy running his core business. His day-to-day does not, and should not, involve IT issue documentation! Additionally, it is a classic misconception of the traditional IT user that a suite of security products insures security.

The reality? Security is not solved by products alone, but rather the continual management of these devices and expert interpretation of monitored data. I explain to Andy that security threats are lurking everywhere. Hackers are continually looking to beat the very hardware and software built to keep them at bay. But, there is a solution!

At Fandotech we provide managed services that shift the responsibility of your environment’s security to us. We perform the on-going tasks necessary to support the hardware investment. Ultimately, we are the crucial “add-on” to the hardware and software; providing the checks and balances to secure your company’s most valuable asset, your data.

I assure Andy that Fandotech can provide:

  1. Active monitoring of all IT assets for fault and performance issues which could potentially affect the computing environment.
  2. Email defense services that stop threats before they enter your environment by eliminating them at our data center, not yours.
  3. Management of backups, log files and all running services; providing scripts to automatically restart critical services in the event of a failure and alert our Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to any failed backup jobs.
  4. Anti-virus services to insure all virus definitions are up-to-date alerting the TAC in the event of a virus intrusion for remediation and follow up.
  5. Firewall management including intrusion alerting and response.
  6. Monitoring of web surfing habits of internal users.
  7. Scheduled firewall penetration testing and firewall vulnerability assessments.
  8. Microsoft patch management.
  9. Monthly and on-demand reporting of all subscribed services and trend reporting data.

Andy responds, “Wow. That would sure give me peace of mind!”

“At the end of the day, ‘peace of mind’ is kind of our core business,” I say.

Brian Doyle