Why is Protecting Patient Privacy Important?

Patient privacy and data security are paramount in the healthcare industry. EHRs contain sensitive information that includes everything from medical history to personal identifiers, making them a prime target for cybercriminals. A breach in network security can lead to devastating consequences such as identity theft. Furthermore, maintaining patient trust is foundational to the doctor-patient relationship, and compromised security can erode that trust.

Why is Healthcare a Common Target for Threat Actors?

The healthcare industry is an attractive target for cyberattacks due to the value of the data it holds and the potential impact of disrupting healthcare services. Ransomware attacks and phishing attempts have become increasingly common. Attackers may exploit vulnerabilities in:

• Outdated software
• Weak passwords
• Unsecured medical devices

Our Recommended Network Security Strategies for the Health Industry

1. Encryption: Utilizing encryption for data, both at rest and in transit, can thwart unauthorized access. Encryption converts sensitive data into unreadable code. This is done to ensure that even if a breach occurs, the stolen data remains indecipherable to hackers.
2. Multi-factor Authentication (MFA): Implementing MFA adds an extra layer of security. This method requires users to provide multiple forms of verification before accessing systems or data. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access in case passwords are compromised.
3. Regular Software Updates and Patch Management: Outdated software is a prime target for cyberattacks. Regularly updating and patching operating systems and medical devices minimizes vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit.
4. Firewalls and Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS): These tools monitor network traffic and detect unusual or suspicious activities. Firewalls establish a barrier between a trusted internal network and untrusted external networks, while IDS alerts administrators to potential security breaches.
5. Employee Training and Awareness: Human error is the most common contributor causing 88% of security breaches. Educating employees about social engineering tactics and best practices for data handling can significantly reduce the risk of successful attacks.
6. Vendor Security Assessment: For healthcare organizations that rely on third-party vendors for services or software, conducting thorough security assessments is crucial. Ensuring that vendors adhere to stringent security standards helps safeguard patient data.
7. Incident Response Plan: Having a well-defined incident response plan in place can minimize damage in the event of a security breach. Rapid and coordinated action can help mitigate the impact of an attack and prevent further compromise.

Network security in the healthcare industry is not merely a technical concern; it directly impacts patient well-being and the integrity of healthcare services. As technology continues to shape the future of healthcare, the importance of a secure network cannot be overstated. By implementing encryption, multi-factor authentication, regular updates, and comprehensive employee training, healthcare organizations can create a strong defense against cyber threats. In an environment where information is sensitive, prioritizing network security is a non-negotiable step towards ensuring a more secure digital healthcare ecosystem.

The post The Healthcare Industry and Protecting it Against Threat Actors appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

1) “Am I giving IT too many responsibilities?”

Regardless of whether or not you outsource your IT, your in-house team has a lot on their plate no matter what. Because of this, companies generally choose to have an in-house IT team working alongside managed services to make sure their network is constantly at the top of its game. If you are giving IT too many jobs to do, then they are going to have a hard time making sure all the roles are being met. So, if your IT person or team has already expressed this to you, then it’s time to hand over some of those responsibilities to a managed cloud hosting provider.

2) “What happens if there is a data breach?”

If a data breach is one of your biggest concerns right now (and, it should be), then that’s a good enough reason as any to begin outsourcing your IT. There’s no sense in taking any risk at all with how far your company has come. Why take any chances? A managed hosting provider can take this worry off your hands. In addition, they can come up with a disaster recovery solution just for your company, while also helping you pass compliance standards if you’re dealing with sensitive information from your customers.

3) “Is my business expanding at a rapid rate, but support isn’t measuring up?”

Perhaps when you first started, you just had a website, hosted by one of those generic providers. But, now, things have changed (for the better). Now, your website has consistent traffic 24/7 a day, and you cannot risk a potential traffic jam slowing down your business. If you require a network that can support what you’re dealing with, then don’t stress. Just hand it over to a managed hosting provider and let them deal with the rest.

Wowrack can help you answer all your questions about hiring a managed cloud hosting provider. Contact us today to learn more.

4) “Does my network require a specific infrastructure?”

Speaking of expanding your business, are you even set-up to do something like that in the first place? This has probably got you thinking. If you’re not sure how all the stuff works behind the scenes — a cloud architecture, different types of products, etc. — then don’t sit around trying to do it by yourself. It’s time to talk to a professional about the best options available.

5) “Am I too busy to worry about any of this?”

If any of the previous questions have come up at all, then you’ve probably dismissed them with a, “Wow, I’m too busy to even be concerned with this right now.” We get you. You shouldn’t have to be concerned with managing your your network on this scale. While that doesn’t mean you’re excused from all responsibilities, you have other things you need to take care of in the office. Let someone else do the worrying.

It’s hard to know when is the right time to finally move your network over to a managed service provider. If you’ve been asking yourself any of these questions, then you know what it is you need to do!

The post If You’re Asking Yourself These Questions, It’s Time to Outsource Your IT appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Here’s why:

Expand Your Business

Choosing a cloud hosting option that’s scalable gives you the best opportunity to have your network grow with your business in the future. Many companies hold off on moving to the cloud because they feel as though they aren’t quite ready to do so. Perhaps they don’t yet have the funds or the client-base to make that kind of change. However, making the move to the cloud in the beginning stages will not only make your business more accessible to more people, but it will also allow you to save money in the long run. This is because most MSPs offer scalable solutions, so you don’t need to pay for what you aren’t using right now — you can always make the necessary upgrades later on.

Take More Time for What Matters

Turning to an MSP means that in addition to gifting your company a brand new infrastructure set-up next year, you will also have the support of a professional provider. This means they will manage everything, while you continue doing the many jobs you need to do as a company leader. If you have a lot of projects you’re hoping to get done next year, managing your network shouldn’t get in the way. Make it your resolution to work on what you need to do, while an MSP stays on top of the rest. After all, why risk losing all the hard work you’ve done when your MSP can provide amazing backup and disaster recovery solutions?

Wowrack wants you to be on the right track for next year. Contact us to learn more.

Keep the Important Jobs in the Hand of Professionals

Is not knowing who to trust holding you back from making some changes for next year? That’s understandable, and exactly why we stress the importance of making sure you can trust your MSP. This is why Wowrack offers data center tours to ensure you’re getting a good look at the services you’ll be receiving. Therefore, you can feel confident knowing that this important job lies in the hands of a  dedicated team of experts. There will always be someone available that can solve the problem your network may be presenting, but ultimately, the team will help recognize any problems well before they occur.

Also, it helps to know that if something does happen — for instance, a data breach — you won’t necessarily be the one held completely responsible.

Provide Consistent Customer Satisfaction

Lastly, a major goal you should have for the upcoming year is to continue growing that trust between you and your clients. One of the ways to achieve this is by maximizing your security standards, thereby ensuring your customers that you’re doing everything in your power to mitigate risks that could have the potential to leak their information. This is why, depending on the industry you’re in, it’s so important to practice compliance laws. Opting for the services of an MSP as one of your New Year’s resolutions will help you bring in more customers, and improve your CRM overall. Additionally, it will keep you safe from problems like shut-downs, delays, data disasters, breaches, and visits from auditors. A strong approach to this means happy customers.

So, what’s the hold up? Let us help you achieve the New Year’s resolutions you have for your company.

The post Turning to Managed Services Should be Your Company’s New Year Resolution appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Doesn’t your company deserve the same protection? After all, how do you plan on keeping business moving when the unexpected happens?

The Cost of a Disaster on Your Business

It goes without saying that even the smallest of IT disruptions can wreak havoc on your business. According to research done by Information Week, out of the 200 companies surveyed, the total cost of any IT downtime was over 26 billion. That translates to $150,000 lost annually by each company.

Not only is it a financial loss, but it’s also a long-term catastrophe. Companies who experience any type of IT shut-down, whether it’s due to a hack or a power-outage, can leave a bad taste with their clients. Their clients are going to be less likely to trust this company in the future, and may go with a competitor instead. Ultimately, the effects are long term.

Therefore, it’s no question that having a plan when disaster strikes is imperative. Just choosing the right provider with a solid approach is a major step in the right direction.

What is DRaas and How It Can Specifically Help YOU

Disaster Recovery as a Service, or DRaas, is a unique solution to disaster recovery designed by an expert provider catered specifically to your company’s needs. No two businesses are the same, whether it’s the size of their clientele, the type of industry they’re in, or the profits made. This means that your DRaas solution will be quite different from the next guy’s.

Your provider will help plan and design, architect, and deploy your disaster recovery solution from start to finish. This way, you’re fully prepared if and when a problem occurs. It will be your very own, fully managed, custom environment, that you can rely on. And, it doesn’t need to be expensive, either, as your provider can help you find a solution that fits your budget just as well as everything else.

Wowrack offers budget-friendly and high-quality DRaas packages that will fit your company’s’ needs. Contact us today to learn more.

How Your Provider Keeps Business Continuity

The most important thing any DRaas does is allow your business to keep moving if you get stalled by an IT interruption, whatever that may be. Sometimes, these interruptions can take some time to discover and solve, and you don’t want to have to keep your business waiting around in the meantime. As mentioned before, that can result in huge loss for your business.

Wouldn’t it be better to pay a little more to have that peace of mind? Knowing that you’ll be okay even if disaster strikes is a huge weight lifted off your shoulders.

With the right DRaas solution, you provider goes through a series of steps to make sure your business continues running in the event of a disaster.

After your provider audits you in order to understand what your current IT situation stands, they’ll engineer a plan using their own internal procedures and tools that will be very similar to the infrastructure you’re already using. Once that’s taken care of, your provider will get ready to deploy that solution any time, anywhere, and will test it first to make sure it’s ready to go. Finally, your provider will constantly monitor your systems to make sure your data stays safe and your disaster recovery solution is ready to go at any moment.

With a DRaas, there’s no need to worry anymore. If something happens, your data will be protected and easy to retrieve in an instant. Meanwhile, your provider handles everything behind the scenes, so you can keep business going without IT interruptions getting in the way.

The post How Your Provider Can Help You When Disaster Strikes appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

That’s why Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is a great solution for your business. And, when you have an expert manage this infrastructure, you’ll be in for a real treat. Here’s how it works.

What is VDI?

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, or VDI, gives you the opportunity to access the workings of your entire company with just a click of your button. Every task you need to handle can be configured from your smartphone, computer, or another device. This means if you’re on the go, leave your laptop behind, or need to sneak out of a movie theater to quickly take care of something, it can be done.

What Industries is a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Ideal For?

Any company could really benefit from a VDI, but there are certain companies within specific industries where it may be more ideal. For example, one industry you may see VDI is within construction and project management companies. These companies need to keep their workers, contractors, investors, and anyone else who may be involved, kept in the loop of what’s going on. With VDI, it’s very unlikely that any form of miscommunication will occur.

Additionally,  tasks can sometimes change from day-to-day, and if you want to stay organized, a VDI will help you with that. That being said, you don’t want just any VDI solution. You need a VDI that has an environment properly deployed and managed thereafter by your provider, as well as training services for you as the user, and of course, security.

Wowrack offers flexible plans for your virtual desktop infrastructure, which are fully scalable and reliable. Contact us today to learn more.

What Can I Expect if I Start Using a VDI for my Business?

The great thing about a virtual desktop infrastructure is that it can be designed to cater to the specific needs of your business. No matter how large or small your business is, any project that’s important to you should be equally as important to your provider. In addition to making work on the go a possibility, you can also expect these benefits from a virtual desktop infrastructure:

• Real-time markup capability on construction plans.
• Instant updates on blueprints and plans, so everyone is up to date.
• Lots of storage space (scalability).
• High performance rates.
• The ability to instantly message your team.
• Instant break/fix solutions if something goes wrong.
• Multi-cloud connection abilities if you’re already deployed.
• Maintenance when you need it.
• End-to-end, compliant security.

Does it sound like a VDI is right for you? Give it a try, and decide for yourself. It’ll be the best decision you made for your company.

The post What Is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and How Can It Benefit Your Business? appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Data centers are an important part of an enterprise strategy these days.

The problem with many businesses is they want this:

But what often happens is that they end up with this: a big, empty, expensive data center that ends up being used as an indoor soccer field.

Capacity planning is hard. No question about it. It’s especially difficult for many new startups that have growing demands but little to no technical expertise on how to scale their infrastructure properly. Imagine how big the “Angry Birds” app franchise would have become if its infrastructure could not have scaled as quickly as it did.

Data center planning: Then vs. Now.

The reality for many businesses is that the landscape today has become much more difficult to plan how much capacity is needed a few months from now to even as short and as quickly as a few weeks from now. Before cloud-based applications became a thing, we had one single application per server and businesses could much more easily predict how many applications they would need based on their growth rates. But now it’s all changed…

Between virtualization, the proliferation of applications, and just the astronomical growth of data, altogether these factors have made it very difficult to forecast a coherent and accurate strategy for capacity planning. Hence the soccer-inspired data center plight.

In addition to security and cost, one of the key factors that businesses ought to look at is flexibility.

What flexibility means is that when you build a data center model (especially a cost model), it can be difficult to factor in the benefits of flexibility. In some cases, building a data center can be modular in a way to allow some of that flexibility, however, when you talk about flexibility: a colocation option doesn’t stray too far.

Colocation is the industry’s most recognized best practice for a business to house an IT infrastructure and equipment in an environment where it can be easily maintained, thus optimizing its hardware life. Data centers offer many benefits for organizations and businesses alike including better bandwidth and connectivity, with lower latency, wider choices of service providers, higher levels of security, and most importantly a consistent flow of power and cooling supply. The latter of which is very difficult to achieve and maintain with an in-house data center.

Another consideration when renting rather than owning server equipment that could be beneficial is the need to have variable densities (how much power per square foot you will need). In addition to having a semi-predictable capacity for storage and space allocation, it can be challenging to determine the right balance of power, which can vary to a degree every time you rack and stack new equipment. Many older data centers owned in-house from enterprise corporations still work on legacy procedures may not be able to provision as quickly.

Leasing space in a data center that offers multiple connections to other providers such as Software as a Service (SaaS) providers and specific applications you need to get access to can be particularly advantageous. For that reasons, many combinations exist for building and leasing just as every combination of business need arises.

Another factor for why businesses choose to adopt colocation is the service angle.

Even among enterprises, some corporations choose to house their equipment at a colocation facility but will stay for the longer term potential by having some equipment moved towards a Managed Services arrangement.

Businesses can use the services of a colocation provider that offers Managed Services down the road to Managed Hosting, Managed Private Cloud, or even Managed Security.

One major benefit that businesses don’t often take into account is the operating cost and the fact that the cost of IT equipment in a data center can really end up costing more as an on-premise solution. This becomes very important when determining the location of a data center.

Have you checked the tax rates lately?

With sales tax rates, companies end up having to pay for expensive IT equipment and electricity costs, both of which vary by state. It makes the operating costs that much more vital to calculate correctly so you can fit within budget margins.

Colocation data centers are usually located in markets where larger bandwidths circuits are widely available. They can offer reduced costs on bandwidth for customers who are not located close to fiber but need the flexibility provided by larger circuits.

Bandwidth redundancies are also another huge benefit for colocation. Depending on your exact location, colocation providers usually allow access to several types of bandwidth: for example bonded T1, DS3, OC3, OC12, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet from several providers of your preference. If your bandwidth is somehow disabled at your business location, your network traffic doesn’t get interrupted. How cool is that?

In the end:

When to Colocate?

Colocation is ideal for businesses that are constantly growing and changing. It’s the right choice for when your IT department requires on-demand scalability and reliable infrastructure. Anyone who is providing resources, materials, sales, or access to services via the internet is an ideal candidate for colocation services.

Organizations that reinvested and upgraded a new generation of IT infrastructure and equipment will find a need to house that equipment in an ideal environment where it can be often difficult to recreate that environment within their own premises. You can take specific infrastructure that you don’t want to touch every day and put it off-site in an environment that is purpose-built and designed for varying workloads and continuous maintenance.

When Not to Colocate?

If you work in DevOps and there’s heavy regression testing or other types of places that are actively engaged often with the equipment, then you’ll definitely want your engineers close to the hardware. For those companies, they can still use the services of a colocation provider but instead deploy something like a hosted desktop solution or possible virtual private server(s) which ends up making more sense financially and on a performance level.

The post Colocation Conundrums: Should I Colo or Solo? appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Technology has rapidly escalated the status quo for how we do business across every profession. Clients will be demanding more out of their projects than ever before. Particularly, as we take a look at the forecast of today’s construction industry, we’ll examine how whether or not new technology actually solves some of the problems or burdens the average contractor with more uncertainty.

The field today

With some rustling and soft breezes of change slowly gaining traction in the field of construction, certain trends have begun cropping up. Clipboards are now traded in for tablet devices, notepads being replaced with smartphones, and we’re even budgeting for social media now! The days of yonder seeing pencil clippings and paper trails in the field are gradually fading as more and more job sites become “paperless” in a sense. However, simply exchanging PDFs to one another isn’t the same as deploying a true “paperless job-site.” This newfound digital approach isn’t necessarily better or worse; on the contrary, it’s an alternative. Another choice for morphing the tried-and-true best practices we preach with the existing tech of today.

After all, if it’s not broken, why fix it?

One of our very own founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, once ran into this same predicament and his rebuttal?

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Innovating new technology can be that ounce of prevention. With cutting-edge software solutions in development today, we are slowly, yet surely seeing it make its way into the hands of project managers and every general contractor around the world. With the capacity to mitigate risks and provide laser-focused accuracy for surveying the field, it can make building larger projects less discombobulated, while at the same time deliver a more economical return on investment in time and resources.

A new era of industry

The margin for human error is forgivable on an occasional basis, however tracking and measuring the reasons why those mistakes happen in the first place is what counts most. With better and improved ways for implementing, integrating, and executing projects of all scope and sizes, construction management software can make the jobs of every engineer and contractor provisioned in a much safer job-site and also offer a lens to progressive measurements for handling future workloads more efficiently.

Meanwhile, Computer Aided Design (CAD) software is continually pushing its own envelope as well. It’s not hard to believe that one day, we’ll enable clients to virtually walk through blueprints and floor plans we once were only able to showcase through PowerPoint presentations. Geometric concept designs combined with virtual reality might not be too far off in our case. CAD systems will soon expand its reach to every engineers’ workstation with the ability to generate higher capabilities for designing greater and more encompassing project schematics.

We are even starting to see drones introduced into the field by giving a more aerial and dynamic real-time form of surveying. Remote controlled drones will offer an alternative way for mapping, monitoring, and video recording that only a few years ago, we thought was improbable. These new discoveries have completely reinvented the wheel for many of our traditional methods of surveying and tools of project management. Yet, will these new inventions stick? Or will they stumble and dwindle as just another fad of the week?

Fundamentals

The only caveat to this astronomical trajectory we are quickly heading towards, is will we actually have enough data to procure and store all this new and exciting technology? The flash of “new” often beguiles or even eclipses our non-immediate understanding of fundamentals. We sometimes forget the most rudimentary basics of simple data requirements.

In his 1974 collection, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein, author of The Giving Tree, poignantly demonstrates this lesson on fundamentals in his poem titled: “Invention.”

“I’ve done it, I’ve done it!
Guess what I’ve done!
Invented a light that plugs into the sun.
The sun is bright enough,
The bulb is strong enough,
But, oh, there’s only one thing wrong…

The cord ain’t long enough.”

The cord in this scenario simply means housing more data and having enough computing power for your infrastructure. We can have all these flashy new systems and tools in place, but if we don’t have a long enough cord to plug them in, we’re left stranded in a state of motionless inertia.

A simple solution could be to purchase and install more servers or expand your IT staff to take care of the problem. That’s all fine and dandy, but just as one option offers a path to invest into your long-term goals, another route might provide you with a shortcut.

The cloud for every contractor

As technology advances, so too will the complexities of managing your own internet infrastructure. Which is why those complexities seem rather appealing when we can offload them to someone else’s shoulders, don’t you think? Say a cloud provider for instance. The cloud still works as a service to annex your already massive networking infrastructure, yet can also be much more integrated within your network to further leverage the benefits for delivering and receiving information in real-time. Including flexibility to scale up or down instantaneously and custom-built architectures to layer for more security and disaster protocols.

At its core, the cloud is just a powerful server(s) located at an off-site data center. It’s a haven where your information can be stored and retrieved. That’s it.

For the general contractor, this means that your database, containing all of your software applications and Building Information Modeling (BIM) programs, accounting information, project management records; every single one of them can be stored 24/7 and accessible only by you, anywhere, and on any one of your team’s devices.

Think of the cloud as segmentation, not separation.

The road through a cloud solution might just be what takes you to your destination quicker, yet the path can also intertwine and shift to meet your long-term objectives. As builders, you pave your own path. The cloud can supply the virtual brick and mortar to do so. All the while providing you with the knowledge and expertise of seasoned wilderness guides. So by the time those fancy new inventions become bug-free and stable to use, you’ve already been given a road map on where you need to proceed.

As future headlines roll and our anticipation grow ever more steadily for newer and bigger tools of the trade, it is vital to remind ourselves of the basic undertakings before stepping onto these unearthed territories. Err on the side of caution and remember that it’s okay to take a few steps back to secure your foothold. As you take that giant leap onto the fresh new concrete pavement of the world to come (this industry so illustriously has helped molded), just remember to build a long enough cord.

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