Transparency and Accountability

One of the main benefits of open data is transparency and accountability. By making data available to the public, cities can increase transparency in their operations and decision-making processes. This can help build trust between the government and its citizens and can also lead to more effective and efficient governance. Having public information like this can also be used to hold governments accountable for their actions, as citizens can use that information to track the performance of government programs and services.

Open Data Helps with Informed Decision-Making

Open data can also help businesses and individuals make more informed decisions. By providing access to data on various aspects of city life, such as crime rates, housing prices, and transportation options, individuals can make more informed decisions about where to live, work, and play. Businesses can use the data to identify new market opportunities and to make more informed investment decisions. This can lead to more efficient and effective use of resources and can ultimately improve the economic well-being of cities.

Open Data Promotes Innovation

Open data can also promote innovation. By making data available to the public, cities can encourage entrepreneurs and innovators to develop new products and services that address city problems. For example, public knowledge on traffic patterns and congestion can be used to develop new transportation services that are more efficient and cost-effective. Similarly, open data on energy consumption can be used to develop new energy management systems that reduce energy consumption and costs.

Challenges

While the benefits of open data are clear, there are also challenges to implementing initiatives. Such as ensuring data quality and reliability. Open facts and statistics can only be useful if the information is accurate and up to date. Another challenge is protecting individual privacy. Initiatives must balance the need for transparency with the need to protect the privacy of individuals. Finally, there is also the challenge of ensuring that this kind of information is accessible to all members of society, including those who may not have access to the internet or technology.

In conclusion, open data is a trending topic in data cities, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way cities are managed. By providing transparency and accountability, promoting informed decision-making, and encouraging innovation, having publicly made stats and facts can help cities become more efficient and effective. However, there are also challenges to implementing initiatives, and cities must be aware of these challenges and work to address them in order to fully realize the benefits.

You can learn more about the latest news by exploring our blog! Follow our link to learn about How Smart City Technologies are Transforming Urban Living!

The post Open Data a Quick Look into a Potential Revolution appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Our Tech Conference Tips

Plan ahead

Before you go to the conference, take some time to review the schedule and decide which sessions you want to attend. It’s also a good idea to research the speakers and exhibitors to determine who you want to connect with. By planning ahead, you’ll be able to make the most of your time and avoid feeling overwhelmed or lost during the conference.

Networking at a Tech Conference

One of the biggest benefits of attending a conference is the opportunity to meet and connect with other professionals in your field. Make an effort to introduce yourself to other attendees and engage in conversations. Afterall that is one of the main reasons you are there. While it may feel intimidating, people are eager to mingle and connect and starting a conversation is easier than you think. At my first conference, I went up to a booth and told them “I’m new to the industry and have no idea how to make a name for myself.” Their eyes lit up with excitement as they guided through what to do and how to navigate the scene. Obviously, you do not have to be nearly as honest. You will find that asking “How did you get started in the tech industry?” will get many people talking. Most people love to tell their origin story.

Take notes

With so much information being presented during the conference, it’s important to take notes to help you retain what you’ve learned. Bring a notebook or use your phone or tablet to record key takeaways from the sessions and speakers. You might also consider jotting down ideas or questions that come to mind as you listen – these can be useful for follow-up conversations or future projects.

Be present at a Tech Conference

Engage in the conversation you have with people at these events. You will find yourself amongst different people from different realms in the world of tech. Do not be shy in asking questions and discussing different topics with them. People remember those who are most interested in them and what they have to say.

Follow up

After the conference, follow up with any connections you made and review your notes to solidify your learnings. You might send an email to thank someone for a conversation or share an article or resource that relates to a topic you discussed. By staying in touch and continuing the conversation, you’ll be able to deepen your relationships and keep the momentum going. If you are worried about loosing people’s business cards, here are some apps to help you keep track of them.

Attending a conference for the first time can be a valuable and rewarding experience if you approach it with the right mindset and preparation. By following our tips mentioned above, you’ll be well on your way to excelling at your first conference. Remember that everyone else is there to learn and connect, so don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and make the most of the opportunity.

Curious about Wowrack and what we offer? Click here to learn more about us and what we do best!

The post Wowrack’s Tech Conference Tips and Tricks appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

There are three other types of cloud computing service available other than IaaS which is service-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and serverless.

There are many advantages in considering using or migrating workload into IaaS. For example, users of IaaS can use any kind of operating system or application disregarding the maintenance and operational cost.

IaaS service also provides access to servers throughout the world and a service-level agreement (SLA) regarding the uptime and performance of the service. This allows businesses to eliminate the need to manage and provision their data center manually.

How to Implement IaaS in Business

IaaS represents the general purpose of computing resources, thus it is capable of supporting all use cases of all types. The question of “how to implement IaaS” then becomes insignificant. However, there are 5 ways of implementing IaaS that are commonly used by businesses.

• Lift-and-Shift Migration

Lift-and-Shift Migration is the fastest and least expensive migration business can take when migrating into IaaS service. It allows businesses to scale the size, enhance the performance, and reduce the cost without many works.

• Test and Development

IaaS is also useful a field of test and development. Users can quickly set up and scale environments suitable for the need of the test, thus bringing results faster and better.

• Storage, Backup, and Recovery

In-house IT infrastructure often requires a huge amount of investment and cost to maintain. Employing an IaaS service will help businesses in handling the growing need for space for storage and simplify the process of backup and recovery data.

• Web Apps

IaaS can also be used to support web apps needs, from the networking resources, storage, and the web and application itself. The ease of scaling the IaaS service also means users can simply scale the service according to demand.

• High-Performance Computing

Completing the calculation of complex variables or analyzing large data can also be achieved using IaaS. IaaS flexibility allows focusing computing capability into one single demanding task or workload.

Wowrack’s IaaS Service

Wowrack is a global leader in various IaaS services. Our service include Disaster Recovery, Private & Hybrid Cloud solutions, Colocation, Backup Services, Managed AWS & Azure, SD-WAN services and more.  All of these can optionally be co-managed or fully managed by Wowrack 24/7/365 team of experts.  With a workforce that is 80% engineering, you can rest assured that no matter what challenges you face. Wowrack is by your side to help.

Get in contact today to schedule your no-obligation consultation!

The post How to Implement IaaS into Your Business? appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

NTFS is the primary file system for recent versions of Windows and Windows Server, that provides a full set of features including security descriptors, encryption, disk quotas, and rich metadata, and can be used with Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) to provide continuously available volumes that can be accessed simultaneously from multiple nodes of a failover cluster.

So, what is ReFS?

Resilient File System (ReFS) is Microsoft’s newest file system, that designed to maximize data availability, scale efficiently to large data sets across diverse workloads, and provide data integrity by means of resiliency to corruption. The ReFS used to detect all types of disk corruption, data striping and also copy-on-write features. ReFS is a newest system of Windows based on NTFS, and in other words, this is an update system to complete the Windows NTFS system.

Basically, the ReFS system is better than the NTFS system. Because the NTFS system has several limitations that have been improved by the system. ReFS supports features that already exist in NTFS such as BitLocker encryption, access control lists for security, USN journaling, change notifications, symbolic links, junction points, mount points, reparse points, volume snapshots, file IDs, and OpLocks.

How does it work?

ReFS uses checksums for metadata and optionally for data files and has the ability to detect damage reliably. Additionally it can automatically repair detected damage using alternative data copies provided by Storage Spaces. ReFS can delete corrupt data when the volume is damaged and a copy of the data is damaged and it can handle most irreparable damage. ReFS introduces a data integrity scanner, known as a scrubber, which can periodically scans volumes, identifies damage and proactively triggers corrupt data repair. However, this system cannot be used for booting PCs or used in external media such as USB flash disks or memory cards.

Some of the advantages of ReFS compared to NTFS include the field of hyper-V and backup applications.

On Hyper-V, ReFS has some advantages:

1. The “Block Cloning” feature can accelerate copy operations, enabling quick, low-impact VM checkpoint merge operations, which in turn reduces the disk I/O load
2. The “Sparse VDL” feature can zero files rapidly, reducing the time needed to create fixed VHDs from 10s of minutes to mere seconds.

However, it’s not suitable for SAN-based cluster shared storage, at least for now, because the Hyper-V cluster will always put the ReFS CSV on “File System Redirected” mode, which caused the owner node to be the only one accessing the SAN, while the other nodes are accessing the storage over the cluster network (I’ve seen no SAN traffic flowing on the other nodes, only on the owner node). See below for more details:

This is on a ReFS CSV:

BlockRedirectedIOReason: NotBlockRedirected

FileSystemRedirectedIOReason: FileSystemReFs

Name: HVC-Prod-Disk3

Node: WOWHVC3

StateInfo: FileSystemRedirected

VolumeFriendlyName: HVC-Prod-Disk3

VolumeName: \\?\Volume{ee02dcb9-8066-458f-8fb4-cc974f8be89a}\

And this is on a NTFS CSV:

BlockRedirectedIOReason: NotBlockRedirected

FileSystemRedirectedIOReason : NotFileSystemRedirected

Name: HVC-Prod-Disk1

Node: WOWHVC3

StateInfo: Direct

VolumeFriendlyName: HVC-Prod-Disk1

VolumeName: \\?\Volume{7973af21-ee14-4d9e-aada-314e8b8d8850}\

With NTFS, all nodes are accessing the SAN storage using DirectIO, which should give us better performance.

But ReFS is okay for Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) configuration, since there is no shared storage anyway (every nodes have direct-attached disks) so all access is essentially redirected.

For Backup Applications, the advantages are as follows:

System Center DPM 2016 is actually using the resilient file system by default for the backup storage, as it utilizes the “block-cloning” technology on ReFS to accelerate the backup process. It’s a part of the “Modern Backup Storage” technology that SCDPM 2016 offers.

DPM 2016 uses block cloning to store backups on ReFS volumes. Instead of using copy-on-write to store backups (which was used by VolSnap in DPM 2012 R2), DPM 2016’s block cloning uses allocate-on-write. This change improves IOPS efficiency, making backups nearly 70% faster.

Veeam also recommends ReFS for the backup storage, as it also utilizes the same “block cloning” technology on ReFS (Veeam calls it “fast cloning capability”) to speed up the backup process.

Version 9.5 leverages the fast cloning capability in ReFS API to create synthetic backups without moving the data blocks between files, and instead, references backup file blocks already present on the volume. This means all manipulations associated with synthetic full backups are limited to metadata updates and require no actual I/O operations on backed up data.

Another advantage of using ReFS for backup storage is: it enables us to scale-up the backup storage capacity up to 35 PB (compared to a maximum of 256TB on NTFS)

So, to conclude this story:

1. On Hyper-V Cluster, use NTFS on SAN-based storage, and use ReFS on Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) storage
2. On a Standalone Hyper-V server, use ReFS so that we can take advantage of the “Block Cloning” and “Sparse VDL” feature, which can accelerate VM checkpoint merge operations and fixed VHD creation. However, please be advised that a ReFS partition can be expanded, but cannot be shrunk, so if you know that you will need to shrink the partition in the future, please use NTFS.
3. On Backup servers using SCDPM 2016 or Veeam B&R 9.5, use ReFS on the Backup Disk/Storage to accelerate the backup process

Curious what Wowrack can do for you? Contact us today to learn more!

The post Microsoft’s ReFS vs NTFS system Which is Better? appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

The installation was completed at the end of March of 2018 and represents a follow-up to the partnership signing event that took place in 2016 at the Indonesia Infrastructure Forum in Los Angeles, CA.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Telin and combine our expertise in infrastructure hosting and management with Telin’s experience in providing solid IP transit solutions.  With Telin and Wowrack combined, our customers can be assured of a quality service backed by the 24/7 support of both companies.” says Wowrack President, Erward Oskcar.  “We look forward to continuing to grow our partnership with Telin and combine our forces together to deliver a solid service all around.” he continued.

Telin CTO (Nanang Hendarmo) and Telin USA CEO (Joseph Raja) Visits Wowrack USA Headquarter in Seattle, WA

In Addition, Telin USA CEO, Joseph Sahat Raja, says “Wowrack offers the reliability and scalability that we need for hosting solution in the U.S. to our customer. With competitive prices, customizable plans and extra marketing tools to boost the performance, we believe our customer is happy with the solution from us.”

Both Wowrack and Telin USA look forward to the enhancement and strengthening of its partnership and will continue to work together through 2018 and beyond.

About Telin USA:

Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (USA), Inc. (Telin USA) was established on December, 2013 located in Los Angeles and becomes subsidiary with 100% of its shares owned by PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin). Telin USA performs telecommunications products, telecommunications services, Information Technology (IT), Information technology products and information technology services business. Telin USA have International 214 License and currently, Telin USA is also one of consortium members in the SEA-US (South East Asia – United States) submarine cable connecting Manado, Indonesia to Los Angeles, United States that was launched on August 2017. More information about Telin USA can be found at www.telkom-usa.net

About Wowrack:

Founded in 2001, Wow Technologies, Inc. (Wowrack) is a Hybrid Cloud IaaS offering various Cloud Services including Private/Public Cloud, Managed Hosting Solutions, Dedicated Server Solutions, Colocation, Backup and Disaster Recovery as a service, Virtualization and WAN Circuit Delivery. Wowrack competency includes being able to design, provision, implement, manage and monitor compliant application Infrastructure using secured hybrid cloud platforms. Wowrack currently has 7 global datacenter point of presence and is headquartered in Seattle, WA. More information about Wow Technologies, Inc can be found at www.wowrack.com

The post Telin USA and Wowrack Continue Partnership with Joint Deployment for Major Top-Level Domain Authority appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Without further ado, here are the biggest cloud trends we intend on seeing this year.

Larger Cloud-Storing Capacity

With more companies moving more of their data onto the cloud, there needs to be the physical space to handle it all. With a higher demand of cloud-storing capacity, there must be more data centers with the necessary equipment. Consumers will be looking for managed service providers that have the kind of space they need available, even if they don’t quite have the need for it yet. Along with this, consumers will be looking for providers that offer more scalable options, in order to make sure their needs can be met in the future.

More Applications Created Solely for Cloud Environments

While we’re still in this period where legacy companies are finally making the transition to the cloud, there are also companies who aren’t wasting time. They are placing their entire network on the cloud from the get-go. So, in order to accommodate this trend, cloud hosting providers will need to have access to the software and tools necessary to make the cloud accessible to absolutely everyone — especially smaller, newer businesses who have no prior systems to move over. This means the acquisition of more applications that are created solely for the cloud, as well as apps that can be used across multi-cloud environments. This will make workloads more user-friendly and portable, allowing consumers to take care of their business needs whenever, wherever.

The Rise of Open-Source Cloud Connectivity

Speaking of multi-cloud environments, another trend you can expect to see this year is the rise of open-source cloud connectivity. With so many data storage and management needs to be met, consumers will likely be reaching out to multiple vendors for their services, unless they can find a provider that can truly manage it all. That being said, the need for open-source technology will change the attitudes that consumers have towards owing their loyalty to just one vendor. It’s no secret then that MSPs who embrace this trend by offering solutions that are accessible over multiple cloud systems, are going to be more desirable.

Wowrack is up to date on the latest trends so that we can meet all your cloud hosting needs. Contact us today to learn more.

Less Patience for Consumers on Internet Speed and Quality

This year, we will be honing in on 5G. Yes, 5G. It will no longer be a matter of “my Internet is too slow” but, instead, “it’s just not fast enough.” Internet speed and quality is absolutely necessary for businesses in 2018, and anything less than amazing simply won’t be tolerated. MSPs need to keep this in mind and be sure all their services can keep up with the Internet speeds that their customers expect.

More Emphasis on SaaS

Last, but certainly not least, 2018 will be the year of Software as a Service, which will be the #1 deployed solution worldwide. With so many great software options out there that businesses rely on, they need a place where it can all be properly hosted. Although IaaS and PaaS will still be used, SaaS will be the simplest and most desirable option this year, and it’s pretty clear why. Companies need flexibility to do things their way, and a provider that will support them throughout their journey.

With so many people relying on a stable and flexible cloud environment, finding the right vendor who acknowledges these trends is critical. 

The post Check Out 2018’s Biggest Cloud Trends 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.

That being said, if you’re a business leader, then you know all too well the stress that can come with working with multiple people at once. However, like with any team, if your MSP does this collaboration correctly, you’ll have even less to worry about.

Here’s how it works:

Who Are They?

A managed services team consists of experts in their field, like architects, security experts, monitors, etc. Generally, team members are labeled as “engineers” and should be the top of their game. By working with a team, you can feel confident knowing that someone will be there no matter when you need them. 7 days a week, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day — this is one of the benefits of having a team take care of your network as opposed to a single individual.

Different Expertise Across the Board

Of course, although you’re working with one team, that team is working with clients on cloud systems located world-wide. Even so, this shouldn’t take away from the quality of services they are supposed to be providing you with. If this is executed correctly, then the managed services team will help you with a whole number of things. This should include, but not be limited to:

• IT, Cloud architect, and Strategy services
• Network engineers who run 100% SLA networks
• System administrators that monitor and manage your specific network design and infrastructure
• Security engineers and services
• An IT Operation team to manage IT duties while you sleep

Wowrack will provide your company with the best managed services team out there. Contact us to learn more!

An Easy to Follow, Step by Step Process

It’s clear that by working with a team you have different experts taking care of different jobs. This will ensure that the right people are managing the right parts of your network at all times. No need to worry about things like, “this guy really doesn’t know what he’s doing…” but, instead, the peace of mind of that comes with each team member following a specific role in the process.

And, a managed services team should be able to guide you through this process from the very beginning. Here’s a general idea of how it will look:

• 1) Infrastructure Design: The MSP team will build you a unique infrastructure that answers all of those challenging questions, such as, “What server hardware do I use?” or “How do I distribute our application load efficiently around the globe?”
• 2) Implementation: That infrastructure will then by implemented by the Systems and Network Architect working closely with Deployment Team.
• 3) Networking: Whether you need to connect the private cloud you already have to a public cloud provider like AWS, or you need to build a secure private network from scratch that is able to span across the globe, your managed services team will help you do this with its network engineers.
• 4) Monitoring: Don’t worry if something goes wrong thereafter. Your managed services team will stay on top of it by setting up your network into different layers that can easily be monitored.
• 5) Security: Whatever compliance practices need to be followed will be implemented into your system, as well as a strong Disaster Recovery approach in case something goes wrong.

As the old saying goes, “two heads are better than one.” And, when it comes to your company’s network, you deserve the very best set of heads, dedicated to working together to give you exactly what you need.

The post Getting To Know Your Managed Services Team appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

All MSPs may offer you different cloud hosting options, disaster recovery solutions, dedicated servers, and compliance options — just to name a few. But, does it offer you these perks as well? And, how do these perks compare to the competition?

A Specifically-Designed Architecture vs. A General Infrastructure

No two companies are the same, and depending on what kind of business you are running, your system’s architecture needs to be appropriate. What works for one business likely won’t work for another, and therefore, you can’t settle for something generic. Before choosing an MSP, know whether or not they can design an architecture specifically for your business, or if they are just going to give you what they claim is a “one-size-fits-all” package?

A Combination of Different Hosting Options vs. No Flexibility

Not quite on the cloud yet? Or, are you on the public cloud but need more time before transitioning to a private option? What if you have features you like from public and private cloud options – a hybrid? A reliable MSP will give you the opportunity to combine various hosting options in addition to choosing features from different types of infrastructure programs. You shouldn’t have to settle for something that’s “close enough.”

The Ability to Host Customer-Owned Hardware vs. Being Required to Use Unfamiliar Tools

If you have hardware you’re already comfortable with, why give that up?  It’s one thing if your managed cloud hosting provider offers hardware options for you to use, but it’s another thing if they force you to use their stuff instead of your own.

A Customized Price vs. Set Prices

When your MSP takes different factors into account before giving you the price, you can feel good knowing that you’re paying for exactly what you’re getting. If an MSP only gives you the option to choose one package at one price, you could be spending a lot of money on features you don’t need. And, what about scalability? Don’t you want to be able to have the price adjusted fairly when business is slow or if business starts to boom? An MSP who only advertises set-prices can cause you to lose out long term.

Compliance Hosting Options vs. No Compliance Package

If you work in any industry that handles sensitive data, whether it be financial, medical, or personal, individuals and companies need to be protected by being compliant with the law. If this is a requirement for your company, then why get a package that doesn’t have compliance added to it? Otherwise, you’ll have to pay separately for something that could already be included.

Wowrack understands that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to your cloud hosting options. Contact us to learn about the

Fully Managed Services vs. Periodic Check-Ups (At the Very Least)

You can’t really call it a managed cloud hosting provider if they aren’t actually “managing.” You should never have to feel like you’re ‘bothering’ your MSP because you have a question or something breaks and you need urgent attention. This is their job. If your network isn’t being fully managed and the only thing you’re getting is periodic check-ups, it kind of defeats the purpose.

One on One Support vs. Waiting in Line to Speak to a Representative

Speaking of managed services, in what form are you getting that management? Can you actually talk to an individual who will walk you through what you need to know and will the MSP send someone to your data center? Or, do you need to call up and deal with a different representative each time, who can’t get to the job until tomorrow?

When it seems like your prospective MSP if offering the whole package, ask yourself whether or not there’s more to be had.

The post Your MSP May Offer These Things, But Does It Offer These? appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

That being said, it’s not always as easy as it sounds. Companies first need to be aware what kind of compliance laws apply to their business, and how they can set up the best infrastructure to reach those compliance goals.

Not sure where to start?

Then leave it to your provider to get you situated, get you and your customers protected, and of course, prepare yourself for auditors.

What Compliance Category Do You Fall Into?

So, we’ve got healthcare and payment card industries pretty much covered. But, there are a lot of companies outside of these categories that need to follow compliance policies as well, since they are dealing with some kind of sensitive information. To give you an idea, here are some examples of companies who have more serious compliance needs:

FISMA – FISMA stands for the “Federal Information Security Management Act” which was implemented by the U.S. government in order to protect sensitive government information against threats. It’s meant for companies who work with federal agencies or with federal contracts to keep information out of the wrong hands and ultimately keep risks low. FISMA Compliance is monitored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

GLBA – GLBA, or “The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act” was passed nearly twenty years ago to ensure that financial institutions — such as those that offer loans, insurance, or financial consulting — are held responsible when it comes to how they handle the private information of the individuals they serve.  This category of compliance makes sure these companies are safeguarding sensitive data and are transparent with how they manage information-sharing.

SOX – Do you invest some money in stocks? Whether you do so as an individual or as a company, the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act” oversees enterprises to make sure there are no fraudulent practices or accounting errors. This is done by forcing these companies to give full disclosure about their operations. Essentially, SOX is there to help eliminate financial scandals by forcing these companies to keep all business records and messages on file through appropriate data classification tools.

There are other types of compliance categories as well, including specific certifications to grant compliance in one area. Some examples of these are AES-256 Protection or FIPS Certification 140-2.

Not sure what you need?

Most companies should already know very well what they need to be compliant in. But, managing and achieving that compliance may be way out of their expertise — and, actually, it should be. No company should be managing their own compliance, except for what their managed hosting provider instructs them to do on their end.

Concerned about compliance? Wowrack provides regulatory compliance for a number of different industries, all under one roof. Contact us to learn more!

On the Right Path to Compliance

Companies who don’t follow compliance laws are seriously putting themselves and their customers at risk. Between hefty fines, ruining your business’ reputation, and even the possibility of imprisonment, failure to have your company prove its compliance isn’t up for debate.

Furthermore, if it’s going to be done, it needs to be done correctly. This is why it’s important to turn to a professional and experienced managed cloud hosting provider who will take care of your infrastructure, documents, monitor your security risks, and stay up to date with compliance laws so you don’t miss a beat.
Managing compliance standards can be stressful. Thankfully, your MSP can take it off of your hands and lift that weight off your shoulders.

The post Need to Pass Compliance Standards for Your Company? Leave It To Your Provider appeared first on Wowrack Blog.