Curbside Pick-Up & Drop-Off
Keeping our clients and employees healthy during this crisis is a priority for us at ETV Software. We have taken measures to ensure all surfaces are cleaned and sanitized throughout the day, all computers coming in and going out are sanitized and asked any employee not feeling well to stay home. We want you to know that we will continue to provide services as usual and do everything we can to become part of the solution here in our beloved hometown.
We are open normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm and by appointment on Saturday & Sunday. In compliance with the CDC and to protect our clients from possible additional exposure, we are offering curbside pick-up and drop-off of your equipment. Please call us at 903.531.0377 and an employee will meet you at your car to assist you.
As always, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and doing everything in our power to provide a safe & healthy experience for our valued clients and employees. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
NSA Warns About Microsoft Exchange Flaw as Attacks Start
The NSA warned, via a tweet published on their Twitter account, about a post-auth remote code execution vulnerability in all supported Microsoft Exchange Servers. The tweet reminded users to patch the CVE-2020-0688 vulnerability which allows potential attackers to execute commands using e-mail credentials. Microsoft tagged this patch with an "Exploitation More Likely" exploitability index assessment. Click here
If you need help with your network or Server contact ETV Software.
Questions CEOs Should Ask About Cyber Risks
As technology continues to evolve, cyber threats continue to grow in sophistication and complexity.
CEOs should ask the following questions about potential cyber security threats:
- How could cyber security threats affect the different functions of my business?
- What type of critical information could be lost?
- How can my business create long-term resiliency to minimize our cyber security risks?
- What kind of cyber threat information sharing does my business participate in? With whom does my business exchange this information?
- What type of information sharing practices could my business adopt that would help foster community among the different cyber security groups where my business is a member?
For an in depth look at this article https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/tips/ST18-007
ETV Software, Inc., provides network security and risk assessments to your business. Call or visit us for more information.
June 2019 Deal of the Month
For the month of June, ETV Software is offering local East Texas businesses free technology and network assessments.
The first thing we'll help you assess is your business technology's overall health and reliability. Computer hardware can last a long time if properly maintained, but as businesses grow and as customer expectations shift to more digitally focused instant access, it can happen that systems that worked well for years simply reach the point where they are no longer up to the task. Computer software, too, has a lifecycle. Over time, the programs that you rely on can stop being supported by the companies that make them. As much as we’d all like technology to be a buy once and done sort of thing, it is an ongoing process to make sure things run smoothly. We can help your business make smart decisions on what need to be updated and when.
The second thing we can help your business with is making sure you have a comprehensive backup plan in place. Right now, could your business recover from a water leak or a fire, or would all your data be lost? A good backup plan see your business automate on-site and off-site backups, and makes sure you keep enough backups to recover from a catastrophe even if it happens over a holiday or long weekend. Every business is different, but we can help you tailor a backup solution that protects the files you need and doesn’t waste time and resources making backups of things you can just as easily redownload or reinstall.
Finally, we can help your business make sure it stays on top on of data and network security. There are so many threats on the Internet these days that you cannot simply ignore them anymore. There are hackers that want to steal you business’ or your customers’ financial info. Other bad actors try to get “Ransomware” viruses onto your network so they can lock you out of your systems and demand thousands of dollars for the key to get back in. We can help you choose an antivirus product to fight back against viruses and help you make sure your network is set up to limit access to those that don’t need it.
Making sure that your business technology is up to par starts with a free assessment from ETV Software. Give us a call today at 903-531-0377, or stop by our office at 1331 S. Beckham Tyler TX, 75701. We’re near the hospitals between the gas station and the Big Lots.
Internal I.T. vs External I.T.
Internal I.T. vs External I.T.
There has been a hot debate over whether or not businesses should use agencies for I.T. services. Primarily, the argument always boils down to the scale of business. Granted, the two can and do often coexist. But business owners will often ask themselves, is this entirely necessary?
And the answer is, it depends. As usual.
However, the question could be rephrased to better understand everything that is associated with such a decision. Let’s go through the steps of what a proactive I.T. department should be doing in order to better understand what the answer should be.
1. Supportive Roles
Both internal and external I.T. departments can fulfill this supportive role. Or should be able to. The advantages of an internal I.T. department may be understanding the network framework quicker than an external I.T. agency. The flip side to that point is that managed I.T. service providers typically work with many different industries to provide timely, efficient, service. These type of experts are often more well-rounded and have experience not only working with a network such as your business but also may be able to provide insight into what might work better. This is not to say that it’s entirely necessary to eradicate an internal I.T. department. But it’s always important to get external viewpoints to better optimize your internal system.
2. Knowledge Base
A good I.T. employee will have their certifications in place, will prevent problematic circumstances, and provide consistent reports on network improvements or security flaws. But it’s important to realize that not one, singular, person can realistically know everything that needs to be fixed until it eventually pops up which can drastically hurt your business. Is it that employee’s fault? Of course not! But this is the advantage to having an external I.T. team working with your business. These agency I.T. teams offer a diverse amount of experience and from differing backgrounds to provide a very well-rounded analysis of network threats.
3. Cost
It’s costly for business owners (especially small business owners) to employ a full team of I.T professionals to meet their network needs. This is where the clear winner is the agency or managed I.T. professional services. Typically, managed I.T. professionals get called into the picture when it’s an emergency. This is often the issue with managed I.T. services and why they’re usually expensive. But in the long-run, managed I.T. companies such as ETV Software will offer retainer plans to reduce the initial onset of expenses, even including the ability to have rollover hours at a flat monthly fee. For the cost of 1 employee at 2 weeks of pay, retainer plans allow businesses to have a cheaper alternative than hiring an extra employee – with the added bonus of having a full-service team of professionals at just a phone call away.
At the end of the day, there’s no clear winner. There are benefits to both. And there can be an enormous amount of benefits when both are working in conjunction with each other. As with the rest of the market, it’s all about what your business demands. However, we’re of the persuasion that managed I.T. agencies can provide the most bang for your buck.
Written by Christian Cauthen
