To help your company stay safe, we have developed the best web security tips for all of your staff to employ.

• Keep your cyber security policy up to date. Technology is constantly changing, so what worked five or ten years ago probably will not work when it comes to web security. All employees should be trained so they know and fully understand your cyber security policy.
• Cyber security should also include robust authentication for any of your company’s employees. Multi-factor authentication is the best way to do this, such as using a pin with a smart card. If you decide this is not an option for your company, you can make your employees use strong passwords with combinations of lower and upper case numbers and symbols.
• Look over your network security controls. They may need to be replaced or updated. You may also consider looking into a cloud-based security solution for extra security.
• Safety violations and various kinds of security events are unavoidable. It is very crucial to always be willing to compromise in order to mitigate the damage. At the same time, organizations should be prepared to discover security events at the earliest possible moment. This not only means that security engineers are ready to find and examine shady action, but the staff is additionally enlightened on what possible indicators of incidents are and how to account for them. It furthermore means that preferably, your company should possess the cultivation of integrity and avoid punishing staff for naive faults.
• Make your employees aware of cyber security. Many companies do very little training in this aspect. An hour here or there is a small amount that is seen as a waste of time. Instead, there needs to be a shift in understanding how web security actually works and why it is so crucial. Small changes can be made, and your staff will eventually see that this security is indeed worth it.
• Everyone likes staff that is trusting, yet it is just too easy these days for individuals to pretend to be someone they are not. Therefore, your employees should know what to look for in emails to be certain they are legitimate. If you are still not sure, call the person that sent it to double-check.
• Be careful on the network you are using, taking care to select a private one when available. Use your own network when you are at home working, and stay clear of public WiFi networks, such as coffee bars.
• Always be ready. Even if a company works a lot to offer web security, an attack could still happen. You need to be ready for these attacks by utilizing anti-malware software and completely patching your operating system and applications. Nevertheless, some strikes will be successful no matter what is done, so be ready for it. For instance, ransomware hits can leave your information and devices unreachable. Ensure you have copies of your info per your firm’s procedures, and occasionally look that the standbys are operating correctly. This guarantees that your data is guarded if anything is erroneous.

If you require assistance with your website’s cyber security in Clearwater, FL, do not hesitate to contact IB Systems USA.

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A large benefit you can find when migrating to Office 365 Email is how scalable it is! You only pay for what your company utilizes with Office 365. As your company grows, you may expand upon how you employ Office 365. And should one employ seasonal employees on the payroll, they’ll only be charged for them in the months they’re working.

A second pro of migrating to Office 365 Email is easing your mind. You can be assured that your information is safe, as Microsoft data centers follow established credentials. Add this to the fact that Microsoft stays up to date on the latest innovations, and is constantly looking for ways to improve Office 365.

Reflect for a moment to consider your company’s network. By migrating to Office 365 Email, you may be capable of cutting down on how many servers you use. Plus it might be easier for your staff to interact with each other by using instant messaging and additional tools.

And we surely can not forget about how well it performs with the means you already possess for your company. Your employees will still be competent to utilize PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Word, Project, Visio, Publisher, and more.

Migrating to Office 365 Email will allow you to have maintenance-free functions. Many may not realize it, but Microsoft provides a 99.9% uptime assurance. Add in access to 24/7 telephone and web aid, and you can be assured your company will be taken care of in the worst of situations.

If you’re worried regarding ease of use, don’t be! Office 365 is simple to use. There is not any intensive training required to set it up or use it. Therefore, any one of your employees will be able to operate it from day one. And should you need help, there are lots of videos Microsoft has uploaded on YouTube.

Do you like the thought of being capable to operate whenever, wherever you desire? Well, if you plan on migrating to Office 365 Email, this can become a reality. Reply to a customer’s complaint when on vacation halfway across the country. Use your phone while making a pit stop on a Sunday drive. Since all documents are on OneDrive, you can easily access them from any device from a Blackberry phone to a Mac computer.

Did you know that with Office 365 Email, there is safe high-cloud availability and information security? Your employees will be permitted entry to information on the cloud. It is much safer this way as there is not any waiting when servers have a mishap. Nor will one have to wait for technical breakdowns, or disasters such as fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, or power outages.

Microsoft Office is a proficient service that allows probable clients to see your company is sincere about what you do. You can truly set your corporation apart from the competition by not using ad-supported products.

If migrating to Office 365 Email sounds like a good idea for your company, but you are still not sure, consider contacting a professional, such as IB Systems USA in Tampa Bay, FL. With business needs changing regularly, this company can assist you in different aspects to make your corporation better.

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Cost-Effective

Cloud-based email being a subscription service model offers significant savings to implement and maintain the environment. Moving to Cloud-based email lets you get rid of the large capital outlay and convert your email to a monthly or an annual operational expense.

Scalable and Flexible

Cloud-based emails are scalable and allow you to increase your email capacity without doing major changes to the existing environment. Increased scalability ensures that your organization experiences simplicity of adjusting the user license counts, compute capacity, and adjust storage capacity based on specific needs.

Improves Uptime

Uptime is the next benefit of Cloud-based email that allows better email usage. As most Service providers are using multiple redundant sites, and data gets stored in the cloud, an organization experiences better uptime and disaster recovery response times compared to organizations using on-premises solutions.

Simplifies Administration

The administration of your email system is simplified after moving to a Cloud-based email system. You don’t need to worry about maintenance or version control issues that might come up. Like all web-based applications, Cloud-based email simplifies administration needs.

Improves Security

Using a Cloud-based email system lets your corporate emails reside in an off-site and highly protected location which makes it more secure than on-premises services. Cloud-based email providers such as Microsoft devote more resources to secure their facilities compared to smaller organizations.

Offers Remote Access

A Cloud-based email system gives your workers remote access to use their emails from wherever they want. This increases productivity and supports the growing trend of remote work in most organizations globally. You can access Cloud-based emails from anywhere in the world and any time during the day. You only need an internet connection to access it. This benefit is highly appreciated by most remote workers.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud-Based Email

After reading the benefits above, you must have understood if Cloud-based emails can be useful for your organization. We have summarized some advantages and disadvantages of this system below:

Advantages

• Doesn’t need the hiring of any dedicated IT staff for managing internal email servers resulting in substantial cost savings
• Scalable and flexible based on your needs. Scaling or downsizing is possible with a few clicks on your system
• Advanced security as Cloud-based emails is always up-to-date with the latest security features and patches
• There is no need of purchasing software unless you look for a front-end redundancy
• Email is stored in the cloud means if a system goes down, it is still backed up
• Easily integrate mobile devices in your workplace
• A service-oriented model helps in creating a better service relationship compared to typical sell and forget software

Disadvantages

• Regular costs per user which adds up over time
• The Cloud service provider is responsible to secure your service and offer information to secure it. Opting for an unreliable service provider might mean you do not get access to information that you should have.
• Cloud-based email means you have limited physical control over your emails which means you should be picking a service provider that you can trust.

In case you are searching for an experienced service provider to help you with business solutions and optimizing your website better in Tampa, FL, contact IB Systems USA. They are an experienced team that has been serving businesses over the last several years. Being a full-fledged marketing company, they can offer the best solutions to do business better.

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The Best Things About Office 365
One of the biggest benefits of using Office 365 is the flexibility to work on it from any location where you can connect to the internet. As it’s completely cloud-based, you can access business emails, Office Programs, and files from any location or device connected to the internet. The desktop-only version of Office can be installed on up to 5 devices per user. These features are highly useful for companies that work with remote employees and operate from multiple locations.

Easy Collaboration
The collaboration features of Office 365 are great, especially when you work in teams. It offers you the flexibility of enabling multiple users to edit and contribute to the same document. They can work on the same version in real-time than working on multiple versions that are later required to be combined.

The program also offers direct access to your files instead of sending them as attachments. Hence, people will now be able to make changes to a single file instead of saving their changes and creating multiple copies of the same file. It also comes with a versioning feature that lets you go back and check older versions.

Gives Access To Latest Versions of Programs
Office 365 offers you access to the latest versions of Office at no extra charge. It provides the latest and the best features without the need of uninstalling or reinstalling Office on every machine. Additionally, Microsoft provides constant upgrades to features across programs and gives access to all its users.

Customized Plans
Office 365 gives you an option to select plans where each includes different features and programs. As each individual in a company doesn’t need the same thing, you have the flexibility of mixing and matching plans. Hence you will not need to pay extra for services that you won’t be using. Switching from one plan to the other is also easy if you think you need to add more features to what you have already subscribed for.

Subscription-Based Payment
Being a subscription-based service, you shell out lower amounts as a monthly fee per user. You won’t have to pay a large lump sum upfront for using Office 365 and its features.

Better Security
Security is a concern for Cloud-based applications but you will be happy to know that Office 365 comes with several advanced security measures. Encrypted business emails, data loss prevention, mobile device management, and advanced threat analysis are some of the numerous security benefits integrated with this program.

The Things You Might Not Like
Like everything comes with both benefits and flaws, Office 365 also has a few issues which we feel can trouble you while using it. Let’s discuss some of those.

Connectivity Is Essential
In case there is no connectivity, you might not be able to access work. Being a cloud-based service, the absence of an internet connection doesn’t allow you to access your files. In case you don’t have a reliable internet connection, this is not the best service for you.

Subscription Based
The subscription feature is both a benefit and a drawback for this service. It depends on your usage and budget. Many users would prefer spending a one-time payment to purchase Office 365 than spending a fixed subscription amount each year.

Compatibility Issues With Business Apps
Access to the latest Office programs also comes with compatibility issues with other programs. Office 365 supports accessing older versions of Office programs but it’s always important to check compatibility with the applications you use before you upgrade Office.

Takes Efforts To Stay Updated With Changing Features
The features of the service change frequently and although you have access to the best and latest version, it can be hard to keep up with lessor known programs like Yammer or Delve.

Most Users Use Only 20% Off All Features
Although it isn’t a con, but worth noting. Office 365 email services or Word apps are some of the commonly used services. However, there are several other features that Office 365 offers. But it is estimated only 20% of those features will be used by most users.

Cloud-based programs and apps are the current big thing in an environment where we are working from remote locations and collaborating more than ever. In case you are searching for a reliable service provider for seamlessly operating and manage your business email in Tampa, FL, contact IB Systems USA. The experienced team has been handling both big and small clients for the past several years.

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1. Flexible working hours from anywhere and from any device

Office 365 migration permits your employees to access the company files away from the office without having to set up the VPNs, and it saves time and hassle. If you move to the cloud your employees can work from any place if they have access to an internet connection. It is terrific for progressive companies permitting their employees flexible working hours for better productivity. Because your files are centrally located in a data center owned by Microsoft there is a single data source available. If you make any changes to a document from home your colleagues in the office will get to see them. The days of emailing the new versions of data by using excel documents are gone.

2. Business data is secure

There are several security features associated with MS Office 365 that will make sure that the business remains secure in the Cloud. The applications of Office 365 can be accessed via TLS/SSL encryption. This ensures that if the files and communications are intercepted with malicious intent by someone, he will not be able to read them. MS continuously monitors their systems by performing regular security audits and they are constantly on the lookout for suspicious activities. They have a strong incident response protocol in operation. Other security benefits with Office 365 migration include,

· Updated antivirus signatures.

· Email protection from anti-virus software and anti-spam and malware filtering.

· Computing security measures trusted by MS.

3. Instantaneous upgrades and access available to the new features

As mentioned earlier MS is committed to making sure that your business is secure with the Cloud. Instantaneous updates are provided for all Office 365 solutions. You may avoid the need to go through the continuous cycle of having to update the business software manually. Be assured that the network is not susceptible to people looking to exploit older versions. You will also have access to the new features whenever they are launched permitting your employees the use of newer technologies for improving their productivity.

4. Greater mailbox storage

All businesses have a mailbox storage capability. No matter what the nature of the email is, the message remains in the inbox even in case it is spam and can be easily deleted. This may result in issues for the in-house servers and they can have their storage filled with old files that are not required for the present functionality of their business. If you can perform Office 365 migration it provides your employees the opportunity to maintain their files and emails safely within the cloud. Office 365 has a massive storage capability. It is also possible to automate the whole back-up process so that there is no need to spend time on it for manual working.

Many options become available with the Office 365 migration. You can also find the MS Office 365 partners providing advice on the situation you are facing. If you live in Clearwater, FL area you can get in touch with IB Systems USA for further advice about Office 365 migration.

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Specifically, we’re talking about an act dictating everything regarding how the website should look and function, not to mention that those who visit the website need clear and exact information. Also, it’s important to offer additional website security features, so visitors won’t be at risk of having their information exposed.

Therefore, the idea is simple: in order to remain HIPAA compliant, a website needs to follow specific requirements.

Install an SSL Certificate

Probably one of the most important steps you should take in the HIPAA compliance process is to have an SSL certificate for your website.

Technically speaking, this will show visitors that the website is fully secure and no data passing through it, like usernames, passwords, and any other sensitive information is encrypted and unreadable by and third parties. Simple as that. Oh, and it will turn the “http” in your address into “https”.

Remove clients information

There are situations where clients may require to have their information permanently removed from your website. And you need to be able to do this at any time.

Yes, you can keep and maintain the information after the visitor provides it, but in case of them leaving for another service provider, everything, including backed-up information, must be erased.

Encrypt everything

It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about information entered and submitted into your website or files, stored both locally and using a cloud service. Everything must be encrypted, no matter how many backups you’re using, in order to have a HIPAA compliant website.

Medical records need special attention, as once inputted and submitted to your site, you need to make sure they are protected since you are operating with very sensitive information.

Backup all the data

It is essential to back up all your clients’ information. Also, any kind of data collected by your website needs to be backed up as well, no matter if you’re relying on local backups or a safe and secure cloud solution.

Sign privacy agreements with employees

Most likely, the information stored on the website will be accessed by your employees, as part of their daily activities. However, to maintain the HIPAA compliant status, they must be authorized to do so.

It is your responsibility to inform employees about the need for signing a privacy agreement before giving them any levels of clearance or access to the information you store.

…as well as with business associates

There’s a high chance that you already have multiple business associates and work with third-party vendors. If they need to access the information stored on your website, they first need to sign a HIPAA Business Associate agreement.

This will keep your visitors’ information safe and, of course, maintain the website’s compliance with the HIPAA rules and regulations.

Of course, the list could go on, as there are multiple regulations a website should follow to remain. However, the ones presented above are clearly among the most important and the first you should consider following.

With over 20 years of experience, we, at IB Systems, approach any project with the determination to provide excellent results. Schedule a call today and our team will present you complete website development solutions, according to the HIPAA ruleset.

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Windows, as we all know, was developed by a software giant, while Linux was made by a couple of programming enthusiasts from all over the world, initially in their spare time. However, we all know what happened and both names became iconic, while the rivalry was growing with each day.

But now it seems closer to an end.

Microsoft decided that it’s time to treat its operating system nemesis differently. After offering support for Linux on Azure, it also started releasing software for Google’s Android, as well as Linux, not to mention using its rival OS to power its cloud service.

Now, thanks to the new Windows Subsystem for Linux, one of the most recent features, Linux fans can run apps in Windows. Yes, you got that right!

To be more specific, WSL can translate commands created for the Linux Kernel – otherwise known as one of the main parts of the operating system, responsible with talking to hardware – into commands made for Windows’ very own kernel. And that’s not everything, as Microsoft wants to integrate Linux kernel directly into WSL, thus launching a new variant of the software, as a preview, initially, this June.

Of course, there’s one thing we need to make clear: there’s no way the company founder by Bill Gates is replacing the Windows kernel, as the idea is different. Specifically, the Linux kernel is supposed to work as a virtual machine, one of the common ways of using an operating system within another operating system. And this means that if you want to use the Linux kernel you need to install WSL.

Sure, this is one weird idea, but for programmers, it makes perfect sense, especially for those involved in web development.

Linux is by far one of the most widely-used OS for running web servers, but when it comes to corporations, Windows is the leader. Considering this, facilitating Linux code to run on Windows is excellent news for any dev who needs a Windows machine to write code supposed to run on a Linux server.

This decision doesn’t come as a surprise, as Microsoft talked a lot about openness at this year’s Build developer conference, as they are trying to position themselves as leaders from this point of view, especially when compared to other tech giants, like Google or Apple.

Looking forward to trying this solution within your company but just don’t have the time? The experienced team at IB Systems is here to help. With a background of over 20 years, a period during which they worked with both Windows and Linux, our developers are willing to take any challenge, as web dev on virtual machines has no secrets at all!

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Lately, a lot of organizations are talking about the possibility of making a big step in terms of software an upgrade to Microsoft Office 365, the latest version of the giant’s editing pack. However, a lot of people are scared of change and just the idea of switching from what they have been using for years to something new scares them. But it this case, change can be incredibly good!

The new and improved Office 365 comes with a ton of great features, so we believe that anybody who’s still holding back should be aware of them, in order to stop missing out and press that “upgrade” button already.

Without much further ado, these are five of the most important reasons why you should step up your Office game!

Having everything in one place

Just imagine: a text editor, a spreadsheet manager, a presentation wizard, as well as an email client, alongside a lot of extras, like cloud storage, and many more, under one big umbrella. This is exactly what you’re getting when making the switch to Microsoft Office 365, resulting in seamless user experience.

But this is not everything, as all apps were designed to allow real-time collaboration, which is pretty much the biggest advantage of the upgrade. At least for us!

It’s ready to use in a few minutes

Moving on, we definitely shouldn’t forget about installing the latest Office version locally or even running an online version of any or all the available apps. To achieve this, you need the Active Directory credentials and voila!, you can access your email, contacts, calendar, or if needed, create or edit new documents online.

Microsoft Office 365 has a quick installation process, as everything you need to do is head over to Office.com, look for “Install Office Apps” and select your version. In our case, 365. In a matter of seconds, you will get instant access to everything the package contains. Seriously, it’s that easy.

Automatic updates

Forget about the old-fashioned way of updating Office, when you had to install the latest version on each machine in your organization or push it out using management tools like Group Policy, for example.

Dead and gone are these with Office 365, as all updates are downloaded and installed automatically. Just like it’s done on Windows. As a bonus, the system admin can set up all users through a standard or targeted release, depending on the internal policies!

Probably the best support available

Another thing we really like about the latest Office, even though we don’t like using it, but that’s another story, is their stellar support. Everything is managed within the Admin Center, the place where you can send all your requests, directly to Microsoft.

Additionally, users can be added and removed through the Admin Center, the same place where security settings are managed and user reports and stats are checked.

World-class security

Last – but not least – we should take a few moments and remind everybody that Office 365 is 100% safe and secure. After all, it’s backed by a tech giant, right?

Besides spam and malware filtering, the update comes with extra layers of security, preventing data loss, offering multi-factor authentication, as well as advanced protection against threats. Oh, and it’s hosted in the cloud, through Microsoft’s Azure, so the technical staff within your company should worry about any data center maintenance.

Sounds good, we know. If you’re looking forward to proceeding with the update but the lack of time or proper technical knowledge is an issue, the team at IB Systems is the one to call. With over 20 years of experience, they can put your team up to date, allowing them to enjoy the full range of Office 365 features in no time.

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After making Office free for both main mobile operating platforms, Android and iOS, Microsoft announced a completely new open source framework: .NET Core.

Generally speaking .NET Core can be considered a modular, cross-platform, open-source framework for developers, integrating the latest web apps, but also microservices and console applications.

But still, what are the main advantages of using Microsoft’s new framework? Let’s find out together…

Development, testing, and deployment, in an instant

It’s not a secret that making the first steps in web development with ASP.NET is seriously time-consuming. Still, ever since the release of .NET Core – otherwise an open source solution – developers became aware of the fact that the new framework’s possibilities, but also the fact that it can be used with various text editors, including the likes of Sublime Text, Atom, or Visual Studio Code.

Another aspect that we really like is the “Save & Refresh” approach. Basically, this makes it very easy to see the code change effects, but without any deployment at all. Simply write your code, save the work and refresh your browser in order to see what you’ve done.

Finally, .NET Core includes a built-in memory database, which turned out to be an incredibly useful one, especially when it comes to unit testing, but also testing automation practices.

It’s friendly with other platforms

Moving on, Microsoft’s framework makes all the compatibility problems faced by developers forgotten. Considering that all .NET Core framework-based apps are all standalone, they already have the runtime setting. Technically, this means that they don’t depend on the operating system you’re using.

Basically, you can set up apps to run on, let’s say, Windows, in the same way, they run on MacOS or Linux. How cool is that?

And as a side note, the framework is compatible with several database engine platforms, from which we remind SQL Server, MySQL – of course -, My Car, Oracle, MS Access, and many more.

It has everything you need to create cloud apps

Another advantage of .NET Core that’s really worth mentioning is that it’s designed – not especially for this, but it does an excellent job at it – for building high-performance cloud apps.

The framework comes with all the tools you need, as well as the templates needed by developers in order to put together their cloud apps in no time.

So, are you going to give it a try?

IB Systems can assist you with using .NET Core, thanks to its team of skilled developers. Whether you’re after complete software solutions or consultancy, here you can find all the information you need about Microsoft’s framework, as well as many more programming languages, databases and platforms.

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A lot of time passed since then and Microsoft’s solution is still alive and kickin’! In fact, one of them, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, remains one of the best solutions for storing personal contact information, but also home inventory, financial records, and many others.

If you’re still sceptical about doing it yourself, let’s take a look at the superpowers Microsoft’s solution has and why it’s actually worth using it.

A totally streamlined installation

Keeping it short, the server can be installed with ease, using a setup wizard. The latter is able to auto-detect downloads and installs, but also all the prerequisite updates it needs. Therefore, the installation process is not complex at all, so anybody can do it. Simple as that.

As for the individual components which can be installed, like Database Services, Analysis Services, or Integration Services, you can also install them, but separately. Finally, in terms of security, the patches are installed automatically, in order to reduce the costs of maintenance.

Increased security

Speaking about keeping your data safe, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 includes strong authentication features, as well as access protection, which are a few big pluses. Also, the password management features were also improved, in order to allow users to use stronger passwords and, of course, avoid changing them very often.

A feature worth mentioning is the fact that only authorized users can access the database, due to the integration of Policy-Based Management, able to decent any non-compliant security policy.

Performance at all costs

Microsoft built the latest version of their server solution with one thing in mind: making it as performant as possible. Therefore, it features transparent data compression, but also built-in encryption. Also, it comes with efficient access control, while offering an overall improved performance, when it comes to data collection. As a bonus, it integrates nicely with the Microsoft Office suite.

Even though Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is able to deal with ridiculously big databases, with sizes of up to 524 terabytes, thanks to its ability to compress data, the size of the final database can be reduced a lot!

Bonus features, no extra costs

When you’re installing SQL Server 2008, you’re getting a few really nice bonuses, like data management, disk partitioning, as well as data mining tools. And we’re not done, since Enterprise Reporting and Advanced Security are also included, without paying anything extra. Sounds pretty good, don’t you think?

Looking forward to implementing a database solution for your company? IB Systems’ team has the experience and knowledge for this, being specialized in deciphering Microsoft SQL Server’s secrets, starting with the version from 2000 and all the way to the most recent one.

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