The cost of hiring a full time employee goes beyond the monthly paycheck. Outsourcing has becoming a growing trend for small to medium businesses looking to cut costs and save time.

While hiring a full-time IT Department is a popular choice for larger businesses, San Diego’s small to medium business owners are trending towards the cost-saving benefits of outsourcing IT services.

According to a Technology 2012 Salary Guide by Robert Half®, the average starting yearly salary of an in-house CIO is $139,000– $225,000 while an IT Manager earns $97,000 – $130,000 per year.

But beyond the high costs of hiring IT employees, there is also the time it takes to find, hire and train internal staff. According to the same report, 59% of CIOs surveyed said it was “challenging” to find skilled IT professionals today. They also said it takes on average 5-7 weeks to hire an IT professional.
 “A typical in-house IT department for small to midsize businesses consists of an IT Director or manager, and two assistants,” explains Siyamak Khorrami of Skyriver IT, a San Diego IT Consulting Company. “The average cost per year of having an internal IT team ends up costing upwards of $200, 000. As a result, more San Diego companies are realizing that they can get round the clock IT services for 30-40% less when they outsource their IT needs.”

Outsourcing IT services not only saves on additional payroll, taxes and healthcare expenses, it also affords small to medium businesses to gain expertize from a larger pool of IT  professionals, who are available 24/7 to solve problems strategically, pro-actively and quickly.

About Skyriver IT
Our mission at Skyriver IT is to professionalize the IT services business. We provide small and mid-size companies with the information they need to make better IT decisions. If you would like to discuss how your company can benefit from outsourcing IT services, please feel free to call (858) 812-9322 or visit www.SkyriverIT.com

Problems with VOIP
For several months, Accord Engineering had been dealing with problems on their Voice over IP (VOIP) phone system. They were suffering from dropped calls due in part from their network being flooded by unnecessary traffic. In addition, their internet connection was very slow despite having sufficient bandwidth for their business.

San Diego IT Consulting Solution
At the recommendation of their VOIP provider, Accord Engineering chose Skyriver IT, a San Diego IT Consulting company, to help them sort out their network problems related to the VOIP system. Skyriver IT modified the network setup to improve the flow of network traffic without any hardware upgrades. This resulted in less dropped calls (virtually none), faster internet access, and overall improvement in internet accessibility.

In many cases, simply having a network professional review network configurations and suggest improvements can save time and problems in the long run.

Virtualization makes your operating system, applications and data independent of a single physical machine.

Reducing downtime is always a great outcome, but what exactly is virtualization? It is a great way to make sure your “server” is not reliant on a single physical server. Let me explain…

Virtualization makes your operating system, applications and data independent of a single physical machine. So, you can put more than one virtual server on a single machine, or you can spread a virtual server across more than one machine. So, there are two primary ways you can use virtualization to minimize downtime.

The first way to minimize downtime is to spread your virtual server across several physical machines. While your server acts as a single server, it actually uses the computing power of several physical machines. So, if any single machine fails, your virtual server continues to run with a little less computing power until the physical machine can be replaced.

If you do not need the computing power of several physical machines, you can still take advantage of virtualization. Your IT team can take regular “pictures” of your virtual server. So, if there is ever a problem with the physical machine your server is running on, your IT team can use the “picture” of your server to get up and running on a new machine in minutes rather than the hours it can take to restore a typical backup of a server.

Whichever way you choose to use virtualization, it is a great tool to reduce your potential downtime.

About Skyriver IT
Our mission at Skyriver IT is to professionalize the IT services business. We provide small and mid-size companies with the information they need to make better IT decisions. If you would like to discuss how you could implement virtualization to reduce potential downtime, please feel free to call (858) 812-9322 or visit www.SkyriverIT.com

External privacy policies are typically pretty straightforward. How are you going to use visitor data? How are you going to protect it? How will it not be used? You want to keep as much of your rights to use their data to your benefit without putting off visitors. Examples of privacy policies are available on most web sites you visit as well as sites that help you generate privacy policies.

Internal privacy policies are less straightforward, but very important to implement. Without one, employees can do random things online that put your company in jeopardy – from sharing proprietary information to bad mouthing customers.

Some of the questions you want to consider are:

1.    What kinds of sensitive information should employees never share?
2.    Are there other types of information they need to be careful about sharing?
3.    Who can represent the company online?
4.    How are employee records, such as personal information, medical history, etc. handled?
5.    Are there any restrictions around email and Internet usage?
6.    Who is responsible for internal systems and access, such permissions, and access to files?
7.    Are there any established laws and regulations we need to follow?
8.    What are the consequences for violating the policy?

CIO Services can help you create an effective Privacy Policy
Because of the importance of such policies, and the many issues that surround them, it can be valuable to use an outside resource to help you structure and create your internal privacy policy. Skyriver IT’s CIO Services help you understand how the strategic and people issues are affected by a privacy policy.

Mac-Based Security Threats are Growing Concern for IT Service Providers

One of the great benefits of having a Mac has been the reduced threat of malware and other security threats. However, with the increased popularity of Macs, IT service providers have seen the security threats grow as well. As reported by F-Secure.com the threats grew in the last six months of 2011, and we can expect similar increases in 2012.

What does that mean for businesses running Macs? While the security threats to Macs are still much lower than Window machines, they are growing to a point where business managers should be concerned.

Skyriver IT recommends making some immediate changes to your Mac out of the box. This includes setting up the firewall and encrypting the hard drive. Also, educating users on security threats can help to prevent inadvertent downloading of malware and viruses. With a few simple steps, you can greatly reduce the security threats to any Macs on your network.

For more ways IT Consulting Services can help your business this year, contact us directly at (858) 812-9322 or visit www.SkyriverIT.com

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About Skyriver IT
Our mission at Skyriver IT is to professionalize the IT services business. We provide small and mid-size companies with the information they need to make better IT decisions. If you would like to discuss whether CIO Services could better align your IT investments with your business goals, please visit www.SkyriverIT.com or call  (858) 812-9322.

Working with an IT infrastructure outsourcing company that takes ownership for managing your IT infrastructure allows you to focus on what you do best. Rather than being reactionary, your IT service provider should be proactive and help you plan for the future.

Here is what one of our clients said about using Skyriver IT:

“It is rare to have a partner that can not only address your needs today but clearly articulate a vision that maps to the future growth of your operations. As a small business, this kind of attention to detail is a difference maker in today’s marketplace.”
– Matt Costanzo, COO, Costanzo Financial Group

As you consider your organization’s IT needs for the rest of 2012, be cognizant of who owns the management of your IT infrastructure. You want to focus on what you do best and not get caught up in trying to make decisions that are outside your area of expertise.

About Skyriver IT
Our mission at Skyriver IT Consulting is to professionalize the IT services business. We take ownership of our clients’ IT infrastructure, so they can focus on what they do best. If you would like to discuss how Skyriver IT could ensure your IT infrastructure supports your business goals, contact us at (858) 812-9322 or visit our web site at www.SkyriverIT.com

A qualified CIO helps to translate the business strategy into IT infrastructure needs. Since most small and mid-sized businesses cannot afford a full-time CIO, Skyriver IT provides part-time CIO Consulting Services.

Do you frequently feel that your relationship with your IT staff is too adversarial? Business managers see information technology as an expense to be minimized. IT staff think that there is not enough investment in “critical” infrastructure. In leaner years, the gap seems to only widen.

For example, have you ever had your IT staff tell you that your 3-year-old backup system is inadequate or outdated? That you need to invest several thousand dollars and many man-hours to get something that will meet your business needs. You wonder if the IT folks are just paranoid, or if this is really critical? And if it is critical, does the solution need to be so expensive? It can be very confusing and frustrating.

It doesn’t have to be this way! All that is needed, in most cases, is an interpreter — someone who can:

1.    Help the IT team translate the business goals into IT infrastructure needs and define what are the right IT investments to move the business forward
2.    Help business managers to understand the risk-reward implications of potential IT investments

CIO as Interpreter
At large companies, it is the Job of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) to act as an interpreter between IT and senior management. The CIO helps to translate the business strategy into IT infrastructure needs. However, small and mid-sized businesses cannot afford a full-time CIO. That is why CIO services can be beneficial for many businesses who only need a CIO for several hours a month, at most.

With CIO Services, you can:
•    Feel confident about which IT investments support your business goals
•    Make better IT choices around which technologies will work for your business (e.g. Salesforce.com vs. SugarCRM)
•    Understand the total cost of a technology investment
•    Get your IT staff to support your business goals

In order to make 2012 the year your IT supports your business goals, consider investing in CIO Services. A small up-front investment can mean the difference between IT that supports your business goals and IT that thwarts your business goals.

About Skyriver IT
Our mission at Skyriver IT is to professionalize the IT services business. We provide small and mid-size companies with the information they need to make better IT decisions. If you would like to discuss whether CIO Services could better align your IT investments with your business goals, call us at (858) 812-9322 or visit http://www.skyriverit.com/

For example, a business intelligence dashboard can allow you to easily see real-time revenue and expenses as well as 12-month trends. And when you want more information about a specific line item, quickly drill down into your data and see more details or quickly create a complex analysis. A good business intelligence system allows you to easily monitor, analyze and act upon your data.

Until recently, business intelligence packages were not affordable to small and midsize businesses. Skyriver IT now offers a pre-built, semi-customized Business Intelligence package that helps you make the right decisions while being cost effective.

Whether you use the new offering from Skyriver IT or choose another package, you owe it to yourself to consider how a good business intelligence system could help you make better decisions in 2012. It could give you a competitive advantage over your competitors. Most of your competitors wait for monthly financial reports to find out how they are doing and what is going on. With a business intelligence system, you get one simple daily report that provides the vital statistics on your organization so you can make the right decisions quickly and act on them.

 About Skyriver IT

Our mission at Skyriver IT is to professionalize the IT services business. We provide small and midsize companies with the information they need to make better business IT decisions. If you would like to discuss how business intelligence could help you make better decisions in 2012, please feel free to visit SkyriverIT.com or call (858) 812-9322.

Your computer may be more vulnerable to Computer Threats in December due to increased visits to unfamiliar online shopping web sites

“Since most small businesses don’t have a full-time IT professional on site, by the time the business owners realize their network has been compromised, significant damage has already been done, “ explains Siyamak Khorrami, of Skyriver IT, a San Diego IT consulting company.

And once a computer virus infects a business network, their customers’ sensitive personal data is vulnerable too. In fact, according to Visa Inc. about 95% of credit-card data breaches are on its smallest business customers.

“We get a lot of calls from business owners in December, “ Khorrami says. “With so much online shopping, small businesses unknowingly expose their computer networks to malware. And it’s not just the employees. Business owners themselves, visit unfamiliar web sites while searching for holiday gifts.”

Many small businesses cannot afford a full time IT professional to monitor their networks. Therefore, outsourcing this job to an IT consulting services company has become a popular option for small to mid-sized business owners who want the same type of protection a larger company gets.

San Diego IT consulting company, Skyriver IT, has put together a list of critical precautions every business owner should take, especially in December.

1.    Be sure your Antivirus software is up to date and installed correctly.

2.    Keep all computer systems updated with a patch management strategy.

3.    Install a firewall to control internet access.

4.    And most importantly, remember that computer security is an ongoing job. New malware and computer viruses are created every day, and having a trusted IT consultant check-in on your system on a regular basis can save thousands in potential damage from hackers.

About Skyriver IT
Skyriver IT is a San Diego IT Consulting Company providing unbiased CIO services as part of their package. Skyriver IT specializes in high-level technology advice in addition to taking care of day-to-day issues for their business customers. More information at http://www.SkyriverIT.com

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/12/prweb9027555.htm

When people refer to cloud computing it is usually unclear what they mean.

When people refer to cloud computing it is usually unclear what they mean. Even though the concept of cloud computing is often discussed, the implementation of a cloud computing platform is not tightly defined. Any single cloud computing strategy may make sense for a company to adopt, and it is important to understand the opportunities and consequences of each.

The following three approaches are all called cloud computing, and are very different from each other.

•    Application hosting service:

This is what gmail and yahoo mail offer; basically you outsource an application to a third party. We use Salesforce.com, which is a hosted service.  The advantages are as follows: You will not need to worry about managing and maintaining the application. You do not need to spend large sums of money on software or hardware. And you will benefit from the regular updates. The disadvantages are as follows: Customization is limited to the range of what is offered, so you cannot customize the CRM. You are choosing a partner and will be depending on them, so choose wisely. Finally, you are relying on the Internet to get access to your application and this may change what you need to budget for Internet in order to stay productive.

•    Dedicated servers or infrastructure in collocation.

Basically you are renting dedicated servers from a colocation facility and loading your own applications. The best thing about this service is that the facility will be responsible for the health and operational readiness of the hardware. If there is a problem, they usually guarantee one hour turnaround time.  You will also eliminate the challenges of having your own small data room and investing in new hardware; you only pay the monthly fees. And if your application is supposed to be available to customers, the redundancy of power and Internet access offered by the collocation facility is far better than your own facility. The disadvantages are: Relying on the Internet or a private connection to reach your applications. A slow or unreliable connection could affect productivity.  This may change what you need to budget for connectivity.
•    Cloud Servers.

These are big servers or farms of servers in a datacenter where a number of companies share the resources. Nothing is dedicated. Even some applications are rented instead of purchased. This approach is good for startup companies, or web based companies as your infrastructure can expand as you need it. You will only pay for what you use.  It’s a cheap way to get started. However as you need more control of your data, you should think about dedicated servers. Cloud servers bring up the concern of “virtualized data” where your data is yours, but it isn’t on your equipment.  Some companies would have a hard time with this concept knowing that it could take days to transfer that data to a company owned server if necessary.
We hope that you find this information helpful. If you have any question please let us know. We are here to help with any technology questions…

About Skyriver IT  
Our mission at Skyriver IT is to professionalize the IT services business. We provide small and midsize companies with the information they need to make better IT decisions. If you would like to discuss whether cloud computing could save you money, please feel free to call  (858) 812-9322 or visit www.skyriverit.com