Evaluating Your Current IT | Server Cloud Canada

Is your business is looking into hiring an external IT service provider for your technical processes and systems? There are 6 things that you need to consider when evaluating your current IT provider for your organization:

Canadian Compliant Data Processing and Storage

Proactive Disaster and Recovery Planning
Support and Account Services Response Times
Infrastructure Scalability Considerations
Data Security and Accessibility
Overall IT Management and Organizational Value, Reporting

Canadian Compliant Data Processing and Storage

Whether federal or provincial, Canadian privacy and data legislation including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Personal Health Protection Acts (PHIPA), can be incredibly challenging to navigate, especially for organizations that work with personal, private client data. Any Canadian Managed Service Providers (MSPs) should not only have an in-depth understanding of these laws, but they should also be able to make recommendations with industry or data-specific processes to ensure that your organizational data remains secure and compliant.

By working with Server Cloud Canada, we will work with your Managed Service Provider to ensure that your crucial organizational data and client information are secure, Canadian privacy law compliant, reduce associated liabilities and risks, and rest easy knowing that your business data is secure and compliant.

Proactive Disaster and Recovery Planning

Preparing for a disaster or system failure is crucial to the planning, development, and maintenance of any IT infrastructure or network system. Whether caused by a malicious attack (malware, hackers etc.), basic human-error (accidental deletion) or a natural disaster (fires, floods, storms), your MSP should have a custom and proactive monitoring and management process for your system and business data, but it is also critical that they create, update and implement an in-depth Disaster and Recovery plan for your organization. These plans should include:

Using automatic backups and redundant platforms in 9 different geographical locations across Canada, the Server Cloud team can ensure that your business data is always up-to-date, fully-backed and accessible for your MSP to easily provide fast restoration and recovery.

Support and Account Services Response Times

Whether or not your organization has specific Service Level Agreements (SLA) for your providers or contractors, it is important to ensure that your chosen Managed Service Provider is meeting or exceeding these requirements. While SLAs often cover a wide number of items, be sure to inquire specifically about:

What is the process for after-hours technical support? Sales support?
Is technical support available 24/7?
Will you be provided with a dedicated Account Manager?
Do they provide training for all users (admin, manager, general user?)

Server Cloud Canada and our partners ensure that all of our plans and agreements meet or exceed your organizational requirements, including SLAs. SCC clients are provided with a dedicated account manager, 24/7 support from our experienced, dedicated support team, and can provide a service package that will reduce downtime and issues, while providing a high level of service and value.

Infrastructure Scalability Considerations

Your organization, from the structure, culture, infrastructure and offerings, is unique, meaning often that your organizational processes and requirements for data storage and network infrastructure are also unique. It is crucial that your Managed Cloud Service Provider not only understands these points, but also that they work to ensure that your migration plan is not ‘out of the box’ but customized to meet your migration, management and update requirements, planning to reduce negative impact to business operations day-to-day or long-term. Some of these plans should include:

DNS and Related Records
Network Readiness Testing
Hardware Requirements
Integrations and Interconnections (Existing or new)

Server Cloud Canada’s cloud experts work closely with your chosen Managed Service Provider, using detailed design plans and in-depth analysis for your network architecture, hardware, records and integrations, to ensure that your cloud storage network is migrated and maintained.

Data Security and Accessibility

While it is absolutely crucial to protect and secure your business and organizational data – whether information about clients, processes , products, etc., it is also critical to ensure that your staff, clients and networks have access to these files, applications and more when they are needed. Providing a high level of security for cloud-based infrastructure (especially on VPNs that allow users to work or access documents remotely) means balancing user accessibility, in-depth team training, and a high level of customer service availability 24/7. It is also important to talk to your MSP about the steps needed to allow staff and clients online access while keeping within Canadian data privacy laws.

Server Cloud Canada will work with your MSP to develop and provide multiple levels of cloud deployment security, accessibility and training for staff (Admin, Management, Customer Service, etc.), IT, contractors and more. By implementing custom deployment plans and increased data security processes, you can ensure that security is not affected by the accessibility of the setup.

Overall IT Management and Organizational Value, Reporting

On top of everything listed above, it is critical that you ask any potential incoming Managed Service Providers about how they organize, manage, and provide analysis on your new or existing cloud-based network. Analytics and reporting processes and systems, whether as an application, documentation or dashboard, should allow managers and administrators to compare and review data as needed.

Many of these important things to consider when evaluating your current MSP for your cloud-based data. Although this is general advice for any industry, it can be considered universal to Canadian businesses and organizations. Be sure to ask your current or potential Managed Service Provider these questions to ensure that all of your specific needs regarding your businesses data are addressed.

To get connected with Server Cloud Canada and to find an MSP partner that best fits your needs and provide a secure, accessible cloud-based data solution, see below