Network monitoring is an essential component of the network support package.
We use both off-the-shelf network tools and also our own in-house developed tools.
Having our own software development team gives us the edge when it comes to network monitoring. We have developed our own monitoring software tailored to exactly meet our requirements and those of our customers’ networks.
Our monitoring product is called Server Monitor. We install this on all the servers we support. This monitors all the major aspects of a server and its connected networks 24 hours a day.
We normally release major enhancements to Server Monitor approximately once a year based on changes in the server and network technology we need to monitor. This keeps our monitoring capability fully up to date. This isn’t always possible when relying on third party products.
The cost of Server Monitor is included in our standard support package. We grant a license for the life of the support contract including all upgrades.
Alliance Solutions offers both a telephone and email based helpdesk that is part of our standard support package.
The standard helpdesk support hours are 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday excluding public holidays. We can also offer extended support hours by prior arrangement.
The vast majority of our helpdesk calls are answered immediately by a helpdesk engineer. We do not use automated call queuing systems. In the rare event that an engineer is not immediately available to take a call, we will log the call on our helpdesk system and an engineer will call back, usually within minutes.
Unlike many support companies, we only staff our helpdesk with network engineers. This means that we have very few escalated issues that cannot be dealt with by the engineer who takes a call. This ‘flat’ helpdesk structure results in a significant reduction in the time it takes to resolve issues.
In addition to handling support incidents, the helpdesk also handles network maintenance tasks on behalf of our customers, especially if they do not have their own IT staff. Tasks include adding user accounts, administering email and updating firewall configurations.
The helpdesk engineers also visit customer sites so that they are familiar with them first hand.
Above all, our helpdesk engineers are friendly and have a ‘can do’ attitude.
In this rapidly changing IT environment with the ever-changing applications and multi-platform infrastructures means that IT compliance continues to become more complex.
The more IT changes to record means the more people and access to control, which results in more risk to be managed. On top of that there is an abundant of software licenses to be maintained to meet regulatory requirements and produce the necessary audit trails.
Writing IT policy procedures for approved processes and maintaining this documentation can be difficult and time consuming and it is often an unrewarded task.
We can assist clients with their IT policies and carry out the necessary configuration work to make their computer network and data secure, and provide measures to monitor audit and record activity on the network.
We can install, configure and monitor security systems that protect the client from malicious staff and protect the client’s staff from threats on the Internet. We can also put policies in place to prevent staff from visiting social web sites and holiday web sites etc during working hours.
Our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can track your software licenses including server licenses, anti-virus, security certificates, content filtering as well as hardware warranties etc. The CRM system also notifies us in advance when these licenses need to be renewed.
We also maintain a complete set of sire documentation copies of which are held securely on and off site.
Business data is generally regarded as a company’s most valuable asset. Data loss such as email, company information, client documentation, databases etc can cause major disruption and have an impact on business continuity and its ability to trade.
We cannot stress enough the importance of backing up data and having a copy of all company data held off site. According to Gartner, 50% of companies go out of business within 6 months if they lose access to mission critical data or applications and are unable to recover within 24 hours.
Generally the main method used for data backup is on tapes taken off site on a daily basis. One of the main questions asked by clients is whether there is an alternative to taking tapes off site.
The answer is on line backup or to have data replication to a server either at another office or to a co location site.
In the past online backup has generally been an expensive option because of the broadband connection speed required, software costs and data storage. However, broadband speeds are now significantly faster, the backup software is more sophisticated and the cost of hard drive space has decreased.