Causes we care about Causes We Support It's no secret: our environment is in dire shape. Pollinators are facing population collapse, fossil fuel pollution continues to propel global climate change, biodiversity and wild areas are under growing assault from human interests. Likewise, vulnerable populations of humans and animals face ever-mounting challenges to lives with dignity and purpose. This is why we feel it's important to be candid about social and environmental causes we support in our area. We want to encourage everyone, client or not, to dedicate some of your time to help the organizations below. info@leaflimb.com 919-787-9551 www.leaflimb.com Donate to Project Pando Project Pando (by Leaf & Limb ) Leaf & Limb, based in Raleigh, NC, describes their vision: "Increase the health and population of trees to help address pressing environmental issues and restore the balance of life on Earth." Project Pando seeks to connect people with trees, providing native trees to any person or organization who needs them. Their goals of outreach, education, and environmental restoration are goals we deeply and actively support. Keep Durham Beautiful Keep Durham Beautiful is a Durham, NC based nonprofit that we want more people to know about. Their work in removing waste from outdoor spaces, establishing community gardens, and restoring our local environment is critically important and more needed than ever. Geeks for Business has worked with Keep Durham Beautiful to plant trees, shrubs, and bulbs in public spaces and at our offices, in addition to volunteering our time to assist in their regular waste cleanup efforts. info@keepdurhambeautiful.org 919-354-2729 www.keepdurhambeautiful.org Donate to Keep Durham Beautiful The Eno River Association Established in 1966, the Eno River Association is an accredited land trust and conservation nonprofit driven by a mission to conserve and protect the natural, historical, and cultural resources of the Eno River Basin. 4404 Guess Rd. Durham, NC 27712 (919) 620-9099 www.enoriver.org Donate to the Eno River Association Independent Animal Rescue "Independent Animal Rescue is a non-profit group in the Triangle region of North Carolina that works to provide homes for hundreds of unwanted cats and dogs each year. IAR is run primarily by committed individuals from the community who volunteer their time to help homeless animals and to keep our support programs functioning. To learn more about how you can help, visit our Volunteer page." Mail: IAR, P.O. Box 14232, Durham, NC 27709-4232 919-403-2221 www.animalrescue.net Donate to Independent Animal Rescue

Learn about the ways we protect your personal information and sensitive data. Data & Privacy Information we collect Information collected via technology Children's privacy (COPPA) Ways we use and share information SMS opt-in, opt-out, and consent How we protect information Personal information rights Your right to be forgotten Links to other websites Changes to our privacy policy Contact us Data and Privacy Data we collect and the way we use it: Geeks for Business LLC (the “Company”) is committed to maintaining robust privacy protections for its users. Our Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) is designed to help you understand how we collect, use and safeguard the information you provide to us and to assist you in making informed decisions when using our Service. For purposes of this Agreement, “Site” refers to the Company’s website, which can be accessed at www.geeksforbusiness.net . “Service” refers to the Company’s services accessed via the Site, in which users can read about our scope of service, general pricing, frequently-asked questions, et cetera. The terms “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Company. “You” refers to you, as a user of our Site or our Service. By accessing our Site or our Service, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and you consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy. This document may be updated at any time, with or without prior written notice. We make every effort to ensure the information contained within is accurate while providing clients with a minimum of 30 days’ notice in the event of changes to our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, or other Company policies and terms. INFORMATION WE COLLECT: We collect “Non-Personal Information” and “Personal Information.” Non-Personal Information includes information that cannot be used to personally identify you, such as anonymous usage data, general demographic information we may collect, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, preferences you submit and preferences that are generated based on the data you submit and number of clicks. Personal Information includes your email address(es), your business(es)’ physical and mailing locations, personal and/or business cellular telephone numbers, IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, software licensing information (eg: Windows licensing information), hardware serial numbers (in the event of new products provided by Geeks for Business LLC within the scope of a technology systems installation, or when such is gathered during a technology systems audit, also referred to as an ‘IT audit’), which you submit to us through the registration process at the Site. I. Information collected via Technology To use our website, hereafter referred to as “the Service”, you do not need to submit any Personal Information other than your email address. To use the Service thereafter, you do not need to submit further Personal Information. Ia. However, in an effort to improve the quality of the Service, we track information provided to us by your browser or by our software application when you view or use the Service, such as the website you came from (known as the “referring URL”), the type of browser you use, the device from which you connected to the Service, the time and date of access, and other information that does not personally identify you. Ib. We track this information using cookies, or small text files which include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to a user’s browser from our servers and are stored on the user’s computer hard drive. Sending a cookie to a user’s browser enables us to collect Non-Personal information about that user and keep a record of the user’s preferences when utilizing our services, both on an individual and aggregate basis. Ic. For example, the Company may use cookies to collect the following information: · Referring URL, user agent ID (browser identification), time and date of access, operating system version when accessing our resources, and analytics/performance information The Company may use both persistent and session cookies; persistent cookies remain on your computer after you close your session and until you delete them, while session cookies expire when you close your browser. Id. For example, we store a persistent cookie to track user preferences, sign-in information (if so desired), and other user-selected settings. Persistent cookies are stored on your device and may be deleted at any time, by way of your browser’s settings menu. II. Information you provide us by registering for an account In addition to the information provided automatically by your browser when you visit the Site, to become a subscriber to the Service you will need to create a personal profile. You can create a profile by registering with the Service and entering your email address, and creating a user name and a password. IIa. By registering an account with Us, on this website, you are authorizing us to collect, store and use your email address in accordance with this Privacy Policy. IIb. Children’s Privacy (Compliance with COPPA ) The Site and the Service are not directed to anyone under the age of 13. The Site does not knowingly collect or solicit information from anyone under the age of 13, or allow anyone under the age of 13 to sign up for the Service. In the event that we learn that we have gathered personal information from anyone under the age of 13 without the consent of a parent or guardian, we will delete that information as soon as possible. If you believe we have collected such information, please contact us at support@geeksforbusiness.net III. WAYS WE USE AND SHARE INFORMATION Personal Information: Except as otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, we do not sell, trade, rent or otherwise share for marketing purposes your Personal Information with third parties without your consent. We do share Personal Information with vendors who are performing services for the Company, such as the servers for our email communications who are provided access to users’ email addresses for purposes of sending emails from us. Those vendors use your Personal Information only at our direction and in accordance with our Privacy Policy. IIIa. In general, the Personal Information you provide to us is used to help us communicate with you. For example, we use Personal Information to contact users in response to questions, solicit feedback from users, provide technical support, and inform users about promotional offers. We may share Personal Information with outside parties if we have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to meet any applicable legal process or enforceable governmental request; to enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations; address fraud, security or technical concerns; or to protect against harm to the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public as required or permitted by law. IIIb. Non-Personal Information: In general, we use Non-Personal Information to help us improve the Service and customize the user experience. We also aggregate Non-Personal Information in order to track trends and analyze use patterns on the Site. This Privacy Policy does not limit in any way our use or disclosure of Non-Personal Information and we reserve the right to use and disclose such Non-Personal Information to our partners, advertisers and other third parties at our discretion. IIIc. In the event that the company undergoes a restructuring event such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your personally identifiable information (PII) may be among the assets transferred. You acknowledge and consent that such transfers may occur and are permitted by this Privacy Policy, and that any acquirer of our assets may continue to process your PII as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If our information practices change at any time in the future, we will post the policy changes to the Site so that you may opt out of the new information practices. We suggest that you check the Site periodically if you are concerned about how your information is used. IIId. SMS/text messaging opt-in, opt-out, and consent When you submit a request for service or pricing through the Contact Us form located in the Site's footer, you will be required to consent to be contacted by Us ("Geeks for Business LLC") by email, phone, and/or SMS in order to proceed. This "opt-in" to be contacted by email, phone, and/or SMS is a regulatory requirement and lets us ensure that your consent to be contacted is appropriately collected and stored in accordance with those regulatory guidelines. Should you wish to opt out of future SMS communications from Us ("Geeks for Business LLC"), you may reply "STOP" to 919-381-8974 at any time. However, to facilitate efficient service, we request that you maintain a valid phone number or email address through which you can be reached about service requests and other service-related updates. You will never be sent marketing or promotional information by SMS from Us ("Geeks for Business LLC"). IV. HOW WE PROTECT INFORMATION Pertaining to our website and other web services: We implement security measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access. Your account is protected by your account password and we urge you to take steps to keep your personal information safe by not disclosing your password and by logging out of your account after each use. We further protect your information from potential security breaches by implementing certain technological security measures including encryption, firewalls and secure socket layer technology. However, these measures do not guarantee that your information will not be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed by breach of such firewalls and secure server software. By using our Service, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to assume these risks. It is incumbent upon each client to perform their own due diligence in implementing security 'best practices' while using any online or digital platform. IVa. Pertaining to on-site, remote, and other contract, maintenance, or retainer work provided by the Company: No user data are stored unless the customer requests that it is stored. All data that are stored are protected by security best practices, including secure passwords (longer than 16 alphanumeric characters, randomly generated), software and hardware encryption, multifactor authentication, virtualization/isolation, and physical security measures including locking any customer equipment that contains user data (personally identifiable information) and/or has otherwise not been formatted or sanitized. IVb. In the event that factors outside of the Company’s control, such as a website or web service hack or data breach, compromise a customer’s personally identifiable information, the Company assumes no legal responsibility for identity theft, fraud, unauthorized financial transactions, or other issues arising from said factors. We ask that you understand that we cannot control the practices of upstream service providers or vendors. We work diligently to protect your data and will not work with software or hardware vendors whose track records for protecting user data is poor. IVc. Geeks for Business uses remote monitoring and management tools, which enables remote, persistent access to end user systems and networks. This technology facilitates connections from us (Geeks for Business), to you, the customer. Each of these remote support sessions is encrypted and access to an end user's system(s) is revocable at any time, should the customer request revocation of this access. Geeks for Business cannot provide remote support services should a customer deny or revoke access to our remote monitoring and management platform. V. YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING THE USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION You have the right at any time to prevent us from contacting you for marketing purposes. When we send a promotional communication to a user, the user can opt out of further promotional communications by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in each promotional e-mail. By default, marketing and promotional emails are "opt-in", meaning you don't need to opt-out of them as a matter of course. Please note that notwithstanding the promotional preferences you indicate by either unsubscribing or opting out, we may continue to send you administrative emails including, for example, periodic updates to our Privacy Policy. You agree to accept all emails or other electronic communication regarding your account(s), service(s), contract(s), billing, and other pertinent information when you initiate service with Us. Va. YOUR RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN If, during or after any interaction with Geeks for Business in which personally identifiable information (PII) is collected about the Client and the Client wishes to have this information erased from Geeks for Business's customer database, please submit your request to Matt at matt@geeksforbusiness.net . Any personally identifiable information, such as full name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, and/or any billing information, will be deleted within 3 business days. Geeks for Business will provide an emailed receipt of any data collected that has been removed from our systems. Your right to control your personal information is important to us. VI. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES As part of the Service, we may provide links to or compatibility with other websites or applications. However, we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by those websites or the information or content they contain. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us through the Site and the Service. Therefore, this Privacy Policy does not apply to your use of a third party website accessed by selecting a link on our Site or via our Service. To the extent that you access or use the Service through or on another website or application, then the privacy policy of that other website or application will apply to your access or use of that site or application. We encourage our users to read the privacy statements of other websites before proceeding to use them. VII. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY The Company reserves the right to change this policy and our Terms of Service at any time. We will notify you of significant changes to our Privacy Policy by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account or by placing a prominent notice on our site. Significant changes will go into effect 30 days following such notification. Non-material changes or clarifications will take effect immediately. You should periodically check the Site and this privacy page for updates. VIII. CONTACT US If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the practices of this Site, please contact us by sending an email to support@geeksforbusiness.net . Last Updated: This Privacy Policy was last updated on 04/01/2025 Information we collect Information collected via technology Children's privacy (COPPA) Ways we use and share information SMS opt-in, opt-out, and consent How we protect information Personal information rights Your right to be forgotten Links to other websites Changes to our privacy policy Contact us

Geeks for Business provides a powerful cloud management platform, protecting data, apps, and identities Secure Cloud Solutions Geeks for Business is proud to leverage cost-effective and industry-leading cloud IT solutions to simplify your daily business operations, improve user experiences, secure your workloads and identities, and strengthen cybersecurity posture. We can help you slash hardware costs, simplify daily operations, and supercharge your productivity by harnessing the power of cloud technology from leaders like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Are your on-premises servers becoming a costly and complex burden? Reach out to Geeks for Business, and we’ll create a tailored plan to virtualize your hardware or shift your tech solutions entirely to the cloud. If your business handles sensitive data, large volumes of information, or demands close-to-the-metal performance, a hybrid-cloud solution can improve productivity, reduce friction, and result in measurable cost savings. With a hybrid approach, we can seamlessly migrate certain tasks to the cloud while keeping critical functions onsite for optimal performance. Ready to optimize your current cloud spending and service engagements? Thinking of repatriating existing cloud services? We've got you covered. With our industry partners, we save clients up to 57% on their annual cloud spending (as of mid-2025). Working with prominent business-focused IT vendors, we can assess your needs and often lower your SaaS spend. Geeks for Business is proud to offer secure, enterprise-grade data backup services through our partners, Veeam and Wasabi Contact us today to explore your cloud storage options and discover how we can enhance your business's uptime and resilience with our secure solutions.

Geeks for Business provides managed helpdesk, remote IT support, employee training, and technical onboarding for your company Consulting, Strategy & Support IT Consulting Whether you already run an IT department or work with another company for aspects of your existing IT systems, Geeks for Business can add value to your IT processes, reduce costs, and simplify technology stacks. Remote Support Tech emergency that doesn't require an onsite visit? We've got you covered. Using remote support software, Geeks for Business can connect to your device over the Internet to diagnose and resolve issues, no matter where you are. Customers who opt for our comprehensive managed IT plans enjoy 24x7x365 device monitoring and proactive support. Benefits of remote support Saving you the additional time and expense of an onsite visit. Geeks for Business engineers its managed IT service portfolio specifically to minimize disruptive onsite tech work. While some onsite work is inevitable, modern remote management and automation tools make fixing many issues fast, with no site work necessary. Resource Planning Reach out to Geeks for Business for a free 30-minute consultation. We'll review aspects of your current IT setup, such as total spending, resource availability, provider reliability, and budget in order to provide you with a plan to reach your IT goals. Our areas of expertise Hardware strategy and procurement Docker and Kubernetes Cloud technology solutions (including cloud-to-multicloud integration) Next-gen cybersecurity and 24/7 threat hunting Systems architecture, including high availability API and integration work Internal app security and management Remote work solutions (VDI) For managed IT clients Our remote support platform additionally enables us to proactively monitor your IT environment and solve issues before they become problems that interrupt your business's operations.

Geeks for Business provides a comprehensive managed networking solution as part of our Managed IT service plans Managed Networking Enterprise-ready WiFi We work with enterprise networking vendors like Ubiquiti, Ruckus, and Aruba, providing you unmatched performance, reliability, and security in your business WiFi environment. Increase capacity, eliminate wireless dead zones, implement guest WiFi, and deploy the latest in wireless security with Geeks for Business. Ethernet & VoIP Geeks for Business has years of experience in low voltage cabling, including Ethernet and fiber infrastructure work. Is your business in need of an Ethernet wiring or server rack overhaul? Looking to add additional backbone capacity with multimode fiber? Geeks for Business has you covered. Software defined networking Let us help you reduce your business's network cost and complexity by leveraging the power of software-defined networking. Utilizing software controllers and APIs (application programming interfaces), software-defined networking enables your business to securely and quickly access data remotely, or from office to office, without the need for expensive hardware. SDN reduces network spending and the complexity of managing additional physical network infrastructure. Network Security In a rapidly-evolving landscape of increasingly sophisticated threats, traditional endpoint protection just isn't enough. Geeks for Business is partnered with Huntress, DNSfilter, and other big names in cybersecurity to bring the power of threat-hunting to your business network, isolating and neutralizing security threats before damage can be done.

Geeks for Business provides a comprehensive endpoint and identity security platform to keep your business up and running. Cybersecurity Managed Detection and Response (EDR, MDR, XDR) Ransomware costs the average small company a staggering $713,000, according to a report from Tech Transformers. Only around 1 in 5 small to medium sized businesses are confident in their IT security strategies. Cybersecurity is challenging and expensive to implement and maintain for business owners, especially as threats grow more sophisticated. Our experience in preventing and remediating security threats can help you spend less time worrying about managing your small business's IT security. Secure Networking Modern networks carry more traffic than ever. HIPAA and PCI compliance add more layers of complexity to your network. Are you prepared for an Internet outage with an Internet failover solution? A relatively small investment in a backup Internet solution will pay dividends during future ISP outages. We ensure your network is secure, standards-compliant, and redundant. We monitor and update your network infrastructure, giving you insights into bandwidth usage, downtime, and network performance, all for a predictable monthly rate. Secure data backup The amount of data the world generates each year is vast. According to Statista, by 2025 the world will create, capture, copy, or consume 125 zettabytes of data. That's roughly 114 *billion* terabytes of data, or enough to fill 5.7 billion 20TB hard drives. As hard drives increase in capacity, so, too, do the chances of an unrecoverable error. Malware, hardware failures, and incomplete data backups don't have to leave you in the lurch. Geeks for Business provides ongoing, proactive data security for you and your business. We combine on-premises with cloud storage to give you resiliency, in addition to offering up to hourly snapshots of your data. Combined with our managed security plan, you can rest assured your critical data is safe. IAM, PAM, and Zero Trust Geeks for Business offers comprehensive solutions for IAM (Identity and Access Management), PAM (privileged access management), authentication, and Zero-Trust access management. The rapidly evolving IT security landscape demands centralized management of users, identities, and assets. No more manually updating user passwords, scrambling to revoke credentials when an employee leaves your company, trying to get a clear picture of who has access to what within your business. Geeks for Business provides trusted security, PAM (privileged access management), Zero-Trust, and privilege management for your company, making life easier for you and your employees while keeping your business data safe.

Disaster Recovery services from Geeks for Business can help get your business back online quickly and protect you from future downtime Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Ransomware protection Ransomware costs both home and business users billions of dollars in lost productivity every year, and those numbers are only going up. The best defense against ransomware is a comprehensive data backup solution. Geeks for Business offers peace of mind with our data backup, virtualization, and endpoint security solutions to ensure ransomware doesn't crash your business. High availability Ensuring redundancy in critical IT resources is key to any business continuity strategy. One system shouldn't take your business offline. Learn more about high availability and IT redundancy by reaching out to our solutions team today. Disaster recovery as a service The best offense is a good defense, after all. Take a proactive approach to disaster recovery. Talk to Geeks for Business today about our DRaaS solution for your company. Preventative maintenance, continuous backups, cybersecurity and application patching are included in our monthly DRaaS plan, letting you focus on what matters. Business continuity Business continuity depends on identifying your organization's key operational areas and core functions within those areas. We'll work with you to identify, document, and develop a rapid restoration plan in the event of a critical IT outage, natural disaster, or other unforeseen event.

Security should be top-of-mind for any business leader. Learn more about the considerations business owners should make when choosing an IT service or cybersecurity provider. Cybersecurity should be top-of-mind for any business owner. How secure is your business? As of 2020, cyber attacks were ranked as the fifth top rated risk in both public and private business sectors, according to The World Economic Forum . By 2025, IoT (Internet of Things) attacks are expected to double in frequency. The average cost a business incurs from a cyber attack is $1.85 million, as of 2022. Cybercrime, which encompasses corporate espionage, theft, embezzlement, and malware attacks, has risen 600% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. With that in mind, what is your company's security posture? Do you use multifactor authentication to validate your employees' identities within your organization? Are your employees required to verify themselves before they access business resources from a remote location? Do you have a system in place that allows you to restore data in the event of a ransomware attack? To understand why security is so critical to your business's operation, let's examine two security concepts you may already be familiar with: the principles of zero trust and least privilege. The National Institute of Standards and Technology defines zero trust, in part, as such: "Zero trust (ZT) is the term for an evolving set of cybersecurity paradigms that move defenses from static, network-based perimeters to focus on users, assets, and resources." The zero trust model requires all users of a given resource (like your company's business applications and data) to be authenticated, validated, and continually authorized before being given access to those resources. Zero trust was a response to the edgeless nature of today's business networks; that is, zero trust functions the same whether your employees work remotely or in the office. Zero trust rests on three main tenets: User/application authentication Device authentication Trust Geeks for Business recognizes the NIST 800-207 standard for zero trust. NIST 800-207 is a comprehensive, vendor neutral set of standards for implementing zero trust security policies within any organization. NIST 800-207 provides for protection against modern cyber attacks in our current cloud-centric, remote work model. Next is the principle of least privilege, which is conceptually related to zero trust, but with some key differences. PoLP (principle of least privilege) is used to limit users' privileges to those strictly required to perform a task. PoLP is a fundamental element to building a modern cybersecurity framework for your organization. PoLP restricts access to sensitive data and other valuable assets, ensuring that no single employee has broad access to business resources. PoLP can be applied to systems, applications, and Internet-connected devices, which in turn limits user access to the resources strictly needed to do their job. PoLP provides an effective means to centrally manage user credentials and access rights while giving your IT provider the flexibility to revoke or extend privileges as needed. The main advantages of PoLP are: reduction in your company's attack surface (susceptibility to cyber attacks) mitigation of malware spread within your organization by limiting privileges on endpoints, thereby preventing malware from performing privilege escalation attacks reduction in IT help desk calls and can lower your ongoing IT costs by implementing a set of privilege policies that both minimize external threats and prevent users from invoking administrative-level privileges to modify system settings makes security audits easier. PoLP demonstrates compliance with various security standards (such as those codified by NIST) and provides a clear log of all privileged activities on a network or device With this primer in organizational security, consider the following five questions about your business's security practices: Have you implemented zero trust policies within your company? Have you implemented the principle of least trust? Have you implemented multifactor authentication, either with a smartphone-based authenticator app, or a hardware token-based authenticator, like YubiKey? Do you have a disaster recovery and data restoration plan in place in the event of a ransomware or other cyber attack? Are your employees' company laptops centrally managed and monitored to ensure security, compliance, and timely patch management? If you answered "no" to any of these questions, Geeks for Business can build a security solution that works for your business. We take modern threats seriously because one attack can mean the end of your company. Get in touch today and let us design the right system for you.

Learn more about the critical components of your business's IT systems, and how Geeks for Business can help you modernize and secure your existing technology. Understanding Your IT Needs Your business's IT needs are unique. Learn more about how different technologies work together below. Your Internet Connection Endpoint Devices On-premises Servers VoIP, ATAs, and Fax IoT Operating systems Line of business apps Security, Identity, and Auth Your IT Infrastructure Virtually every business now requires some investment in tech to function optimally. How does it all work together? There are a few core elements to a modern IT system to understand: Your Internet Connection Bandwidth is a measurement of how many bytes per second your physical connection to the Internet can send and receive. If you rely on a cable, cellular, or DSL Internet connection you may have noticed that your downstream (download) bandwidth is significantly higher than your upstream (upload). This is because these types of Internet connections are asymmetric, meaning, generally, your download speed will run about 10-20 times faster than your upload speed. This is fine for many business users, but if your business relies on sending large files (like videos, medical imagery, or uncompressed photos) to cloud services online, you'll feel the sting of low upload bandwidth. In this case, bonding two or more Internet connections can improve things, but often at fairly considerable cost. Latency (ping) and jitter are both critical metrics in your Internet connection's overall performance. Latency, or ping, is defined as the amount of time it takes a packet to be sent from your device to a server, like Google.com. Most ping tests are performed at the transport layer of the network stack, using ICMP packets, and as such may provide a decent estimate of how applications like Voice-over-IP will perform, but Round-Trip-Time (RTT) is often the gold standard for predicting how things will perform at the application layer (like VoIP). As a simple rule of thumb, the lower your latency, the better--this influences how fast Internet browsing "feels" and how fast web services load. Jitter is related to ping, but with one important distinction: jitter is defined as the variation in latency over time. That is, say you send 1000 packets to a server at www.google.com . Your first few packets take 10ms to reach the server, but the next few take 20ms, then a few take as long as 60-80ms, then drop back down to 10ms. This scenario means your Internet connection, or the path your packets are taking to a given server, are suffering from high jitter. High jitter negatively impacts web-based applications such as Voice-over-IP and online gaming, which are highly sensitive to variations in ping or latency. Uptime is another crucial metric to consider when evaluating Internet service providers for your business. A modern ISP (internet service provider) generally measures their uptime in terms of "nines"--that is, how many decimal points after 99% can they guarantee? An uptime of 99.9% would mean that, on average during a given year, you'd experience about 526 minutes of downtime per year. This might not seem like a big deal, but you never know if this downtime will come all at once or in small blocks, which can mean a serious headache for your point-of-sale terminals and other devices you rely on in your business. Endpoint devices We refer to client PCs as “endpoint devices” in the technical service industry. Any PC or device (like a smartphone or tablet) used by an employee of a business is an endpoint device. Thus, when we sell “endpoint monitoring” as a service, it means we’re actively monitoring each endpoint on your network and looking for problems. Desktop PCs may seem fairly mundane in the modern IT universe, but they’re still an important part of a business’s IT infrastructure, as they’re generally more cost-effective than a laptop with similar hardware specifications. It’s critical to ensure that all endpoint devices are properly configured, patched, and secured in order to minimize downtime and loss of revenue for your business. On-premises Servers With the proliferation of cloud computing and more affordable access to cloud business apps, like Microsoft Office 365, so-called “on-premises” servers have seen a decline. However, some businesses still rely on physical servers at their locations and there are good reasons for keeping hardware in-house instead of migrating it to the cloud. Applications where latency is important, specialized hardware is in use, or where large amounts of data are being sent over the local network frequently favor on-premises servers. For example, if your use case involves sending big video files or photos in RAW format over the network, an on-premises server with large capacity hard drives makes more economic sense than sending those big files to a cloud service like Google Drive, where storage is much more expensive and you’re limited by a comparatively slow Internet connection. VoIP phones, ATAs (analog telephone adapters), and fax machines While the fax machine has slowly faded into obscurity, VoIP desk phones and ATAs (analogue telephone adapters) remain a common sight in businesses of all sizes. Some businesses do rely on fax, but the fax machine has largely been supplanted by IP fax, or “e-fax”, which allows the user to send faxes from any computer, over the Internet. Voice-over-IP, meanwhile, should be a core component of any business's IT strategy. Managed VoIP platforms allow businesses of all sizes to leverage powerful calling tools like departmental routing, ring groups, transcribed voicemail, and more. Your IP phones are a critical part of your business and making sure they’re secured and updated, without breaking compatibility with your SIP provider, is essential. Analogue telephone adapters (ATAs) are used to connect generic cordless or corded telephone handsets to IP phone systems, and because they are essentially just small computers with their own software and firmwa, ATAs must be managed to ensure the security of your network and phone system. Internet of Things devices Perhaps the most contentious entry on the list, Internet of Things (IoT) devices are often poorly secured from the factory and are not usually well-supported by their manufacturers after the devices are sold. So, it should come as no surprise that IoT devices require special attention in order to keep your IT infrastructure secure. There are IoT device manufacturers that do care about the security of their devices, but many, sadly, do not. Things like security cameras, wireless thermostats, wireless doorbells, and so on are all considered IoT devices. Operating systems While some businesses are Mac-only, the vast majority rely on Microsoft’s Windows operating system (OS). Windows by itself is an extremely complex piece of software and requires a good deal of active management in order to maintain its security and performance. Your operating system is critical, as all of your other software sits on top of it; if Windows goes down, everything else goes down, which may include losing access to barcode scanners, cameras, sensors, and other important hardware. While Microsoft pushes out security, feature, and bug-fix updates for Windows on a regular schedule, they don’t offer any additional support, such as enrolling your employees’ computers into your local Active Directory, or configuring Exchange for you–that’s where we come in. Line-of-business applications Business software is a massive industry, and includes highly specialized applications for businesses in finance, energy, banking, medicine, and more. Your business’s software may be under an active support contract with the software developer, but many business owners find that the software they rely on is either no longer supported by the publisher, or requires outdated hardware to continue functioning. This puts a considerable financial and technical burden on the customer; Geeks for Business offers consultative services for cases just like these. You shouldn't have to cobble together a solution for critical business software implementation and support. Navigating the business software landscape can be overwhelming, and migrating from one app to another is frustrating and regularly daunting. We do extensive research to keep a running catalogue of recommended business software for a variety of industries and can help you migrate your workflow from an outdated or unsupported application to a modern and functional one. Security, Identity, and Auth Your IT infrastructure’s efficient operation depends on a properly configured security solution, which involves several different moving parts. A firewall appliance, endpoint security software, access control/permission management, and two-factor authentication tokens are all part of a modern security implementation for your business. You may have sensitive data which you’d like to grant access to only certain employees–this is where access control comes into play. Authentication is the process by which established users access a secure system (like a company file server). Owing to their relative insecurity, passwords are slowly being phased out in favor of more secure, passwordless authentication methods, such as TOTP (time-based one time passwords) codes and physical hardware tokens (such as those made by Yubico). Authentication is a critical component of building a secure access management system for your business. Geeks for Business stays up to date on current 'best practices' for authentication and follows the guidance of CISA (the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; cisa.gov) IAM (Identity and Access Management) is a framework of policies, processes, and technologies that facilitate user access to digital resources. IAM deals with how users are identified in a system; assigning permissions to users within a system; adding and removing user roles; and protecting sensitive data stored in the system. IAM and authentication aren't synonymous, however; authentication deals with the ways in which users access resources, while IAM deals with which users can access which resources. Generally, when discussing best security practices for accessing privileged information, we want a user to have something (a hardware token, for instance), to know something (a username and password), and in high security environments, to be something (biometrics; a retinal or fingerprint scan to validate a user’s identity). Geeks for Business is ready to work with you to understand your unique needs and to design a managed service plan that keeps your business running, no matter what. Your Internet Connection Endpoint Devices On-premises Servers VoIP, ATAs, and Fax IoT Operating systems Line of business apps Security, Identity, and Auth

Geek Housecalls/Geeks for Business outsourced helpdesk and employee technical training information Outsourced Helpdesk & IT Training A full-time IT staff can be expensive. Geeks for Business can supplement your existing IT or serve as a fully-managed IT department for your business. Outsourcing Your Helpdesk Technical Training Is your organization smaller or still growing? Employing full-time IT staff is costly, with average systems administrator salaries in the Triangle area hovering between $72,000 and $140,000 per year, according to Indeed. Geeks for Business provides the additional support that your existing IT department may need, without having to onboard new full-time IT employees. This arrangement, called co-managed IT, typically results in cost savings for businesses while improving ticket response times and resolution times for your users. Our Outsourced Helpdesk service enables your business to offer its employees and clients a robust and responsive helpdesk solution at affordable rates. Geeks for Business supports a full suite of Microsoft products, including Office 365, Windows, Windows Server, Active Directory, Azure, Exchange, Intune, Autopilot, and more. Our service offerings also include support for Linux-based products, including Ubuntu Server and Debian, as well as a wide array of Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices and Storage Area Network (SAN) devices. Whether an employee who needs a password reset during the workday or a customer who's having trouble accessing the website at 11:30 pm on a Sunday, Geeks for Business offers fast turnaround times, ticket escalation, extensive documentation, and the IT engineering muscle you demand to solve problems big and small. Is your organization ready to train new hires or get existing employees up to speed on new software, hardware, or digital services? Geeks for Business specializes in technical training for Microsoft, Linux, BSD, Apple, Android, and select third-party software and hardware platforms. Our technicians are continually updating their skillsets in new and existing technologies in order to offer efficient and accurate technical training. Whether your employees need help with MFA (multifactor authentication) when accessing internal resources remotely, connecting to the company VPN, or synchronizing work email to a smartphone, Geeks for Business is here to support them during and after the workday. Don't let your daily business operations hit a roadblock because of tech. Geeks for Business offers a comprehensive system for protecting your data, maintaining your IT infrastructure, educating your employees, and supporting your clients, on your schedule. Get in touch today to learn what we can do for your business!

Learn more about the importance of managed IT, and how it can result in significant cost savings for your company IT Spending & Return on Investment IT spending out of control? Learn how you can cut IT costs while streamlining business operations An IT Spending Primer When budgeting for your IT needs, or calculating the amount you currently spend on IT, it's important to factor in proactive and preventative technology costs, as well. As a tech service provider, Geeks for Business believes in the value of preventative IT. In the era of ransomware, data breaches, and malicious actors looking to monetize your sensitive data, cybersecurity is among the most critical things you can invest in. To borrow a phrase from Futurama, when you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all. This sums up the role in, and importance of, cybersecurity in your business's larger tech plan. When we talk about cybersecurity, we include endpoint protection (software that runs on each endpoint, or device, such as a PC, that your business needs), threat detection, threat hunting, and remediation. Threat detection is an algorithmic process for finding and alerting us of potential security threats within your business's network. Threat hunting involves trained security professionals proactively searching your network for threats that the endpoint protection software may have missed. Finally, in the event of an active malware infection, remediation is the process by which we remove the threat and restore your endpoints to a known-good state, ensuring the security of your users and their data. Cybersecurity is a recurring cost, but it is very much a worthwhile one. No one is particularly thrilled about everything adopting the subscription revenue model nowadays, but security is worth spending a little more on in order to bolster your IT defenses. Of course, there are no shortage of security companies out there, promising advanced AI-based threat detection, dark-web scanning, and complete security at a steep price. Take it from us: complete security is impossible. The price you pay for these services can reach into the tens of thousands per month, and unless you're a large enterprise, it's just not worth it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; this is where technical training comes in. People are often the weakest link in any cybersecurity strategy. One mistakenly-opened .exe from a malicious email attachment; one suspicious-looking .pdf; inadvertently providing a bad actor with company secrets over the phone--all it takes is one employee making one mistake to undo all the careful IT planning you've done. Here, employee training is key: Geeks for Business is a strong proponent of training your company's employees on the products we deploy, helping them to understand and adopt security best practices, such as multifactor authentication, strong passwords, and zero-trust. Training is another ongoing expense, but the return on this particular investment is a stronger security posture for your business, with lowered risk of security incidents. Security, training, and data backups are all recurring costs that you, as the business owner, should keep in mind when shopping for managed IT services. These are recurring costs that provide a substantial return-on-investment by lowering your risk of debilitating security events like ransomware attacks, which have been known to bankrupt business owners. Geeks for Business works with only the best B2B security and data backup providers in the managed IT space, like Huntress for cybersecurity and NinjaOne for data backups; we shop around so you don't have to. Each year, we re-evaluate what our security and backup providers are charging us and make changes as necessary, in order to keep costs under control for our clients. Get in touch with Geeks for Business today and we will work with you to develop an IT spending roadmap for your company, taking your budget, goals, and needs into account. Spending a little now can save you a lot later on.

Geeks for Business offers managed IT plans for small and medium enterprise across a variety of industries. Learn more about our IT service plans today.