Systems and services that can be accessed over the internet without a dedicated spot in your office for hardware.

In short, it means off-site

Beware! this is not the same as backups. You’d be surprised how many “IT” experts don’t know the difference.

Think of backups like a generator for when the power goes out at your home.

Think of DR like a 2nd home in another state. It will cost more, but you have somewhere to go in the event of a natural disaster.

Also referred to as “patch management”, it is just a fancy way to say check and apply updates.

You need to keep your computers and other technology up to date to keep running and stay secure. 

Most people just like that it keeps their computer from rebooting in the middle of the day.

Usually presented as a “suite of services” to protect your business. This should be a standard offering for any decent IT group. However, these services are often sold to the IT provider as a bundled package which can come with it’s own problems.

If you’re shopping around for an IT provider, here’s a freebie.

During the sales meeting listen for generic terms like their services like “Antivirus” or “Cloud Backups”. Then ask them what specific software they use and why they chose it.