Blaze New Trails For One New Jersey Manufacturer

Don’t put your business at risk just to save a few bucks. Continuing to use technology past its prime may be less expensive than replacing it, but it comes with plenty of other problems—ones that Baroan Technologies can help you eliminate for good.
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Microsoft Azure & Office 365: Blaze New Trails For New Jersey Manufacturer

Don’t put your business at risk just to save a few bucks. Continuing to use technology past its prime may be less expensive than replacing it, but it comes with plenty of other problems—ones that Baroan Technologies can help you eliminate for good. When we first connected with this client in the manufacturing industry, their local infrastructure was way past its prime. They had 25 aging servers hosted at their head office in New Jersey, which had led to a number of issues. Their limited options for a resilient internet connection and their lack of an onsite power backup meant that they encountered a high degree of downtime. Service interruptions and power outages made it impossible for remote contacts to reliably connect with their systems. That’s why this client got in touch with Baroan Technologies—they had an opportunity to upgrade and knew they’d need expert assistance to figure out which course of action would be best for their needs. In the meantime, they were struggling with a number of issues… Download our complete guide on how Baroan helped this New Jersey manufacturing firm

The Client Was Falling Behind On Patch Management

Did you know that the most common way cybercriminals get into a network is through loopholes in common third-party programs? In fact, 40% of hacks are successful because the user failed to keep their system and apps up to date. That means the computer programs you rely on to get work done every day could be leaving you vulnerable to security breaches. With new threats arising all the time, it’s imperative that your application and system software is up to date—is this something your IT team is taking care of? Unfortunately, software patches can be a lot to manage; most of us just end up clicking the “Remind Me Later” button instead of sitting through an often-inconvenient update process. An internal person (like the one working for this client) can only offer so much in terms of availability and time. That makes it easy to fall behind on patches, and updates, which can cause serious performance and security issues.

The Client’s Hardware Was Reaching End Of Life

End of life means no more bug fixes or security updates for the hardware or software—it’s the end of support delivered by the manufacturer. Over time, there will be a loss of usability and increased vulnerability. While it may work fine right now, it won’t be long before it becomes a problem. That said, It’s not uncommon to procrastinate on technology upgrades. The process can be expensive and complicated, but the fact is that there comes a point in the technology life cycle when failing to upgrade can present a number of serious concerns. As important as cost control is, it is equally important for owners and managers to ensure they’re maintaining their competitive edge, using secure technology, and working as efficiently and effectively as possible. Without support, security updates, and bug patches, users open themselves up to a number of risks:
  • Malware infection
  • Expired online banking protections
  • Exposed private data
  • Device being used as an entry point into your other systems

The Client’s Old Hardware Was Costing Them A Lot Of Money To Maintain

The older the hardware is, the more downtime it causes. The main cost of downtime is not the fix itself, it’s the halt in your business’ productivity. If an issue with aging hardware or software takes your firm’s critical systems offline, employees will be unable to complete their tasks, yet your normal business expenses will carry on. The economy of downtime is unforgiving—additional costs include:
  • Expense Vs. Revenue: During downtime, you incur all the expenses of running a business without the revenue you would usually generate.
  • Loss of Focus: Even if downtime does halt your business processes entirely, some of your staff will have to divert themselves from their normal work to mitigate the problem–again reducing productivity.
  • Affected Service Delivery: Furthermore, while your systems are down, you can’t deliver services or sell products to current and potential new clients.
  • Cost Of Repair: However you approach fixing the problem, it’ll cost time and money.

Baroan Technologies Helped This Client Make The Right Choice

It’s for all these reasons that the client had to find a better way to manage their infrastructure. In order to help them make the most informed decision possible, the Baroan Technologies team performed a cost comparison of the two options:
  • Onsite Infrastructure Upgrade: Local hardware is far more expensive upfront, and would need to be replaced in 3-5 years. This arrangement would require the client to purchase licenses and hardware, and pay for installation and management services.
  • Cloud-Based Infrastructure: While the startup costs are not nearly as high, the month-to-month maintenance and labor expenses are greater. This arrangement also requires a much more robust Internet connection to ensure cloud resources can be reached.
The fact is that, in reviewing both options over the course of a 3-5 year runway, the costs become roughly equal. The real difference is in what the cloud has to offer…

Baroan Technologies Showed This Client What Microsoft Azure Has To Offer

Azure is Microsoft’s enterprise-grade cloud computing platform—you and your team can rely on this solution to help you cut costs by hosting off-site, as well as benefit from a totally scalable configuration that fits your needs. This premier service offers a range of benefits:
  • Outsourced Infrastructure: Stay focused on the parts of your business that really need your attention. You don’t have to babysit your servers any longer—take the resources previously devoted to service maintenance and apply them where they can have the greatest effect.
  • Productivity Improvement: Beyond the managed services, Azure has a range of further tools to help your team do what they do even better. This comprehensive set of development, deployment, and management tools includes local development and debugging via Visual Studio or the Azure CLI, continuous deployment with Azure DevOps tools, and live monitoring thanks to Application Insights.
  • Secure & Convenient Access: No matter when you need them, Azure offers easy access to the solutions you use. Whether you’re on-premises, working in a hybrid environment like Azure Stack, on IoT Edge devices, or in other clouds, you can access functions as need be.
  • Enhanced Security: Microsoft Azure data is stored in data centers that offer an industry-leading combination of physical and logical safeguards, from high perimeter fencing and 24/7 surveillance to multi-factor biometric locks.

How Baroan Technologies Helped This Client Blaze New Trails

With the benefits clearly laid out for them, the client chose to migrate to Microsoft Azure. We helped them review their options, understand the benefits, and seamlessly move their apps and data to their new cloud-based environment. We reduced their onsite infrastructure from 25 servers to a single unit, limiting their footprint to the bare minimum. The timing was especially fortuitous, as we completed the project just before the pandemic. IT resources have never been as important as they are now as a majority of professionals work from home. In order for organizations like this client to stay connected and productive while working remotely, they need the right technologies and processes in place. The Baroan Technologies team ensured that everyone working remotely for this client had what they needed to do so productively, securely, and reliably.

Baroan Technologies Helped This Client Harness Every Benefit Offered By The Cloud

Do you need help determining whether the cloud is right for you? Get in touch with our team to get started today.

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Baroan is a complete IT services & IT support company working with organizations in Elmwood Park and across the United States of America.

Written by Guy Baroan 
By: Guy Baroan