Managed Services, a buzzword for some time now, but what does it really mean? “A managed services provider (MSP) is most often an information technology (IT) services provider that manages and assumes responsibility for providing a defined set of services to its clients either proactively or as the MSP (not the client) determines that services are needed.”

That is all fine and well, but what does (or should) it mean for you and your business? The key to Managed IT Services is the “assumes responsibility” factor, which should mean that you can get on with doing what you do best – running your business and making money, whilst your MSP takes care of your IT.

Select LAN Logix as your Managed IT Service Provider and your business immediately has its own IT department. The LAN Logix MSP offering includes a fully functional support desk (the InspeXion Centre) for user support as well proactive management and monitoring of your business’s critical IT systems. LAN Logix becomes your single point of contact for IT-related issues, everything from telephony to website hosting to user support can and will be handled by the LAN Logix team (aka your IT department). No longer will you or your staff need to waste valuable time dealing with multiple service providers.

Perhaps your requirement is not a fully outsourced IT department? LAN Logix can cater for such requirements by allowing your business to outsource specific elements of your IT requirements such as escalations (for advanced technical support), infrastructure monitoring, desktop support or a combination of these or other aspects.

‘Cloud computing’, cloud storage, cloud hosted – in this day and age everything has been prefixed with the word “cloud”. And without a doubt, cloud-based or hosted services have significant benefits including simplified disaster recovery, always on availability and anywhere access.

Cloud can (with the emphasis on can) also result in significant cost savings for businesses, however, the reverse can also be true if the incorrect solution or cloud partner is selected. Selecting the right cloud partner is of critical importance as their infrastructure (or at least a part thereof), in essence, becomes your business’s infrastructure – so downtime on the cloud provider’s infrastructure will likely result in your business’s (cloud-hosted) applications also experiencing downtime.

LAN Logix cloud solutions are largely based on the Microsoft cloud and incorporate Office 365 and Azure – both tried, trusted and proven platforms. LAN Logix has also identified a number of beneficial “add-ons” which further enhance the features and functionality of cloud-hosted solutions. A prime example of such a solution is the Mimecast E-mail Management Solution which drastically extends the capability of Microsoft’s Office 365 e-mail hosting service.

LAN Logix can help you select the right cloud solution for your business, seamlessly implement the solution and then manage and monitor to ensure it delivers the required value.

Quite literally the “foundation” of even the smallest IT infrastructure. No network access or network problem generally results in the entire IT system experiencing downtime. Even if all of your services are cloud hosted, the network still enables your users to gain access to these services and is therefore a critical component of your IT infrastructure.

With VoIP (Voice over IP) being widely adopted these days, networking is now no longer only responsible for data transmission, but also for voice, which in turn results in your network being even more critical. Downtime on the network results in your business being completely cut-off, i.e. no data (e-mail, Internet, etc.) or voice (telephone calls).

To further complicate matters, your network likely extends into the airwaves with wireless. How secure is your wireless? Does it provide stable access for your users to seamlessly roam the building whilst continuing to be productive? Perimeter network protection or firewalling is another critically important component of your network. Not only does it protect your business from Internet-based threats, but it also (in many cases) prevents your users from gaining access to unwanted and potentially malicious content.

LAN Logix is highly proficient in HP and Cisco networking technologies and is also a Fortinet certified partner. Network Management is part and parcel of our MSP packages but can also be delivered through LAN Logix IT consulting services.

The word “upgrades” probably has most people thinking of an upgrade for their PC. When LAN Logix speaks about “upgrades”, we are talking on a much larger scale.

It may be upgrading a server, your network (and its access speed), or possibly even your entire IT infrastructure (if it has become end-of-life and can no longer adequately support the needs of your business). It may also be that a specific application requires and upgrade, but on the same hardware. Regardless of what component or components of your IT infrastructure are in need of upgrading, such major changes can have a significant impact on the productivity of your business if they are not properly planned and efficiently executed.

LAN Logix specialises in the design and seamless implementation of IT infrastructure upgrades. A LAN Logix designed IT infrastructure upgrade is specifically designed to do several things but, most importantly, it must deliver value to the business and solve business challenges (or short comings of the current IT system). The LAN Logix Consulting team has many years of experience and specialist skills in Microsoft technologies such as Active Directory, Exchange Server and Hyper-V. In addition to Microsoft technologies and products the LAN Logix Consulting team has in-depth knowledge of hardware technologies such as SAN (Storage Area Networking) as well as software applications such as Veeam Backup & Replication and Altaro.

Regardless of your requirement, the LAN Logix Consulting team can design and seamlessly implement the solution for your business.

Moving your business is at the best of times a stressful and costly affair and there are many considerations that must be taken into account prior to undertaking an IT infrastructure move. The availability of Internet connectivity in the new location and the lead time for the ISP to provision the connectivity is an aspect which is often overlooked and one which will have a significant impact on the business’s ability to trade.

Focus on your business, clients and staff, and offload the extra stress of moving your IT infrastructure to LAN Logix. LAN Logix will liaise with required third parties on your behalf, monitor processes, provide technical resources to document, dismantle and move the IT equipment and then bring everything online in the new premises. All with as little business impact as possible.

Have the peace of mind that your business’s IT infrastructure will be up and running when required by allowing LAN Logix to provide you with a complete infrastructure moving service.

Design and planning of any aspect of an IT infrastructure is key to ensuring that the implemented solution meets the needs of the application, the business and the users. An oversight in the design could result in any number of problems once the solution is fully implemented or adopted.

Common problems include poor application performance, poor user adoption or a combination of these two. LAN Logix takes great care in planning any and all significant changes it makes to clients’ IT infrastructures and systems. The same level of planning is applied to infrastructure upgrades and projects, with all implementation processes being task list driven and configurations according to tried and tested best practices.

This approach ensures that unplanned downtime is avoided as best as possible, and that implementations are completed on time, within budget and that implemented systems perform as expected.

Whilst IT Management forms an integral part of our Managed IT Service offerings, it may be that your business has “in house” IT support, but you require someone to oversee the internal IT staff and provide guidelines, policies and leadership for the team. LAN Logix can structure an outsourced IT Management service to meet your business’s needs.

Traditional procurement and sales of IT-related hardware and software, but without the usual “box drop” mentality that is associated with this aspect of IT businesses.

LAN Logix takes great care in understanding the requirements in detail, prior to providing a quote, thus ensuring you and your business receive the correct hardware, software or solution. LAN Logix can also provide pre-sales consulting services to assist you in selecting the right hardware, software or solution to meet the needs of the business.

LAN Logix is an accredited HP and Dell partner and is able to supply desktop, server, SAN (Storage Area Network) and networking solutions. In addition to this, LAN Logix is a Microsoft Certified Partner, with extensive licensing experience, and is able to provide licensing based on any of the many models, including SPLA (Service Provider Licensing). Other key vendors LAN Logix can procure include Veeam, Adobe, ESET and Altaro.