If a company wants to achieve prolonged and sustainable success in the modern age, the chances are that it needs to try and incorporate a technical element into their set-up. Since the invention of the computer, corporations have drastically altered the way in which they go about their daily business – the reason for this is that now, these types of applications make activities incredibly easy to complete. That being said, there are numerous IT solutions and services which, when provided by professional third parties, can elevate a firm to the next level.
Here at catalyst2, we have made a name for ourselves over the last twenty years as being the go-to company when it comes to electronic services. Our specialist understanding of this complicated world means that we are ideally suited to assisting you towards your goal of becoming a leading authority in your particular sector. Below, you can find a helpful guide to some of the solutions which may be the difference between success and failure for your business.
Server Management
As a modern firm, your website is without a doubt an integral and essential part of your organisation as a whole. Gone are the days where this was simply a commodity which was used to provide a slight boost to your advertising capabilities. Now, this is regarded as a tool which can greatly enhance your ability to do business. In case you didn’t already know, in order to keep your website live around the clock, you need to enlist the help of a server provider. There are numerous options available to you, including dedicated servers and cloud hosting plans. However, what you might not have realised is that these campaigns can be managed by third-party firms.
This is a service which can include a wide array of different features, depending on what your in-house IT department is capable of. If you have a relatively inexperienced roster working for you, you may want to take out a comprehensive package. This can, for instance, look to determine what time your busiest hours are, and divert additional power for short periods. This will safeguard the performance capabilities of the site, and reduce the potential for lag and slow loading times. We assure you that this is worthwhile, as it will negate the possibility of your customers looking elsewhere for the products and goods that they need.
A server management service might also look to bolster the level of security that your website currently has. Unfortunately, the online world is full of hackers and cyber criminals, scouring for any website which is ill-prepared to defend itself against the sophisticated nefarious software that they have within their arsenal. In order to protect not only your confidential data, but also the sensitive information that your customers have provided for you, it is of paramount importance that you have firewalls in place. Depending on the firm that you go with, you may also have the chance to gain a free SSL certificate, which will provide peace of mind to consumers that you are a legitimate organisation.
Disaster Recovery & Backups
There are countless reasons as to why you could benefit enormously from having a disaster recovery plan in effect. Your local electricity supplier may endure a blackout whilst you are carrying out essential upgrades on your website, causing you to lose all of your progress. It may be that changes that you have installed have had an adverse effect on the overall running capabilities of your pages, and subsequently you would like to revert to a previous iteration. In circumstances such as these, the easiest way in which to get back to a state which you are satisfied with is to take advantage of the recovery service.
The way in which this typically works is that, rather than utilising a single dedicated service in one location, your data is instead stored on numerous services across the country. In some instances, your website will not have a physical base, and instead will have its information saved on a cloud network. Whatever the situation may be, this eliminates the problems which stem from hardware malfunctions. You may also be interested to learn that this is an excellent way in which to achieve a top-tier uptime guarantee, which you can then advertise to your audience.
Whilst technically categorised as a separate service, we believe that backups deserve to be grouped into the same bracket, as they are relatively intertwined with one another. These can be scheduled to take place on either a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, depending on the number of changes that you tend to make to your website. Should you be entertaining the idea of migrating your site to a different platform, you can expect this to make the process immeasurably easier. The restorations to the original state of affairs can be achieved in a matter of minutes, thus ensuring that you do not have to face any length issues.
Consultancy
Though the name is relatively self-explanatory, it is still worthwhile elaborating on what you can expect from a first-class IT consultation service. This is something which tends to differ from project to project, and is wholly dependent on the circumstances that you and your firm find yourselves in. If, for instance, you have discovered that your website’s loading speeds are routinely falling short of your expectations, it may be best to enlist the help of experts. By analysing your equipment and software, they should be able to discover the root of the problem, and suggest ways in which to go about fixing it.
Your firm may have recently been assigned a one-off project which, although still remaining within the realms of what you are familiar with, is something that you cannot handle alone. In this type of situation, rather than struggle alone, the most prudent option might be to receive a consultant’s advice on the matter. After assessing the brief, they might be able to point out different technical tools which would enable you to achieve the results that you desire. Alternatively, they may offer a strategic way in which to deploy the employees that you have within your ranks, thereby boosting productivity and diminishing wasted time in one fell swoop.
Choosing the right consultant is essential, as if you decide to hire a firm which is lacking in experience, they may not be able to adapt as the role evolves. It is for this reason that you should look into the number of years that they have been operating, as well as the way that they are perceived by past clients. This should hopefully provide you with an insight into the level of customer satisfaction which they routinely achieve. For those of you that want to ensure that you are part of a pleasant experience that does not cause undue stress, we strongly advise that you heed our words of wisdom.
Office 365
At first glance, you may think it somewhat redundant to go to a company for help regarding Microsoft Office 365. After all, you will likely think to yourself that you have been using its base functions for an extended period, and as such do not need tutoring. However, what may have escaped your notice is the fact that there are countless hidden features which, when deployed in the right manner, could certainly transform the manner that you complete your usual tasks. Not only this, but there is a seemingly endless list of packages which fall under this bracket, all of which could bring about a certain advantage to your organisation.
First-and-foremost, you need to ascertain how many people will be using this software – depending on the size of your business, you may find that there are bespoke packages which are significantly cheaper than the comprehensive agreement, yet will easily service your needs. Case-and-point, if you are a start-up, it would be unwise to spend excessively on the Premium option, as it is highly unlikely that you will be able to make full use of the memory and data capacity available. Instead, you might instead wish to opt for the Business Essentials. This is significantly cheaper, yet still easily caters to your requirements.
For those of you that have access to Macs, you may prefer to stick to the operating packages which come as standard with them. That being said, you may be intrigued to learn that there is an Office 365 service that revolves solely around emails. Known as the Exchange package, this can be used to bring about an air of professionalism to your company, particularly when you are liaising with prospective investors and customers. This will allow you, for instance, to dictate auto-responses to certain emails, as well as create mass distribution advertisements.
Whilst it may not be the most glamorous IT service to be taken advantage of, there is no denying that in the right hands, Microsoft Office 365 can be a valuable and powerful tool to have at your disposal. If you are already paying a monthly fee for the privilege, it makes sense to invest in a service that teaches you how to utilise it to the best of its abilities. As a firm which has been offering this for a number of years, catalyst2 can testify to the great effect which it can have on your operations as the months go by.
Trying To Find More Information?
Most people, when they come across an IT firm in the modern world, will automatically assume that the majority of the work that they conduct is in relation to business web hosting services – this, as you can see, could not be further from the truth. The technical landscape is one which is vast and incredibly diverse. Whilst there are certainly a number of different hosting solutions, such as shared hosting and cloud hosting options, this is far from being the sole service type available. Case-and-point, here at catalyst2 we have sought to expand our range of services, to incorporate slightly different service solutions.
Although we are typically given the label as being a web hosting company, our overall capabilities span far beyond this. It is true that our web hosting plans have garnered much acclaim over the years; that being said, it is our more innovative options, as of late, which have seen us receive much publicity. Ours is a company that simply wants to be able to help its clients, and will do all that it can to make this a reality. Whether you would like for us to oversee a daily backup of your website, or think that you need our assistance to achieve unmetered bandwidth at your place of work, we will work tirelessly to make your vision come to life.
Due to the broad nature of our services catalogue, it is completely understandable that before you proceed any further, you may wish to discuss your particular needs with a member of our team. Perhaps you need to know a bit more about what our disaster recovery package entails; you may want a complete breakdown as to why a cloud server is better suited to your firm than, say, a shared hosting plan. In situations such as these, the best thing to do is get in touch. Either write to us directly at sales@catalyst2.com, or give us a call on 0800 107 7979, and we endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible.
