The 4 Reports a Real MSP Provider Should Be Showing You Every Month
January 30th, 2018 by admin
Leader in Unified Communications Educates CEOs on Network Performance
SAN DIEGO, CA - ATEL Communications, a leader in unified communications, announced today that the company will be launching an awareness campaign to inform business owners of the 4 types of reports that business owners need to know about in order to objectively measure the performance of their network. In layman's terms, these reports help CEOs understand why their network may be underperforming and give insight into overall network risk, network vulnerability and simple steps to take in order to strengthen their network and accelerate overall performance. These reports are a telltale sign that a business owner is working with a true Managed Services Provider (MSP) who is actively protecting and enhancing the company's network performance.
he first report that a CEO should receive on a regular basis is called the "Client Risk Report". This report is essentially an executive summary of network performance. It covers overall risk, issue summary and proposed recommendations in order to immediately correct both simple and complex problems. One example of an issue that this report could detect is user passwords never being set to expire. When user passwords remain static, it makes the network immensely more vulnerable to attack from all types of intrusion. This fix is unbelievably simple to administer, yet it dramatically boosts overall network security, because it makes the infrastructure environment dynamic. In other words, hackers now have a moving target to hit. Other areas this report covers are Internet speed tests, asset summaries detailing equipment on the network, active and inactive users and more which all give pertinent insight into the network.
The second report is called, the "External Vulnerability Scan." While many MSPs have different names for this report, essentially it scans the network to see how susceptible the business is to outside threats from hackers, security by passers and general data theft. By running this report, a business owner will know what kinds of steps they need to take in order to shore up the network so that it's much harder to get past firewalls and through other key access points.
The third report is called the “Network Assessment: Full Detail Report.” This report shares which discovery tasks are being run on a network before an MSP can provide recommendations. Essentially, it outlines what is being "assessed," during a network assessment. It is usually the most comprehensive report and gives the business owner an overall map of the network, all users and security groups spread throughout the entire organization. This report is so important because as most businesses scale quickly and unexpectedly, the network is usually haphazardly constructed. For example, when a business decides that it needs to hire additional staff they don't usually make sure that everyone is utilizing the same firewalls and anti-virus programs on their computers. Years later this can be discovered, when the security of the network has already been compromised and it's too late.
The fourth report is called the "Network Management Plan." This is the final report a business owner needs to see because it prioritizes the challenges that the specific network is facing and custom tailors all of the recommendations accordingly. It's no secret that most networks have plenty of issues that need to be solved, but this report provides a tremendous amount of peace of mind, because business owners can see all of the steps they need to take, in order of most critical to least. Whether budget, human capital or additional resources are sparse, this enables CEOs to make decisions that met available budget constraints.
All of these reports contribute in their own way towards improving the technological environment within an organization. However, one big takeaway for business owners is to utilize these reports doing financial forecasting. As a business grows, it becomes incredibly important to know what big cash outlays are coming, when funds need to be available and when owners need to start making upgrades to their infrastructure. For example, if a business runs a technology assessment and discovers that they're presently using 80% of their technical capacity and they have plans to double staff in an attempt to double productivity, it becomes glaringly clear that they will need to invest in more technology in order to accomplish this end. Planning early for these kinds of changes ensures that a business has the necessary cash on-hand when the timing is critical and that these expenses can be gradual, instead of sending the owners in a frenzy to come up with large cash outlays in short time periods.
The other big benefit of utilizing these reports is that it provides a significant amount of transparency to the otherwise murky technology environment. As businesses grow in complexity it can be very difficult for non-technical owners to objectively assess how well the network is actually performing. These reports provide unbiased feedback on what is working and what is not, so owners can make decisions, take actions and lay the foundation they need to bring their visions to life.
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