The MegaPath Connectivity Blog

If you haven’t had a chance to read Michael Francois’ last post; now is a good time because his insights are closely related to today’s Managed Services workshop at Channel Partners Conference in Las Vegas. MegaPath’s Bernie McGroder, who heads our sales engineering team, will be participating on the panel “Becoming an MSP: Is Managed Services Right for You?”  He’ll be in good company with industry leaders from Nemertes Research and CompTIA, among others. If you’re at the show today in Vegas, definitely plan to join Bernie at 2:30 pm.

On a daily basis Bernie and his team of sales engineers work closely with customers to help them identify the most pressing issues in IT operations and service delivery for the companies they support; and of course, to counsel those teams on the value that a dedicated outside team of voice, data, and security network experts can provide as a managed services partner. Bernie will be tackling the subject of earned and learned experience when he covers what becoming an MSP entails — from building and staffing a 24/7 NOC, to developing a service portfolio, to building processes and transitioning customers to the new delivery platform. In a recent conversation with an engineer from Bernie’s team, he noted “there really isn’t a customer network problem or situation we haven’t seen before. Our customers seem to appreciate all the experience we draw from, and our ability to meet their issue where it’s at, with the right advice.”

It’s this collective knowledge base and the experience gained from running 24/7/365 NOCs  that Michael Francois talked about in his insights on MegaPath’s successful certification process to achieve Cisco Master Managed Services Provider status. There may be a long list of MSPs in North America, but we’re honored to be part of this elite group of Cisco MSP partners.  Few MSPs can claim their expertise across voice, data, and secure network operations. In addition to NOCs, MegaPath runs a Secure Operations Center.  Back in a June 2009 post we noted the success our SOC team has had in supporting security customers by surpassing a 300,000 user milestone on our SSL platform, and more than 3.5 billion sessions. We’re seeing much demand for SSL VPN services, and just last month we passed another record.

Now that brings me to voice, which is a significant and growing part of MegaPath’s business. Our Connecticut-based voice operations team has been successfully providing managed Duet(SM) integrated voice and data services to customers and addressing 3 varieties – analog, PRI, and SIP trunking — for several years. Starting today MegaPath is introducing Duet Hosted Voice, a new hosted service solution addition to the Duet product family. We’re unquestionably excited about it, because even though MegaPath has been providing cloud-powered calling before the cloud was cool; many customers have been asking for a hosted VoIP service. For a sneak peek of what’s really special about Duet Hosted, stop by Booth 1301 at the Channel Partners show. You can also get a deeper dive into Duet Hosted by attending MegaPath University (also at Channel Partners in Room Islander B). The sessions are FREE, just register online for tomorrow’s courses.

Finally, since I’m on the subject of hosted voice, this is a great time to welcome a new voice for voice to Connectivity. Tomorrow you’ll get a chance to meet Diane Giuffre who has been knee-deep in getting Duet Hosted ready for our customers. Remember, if you’re in Vegas for Channel Partners, don’t miss Bernie McGroder’s session today or MegaPath University tomorrow!

How Secure, Reliable SSL VPN Service Works

There’s no denying that this has been the week for iPad news domination.

Good, bad, or indifferent — people are certainly talking about the iPad! I can’t think of any news source I’ve seen this week that didn’t include some mention of Apple’s new mobile device. Fast Company featured a story this week called “Apple iPad Launch by the Numbers” that provides a good glimpse at the growing trends toward relying on mobile devices to tap into whatever information sharing and use, or interactive conversations we want, whenever we want. The flexibility is just so powerful. It’s that same on-the-fly usefulness that applies to people who access and rely on your organization’s network for the applications and information resources that are most critical to their work or business. The trend towards more users connecting into your network using a variety of personally owned or business-provided devices at any time, from anywhere presents complex, multi-layered security issues for the IT leaders tasked with managing these critical capabilities. We definitely know that the trend isn’t going to reverse itself — not hardly. Can IT leaders restrict access to critical network resources to an ‘approved list of devices’?

Remember the old story of the little Dutch boy who poked his finger in the dike to plug a leak? Whew! — then a new one sprung up, and another, and another until he ran out of fingers. How did that work out for him?

A better security method for proactive IT organizations is to embrace the realities of a burgeoning population of mobile wireless users, and engineer your network with practical, scalable means to provide secure remote access to the critical resources your mobile users need. This is moving away from a ‘nice to have’ into a necessity. Managed SSL VPN services are designed to securely enable user access methods by defining control policies and combining them with end point control and policy zones. This type of flexibility defines the type of access environment a user experiences — essentially providing even your most far-flung iPad-toting globetrotters with reliable connectivity and information sharing, while ensuring that your network hums along without compromise. Done right, this SSL VPN-enabled secure connectivity can even be a competitive advantage.

To learn how MegaPath SSL VPN services work, start here.

Let us hear your thoughts and questions!

Enterprises and SMBs today face many of the same issues, and one of the biggest issues they both face  is making sure business communications are safe and secure.  With the increase in mobile workforces, and with more customers and partners wanting to do business online, VPNs need to be scalable, flexible and manageable.  Also, the people who need access to your business network need it from wherever they are, on whatever device they have available.  Luckily, SSL VPNs are a solution that can meat all of the above requirements.  Here are several reasons you should consider SSL VPNs as a solution for keeping your business better connected.

• Reduced Costs - Web based access that doesn’t require a preloaded software client on the desktop will reduce desktop support costs. The ease of use factor will also cut down on calls to your Help Desk.
• Increased Flexibility – SSL VPNs allow anyone to connect to any network resource at any time, using any device.  All you need is a web browser and an Internet connection.
• Granular Control – SSL VPNs secure the person, not the device.  Customers,  Business Partners, Road Warriors, Flexecutives and Telecommuters can all be granted access to the specific network resources they need, and this access can also be finely tuned to allow certain levels of access control based upon how they are communicating with the network.
• Eased Administration – When you work with the right partner, your SSL VPN platform will be managed by security professionals who are available 24/7/365, and who are ready to offer assistance as needed anywhere around the globe.
• Increased Protection – SSL VPNs can be delivered as part of a security platform that can also protect against viruses, worms, spyware and malware.  Just make sure your SSL VPN partner is ready to deliver this level of security.
• Remote Connectivity – SSL VPNs are ready built to handle remote access by definition.  This remote connectivity can be occurring at an airport on a Blackberry,  using a public WiFi hot spot via a laptop, or at a client’s office on a borrowed PC. 
• Business Continuity- Natural disasters, bad weather, and technologies outages do sometimes occur.  Giving the people you need to communicate with access to an SSL VPN can help you mitigate the effects of such occurrences on your business, and help you avoid business disruptions.

SSL VPNs offer your business the opportunity to lower costs, increase security and be ready for anything.  Maybe most importantly, your users will love it.  I’ve been using VPNs for years, and I know that I’m glad to not have to deal with the IPSec clients anymore (one on each PC, Mac or Linux box I use), and to know that now I can check in wherever I happen to be.  I bet your users will appreciate this flexibility, too.

It the time of year when we start to see more and more lists.  Santa is finalizing the naughty and nice list, people will be working on lists of top songs and movies of the year, and children are preparing lists of what presents they would like to receive this holiday season.  If you run a business, I can think of one very important list you should take a look at, and that is the MegaPath Business Continuity Planning checklist. 

Businesses need to be ready to handle any contingency that could affect their continuity, especially at this time of year, when so much business is transacted.  Whether the issue is the H1N1 virus, a bridge disrupting your employees ability to get to work, or a natural disaster that effects a large geographic area, you need to plan ahead so that you know you can keep in contact with your partners, suppliers and customers no matter what.

To help you be ready, the friendly business continuity experts here are at MegaPath have put together the following list, which you can use to make sure you are ready to keep operating, no matter what.

MegaPath’s Business Continuity Planning Checklist

Designate a team: An effective business continuity plan should involve input from Management, the Chief Security Officer, the IT department, Web developer and Human Resources. These key departments have the ability to ensure the company runs smoothly in times of crisis, while taking into account the needs of their employees. 

Identify key personnel: Determine which executives and employees are critical to operating the business (and supporting customers) that need to have access to key systems and information at all time. A business continuity plan must ensure these employees receive the highest levels of support, even during the most disruptive events.

Plan for spikes: Before an emergency occurs, businesses need to plan ahead for increased network bandwidth and secured remote access requirements. Implementing scalable solutions will enable organizations to add increased user licenses to the VPN and Internet connections in real-time.

Choose a flexible secure communications solution: There are many to choose from, but a SSL VPN is one of the leading solutions to provide flexible, remote access, which is essential to any business continuity plan. This technology enables access – via a Web browser – to sensitive corporate and customer data that exists on an enterprise network from remote locations. The SSL solution should be redundant and scalable to account for the increased spike in traffic, as well as integrated into the overall Disaster Recovery plan. 

Create a single entry point:  Create a business continuity portal for employees and partners. If the company has an Intranet, this site becomes command central from which employees can access information – HR policies, emergency contacts and a “click here to access SSL VPN” feature. As this Intranet would become the main source of information, it is vital to ensure that it is fast and reliable for employees no matter where they are located.

Coordinate a secondary back-up site: Should the primary site be unavailable, companies should have a real-time mirror of data housed at a secure facility. If configured correctly, organization’s can provide an automatic failover between locations, so that any forwarding is seamless to employees as they conduct business with no impact to productivity.

Replicate non-real time data: In the event that the secondary site is unavailable, organizations should plan for multiple layers of failover.  If users cannot access real-time data via the back-up location, a third- tier facility with updates, but not real-time data, can provide most of the necessary tools to keep the business operational until the secondary facilities come back online.

Ensure access from any device: With mobile devices and air cards now permeating the executive suite and key employees, IT departments can leverage these tools to ensure complete connectivity in times of emergencies. However, organizations must first conduct a thorough review of remote access policies in order to protect the data these devices are accessing.

Pre-arrange “on-the-fly” meeting capabilities: In the event of an office closure, employees still need to communicate internally or with external parties (i.e. suppliers, customers). Providing Web and audio conferencing to remote locations and offsite workers keeps the communication lines open, especially with those unaffected by the office closure.

Review number of sites and VPN gateways: Businesses need to have multiple channels for employees to gain access in case of fail over. Conducting a yearly audit will provide a complete picture of your network and the ability to address problem areas before a disaster strikes.

Test, test and retest:Typically, companies today test their Disaster Recovery facility (ies) and remote access policies about once a year. These “fire drills’ enable companies to see how the current system is working, especially when employees are accessing information from remote locations (i.e. from home, a relative’s house, and hotel). Once complete, those in Management, IT and Human Resources can modify their business continuity plan accordingly.

Recently we hit the 300,000 user milestone on our SSL platform.  This comes along with 3.5 billion sessions, and over 100 terabytes of data securely transferred.  With our SSL capabilities, we are truly able to provide secure global connectivity to your employess, customers and partners.

I am sure the popularity of this solution will continue to grow as everyone becomes more conscience of the importance of securing their information.