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5 Reasons Every Business Should Invest in Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) 

technavadmin IT Security , , ,
5 Reasons Every Business Should Invest in Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) 

By Chis Newell
Founder & President

With technology constantly evolving and security breaches becoming more common, data has never been more vulnerable. Businesses need to back up their data to restore it in the event of a disaster or security breach.  

However, ensuring that businesses remain operational after these events requires a little more than just data backup plans. What is needed is a solution that maintains the critical functions to minimize disruptions to business continuity and losses. That’s where Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) comes into play. 

What Is DRaaS?  

Disaster Recovery as a Service is a managed solution that allows businesses to establish alternative data processing sites used in a disaster or security event. As a result, it simplifies the disaster recovery process and makes it quicker and easier for businesses to back up critical data and apps cost-effectively.  DRaaS solutions come with many benefits for businesses and have become increasingly popular across all industry sectors. Let us look at some of the most notable advantages of making companies turn to DRaaS vendors to safeguard their data. 

Fast, Reliable, And Secure 

With DRaaS solutions, there is a faster, automated, and more dependable recovery process compared to traditional practices. Moreover, your data will be securely stored in multiple cloud locations, so businesses don’t have to worry about having a single point of failure.  Most importantly, DRaaS solutions also guarantee the backups, practice failover, and disaster declaration and ensure copies are current and complete, giving peace of mind. 

Cost-Effective 

Unlike traditional backup methods, DRaaS solutions keep monthly expenses low and predictable. In addition, businesses never have to invest in on-premise IT infrastructure for disaster recovery, lowering costs.  

Better Administration 

The nature of DRaaS eliminates the need for IT teams to handle tedious data recovery and repair activities. Hiring a third party to take care of data recovery reduces the burden on IT, allowing the focus on what matters while reducing FTE in-house expenses.  

Ease Of Scale 

DRaaS is easy it is to customize the disaster recovery plan.  Businesses can quickly scale up the DRaaS solution for growth or scale down depending on requirements.  As a result, companies won’t have to overextend their environment and pay more to safeguard data.  

Strategic 

DRaaS vendors can create a formal disaster recovery plan taking different scenarios into account based on their experience in the industry and promised recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO).  They are also capable of testing disaster recovery plans periodically to ensure their effectiveness.   

Our Verdict?  

Using a third party to take care of data backup and disaster recovery plans can safeguard data and keep businesses operational in a disaster. Contact us If you want to know more about what DRaaS can do for your business or organization. 

Six Key Points to Consider When Implementing CCaaS

technavadmin CCaaS
Six Key Points to Consider When Implementing CCaaS

By Chis Newell
Founder & President

If you have an interaction contact center, NOC, or customer service team, chances are you have looked at CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service). There are a lot of choices out there for CCaaS and it can be overwhelming.

My team has deployed over 10,000 contact center seats with a multitude of different service providers. We have requested RFP information on most all service providers in the CCaaS Gartner Magic Quadrants and we assist with the management of their solution. Here are six key points we have learned along the way.

Infrastructure & Redundancy

It is vital to have a solid infrastructure with multiple layers of redundancy and resiliency, both within the CCaaS datacenters and availability zones as well as geographically. We have seen issues with this in the past, not only with the level of redundancy and Business Continuity (BC) capabilities, but the testing of the redundancy and Business Continuity plans.   

Redundancy also needs to come into play with 8xx and voice providers, core routing solutions, internet providers (running in tandem not just failover), call delivery, database and reporting. Many service providers say they have redundancy and BC processes, but what they offer isn’t comparable to what needs to be in place.

My team has done the research and we know which service providers have the best redundancy and BC.

Feature Set / OmniChannel and MultiChannel

While having redundancies in place is important, it is a moot point if a supplier does not meet your requirements with their feature set. Through a validating RFP you can determine what feature set is necessary for your solution, what would be nice to have, and what is on your wish list. In my opinion, it is a good idea to see what each service provider can offer, then scale back to fit your budget.  OmniSession, OmniChannel and MultiChannel are important to consider as well when looking at suppliers and how “efficient” your agents will be in the mediums of communication.

In some cases, Application Programming Interface (API) integration is more relevant as some service providers are not developing the complex feature sets but connecting best of breed service providers to deliver certain products. With the detailed RFP templates our team has created we are confident we can ask the right questions to determine if that service provider meets your needs.

Workforce Management Optimization (WFO)/WorkForce Management (WFM)/Quality Monitoring (QM)

If you have less than 30 seats, using a WFO/WFM solution set does not make much sense, as a manager should be able to administer and track scheduling using spreadsheets, etc. However, once you get over the 30-seat mark, it is best to implement WFO/WFM software to help manage scheduling, monitor call volume, call recording, and provide analytics.

QM is equally important to help management control the quality of the agents’ work. Service providers like NICE InContact, Genesys, and Aspect have natively baked WFO and QM into their solution, while others rely on “plug in” providers like Verint or Calabrio.

Solution Delivery

How do you intend to have CCaaS implemented? Options can be to integrate with your UCaaS, with your on-premise phone system, or you can consume CCaaS using SIP/VoIP provided by the CCaaS supplier. Each has its advantages and disadvantages depending on if you are using remote home agents, single or dispersed call centers, as well as cost and ease of deployment.

Our clients have connected calls over MPLS, IP, TDM, hard/soft and even Mobile phones. We have deployed and worked through the issues with each of these options. Depending on your strategy it is best practice to do a network assessment before testing, as well as a POC before launch of any production environment.

Security

The security of your client’s information (Pii) is vital. To protect this information, you should be reviewing encryption of data, voice recordings, call paths, and regionalization of data storage/country borders. If credit card processing is part of your business, there are very important strategies to make sure this information is being protected.

Pricing

CCaaS can have a great ROI if priced correctly, however it can also be costly when adding features. But don’t let the suppliers ROI calculator fool you, it is important to know the cost benefits and the right questions to ask when shopping for this solution. One tip is to watch for add on costs. Some of these include gamification, long distance w/surcharges, WFO/WFM/QM, API integrations, storage, and analytics. Because of the number of RFPs we have managed for CCaaS, my team is well versed in these pricing strategies.

There is much more to share with you on CCaaS. I hope to provide additional blogs on Security and WFO/WFM soon, so be on the lookout.

Cloud Integration: What is the Best Strategy  

technavadmin Cloud / Data Centers , ,
Cloud Integration: What is the Best Strategy  

By Chis Newell
Founder & President

Many of our clients are looking to my team for guidance on cloud services, applications, and transport. Some of the questions asked are “what should be in the cloud?, how does it integrate and how do I get there? The most common question of all is, how can we control costs? “. 

Cloud services and applications that were once bleeding or cutting edge have become mainstream and I am not just talking about cloud compute. Seemingly everything in the communication and compute world has a cloud connection or application.  

Most services and applications have all or some aspect of their product in the cloud. Flashback to 10 years ago, services and applications were primarily kept within their technology and physical location. Today everything is integrated or have API’s. This is causing a strategy issue for companies and organizations. For example, some are wondering if MS O365 integrates with their voice platform, or if they should look at options that would accommodate that, such as upgrading licenses.

Employees may favor Google Drive or Box over MS One Drive and companies question which to standardize on. Recently, a client asked me how Nextiva, Calabrio and Five9 would integrate if they were utilized within the same organization. Most of these technologies mentioned are intertwined. However, choosing the overall correct technology path for an organization can be tricky and potentially costly.  

We have been told for years that cloud services and applications can connect to each other through open API’s, but this strategy has its flaws. While having an open API is one thing, building a working model off that API is another. For example, there are many reasons why CCaaS providers like inContact, Five9, and Genesys are now owned by, developed, or have purchased WFO/WFM providers.  

The data flow and integration of an API was not meeting client requirements and the merger of these two technologies was inevitable. Integration between technologies must have a proven track record. Just by saying there is an open API does not mean anything has been built, tested, and proved out to be a solid integration. Also, companies should not rely solely on API’s being available long term.  

Multiple times, we have seen competing companies purchase supporting technologies and discontinue or limit API’s to their competition, thereby leaving businesses stranded. It is extremely important to roadmap out dependencies and how integration takes place.  

Connecting to cloud applications and services is a basic concept, you just need an Internet or private connection. While this is important, having Internet redundancies is vital for a cloud strategy to work. Redundancies with seamless (packetized) fail-over is required and should be over separate media. For example, if your first Internet connection is over fiber, it is important to use coax, microwave, 4G/5G as your second medium and connection.  

In a perfect world, a second fiber provider coming into the location through a separate entrance facility would be optimal. Internet transport connections need to be configured in a way where there is packetized fail-over between the connections. This is traditionally accomplished with SD WAN technology.  

Controlling costs and Cloud sprawl can be difficult, as cloud services and applications are largely dependent on each other and are third party provider to oversee workload costs or the use of Technology Expense Management (TEM) providers.  

No matter what your strategy is for cloud services and applications, spend time determining dependencies and how your overall organization can control the environment. Senior leadership will appreciate your due diligence. 

Cutting the Cost of Copper Lines 

technavadmin Voice, VoIP/POTS , , ,
Cutting the Cost of Copper Lines 

By Chis Newell
Founder & President

Dating back to Alexander Graham Bell, “Copper-Line” facilities are one of the oldest technologies in our industry.  This type of technology can go by many names (i.e., 1FB, 1MB, POTS, Copper Lines, Copper Pairs, Phone Line, etc.).  Although most of us have moved to other technologies for our day-to-day voice service, the fact remains that copper-line services continue to be used in many ways throughout the US.  

Every month, businesses approve charges associated with copper lines without fully knowing what they’re paying for, if they are being charged correctly, or receiving a fair rate.  These copper services are typically connected to small offices, elevators, alarms, faxes, security-systems and emergency phones, utilizing ring-down functionality, etc.  

The average cost of a copper line is approximately $50 per month, but many businesses are noticing that phone companies are increasing their fees on these types of services.  RBOC are drastically increasing their copper line facility costs in the efforts to force organizations off the service and decommission copper facilities.   

Some businesses spend tens of thousands, even millions, per year on these facilities.  $50+ by itself may not seem like a large cost however when you consider businesses with multiple locations that are being charged for 3+ lines per location, these costs can quickly add up and potentially impact budgets.  

It’s very common for a business to install lines simply because of poorly maintained inventories or lack of information detailing the location of existing facilities.  Few businesses want to pay someone to tag and locate $50 copper lines.  To avoid the headache of disconnecting existing services, these copper lines are left in place and new services are ordered.  

New technologies exist now that take the copper facilities out of play.  It is called “Pots In a Box” and it is VoIP or SIP services over 4G/5G or broadband to an analog coverter connecting to the 66 block.  This bypasses the copper facilities, and reducing cost significantly.   

One of the many ways to identify and eliminate lines that aren’t needed is to isolate and then disconnect lines with zero usage.  The best way to determine zero usage is to accumulate all invoices from each location with copper lines, which are usually provided by your RBOC like AT&T, Verizon, Windstream or CenturyLink. The intent is to create an inventory of each location with associated numbers, ussage and costs.  Once an inventory is created and costs compiled, cost savings and potential line reduction is possible by working with an aggregator, or a volume line agreement with the RBOC.  

We can all agree that communicating/negotiating with the carriers can be frustrating at times, thankfully GCG has the resources to make this process less painful.  You likely won’t be able to avoid the need for copper lines at your place of business, but you can make substantial reductions to your monthly costs & eliminate a lot of the unnecessary frustrations associated with these types of services. 

Data Center Energy: fear the future?

technavadmin Cloud / Data Centers , ,
Data Center Energy: fear the future?

By Chis Newell
Founder & President

We are all aware of the fossil fuels and energy dependency in the datacenter realm. This is based on the real problem of energy and power, where the exponential growth of big data analysis, cryptocurrency, streaming video, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) are all gobbling up every piece of energy available. 

The demand for electricity to power our data processors and streaming services is growing bigger every day, but the supply is not rising to match it. How will the global economy quench the thirst of its own creations in the years to come? 

First Steps 

Initial efforts to curb the massive power surge include companies taking older hardware offline and rerouting those services to more efficient cloud services and server virtualization solutions. Replacing hard disk drives with flash storage units is both an energy and a physical storage improvement; flash units are only needing power when they are actively in use, and completely dormant the rest of the time.  

Of course, while these maneuvers are more energy efficient, they are not free. Plenty of companies would rather continue to continue gobbling up electricity than replace their entire process. Short of installing government mandates, it is difficult to imagine many businesses willingly scrapping their old legacy systems and equipment, buying access to new, virtual replacements, and also paying for all of their employees to get comfortable with the new services. 

The other big push is in the acronym PUE, which stands for power usage effectiveness. In layman’s terms, it is the ratio of the total power required to run a data center versus the specific power involved in the compute and storage operations in that facility.  

A PUE rating of 1.0 means that the data center is 100% efficient. While most big data operators like cloud companies claim their average PUE numbers are between 1.1 and 1.4, some of the industry watchdogs state this may be the case https://datacentremagazine.com/critical-environments/pushing-limits-data-centre-efficiency.  

While some exaggerated claims have been made on how much pollution these facilities are giving off, official statistics and data center energy use are not compiled at either the national or global level. That said, it is undeniable that there is an impact on the amount of pollution generated considering how rapidly it is being used by data centers and processors. 

What’s Next? 

There is no slowing down the industry. Companies are not going to suddenly regress in terms of how much processing power they devote to AI, IoT, and machine learning (ML). Without incentives or regulations the transition to renewable, green energy sources is moving somewhere between the pace of a glacier and a snail, with 80% of the world’s energy still derived from traditional fossil fuels. Unless there are self-made corporate mandates from companies like Apple, there is a need to find a better way. 

Here are two possible ways forward; a massive investment in building more data centers to handle the load and watching fuel costs rise to a tipping point, or the power of human innovation to offer something new. The hope for the latter is clearly the path to a better tomorrow. Considering how far we have come in such a short time; the next solution is out there somewhere.