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Elevate your Cloud Experience

Helping your business get the most out of the Cloud

 

Cloud Migration Strategies

We've been down this road before, let us show you the way.

You know there's a strategic opportunity in taking advantage of the Cloud, but you can't make it all happen on your own. Don't struggle like others have, spending years wrestling back and forth with reluctant techs. You need someone who can deliver a plan tailored to your company, with real timelines, and measures of success along the way. 

We understand that some companies, due to industry regulations, or the nature of their customer data require that their business information resides on Canadian soil. To accommodate this need we can arrange to store all your company data in Canada if it is required, just let our team know.

 

So how do you get into the cloud?

As much as we are fans, the process of migrating there is not a simple task for just anyone to undertake. Even with the theoretical background obtained through certification, and the training our solution architects receive at Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle, we understood there's ultimately no substitute for the real thing. And so, Keeran Networks began the process of our first-ever Cloud migration on ourselves. There were lots of lessons learned along the way, but now we boast our own 100% Cloud-based network.

Since then we've been able to offer our expertise to existing clients and completely new ones. Many who came to us thought that getting onto the Cloud might be impossible, having met with nothing but deflections, delays, or disasters with their previous attempts.

Whoever you decide to help you make your move to the Cloud, make sure they have a demonstrated history of completing and supporting their projects successfully. We've been called in to migrate dozens of networks, and half the time we're cleaning up a botched attempt by a confident rookie who thought they could figure it out as they went along. General knowledge, guts, and good fortune don't make for a satisfactory strategy. Experience, detailed planning, and adaptability do.

 

Advantages of Running Your Business in the Microsoft Cloud

Cloud computing has its benefits, but without being able to access your files and collaborate as a team while you’re sitting at home, you’re definitely losing out on those benefits. Implementing a collaborative initiative requires that important files are available from any device, and from anywhere, while still ensuring that your confidential data remains secure.

Microsoft Office 365 ensures that everything you need to conduct business is stored and accessed from the cloud securely. With consistent access to the newest versions of your favourite business productivity tools, you’ll never be without Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Onenote, or Publisher.

Constant Sync: Shared calendars ensure that you know your team’s availability while on the go. Office 365 for mobile also ensures that your email, calendar, and contact info are always up-to-date so that you can access your message history from any device. These cloud-based services allow your team to access their profile from up to 5 devices, and Office 365 for mobile ensures a seamless transition from your work PC, to your Android phone, to your Mac laptop.

Email: Your company needs a business-forward email that clearly represents your brand. Microsoft 365 for enterprises allows up to 50GB of email storage per user, and the capability to send emails up to 25MB in size.

Better Conference Calls: You’re no longer chained to a phone line. Through your device, you’re even more connected than before through HD video conference calls and screen-sharing to clearly present your meeting topic. Add up to 250 people and choose voice, video, or send an instant message to collaborators outside your business through seamless Skype integration.

Collaborate Endlessly: Remember when collaborating on a document meant everyone sitting in a room while someone typed? Or even worse, the back and forth emails with multiple iterations that could easily get confused? Gone are those days.

With Microsoft Office 365, every document is autosaved via Cloud File Sharing to ensure that everyone’s looking at the most recent document.

Easy Administration Panel: Your easy-to-use admin center integrates seamlessly with your active directory, making it easy to manage user credentials and permissions. Add and remove users in minutes and never worry about updates, because they’re rolled out regularly.

Furthermore, every version of Microsoft Office 365 through Keeran Networks comes with 5 layers of security, including pro-active monitoring, software licensing, and IT support to ensure that your admin center is set up and deployed so that you can start collaborating. Our trained technicians can ensure that Microsoft Office 365 is correctly hosted on your virtual servers for optimal uptime and reliability.

 

It's your time and money on the line, don't let someone experiment with it.

Our Readiness Assessment allows us to compile all of the relevant information into a high-value, business-centric executive summary that equips you to take action.

In the words of Edison, vision without execution is just a hallucination. Take the next step towards a true transformation, and talk to the expert guides at Keeran Networks

What if a cyber-criminal were able to extract data from your organization? Modern Cloud environments can protect your business with Data Loss Prevention so that they would be unable to open those files and the private information contained within. This is something that is included within certain levels of Microsoft licensing. It is just a matter of configuring it for your business so you can truly take advantage of all of the capabilities that you will already have built in.

If your business handles a high volume of both financial and personal data, securing it is important not only for PCI compliance but for good client relationships as well. Put yourself on a path to achieving your business goals.

 

Hosted VMware

Through hosted VMware, you can easily install virtual appliances and have a new software program up and running within minutes, as opposed to hours typically spent downloading, installing, and configuring across numerous physical machines. The inverse is also true, allowing your business to virtually launch applications through Cloud Foundry.

Never worry about failing servers again with vSphere solutions that automatically migrate information to installed hypervisors and restart virtual machines, eliminating a single source of failure and preventing operational downtime.

Eliminating your need for physical servers means you can truly embrace cloud computing technology. The increase in storage space reduced downtime, and easier collaboration through programs like Microsoft Office 365 will have your employees jumping for joy. Give us a call today to get your system virtualized.

Traditional operating systems such as Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux were installed directly onto servers or computers. In an enterprise environment, if that server fails, your entire operating system fails along with it.

With virtual server hosting, we can set up hypervisors in the cloud that enables us to create an application layer using a hypervisor. Installing your operating system as an instance on that hypervisor means that you can easily switch between hardware and switch between operating systems.

As a completely virtualized environment, hosted VMware Workstation is capable of establishing multiple virtual machines on one physical machine in the cloud, effectively separating your operating system from the hardware itself. These VMware servers eliminate your need for on-site servers completely; establishing virtual datacenters, virtual machines, and virtual desktops in the cloud.

Separating the OS from the physical hardware means that you can effectively run a number of different operating systems, arrange for a unified data center, and easily migrate your business operations to the cloud.

Through hosted VMware, you can easily install virtual appliances provided by vendors to have a new software program up and running within 5 minutes, as opposed to hours typically spent downloading, installing, and configuring across numerous physical machines. The inverse is also true, allowing your business to virtually launch applications through Cloud Foundry.

Never worry about failing servers again with vSphere solutions that automatically migrate information to installed hypervisors and restart virtual machines, eliminating a single source of failure, and single-handedly preventing any operational downtime.

Eliminating your need for physical servers means that you can truly embrace cloud computing technology. The increase in storage space reduced downtime, and easier collaboration from using Microsoft Office 365 will have your employees jumping for joy. Give us a call today to get your system virtualized and reduce your need for physical server hardware.

 

Cloud Management Services

Our cloud management services include the complete integration of enterprise cloud services from infrastructure right through to software and support.

These enterprise cloud services provide flexible storage solutions while ensuring you remain completely compliant with industry regulations. And because our cloud services for business ensure your storage and backups are stored remotely, they eliminate the need to invest and maintain bulky in-house servers. 

The Benefits of Cloud Computing for Businesses

One of the best benefits of cloud computing is that you and your employees are now no longer tied to your desk. With cloud services for business, you can access your network and files from any device anywhere in the world. 

But there are also strategic considerations as well:

  • Cloud Computing & SaaS converts CapEx to OpEx, reducing the need for large financial investments such as licensing and hardware to provide a certain ROI.
  • Cloud Computing services are scalable, ensuring your business only pays for what it needs - it's easy to add or reduce capacity as required.
  • Cloud computing services provide "burstability" - that is, computing resources can quickly be allocated to support temporary increases in demand generated during periods of peak business.

 

Secure your files, even if they are leaked

Ransomware tactics have evolved to the point that they are not just asking for money to give you your files back. Proper backup solutions have made it too simple and low cost to restore a network in case of encryption. Now hackers have identified that the real money is to be made in threatening to release copies of the information that they have stolen. They ask you to calculate how much your reputation is worth, rather than what your files are worth.

 

Decentralize workstation deployment

To get even more out of your Microsoft licensing we would use Microsoft Endpoint Manager to create customized computer images that can then be associated with employee Microsoft accounts. This allows users to simply open up a sealed box computer, connect to the internet, enter their company-managed username and password, and their machine will be set up to your exact specifications. You are even given the ability to enable Bitlocker Encryption on all company workstations so that if a device were ever lost or stolen, the information stored on it could not be accessed without the proper login. This would extend to even if the hard drive were completely removed and connected to another computer to try and read the files.

 

Take business calls wherever you are

Microsoft Teams for Calling does the same thing for phone calls that Microsoft Endpoint Management does for network access; it frees you from being reliant on specific hardware devices. Once configured, the same Microsoft Teams app that you use for communicating and collaborating through messages and meetings will also serve as your method of voice communication.

 

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) allows you to restrict document access, if it contains sensitive content (i.e. SIN, Credit Card, Driver’s License), on a file by file level, even based on the geographic location of the person. Proper backup solutions have made it simple and affordable to restore a network in case of encryption.

 

Cloud Storage for Collaboration

Our experience designing new cloud networks, and being brought in to rehabilitate failed networks has given our team deep insights into Cloud storage and team collaboration best practices. If you need to get your teams in sync, our professionals can help them connect seamlessly and securely.

 

Cell Phones & Mobile Devices

Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM) brings centralized control to your mobile devices, like cell phones and tablets, in addition to your more traditional workstations. People want to be able to access their business data wherever they are, and smartphones are the obvious solution to do so.

Ensuring this is done securely though has not always been the simplest matter, and in the past, the only solution was to provide restricted corporate devices. 

This put a burden on companies, which were now responsible for purchasing more expensive equipment, and staff who needed to carry and maintain another phone in order to do their jobs effectively.

Providing secure and reliable access to employee mobile devices is now available on Microsoft Cloud environments.

Keeran Networks partners with you and your team to help you reach your business goals

We can help your business to get the most from your network with the robust tools built in to the Microsoft Cloud Environment.

MEM (Microsoft Endpoint Manager) offers an alternative approach, allowing containerization of a single device so that only the apps that contain corporate data are controlled, and protects that information from being accessed by the personal side of the device. This ensures that your data can’t be compromised intentionally by copying information from business accounts to personal accounts, or unintentionally by malicious apps that the person may have unwittingly installed on their phone. 

Security matters more than ever and your business has spent decades building its reputation and establishing rapport with your clients. Much of that long-term cultivation can be jeopardized if you are required to contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the individual clients themselves to make them aware that their private information was compromised.

We understand that the 'office' has changed. Our remote service deployment option further reduces your reliance on centralized office space as well. Someone could be setting up their computer at any home office and still be configured completely correctly. More important to your day-to-day operations, is that this also enable you to fully refresh a workstation that is experiencing performance issues or that could potentially be compromised by viruses or malware.

Over a one-hour period that computer could be set up just like new, with the proper printer associations, the programs necessary for the person's role, and access to all the documents and folders that they have permission for. This increases the resiliency of organizations against cyber attacks and improves the quality of life for end-users who can expect quicker resolution of problems with workstations.

With a multi-location, or completely dispersed workforce this is the best possible option for speed, security, and standardization of deployment, and again it lines up within the same Microsoft set of tools and is available as part of the same licensing. It just requires a properly certified organization like ourselves to prepare it for you.

Bring your own device (BYOD) plans have grown increasingly popular for both parties, reducing costs and increasing choice for employees. Almost everybody has their own preference of device, and that is the one they’ve purchased already as a personal device. Why put another one in their pocket? 

Seamless team collaboration is easier than ever with Microsoft Teams for Calling. These digital calling tools can fully replace traditional telephone providers or complicated in-house phone systems that prove expensive and difficult to manage. Our team can set up toll-free numbers and call trees that lead your callers to the right department. Audio conferences are supported with people using classic phone connections and can assign your employees their own phone numbers to receive calls directly. All of these capabilities come bundled in, so you aren’t required to go through a complicated plan to make sure you have the right set of features. You’ll be able to turn any PC, Mac, and mobile device into a phone with your Business Voice phone number, wherever you take it.

Keeran Networks relies heavily upon the integrity of its phone systems to deliver our service to our clients. As part of our own migration to a fully cloud-based environment, we adopted Business Voice for ourselves and haven’t looked back.

Covid had introduced numerous challenges, yet Microsoft Cloud-based tools have proven to be a solution that allows us to be adaptable and stable. When our entire office building lost power our staff simply picked up the client calls on their mobile phones as opposed to their desktop app and headset. When Covid-19 forced us from our offices we all took our laptops home over lunch and were back up and running with a full work from home team by 1pm. Legacy systems reliant on physical infrastructure have vulnerabilities to events like this, increasing your risk of downtime during times where communication is more vital than ever. Business Voice will also allow us to seamlessly port over existing numbers so your clients will still know how to reach you, and your website and internal applications don’t need to be updated. Desk phones are still available to be used with the Business Voice plan, however, they are not required. Educating staff on how to use the new system is normally enough to avoid them indicating a need for these physical devices, as they are quite expensive and still do not grant the capability that the full desktop application would.

To help support your team during a transition to the Cloud, we offer “lunch and learns” for the Microsoft 365 and Windows Virtual Desktop elements. During these instructional meetings, employees get a chance to have their questions addressed by our experts. Let us show you the hidden value of Microsoft 365 and elevate your Cloud experience.

 

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