We thank our partners at First American for this special contribution to our blog. 

 

By Christina Floyd, First American Equipment Finance

 

Technology changes at an insanely fast pace, and many law firms struggle to stay on top of it all. Choosing the right level of technology investment is a persistent challenge with far-reaching implications – impacting not only the firm’s budget and cash flow, but also staff productivity and overall competitiveness.

 

Unfortunately, it’s far too easy to either over- or under-invest in technology. Finding room in the budget for large IT purchases can be difficult, but holding on to older technology that slows down staff and drains resources with maintenance and upkeep is no better.

 

A lease-based technology refresh program may be just the answer.

Topics: Partners

Topics: Articles, Office 365, Microsoft, Partners

On Thursday, March 30, 2017, we will host Tom DeSot, Chief Information Office at our partner Digital Defense, Inc., for a discussion of penetration scanning, testing and training. Register to join us now!

 

Law firms across the globe are consistently implementing vulnerability scanning

Topics: Penetration Testing, Digital Defense, Partner Series, Partners, cybersecurity, Cybercrime

When faced with hurricanes, earthquakes, geomagnetic storms and floods, law firms' data is safer in the cloud than anywhere else. Traditional data centers are built strong to protect against natural disasters, but when it comes time for your data to evacuate, it needs to have somewhere to go. The cloud offers that protection with multiple levels of redundancy across the world, so your data will survive even if one location is hit or damaged. Here are four scenarios the cloud protects your law firm from:

Topics: Cloud, Data Backups, Data Recovery, Cloud Storage, Disaster Recovery, cybersecurity, Partners, Microsoft

So what does someone need to know about the annual RSA Conference? Most technical people know about it. However, as an account executive, I felt it was important for me to understand what the acronym “RSA” stands for. In my defense, I was a first-time attendee. But I wanted to know what kind of group I’d become involved with, and I figured knowing the meaning behind the acronym would give me a pretty good idea. Now, if you’re not a real techie, you probably don’t know the answer to my question. In fact, many people I talked to didn’t know. That made me feel better. I wasn’t alone in my ignorance. I went on a personal search to find out.

Topics: Security, Training, IT Tips, SentinelOne, cybersecurity, Partners, Endpoint Protection, RSA Conference

Microsoft’s SQL Server 2005 reaches end-of-support on April 12, 2016. Law firms and all companies should get ahead of the game now by taking advantage of the many new capabilities available in Windows SQL Server 2016.

As with almost any technology or upgrades in software, sufficient time should be allocated for planning and testing (and considering other integrations) before simply rolling out new technology or upgrades. Microsoft SQL requires integration with many other applications. Getting a head start on deployment planning is essential.


There are challenges law firms need to be aware of when implementing Windows SQL Server 2016. Service and support for applications that were developed with SQL 2005 will be impacted. End-of-support can present risks, as there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates.

These, of course, are only a few of the obstacles. But if you start early, you can identify and make adjustments for them early. The number of obstacles – and issues – increase the longer you wait.

Avoid business disruptions and compliance issues caused by slow-performing databases and downtime by planning and beginning your upgrade now.

Or, let us help.

Contact an Innovative Computing Systems Account Executive and request information on the next steps in helping your firm smoothly upgrade.

Topics: Technology Consulting, Cloud, Managed Services, IT Tips, Microsoft SQL Server, Partners, Microsoft SQL Server 2016, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, End of Support

Topics: Cloud, Cloud Storage, Email Management, Mimecast, cybersecurity, Infographic, Partners, eBook