What is SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) and How Can It Benefit My Business?

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What are the advantages of SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) over other security options?

SASESecure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a cloud-based network security solution that combines wide area networking (WAN) capabilities with comprehensive security features such as secure web gateways, firewall as a service, and zero-trust network access. SASE is designed to provide organizations with a flexible and scalable network security solution that can adapt to changing business needs.

Here are some of the advantages of SASE over other security options:

  1. Simplified Infrastructure: One of the primary advantages of SASE is that it simplifies the security infrastructure of an organization. SASE replaces multiple security solutions with a single cloud-based solution that is easier to manage, monitor and maintain.
  2. Cloud-based: SASE is a cloud-based security solution, which means it can be deployed and managed from anywhere. This is particularly beneficial for companies with remote employees, as it allows them to access resources from anywhere while maintaining high levels of security.
  3. Scalability: SASE is highly scalable, which means it can grow as your business grows. This allows organizations to easily accommodate new users, applications and devices as they are added to the network.
  4. Cost-effective: SASE is a cost-effective solution compared to other security options. It eliminates the need for multiple security solutions, which reduces the overall cost of security infrastructure.
  5. Improved Security: SASE provides a comprehensive security solution that includes secure access to applications, data and other resources, as well as network security and threat prevention. It also provides advanced features such as zero-trust access, multi-factor authentication and real-time threat detection and response, which improve overall security posture.
  6. Compliance: SASE helps organizations meet compliance requirements by providing security controls that are auditable, trackable, and compliant with various regulations and industry standards.

Overall, SASE offers several advantages over traditional security options by providing simplified infrastructure, cloud-based deployment, scalability, cost-effectiveness, improved security, and compliance.

Will SASE save me money?

Whether SASE will save money for an organization depends on various factors, including the size of the organization, the complexity of its network infrastructure, the level of security required, and the existing network security solution in place.

SASE has the potential to reduce costs by eliminating the need for separate network and security solutions and consolidating them into a single cloud-based platform. This can reduce the cost of hardware, software licenses, and maintenance, as well as simplify management and reduce the need for IT staff.

In addition, SASE can enable organizations to adopt a pay-as-you-go model, allowing them to scale their network security solutions as needed without incurring significant upfront costs.

However, it’s important to note that the cost savings of SASE will vary depending on the specific needs of the organization and how effectively the solution is implemented and managed. Organizations should conduct a cost-benefit analysis and consider factors such as the initial investment, ongoing maintenance, and potential productivity gains when evaluating the ROI of SASE.

If you’d like more information about SASE, fill out the form on this page and someone will get back with you.

 

IT Solutions for Healthcare

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Healthcare professionals, throughout the United States, have been learning to manage HIPAA compliance to adhere to industry requirements. One component that the healthcare industry must comply with is the Security Risk Assessment (or SRA), which must be completed annually. The Security Risk Assessment includes, not only your processes and procedures, for managing protected health information, it also includes a thorough review of your IT Infrastructure, including areas such as:

  • Access Controls
  • Business Continuity Procedures
  • Perimeter Security
  • Storage
  • Secure data transmission
  • Patch Management

All of these issues are critical to the security and privacy of your patients’ information, and performing a security risk assessment can be time-consuming and difficult. WheelHouse Solutions’ HIPAA risk assessment team has worked hard to make these assessments as quick and painless as possible so that you can focus on your patients.

What you get

Our risk assessment provides you with a full, audit-ready report, that explains to you where you are at-risk and what changes you can make to reduce the risks. We will run an analysis of your IT environment, including scans that will help you identify where you have protected health information. When we leave, you can feel confident that you have a plan that will keep you in compliance.

Security Risk Assessment FAQs

Who is required to complete an annual SRA?

Any organization that maintains, tracks or, otherwise, has access to protected health data is required to complete an annual SRA, particularly medical professionals, such as chiropractors, dentists, general practitioners and other medical specialists.

Is Security Risk Analysis optional for small providers?

In a word – No. All providers who are “covered entities”, under HIPAA, are required to perform a risk analysis. Additionally, any providers who receive EHR incentive payments are required to perform an SRA, as well.

Is it true that EHR vendors are not responsible for compliance?

While an EHR vendor may be able to provide information, or training, on privacy and security aspects, relating to their product, they are not actually responsible for making their products compliant with HIPAA’s Privacy and Security Rules. It is, solely, the responsibility of the “covered entity” to complete an SRA.

Healthcare is evolving, and you need the technology team to help your organization evolve with it. At WheelHouse Solutions, we’ll assist you at every stage – from HIPAA-compliant infrastructure, including mobile solutions, to real-time access to patient information. Our healthcare IT Solutions, Cloud Services and Managed Services ensure compliance and flexibility, throughout your organization.  Fill out the form on this page or call us at 314-492-2506 for a free consultation.

Protecting Your Business Against Ever-Evolving Cyber Security Threats

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St. Louis Cyber SecurityCyber attacks are on the rise and only getting more frequent. It’s imperative for your business to have an effective strategy to protect against data breaches, malware, spyware and other threats that could compromise your company. Because most businesses are technology-driven, IT systems are central to your organization’s success.

With that in mind, there is no more important investment than the cyber security of your business. WheelHouse Solutions’ cybersecurity offering will protect your sensitive company information, as well as the personal information of your employees and customers. We offer a comprehensive line of security products by today’s leaders in cybersecurity. Our mission is to detect and stop threats before they affect your business.

Our cybersecurity solutions include:

  • Malware & Virus Protection
  • Ransomware Protection
  • Email Security
  • Firewalls
  • Intrusion Prevention Systems
  • Router Security
  • VPN Security Clients
  • Web Security
  • Data Security

It’s imperative to deploy security measures across your enterprise to protect from modern threats that change rapidly. WheelHouse Solutions can protect your business with a suite of solutions, helping you mitigate all security threats and keep your business safe from online attacks. And, while there’s no silver bullet when it comes to IT security, the more safeguards we can implement in an IT environment, the more secure it will be and the more our customers appreciate out IT expertise.

If you would like more information on our cyber security or premise security systems, please click here or call us at 314-492-2506 to request a free evaluation today from one of our knowledgeable staff.

Assigning Priorities to Your Upcoming IT Upgrades

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No matter how much a company spends on technology and equipment, those solutions are not meant to last forever and have an anticipated lifecycle. Even after significant investments in technology in your organization, you may have noticed that those solutions are no longer as effective as they once were. Competitors are leveraging new technologies to better serve their clients and you’re getting left in the dust. Sounds like it might be time to implement some upgrades.

As a result, it’s critically important that you plan your IT modernization activities using at least one of these principles.

Simplify & Streamline the Design

In many cases, older IT solutions are a mixed menagerie of various technologies, frequently designed with a very simple modular focus – one or two processes can be accommodated, but only as long as the focus of the business does not shift.

Modern IT solutions are systems that are primarily engineered on standardized components and languages, so that they can be easily leveraged to use application programming interfaces (or APIs) in order to facilitate multiple processes running at the same time. In addition, modern IT networks and solutions can be used to implement advanced processes, like artificial intelligence and machine learning. These capabilities allow employees to service customers more easily, improving customer satisfaction and enhancing employee skills, by exposing them to advanced IT technologies.

Prioritize Employee Benefits and Added Value

One of the most significant benefits of any modernized IT network is the improved value that network users will experience due to upgrades and investments being made. With the latest in network solutions, your business can now deliver a level of customer service by leveraging the solutions that are available to you through a modernized network solution.

Automation is a large part of this because if you aren’t reducing the number of tasks that your employees need to complete in order to grow your company, you may find it difficult to improve their productivity. For this reason, it’s important that your IT products and solutions provide value to your employees that also translates into operational benefits for the business.

Adhere to Company Culture

When developing the IT technology upgrade policy that will best grow your company, it can be helpful to understand how that technology will fit into your organization’s culture. At the same time, you must also ensure that your staff is prepared to implement the changes you’re making across the IT environment. One part of the upgrade should stipulate that you communicate the changes up front, along with your expectations that they will be implemented.

It will also help to rely upon those employees who are most receptive to the changes, who will fully utilize the upgrades and can be considered a source of valuable information should others in the business require assistance. Are there any problems or issues of which management is unaware? Utilizing these receptive employees to understand the culture within your business will help to inform future decisions on technology enhancements and upgrades.

If you’d like more information on planning and upgrading your IT network, we invite you to fill out the form on this page and someone will get back in touch with you soon.

Do You Have a Business Mobile Device Management Policy?

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In a recent article on mobile device management (MDM), CIO magazine makes the intriguing and pointed observation that “the mobile enterprise is the BYOD enterprise,” which may be the reason many businesses have been slow to implement comprehensive mobile device management policies. Unfortunately, a lack of such policies is unrealistic and fails to take into account the fact that employees are probably already bringing in their mobile devices, and using them, at work. The presence of such devices already brings possibilities, as well as security risks.

What Is Your Business Mobile Device Management Policy?

What is your policy on mobile device use in the workplace? Are your employees provided with company devices – and only allowed to use those devices while on the clock? Perhaps you allow limited use of mobile devices at the workplace, so long as they are not connected to the business network.  Be aware, that even such limited access can provide security risks, for example from employees using their cell phones to take screenshots or record conversations. Especially in light of ongoing security breaches, now is the time to be proactive.

What Should Your Policy Be?

Mobile device management refers to a number of software products currently on the market, which manage risk caused by the reality that people carry and use a variety of mobile devices. Mobile device management also includes an understanding on the part of employers that security and accessibility are reasons for concern – and the reason for possibility as well. Consider a policy of mobile device management which allows your workers’ maximum productivity, including the use of mobile devices for business functions, while minimizing your security risks.

Implementing Change

Change is hard, as they often say, but change can be good. When introducing a new mobile device management plan, or improving on the one you have in place, make sure to cultivate input from all levels of your organization. This way, you can better ensure acceptance and compliance, and maximize productivity by taking into account all the legitimate uses people have for mobile devices in your place of business.

Mobile device management means moving beyond acceptance, into the realm of actively utilizing mobile devices, with all the possibilities they can bring.

Making educated technology decisions defines business success in today’s competitive world. For larger companies, one wrong move can equal millions in lost productivity, hardware failure, and potential security breaches. For smaller businesses and start-up companies, technology guesswork is the fine line between closing the doors and establishing a creative edge in the market.

WheelHouse Solutions can provide the mobile expertise that your business needs. We have extensive experience planning and implementing complicated projects in a business environment. We’ll ensure that your project is managed effectively, analyzing and defining your needs and then creating a scope of work, including project goals and milestones. We’re experts at working with third-party vendors, to ensure that your projects are implemented flawlessly, on time and under budget.  Click here or call us today at 314-492-2506 for a free consultation.

Business Storage Solutions and Data Integrity and Restoration

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There are increasing risks daily due to ever-growing exposure of data integrity to new technologies and devices. Recognizing this, IT professionals are devoting more and more resources, time, and effort to detecting, preventing and restoring from hackers who, maliciously or otherwise, seek to gain access to management systems and disrupt the programming. In fact, Gartner estimates that spending alone on security threats will reach $77 billion globally in 2015. That is a lot of money by any standards for storage business solutions; where are the threats coming from?

A recent article by Shelly Cramer on Dell Power More on 7/31/2015 about 4 Steps To Protect Utility Management System from Hackers, shed some light on this problem. The Global State of Information Security for 2015 reported 42.8 million security incidents for the year, an increase of 48% since 2013.  So, what is the danger for utilities? Consumers typically take for granted their access to water, electricity, the Internet, oil and gas pipelines and associated utilities. But, the failure of any one of these has a cascading effect, similar to a row of dominos that starts with the first one being knocked over. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated this in New Orleans and years later, the infrastructure is still having problems. Ms. Cramer postulated that the four key areas to evaluate to help protect against utility management failures are human failures, known weakness spots and insecurities, disaster recovery and prevention drills, and data backup and restoration.

Unfortunately, the human area is becoming more and more an insider risk from disgruntled employees or consultants or former employees who still have access and use their knowledge to bring down the systems. Recurring training and continuing evaluations can reduce this risk. Known weaknesses obviously are studied carefully and many areas can present a risk. Bring Your Own Device, online bill pay, social networks and a mobile workforce are all key places to focus. Fire drills to evaluate reactions to systems degradation or losses can really help to not only train your IT security forces to react imaginatively but also to think deeply about the processes involved. How about data recovery and backup?

The keys on data recovery involve multiple areas such as location and type of storage, methods and time of restoration, the integrity of communication networks, and the resistance of restored networks to further attacks, among others. There are so many facets to data that many organizations turn to outside experts to assist them

Storage business solutions are one of the many ways that WheelHouse Solutions can help.  WheelHouse Solutions began in 2000 and is dedicated to the premise that companies need a trusted technology partner. Over the years, we added expertise in many different technology areas. A partial list of the value-added areas we offer includes cloud storage access and technology, telecom solutions and cost reduction, training for employees, managed IT services, and much more.

We start with an evaluation of your company and organization and give to you an accurate and detailed picture of where we can help you and the savings you will accrue as a result. Our mission is to become one of your trusted partners. We continually upgrade our own technology so we can offer you the best solution for your needs.  Call us today at 314-492-2506 for more information.