When a critical system goes down, every second counts. That’s why IT and network professionals need to get comfortable with tracking incident response metrics like MTTR. MTTR (which you’ll soon come to find has several meanings) is a set of key metrics that measure how fast your team can repair and recover from incidents, directly impacting your system uptime and service quality.

On-premises communication systems often require managing separate platforms for phone, email, video conferencing, and instant messaging. This fragmentation creates operational inefficiencies that slow down workflows. Employees waste time switching between tools, leading to delays in communication and collaboration. The risk of staying with outdated systems is that your team will continue to operate with these silos, ultimately reducing productivity and making it harder to compete in fast-paced markets.

Despite these benefits, many organizations are still hesitant to make the move.

One of the primary advantages of adopting managed services is cost efficiency. By outsourcing IT functions, K-12 schools can reduce operational and capital expenditures. Managed services providers (MSPs) such as C1, help schools lower costs associated with network management, device maintenance, and security, eliminating the need for costly in-house IT staff or frequent technology upgrades.

One significant challenge organizations encounter is the management and maintenance of network security infrastructure. Many businesses do not have the in-house expertise or resources required to operate and manage complex firewall systems effectively. Deploying, configuring, and continually updating these systems to protect against the latest threats demands a level of technical proficiency and time investment that can strain internal IT teams.

With the rapid adoption of cloud environments, IoT devices, and remote workforces, the attack surface of many organizations has grown exponentially. Each new system or endpoint introduces potential vulnerabilities that need to be identified, managed, and mitigated. This expanded attack surface makes it difficult to track all the moving parts, leaving organizations vulnerable to breaches.

The first line of defense in any robust IT infrastructure is controlling who can physically access critical hardware and data centers. Implementing security measures like biometric authentication, RFID badges, and access control systems drastically reduces the risk of unauthorized entry. This is particularly crucial for preventing insider threats and external breaches that could lead to data theft or system tampering.

In this article, you will learn effective ways on how to manage IT costs. Recently, IT departments face increasing pressure to reduce costs while maintaining high-quality services. A McKinsey and University of Oxford study found that large IT projects, on average, run 45% over budget and 7% over time while delivering 56% less value than predicted. This alarming trend emphasizes the need for effective IT cost management strategies.

Network access control (NAC) is a critical component of any organization’s cybersecurity strategy. As companies adopt increasingly flexible work environments and emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), their networks have expanded rapidly. More users, devices, and access points mean more potential vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. Implementing NAC solutions lets organizations stay securely connected despite relying on a complex, dynamic infrastructure.

In separate incidents this past month, I’ve helped clients troubleshoot network problems that turned out to be due to misconfigured switches. In all cases, the errors turned out to be things that I don’t think should ever have been changed from their default settings. So I thought it might be useful to have a brief discussion about how switches work and what features should or should not be used in normal office environments.