Why you should think of your technology partner as an iceberg.

And no, it’s not because it has the potential to turn you into a Titanic. 

Rather, it’s because what you see and interact with most days is just the tip of what we do. Below the waterline of everyday interaction is a significant mass of knowledge, expertise, and strategic value – all aimed at helping to secure and enable the growth of your business.

The 10% tip of the iceberg

Like an iceberg, your managed service provider (MSP) often only has about 10% of their mass visible to the naked eye. You notice the ‘IT provider’ type services like help desk and infrastructure support – because they’re needed on an everyday basis. And you especially notice if the service isn’t up to scratch. 

But the ‘deeper’, more strategic stuff is just as critical and provides significant value to your business. 

So, what’s below the waterline at Yorb, and why should you care? 

The 90% you don't see

While you doubtless appreciate the ‘keep the business and our people running’ aspect of having a trusted technology partner like Yorb, there are other benefits, including:

1. Keeping you safe.

There’s nothing like a security scare to remind you that your MSP has your back. While most business users instantly think of patching and multi-factor authentication as the ‘in your face’ security measures, what else is quietly happening under the hood of your business while you sleep? 

Cybercriminals are ruthless and relentless. No system, industry, or data is immune. If you partner with us, you’ve already gone a long way to safeguarding your business and its future – 24/7. Not only are you saving money by having transparent monthly costs which cover a comprehensive range of bundled cybersecurity services and initiatives, but there’s no need to invest in owning and managing your own cybersecurity software or hiring (if you can find them) in-house professionals. 

2. Keeping you (data) compliant. 

Data compliance and governance are hot-ticket items for most businesses keen to preserve valuable data and customer loyalty – and minimise risk. You’re expected (as a matter of good practice and by law) to ensure the safety and accuracy of your data and manage who has access to it. In addition, you need to have the frameworks, principles and policies to guide how you use and manage your data.   

Yorb not only offers the tools to empower your data governance policy but also the knowledge and experience to help you make your data compliance failsafe.

3. Keeping your cloud under control.

As well as getting you off your ageing servers to the cloud and setting up your cloud or hybrid infrastructure, we’re here to help make sure that you’re not experiencing cost blowouts or security risks. And this isn’t an insignificant task - some companies spend as much as 30% over the odds due to inefficiencies! These out-of-control costs can be caused by unauthorised and often unsecured cloud apps (aka shadow IT) that have crept into your environment, large workloads being run at the wrong time or place, underutilised or insufficient resources, or too much time spent internally trying to manage cloud resources. 

Yorb works with the cloud every day. We have the tools, experience, and people needed to spot when, where, and how you can optimise your cloud environment to stop overspending in its tracks. 

4. Keeping you resilient. 

No one likes to think of being in the middle of a disaster, but as we all know, life happens. From natural disasters (which account for 5% of business downtime) to the 95% caused by human error, cyberattacks, and software or hardware failure, your systems and data must be available to keep you in business. And with 58% of data backups failing, it’s not a responsibility you’d wish on anyone within the business.   

Yorb backs you up (and tests) again and again. Whether it’s your cloud environment, workstations or servers, we can resurrect your business-as-usual ability pronto. And if you don’t have a disaster recovery plan, we’ll help you create one. 

What else lurks below the waterline? 

Keeping your IT aligned with your growth plans, that’s what. 

Like business, technology is never static. It needs to scale (up or down) as you do, and help you change direction or focus to maintain market relevance and compete effectively. And none of this happens by accident.   

As a managed services partner, we don’t just ‘do’. We also think. We provide essential strategies that enable you to pivot, rebound, resist and recover. So, as your business goals change, you can be confident that you have what you need now and are equipped to take on the future. These services require in-depth knowledge of technology, great people, and an understanding of your business requirements.

Our (below the water) strategic services include:
 

• IT strategy and consulting – assessing your current IT infrastructures against your business objectives and providing guidance on ‘where to from here’ with technology investments and changes. 
•  Cloud strategy and migration – helping you move to the cloud, develop your cloud strategies, choose the right cloud platform, and manage the migration process. 
• Cybersecurity strategy – tailoring comprehensive security strategies tailored to your business, customer and user needs. This includes including risk assessments, training, and compliance planning. 
• Disaster recovery and business continuity planning - creating and implementing plans to ensure that in the case of business disruption, your data is safe and can be restored, and your systems can be quickly recovered. 
• Network design and optimisation – ensuring your networks are designed to perform at their peak. 
• Vendor management – providing an overview of and managing your relationships with third-party technology vendors to ensure that their solution performs to your expectation, works perfectly in your environment and is cost-effective. 
• Change management – change can be frightening, and users can be reluctant to adapt to new ways of working. A sound change management strategy can ensure that the process of change is smooth and well-received. 
• Performance monitoring and reporting – delivering analytics and insights on your IT performance so you can make better, more informed technology decisions. 
• IT budgeting and cost management – helping you plan and manage your IT budgets to ensure you get a return on investment and keep your CFO happy. 
• Compliance and regulatory support – keeping you on the straight and narrow road of compliance as you navigate industry regulations and standards.
  

It’s fair to say there’s more to Yorb than meets the eye 

Although you may not have full visibility of our range of strategic services (perhaps we don’t shout loud enough!), they’re there, and we love to talk about them. We believe these services provide significant business value on top of the everyday support we deliver. 

But there’s more. 

We’re a local business supporting local businesses. We live, shop, and work where you live, shop, and work. That’s why we place a high value on the importance of open and direct relationships. We’ve worked hard to earn the trust of our customers, and we try to pay it forward every day by serving you with enthusiasm and integrity.