Protect Your Business Data

What’s the best way to protect your business data?

For small businesses, losing data can mean lost revenue, damaged reputation, or operational chaos. To safeguard your data:

• Create Independent Backups: Store copies of your data outside your primary cloud provider, such as on another cloud platform or local storage like external drives.
• Enable Protective Features: Use tools like AWS Backup or OneDrive’s versioning, but ensure they’re properly configured.
• Diversify Storage: Don’t rely on a single provider. Spread your data across multiple platforms or maintain offline backups.
• Test Recovery Plans: Regularly verify that your backups work to avoid surprises during a crisis.

Learn more in our latest article.

Get Expert IT Support in Ann Arbor

Navigating cloud services and backup strategies can be complex, especially for small businesses with limited IT resources. If you’re concerned about protecting your data, consult a qualified IT service and support company. 

At NSG, we specialize in helping small businesses secure their data with tailored backup solutions, cloud management, and recovery planning. Don’t leave your business vulnerable—partner with experts to ensure your data is safe and recoverable, no matter what.

If you’re an Ann Arbor business, get started with IT support services today. Call (877) 815-6974 or submit a contact form here.

Redundancy vs Backups: Understanding the Difference

Do you know the difference between a redundancy and a backup for your data?

Cloud services like AWS and OneDrive use redundancy to keep your data accessible, even if a server fails. For example, AWS S3 stores data across multiple locations, boasting 99.999999999% durability. OneDrive offers similar protections with geo-redundant storage. However, redundancy doesn’t protect against:

• Accidental deletions by you or your team.
• Cyberattacks, like ransomware, that can corrupt or delete data across all replicas.
• Account issues, such as suspensions due to policy violations or payment disputes, which could lock you out of your data entirely.
• System errors or bugs on the provider’s end, which, while rare, have led to data loss for some users.

True backups, on the other hand, are separate, point-in-time copies of your data that allow recovery after such incidents. Many cloud services don’t automatically provide comprehensive backups, and features like OneDrive’s 30-day Files Restore or AWS’s versioning require setup and may have limitations.

Learn more in our latest article.

Get Expert IT Support in Ann Arbor

Navigating cloud services and backup strategies can be complex, especially for small businesses with limited IT resources. If you’re concerned about protecting your data, consult a qualified IT service and support company. 

At NSG, we specialize in helping small businesses secure their data with tailored backup solutions, cloud management, and recovery planning. Don’t leave your business vulnerable—partner with experts to ensure your data is safe and recoverable, no matter what.

If you’re an Ann Arbor business, get started with IT support services today. Call (877) 815-6974 or submit a contact form here.

Specialized Security for Your Website

Why is it important to have business-class web hosting?

In today’s digital world, having reliable and responsive web hosting is more important than ever. At Network Services Group, we go beyond basic hosting to offer a service that’s built around YOUR needs and that ensures peace of mind for your business. 

WordPress Security You Can Trust

WordPress powers millions of websites, but it also comes with its own set of vulnerabilities. That’s why we provide monthly security reviews for your WordPress site, ensuring your site is safe, secure, and up-to-date with the latest protections.

Nightly Backups with Built-In Redundancy

Your website is one of your business’s most valuable assets, and we treat it as such. With nightly backups and built-in redundancy, we ensure your data is always protected. Should the unexpected happen, you can rest easy knowing your site’s data is secure and can be restored quickly.

Read more in our latest article.

Are You an Ann Arbor Business Looking for Web Hosting?

Don’t settle for canned hosting providers that treat you like a number. Experience the difference of working with a team that cares about your business and is ready to make things happen. Contact Network Services Group today for Ann Arbor-based web hosting by calling (877) 815-6974 or submitting a contact form here.

The Local Web Host Experience

What’s the difference between local website hosts and “canned” providers?

When you host your website with Network Services Group, you’ll never feel like just another ticket in a faceless system. You can reach us via phone, email, Zoom, or even meet with us in person.

• No Call Centers: Unlike many hosting providers that route you through call centers with unhelpful representatives, you’ll always connect directly with someone who can assist.
• Real Developers: Our team consists of skilled developers with direct access to our servers and the expertise to address any issue quickly.
• Rapid Response Times: We understand the urgency of your hosting needs and are committed to resolving issues promptly.

As Autumn from NSG says, “One thing people need to realize is that when we host their sites, it represents the shortest possible path between the people who care about what’s happening with their site and the people who can really work the magic to make things happen, if there’s a problem or if they need something special. With canned hosting providers, there’s a very big gap there.”

Read more in our latest article.

Are You an Ann Arbor Business Looking for Web Hosting?

Don’t settle for canned hosting providers that treat you like a number. Experience the difference of working with a team that cares about your business and is ready to make things happen. Contact Network Services Group today for Ann Arbor-based web hosting by calling (877) 815-6974 or submitting a contact form here.

Benefits of Our Newest Content Management System

Is your website taking too long to load?

Are you having a hard time customizing it to appear how you picture it in your mind?

If so, then our new content management system is the solution you’ve been searching for!

Over this past summer, we created a new version of our CMS.

Why would someone go through the hassle of creating their own content management system when there are so many options already available?  Because our core team has been hosting and developing websites close to 30 years and we know we can do it better.

We specifically focused on security, SEO, versatility, and speed when designing our CMS (the latest version was released this summer).

Our updated CMS lets people who aren't programmers make complicated edits to their websites and gives them a powerful platform to manage their online content.  All this without the security headaches of WordPress.

Dan Holland, one of our web developers, says: “It's extremely versatile, fast, and built with a modern PHP framework. Pages score very well on https://pagespeed.web.dev, even with large media files and complicated scripts.”

The reason speed is important to you is that Google uses it as one of its metrics for ranking sites in its search results.  If your site is bloated and slow (all too common if it’s built on top of a do everything for everyone platform such as WordPress) it likely won’t be ranked as high as similar sites that have been optimized and that load more quickly.

Want to learn more? Check out our latest article here.

Our New CMS Takes Website Hosting in Ann Arbor, MI to the Next Level!

Our newest content management system is designed to enhance your website’s performance, flexibility, and ease of use.

Built from the ground up with a focus on security, SEO, and user-friendliness, it empowers even non-programmers to take control of their website.

Ready to elevate your online presence? Explore our web hosting in Ann Arbor, MI today, and experience the difference our CMS can make for your business!

Contact us today to get started.

 

Benefits of Our Business Class Web Hosting Services

Considering working with a new website host?

Searching for a partner that delivers on their promises, provides top quality service, and a high level of customer service?

Our business class web hosting offers significantly faster performance than free hosting. It’s hand-coded to provide you with peace of mind by not having to worry about your site going down, running on insecure servers and software, and not being backed up.

Wondering what our business class gives you?

Not all web hosting plans are the same. Many name-brand hosting offerings cram your site onto overcrowded servers (ensuring slow performance), limit your support to someone in a call center reading off a script, and try to get you off the phone as quickly as possible. Additionally, these plans typically include limited bandwidth and don’t provide adequate backups or redundancy.

Our business class hosting takes it to another level. We have redundant servers in different data centers to ensure reliability. We go to great lengths to ensure our servers are well maintained, kept up to date with security patches, are regularly backed up, and are not overcrowded.

And if you need support, rest assured you are dealing with a local company with knowledgeable people who not only care about you but can actually provide you with the support you need.

Don Prior, the owner of Network Services Group has this to say about local website hosting: “One thing people need to realize is that when we host their sites, it represents the shortest possible path between the people who care about what's happening with their site and the people who can really work the magic to make things happen, if there's a problem or if they need something special. With canned hosting providers, there's a very big gap there.” 

Want to learn more about our web hosting and we design services? Check out our latest blog here for more information!

Enjoy Customizable Web Hosting in Ann Arbor, MI!

Choosing our business-class web hosting services means opting for reliability, performance, and a partner committed to helping your business succeed online.

Don’t settle for less – experience the peace of mind that comes with business class web hosting in Ann Arbor, MI.

Contact us today if you’re ready to elevate your online presence.

When was the last time your business’s website was updated?

Google constantly changes the way it evaluates websites for search engine placement. It's always tweaking its algorithm and enforcing new standards for qualities it deems important. Even if a website was well-built in the past, it doesn't mean that it will remain in good standing with Google and other search engines as new standards are imposed. 

WordPress is the most ubiquitous CMS—and therefore the most maliciously targeted. It needs to be kept up to date. So do all its themes and plugins. And when a plugin or theme has a severe vulnerability, it needs to be temporarily disabled until the developer patches the problem, or permanently deleted and replaced with something similar.

Revamp Your Business’s Website with Ann Arbor Tech Support

Ready to bring your business into 2024?

When it comes to premier business-class website design, development, and hosting, you can rely on our Ann Arbor-based tech support [link to KWP]. To get started, call (877) 815-6974 or submit a contact form here. 

How long ago was your business’s website created?

Our team has been developing and hosting websites and web applications since the dawn of the commercial Internet. We know the technical stack inside and out, and we know what works. We don't just blindly outsource our infrastructure; every time an Amazon outage makes the news for taking out a large swatch of the web, our sites stay running.

We are at a sweet spot to be uniquely responsive to the needs of our small and medium-sized business clients. You may be able to find cheap commodity hosting, but then you become a commodity customer — dealing with automated systems, self-serve interfaces, and little recourse when things go wrong. On the opposite end of the spectrum, enterprise-scale corporations hire entire teams of developers and IT workers to keep their online presence running. With NSG, you get the benefit of an easy-to-reach, responsive team that works with you as a technology partner without having to hire your own programming department.

In addition to standard websites, we also specialize in building web-based applications that companies use to run their business processes — from internal systems to track production and work orders, to external-facing applications that help automate workflows with your customers. There are so many ways that technology can be used to make your business run more smoothly; we've built plenty of custom solutions to help our partner companies take advantage of web-based technology, and would love to talk with you about ways we could do the same for you.

Revamp Your Business’s Website with Ann Arbor Tech Support

Ready to bring your business into 2024?

When it comes to premier business-class website design, development, and hosting, you can rely on our Ann Arbor-based tech support. To get started, call (877) 815-6974 or submit a contact form here.

The Pros of Local Web Hosting

Are you looking for a website host?

Have you considered going local?

There are many benefits to working with a local website host over a commercial (or “canned”) host. Here are three major benefits:

Fast response time. Because a local host knows you personally, and doesn’t have a massive sea of faceless clients, they can respond to you much quicker. They also care about responding to you as a valued client.

Secure databases. The servers at Network Services Group are hosted in different tier-1 data facilities, all with redundant internet connections and backup battery/generator power. It is extremely rare for something to happen to the NSG servers—but on the off chance that something happens to one of them, your data will not be lost. 

Professional experience. A local company has the power to hire people with a specialty in IT and web hosting, rather than hiring anyone just to meet a body count. Updates are performed faster, content is posted on time, and problems are solved quickly.

Read more about the benefits of local website hosting here.

Go Local with Website Hosting in Ann Arbor

Ready to build your website with local professionals?

Network Services Group has been helping business build and maintain their websites since 2001 and has twenty years of happy clients to show for it. If you are looking for website hosting in the Ann Arbor area, NSG has you covered. Call (877) 815-6974 or submit a contact form here to get started.

Are You Protected from Ransomware?

You’ve read about it in the news.  Big companies and government agencies — the kind with big tech support departments — getting hacked with ransomware and being down for days. Then, having to pay an exorbitant ransom to get their data back.  The most recent example of this is the Colonial Pipeline.  Don’t let this happen to you!

I’m going to let you in a little secret.  The best way to protect yourself from ransomware is…. With backups!  I know it sounds simple but stick with me here.  It’s more complicated than it sounds.

Yes – you should have business class antivirus software.

Yes – you should have a business class firewall.

Yes – you should have a maintenance and monitoring plan in place to keep all your systems up to date with security patches.

Yes – you should be training your users to be cautious and not just click on attachments and links in random emails.

All of that stuff is important, but none of it is foolproof.

Why? Learn more on our website!

'Tis The Season for Giving!

Network Services Group and our sister company, Michigan SEO Group, feel honored and privileged to serve our clients. Doing so has made it possible for us to be able to give back to the community. Each month we make a charitable contribution to at least one organization that makes a difference in their community. 

We’ve shared information about some of our favorite charities on our website. Each has given so much in their own unique way. If one of our favorites inspires you to give, we thank you! If you have time or money to donate, we encourage you to reach out to a cause that feels right to you. Organizations like these appreciate every bit of help!  

NSG and MSG wish you a safe and joyous holiday season!

Windows 10 Has A Major Security Flaw

If you run your own business, you know how critical it is to have working technology. Your website needs to function flawlessly every day. Your network connections need to be working at all times. You need to be able to make secure connections with your vendors, customers and your employees. To do that, you have to have functional hardware and software.

But how much do you know about the hardware and software you’re using? When was the last time your PC was updated? Early this year, the NSA took an almost unprecedented step in disclosing a serious weakness it identified with Microsoft’s CryptoAPI service in Windows 10. Rather than immediately alerting the public to vulnerabilities, the NSA used them for digital espionage. However, the NSA is making strides toward transparency and the flaw they found is so serious, they alerted the public.

Visit our website to keep reading about this security flaw!

Cyber-Security Is All Over the Headlines—Do You Have a Computer Consultant You Trust?

It’s all over the headlines: cyber-attacks are becoming more and more common.

Whether it’s election interference or ransomware attacks, it’s not all media fear-mongering—it really is getting worse.

 

And it’s not all big, headline-making attacks either. Every day, small businesses and municipalities are being targeted, too.

 

This means that cyber-security is a fast-growing industry. In fact, in just a couple years, the industry is on track to be worth around 250 billion dollars.

While that’s good for business, this increased demand

indicates the real threat of this growing problem.

Check out this article for more on this common cyber-attack!