Service Update: Google Workspace Transition Update – June 30, 2022

Google WorkspaceService Update: As part of the transition from G Suite to Google Workspace, Google began rolling out service changes to both the Google Workspace and G Suite platforms.

Please contact us by email, via our website, or by scheduling time directly with one of our Cloud advisors, with any questions or concerns.

Additional Storage

You can no longer add additional storage to G Suite Basic or to Google Workspace Business Starter licenses. This change impacts both managed and personal storage. Existing added storage will remain in place and functional.  You cannot, however, adjust the amount of existing additional storage to a user account. Nor can you add any additional storage to accounts approaching the 30GB limit.

If you need additional storage for users, the preferred action is to transition to Google Workspace Business Standard, which includes 2TB per user of storage that is pooled and available to all users accounts.

By default, Google will move your entire domain (all users) to Google Workspace Business Standard. Your standard license fees will double from $6 per user per month ($72/year) to $12 per user per month ($144/year). We can assist in arranging discounts to help mitigate your cost increase if you transition before your renewal period (annual commitments) or Google’s automated transition (month-to-month customers).

Depending on your number of user licenses, you may be able to split licensing between Google Workspace Business Starter and Standard subscriptions, limiting the more expensive licensing to only those users with a need for more than 30GB of storage.

Automatic Transitions

We have been discussing the transition from G Suite to Google Workspace and providing updates since November of 2020.  Google is now working to finish the transition process.

Google is automatically transitioning month-to-month customers to Google Workspace.  Your account administrators will receive notice 60 days in advance of the transition.  Google will transition all of your users based on storage, features, and security settings in use.  By default, all users will transition to the highest license level needed by any user within your domain.  These changes will increase your license costs; for many these increases will be significant.

You may be able mitigate costs by  splitting licenses within the Business and Enterprise tiers. Eligibility is based on your number of users and utilization.

We can also work to obtain discounts related to your transition.

For us to help, we need to begin your transition before Google initiates your automatic transition process.

Please contact us by email, via our website, or by scheduling time directly with one of our Cloud advisors, with any questions or concerns regarding this service update.

Change Management in Cyber Security

Security, Privacy, & ComplianceCyber Security Will Change Companies

IT change management is a structured process for evaluating proposed IT system or service changes. This procedure is carried out prior to implementing the requested change on an organization’s network, reducing or eliminating network outages.

At a recent security and risk management summit, Gartner shared their views of how cyber security will change companies.  While Gartner’s predictions focus on larger enterprise, several of their observations will likely hold true for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) when it comes to change management in cyber security processes.

Here are some observations and our view of how they will impact small and midsize businesses.

Impacts of Cyber Security Change Management

Through 2023, government regulations requiring organizations to provide consumer privacy rights will cover 5 billion citizens and more than 70% of global GDP.

Privacy regulations will continue to expand as more nations pass legislation establishing privacy requirements.  Within the US, we expect more states to follow California, New York, and Massachusetts with varying levels of regulations. Along with the regulations come the potential for fines and increase civil litigation, making it vital to pursue cyber security change management. In many of the statues, the protection is afforded the customer based on the customer’s location, not the location of the business.

For SMBs, establishing and maintaining a sound change management cyber security footprint is essential. Beyond the cloud infrastructure technology tools, businesses need to educate employees and have the policies and procedures in place. These policies and procedures should define expectations for employees and for how the business will respond to an incident.

By 2025, 80% of enterprises will adopt a strategy to unify web, cloud services and private application access from a single vendor’s SSE (Security service edge) platform.

Protecting access to systems is more challenging as the proliferation of usernames and passwords continue.  As the human element can be the greatest security challenge, Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions will become the norm.

For SMBs, Single Sign-On (SSO), centralized identity/password vaults, and other tools are available and are, generally affordable.  Many SMBs current hesitate given the incremental cost per user per month. As the cost and risk of missing becomes greater, we expect SMBs will see value of Identity and Access Management solutions. These solutions will become the norm within a cyber security strategy, not an add-on.

By 2025, 60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a primary determinant in conducting third-party transactions and business engagements.

With increased concern and scrutiny from customers, consumers, and regulators, businesses are under increasing pressure to monitor and protect against third-party cyber security risks.  This trend will impact SMBs in two ways.

  1. Given the prevalent use of business email addresses as identities for third party applications and services, SMBs will monitor for reported breaches. Third party breaches give cyber criminals an attack vector.
  2. Larger enterprises will see businesses in their supply chains as potential security risks. They will increasing include cyber security requirement in vendor authorization process and in contracts.

SMBs need to be ready to meet the security and risk management demands — people, process, and technology — of their customers.

By 2025, 70% of CEOs will mandate a culture of organizational resilience to survive coinciding threats from cybercrime, severe weather events, civil unrest and political instabilities.

As businesses adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, the inability of most businesses to respond to large scale disruptions exposed flaws in traditional business continuity planning. The pandemic put a spotlight on the need for business resiliency and continuity plans for businesses that had not yet considered continuity to be a priority.  The level of planning to address the threats from cybercrime will need to be the same as the planning for other disasters and business disruptions.

For SMBs, leveraging cloud solutions will remain the most cost-effective business continuity option.  Moving systems and applications into cloud services increases security, adds redundancy, provides geographic diversity, and provides better remote access than on-premise systems.  SMBs are at greatest risk from local or regional issues. Managed cloud services … even if only a “lift and shift” of existing servers and applications … will be accepted as a cost-effective way to improve cyber security processes, security and resiliency.

Final Thoughts on Change Management in Cyber Security

We expect small and midsize businesses will need to expand and change their cyber security footprint and processes. They will need to improve resiliency.  Appropriate solutions such as cyber insurance and breach response are available and are affordable.  Businesses can meet their security, resiliency, continuity, and operational needs effectively and affordably. The inherit advantages of cloud services and solutions make this possible.

To evaluate your requirements and readiness for better security and resilience against cyber attacks and other business disruptions, contact us for a consultation, or book some time with a Cloud Advisor.  The consultation is free and without obligation.


Cumulus Global Recognized on the Channel Futures 2022 MSP 501

The Annual MSP 501 Ranks Cumulus Global as a Best-in-Class Businesses with Innovation-Driven Growth

2022 MSP 501 WinnerJune 16, 2022 – Westborough, MA – Cumulus Global has been recognized as one of the world’s premier managed service providers on the prestigious 2022 Channel Futures MSP 501.  Selected by the editors of Channel Futures, Cumulus Global ranks at #139 on the list.  This ranking recognizes Cumulus Global for its performance across a broad range of criteria, including sales; recurring revenue and revenue mix; growth opportunities; innovation and solutions; profitability; and customer and company demographics.

“The recognition and inclusion on the 2022 MSP 501 is exciting and an honor,” stated Cumulus Global CEO Allen Falcon. “Our success directly results from the expertise and effort of our team, our cloud computing partnership with clients, and our vendor relations. Together, our cloud forward solutions help clients exceed their business goals and objectives.”

MSPs that qualify for the list pass a rigorous review by the research team and editors of Channel Futures. The team ranks applicants using a unique methodology. Financial performance according to long-term health and viability, commitment to recurring revenue, and operational efficiency are key analysis factors.

“It is not enough to delivery great services,” noted Falcon. “Continually improving our efficiencies and those of our clients creates near- and long-term value.”

The MSP 501 has evolved from a competitive ranking into a vibrant group of innovators focused on high levels of customer satisfaction at small, medium, and large organizations in public and private sectors. As with many firms listed on the MSP 501, Cumulus Global’s services and technology offerings focus on growing customer needs in the areas of cloud, security, collaboration, and support of hybrid work forces.

The complete 2022 MSP 501 list will be available on the Channel Futures website on Monday, June 20th.

Organizations interested in learning more about Cumulus Global’s services can contact us or schedule an appointment with a Cloud Advisor.

Background

“The 2022 Channel Futures MSP 501 winners are the highest-performing and most innovative IT providers in the industry today,” said Allison Francis, senior news editor for Channel Futures. “The 501 has truly evolved with the MSP market, as showcased by this year’s crop of winners. This is the fifth consecutive year of application pool growth, making this year’s list one of the best on record.”

The 2022 MSP 501 list is based on confidential data collected and analyzed by the Channel Futures editorial and research teams. Data collection ran from Feb. 1-April 30, 2022. The MSP 501 list recognizes top managed service providers based on metrics including recurring revenue, profit margin and other factors.

About Cumulus Global

A nationally recognized managed cloud service provider, Cumulus Global helps small and midsize enterprises get more value from your existing IT and new cloud computing services. Translating your business goals and objectives into solutions and services, we co-manage your IT services, support your team, and keep your IT systems in sync with your changing business needs and priorities.

About Channel Futures

 Channel Futures is a media and events platform serving companies in the information and communication technologies (ICT) channel industry with insights, industry analysis, peer engagement, business information and in-person events. We provide information, perspective, and connection for the entire channel ecosystem. This community includes technology and communications consultants, integrators, sellers, MSPs, agents, vendors and providers.

Channel Futures is part of Informa Tech, a market-leading B2B information provider with depth and specialization in ICT sector. Each year, we welcome 14,000+ research subscribers, over 4 million unique monthly visitors to our digital communities, 18,200 students to our training programs, and 225,000 delegates to our events.

Media Contacts

Allen Falcon
CEO, Cumulus Global
afalcon@cumulusglobal.com

 

Allison Francis
Senior News Editor, Channel Futures and MSP 501
allison.francis@informa.com

 

Hybrid Business Strategy: Examples, Considerations, and Recommendations

Hybrid Workplace

The Business Side of Hybrid Workplace Strategy

The business side of hybrid workplace strategy is forefront as we make plans for the future. In a survey recently published by Gartner, CEOs were asked to identify the top enduring changes resulting from the pandemic. 45% of CEOs stated that hybrid and remote work was the most significant long-term impact. This equals all other noted enduring changes, combined. Nearly every business will have some degree of remote and hybrid working arrangements, as we experience a change in employee expectations and broader cultural shifts.

In past posts, we have looked at the technology and related managed cloud services needed to properly support remote and hybrid workplaces. The business administration issues related to hybrid and remote work are more complex than the technology solutions.

Four Hybrid Workplace Business Considerations

We’ve broken down what you should think about when it comes to hybrid workplace strategy into four key points. Each of these aspects of a hybrid workplace contains examples of how a hybrid business strategy might be implemented. See how these four considerations can help you strike the right balance and create a hybrid workplace that prioritizes people.

1. Working Environment

As we have noted before, as employers we are responsible for providing staff with a safe and healthy work environment.  If employees are working remotely, or from home, on a regular basis (an expectation for the job), their work environment must be managed appropriately through a hybrid work strategy.  We are responsible to ensure appropriate lighting, noise, desk space, seating, and ergonomic accommodations, as well as productivity tools, and cloud collaboration services.

2. Payroll, Benefits, and Compliance

With employees working at home, you are more likely to be paying employees who both live and work out of state (or in another tax jurisdiction). In addition to accurately representing their work location for payroll, you will need to provide benefits in each state and comply with each state’s employment laws.  Minimum wage, sick time, and paid leave are a few of the regulations that differ between states, and need to be considered in a hybrid business strategy.  Healthcare plans and providers will also differ, as do contributions to state unemployment insurance programs.  Additionally, you will need workers’ compensation insurance coverage for each state in which employees work.

3. Insurance

Beyond workers’ compensation, you may need to update your general liability coverages to address employees working from home.  Your insurer may see additional risk and/or the need to document work locations to ensure your business is properly covered.  Most policies require that you list any company-owned or leased work spaces, including co-working spaces.

4. Taxes

Lastly, when it comes to a hybrid workplace strategy, having employees work in your state while living in another is not uncommon. States have reciprocity agreements that dictate how these employees need to file their personal tax returns.  When you have remote employees working in other states, the rules are not yet as clear. Some states expect you to withhold taxes based on your employees’ locations, as this is their workplace.

Even more impactful, some states see an employee’s work location as creating nexus, and will require you to file business tax returns in that state.

Recommendations on a Hybrid Workplace Strategy

We strongly recommend that you proactively address the business side of hybrid work.  Speak with your HR, tax, and legal advisors as you navigate and design your hybrid strategy and remote work plans.

  • Consider using a Professional Employment Organization, or PEO, to manage payroll, benefits, HR policies, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation insurance.  In addition to operating across state lines, PEOs provide you with a unified approach to human resource services. They can assist with recruiting, onboarding, offboarding, and regulatory needs such as driver safety, OSHA compliance, and testing for banned substances. PEOs als0 assume liability for compliance errors.
  • Be prepared to provide employees working from home with the workspace and accommodations they need to be healthy, safe, and productive. Beyond IT, we can assist with home office workstations, desks, stands, lighting, and more.
  • Communicate with your insurance provider to ensure your coverages are appropriate and correct.
  • Consult your tax and legal advisors to ensure you understand when, and where, you have nexus with respect to corporate registrations and taxes.

If you’d like to chat more about hybrid business strategy, be sure to get in touch!