Tag Archive for: SMB

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Avoid MFA Pitfalls and Lockouts

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MFA PitfallsMaybe you have seen the meme about spending 6 hours per day entering multi-factor authentication (MFA) codes. While inconvenience is one pitfall of MFA, improper configuration and management of MFA can lead to more damaging pitfalls and lockouts. Your ability to work can take days to recover.

The MFA Pitfalls 

Most of us are not using a separate security key; we authenticate using our smartphones. Whether by Authenticator app, SMS text, one-time passwords/codes, or local app login, we need our smartphone to access our apps and services.

Imagine this scenario:

  • Your iPhone is lost, stolen, or damaged.
  • On your laptop, you need to login to check email and the authentication goes to the Authenticator app on your phone.
  • You could opt to have a one-time password emailed to you, but you cannot access your email.
  • You could send it to your recovery email, which you rarely use, is logged out and the MFA also goes to your phone.

You get the picture. You are stuck, but you still have other means of access. Depending on your configuration, restoring access may be complex and take too much time.

And while this scenario may seem unlikely to happen, we see online forums where over 80% of help requests relate to account lockout and recovery. Almost all of the problems were avoidable with proper configuration and management.

Tips to Avoid MFA Pitfalls

To help you avoid MFA pitfalls and lockouts, we created a list of things to consider when configuring management of your MFA services.

  • Use a Sustainable Phone Number for MFA and for Recovery: MFA texts and messages should only go to a phone number that can remain in use if you switch phones or phone systems. Whether to a physical phone or a VoIP service, make sure that you will not lose your number if things change in the future.
  • Have a Separate Recovery Phone Number: If your phone is not available for MFA calls or texts, it is not going to work for recovery codes, calls, or texts. If at all possible, use different phone numbers for MFA and recovery. If your MFA phone number is your smartphone, your recovery phone number could be your business’ VoIP phone number, or the number of a trusted coworker or spouse.
  • Use a Separate Recovery Email: If the email account that receives MFA messages is inaccessible, you will not be able to use it for recovery. Use an alternate email address. This could be a personal (@gmail.com) account or a one belonging to somebody you trust. When setting up your recovery email account, make sure that account is not reliant on the same methods and devices.
  • Stop Before You Drop: Before you give up, abandon, or change a phone number or email address, review the MFA setup across all of your apps and systems. Make sure you move them to your new number and/or email address before you give up the old ones.
  • Backup Your Authenticator Apps: Both Microsoft Authenticator and Google Authenticator let you backup your Authenticator App data. This lets you reinstall and recover your Authenticator settings and accounts on a new or different device. Make sure, however, that the backup location does not require the Authenticator App for access.
  • Create, Print, and Save Recovery Codes: Many systems, apps, and security tools let you create emergency recovery codes. If available, create the codes, print them, and keep them in a safe location (“Put it with your Passport”). Having these codes can reduce account recovery time by hours or days.
  • Use a Password Manager: Password managers provide a single, secure login to allow access to complex passwords and validation for the connected apps. Using a password manager reduces the risk of account lockout.
  • Do Not Buy Direct: Buy your cloud apps and services through authorized partners. For most SaaS and cloud solutions, your partner has administrative access to your account. They can reset passwords and recover accounts. If needed to expedite access or recovery, your partner can change MFA configuration and/or temporarily remove MFA from an account.

These steps require some planning. As MFA settings and preference can often be set individually, you will need to communicate and coordinate with your employees. 

We Will Help

Our Cloud Advisors are here to assist. We can:

  • Review your current MFA services and configurations
  • Identify risks and recommend changes
  • Assist your team members with settings and recovery codes
  • Provide your with Password Manager services
  • Provide license and account co-management for your cloud services

Schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors now to discuss your next steps.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

Don’t Fall for the Call

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Don't Fall for the Call

IT support scams are back and on the rise. Over the past few weeks, the reports of vendor phone calls and emails claiming to contact people about suspicious activity in their accounts have skyrocketed.  

Do Not Fall for the Scam

Google, and Microsoft, will NEVER call your or email you to start a service or support call.  Let me repeat that, but this time in bold. Google, and Microsoft, will NEVER call your or email you to start a service or support call.

Some of these calls and emails attempt to get you to enter your username and password into a fake web page. 

Many of these attacks request the multi-factor authentication (MFA) code. The attackers initiate a password reset. If given the MFA code, they access the account and can change credentials, access other services, and exfiltrate information.

It is more difficult to spot fake landing and sign in pages

While historically easy to spot, attackers use generative AI to create sophisticated fake login pages. 

Attackers are also using legitimate landing page, marketing, or document tools. The link in the email may open a validly hosted page or document with instructions and another link that, in turn, takes you to the fake login page. 

As the hackers take you through a legitimate service, as a pass-through, you may be less likely to notice that the page asking for your credentials is fake. This method is also more difficult to combat since the pass-through may require valid credentials for access.

Steps You Can Take

You can take a few simple steps to prevent these types of attacks from successfully damaging your business.

  • Education – Inform and educate your team about current and emerging cyber attack methods, what to look for, and how to handle suspicious activity.  Cyber Awareness Training, if well managed, is an affordable means to keep security top of mind.
  • Advanced Email Threat Protection – Email threat protection focused on sender domains, links, and attachments is not enough. Attackers use masking, images, and QR codes beyond the capabilities of many email protection services. Upgrading to a more robust service will provide better protections. Solutions that provide banners and “one-click response” better empower users to flag and manage suspect messages.

We Will Help

Our Cloud Advisors are here to assist. We will:

  • Assess your current security profile and protections
  • Prioritize options and recommendations for security improvements
  • Help you plan and budget for any changes
  • Deploy and co-manage your security solutions to keep you protected.

Schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors now to begin your security review and improvements.

About the Author

Bill Seybolt bio pictureBill is a Senior Cloud Advisor responsible for helping small and midsize organizations with cloud forward solutions that meet their business needs, priorities, and budgets. Bill works with executives, leaders, and team members to understand workflows, identify strategic goals and tactical requirements, and design solutions and implementation phases. Having helped over 200 organizations successfully adopt cloud solutions, his expertise and working style ensure a comfortable experience effective change management.

5 Cyber Threat Trends You Should Know

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5 Security Cyber Threats You Should Know

Earlier this week, we shared CrowdStrike’s 2025 Global Threat Report which identified five (5) cyber threat trends that you should know. While cyber-fatigue is real, understanding the threat landscape helps you assess your risks and security posture and make informed decisions on how to prioritize security-related spending and investment.

5 Cyber Threat Trends

Here are the 5 cyber threat trends you should know.

1 China on the Rise

Cyber attacks originating in China – both nation-state and organized crime – jumped 130% over the prior 12 months. At the enterprise-level, China-nexus attackers focus on telecommunication systems. For most businesses, the increase in attacks on unmanaged devices should be of concern. 

Unmanaged devices lack detection and response capabilities that allow attackers to lurk, monitor, and capture credentials for greater access to your systems, applications, and data.

2 Hands-On-Keyboard Attacks are Making a Comeback

The best way for cyber attackers to avoid modern malware protection, such next-gen endpoint protection and managed detection and response (MDR) services, is for the attacker or a surrogate to use the keyboard. These manual, interactive attacks are up 27% over the prior year.

We may imagine hands–on-keyboard attacks as movie-like scenarios of corporate spies posing as custodians sneaking onto computers while avoiding the security guards making their rounds. In reality, the hands-on-attack may be your employee responding to somebody they think is IT support or a vendor helping them solve a problem.

3 Rapid Ransomware Reach

The speed at which cyber attackers can launch ransomware attacks after an initial breach is accelerating. From breach to spread, attacks are up to 32% faster than previously known.

This speed gives cybersecurity systems less time to identify behaviors and patterns that identify the cyber attack, weakening the effectiveness of the protections.

4 AI for Evil

With the help of AI, certain types of cyber attacks have jumped 220% over the prior year. Cyber attackers are using generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) technologies to power more-effective attacks.  

Using GenAI, attackers create more realistic fakes – emails, documents, phone calls, and videos – to trigger responses and reactions that enable and facilitate access and breaches.

At the same time, cyber attackers are using security vulnerabilities in the platforms and tools businesses use to build AI agents, just as they use vulnerabilities in web, application, and office productivity platforms.

5 Cloud Attacks Gain Altitude

Cloud intrusions – successful cyber attacks on cloud systems and services – jumped 136% during the first half of 2025 compared to all of 2024. These attacks vector through compromised identities, improper security configurations, API vulnerabilities, lax security and permissions governance.

Steps You Can Take

To ensure your security footprint protects your business appropriately:

  • Conduct IT and Security Assessments that benchmark your security posture.
  • Prioritize your risks based on the nature and size of your business, industry standards and expectations, and regulatory requirements.
  • Level our Security CPR® model and managed services to plan, prioritize, and implement appropriate security and business resilience solutions that:
    • Address your prioritized risks as your budget allows
    • Protect from the most common and the most damaging/costly types of attacks.

We Will Help

Plan Now; Act Soon. Our Cloud Advisors are here to assist. We will:

  • Review your current systems and services and prioritize your risks. 
  • Help you prioritize, plan, and budget for security changes and improvements that may be necessary or preferred
  • Deploy and co-manage your security solutions to keep you protected.

Schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors now to begin your security review and improvements.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

AI in Google Workspace – AI Ultra for Business

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Google AI Ultra for BusinessGoogle Workspace is a comprehensive and secure platform that empowers organizations to be more productive, collaborative, and creative. This series explores the power of AI built within Google Workspace across each of the workspace apps. In this post, we cover the Google AI Ultra add-on for Google Workspace.

Google AI Ultra for Business

Google AI Ultra for Business is an add-on for existing Google Workspace Business and Enterprise subscribers, offering enhanced capabilities.  Beyond the highest access to the Gemini app, Google AI Ultra for Business delivers advanced tools for deep reasoning, images, and videos.

Here are 4 reasons to consider Google Ultra for Business:

1 Gemini App
  • Dive deep with the most capable models, including Gemini 2.5 Pro and Deep Research.
  • Deep Think, with the ability to explore multiple scenarios and answers before responding, is coming soon.
2 Video Generation
  • AI Ultra for Business includes advanced filmmaking tools:
    • Veo 3 — Professional video production tool
    • Flow — Create cinematic scenes using Veo 3
    • Whisk — Image and text to 8-second videos, using Veo 2

3 Project Mariner

  • Research prototype for streamlined human-agent interaction
  • Allows AI agents to handle multiple tasks concurrently
  • Coming soon, initially to the US only

4 Individual YouTube Premium

  • Upgrade your video game with an individual YouTube Premium plan.

And More …

Google AI Ultra for Business also includes higher access and usage limits for:

  • Gemini App
  • Image Generation
  • NotebookLM
  • AI Credits (12,500 credits per month)
  • Storage (30 TB across Photos, Drive, and Gmail

We Will Help

At Cumulus Global, our priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable managed cloud services. We work to ensure that you get the most value from the IT and cloud services you need and want, without overspending, to best support your business objectives.

Unsure of where to start? Check out our IT Assessment or schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor. We will help you adapt while keeping your IT services secure and cost-effective.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

AI in Google Workspace – AppSheet

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Gemini AI in AppSheetGoogle Workspace is a comprehensive and secure platform that empowers organizations to be more productive, collaborative, and creative. This series explores the power of AI built within Google Workspace across each of the workspace apps. In this post, we cover AI in AppSheet.

AI in AppSheet

AppSheet is an add-on for Google Workspace and a Google Cloud service that empowers Google Workspace users to create custom apps and automations without writing code.

In addition to simplifying workflow creation and connecting your business data, AppSheet provides controls needed to remain secure and compliant.

Gemini AI in AppSheet helps you create and refine apps and better access and refine your data and information.

Here are 3 Gemini features in AppSheet you should know.

1 Create an App
  • Bring app ideas to life by simply describing them. Gemini AI in AppSheet can transform those concepts
    into a fully functional app for you to edit or publish.
2 Extract Information
  • Currently in preview, Gemini AI in AppSheet lets you populate forms and reports directly from images. Snap a photo of a receipt, invoice or document to capture data and match it to the right fields.
3 Connect External Services
  • Also in preview, AppSheet apps can connect to hundreds of Google Cloud and third-party services without custom code.

And More …

You can also:

  • Embed Gemini-powered AI tasks directly within your AppSheet automations.
  • Extract information from PDF files.
  • Automatically categorize information as it is input.
  • Route and prioritize items based on categorized content to streamline workflows.

We Will Help

At Cumulus Global, our priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable managed cloud services. We work to ensure that you get the most value from the IT and cloud services you need and want, without overspending, to best support your business objectives.

Unsure of where to start? Check out our IT Assessment or schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor. We will help you adapt while keeping your IT services secure and cost-effective.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

Rightsizing IT: Managed Cloud Services for Smaller SMBs – Part 2

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Rightsizing IT for Smaller SMBs with Managed Cloud Services

Smaller businesses, like yours, use technology differently than larger organizations. You rely more on commercially available solutions than custom-built or highly-customized solutions. You are held to the same security standards as larger companies, but you lack the expertise and budget of bigger businesses. Rightsizing your IT means carefully matching your IT services to your needs, priorities, and budget. This is key to keeping your services productive, secure, and affordable.

In Part 1, we discussed the unique IT challenges you face as sole practitioners, solopreneurs, or very small business (VSB) owners and leaders. In Part 2, we dive into the process of rightsizing your IT.

1
Pick the Right Productivity Suite

Think beyond just email and calendars; focus on how you communicate and share information with your clients, customers, contractors, and vendors. Do you send and share documents? What CRM and financial apps do you use? Do you rely on and use any industry-specific software locally or in the cloud?

While other platforms exist, some at lower costs, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer the most comprehensive platforms for small business productivity, communications, and collaboration.  Microsoft and Google promote different philosophies:

  • Microsoft 365 works best as a hybrid solution, with full-featured software running locally, slim web versions, and a range of integrated apps, such as planning, bookings, and PowerBI. 
  • Google promotes a cloud-first approach. Focused on core communication and collaboration, Google expects you will select and integrate cloud-based (Software as a Solution / SaaS) business apps to meet your specific needs. Google is designed to serve as your identity manager, providing integrated access to your cloud apps and services.

Consider the business apps and systems you use and how you want them to work with your productivity suite. Your line of business and back-office apps can guide whether Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace is the best fit for your IT ecosystem and your business.

2
Avoid Duplicate Services

Both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are robust productivity suites. And yet, we often opt to purchase additional solutions out of convenience even though we already have similar features at our fingertips. The most commonly duplicate services across our smaller business clients are:

  • Meeting services
  • External file sharing
  • Generative AI
  • AI assistant tools (transcription, note taking, etc.)

Learning to use your existing features and capabilities negates the need to spend money on – and manage – additional solutions. You can easily overcome concerns by ensuring you and your team know how to use the features you need. For example, when scheduling a meeting with a client, you might say, “I will send you a Google Meet invite, or if you prefer Zoom, you can send the invite.”

Note that features may vary based on your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscription. You may need to upgrade in order to access certain features you require. This upgrade is likely less expensive than licensing another third-party app.

3
Be Cloud Forward

For smaller businesses, the cloud offers significant advantages over on-premise solutions.

  • Mobility: Securely access your systems, apps, and data, whether you are in the office, a coworking site, at home, or on the road.
  • Security: Leveraging the cloud simplifies your security exposure, lowering your costs while maintaining or increasing your protections.
  • Business Continuity: Cloud-based services protect you from local outages and service disruptions, reduce the number of ‘things’ that can break, and make it easier to recover when things do go wrong.
  • Ease of Access: Get to work without having to jump through VPN hoops. Your access is the same, regardless of where you are working.
  • Affordability: With a simpler, more secure, and integrated IT ecosystem, you pay less for the support and services you need and want.

4
Pick the Right Partner

If you are a sole practitioner, solopreneur, or VSB, most IT service providers do NOT want you as a client. Our research indicates that fewer than 10% of traditional IT and managed service providers want clients with 10 or fewer employees. Their business models require an economy-of-scale that is not viable with very small clients.

Pick an IT partner that wants your business and does not see you as an exception to their normal or preferred type of client. Look for an IT service provider that has:

  • A successful history working with smaller businesses.
  • Services and solutions tailored to your needs and priorities as a smaller business.
  • Gives you options that let you make value-based business decisions about your IT services.
  • Focuses on affordability as much as features, capabilities, and security.

How Will Cumulus Global Help?

At Cumulus Global, we truly value sole practitioners, solopreneurs, and very small businesses. We specialize in tailored solutions designed just for businesses like yours, backed by a proven track record of success.

Our top priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable Managed Cloud Services, Cloud Forward IT Service and Support, and Security CPR® Managed Security services. 

We focus on how your IT services can best help your business thrive and grow without overspending.

Schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor and take your first step towards better IT for you and your business. 

About the Author

Bill Seybolt bio pictureBill is a Senior Cloud Advisor responsible for helping small and midsize organizations with cloud forward solutions that meet their business needs, priorities, and budgets. Bill works with executives, leaders, and team members to understand workflows, identify strategic goals and tactical requirements, and design solutions and implementation phases. Having helped over 200 organizations successfully adopt cloud solutions, his expertise and working style ensure a comfortable experience effective change management.

AI in Google Workspace – Vids

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Gemini AI in VidsGoogle Workspace is a comprehensive and secure platform that empowers organizations to be more productive, collaborative, and creative. This series explores the power of AI built within Google Workspace across each of the workspace apps. In this post, we cover AI in Vids.

AI in Vids

Vids is a relatively new addition to the Google Workspace family of apps. Google Vids is a cutting-edge video creation platform, powered by AI.

Gemini AI in Vids helps you generate your first draft and land your message with AI voiceovers. You are empowered to create polished videos in less time so you can tell more engaging stories.

Here are 3 Gemini features in Vids you should know.

1 Create Your Story
  • Create your video storyboard with suggested scenes, scripts, stock media, music, and more to jumpstart video storytelling. Start with only a prompt and a file from your Google Drive.
2 AI Voiceovers
  • Use Gemini in Vids to give your videos a fresh voice by choosing from a variety of preset, professional- sounding voiceovers.
3 Read-Along Teleprompter
  • Record your talk track with confidence using the teleprompter embedded directly in Vids’ recording studio, so you can stay on message.

And More …

You can also

Create Clips from Prompts
  • Turn ideas into video clips by providing a descriptive prompt.

We Will Help

At Cumulus Global, our priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable managed cloud services. We work to ensure that you get the most value from the IT and cloud services you need and want, without overspending, to best support your business objectives.

Unsure of where to start? Check out our IT Assessment or schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor. We will help you adapt while keeping your IT services secure and cost-effective.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

Rightsizing IT: Managed Cloud Services for Smaller SMBs – Part 1

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Rightsizing IT for Smaller SMBs with Managed Cloud ServicesSmaller businesses, like yours, use technology differently than larger organizations. You rely more on commercially available solutions than custom-built or highly-customized solutions. You are held the same security standards as larger companies, but lack the expertise and budget of bigger businesses. Rightsizing your IT – carefully matching your IT services to your needs, priorities, and budgets – key to ensuring your services are productive, secure, and affordable.

As a sole practitioner, solopreneur, or very small business (VSB) with fewer than 20 employees, you face an additional challenge. Most IT firms prefer clients with over 20, or even over 30, employees. The business model for most IT service firms, including Managed Service Providers (MSPs), requires clients that can provide an economy of scale. In short, most MSPs see you as an unprofitable client.

By rightsizing your IT with managed cloud services, you can find and benefit from affordable, secure, and productive IT solutions and the services your business needs and deserves.

How You Are Unique

Smaller businesses rely heavily on commercial software and public IT services. Given the investment required, you are less likely to use customer-built and highly-customized solutions. Software packages, software-as-a-service, and public cloud services (Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace) best meet your needs.

Sole Practitioner

As a Sole Practitioner, you are the business. When it comes to IT, you likely …

  • Run your business on a laptop, smartphone and maybe a second computer.
  • Work from a home office, coworking space, or wherever you can when you are on-the-go. You are mobile.
  • Rely ubiquitously on your technology. Your IT focuses on your productivity in all your day-to-day activities.
  • Worry that security and other IT costs are, or will grow, beyond your budget.
  • Fear IT problems as disruptions, or downtime, immediately impact your business.
  • Rely on others, formally or informally, for IT advice and assistance.
Solopreneur

As a Solopreneur, you are the business, for now, as you plan for growth. When it comes to IT, you are similar in need to sole practitioners with some added concerns. You likely …

  • Expect to grow your business adding staff, freelancers, or contractors over time.
  • Want your IT solutions and services to scale with your business, without overtaking your budgets. You must manage fixed costs.

In addition, you may have investors and other stakeholders with opinions, or requirements, for how you should manage your business and which technologies to use.

VSB Owner or Leader

As an VSB owner or leader, you have a team that relies on you to provide a productive and effective working environment. You likely …

  • Understand how critical effective collaboration is to your success.
  • Have team members with varied levels of tech skills; your staff needs help and support at times.
  • Work with customers that share expectations or requirements about information security.
  • Have access to IT resources. These may be informal or professional, internal or contracted.
  • Face budget constraints on your IT spending.

Given your IT needs, business priorities, security requirements, budgetary constraints, and the challenge of engaging qualified IT professionals, you and your business face significant challenges.

Rightsizing IT is the Solution

Rightsizing IT, matching your IT solutions and services to your prioritized needs and budget, with managed cloud services ensures your business can operate productively and securely without destroying your budget.

In our next blog post, we share how to assess and right-size your IT, and how to find and leverage the right IT resources.

How Does Cumulus Global Help?

At Cumulus Global, our priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable Managed Cloud Mervices, Cloud Forward IT Service and Support, and Security CPR® Managed Security services.  We focus on how your IT services can best help your business thrive and grow without overspending.

Schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor to discuss your challenges, needs, and priorities.  We will help you assess, plan, and execute the right IT services for your business and your budget.

About the Author

Bill Seybolt bio pictureBill is a Senior Cloud Advisor responsible for helping small and midsize organizations with cloud forward solutions that meet their business needs, priorities, and budgets. Bill works with executives, leaders, and team members to understand workflows, identify strategic goals and tactical requirements, and design solutions and implementation phases. Having helped over 200 organizations successfully adopt cloud solutions, his expertise and working style ensure a comfortable experience effective change management.

AI in Google Workspace – Chat

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Gemini AI in ChatGoogle Workspace is a comprehensive and secure platform that empowers organizations to be more productive, collaborative, and creative. This series explores the power of AI built within Google Workspace across each of the workspace apps. In this post, we cover AI in Chat.

AI in Chat

Chat in Google Workspace provides direct messages, group chats, and spaces. Chat makes work collaboration and project management easier.

Gemini AI in Chat is your real-time assistant and partner for team collaboration. Use it to stay on top of active conversations by summarizing recent messages, finding specific details, and capturing action items. With on-demand summaries in the Chat home view, AI in Chat gives you a single place to catch up on every conversation.

Here are 4 Gemini features in Chat you should know.

Chat Summaries
  • Located in the home view for Chat, Gemini AI in Chat provides you on-demand summaries of each active conversation. 
  • You can catch up quickly in one place and focus your attention where it’s needed most.
Action Items
  • Gemini AI in Chat can analyze conversations and automatically identify and list action items. Stay organized and ensure that decisions and tasks are clearly understood and assigned. 
  • You can ask for a general list of action items or ask to see action items specifically for a particular person.
Contextual Question Answering
  • You can ask Gemini AI specific questions about a conversation or a shared file directly within Chat. This gives you quick retrieval of information without manually scrolling back through messages.
  • For example, if someone mentioned a timeline extension or a project decision, you can ask Gemini, “What did [person] say about the timeline extension?” or “What’s the decision on the project discussed?” 
Automatic Language Translation
  • Google Chat, using Gemini, will automatically detect and translate messages in over 120 languages to your preferred language and keep the original message for review. 

And More …

From the side panel, Gemini AI in Chat functions as an AI assistant and content generator. You can use AI in Chat to:

Draft Messages
  • Get AI assistance to compose messages, replies, or even brainstorm ideas directly within the chat interface.
Reference Shared Files
  • Gemini AI in Chat can analyze shared Google Workspace files (like Docs or Slides) linked in a chat and provide summaries or answer questions about their content.
  • You get immediate context about shared documents without needing to open each file separately.

We Will Help

At Cumulus Global, our priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable managed cloud services. We work to ensure that you get the most value from the IT and cloud services you need and want, without overspending, to best support your business objectives.

Unsure of where to start? Check out our IT Assessment or schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor. We will help you adapt while keeping your IT services secure and cost-effective.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

Managed Cloud or Traditional IT Services: Pros and Cons

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Managed Cloud ServicesIT Services for small and midsize businesses have evolved over the years. The technologies and IT systems we use are more capable and complex. We face new and ongoing challenges related to collaboration and security. Our IT is a critical component of our business infrastructure. 

The management and support of our information technology and services need a more sophisticated approach to match our business and technology needs. Traditional IT services have their Pros and Cons. Managed Cloud Services offer new opportunities, especially for smaller businesses.

Traditional IT Services

Traditional IT services fall into two main categories: Break-Fix and Managed Services.

Break-Fix

As the name implies Break-Fix is a reactive service. When you have a question or problem, you call for assistance. You pay an hourly or per-incident rate or use a bank of prepaid hours. 

Pros

  • Break-Fix is often affordable, particularly if your IT systems are relatively new and stable. If you have few or occasional problems, you only pay for the services you need.

Cons

  • Break-Fix is reactive. When something goes wrong, your business is likely disrupted until your IT resource can respond, diagnose, and correct the issue.
  • Your costs are unpredictable. 
    • A problem may be a quick-fix or may require significant time to research and resolve.
    • Most break-fix firms charge more per hour or per incident for emergency and off-hours services.
  • You are more likely to have problems. You are not paying your IT firm to monitor your systems and services. You are not likely to identify issues before they become problems that disrupt your business.
  • Impact of disruptions. Beyond the cost of the fix, disruptive ITproblems impact your business in other ways.
    • You may not be able to respond to customers or meet client expectations
    • Your cashflow can suffer if you are unable to invoice or process receivables
    • Your reputation may suffer if you are seen as unreliable
  • Conflicting Interests. While no reputable IT firm wants their clients to have problems, break-fix IT firms rely on service and support calls for their revenue. 
Managed Services

Managed Services provide a wide range of IT administration, management, and support services for a set monthly fee.  Often positioned as a full or partial outsourcing of your IT services, Managed Services provide an active approach to IT services.  Managed Service Providers (MSPs) actively monitor and manage your environment to prevent problems that can disrupt your business. 

Pros

  • Managed Services are proactive. MSPs will focus on best-practice configuration, administration, and security to prevent and mitigate problems.
  • Your costs are predictable. Most MSPs will charge a fixed monthly fee for the set of services they provide. MSPs typically base fees on the number of devices, services, and systems/applications they manage and support.
  • You are less likely to have problems. Good MSPs will identify and address issues before they become disruptive problems.
  • Your MSP is aligned with your interests. MSPs do better when their clients have fewer problems that require intervention. The business model for MSPs relies on efficiencies and economies of scale. Fixing problems is more costly than preventing them, so good MSPs focus on prevention.

Cons

  • Costs. Managed Services appear to cost more than break-fix services.
    • Monthly fees can range from $150 to over $250 per user per month. While this is a budgetary issue for many, and for small businesses in particular, the benefits of well-managed IT services will outweigh the costs.
    • Many MSPs require clients to migrate to a standard set of systems and components. Replacing network and systems infrastructure can add significant costs to the onboarding process.
  • Access. To obtain their economies of scale, most MSPs focus on businesses with 20 or more employees. Very small businesses (VSBs) – those with fewer than 20 people, solopreneurs, and solo practitioners often struggle to access MSPs and their services.

Managed Cloud Services

Managed Cloud Services are similar to Managed Services, but focus on cloud-based services to better meet the needs of small and midsize businesses. While Managed Services focus on your IT “things” – computers, servers, networks, etc., Managed Cloud Services focus on your people – the tools they need to succeed in their roles.

While Managed Cloud Service Providers (MCSPs) will still monitor, manage, and support your technology infrastructure, computers, and on-site systems, our focus is moving as much as possible to the cloud. Reducing on-premise systems dramatically reduces the resources we need to support your business, allowing us to meet your IT needs more cost-effectively.

Pros

  • Your costs are lower. Leveraging cloud services simplifies your IT environment and reduces the resources needed to support your business. Monthly charges for Managed Cloud Services often run 30% or more below traditional managed services.
  • Your costs are predictable. You will pay a fixed monthly fee for Managed Cloud Services based on the scope of services provided.
  • You have fewer problems and disruptions. Leveraging cloud-based solutions reduces the number of things that can have problems. Providing business resiliency and continuity with cloud solutions is more cost-effective.
  • Better access to services. MCSPs leverage cloud solutions to achieve economies of scale that enable affordable services for SMBs, VSBs, and sole practitioners.
  • Your MCSP is aligned with your interests. MCSPs do better when you do better. 

Cons

  • Reliance on vendors. Your MSCP cannot fix a Microsoft 365 outage or issue. With some cloud solutions, your alternatives may be limited. Even so, cloud outages are typically shorter in duration than local IT issues and are not bound by the availability of parts or technicians for on-site work. 

How Does Cumulus Global Help?

At Cumulus Global, our priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable Managed Cloud Services, Cloud Forward IT Service and Support, and Security CPR® Managed Security services.  We focus on how your IT services can best help your business thrive and grow without overspending.

Schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor to discuss your challenges, needs, and priorities.  We will help you assess, plan, and execute the right IT services for your business and your budget.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

Webcasts

Cloud Cover – Hybrid Work

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(8/16/2022) – Successful businesses will adapt to changing expectations. You can, affordably, adapt your IT to hybrid work while improving security and resilience. This webcast covers the IT strategies and solutions to help you adjust your IT services to better support hybrid work.

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Streamlining Security

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(5/17/2022) – While small businesses are more vulnerable and more frequent targets of cyber attacks, constant fear-mongering and hype does not help. Sound business practices, not fear, should be your motivation to protect against cyber attacks.

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Spring Cleaning Your Files

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(4/19/2022) – With an understanding of personal file services – OneDrive and My Drive – and domain file services – Shared Drives and Sharepoint, businesses can build a file service that organizes and protects files in ways that make them easier to find, share, and use.

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Beyond Backup

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(3/15/2022) – Map out how restore, recovery, and continuity solutions offer different value propositions for you and your business. Assess total cost and impact when selecting your solution.

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Peak Productivity

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(2/22/2022) – We all have our jobs to do. We want to do well. We want to succeed. We want and need peak productivity.  While “hacks” are trendy, productivity is boosted when we understand how to best use the tools we have.

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Keep IT Simple

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(1/25/2022) – Solid IT services are critical to your success, but they consume your time and budget. Using managed services ensures you have effective and affordable services and frees up time and money to focus on your core business activities.

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2022 is Here; What’s Next?

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(12/14/2021) – COVID-19 triggered fundamental changes in the economy, markets, and society that alter the way we need to operate our businesses and work as individuals. Explore ways small and midsize businesses can better leverage technologies and resources to respond to these challenges.

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Four Cornerstones for Cloud Security

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(11/16/2021) – Four security cornerstones create a solid foundation for your cloud security. Assess your security footprint; Identify security gaps; Prioritize changes and security services.

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Cloud File Services

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(10/19/2021) – Moving to a managed cloud file service can improve access, productivity, and resilience without sacrificing security and budget.

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Manage Cloud Services Primer

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(9/21/2021) – Managed Cloud Services differ from traditional managed and “break-fix” services. Explore how, beyond cost savings, Manage Cloud Services offer strategic security, services, and business advantages.

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library

15 Best Practices for Cyber Protection

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eBook | Source: Cumulus Global 

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