Despite all the advances in cybersecurity in recent years — iron-clad antivirus, impenetrable encryption, spookily effective spam filters — hackers are still breaking into even the most secure organizations by taking advantage of their weakest position: the human element.

According to some estimates, up to 91 percent of data security attacks begin with a false email intended to dupe the receiver into giving up login credentials or installing malicious software. This technique, a favorite of hackers worldwide, is called phishing.

Topics: Biotechnology Startup, Data Security

You’re on the road, taking meetings, trying to scrounge up the next round of funding to keep your biotech firm growing. But just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you can kick back and relax by the hotel pool.

Back home in the lab, the experiments continue, the data is piling up. You’ve got email to send, staff to manage, and expenses to approve. At an early-stage biotech, the work must always go on.

Good thing most hotels offer free WiFi now. Just check in, log in, and get to work.

Topics: Biotechnology Startup, WiFi

Startups trying to get off the ground, especially those in the biotech space, rely heavily--if not completely--on the backing of outside investors.

 

With investors playing such a large role in the success (or failure) of a startup, it’s surprising that few early stage companies consider the important role that the choices in the IT systems, and infrastructure that have been put into place play in the eyes of the investor.

 

Think about it. An investor who is offering you their money will want to mitigate the risk as much as possible before handing over their cash.

 

Since IT is the backbone of most new companies, an investor will be pleased to see that thoughtful choices are made not only considering budget but security, scalability and accessibility.

 

Here are six ways to ignite an investor’s confidence with your IT infrastructure.

Topics: Biotechnology Startup

You know the importance of planning for rapid growth. After all, it’s a common theme covered in just about all of the literature and lectures about running a startup.  Setting aside the time to make those preparations can be challenging, but failure to do so could leave you stuck with some unnecessary bills down the line as your scramble to catch up.

Topics: Biotechnology Startup

If you read the news these days there always seems to be a new article about a data breach, virus or hacking threat. They are usually about large companies (remember Anthem’s identity theft breach where tens of millions of SSNs were stolen?) but multinational corporations aren’t the only ones being targeted.  Even small to mid-sized companies get hit - we have seen an increasing number of targeted attacks at some of our very own biotech clients. There are two threats in particular I want to share:

Topics: Biotechnology Startup, Biotech, Data Security

In the rush to get your laboratory online, your offices equipped, and your experiments initiated, it can be difficult to honestly evaluate your IT needs. But once you start setting up computers, installing software and dealing with ballooning data storage, you will understand how important it is to have biotech startup IT expertise on your side.

Topics: IT Outsourcing, IT Support, Biotechnology Startup, Startup

There are almost as many managed IT service providers (MSPs) as there are biotech startups. Whether large or small, specialized or general, these companies help business of all types select, install and maintain their IT infrastructure. They may seem to be all alike, but most MSPs will not have the experience or expertise to provide your biotech start up with exactly the technology mix it needs meet its goals.

Topics: Biotechnology Startup, Biotech, IT Infrastructure

Every dollar of your angel investment is important. With these limited funds, you have to set up a lab, prove a concept and produce the data necessary to secure more funding. No matter what the initial investment is, these funds disappear fast. That is why planning and budgeting are so important in the early days of a biotech startup.

Topics: Cloud IT Solutions, IT Security, IT Security, Biotechnology Startup, Biotech, Data Security, Hybrid MSP, IT partners, Cloud

Your IT Infrastructure is more than just the computers that populate your labs and office space. It is a complex network of hardware and software located both on and off-site that is at the core of everything your biotech startup does. Without having these systems in place and running smoothly, your executives and researchers can't work effectively.

Topics: IT Outsourcing, IT Outsourcing, Small Business IT Support, IT Support, IT Security, Biotechnology Startup, IT Efficiency, Biotech, Data Security, IT Infrastructure

Information technology will be a line item on the budget of any biotech startup. Depending on the size of the business and the IT demands of their research, will dictate how much or how little IT you need. However, IT is best thought of as an investment rather than an expense. You need it to run your business and you expect it to be highly available, and the better the system you have in place, the more prepared you are to succeed from the very start.

In a technology driven industry like biotech, the daily operations of your company are entirely dependent on your computers, internet routers, servers, and security measures. Having the right technology, and the right IT partner, in place provides you with a powerful insurance policy against the setbacks that inevitably happen to young companies. Your IT can help you avoid the following common problems so that you can spend more time producing results for your investors.

Topics: Backup and Disaster Recovery, Small Business IT Support, IT Support, IT Security, Biotechnology Startup, Biotech, Data Security, IT Infrastructure