Managed Firewall Basics = Increased Productivity
So your business is expanding, you're hiring an IT guy and building servers.
He starts talking to you about managed or hosted firewall and you're trying to figure out why the firewall on your desktop which served you so well until now is no longer sufficient.
Well, the firewall on your desktop is not designed to work with a network of servers.
it can't afford you the same level of protection that you now need.
Many businesses are online 24 hours and keep sensitive information in their system such as credit card numbers and a bunch of other data, hackers, or your competition would love to get their hands on.
Managed firewalls are usually a combination of hardware and software.
They're custom designed for your needs.
They are maintained, and constantly upgraded by an expert team of computer security professionals.
Managed firewall companies can handle anything from 1 station ad infinitum, well maybe not unlimited but they can handle massive amounts of traffic so there's no need to worry that your company will outgrow their capabilities.
Now here's what you want to make sure, the company you are using will not slow down your network and they have a quick response time should you need to change its policies or settings.
Also the company should provide a monthly report detailing any intrusion attempts and its performance.
That's the technical stuff, here is how you can use the firewall to increase work performance.
The firewall lets you see all the traffic going in and out of your company's server, so Peggy in station 3 may think twice before shopping for her grandson during work hours knowing that someone may be monitoring web traffic or it may keep joe from checking his Facebook account every 15 minutes (or seconds).
You can also use the firewall to limit the amount of web access your employees can have.
Some companies limit internet access to work related sites, some choose to allow limited access to news sites and such, while some companies allow more access.
Also, having an outside company managing your firewall can free up your IT staff so that they can concentrate elsewhere.
There is usually a small setup fee and then a monthly fee.
The monthly rate depends on how much data per second you want and the amount of stations its protecting.
On the lower end you can find them for under $100 a month, medium size businesses can expect to pay $300-$500 a month.
He starts talking to you about managed or hosted firewall and you're trying to figure out why the firewall on your desktop which served you so well until now is no longer sufficient.
Well, the firewall on your desktop is not designed to work with a network of servers.
it can't afford you the same level of protection that you now need.
Many businesses are online 24 hours and keep sensitive information in their system such as credit card numbers and a bunch of other data, hackers, or your competition would love to get their hands on.
Managed firewalls are usually a combination of hardware and software.
They're custom designed for your needs.
They are maintained, and constantly upgraded by an expert team of computer security professionals.
Managed firewall companies can handle anything from 1 station ad infinitum, well maybe not unlimited but they can handle massive amounts of traffic so there's no need to worry that your company will outgrow their capabilities.
Now here's what you want to make sure, the company you are using will not slow down your network and they have a quick response time should you need to change its policies or settings.
Also the company should provide a monthly report detailing any intrusion attempts and its performance.
That's the technical stuff, here is how you can use the firewall to increase work performance.
The firewall lets you see all the traffic going in and out of your company's server, so Peggy in station 3 may think twice before shopping for her grandson during work hours knowing that someone may be monitoring web traffic or it may keep joe from checking his Facebook account every 15 minutes (or seconds).
You can also use the firewall to limit the amount of web access your employees can have.
Some companies limit internet access to work related sites, some choose to allow limited access to news sites and such, while some companies allow more access.
Also, having an outside company managing your firewall can free up your IT staff so that they can concentrate elsewhere.
There is usually a small setup fee and then a monthly fee.
The monthly rate depends on how much data per second you want and the amount of stations its protecting.
On the lower end you can find them for under $100 a month, medium size businesses can expect to pay $300-$500 a month.
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