MSPNetworks Blog

Data breaches have a tendency to destabilize relationships. With so many data-related problems befalling businesses nowadays, it is important that each side of every data-driven relationship understands their role in the protection of other organizations’ data. Today, we’ll take a look at the issue and how to determine if your partners are putting in the effort required to keep your data secure. 

Are Your Vendors Properly Protecting Your Information?

We’ve seen businesses have a litany of challenges protecting their sensitive data over the past several years, and as threats get more sophisticated it poses more problems. Additionally, many businesses outsource a fair amount of their operational and support efforts and that can have a negative effect on their security. 

So, how do you know that your vendors are protecting your information?

You ask them, of course. 

Before you onboard any new vendor, you should come up with a questionnaire that asks the right questions about how they handle their own cybersecurity, and more specifically (and importantly) how they go about handling your information. 

At MSPNetworks, we do this for all of our clients to ensure that they are partnering with reliable companies that, at the very least, are attempting to do the right things to protect sensitive information. 

Questions You Should Ask Your Vendors

The first thing you should consider when making up some questions to ask your vendors about security is: do you understand the answers? If you don’t know what you are doing, you could just assume any thoughtfully answered response would be sufficient. This is far from true and is a liability, especially in trying to ascertain what risk your business is facing by doing business with a company. We can’t stress enough that if you don’t have someone that knows what they are doing, you need to find someone, as this will serve you much better in times like this.

Let’s go through a couple of important questions you should ask if you do have the competence available to sufficiently measure risk from the answers:

1. Do you collect, store, or transmit personally identifiable information (PII)?
2. If so, do you store your PII onsite or in the cloud?
3. How do you provide users access to the PII you store?
4. Can PII be accessed remotely?
5. Do you constantly monitor all services, systems, and networks?
6. What regulatory bodies does your business operate under? Do you have proof of compliance?
7. What kind of encryption do you use for data-at-rest? Data-in-transit?
8. Do you consistently patch your software? 
9. Do you have mobile device management and IoT management systems?
10. Do you utilize legacy systems that aren’t supported by manufacturers?
11. What cybersecurity tools do you use?
12. Do you have language in your agreements about vendor cybersecurity? 
13. How are your continuity systems?
14. How would you go about the situation in the event of a data breach?
15. What authentication procedures do you use? 
16. Do you train your employees on the best practices of cybersecurity?

There are many more questions you can ask, and you should ask them if you find them necessary. Vetting your vendors is a great way to know if they have your best interests in mind. 

If you would like to partner with a company that not only has your best interests in mind, but also can help you ascertain if your other partners do as well, give MSPNetworks a call at (516) 403-9001 today.

With the future so uncertain, it’s no surprise that many organizations are turning their focus toward business continuity. There are a lot of components that go into making a successful continuity plan, and if you want to optimize your chances of survival in the face of a disaster, you need to ensure that all your bases are covered.

First, let’s take a look at what business continuity means, particularly in a post-pandemic world.

Defining Business Continuity

A lot of things can go wrong when you run a business. From natural disasters like electrical storms, fires, floods, and so on, to not-so-natural disasters like hacking attacks, ransomware, and user error, there are a lot of ways that your business’ operations could be disrupted for extended periods of time. At its core, the business continuity plan is a list of steps that must be taken following such a disaster to keep downtime and losses to an acceptable minimum. It should be noted that business continuity and disaster recovery, while two sides of the same coin, are not one and the same. Disaster recovery is simply one of the many components of a successful business continuity strategy.

The Primary Components of Your Strategy

Before identifying where you should invest your time and effort when planning for business continuity, it’s best practice to run what is called a business impact analysis, which helps to identify critical functions of your organization. Basically, you take a look at which operations would be most costly during a disaster scenario; this helps you shore them up with your business continuity strategy.

The various parts of your business continuity strategy will generally fall into one of these three categories, based on what the above critical functions are for your specific industry:

• Digital resources: Most businesses rely on data of some form or another, whether it is stored on-premises or in the cloud. Making sure that you retain access to that data in the worst of times will be crucial. Data backup systems can aid in this process and make certain that your digital assets are not lost forever.
• Human resources: Your business cannot function without its employees, so you need to account for them, too. Establishing a chain of command and guaranteeing that you stay in touch with any clients or vendors will be critical to ensuring business continuity.
• Physical resources: This includes things such as your office space, physical assets like your hardware solutions, and anything else of the sort that’s needed for your employees to do their jobs in an effective way. Especially if you rely on manufacturers or a supply chain, ensuring that this is not broken is critical to success in the face of a disaster.

At the end of the day, your business continuity strategy should be accessible to anyone who will need it, along with a list of necessary equipment, the locations of your data backups, and contact information for additional resources as needed.

Reinforcing Business Continuity

A business continuity strategy is only effective if it can be feasibly pulled off and it meets your expectations. Imagine going through a disaster scenario only to discover that your business continuity strategy simply does not return the expected results, or perhaps it doesn’t execute well at all. This is why it is important to routinely test and adjust your strategy; you don’t want to be caught unawares. Here are some details to look for when testing your business continuity plan:

• Expected downtime: Does your plan meet the expected minimum amount of downtime and the costs associated with it?
• Ease of implementation: Is your plan able to kick off without a hitch?
• Feedback from staff: Have you listened to key staff who might be able to identify opportunities for improvement?

Need a Hand Getting Started?

The world of business continuity can be a bit daunting, but in today’s business climate, you cannot afford to be passive with it. MSPNetworks can equip you with the tools needed to ensure minimal downtime and disruption in the face of a disaster. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

With tax season quickly reaching its crescendo, accountants and CPAs face increased threats to their data security. Your clients' financial information is too good for a cybercriminal to pass up. Now is the time to prepare yourself to fight a cyberattack. Learn how managed IT can support your business in a variety of ways.

Is Your Data Secure for Tax Season?

Cybercriminals are well aware of the stress most accountants and CPAs face during tax season. They also know that with stress comes mistakes and opportunities for them to attack. The reality is most businesses, regardless of size or industry, usually have cybersecurity protocols that are underpowered. Cybercriminals know this and wait for predictable moments of distraction to target a company. What’s more predictable than tax season, and what’s a better target than a CPA or accountant?

Why are Accountants and CPAs Targets?

The answer should be obvious: these industries are most likely to have access to the type of data cybercriminals are most interested in: financial. However, it is also important to remember that with the ascendance of ransomware, the cybercriminal’s MO has evolved. These days cybercriminals are more likely to hold your accounting firm’s data/computers hostage than to try and steal your client’s data to resell on the dark web.

As you can imagine, a cybercriminal would be able to exert considerable pressure on your business if they gained control and locked you out of your system around April 15th, rendering you unable to file your client’s tax returns electronically. How much damage would your business suffer, and how much would you be willing to pay to regain access to your data?

Finally, even if you’re a smaller business, chances are you are linked to larger organizations. This connection makes cybercriminals treat you as the weakest link and will use you as a way to gain access to the other businesses you are connected to. It should be apparent that losing control of your data could well cause enough damage that your business may not be able to recover.

How to Protects Your Data

The most effective way to protect the data your accounting firm is responsible for, is with a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery plan. A ransomware attack can only hold your data hostage if you cannot regain control of it. Your backup is going to be the solution to this problem. A data backup and recovery solution in the form of a business continuity strategy should be a prominent part of the foundation of any well-designed managed IT plan, regardless of your business or industry. 

We also manage and maintain your network to prevent threats from coming in.

Why Managed IT for Accountants Is Essential For Business Growth

While it's evident that managed IT can benefit your firm’s data protection, it can do so much more. Due to the wide range of solutions provided, managed IT should be considered an essential service for any business. Due to their services' nature and the data they are responsible for, accountants and CPAs can benefit from the full suite of managed IT. 

While during tax season, it makes sense for accountants and CPAs to request that their managed service providers (MSP) focus on cybersecurity (however, cybersecurity is a 24/7, 365 issue), the benefits of partnering with an MSP stretches beyond cybersecurity protection. Managed IT can provide your organization with increased protectivity, stability, collaboration, and communications, all of which can benefit your company's bottom line.

Some benefits managed IT brings to your accounting firm include:

• 24/7 Monitoring - We watch your network to identify and prevent incoming threats.
• Patches and Security Updates - By having us keep your software updated, your team can work without interruption.
• Less Downtime - Solving problems preventatively will reduce the amount of time that users can’t get their work done.

Are You Ready to Embrace Managed IT?

Managed IT’s wide range of services allow your firm to leverage your technology into a resource and not a liability. MSPNetworks can help you accomplish this with the solutions that your firm needs to boost productivity while developing best IT practices to stop your technology from holding back your growth. A managed IT partner allows you to stop worrying about your technology.  

Call (516) 403-9001 today to schedule a free IT consultation, and learn how our personalized, proactive IT support for small and medium-sized businesses can be of service.

All businesses, in some way, shape, or form, exist to generate revenue—whether their profits are retained for their own benefit or dedicated to supporting some other cause. Either way, this balance makes the difference between the investments a business makes and the return these investments see a critical consideration. By using modern technology, today’s organizations can tip this balance to be more in their favor.

Let’s consider three ways that you could leverage technology to ultimately benefit your cash flows.

Improving Operational Efficiency

Let’s jump right into it and acknowledge something: the more you can effectively accomplish with the time, energy, and resources you’ve invested, the better off your company will be. Today’s technology offers a means of doing so through automation.

Rather than having an employee commit time to certain tasks, modern IT can easily carry out these tasks with minimal oversight or interaction. With predetermined triggers to instigate key processes, you and your team can spend less time on busy work and more on tasks that will help to increase your business’ dealings.

Whether you need to track and organize data, send out repetitive communications, or generate insights and reports, there are some means of carrying these out properly.

Subscribe to Business Services

Business technology is, in a word, expensive. Whether you need a specific software suite to support your operations, or improved infrastructure hardware, or more storage space for your team to use, the associated costs are typically substantial if you plan to support it yourself.

Now, today’s technology opens a new option: cloud-based services. These services can be tailored to better fit the situation of the business using them, in terms of the number of users and specific services rendered. That way, you can optimize your budgetary spend to suit your precise needs, eliminating waste and freeing up more of your budget than otherwise possible. Furthermore, these services give you more flexibility overall, as your delivered services can be trimmed to match your precise needs more closely.

Reconsidering IT Expenses

On the topic of cloud-hosted services, the pricing structure these offer can also assist you in optimizing your budgetary spend. Rather than a single, lump-sum price to be paid up front, the cost of cloud-hosted software services is billed per month as a subscription. This helps to make your expenditures far more predictable, assisting you in managing your available budget, while also offering flexibility as your needs change over time.

Furthermore, not all cloud providers and vendors are created equal, and the market is volatile enough that one service might not always be the best option for you at a given time. Therefore, you should regularly go over your available options to ensure that you are investing as much as you can in the ideal choices.

Managed IT services offer many of these qualities, enabling you to squeeze every bit of value out of the technology you rely on. Find out more about what MSPNetworks can do for you by calling (516) 403-9001.

When looking to improve your business via the use of technology, it helps to keep a few basic tenets in mind. Let’s review some strategies to help reinforce their importance.

Consistently Utilize Uniform Tools and Processes

Picture it this way—while it is perfectly possible to transfer data from Microsoft’s solution suite to Google Workplace (and vice versa), it just isn’t nearly as convenient for your employees to do so… and since this transfer is entirely in their hands, there is a high potential for user error and other issues to slip by.

The same goes for how your internal data is handled. Without established storage conventions or an established storage space shared amongst your team, things are bound to go missing or be inaccessible to others who need it. By establishing and enforcing standard operating processes, you better enable your team members to stay on the same page and working cohesively.

Prioritize Security

Your team members all need to have a well-developed appreciation for the importance of data security, particularly when using the tools discussed above. From password requirements to multi-factor authentication to phishing awareness and more, you need to make a concerted effort to keep focus on the consequences a data breach could have and how the security safeguards you have in place can help protect the business and its data.

Numerous other tools and solutions exist that allow you to lock down your business more effectively. However, your team members also need to buy into these ideas. Encourage these practices and policies by performing regular evaluations of your team and giving them feedback based on their responses.

Promote Mobile Solutions

Finally, mobility is an important part of a business’ processes, so the capability to bring your work around with you needs to be promoted throughout your operations. This will help your business to be more flexible, responsive, and productive wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself.

MSPNetworks can provide the tools needed to enable all of these practices. To find out more about what we can do for you, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

A lot has been made about the newly-remote workforce that has been doing their best during the COVID-19 pandemic. One issue that many ignore is burnout. Sure, it happens in the office too, but there is something unsettling about getting up and going to work walking distance from your bed. Today, we will take a look at at-home worker burnout and give you a few tips to help you keep from suffering the same fate. 

What Does At-Home Worker Burnout Look Like?

It looks a lot like worker burnout always looked like, except there is no place for the worker to escape to. Let’s face it, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things for a lot of businesses (and a lot of people for that matter), but nothing has changed as much as asking the same people that have been pleading for the ability to work remotely for years, to now work remotely because it’s mandatory. In this case it isn’t hypocrisy, but that doesn’t stop your staff from viewing it that way. 

That doesn’t mean they aren’t thankful they still have a job, but there have been a few variables that have left many of these newly-remote workers a little salty including the fact that many of the people that were furloughed are getting paid up to four times as much as the person still putting in their 40 hours from home. While this has very little to do with you and your business, it’s possible that some of your staff could project that negativity onto their work. 

The number one variable that leads to remote-worker burnout is the sensation that they are working all the time. Each of your employees have a life to live, and some live it differently than others. The ones that are diligent about most of the aspects in their lives can find it maddening to work from home, then work on their house, their car, etc… They feel like they aren’t accomplishing anything with their time because they don’t have any real downtime to speak of. That leads us to our first tip:

Keep Your Professional Boundaries

If your business has moved its operations remotely, there is a pretty good chance that the hours of operation haven’t changed. This means that if you feel like you are working all the time, you have probably let the boundaries that you typically operate under lapse and are doing more work off the clock or outside of work hours. After all, it is simple to check your email at 11 p.m. and get ready for the next day. Just leave the work until regularly scheduled business hours and enjoy your off hours. 

Another variable that is sure to create stress for the remote worker is the inherent distractions that they have while they operate from home. You may have a spouse or live-in significant other also working from home, you may have children that don’t have much to do since their school year (and all extra-curricular activities) have been canceled due to the pandemic. You may have pets that need a certain amount of attention. You also may be prone to distracting yourself with social media, streaming videos, or video games. We suggest:

Keep Distractions to a Minimum

This may be easier said than done, but if you can, have a dedicated workspace that is away from all of the distractions listed above. You need focus to do your job proficiently and continuing to distract yourself (or continuing to allow yourself to be distracted) is going to cut down on the time you are actually working. This leads to you getting behind and results in much more stress than you’re typically used to dealing with. This can result in you working longer hours to compensate, leaving you with the feeling that you are working all the time.

Finally, when dealing with mental health it can often be a matter of internalizing someone else’s expectations of you. Of course, many employers do have a certain amount of expectations, but they are flying by the seat of their pants too. Do you really think they would have crushed your work-from-home dreams for so long if they didn’t have legitimate concerns about the effect it would have on their product or service? In this case, they may have been wrong. Expecting you to work from home was the only card they could play in order to fulfill their responsibilities to their consumers, while still taking care of the people they depend on to make business happen. You may find that when this situation is resolved that the work flexibility you’ve always wanted will remain. You may also find that you won’t mind going into the office that much. 

Understanding that your employer is doing their best to keep you safe and employed while other small businesses are struggling to re-open, will give you some peace of mind. Here are a couple of tips to help you…

Stave Off Work-At-Home Burnout

• Get dressed - A good practice is to get up and do your morning routine as you would. You don’t have to wear a suit and tie but get out of your PJs and get yourself ready for work. You may not have the long commute right now, but that time can be spent catching up on sleep, taking the dog for a walk, or some other activities that make you less apt to be scurrying around after work.
• Watch your diet and exercise - Stay-at-home orders haven’t been great for a lot of people’s waistlines, but now that things are starting to slowly re-open there will be more opportunities to get out there and enjoy the things you typically do. You will want to make sure to stretch and move around a bit while also watching your intake. Good diet and exercise help your mental health.

Until there is an available vaccine, this situation isn’t close to over. Some companies will reopen and forget they ever had a remote workforce, but many businesses will prioritize the mental and physical health of their employees and keep remote work open until there is a reason to stop it; and, your ability to keep your head screwed on straight will be a big determining factor in the use of remote work in the future.

What do you think about remote work? Do you have any suggestions to help you get through this period? Will you be allowing your staff to keep its remote work flexibility when COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. 

Between you and me, how is your business doing financially? If you answered with something along the lines of “not great,” you are certainly not alone. Cash flow is an issue for businesses all around the world, as a recent report from Intuit makes all too clear.

Intuit QuickBooks released the results of a study performed to establish where small businesses stand as far as their cash flow is concerned. This study, entitled The State of Small Business Cash Flow, revealed that cash flow issues have had a significant impact on businesses. Having surveyed 3000 small businesses with fewer than 100 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, and Australia, Intuit was able to identify a few major business concerns.

Common Issues
According to this survey, 61 percent of small businesses have regular issues with their cash flow, with 42 percent of this group having had a cash flow issue within the past year. Of these businesses, 32 percent have been short on capital - rendering them unable to pay for one of their other obligations, like loans, vendors, or even their employees. Over two-in-five small business owners have faced the prospect of being late with their employees’ payments, while 32 percent have been forced to do so.

In the United States specifically, insufficient cash flow has contributed to considerable missed opportunities. Businesses have lost an average of $43,394 by passing on projects or sales thanks to these insufficiencies, more than half having lost at least $10,000.

Clearly, there’s an issue here.

The Underlying Cause
According to the survey, small businesses in the U.S. average a total of $53,399 in outstanding receivables. That’s $53,399, owed to the business, that has yet to be paid. On average, businesses wait 29 days before their payments are received.

It is this delay that causes the major issues outlined above in businesses.

If you’re tired of waiting around to be paid for your services, reach out to MSPNetworks. We have the expertise to identify and implement the solutions you need to efficiently invoice your clients and customers, providing them with flexible payment options. Reach out to us at (516) 403-9001 to learn more!

The IT guy, Jacob left last month: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. He left without an exit interview, and he didn’t seem very pleased with the way the situation played out. You could never tell if Scrooge cared or not. His demands have never wavered. He expected perfection and when mistakes were made, they were approached as catastrophic affronts to the sustainability of the business, even if that wasn’t the reality.

Scrooge, not missing a beat, and never altering his demanding demeanor, laid the responsibilities that were, up to last month, Jacob’s, at the feet of poor old Bob; with, the expectation that Bob would be able to produce more. Bob was ever the diligent worker, and he never complained, regardless of how much unwanted attention and responsibility was forced onto him. As the holidays approached, Bob was looking forward to the respite from work, even if it was for a day. He was going to spend time with his family. You see, Bob’s daughter Grace fell ill and since Scrooge didn’t believe in offering benefits, the burden of keeping her well fell on Bob’s shoulders.

Just as he did the best that he could for Scrooge, he did the best that he could for his family. The problem was that Christmas is tomorrow and there has been no mention of him getting the day off. At about 1 p.m., after he had eaten the soup his wife had made (the same soup he had been eating for five consecutive working days), he went to Scrooge.

“Mr. Scrooge, I was wondering if I could have the day off tomorrow for Christmas?”

“No, Bob,” Scrooge answered immediately, “We just can’t afford it if you missed any time. It’s not fair or convenient to the business for you to miss any time.”

“But Mr. Scrooge,” Bob pleaded, “My wife is making a roast and I am hosting Christmas.” He went on to observe that it was only one day a year.

“Bah! Humbug.” Scrooge crowed, “It’s a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December! You’d better be here in the morning, or you can find yourself another job.”

Bob, not wanting to put his job in jeopardy dejectedly answered, “Yes, sir.”

Bob went back to work and toward the end of the day, Scrooge emerged from his office, put on his coat and meandered over to Bob’s desk with a box. He stopped, placed the box on the desk and placed his hand upon the box.

“Bob,” Scrooge started, “I was thinking about your request for time off, and I wanted to tell you that since Jacob left, we just can’t have anyone missing any more time, so just tell your family to come after you get out of work.” Bob was upset, but said nothing.

“I’m headed to my club, I need you to stay tonight and install this new router.” Scrooge tapped the box, “I’m having trouble streaming in my office and want this installed and working before you leave for the day.”

Without saying goodbye, the old miser walked out the door and shuffled up the street toward his car. Bob felt crestfallen. He knew his brother and his family would be at the house when he got home, but not wanting to disobey Mr. Scrooge’s demands. He stayed until just after 8 p.m. making sure that the router was installed properly and that it did, indeed provide Mr. Scrooge’s office with the wireless signal he demanded.

After he finished with the router, he locked up the office and meandered down the street toward his car. Since Scrooge has kept both parking spots in front of the office for himself, Bob had to walk a half a mile to the parking garage. As he made his way there he went into the store to buy his family their Christmas roast. Knowing he wouldn’t be around to enjoy the company of his loved ones, he could at least get a beautiful roast.

He started pricing the meat and realized that he couldn’t afford a roast that was big enough for eight people. He checked his balance, and when the numbers came up on the screen he felt like he wanted to cry. He picked up a small roast and a large chicken, paid, and left for his home.

When Bob got home, his entire family was there. The sadness he was feeling melted away and the Christmas spirit that had escaped him returned with aplomb. His brother’s family had arrived a few hours before and so, after tucking their children in for Christmas, the adults sat around the Christmas tree telling stories and laughing, stuffing stockings, and putting out gifts. Bob didn’t know exactly how to explain that his boss wouldn’t give him the day off, but waited to reveal this sad truth for after the pleasantries of the evening were finished.

As he got ready for bed he shared the news with his wife.

“That Scrooge is a real piece of work,” his wife proclaimed.

“He’s a real piece of something,” Bob returned.

The couple talked about it a bit more, said goodnight, and went to sleep.

----

Scrooge, was sitting alone, as was his custom at a table in his club’s bar. His scowl was a solid deterrent to keep people away. He sipped his scotch and water and sat there watching the television that was mounted above the bar. The financial news was on. As the stock prices raced by and the attractive, yet muted 30-something gave the audience the recap of the money that had been made and lost during the day’s trading, his concentration was broken.

All of a sudden a man was standing, drinkless, in front of his table. “Hello Mr. Scrooge.”

“What?!” the ill-tempered codger snapped.

“Merry Christmas.” the man said joyfully.

“Bah!” Scrooge responded sharply.

“My name is Ricky Marine, and I’m with MSPNetworks, and it’s come to my attention that your IT administrator, Jacob, is no longer with your company. I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk about how my company can help you manage your...”

Scrooge responded, “Let me stop you before you go any further. I wish to be left alone. I don’t know how you know my business and I don’t care, I’ve got it handled.”

The conversation went on like that for a few minutes and Ricky Marine left his card on the table and wished Scrooge a merry Christmas. Scrooge predictably scoffed at the sentiment. In solitude he finished his drink, paid the bill with no tip, and left the club.

When he got home, he locked the door behind him and put on his dressing gown and nightcap. Just as he was getting comfortable in his bed, he heard a tapping, which he ignored. A minute later a banging came from the front room. He got up to investigate, grabbing his cane. Discovering nothing, he returned to his bedroom, only to find Jacob sitting at the small writing desk he had up against the far wall.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Scrooge said aggressively.

“I’m not here, Mr. Scrooge. I’m not. I am a figment of your imagination.” Jacob stated matter-of-factly.

Scrooge charged at him and swinging his club to accost the intruder only served to break the lamp on the desk.

“How now!” said Scrooge, “What do you want with me?”

“Much” Jacob replied, “but first I have to see that you believe in me.”

“Believe in you?” Scrooge said, “Humbug, I tell you! Humbug!”

Just then Jacob let out a wail that got Scrooge’s attention. He then asked Scrooge to check his account balances, and after a little back-and-forth, Scrooge placated the spectre. The look on Scrooge’s face was of pure terror.

He began to plead, “Mercy, dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?”

“Your life is tied to your business, Scrooge, but your repulsive avarice has left you exposed; left it exposed.”

Jacob walked up to a terrified Scrooge. “Hear me! Tonight you will be haunted by three spirits.”

“Three spirits?” Scrooge asked, terrified.

“Yes, without their visits you can’t expect to understand the danger your belligerence has caused.”

Just then, the room was silent. Scrooge was horrified. He turned every light on in his house and turned on the television. After at least an hour of trepidation, he finally started to get tired, and even though his home was lit up like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween, he dozed off on his sofa.

----

“Wake Up!” the spirit shrieked.

Scrooge arose from his peace-less slumber quickly and alertly. He took a swipe with his cane, but was rebuked by the large ethereal man standing before him. The ghost was around six-foot-four, but had a golf shirt embroidered with Scrooge’s company’s logo on it tucked into a pair of khakis. Its hair was seemingly an ethereal mist that looked like there was smoke coming up from his glasses. His eyes were ominously white behind thick black glasses.

“Are you the Spirit, sir whose coming was foretold to me?” Scrooge asked.

“I am. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.”

“Long past?” asked Scrooge who was trembling with fear.

“No, man, your past,” the spirit returned

The spectre put his hand on Scrooge’s reluctant shoulder and led him to the door of his home. Instead of opening the door, they traveled through it only to find on the other side a vision. The vision was of Jacob talking with Bob. They were talking about how Jacob had went to Scrooge, and asked him to consider getting on a firewall installed on the business network.

“You would have thought I asked him to go steady,” Jacob started, “He screamed at me and told me that if I don’t do my #$%^*& job and stop coming to him for money, I won’t have a job to come to.”

“I remember that. He was asking for too much money!” Scrooge said defiantly.

The spirit said nothing and put his hand on Scrooge’s shoulder again. They walked back through the wall they had just come through and this time it was a school. It seemed to be sometime in the 1960s. There was a little boy who was trying to open a padlock with paperclips.

As the lock sprung open, Scrooge growled, “Tommy Hulse!”

The boy opened the locker that was being protected by the padlock and took out a small bag.

“It was him!” Scrooge screeched. He got emotional and explained that he had brought his dad’s watch into school the day before Christmas and he had kept it in the bag. When he returned to the locker that day, it was open and his father’s watch was gone.

“I bet he skinned your hide,” the spirit said arrogantly.

Scrooge, despondent, looked at the spirit, “He died soon thereafter.”

“My time is running short, Scrooge. Let us go,” the spirit said, as he put his hand on his shoulder and walked through the wall.

He was back in the front room of his house. No one else was there. He called out to the spirit but nothing answered. Just then there was a banging coming from the bedroom. He went to investigate and there was a larger spectre standing in front of his bed.

“Scrooge!” the new ghost bellowed. Scrooge turned around and shut the door, only to turn around to see the giant ghastly man. This spirit was nearly seven-feet tall, his head was covered in a hood. He couldn’t make out any of his features, except two glowing eyes that seemed to puncture a hole through him.

“Scrooge! I am the Ghost of Christmas Present.”

“No! No more hauntings!” Scrooge plead. The ghost lifted his right arm and snapped his ethereal fingers. The snap was the loudest noise the miser had ever heard.

Scrooge, who had closed his eyes to avert his gaze from the newest spirit, opened them and found himself alone in a dark room.

‘Where am I?” Scrooge called out. No answer.

He noticed a light coming from an adjacent room. He made his way toward it. As he entered the doorway he could see the ghost standing over what looked to be Jacob, his former IT administrator. Jacob was typing at a computer.

‘Come, Scrooge,” the spirit said in his baritone tenor.

Scrooge walked over and looked on the screen. It was indeed Jacob, he was typing in a chat on his computer. He began to read:

When I bailed on old man Scrooge, I left a hole in the network. Tomorrow, I am going to go in and put this ransomware I just purchased. When he gets back from his Christmas break, he’ll have a surprise waiting for him.

“What is this? What is ransomware?” Scrooge asked the spirit timidly.

“I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you that it is not good for you or your company.” The ghost replied.

“Tell him to stop! Tell him to stop!” Scrooge began pleading.

“No one can hear you, Scrooge.” The spirit said as it walked out of the room.

Scrooge followed, but as soon as he got into the next room, there was no one there. He turned around and seemed surprised to be in his office. He walked through his office door to see the spirit standing over Bob’s desk. Bob was sitting at his desk working away, gently sighing every once in a while and checking his phone repeatedly. All of a sudden his desk phone rang.

“Hello.” Bob answered.

“Merry Christmas to you too...Mr. Scrooge needed me to work today, so I am...Well I have my brother and his family...She’s doing well...It’s okay...I’ll think about it...Have a merry Christmas.” Bob hung up the phone and went back to doing what he was doing.

“He’s a good worker.” Scrooge admitted to the spirit.

“You just couldn’t give him the day off for Christmas?” the spirit asked directly.

“I…I...We’re so short-staffed as it is…” Scrooge stammered. Bob’s cell phone rang.

“Hey...What?!...I’ll be right there,” Bob stood up with a panicked look on his face. He put his coat on and walked out the door without turning his computer off.

“Where is he going? Where is he going, spirit?” Scrooge plead.

The spirit again snapped his fingers and the pair were standing in the waiting room of a hospital. Bob was standing at the desk filling out paperwork. A doctor came up to him and started to talk. Bob’s face succumbed to the pain of the situation.

Scrooge started in, “What is it? What has happened? Tell me what has happened, please?”

The ghost looked at Scrooge with his searing red eyes and said, “His little girl is ill, Scrooge. I’m sure you knew that.”

“Yes...Yes, but what has happened to her?”

The spirit lifted his arm again. SNAP.

The pair were on the front lawn of Bob’s house. A car pulls into the driveway. Bob’s wife got out of the passenger seat. She had clearly been crying. Bob got out of the front seat and made his way around the car. His wife muttered something to him while he opened the back door of the car. Bob lifted his tired and weak daughter out of the car seat and followed his wife in the house.

“Not very Christmasy,” the tall spirit said, mocking a relieved Scrooge.

Before Scrooge could say anything else there was a huge bang and he was back in his home. Feeling tired and emotional, Scrooge sat down on the settee in his front room. He sat there in contemplation for a few minutes. He was worried about the virus that Jacob was going to unleash, he was worried about his business, and about Bob and his family. He realized that he hadn’t treated these people with a lot of respect. Just as he was coming to the conclusion that he had to do something about it the room filled with a blinding light.

Scrooge couldn’t see a thing. All of a sudden there was a high-pitched scream that startled him further. He started to plead:

“Please spirits, no more! I have learned the errors of my ways! No more, I beg you!”

A silhouette emerged in the light.

“Come,” it screeched.

Witless and afraid, Scrooge complied. The spirit was no more than a shadow that moved independently through the ether like bolts of lightning.

Scrooge followed the spirit into the light and emerged in front of a Best Buy. There were giant “Christmas Sale” banners hanging from above the revolving doors. Scrooge walked into the store where he was confronted by himself. He was wearing a Best Buy shirt and tan slacks, staring aimlessly across the vast expanse of the retail establishment.

From the side he spotted Bob walking up to his likeness.

“C’mon Scrooge, get to work,” Bob said as he walked by future Scrooge. He was older than he was by a few years and looked malnourished and feeble.

“No! This can’t be! I am an old man. I cannot work retail!”

As future Scrooge made his way toward the warehouse modern Scrooge followed. Two younger workers were standing near the loading dock as the Scrooges approached.

“What’s the matter, Grandpa? Don’t remember where you should be?” one of the young men said as the other laughed.

Scrooge looked around helplessly as the two younger men continued to snicker and jest.

Just then the light returned, covering everything. It brought Scrooge to a grave marked “Here Lies Scrooge”. Sensing his mortality Scrooge began to wail:

“Stop! Spirit, no! Oh no! Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, shadow! I will live an altered life!”

The light returned and Scrooge woke up. He wasn’t on the settee or in the front room, but his bed. He leaped from the sheets.

“I don’t know what to do! I am light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy, I am as merry as a drunken man. Merry Christmas to everybody!” Scrooge cried laughing aloud. Without getting dressed he grabbed his coat and rushed out onto the street. Dawn was just breaking. He saw a young man walking on the sidewalk, he stopped him and asked, “What’s to-day?”

“Why today is Christmas, sir!” the young man replied.

“It’s Christmas day? Of course. Merry Christmas to you my fine fellow.” Scrooge said with enthusiasm.

“A merry Christmas to you, too, sir,” the man replied and walked on.

Scrooge, went back in his home and started making calls, the first call he made was to Bob, telling him to take the day and spend it with his family; and, that he was going to get a significant raise. The next call was to Jacob, who didn’t answer, but Scrooge left a voicemail that said he was sorry and would like to make it up to him. Finally, he called MSPNetworks’s Ricky Marine to tell him that he would be happy to learn more about how he could keep his IT safe and make his business more efficient.

From all of us at MSPNetworks, we’d like to wish you a very merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays!