Remote Support : TeamViewer
TeamViewer is a compact module that runs on your computer and allows EVOK technical services to provide remote technical assistance
The global pandemic has disrupted businesses in all sectors, forcing economic players to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. EVOK, a company specializing in digital transformation, has been no exception. In response to changing customer expectations, industry regulations and evolving development partnerships, EVOK has taken decisive steps to modernize its IT platforms. This initiative is part of a drive to ensure rapid and lasting adaptation to an increasingly unpredictable and competitive environment.
For EVOK, modernizing a digital platform must be justified by specific objectives. The main thrusts of this strategy include reducing time-to-market, supporting future growth, improving adaptability to market changes, increasing resilience and availability, and strengthening security. By developing these aspects, EVOK is giving itself the means to ensure the transition to a high-performance digital infrastructure, capable of adjusting to constantly changing needs.
Reducing time-to-market: EVOK aims to accelerate the delivery of its products and services to respond more effectively to companies' demands and capture new business opportunities.
Support for future growth: The company designs its systems to support rapid growth without requiring major structural changes. This includes proactively planning the acquisition and integration of additional hardware.
Enhanced market adaptability: A more flexible and scalable solution is put in place to adapt to market changes and volatility. This enables EVOK to respond rapidly to new requirements and customer expectations.
Increased resilience and availability: The company ensures that its platforms are resilient to failures and highly available, enabling continuous, stable operation without significant interruptions.
Enhanced security: Protecting customer data and complying with regulatory requirements are top priorities. EVOK focuses on security to preserve the company's reputation and the trust of its customers.
EVOK has chosen to adopt a"Domain Driven Design" approach, which aligns technical implementation with the specific needs of business domains. Each domain is implemented as a distinct service, supported by a dedicated team. This method enables EVOK to adapt its organizational structure to changing needs, while guaranteeing a high degree of scalability.
EVOK microservices are published via an API gateway, which provides detailed technical documentation for each service. This centralized management of APIs facilitates their discovery and ensures consistency in the use of services, while integrating robust security policies.
The modernization of digital platforms at EVOK has brought significant results, both operationally and strategically. Here are the main benefits:
1. Reducing operational complexity and improving efficiency:
By adopting Cloud-native solutions and automating processes through Infrastructure as Code (IaC ) and Continuous Integration (CI/CD), EVOK has considerably simplified its operations. This automation has made it possible to reduce manual intervention, thereby minimizing potential errors and optimizing the use of human resources. As a result, teams can concentrate on higher value-added tasks, such as innovation and the development of new functionalities. This has led to a reduction in the size of operational teams without compromising overall productivity. At the same time, streamlined processes have accelerated development and deployment cycles, reducing time-to-market.
2. Standardization and reduced dependence on external partners:
By developing a more standardized and unified infrastructure, EVOK has reduced its dependence on external integration partners. This standardization has facilitated interoperability between different systems and microservices, enabling better management of internal resources. With greater control over its technological ecosystem, EVOK is also less vulnerable to the risks associated with outsourcing, and can react more quickly to market developments or new customer requirements. The use of standardized technologies also allows for greater scalability of services, making it easier to implement new functionalities or services in response to market demands.
3. Benefits of an optimized Cloud infrastructure:
Leveraging the services of a hyper-scaler Cloud provider has enabled EVOK to benefit from the latter's cutting-edge expertise in security, storage, computing and monitoring. By outsourcing these functions to a leading Cloud service provider, EVOK benefits from ongoing innovations and upgrades without having to invest directly in these technologies. This approach reduces infrastructure costs, while guaranteeing optimal security and performance through the use of industry best practices in security and data management.
4. Improved elasticity and organizational flexibility:
EVOK's microservices-based architecture offers enhanced elasticity. Each business area is designed to evolve independently, enabling rapid response to fluctuations in demand and new market opportunities. For example, in the event of a sudden surge in activity in a specific sector, resources can be reallocated or increased without affecting the whole system.
By embracing the Cloud and digital transformation, EVOK has not only strengthened its ability to respond to current challenges, but has also prepared itself to seize future opportunities. Its strategy, based on reduced lead times, adaptability, resilience and security, positions the company as a leader in an increasingly digitalized business environment. Through this modernization, EVOK demonstrates that innovation and continuous adaptation are the keys to success in a constantly changing world.
Contact us today to find out how we can help you modernize your digital platforms and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Cloud. Let's work together to shape tomorrow's digital success!
The Internet of Things (IoT) is revolutionizing our daily lives by connecting previously autonomous devices to a global network, transforming the way we interact with our environment. From smart homes, where lights, thermostats and appliances are controlled remotely, to connected cars that communicate with road infrastructure to optimize safety and navigation, the IoT is penetrating every aspect of our lives. Connected medical devices monitor patients' state of health in real time, enabling greater responsiveness from healthcare professionals.
In this article, we'll explore in depth the security challenges associated with connected objects. We'll analyze the most common types of cyberthreats, the specific vulnerabilities of IoT devices, and the potential consequences of successful attacks. In addition, we'll look at best practices and solutions for effectively protecting these devices, ensuring the security and reliability of IoT networks. From advanced security protocols to regular software updates and user awareness, we'll identify key strategies for countering cyber threats and ensuring a safe and secure digital future.
With the rapid expansion of the IoT, the number of connected devices exceeds the billions, and every device represents a potential security vulnerability. Hackers exploit these vulnerabilities to gain access to private networks, steal sensitive data, or take control of devices remotely. The diversity of devices, the complexity of networks, and the lack of security standards make the task even more daunting. So how can we ensure the security of connected objects in such a fragmented and constantly evolving environment?
The IoT encompasses a wide range of devices, from industrial sensors to children's toys. Each device uses different communication protocols, making it difficult to standardize security measures. Manufacturers don't always follow the same security standards, leaving some vulnerabilities unpatched.
Many connected objects do not receive regular security updates, or even no updates at all after deployment. Manufacturers may stop providing patches for older models, exposing users to continuing risks.
Identity and access management is a crucial aspect of connected object (IoT) security. In the IoT ecosystem, every device - whether sensors, cameras or industrial control systems - requires an authentication method to ensure that only authorized entities can access its data and functionality. However, many IoT devices use weak or default authentication methods, such as simple passwords or universal access keys. This vulnerability facilitates intrusion by cybercriminals, jeopardizing the security of the entire network.
Connected objects collect and transmit massive amounts of data, often of a sensitive nature. Ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of this data is crucial, but encryption and data protection mechanisms are sometimes insufficient or non-existent.
IoT devices can be used to launch DDoS attacks, overwhelming target servers with traffic until they become inaccessible. IoT botnets, made up of thousands of hacked devices, are becoming increasingly common and formidable.
The adoption of common security standards for IoT devices is essential. Initiatives such as the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act in the USA encourage manufacturers to follow strict guidelines for device security.
Manufacturers must guarantee regular, automatic security updates for their devices. This includes not only patches for known vulnerabilities, but also continuous improvements to counter new threats.
Strong authentication is an essential component of connected object (IoT) security. It must be standardized to guarantee uniform, robust protection against unauthorized access.
Digital certificates are security features that verify the identity of a device or user. They work on the principle of asymmetric cryptography, where a pair of keys (public and private) is used for authentication and data encryption. Each IoT device can be assigned a unique certificate, guaranteeing that it is what it claims to be. This prevents impersonation attacks, where an attacker could masquerade as a legitimate device.
Encrypting data, whether in transit or at rest, is an essential security measure for connected devices (IoT). It protects sensitive information from unauthorized access and cyber-attacks.
Setting up real-time monitoring systems to detect suspicious activity and intrusion attempts is vital. Connected objects (IoT) are often prime targets for cybercriminals due to their diversity and presence in critical environments such as homes, businesses and public infrastructures. Consequently, constant monitoring of these devices is essential to quickly identify any abnormal activity that could indicate an intrusion attempt or security compromise.
End-users and companies need to be made aware of the risks associated with connected objects, and trained in good security practices. Awareness can include password management, recognition of phishing attempts, and the importance of security updates.
The security of connected objects represents a major challenge in our increasingly digital world. Cyber threats are constantly evolving, and it's crucial to adopt robust security measures to protect our connected devices. By implementing high security standards, regular updates, strong authentication, and adequate data protection, we can mitigate risks and take full advantage of the benefits of the IoT.
Do you have questions about connected object security, or need help protecting your devices? The experts atEVOK, an IT company based in French-speaking Switzerland, are here to help.
Contact us today for a personalized consultation and find out how we can strengthen the security of your connected devices.
Despite the growing popularity in Switzerland of instant messaging applications and other messaging alternatives such as Salesforce Chatter and Slack, e-mail remains the preferred mode of communication. Cloud hosting has not only kept e-mail relevant, it has also facilitated the development of professional hosted messaging solutions tailored to yourhosting needs and budget.
In this blog post, we'll look at the differences between the various email hosting services. Then, we'll suggest the best options to consider for your business.
Simply put, a hosted e-mail service provides you with server space to store your e-mails, and access to the domain name of your choice. When it comes to e-mailhosting, Swiss companies can choose between 3 types:
Self-hosting means storing e-mails on your own personal server.
This gives companies greater control, but is difficult to set up and maintain. To host e-mail on-site, a company needs a few basic components, including a mail transfer agent, a mail delivery agent and an IMAP and/or POP3 server. Self-hosting is also expensive. In addition to requiring a significant initial investment, self-hosted servers require administrators to perform routine maintenance. As a company grows, it will also need to purchase additional dedicated servers to scale and meet its growing needs for a hosted e-mail solution . Self-hosting is more popular among businesses, which have the resources to manage and maintain multiple mail servers.
Shared hosting refers to the bundling of website and e-mail hosting.
This option is convenient for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as the hosting provider is responsible for all server maintenance, administration, management and support. Shared hosting is also affordable. Many providers include the cost of e-mail hosting in their web hosting subscription fees.
Third-party hosting is similar to shared hosting, except that it does not include web hosting. With third-party hosting, e-mail hosting providers essentially rent their servers to companies.
This type of business e-mail service is popular for its affordability. There are many free hosted e-mailservices on the market, such as Zoho Mail and Yandex. However, these free hosting services are usually heavily laden with advertising and don't offer the extensive functionality of a paid service. Paid hosting services often come with robust feature sets, including IMAP/POP3, spam prevention, anti-virus software, unlimited aliases, online storage, e-mail backup and more. Email hosting providers also manage their own servers, including maintenance and administration, so their customers can concentrate on their core business.
There are several key factors to consider when comparing email hosting providers and services, starting with corporate security. Cyber security breaches are a reality that shared, third-party and self-hosting providers have to contend with.
However, SMEs have nothing to fear, as many business messaging services come with built-in security features, such as malware scanning and encryption. These features also offer powerful privacy protection, for added peace of mind. Any SME considering shared hosting should also invest in a service incorporating anti-phishing tools, anti-virus software and firewall protection.
Other key features and qualities companies should look for in a mail hosting provider include MAP/POP3, spam filters, custom domains, mailbox storage and 24/7 support. That's why you should consider using Microsoft Exchange.
Microsoft Exchange is a 100% IMAP-enabled email server that offers several key qualities you should look for in a provider, including anti-malware and anti-spam filters, 99.9% uptime guarantee, disaster recovery capability, Office 365 integration, offline access, 24/7 Support and EDiscovery features.
Microsoft Exchange is a mail server that runs on Windows Server operating systems. Exchange works with Web-based e-mail clients like Microsoft Outlook, which can connect to and manage e-mail from a variety of sources. In fact, Outlook is really optimized for Exchange and works better than when you use an Exchange account.
Most commonly used by Swiss companies and academic institutions, Microsoft Exchange is a highly scalable solution that can support a very large number of users, and was designed from the outset to ensure e-mail synchronization between the server and end-user clients. Exchange provides not only e-mail, but also a global address book of contacts, a calendar, meeting scheduling and task management.
If you've decided to use Microsoft Exchange, the next step is to choose a Hosted Exchange server. Hosted Exchange is a service that provides a Microsoft Exchange mailbox and available storage space via a third-party server.
The Hosted Exchange provider manages data on a cloud-based server, including sent and received mail, contacts and calendar data. An Exchange server can manage tens of thousands of e-mail accounts and data, making it the solution of choice for many corporate environments. While its power and storage space are excessive for the personal e-mail needs of most individuals, it is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses right up to the enterprise.
Hosted Exchange offers many advantages, such as automatic software updates, maintenance and technical support. There are no physical servers, and you can get a much more secure service.
To find out more about Hosted Exchange in Switzerland, click here!
Today, all small and medium-sized Swiss companies rely heavily on their network technology to serve their customers. However, the ever-present threat of malware and cyber-attacks makes IT maintenance a chronic source of risk.
Indeed, potential day-to-day IT problems frustrate employees and affect productivity. And these are just a few of the many challenges involved in managing a complex network.
In response to these challenges, IT departments A managed IT service provider provides technological support to ensure consistent and efficient IT maintenance. As a result, a managed IT services provider optimizes your network uptime and availability by combining specialized tools, processes and skills to monitor and maintain your technology.
This article will cover the characteristics of managed IT services and how they are reshaping IT maintenance service provision.
The managed IT services model enables comprehensive, proactive management of a company's technology. Gone are the old methods of IT support, which involved on-site maintenance work! A managed IT services provider can do most of its work remotely from a dedicated network operations center. This unobtrusive, controlled support allows your staff to use your IT service without being interrupted by maintenance.
Instead of being reactive and taking corrective action, a managed IT services provider like EVOK is proactive. It will focus on keeping your network secure and healthy, rather than fixing it after it's too late.
After an initial integration phase, the managed IT service provider uses a network monitoring platform. This will enable it to collect information and monitor every network device and endpoint in real time. This includes network routers and firewalls, as well as servers, workstations and PCs.
By remotely managing network traffic, detecting and diagnosing performance problems, and continuously collecting health metrics for each of your systems, Managed IT Maintenance ensures a pleasant end-user experience.
With this kind of regular IT maintenance of your network, problems are dealt with in an organized way before they culminate in critical points or even downtime.
Today, we are one of the leading players on the Swiss market offering this type of service. Our aim is to guarantee efficient, proactive IT maintenance to maximize the reliability of your servers. Our services include :
The computers and other IT devices you own have become an integral part of your business today. Whether it's data processing, accounting, documentation, presentations, communication, research or Internet access, the shadow of viruses and malware always looms over you, threatening to degrade your performance. This may even be one of the reasons why poor processing performance or unpleasant slowness surfaces. Worse still, these problems can shorten the life of your device.
That's why you need to look after your equipment, whatever the size of your business. That's where IT maintenance comes in. It helps extend the life of your equipment, by detecting technical problems in good time.
In this article, we'll highlight the importance of using the right IT maintenance services for your business.
In general, IT maintenance service is a generic term for comprehensive software and hardware maintenance support for your business. Essentially, it involves establishing a complete record of all the hardware and software that needs to be maintained to keep the system running smoothly, and ensuring that all the maintenance tasks the system needs are carried out to achieve this goal.
As the definition of IT maintenance is broad, there are 3 main types. These are usually carried out simultaneously.
Computerized preventive maintenance is performed regularly on a piece of equipment to reduce the risk of failure. It is therefore carried out while the machine is still operational, to prevent it from suddenly breaking down. Preventive maintenance helps to reduce the number of repairs, cut downtime and identify weak points that could impair operation.
To ensure this type of maintenance, EVOK offers you tools for monitoring and preventive surveillance of your IT equipment, with the possibility of monitoring more than 20 hosts (IP).
Predictive information maintenance is a method that uses software and data analysis techniques to detect operating irregularities and potential anomalies in equipment and processes, so that they can be repaired before they fail. Informative predictive maintenance anticipates problems using historical and real-time data from different parts of the service.
A very effective way of carrying out this maintenance is by monitoring computer systems, to prevent potential breakdowns.
With this in mind, EVOK offers an IT monitoring system that enables us to check the status of our customer's services 24 hours a day, open tickets via our CRM in the event of anomalies, and send email reports to highlight any failures.
Corrective (or curative) IT maintenance refers to repairs carried out after a system has failed. Its aim is to restore the system to normal operating condition.
An example of corrective maintenance of an IT system is the breakdown of a computer due to a hardware problem. At EVOK, we take steps to get it running optimally again, repairing and replacing as necessary.
While corrective maintenance has its place in a solid maintenance plan, it's a short-sighted approach. Relying solely on corrective maintenance for your IT systems is not sustainable in the long term.
So why do you need this type of service? Can't you do it yourself?
When you call on a specialist company like EVOK to take care of your software and hardware maintenance needs, you relieve yourself of the huge burden of making sure your IT is running efficiently, so you can concentrate on your core business.
With EVOK, you don't have to worry about what's going on with your systems. You know that your IT support company is keeping track of everything, and resolving problems as they arise.
Among the main advantages of working with a specialist company like EVOK:
