Author Archives: Megan Carnes

For the sixth consecutive year, Thrive has earned a spot in the latest Inc. Magazine rankings of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Thrive ranked No. 2,474 on the 2022 Inc. 5000 with an impressive 234% growth since 2021.

The list represents a unique look at the most successful private companies with significant revenue growth from 2018 to 2021. The companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 represent a new group of fast-growing private businesses that have demonstrated success amid COVID-19-related challenges. Companies such as Facebook, Chobani, Under Armour, Microsoft, and many other well-known brands gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.

Thrive’s inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list comes at a significant time of growth for our company. Thrive’s employee headcount has grown 200% since January 2001 with more than 1,000 employees around the world. Through acquisitions and internal growth, Thrive has cemented its global position as a leading technology provider delivering end-to-end managed services and unmatched expertise to drive secure digital transformation.

To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2018. Other requirements include being based in the United States and having a minimum revenue of $100,000 in 2018 and $2 million in 2021.

Here’s a look at Thrive’s climb on the Inc. 5000 list over the years:

• 2017 – No. 3,413
• 2018 – No. 3,248
• 2019 – No. 1,222
• 2020 – No. 2,764
• 2021 – No. 3,037
• 2022 – No. 2,474

Congratulations to all those recognized! The complete Inc. 5000 list is now available here.

Your business’ technology is critical to its productivity, but unfortunately, this technology can (and at some point, likely will) break. So, what do you do when it does?

Let’s go over some of the options that you must consider.

Businesses Have Three Options for their IT Support

A business in need of maintenance and support services for its information technology systems can approach this need in three different ways:

An In-House Team

If your business has a team member or a department that works on the technology that your operations rely on, you rely on in-house IT resources.

A Break/Fix Provider

These IT companies are those that are called upon to resolve existing IT issues and repair needs.

A Managed Service Provider

These IT companies work with businesses on an ongoing basis to assist them with their IT, proactively dealing with potential issues rather than waiting for them to arise.

In terms of these options, a business that utilizes an in-house team isn’t restricted to using just those resources, either. Many businesses supplement their internal resources by outsourcing some of their IT responsibilities to one of the other options. Otherwise, outsourcing all of the IT needs that a business has is a common tactic for businesses (particularly those too small to dedicate an employee to their technology maintenance).

However, the options for outsourcing aren’t exactly equal. There are a variety of reasons that working with a managed service provider (MSP for short) is the better call. Now, are we biased in saying that? Slightly—but that doesn’t mean we’re wrong.

Why Working with an MSP is the Better Business Decision for Your Technology

Let’s run through the scenarios surrounding break/fix IT services and the experience to be had working with an MSP when a critical piece of business technology goes on the fritz.

Business A relies on a break/fix provider for its IT needs. One day, a few of the business’ workstations suddenly can’t connect to the server, leaving many of Business A’s employees stranded. To solve the problem, Business A reaches out to its provider. Unfortunately, their IT provider isn’t able to send someone out to their location for a few hours—or potentially, days—and when the technician does arrive, it takes a few additional hours to diagnose and correct the issue. Meanwhile, money goes out the door every hour Business A’s IT is unavailable, both in terms of lost productivity and in payroll. Business A is then on the hook for the repair costs which, depending on how long the issue takes to resolve, could be quite substantial.

Business B, on the other hand, relies on an MSP like Thrive for assistance with its technology, paying each month for services scaled to its needs. By utilizing modern remote monitoring and maintenance tools, the MSP is able to remotely keep an eye on Business B’s infrastructure. As a result, issues are caught early or are mitigated proactively through these remote capabilities, before they create the expenses that accompany downtime. Business B can therefore keep their IT in line while still maintaining their budget while helping to ensure their profitability.

Which would you rather be, Business A or B?

Working with us can help ensure that you’re more like the latter. Find out more about our services by contacting us today.

Cloud technology has changed the way we do business, and it has provided countless opportunities for companies to achieve their wildest dreams. Granted, different businesses will use the cloud in different ways, but one fact remains the same: it makes financial sense to implement the cloud, no matter what type of business you are. Let’s go over some of the benefits.

Money Isn’t All the Same

When it comes to breaking down your business’ finances, there is more than one way to categorize them. Here is how you might typically look at investments for your company:

• Capital expenditures: A capital expenditure is one that is typically quite high, and it is usually a one-time investment that can be used for many years to come. That said, it’s not really planned or budgeted for (although it should be).
• Fixed-expense expenditures: These are predictable expenses for something which expires in the short term. For example, you might pay for advertisements or Software as a Service. The price will be independent of your sales, and the intent is usually to result in a sale down the line.
• Costs of goods sold (COGS) expenditures: These expenses are directed proportionally to the revenue your business generates; the higher your COGS, the more money you are bringing in. This assumes that the ratios between COGS and revenue are low.

How These Expenses Relate to the Cloud

If we assume that you need a new data center, you might look at options for building one on-premises. While doing so might incur large sums of capital expenditures, it’s a one-time expense for its construction and maintenance, along with the costs associated with its upkeep. On the other hand, if you were to outsource management of a cloud solution to a managed service provider, it would be a fixed-expense model, as you are paying for a monthly fee that can be terminated or adjusted at any time as you see fit. Basically, you have to look at it in terms of what your organization wants and needs, particularly if you think flexibility and scalability will play into your cloud solution in the future.

Thrive can help your organization make these tough calls regarding the cloud. To learn more about what we can do for your business, contact us today.

“Banks and banking customers are high-value targets for hackers,” said Chip Gibbons, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Thrive Network. Gibbons shared tips for CISOs and security leaders in the financial sector who are combatting phishing attacks and business email compromise.

In business, you need to be ready for anything, including potential disaster scenarios. Therefore, it stands to reason that you have a solid disaster recovery plan in place to help you address them should the need arise. We’ve outlined three disaster recovery best practices you should consider for your business continuity strategy, as well as some tips to help you implement them seamlessly into your own operations.

Figure Out What All Potential Threats Look Like

The first step toward figuring out your business’ continuity plan is to consider the types of disasters you will be facing. This means that you need to perform an analysis of all the potential threats your organization could face, no matter how unlikely they might seem. Granted, you should lend more credence to the most likely of disasters, but you can’t rule anything out. Otherwise, you could be ignoring a glaring hole in your plan.

Basically, we’re not telling you to plan for when an asteroid levels your office, but we are telling you to have a strategy in place to account for physical damage or power loss to your office. Your business continuity plan should be specific enough to address the most likely issues you’ll face, but flexible enough to account for other less likely incidents, too.

Determine Your Business’ Benchmarks

No matter the disaster, your organization will have critical data and systems that need to be recovered. It’s up to you to determine what they are and how you will prioritize them. This will help you when it comes to responding to these disasters.

What it boils down to is knowing your various systems’ maximum tolerable downtime, or MTD. This is how long a system can remain down before permanent damage is done to your business. Knowing this number gives you more flexibility and room for making important decisions in the event of a disaster. Your MTD can also help to inform your RTO and RPO, or your recovery time objective and recovery point objective, respectively. These metrics help you better prepare for a disaster by establishing how often a backup should be taken and how long it will take for you to restore said backup.

Test, Revise, and Test Your Plan Again

Your disaster recovery solution will only be successful if you have multiple people working in tandem to ensure that it happens regularly and effectively. Otherwise, if the disaster renders that one person responsible for the strategy unavailable, you’ll be left in dire straits. On the other side of things, the more people involved means more can get done, and the work is easier to achieve.

This is why it helps to have a hierarchy of people responsible for various parts of your plan; if one key person is unable to pull off the full plan, then at least certain other aspects of your continuity strategy will go off without a hitch. Furthermore, these processes should be written out to make them as accessible and easy-to-follow as possible.

After you have your continuity plan mapped out, you should routinely test it to make sure that it works properly. This will help you in the event you actually need to use it, as you can be confident that the plan works as it should. It will also help you determine where weaknesses in your strategy lie.

Nobody Likes to Think About Business Disasters, But They Need to Be Anticipated

At Thrive, we have plenty of recommendations to provide for your business’ continuity plan, so be sure to contact us for more information and tips!

Managing business technology is a challenge that many small businesses have difficulty overcoming, and this is largely in part due to the fact that managing technology is not the focus of these small businesses. The inability to overcome IT challenges can hold businesses back that otherwise would flourish. Let’s discuss some of the biggest issues that companies have for IT and how they could potentially be addressed.

Digital Transformation is Here to Stay

The pandemic forced the hands of businesses all over the world, forcing them to adopt new technology solutions in response to the rapidly changing global situation. There are no signs which indicate that this digital transformation is slowing down, as businesses are more focused than ever on optimizing their processes with what was previously seen as a taboo working environment, i.e. remote technology.

Cybersecurity is More Important Than Ever

You can’t go on the Internet or turn on the news without seeing a new devastating cyberattack against a major business or government entity. A 2022 study from Evanta found that cybersecurity is the number one priority for CIOs, and considering the number of remote and hybrid workers out there, we’re not surprised.

Taking Full Advantage of the Cloud

The cloud is the second largest growing spending category for businesses, at least according to the Evanta study; 54 percent of businesses are investing in cloud solutions. Businesses want the freedom and agility that comes with cloud infrastructure, making it one of the highest priorities and biggest challenges facing organizations today.

Supply Chain Problems Linger

Hardware and other technical components are harder than ever to get, particularly because of disrupted supply chains as a result of the pandemic and conflict between Russia and Ukraine. We like to recommend that businesses plan ahead with their technology acquisition by planning out a hardware refresh cycle and IT roadmap.

Talent Acquisition is Difficult

Paying to hire in-house IT workers can be expensive, especially if you want IT workers who know what they are doing and have the skills required to keep your business technology running. Unfortunately, many small businesses don’t have the resources to pay top dollar for IT talent.

Managed Services Can Solve a Lot of These Issues

The closest thing you can get to a silver bullet for all your technology problems is to work with a provider like Thrive. Our trusted technicians have the know-how to help your organization overcome any technology-related obstacle, from technology acquisition to management to maintenance and beyond. To learn more about what we can do for your business, contact us today.

State of Women in Technology

Companies in the tech industry are always scrambling to find qualified IT talent. Achieving greater female representation in those technology roles requires companies to think outside of the box to recruit and retain women in areas such as cybersecurity and software engineering.

According to the ISC2 Women in Cybersecurity report, women make up only 24% of the overall workforce, and another report showed about the same percentage of women account for data and AI positions in the workforce.

While these numbers slowly creep up each year, it’s not fast enough to keep up with the opportunity and demand in the technology industry.

However, Thrive is an industry leader that is committed to making a positive impact. Currently, women make up 40% of Thrive’s Platform team and the company is actively recruiting to increase that percentage.

“At Thrive, we are thrilled to be working alongside the most talented women in tech,” said Foster Hardie, VP, Digital Platform Architecture at Thrive. “From engineering and technical support to financial and  cybersecurity, we empower women throughout our technology ecosystem to grow and succeed.”

Focus on Retention

What’s also concerning is that women are leaving the tech industry at a 45% higher rate than men. Bias, microaggressions and being passed over from promotions are huge factors for women leaving the IT workforce.

So, while it’s difficult to increase the female representation in the technology space, it’s even more difficult to maintain that demographic diversity. This ‘quicksand effect’ shines a light on the imperative of retention alongside the importance of recruiting.

Choosing the Right Place, Right Culture

The tech industry can recruit all day every day, but retention is the critical component to moving the needle. However, only 38% of CIOs say that talent acquisitions and retention strategies are key issues.

To truly make an impact, the entire tech industry must unite to make a positive change in women’s representation in the tech workforce. A big step in the right direction is changing company culture to demonstrate inclusion and build trust in the workplace so that women feel heard, respected and that they belong.

Thrive has stayed one step ahead from the norm by providing training and support for its female tech employees.

“I’ve been at Thrive for 15 years and I’ve grown as a team member and a leader of this company,” said Jackie Erickson, Director of Platform Operations at Thrive. “Throughout my time at Thrive, I’ve moved up the ranks from a support professional to a director of our critical platform operations. The amount of support and training Thrive has given me is a testament to the company’s inclusive culture that also recognizes and rewards women in technology roles.”

Investing in the Next Generation of Tech Talent

It’s crucial that the tech industry invests in the next generation of women tech talent through support, mentoring and providing available resources to contribute to their growth and development.

One great resource is the Women in Technology (WIT) organization. This group is made up of a dedicated team of female professionals committed to empowering women to be architects of change in the technology industry.

At Thrive, we strive to make the best team of professionals. In our numerous employee spotlight blogs, our amazing team and culture are often touted as our secret to success. While there is an effort to increase awareness about women in tech in our industry, Thrive already leads the way as a company that focuses on its people and a place where everyone can ‘thrive’.

When your business experiences a significant disruption, a disaster recovery plan is critical to getting back to normal. Some disasters are the result of external threats, while others come about from internal problems with your company’s operations. Here are some things you should consider when looking into potential disaster recovery solutions to help you get through a data disaster.

Disaster recovery, as far as IT is concerned, focuses on protecting your data and information systems, but it can also refer to the broad overarching strategy you use to keep your organization operational in difficult times. Companies today handle more data than ever before, and customers are much more cognizant of when companies don’t appropriately manage or protect their data, so it’s more important than ever to have a strategy in place to keep it safe and protected. Here are three things you should properly manage for your disaster recovery plan.

Planning is Imperative

First, we want to dispel the misconception that disaster recovery is a big, complicated process and strategy that needs to be handled before you take care of general, everyday business. This is not true; many small businesses can leverage a comprehensive data backup and recovery plan with relative ease, although larger organizations might require more details to be addressed, specifically how systems are to be recovered, as well as applications and working conditions.

It doesn’t matter what type of company you are–there are certain aspects of data recovery that always need to be addressed. For example, you’ll need to know how your backup system works, who is in charge of it, and what the responsible recovery point objective (RPO), or the amount of data you need to back up, is. Furthermore, knowing these details can dramatically reduce the time it takes to get back in business following a disaster to help you meet your specified recovery time objective (RTO).

Test Your DR

One major problem that organizations have with their disaster recovery processes is that they aren’t routinely testing them. Nearly a quarter of businesses have never tested their disaster recovery plan, and considering the dire consequences of a failed data recovery, this should be a major cause for concern. You should test your platform regularly, whether it’s once a month, once a quarter, or even once a year.

Testing your disaster recovery system can interfere with your business’ operations and potentially even cut into productivity, depending on when it takes place. Whenever you test your systems, you’re bound to find something wrong with it, so you’ll find your DR strategy changing over time as you address these issues. If you can appropriately address these issues during the testing phase, you’ll have a better chance when you actually need to seriously use your DR strategy.

The Human Element

While it might seem like your disaster recovery strategy is governed by your IT infrastructure, remember that your IT infrastructure is governed by people. You’ll want your DR strategy to take human behavior into account. For example, if your company’s location is compromised by a disaster, do you have the ability to get your business’ employees access to the data they need to effectively do their jobs?

The COVID-19 pandemic made it that much more apparent, as organizations that did not have contingencies in place to handle the remote operations struggled to adjust to the new normal. Businesses that did not have the capital to implement the appropriate technologies and accommodations for remote employees had significant problems in the early days of the pandemic, many of which could have been prevented if they had ensured continuity through work-from-home strategies and other possibilities in the event your office is inoperable short or long term.

Thrive can help your business implement and test a business continuity solution. To learn more, contact Thrive today.

Welcome back to another installment of our “Thrive Spotlight” blog series.

Our featured Thrive Employee is Moira Danaher, Director of Talent Acquisition at Thrive.

As Director of Talent Acquisition, Moira is responsible for the company’s recruiting initiatives across several different departments to keep up with Thrive’s rapid growth. She is primarily focused on finding candidates for infrastructure, technical support, sales, project management and client roles.

Moira lives in Weehawken, NJ, and enjoys summers at the beach and pool! When she’s not outside trying to avoid a sunburn, you can most likely find Moira on a spin bike or trying out a new recipe in the kitchen!

Hi Moira! Can you tell us about your background and how you came to Thrive?

I started my career at TheLadders, an online job board that caters to executives. I transitioned from a customer service focused role into recruitment. I’ve recruited for all different sorts of roles for a wide variety of companies including an experiential marketing agency, expert network and a technology medica company.

I joined the Thrive family in the summer of 2021 through the acquisition of S7 Technology Group in NYC. I went from recruiting for a 50+ person organization to recruiting for a 500+ person organization.

Where did you go to school or get training?

I graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.

What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?

The fast pace is definitely exciting! I enjoy being a resource for my co-workers. The culture at Thrive is amazing and I’m always so eager to talk to candidates about how the company is both personally and professionally rewarding. My opinions and ideas are valued and appreciated by Thrive!

Any recent exciting projects at Thrive that you can tell us about?

Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting! I enjoy helping Thrive grow and deliver incentives to our incredible employees and future employees.

Are you interested in learning more about Thrive? Click here!

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news, and continue checking our blog for more in our “Thrive Employee Spotlight” series. Until next time…

By now you’ve probably heard the term Internet of Things (IoT). You may not completely understand what it is, but you know it has something to do with all those “smart” devices that you see popping up everywhere. Today, we thought we’d get into what types of things are on the IoT and how they can have an impact on your business.

What Is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things started growing a decade or so ago as “smart” technologies were being developed to present people with technology that they can use to make their lives easier. This concept is what technology is all about, after all, and it quickly became a business opportunity for OEM (original equipment manufacturers) and other companies. This has led to a massive explosion of “smart” devices designed to unburden the lives of their users.

Of course, the more businesses that are developing this technology, the more tools will be aimed to transform business. There are now 14 billion IoT devices (including smartphones) connected to the Internet, so there is a breadth of options for businesses to choose from. It’s also one of the more funded technology markets by venture capital firms with close to $5 billion being invested annually, as the practical use of IoT is just now scratching the surface.

The IoT Is Everywhere

The IoT can be used in multiple ways in and around your business; and each adds its own unique variables to the way you go about integrating them. Obviously, a large portion of your employees have smartphones, that is an added consideration because you need to ensure that all those mobile devices are working with the applications that you use; or, if you don’t go that far, at least that they don’t bring unwanted passengers along on to your network.

More complex industrial IoT (IIoT) platforms can really alter the way a business operates, so training will have to be considered to help your employees understand how they work. There is a lot of good that the IoT can do, but it also comes with some challenges. Not only do you need to set up your IoT platform from the ground up, but you also need to make sure that it integrates with your back-end software systems and any other applications that would provide the benefits needed to implement them.

Set up and Security Questions for the Implementation of Business IoT

For most businesses looking to implement IoT to help automate some things will first start by using it in the ways that your average home consumer might. You get systems that can help save you on utility costs and help you save time (smart thermostats, smart lights, voice-driven personal assistant hubs, etc.).

More complex systems like asset tracking and inventory management allow for pinpoint control over supply chain issues. This can get complicated, quickly, but that’s the point. The IoT helps humans do things humans couldn’t do without these tools. It is the perfect confluence of human-made tools (hardware and applications) and constant data streaming that can help businesses automate more and collect more data to help them make better business decisions.

Businesses need their technology to be scalable and secure. This is where the IoT hits a snag a lot of the time. There are serious security questions with any number of devices, but that part of it is improving. For the business, however, “improving” could mean “still too expensive/risky”.  The truth is that any business can utilize some form of IoT to help them cut costs, improve efficiency, and improve decision making. You just need to know how.

At Thrive, we understand where and how the IoT fits into a business. If you would like to learn more about the Internet of Things and how it can help your organization grow, contact Thrive today.