Author Archives: Megan Carnes

Thrive has been seeking companies in Texas to build out its presence in the southern part of the country after it bought MSPs in Florida a few years ago, said Rob Stephenson, CEO of Foxborough, Massachusetts-based Thrive, which has about 29 offices across the U.S., as well as in Singapore; Sydney; the Philippines; and the U.K.

Your state, local, or educational (SLED) organization may be operating on borrowed time if you don’t have a business continuity and disaster recovery plan in place. Natural catastrophes have never been more threatening than they are right now. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 20 separate weather and climate events caused at least $1 billion in damage in 2021.

At Thrive, we understand you require an IT infrastructure that is strong, secure, and resilient. That’s why our solutions provide customers with several advantages, including safe, dependable business continuity and data recovery.

A disaster recovery plan (DRP), in its simplest form, is a collection of guidelines, tools, and processes designed to change how critical technological systems and infrastructure are restored or maintained following a natural or man-made disaster.

The terms disaster recovery planning (DRP) and business continuity planning (BCP) are frequently used interchangeably.

Disaster recovery plans focus on the steps that must be taken before, during, and after a loss. In contrast, BCP is the preventive process set up before managing a disaster.

Unplanned downtime examples include:

• Cyberattacks
• Hardware failure
• Software failure
• Power outages
• Data corruption
• External security breaches
• User error

At Thrive, we keep your infrastructure operational.

The following are five advantages Thrive can provide for your BCP:

1. Minimal Data Loss, Fast Recovery. For protection against incidents that could completely disrupt regular business operations, Thrive offers NextGen IT business continuity solutions that minimize data loss and offer quick, automated recovery of essential systems. Thrive’s Cloud-based Enterprise-class business continuity solutions are ideal for organizations of any size. They are tested and proven DR solutions to meet demanding recovery objectives.
2. Priority Restoration Approach. An essential part of an effective business continuity plan is identifying your company’s mission-critical deliverables, prioritizing restoration, and conducting a proactive risk assessment to determine key risk factors that can disrupt processes. To guarantee that the response tactics and data security techniques stay relevant, Thrive’s disaster recovery plan, which includes a BCP framework, is most successful when updated and tested regularly.
3. Cost Savings. Developing and executing a DR plan is often limited due to budget, technology, resources, or the availability of skilled professionals onsite. That’s where Thrive comes in. Our Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) offering is a cloud computing service model that allows an organization to back up its data and IT infrastructure in a third-party cloud computing environment. This makes it possible to regain access and functionality to IT infrastructure after a disaster.
4. Rapid Deployment.. Thrive’s Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) provides virtually no data loss and costs less than increasing the recovery speed of the current provider. The Thrive team can virtualize physical web servers and set up shadow servers in a Virtual Private Cloud.
5. Monitoring 24x7x365. Thrive offers complete access to our Network Operations Centers (NOCs), which are staffed by senior technicians and disaster recovery experts and accessible 24x7x365 to implement your DRaaS plan in the event of a disaster or an emergency. Our specialized monitoring and alerting procedures safeguard your vital systems and data.

Thrive’s business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) solutions assist our clients in being prepared for the worst.

Contact our team today to learn more.

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

Our featured employee is David Minkoff, Executive Vice President of Corporate Operations. David oversees Thrives centralized services that help support clients 24×7.

David calls Bucks County, Pennsylvania, home. He’s an avid Philly sports fan and rarely misses a game! In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife of 24 years, his 21-year-old son, and three dogs.

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

I’ve been working in IT since the mid-’90s, starting off doing technical work for a few years before moving into management. I have been working in the MSP space since 2008 where I have been ever since.

In a previous company, I worked with some of the Thrive leadership team and other employees, so I was familiar with Thrive before joining the company in January 2022. When I received a call to work at Thrive, I jumped at the opportunity to work with this amazing team again.

What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?

That’s an easy one, everyone at Thrive! There are no egos, and everyone has the same goal, to do what’s best for our employees and clients. Everyone is willing to roll up their sleeves and help when needed, which is why we have the best clients, many of them long-term.

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

One of the highlights throughout my career has been the ability to help and support bringing in entry-level IT employees and allowing them to grow and advance their careers within the company. So recently, when Thrive announced that they wanted to launch an Apprentice Program, I was excited to be part of this project.

In this program, Thrive works with colleges in the areas near our offices to bring in full-time apprentices for entry-level jobs in technology. The apprentices work onsite with Thrive mentors for training, support, and certification guidance to help them reach their career goals.

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…

Thrive has again been named one of the world’s best-managed service providers in the prestigious 2023 Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings.

The 2023 Channel Futures MSP 501 list honors the world’s top managed service providers for their growth via recurring revenue and innovation while in a volatile economic and unpredictable business environment.

This year’s list is among the most competitive in the survey’s history. Thrive ranks #21 on the 2023 Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings, up from #50 in 2022.

The MSP 501 ranking doesn’t award MSPs solely on their size and revenue. It evaluates organizations based on annual sales, recurring revenue, profit margins, revenue mix, growth, innovation, and supported technologies during the previous year. The study also acknowledges the business acumen, best practices, and trusted advice they deliver daily to customers.

MSPs worldwide considered 2022 a key year with increases in SMB investments, cloud computing for the hybrid workforce, automation, AI development, M&As, and MSPs who excelled as frontline employees became trusted business and technology experts. The providers on this list demonstrated a commitment to moving the MSP and the entire channel forward while driving a new wave of innovation.

Winners will be recognized on the Channel Futures website and honored during a special ceremony at the Channel Futures Leadership Summit on Oct. 30-Nov. 2, in Miami, Florida.

Congratulations to all of the 2023 winners!  Click here to see a complete list of those recognized.

44% of government agencies have said they experience cyberattacks daily, with the pace of breaches accelerating, according to researchers.

While cybersecurity remains the biggest IT challenge and area of investment for government agencies, cybercriminals are leveraging the vulnerabilities and targeting poorly secured systems to attack critical services.

Essential public services like 911 operations and police and fire departments, could be shut down if a ransomware or malware attack occurs. Additionally, even if you pay the ransom, you may not get your files back, and if you’re an agency in a state that prohibits paying a ransom, then you won’t even have that option. This can hinder the accessibility of vital emergency services that communities rely on.

The following are the main risks to government agencies:

• Lack of affordable cybersecurity talent
• Outdated legacy IT systems
• Malware attacks
• Phishing and social engineering attacks
• Regulatory compliance requirements
• Lack of basic cybersecurity training

Cloud security can help combat these threats with a set of policies, controls, procedures, and technologies that work together to protect cloud-based systems, data, and infrastructure.

Thrive has experience helping agencies and organizations in the SLED sector mitigate critical threats.

• Thrive’s 24x7x365 Security Operations Center is staffed with cybersecurity engineers to protect your mission-critical infrastructure.
• To avoid data loss, Thrive advises your organization to back up its data to an impartial third party.
• To reduce susceptibility, Thrive collaborates with your organization to detect security flaws.
• To identify cybersecurity threats, Thrive builds a long-term strategy by learning about your organization’s goals, people, procedures and technologies.
• Thrive delivers tailored security-managed services to protect your organization while reducing cyberattacks.

At Thrive, we have 700+ technical resources and IT experts with a cumulative 3,000+ years of experience managing security for educational institutions of all sizes, using the best technology to safeguard your network from online threats.

Don’t wait, contact us to learn more.

Did you know that 81% of healthcare executives say the pace of digital transformation for their organization is accelerating? In addition, 93% report they are innovating with a sense of urgency and call to action.

More Healthcare organizations are using the Cloud to process enormous amounts of healthcare data with real-time access to medical information.

However, despite the growing popularity of Hybrid Cloud deployment, many hospitals still use outdated software systems that have been patched repeatedly.

That’s why healthcare providers are turning to Thrive to tap into the full potential of the Cloud while maintaining compliance and security and reducing costs..

Take your healthcare organization to new heights with Thrive.

1. Reduced CapEx Spend  When partnering with Thrive, your healthcare organization won’t need to pay upfront costs for expensive infrastructure and hardware. Thrive also helps you eliminate hidden operating costs and reduces downtime to keep your business running.
2. Efficiency Hybrid Cloud delivers flexibility and can be engineered to meet all HIPAA and HITECH compliance requirements. It reduces overlap in processes and provides a necessary update to legacy infrastructure.
3. Enhanced Regulatory Compliance Healthcare organizations need to meet reporting and risk assessment requirements, and Thrive’s experts can help your organization be agile without sacrificing safety or compromising compliance. Thrive performs a risk assessment and provides strategic IT consulting services to ensure a fully customizable Cloud migration plan is designed and executed.
4. Advanced Cybersecurity As healthcare business systems grow in complexity, there is an increased risk of vulnerabilities, exploits and security breaches. Thrive’s comprehensive Cybersecurity solutions protect your business, uncover, and mitigate risks and meet stringent regulatory requirements. Our security-first Cloud approach is flexible and economical, provides specific, actionable information and is backed by a 24x7x365 Security Operations Center.
5. Disaster Recovery
   Hospitals, health systems, and doctor’s offices cannot afford critical infrastructure failure, security breaches or human error. Data backup and security are essential, as well as a disaster recovery plan (DRP). When networks go down, or cyber-attacks occur, Thrive provides Cloud-based recovery so your healthcare organization can resume IT operations rapidly with minimal or no data loss.

Thrive gives healthcare organizations peace of mind with a comprehensive, proactive security strategy with technology solutions. Read more in our recent industry brief here.

Click here to contact us today to solve and manage your healthcare organization’s Cybersecurity and Cloud needs.

Mr. Waleck, a technology services veteran executive, joins Thrive’s global leadership team to focus on strengthening customer-centric programs

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – June 13, 2023 – Thrive, a premier provider of cybersecurity, digital transformation and Cloud Managed Services, proudly announces the appointment of Joe Waleck as Chief Customer Officer (CCO). In this role, Joe will oversee all customer initiatives and the account management and customer success teams responsible for client CSAT, retention and growth. Mr. Waleck backfills the lead customer executive role that Bill McLaughlin, vacated in 2022 upon being promoted as President of Thrive.

As an industry leader with over 20 years of IT solutions expertise, Joe brings innovative experience that will continue to propel Thrive to new heights. He has a proven track-record of building and leading teams that take new and disruptive technologies to market while solving customer challenges across all market segments. Before coming to Thrive, Mr. Waleck spent over 15 years as Vice President of Sales at Presidio (formerly BlueWater Communications Group), a leading North American IT solutions provider focused on Digital Infrastructure, Security, Cloud & Managed Services.

“I’m pleased to join Thrive’s global leadership team and deliver innovative customer retention strategies, cultivate long-term partnerships and facilitate deeper connections with our esteemed client base of nearly 3,000 strong to ensure continuous improvement to the client experience,” said Joe Waleck.

Mr. Waleck will be instrumental in continuing to fortify Thrive’s position as a top-tier provider of managed services, offering end-to-end solutions to support secure digital transformation with its unrivaled NextGen portfolio of managed cybersecurity and Cloud solutions.

“With Joe at the helm, we’re confident in our ability to enhance Thrive’s client success culture, further strengthening our commitment to providing the highest level of customer service available,” said Bill McLaughlin, President at Thrive. “Joe will oversee all account management, functions and champion initiatives to optimize customer satisfaction and loyalty within Thrive’s innovative suite of NextGen cybersecurity, Cloud & managed services.”

For more information about Thrive, visit thrivenextgen.com.

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About Thrive

Thrive is a leading provider of NextGen managed services designed to drive business outcomes through application enablement and optimization. The company’s Thrive5 Methodology utilizes a unique combination of its Application Performance Platform and strategic services to ensure each business application achieves peak performance, scale, uptime, and the highest level of security. For more information, visit thrivenextgen.com.

Thrive: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram

MEDIA CONTACT:

Stephanie Farrell

Thrive

VP of Marketing

sfarrell@thrivenextgen.com

617-952-0289

For the third year in a row, Thrive made the Boston Business Journal’s exclusive Fast 50, which represents the 50 fastest-growing private companies in Massachusetts. The companies on the 2023 Fast 50 list are selected and ranked based on revenue growth from 2019 to 2022.

This year, Thrive ranked 21.

Thrive’s NextGen Technology Platform platform optimizes IT business application performance for Boston-area businesses and beyond with innovative management of Cloud, Collaboration, Cybersecurity, Disaster Recovery, Digital Transformation, Global Network Management and traditional IT Managed Services.

From 2019 to 2022, Thrive acquired 13 companies, including 2 internationally since 2001. Thrive is a global leader in providing end-to-end managed services and unrivaled experience to secure digital transformation for small to mid-sized organizations across numerous industries.

Congratulations to all this year’s winners!

For the complete list of 2023 Fast 50 companies, visit The Boston Business Journal’s website here.

Cybersecurity attacks are on the rise and threaten the global financial sector, despite rising knowledge in the banking industry. These include preparations from the Bank of England (BoE) and regulators to stress test the UK banking system itself.

So how bad is this, and who’s behind the attacks?

What’s happening?

Severe cybercrimes are soaring and with 63% of financial organisations acknowledging a cyber attack in the 12 months to December 2022, each having the potential to create mass disruption within the financial sector, the industry is taking this threat extremely seriously. The European Central Bank, Governments, and their Security Services monitor these attacks, particularly those that seem state-sponsored or from other threat actors such as organised crime or activist groups.

A global threat

Some watch groups attribute the rise in cyber attacks to Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine. Recently, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry and several Ukrainian-owned banking organisations were all taken offline in a significant cyber attack. But around the same time, both the Moscow Stock Exchange and Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, were hit by DDoS attacks that were said to have come from a group of hackers in support of Ukraine. Both Ukraine and Russia said the strikes were done by the other country.

However, there is a global rise in state-supported cyber attacks. Last year the group calling itself ‘Lazarus,’ otherwise known as APT38, believed to be a nation-state threat of North Korea, carried out spear phishing attacks using weaponised Microsoft Office documents targeting decentralised finance applications in banks in Poland, Mexico, Vietnam and Ecuador.

Hacker motivation

Groups of hackers acting in a collective interest are not always state-sponsored. A group called DarkSide, with members, believed to be in Russia, Eastern Europe as well as Iran, Syria, China, and North Korea, appears to target larger ‘for-profit’ businesses and claim they donate some cyber attack profits to charity through a ‘Ransomware-as-a-Service’ (RAAS) model.

Cyber attacks by the most notorious hacking groups, such as Lazarus, Cobalt and FIN7, are now impacting financial institutions by directly affecting customers and the integrity of banking operations. Over $81m was stolen from Bangladesh’s central bank in a cyber attack, and in March 2023, the Australian bank Latitude Financial had 14 million sensitive customer records stolen.

Similarly, in South Africa, the data of 3 million customers was taken from its TransUnion credit bureau in a cyber attack. In the UK, Qubit Finance lost £65m of cryptocurrency and a ransomware attack hit the Pension Protection Fund threatening its assets of £39bn+. A recent outage at ION Cleared Derivatives was so significant that the London and Dublin based company was forced to revert to a manual trading system, causing massive financial impact due to delays in settling trades. The knock-on effect of this attack on a critical futures trading partner within the derivatives market not only affected businesses in the supply chain, including Macquarie, UBS, and Royal Bank of Scotland but caught the eye of the regulator as it also severely impacted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the US derivatives market.

The wider socio-economic impact

Cyberattacks resulting in the theft of cash, cryptocurrency, or customer data are destructive enough, but reputational damage is potentially worse. When customers hear about a potential cyber attack on their lifetime savings, the bank suffers a potentially permanent loss of trust which can wreak havoc on the banking system.

With an average direct loss of £4.8m for every cyber attack suffered by financial organisations, as reported by IBM in a 2022 report, and in response to this increasing threat, the finance community is extending its regulatory stress testing policy to simulate and mitigate against cyber attacks. The highest perceived attacks on these businesses are through advanced persistent malware, ransomware, across the supply chain or denial of service.

Does size matter?

Large financial organisations benefit from regulatory protection and insight into the risk of a cyber attack. A recent UK government cybersecurity survey counted 39% of UK businesses as having experienced a cyber attack. Smaller and medium enterprises must be sufficiently protected against such losses and have adequate cyber IT expertise, resources and security.

Many of these large businesses in the financial sector use Managed Service Providers such as Amazon and Microsoft to provide cloud computing and reduce their level of exposure to a cyber attack. Using a specialist IT support business with a larger pool of skilled resources and knowledge is beneficial for the smaller business, for whom the loss of sensitive customer data or interruptions to daily business operations due to a cyber attack would have significant implications. One strategy used by Managed Service Providers is a ‘zero-trust’ approach. This assumes that any person or device with access to a system may have been compromised, requiring multi-factor authentication to validate every user and consider system access to be ‘privileged’ only via permitted devices.

Intelligent security choices

Partnering with a specialist IT provider is proven to offer many efficiency and cost benefits for smaller businesses, and those handling sensitive or financial data must ensure that they select a partner skilled in the latest cyber support techniques.

With the European Central Bank keen to ensure that large banks conduct cyber stress tests that adequately prepare them for any foreseeable attacks, smaller and medium size businesses in the finance sector will need to take steps to protect themselves.

Talk to Thrive, we are a trusted cyber security specialist and an accredited Managed Service Provider and can offer your business the Next Generation of Managed Services.

Contact Thrive today to learn how we can help your business stay secure in today’s digital age.

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

Our featured employee is Neil Solomon, Client Business Executive at Thrive. Neil is a strategic thinker with a flair for charting out strategies for clients with customized solutions to enhance their businesses.

Neil lives in Sykesville, Maryland and enjoys doing home projects and spending time at the beach. You can also find him on the sidelines, coaching his kids on baseball and basketball teams.

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

I first became interested in computers at age 12. I enjoyed building, coding, troubleshooting and problem-solving. That led to a natural progression of my IT career with roles as Director of IT, Senior Solutions Consultant, National Enterprise Account Manager, Director of Sales and now here at Thrive, as a Client Business Executive. I joined Thrive after one of my former colleagues raved about the company’s leading Cybersecurity and Cloud solutions. And it was all true!

Where did you go to school or get training?

I received my bachelor’s degree in Information Systems Management and an MBA Certificate from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?

The people here are like family. Everyone works together as a team and is always willing to listen and adapt to change to achieve success.

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

Being awarded a spot at President’s Club during my first full year at Thrive was an honor, and I look forward to continuing the journey to achieve many more goals.

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…