Author Archives: Thrive

FOXBOROUGH, MA, Nov. 5, 2019 – Thrive, a premier provider of NextGen Managed Services, is proud to announce that it has acquired EaseTech, a well-established, leading managed services provider based in Columbia, MD. The addition of EaseTech will provide a new region for Thrive to offer their advanced suite of cyber security, hybrid Cloud, global network management, disaster recovery and compliance-driven NextGen services.

Throughout its twenty-six years of award-winning service in the finance, legal and education verticals, EaseTech has become regarded in the industry as one of the most respected MSPs serving the Mid-Atlantic. Founded by Charles Bubeck in 1993, EaseTech has over 40 employees and provides Cloud-focused managed services to allow businesses from the Maryland, Virginia and the Washington DC area to maximize their technology ROI and thus concentrate on their own business core competencies to drive value.

“Partnering with EaseTech is a highly attractive proposition for Thrive as they’re one of the most widely respected technology firms in the Mid-Atlantic region. EaseTech’s ‘customer-first’ philosophy is a perfect match for our core values,” said Rob Stephenson, Thrive CEO. “The EaseTech clients will benefit greatly from Thrive’s vast engineering expertise and our NextGen platform of advanced cyber security, hybrid Cloud and compliance-driven services.”

“We’re very excited about the possibilities this transaction creates for our customers and employees,” stated Charles J. Bubeck, former EaseTech CEO. “The partnership of EaseTech and Thrive was a natural fit. Both companies share the same fundamental operating principles by focusing upon quality customer service delivered by our expert engineering teams. Our professional services and education clients will quickly be able to advance their technology roadmaps with Thrive’s advanced capability-set.”

With the completion of this transaction, Mr. Bubeck will now begin serving as a consultant. Jason Shirdon, formerly the President of EaseTech, will continue to lead the day-to-day efforts of this division as Thrive’s Executive Vice President and General Manager.

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 takes advantage of technology that enables peak performance, scale, and security. For more information, visit http://www.thrivenextgen.com

Follow Thrive: LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook

MEDIA CONTACT:
Stephanie Farrell — Marketing, Thrive | 774-276-1521| sfarrell@thrivenextgen.com

When it comes to cybersecurity threats, being unprepared can cost a business millions. The best way to protect your company and employees is to build a comprehensive cybersecurity defense platform.

Michael Gray, CTO at Thrive sits down with Dave Vellante for a CUBEConversation at theCUBE Studio in Marlborough, MA.

Webinar Series Part 3:
Cloud Security

Watch the Full Webinar Presentation

Thrive experts Dave Sampson, VP, Consulting Services, and Chris Moore, VP, Solutions Architecture, discuss Cloud Security.

Discussion Topics:

• Defense in Depth & Security Concepts
• Cloud Network & SaaS Application Security
• User Security / Identity & Access Management
• Compliance & Secure Vendor Selection

Fill out the form to watch the webinar now!

Cybersecurity Planning:
How to Build a Sound Security Posture

Watch the Full Webinar Presentation

Thrive expert Chris Moore, VP, Solutions Architecture discusses Cybersecurity Planning – How To Build A Sound Security Posture.

Discussion Topics:  

• Vulnerability 101 – The Basics
• Minimum Standards of Cybersecurity
• Data Protection & Recovery
• Advanced End User Protection Methods
• Assessing Your Security Posture

Fill out the form to get instant access to our on-demand webinar.

Cloud Readiness and Migration

Watch the Full Webinar Presentation!

Thrive expert Dave Sampson, VP, Consulting Services discusses Thrive’s solutions for Cloud Readiness & Migration.

Discussion Topics:  

• Cloud Journey – Discovery and Starting to Plan
• How Cloud Services Can Help
• The Readiness Assessment
• Creating the Roadmap
• Pitching your case

Fill out the form to get instant access to our on-demand webinar.

“It’s critical that you know where your data and end users reside.”

The frequency of news reports about cyber hacks and data breaches demonstrates that the threats to your IT infrastructure are never-ending—and that IT security is a moving target.

When was the last time you took a step back to look at what you and your organization are doing to address IT security today? And how well are you prepared for the future?

Download our white paper on cyber security planning for an overview of the major areas that must be assessed when reviewing your own business plan.

While IT security is never “one size fits all,” you’ll see where you’re most vulnerable—and what you can do.

“It doesn’t take a monumental catastrophe to disrupt daily operations of a business.”

Disasters as the result of cyber security events are constantly on the increase, both in number and magnitude. It’s a trend that’s unlikely to reverse, and that should be a serious wake-up call for any leader responsible and accountable for data protection.

Download our White Paper on CybeRPO and CybeRTO, terms coined by Thrive’s Vice President of Solutions Architecture, Chris Moore, and learn about their importance in a cyber security continuity plan.

Vital business benefits of having such a plan in place in the event of a disaster:

• Minimize the risk of downtime
• Reduce potential revenue loss during downtime
• Avoid having to be reactive and enduring the stressful delay to find a solution
• Evade any financial overlay that may occur

Watch the New Video Case Study

Learn how Thrive has helped the Boston Celtics achieve their technology goals as part of their mission to win championships in this video case study featuring Celtics’ CTO, Jay Wessland, and Thrive’s CTO, Michael Gray.

Challenge

To increase performance during regular and post-season basketball, NBA team, the Boston Celtics, have invested in a high-grade practice facility, the Red Auerbach Center. The 77,000 square foot facility houses two basketball courts with seating for audiences near 200, along with state-of-the-art media and sports medicine rooms. The difficult task facing the Celtics and Thrive was ensuring that the facility’s IT infrastructure would be able to support the various functions of the space, be secure and also perform at peak efficiency by a stringent grand opening deadline. The enormity of the task at hand included complete networking and security of the media room, and meeting strict compliance requirements for the health center.

Solution

Thrive’s consulting and project management teams partnered with the Celtics’ CTO, Jay Wessland, and his IT Team to create a strategic security plan, as well as a roadmap for the implementation of the center’s hosted environment. The solutions included a business continuity plan powered by Veeam, fully managed Meraki Networking Infrastructure and the successful implementation of a Microsoft Office 365 environment. Overall, the project took numerous hours of careful assessment, engineering and implementation, and was successfully completed in time for the grand opening on June 19, 2018.

Result

The solutions provided by Thrive have helped Mr. Wessland maintain a fully operational and secure facility since its opening in 2018 and allow his IT team focus on the daily operational needs that come with managing the technology of a professional sports team. The Red Auerbach Center is equipped to handle the demands that come with its multifaceted use.

“The Boston Celtics have been working with Thrive for over 14 years. We value the technical expertise they bring as an extension of our IT team. With the additional assistance and expertise of Thrive, we were able to open the Auerbach Center on time, despite the complexity of the project. They continue to provide 24×7 NextGen managed services that enable me and my team to focus on the unique elements and needs of a professional sports organization.” ~ Jay Wessland, CTO

How can Thrive help your business?

Thrive is a leading provider of outsourced IT Infrastructure designed to drive successful business outcomes with our talented engineering teams and suite of Cloud-First, NextGen Managed Services.

To learn more about our services, CONTACT US

Outsourcing the IT support role can help solve many issues facing today’s pension funds. IT managers can free-up time for their staff, effectively allowing them to concentrate on more strategic operations, instead of fighting support fires. Outsourcing can also help improve response times and ensure constant vigilance on your systems, 24×7.

A qualified managed service provider can step in to proactively monitor and identify issues before they become a major problem.

Following are five key benefits that you’ll gain from outsourcing IT support through an MSP, especially one who has deep experience serving the alternative finance industry:

1. You’ll Stay Focused on Your Core Business

Pension funds that outsource their IT support services for upgrading infrastructure and core systems can stay focused on higher priorities and have more hours in their day for value creation. In-house pension fund IT teams also gain more time back when they delegate their support function to an outsourced group. This effectively frees-up resources to focus on priority matters including special projects.

In-house pension fund IT teams know their business better than anyone. While they concentrate on their business’s strategic functions, as well as ensure that their IT is properly aligned with their business challenges rather than spending valuable resources as a help desk to their users, the MSP can focus on supporting the business and protecting it.

2. Receive ‘Round-the-Clock Attention

As emphasized earlier, IT issues don’t keep regular business hours. It’s important to constantly monitor systems and proactively manage IT issues as they arise. Outsourcing your pension fund’s IT support to a reliable provider means that your business can easily gain access to quality technical support 24x7x365.

Through state-of-the-art monitoring systems, the MSP’s engineers are often able to identify potential problems before they seriously start to impact business operations.

3. Level the Playing Field

Smaller pension funds can’t always afford to match the in-house support services that larger pension plans maintain. Outsourcing can help smaller funds act “big” by giving them access to similar technology and the expertise that large funds enjoy. An independent third-party managed IT cost structure and economy of scale can provide smaller funds a true competitive advantage while also staying on top of the latest cyber threats.

4. Realize Rapid Resolutions

It’s critical to leverage an IT partner who holds themselves accountable. Top MSPs are SLA-driven. Such providers pride themselves on rapid response times, which they continually measure and analyze. A vigilant MSP will develop and utilize proprietary automation of all their alerts which effectively reduces the time to resolve an employee’s technical problem. Their goal is to gain knowledge about an issue before it’s reported by a user.

5. Receive Top-Tier Service

Smart pension plans also know that they’ll receive superior support from an IT provider experienced in serving asset managers. Such a highly-specialized MSP will recruit and retain that rare breed of IT professionals who truly understand the unique environment and requirements of the alternative investment sector, including pension funds. An IT engineer with deep domain expertise in financial services can interpret issues and provide rapid response because they understand the unique issues that can affect financial organizations.

Thrive’s deep experience with hedge funds and other alternative investments positions us well to handle outsourced IT support for pension funds. If you have any questions about Thrive’s outcourced IT support offerings, contact us today.