Author Archives: Tori Pazda

Thrive Acquires Howard Tech Advisors

This transaction marks the company’s tenth acquisition since 2016

Thrive Acquires Howard Tech Advisors

This transaction marks the company’s tenth acquisition since 2016

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – March 9, 2021 – Thrive, a premier provider of NextGen Managed Services, has acquired Howard Tech Advisors, a leading IT Managed Services firm serving the Baltimore, Annapolis, and Columbia, Maryland area. Continuing to scale its presence in the Mid-Atlantic region, this transaction enables Thrive to extend its NextGen technology platform, including ServiceNow, automation and AI solutions, to a new and loyal customer base.

Howard Tech Advisors, headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland, provides technology managed services to help businesses grow in the Baltimore area. With more than 10 years of industry experience, Howard Tech Advisors utilizes its talented, engaged and dedicated employees with high caliber technical and customer service expertise to deliver strong ROI results for its valued clients.

“We’re very excited to broaden Thrive’s footprint in the Maryland and Mid-Atlantic region by acquiring the highly reputable Howard Tech Advisors,” said Rob Stephenson, CEO at Thrive. “Howard Tech aligns perfectly with our growth strategy as we continue to help optimize our clients’ business application performance with Thrive’s NextGen Platform of Cloud, Security, Networking and Business Continuity services, powered by the automation and self-service capabilities of ServiceNow.”

“From the beginning, Howard Tech has been committed to building community and delivering world-class customer service,” said Ananta Hejeebu, Partner at Howard Tech Advisors. “We’re excited to join the Thrive family and leverage its NextGen solutions to better serve our clients and create growth opportunities for our team members.”

With the completion of this transaction, Howard Tech Advisors will mark Thrive’s tenth acquisition since 2016. In addition to Howard Tech, the company acquired the Apex IT Group in December 2020 and EaseTech in 2019, marking its third transaction in the Mid-Atlantic region under Jason Shirdon, EVP & General Manager, which now serves more than 300 customers with nearly 1oo employees.

For more information about Thrive, click here.

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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 takes advantage of technology that enables peak performance, scale, and the highest level of security. For more information, visit thrivenextgen.com

Thrive: LinkedIn, Twitter , Facebook, YouTube and Instagram

MEDIA CONTACT:

Stephanie Farrell

Director of Corporate Marketing

617-952-0289 | sfarrell@thrivenextgen.com

About Howard Tech Advisors

Since 2009, Howard Tech has been a leading provider of IT managed services to business and non-profit organizations in Maryland. The company’s mission of building community has fueled its growth and enabled it to become a market leader in security, disaster recovery and technical services. For more information, visit howardtechadvisors.com.

Howard Tech: LinkedIn, Twitter , Facebook

Social Engineering Attacks and Banking

A little over a year ago, I spoke at a banking conference. At that time, one of the most concerning areas for the banks and their customers was Business Email Compromise. Banks had started to come up with “kits” for clients that got compromised to help them recover more quickly. Since then, things have only gotten worse.

According to a Mimecast report, 85% of organizations think the volume of web email spoofing is going to remain the same or increase. In 2019, the FBI estimated $1.7 billion was lost due to business email compromise.

There are some obvious things you should be doing.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication
Make sure the Bank (or any website for that matter) is encrypted
Don’t share your password with anyone
Log off after you have used the website

But in business, you have to be aware of so much more. You finance department is on LinkedIn. Everyone knows who they are. They are constantly getting emails trying to get them to click things. Only 1 in 5 companies train their employees on how to spot malicious emails. If someone gets into their email, the first thing they are going to do is download everything. Then, they are going to see if there are any vendors that will be sending you money soon. If so, they will email them with a new routing number. What they do is not overly complicated, but $1.7 billion in losses indicates that this low-tech attack is very effective.

Always train your employees. And don’t just do it once. Constantly have them do short trainings.
Ask your vendors and your finance department to call, not email, for confirmation on any routing number changes
If your email has been compromised, email your vendors. Warn them that you have been compromised and that they might try to use a fake domain to change routing numbers.

We only touched upon email in this blog, but there are other areas, SMS, Voice, etc. that can be utilized. Be wary any time money is involved and always follow up with another means of communication.

To learn more about how our team can build customized solutions for your organization, CONTACT US TODAY!

Center of Excellence Digital Transformation Toggle Magazine – Catholic Memorial School

Ensuring Education Opportunities During a Pandemic

Thrive’s VP of Channel Sales Recognized as 2021 CRN® Channel Chief

CRN^®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Erik Young, Vice President of Channel Sales at Thrive, to its 2021 list of Channel Chiefs. The prestigious CRN^® Channel Chiefs list, released annually, recognizes leading IT channel vendor executives who continually demonstrate outstanding leadership, influence, innovation, and growth.

Young is responsible for the success of Thrive’s Partner Program from on-boarding, client engagement, and management of the channel partner sales team and support team. Erik joined the Thrive team four years ago and has been the driving force behind the company’s channel growth.

“We simplified the process for our partners to find, identify and qualify an opportunity, said Young. “This process allows partners to capitalize on one of the fastest growing areas within their customer base. Our focus is to understand a client’s current IT infrastructure, build a technology roadmap, and support the client.”

Young, who also worked for Access Northeast, Xand and TierPoint, helps deliver Thrive’s services via a single pane of glass with ServiceNow. Young says it’s allowing clients the ability to see more into their architecture than ever before. Bringing Security, Cloud Hosting, Disaster Recovery, Backup, and End-User Support to a central orchestrator is a true benefit for any sized client.

“CRN’s 2021 Channel Chiefs list includes the industry’s biggest channel evangelists, a group of individuals who work tirelessly on behalf of their partners and drive growth through the development of strong partner programs and innovative business strategies that help bring business-critical solutions to market,” said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. “The Channel Company is proud to recognize these channel influencers and looks forward to following their continued success.”

CRN’s 2021 Channel Chiefs list is featured in the February 2021 issue of CRN^® Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs.

Thrive Corporate Overview Medical Manufacturing Company Seeks Support to Deploy a New IT Environment. Download Now

CHALLENGE

Aspen Surgical, a leading worldwide manufacturer of surgical disposable products based in Caledonia, Michigan, needed to separate their IT infrastructure from their parent company with a new technology environment that allowed for scaling quickly. Not only did they require new servers, there were also the tasks of migrating approved data, replacing firewalls and implementing security services. Aspen Surgical sought out a partner that could help it’s internal IT team establish this new IT infrastructure, and provide ongoing support and planning services for acquisition activity. The answer: Thrive.

SOLUTION

Thrive’s engineering team met with Aspen Surgical’s internal IT department to develop a highly-detailed plan for the transition to the new IT environment. In addition to migrating servers and data, the plan also included migrating from one Office 365 tenant to a new one – all of which was complete with minimal downtime for the end users. To meet the needs of the organization and the expectations of its clients, Thrive deployed new computers and put into place a wide variety of security features and services including SIEM/SOC, NextGen End Point Security (EDR), Vulnerability Scanning and End User Security Training and Phishing simulation.

RESULT

Aspen Surgical’s newly-deployed IT infrastructure utilizes multiple NextGen services from Thrive, including ThriveCloud, Thrive’s best-in-class Cloud solution, as a scalable solution that it can rely on as the company grows through acquisitions. From advanced endpoint security to 3rd party patching and more, Aspen Surgical takes advantage of Thrive’s comprehensive list of security services to provide thorough coverage against cybersecurity threats. And if ever Aspen Surgical experiences a catastrophic event, the company will be ready with Thrive’s data backup and disaster recovery services to minimize downtime and get up-and-running quickly. Support didn’t end with the deployment of the new servers. Thrive’s team continues to provide Aspen Surgical with multi-site on-premise infrastructure support for the ISP, firewall and switching. When the company’s end users need assistance, Thrive is there via a helpdesk and to provide ongoing Office 365 management. And when Aspen Surgical’s internal IT team needs support, they have full access to The Thrive Platform, powered by ServiceNow to allow Aspen IT and Thrive to ensure fast communication, case sharing, and resolution of any IT issues.

“Our team was faced with a significant migration project and we sought out an experienced partner to help us make the process seamless and be available as an extension of our internal team for support when needed. Thrive ended up being the partner we were looking for – and more.” ~ Christopher Dukes, Vice President of Information Technology, Aspen Surgical

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

Thrive Recognized in Managed Security 100 Category on CRN 2021 MSP 500 List

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – February 16, 2021 – Thrive, a premier provider of NextGen Managed Services announces today that CRN^®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Thrive to its 2021 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Managed Security 100 category. The list, released annually, recognizes the leading North American solution providers that have demonstrated innovative and forward-thinking approaches to managed services. These services guide the end user in improving operational efficiencies and navigating the ongoing complexities of their IT infrastructure, while also maximizing their IT management and return on investment.

Combining both industry-leading solutions and proven technical knowledge, Thrive enables organizations to meet and exceed their digital IT demands. The company’s Managed Security Services empowers its clients to maintain a secure and compliant IT infrastructure with our team of technology experts who address regulatory mandates, including SEC, FINRA, PCI, DSS and HIPAA. Additionally, Thrive implements up-to-date cyber security measures to safeguard its clients’ business applications and keep its data safe from cyber criminals.

“In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s now more important than ever to integrate a comprehensive cyber security plan. At Thrive, we have a deep understanding of how to mitigate complex IT security challenges and focus on advancing our clients’ capabilities, by consistently improving both efficiency and security,” said Rob Stephenson, CEO at Thrive. “Being recognized in CRN’s 2021 Managed Security 100 category on the MSP 500 list cements us an industry leader, providing best-in-class security solutions across all industry verticals. Moving ahead, we plan to continue to play a vital role in our client’s IT infrastructure as we revolutionize traditional managed services with our expanded NextGen technology, including ServiceNow, Automation and AI.”

“Effective MSPs enable companies to focus on their core objectives while improving the quality and reliability of their Cloud computing capabilities,” said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. “The solution providers on CRN’s 2021 MSP 500 list deserve recognition for their innovative and forward-thinking approaches to managed services, and the ability to optimize operational efficiencies and systems to maximize return on investments.”

With cutting-edge approaches to delivering managed services, MSPs have become an integral part of the success of businesses worldwide. They help empower organizations to leverage complex technologies, keeping a strict focus on their core business without straining their budgets. CRN’s 2021 MSP 500 list identifies the market’s key managed services players who are setting themselves apart with best-of-breed solutions that provide the business outcomes customers need.

The MSP 500 list is divided into three sections: the MSP Pioneer 250, recognizing companies with business models weighted toward managed services and largely focused on the SMB market; the MSP Elite 150, recognizing large, data center-focused MSPs with a strong mix of on-premises and off-premises services; and the Managed Security 100, recognizing MSPs focused primarily on off-premises and Cloud-based security services.

The MSP 500 list will be featured in the February 2021 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/msp500.