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Alvaka News
Alvaka News Articles regarding Computer Network Services and IT Management.
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Alvaka Announces Partnership With Ingram Micro to Bring U.S. Channel Partners Ransomware Remediation Solutions
Alvaka has teamed up with Ingram Micro to offer prioritized access to our trusted ransomware remediation and recovery services to Ingram’s U.S. channel partners and their customers.
How information technology advisory groups can benefit organizations
By Kevin McDonald In today's cyber environment, many public safety organizations struggle to advance their technology and maintain security. Many departments would love to seek out efficiencies through advanced, cost-saving technology. They know they must improve their cybersecurity and operating efficiency. [...]
CRN’s story on the CIA Wikileaks leak
Partners Say Alleged CIA Hacking Papers Prompt 'Constant Vigilance' In Mobile Security In its news release on the so-called "Vault 7" documents, WikiLeaks describes a specialty CIA unit that develops malware to "infest, control and exfiltrate data" from iPhones as [...]
DFARS 252.204-7012 is going to define new winners and losers in defense contracting
Kevin McDonald has just published his latest article of DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement) at SearchCompliance.TechTarget.com. If you fall into this category, a recently implemented rule from the Department of Defense called the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) [...]
Aligning IT and compliance procedures increasingly a business priority
Kevin McDonald writes for TechTarget SearchCompliance on Aligning IT and compliance procedures increasingly a business priority. He says, "When I've asked IT pros about HIPAA Security Rule compliance within their organization, they've typically responded with, "That is the compliance officer's realm" [...]
IT solution providers speak out on the Silicon Valley/Trump Summit meeting
Irvine, CA - IT solution providers have never been a shy bunch. In this article by CRN - Solution Providers Cheer Trump Tech Summit, Hoping It Will Help Channel Partners Create More Jobs, many share their thoughts on where our president-elect [...]
Data Privacy: What are the Risks?
If you are handling PII (Personally Identifiable Information) for your clients or anyone else you should read this article. It is delivered in the context of a sweepstakes type of program, but it is applicable to anyone handling PII. The [...]
You want to enter in a fully burdened labor rate for this field. What that means is that you want to take the base hourly rate, plus 25-30% for employer payroll taxes, benefits, vacation/holiday time, etc.
Smoke testing is a type of software testing performed by Alvaka after a software patching sequence to ensure that the system is working correctly and to identify any misconfigurations or conflicts within the patched system.
Smoke testing is a term used to describe the testing process for servers after patches are applied. 
Estimating an average time for patching servers and PCs can be a bit tricky. It can vary from one month to the next, depending upon the number and complexity of the patches released by your software vendors. You must consider all versions of operating systems and have a complete inventory of all your application software to do this job correctly. Our experience has shown that manual patching of systems takes on average of about 1.5 hours each.
This is a basic cost calculator for you to compute your typical monthly cost for patching your servers, PCs, laptops, tablets and associated application software. It also forms the basis for you to begin calculating your Return on Investment for software patching, or for comparison with alternatives to the manual process of patching operating systems and application software—such as Patch Management as a Service, also known as Vulnerability Management as a Service.