Managed Web Services (aka MWS), in its simplest form, is where another company assists you with the maintenance of your web technology assets. This includes your web-based hardware (like servers) and web software (like your website and apps). Think of it as a giant security blanket, it can serve a lot of different functions. This is one of those services like insurance that you may think that you don’t really need it; that is until something goes wrong. Although MWS can take many forms, at OPG we focus on the following areas: Management, Monitoring, and Optimization of your web-based assets.

Management is obviously the largest part of our service. Management of your web assets can include the inventory of all web based hardware and software assets, updating of DNS records, or updating Security Certificates. But the largest part, in my mind, is the tracking of your asset’s updates/upgrades. If you think about it, your phone and computer go through upgrades monthly, sometimes sooner for priority updates. Websites, web apps, and servers work in a similar way. There is a constant stream of updates, upgrades, and security patches that are released by manufacturers and code makers on a regular basis. The tracking and implementation of these can be a full-time job depending on the number of items that your company has in its inventory. But why would one need to update all the time? The answer is simple- just like a phone or computer, it’s mostly about security and patching the potential security flaws (although new features are always a bonus). Without updates, the systems and apps, no matter how secure they were when they were built, would be open to future potential threats.

The monitoring and optimization part of the service is really all about a company’s bottom line. A company can’t sell its product if customers can’t get to the website. Likewise, if customers need a sundial to measure how long it takes to load a page or check out on the site they are more likely to go somewhere else. Wouldn’t you? Let’s face it, time is money in any business. Time lost or customers lost always ends in a hit to the bottom line. So the idea is that MWS steps in before any of these become a problem. By using various and redundant monitors to measure things like speed, uptime, disk usage, etc, our MWS customers are able to avoid these types of user-interface delays and downtime problems. These can be detected and resolved before it even reaches customers.

So we go back to the original question, “why would I need MWS?” Well, I like to say it’s simple, although from a business aspect it’s not. One has to ask, as the owner of a business, what’s the cost of downtime? How about the cost of a security breach? Will your customers trust you to purchase products on your site? Can your daily work continue to function if you can’t use your web or mobile app? Is it worth the time and headache to manage all these aspects yourself? And in the end, does the risk and cost of all these events happening outweigh the cost of a monthly MWS fee?

If you would like more details about the costs or benefits of OPG’s Managed Web Services, feel free to reach out and we can gladly provide you the details.

<code>What We’ve Been Up To</code>

It has been a busy quarter here at OPG and here’s just a small snippet of the many things the team has accomplished for our clients:

• OPG is nearly finished a 2-year end to end platform build that will allow the client to run its entire business and operations from one place, helping them streamline their everyday workload.
• OPG has been working diligently to revamp the user interface for a large platform to improve ease of use for their clients and internal users. This should be going live early 2019.
• PHP 5.6 has reached End of Life and OPG has been assisting a number of our clients with the necessary updates to PHP 7.2 to allow for continued security of their platforms. If you are still on the old stuff, please reach out! You don’t want to miss this update.
• As year end approaches, we have made numerous updates as well as new additions to our clients’ web and mobile platforms. This includes new mobile app builds, expansion of existing web applications, design of new website interfaces and much more! Keeping your platform fresh and up to date is essential and OPG is proud to be a part of the journey for so many clients!

So many exciting things continue to happen at OPG and for all of our clients (We like to call them Partners). We cannot wait to see what the New Year brings!