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What Value Does The TruTechnology Monthly TAM Provide To Local Organizations: Key Insights and Benefits

In today’s fast-paced business environment, keeping up with ever-evolving technology and implementing efficient IT solutions have become vital for staying ahead of the competition. One way local organizations can navigate this complex landscape is through the assistance of TruTechnology’s Monthly TAM (Technical Account Manager) services. By conducting proactive IT reviews and offering valuable insights into core infrastructure, networking, security, applications, and services, Monthly TAMs play a critical role in maintaining and optimizing an organization’s IT ecosystem.

TruTechnology’s Monthly TAMs are dedicated professionals who stay updated with the latest industry best practices and work closely with their assigned client organizations. Their in-depth understanding of each organization’s specific IT needs, combined with their technical expertise, helps identify gaps, mitigate risks, and ensure the smooth operation of the IT infrastructure. The presence of a TAM on-site not only provides a consistent resource for addressing IT challenges and strengthens the bond between the organization and TruTechnology, empowering mutual growth and success.

Key Takeaways

  • TruTechnology’s Monthly TAMs support local organizations by conducting proactive IT reviews and managing core infrastructure.
  • TAMs work on-site, offering a personalized approach and establishing strong relationships between the organization and TruTechnology.
  • The expertise and dedication of TAMs help identify and mitigate risks, optimize operations, and contribute to the overall success of client businesses.

What Do TAMs DO? What Makes a TAM Beneficial to Your Company?

TAMs, or Technology Account Managers, are essential to proactive IT support for local organizations. They perform on-location IT reviews, providing businesses valuable insights, reporting, and hardware checks. A TAM is a dedicated expert who knows your company’s IT infrastructure inside and out, fostering a closer relationship than what you might find with remote-only services.

When you partner with a company such as TruTech, you receive a dedicated TAM who becomes familiar with your organization and its specific needs. As a result, TAMs can offer a range of benefits:

Core Infrastructure:

  • Check IT environment against NIST and TruTech-developed standards
  • Assess Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) battery health, runtime, and alerting
  • Create visual network diagrams for an accurate representation of the client’s configuration
  • Ensure proper mounting, labeling, and documentation of all network equipment

Networking:

  • Verify proper WiFi network user authentication
  • Monitor DHCP IP pool utilization
  • Check port status on switches

Security:

  • Audit licensed user MFA enrollment
  • Ensure industry-standard configuration for email security mechanisms
  • Isolate DVRs and cameras from the main network

Apps & Services:

  • Document Line of Business applications, licensing, and vendors
  • Provide installation documentation for LOB applications

Backup and Disaster Recovery:

  • Verify successful server and cloud user backups

By working directly with your organization, TAMs can better understand your needs and offer tailored, cost-effective solutions. This level of personalized service ensures that your IT infrastructure is handled efficiently, effectively, and securely.

TruTechnology Monthly TAM

The TruTechnology Monthly TAM (Technical Account Manager) provides local organizations with valuable services to maintain and improve their IT environment. TAMs are specialized in performing proactive IT reviews on location, offering insights updates, and ensuring the organization’s tech infrastructure remains in optimal health.

Core Infrastructure and Networking

One of the key functions of a TAM is to audit an organization’s IT environment against a list of NIST and TruTech-developed standards. This involves checking the core infrastructure, such as:

  • Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) battery health, runtime, and alerting
  • Network equipment mounting, labeling, and documentation
  • Firewall security settings to meet TruTech Network Security Standards
  • Port status on switches for error-free operations
  • WiFi network user authentication utilizing current industry standards
  • Physical hardware inspections for potential hazards

Additionally, the TAM works on networking aspects, ensuring smooth operations by:

  • Verifying DHCP IP pool utilization is below 80%
  • Providing visual network diagrams for accurate representation of the client’s configuration

Security

Security is a crucial component of any organization, and TAMs play an essential role in maintaining it. They:

  • Audit licensed user MFA enrollment
  • Provide reports of Licensed/Active users for Point of Contact (POC) reviews
  • Check and confirm email security mechanisms are configured to industry standards
  • Verify isolation of DVRs and cameras from the main network
  • Conduct email phishing campaigns and provide end-of-month reports to the POC

Apps & Services and Backup and Disaster Recovery

TAMs also manage applications and services for the organization:

  • Document all Line of Business (LOB) applications, licensing, and vendors
  • Provide installation documentation of LOB applications for the Service Desk

Moreover, TAMs ensure backup and disaster recovery:

  • Verify successful server backups with recent run times
  • Confirm error-free backups for all cloud users

The TruTechnology TAM fosters a unique relationship between the organization and the MSP. With regular on-site visits, clients receive high-quality reporting, hardware checks, and status updates and benefit from personalized, cost-effective solutions.

TAM Audit Composition

The TruTechnology Monthly TAM provides valuable insights to local organizations by thoroughly assessing their IT environment against a list of NIST and TruTech-developed standards. This audit comprises several key components: core infrastructure, networking, security, apps & services, backup and disaster recovery.

Core Infrastructure

The TAM audit closely examines an organization’s core infrastructure. It checks the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for battery health, runtime, and alerting capabilities. TAM also works on creating a visual network diagram for an accurate representation of the client’s configuration and checks for properly mounted, labeled, and documented network equipment. It verifies firewall security settings, switch port status, and Wi-Fi network user authentication.

Networking

The TAM audit analyzes the DHCP IP pool utilization in the networking segment, ensuring it is under 80% and meets TruTech standards.

Security

Security is a crucial aspect of the TAM audit. It reviews licensed user Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) enrollment, provides reports on licensed/active users, and checks email security mechanisms, such as admin alerts, anti-phishing, anti-spam, anti-malware, safe links & attachments, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Additionally, the auditing process ensures that DVRs and cameras are isolated from the main network and that email phishing campaigns are run with end-of-month reports provided to the Point of Contact.

Apps & Services

The TAM audit documents all Line of Business (LOB) applications, licensing, and business-related vendors. It also documents installing these applications for the organization’s Service Desk.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Ensuring seamless backup and disaster recovery is vital for organizations. The TAM audit verifies the successful completion of server backups and checks on cloud user backups without errors.

In conclusion, TAM audits offer a comprehensive assessment of an organization’s IT infrastructure, identifying potential vulnerabilities and prompting the implementation of cost-effective solutions. Through on-site monthly reviews, TAMs provide a unique relationship enabling organizations to proactively address their needs.

Core Infrastructure

Check Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Battery Health, Runtime and Alerting

The TruTechnology Monthly TAM ensures the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) battery health, runtime, and alerting mechanisms are in optimal condition. This provides local organizations with a reliable power source and minimizes the risk of downtime due to power fluctuations.

Create a Visual Network Diagram for an Accurate Representation of Client’s Configuration

A visual network diagram is created to represent the client’s configuration accurately. This assists in identifying potential issues and streamlines the decision-making process for network design and improvements.

Ensure All Network Equipment is Properly Mounted, Labeled, and Documented (Pictures Included)

Proper mounting, labeling, and documentation of network equipment are essential for efficient maintenance and troubleshooting. TAMs ensure that all devices are well-documented, including photographic evidence for future reference.

Ensure Firewall Security Settings are Meeting TruTech Network Security Standards

Firewall security settings are checked to ensure compliance with TruTech Network Security Standards. This guarantees that local organizations maintain a secure network environment and reduces the risk of cyberattacks.

Check Port Status on Switches. Verify No Ports are Downshifted or in an Error State.

The TAM confirms that there are no downshifted ports or ports in an error state on network switches. This proactive measure helps to reduce potential network connectivity issues, maximizing the efficiency of the IT infrastructure.

Verify WiFi Network User Authentication is Utilizing Current Industry Standards.

The user authentication system must be up-to-date with industry standards to maintain a secure WiFi network. The TAM verifies that local organizations follow these best practices, thus safeguarding their wireless networks.

Physically Check All Hardware and Ensure No Visual Indicators or Potential Hazards are Exhibited

A physical examination of all hardware ensures no signs of damage, wear, or potential hazards. This preventative measure allows for the timely identification of issues and helps prevent unexpected hardware failures.

Check Domain Admin Groups. Vet List of Privileged Users to Ensure Accountability

To maintain a secure IT environment, reviewing privileged user accounts and ensuring accountability regularly is vital. TAMs check domain admin groups and verify that each user has the appropriate level of access to their systems.

Check Server OS Version, Storage Capacity, and Statically Assigned IP Address.

The server’s operating system version, storage capacity, and statically assigned IP addresses are verified during the TAM audit. This ensures smooth server operations and that important updates and patches are applied.

Networking

Verify DHCP IP Pool is Under 80% Utilization

TruTechnology’s role as a Technical Account Manager (TAM) is designed to ensure that your organization’s IT environment aligns with industry best practices. One such aspect of maintaining an optimized IT infrastructure is monitoring the utilization of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) IP pool.

A well-functioning IP pool should ideally maintain a utilization below 80%. Exceeding this threshold may lead to network congestion, slowdowns, and other performance issues. When a TAM evaluates your organization’s DHCP IP pool, they will consider the following aspects:

  • Pool size: Ensure that the size of the IP pool is appropriate for your organization’s network and device requirements.
  • Utilization percentage: Identify the percentage of utilized IP addresses in the DHCP pool. Keeping this below 80% allows for better performance and room for growth.
  • Static IP assignment: Assess the balance between statically assigned IP addresses and the overall IP pool size. This helps avoid conflicts and provides a more efficient allocation of IP addresses.
  • Pool depletion monitoring: Establish alert mechanisms that trigger when the DHCP IP pool reaches a specified utilization percentage. This helps the TAM proactively address potential issues before they impact the network performance.

By regularly monitoring and optimizing your DHCP IP pool, a TAM ensures that your organization’s network capacity is effectively managed and can accommodate your business’s needs without adversely affecting performance. This proactive approach is just one of the ways TruTechnology TAMs help local organizations maintain a robust, secure, and efficient IT environment.

Security

Audit Licensed User MFA Enrollment

The TruTechnology Monthly TAM ensures that user accounts within local organizations have Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) properly enrolled. In today’s digital landscape, MFA protects user accounts from unauthorized access. By auditing the enrolled users, TAMs ensure that the organization stays compliant with security best practices and reduces the risk of unauthorized access.

Provide Reports of Licensed/Active Users to the Point of Contact for Review to Ensure Accuracy

TAMs provide monthly reports to the designated point of contact within the organization, detailing the list of licensed and active users. This is an essential step in ensuring the information is accurate and that no unauthorized or unused licenses are in use, protecting the organization from potential security vulnerabilities and unnecessary expenses.

Check Email Security Mechanisms are Configured to Industry Standards (Admin Alerts, Anti-Phishing, Anti-Spam, Anti-Malware, Safe Links and Attachments, SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

The security of email communication is a high priority for organizations to protect their assets and sensitive information. TAMs check that the email security mechanisms implemented within the local organizations align with industry standards. These mechanisms include:

  • Admin Alerts: Set up alerts for administrators to notify them of any suspicious activity within the email environment.
  • Anti-Phishing: Use technology to identify and block potential phishing attacks.
  • Anti-Spam: Implement filters to limit the amount of spam emails received.
  • Anti-Malware: Employ software to protect against the potential spread of malware through email attachments.
  • Safe Links & Attachments: Ensure that links and attachments within emails are free from malicious content.
  • SPF, DKIM, DMARC: Set up these authentication and security measures to reduce the risk of email spoofing and impersonation attacks.

DVRs and Cameras are Isolated from the Main Network

To enhance security, TAMs ensure surveillance equipment such as DVRs and cameras are isolated from the main network, minimizing the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data. This isolation helps maintain the organization’s main network’s integrity while allowing for effective surveillance and monitoring solutions.

Email Phishing Campaigns are Run and Provide Monthly Reports to the Point of Contact

Phishing attacks are common security threats that compromise an organization’s sensitive information. To ensure employees are prepared for such attacks, TAMs conduct email phishing campaigns within the organization. These campaigns simulate real-life phishing attacks, and at the end of each month, TAMs provide a detailed report to the point of contact. These reports allow organizations to assess their employees’ readiness for phishing attacks and identify areas for improvement.

Apps & Services

Document All Line of Business Applications, Licensing, and Business-Related Vendors

The TruTechnology Monthly TAM provides local organizations with a comprehensive record of all their Line of Business (LOB) applications, associated licensing, and business-related vendors. This documentation is crucial in streamlining the decision-making process for any software or service-related changes. The TAM offers:

  • A repository of LOB applications: Keeping track of all software licenses and usage for easy evaluation of their continued relevance and cost-effectiveness.
  • Vendor management: Maintaining a well-organized list of vendors, their contact information, and relevant services, simplifying vendor communications and negotiations.
  • Updated licensing information: Ensuring that organizations use the appropriate and up-to-date licenses for all LOB applications, helping avoid non-compliance fines and legal issues.

Provide Documentation on the Installation of LOB Applications for the Service Desk

Apart from cataloging LOB applications, the TruTechnology Monthly TAM also delivers detailed documentation on installing these applications for use by the service desk. This allows organizations to:

  1. Reduce installation errors: Comprehensive instructions and guidance on application installation help minimize any chances of errors and associated downtime.
  2. Improve support quality: Empower service desk staff with installation knowledge, equipping them to provide accurate and prompt support.
  3. Simplify knowledge transfer: Facilitate the onboarding process for new service desk staff, ensuring they have all the necessary information to handle LOB application installations.

Overall, the Apps & Services section of the TruTechnology Monthly TAM enables local organizations to understand better and manage their technology landscape, empowering them to make strategic decisions for their IT infrastructure.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Ensure All Server Backups are Successful and a Recent Backup has been Run

Effective backup and disaster recovery strategies support local organizations in maintaining their essential data securely. The TruTechnology Monthly TAM conducts comprehensive server backup checks to guarantee that all backups are successful and up-to-date. Storage capacity, server OS versions, and statically assigned IP addresses are evaluated to ascertain adequate functionality.

Moreover, the TAM ensures that the IT environment is aligned with both NIST and TruTech’s developed standards, contributing to a stable and reliable infrastructure that prevents data loss incidents.

Ensure All Cloud Users are Backed Up Without Errors

In addition to server backups, the TruTechnology Monthly TAM pays close attention to cloud user backups. Ensuring all cloud users are backed up error-free is crucial for organizations to preserve valuable information and mitigate potential losses. This not only safeguards data but also demonstrates compliance with industry best practices.

Through their audits, TAMs evaluate the current state of the organization’s cloud backup mechanisms and offer customized recommendations to enhance their cybersecurity stance and strengthen the overall IT infrastructure. Regular on-site reviews by TAMs also allow them to address concerns swiftly and provide cost-effective and tailored solutions.

Under the Backup and Disaster Recovery scope, TruTechnology Monthly TAMs cover all essential aspects in maintaining the overall security and functionality of local organizations’ IT systems. Their expertise and proactive approach contribute to preserving crucial data and mitigating the potential risks associated with data loss or security breaches.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does understanding the total addressable market (TAM) benefit local organizations?

Understanding the total addressable market (TAM) enables local organizations to identify their potential market size and the revenue opportunity within their industry. Organizations can prioritize their resources by evaluating the TAM, targeting high-value segments, and avoiding over-extending their marketing efforts. Furthermore, understanding the TAM helps organizations to make informed decisions about entering new markets and remaining competitive in their existing market space.

What implications does the TruTechnology Monthly TAM have for strategic business planning?

TruTechnology Monthly TAM provides valuable insights into market trends and potential growth opportunities. This information assists local organizations in their strategic business planning by allowing them to align their business objectives with realistic market opportunities. With a better understanding of their industry’s TAM, organizations can develop effective strategies to engage their target audience, differentiate themselves from competitors, and pursue sustainable growth.

Why is it important for businesses to estimate the TAM value accurately?

Estimating the TAM value accurately is crucial for businesses to make informed decisions about market opportunities and allocate resources effectively. An underestimation of the TAM could result in missed opportunities and limit the business’s potential for growth. On the other hand, overestimating the TAM could lead to overinvestment and a waste of resources. Thus, accuracy in TAM estimation allows organizations to mitigate risks and optimize their market strategies.

How can local organizations utilize TAM data to enhance their market position?

Local organizations can utilize TAM data in several ways to enhance their market position. Firstly, they can employ this data to identify underserved market segments and tailor their products and services accordingly. Secondly, organizations can assess the competitive landscape and find ways to differentiate their offerings. Lastly, businesses can leverage TAM data to pinpoint potential partnerships or acquisitions that can expand their market share and create synergies.

How does TAM analysis help in identifying growth opportunities within a market?

TAM analysis comprehensively explains a market’s potential size and available revenue opportunities. Organizations can identify untapped areas with a high growth potential by evaluating different market segments within the TAM. This enables businesses to pursue new revenue streams and stay ahead of the competition by addressing customer needs that competitors have overlooked.

Can the TruTechnology Monthly TAM provide competitive insights for local organizations?

Yes, the TruTechnology Monthly TAM can provide competitive insights for local organizations. With regular updates on the TAM data, businesses can stay informed about industry trends and shifts in market share. This information helps organizations anticipate competitors’ moves and take strategic actions to strengthen their market position and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

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Tony Haskew

Project Engineer

Tony Haskew has 15+ years of experience in the IT field. He started working as a web developer in the 90’s and over the years migrated into the administration of systems and infrastructures of companies. 

Tony enjoys working on new technology and finding new ways to address old issues in the management of IT systems.

Outside of work, Tony is a 3D printing enthusiast, commission painter, and enjoys spending time with his family.