The long-awaited final modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement and Breach Rules were introduced recently. The 563-word document outlines the changes that were initially slated for implementation last summer, also known as the final omnibus rule.
So your company is expanding and growing at a rapid rate, and the demand requires more space, power and cooling - what do you do? Build a new data center, or buy (lease, or outsource your IT needs to a different provider).
A solid backup and disaster recovery plan is essential to long-term Michigan business success - in the event of a disaster, your business can't afford to lose valuable data and applications. As critical functions of our businesses rely heavily on the Internet and applications to operate on a day-to-day basis, a disaster recovery plan is also critical to maintaining the availability of websites and entire network systems.
A Search Cloud security article recently claimed that “cloud transparency continues to be the single biggest issue hindering adoption of cloud-based services” when it comes to maintaining PCI DSS compliance in the cloud. The article said, “merchants still face a wall when trying to gain visibility into cloud providers’ systems and processes.”
If your company collects, transmits, stores or processes credit cardholder data, you will need to create a PCI DSS Report on Compliance at least annually for on-site assessments or self-reporting questionnaires. To sustain ongoing compliance after the initial point-in-time assessment, your company needs to design and implement a set of controls specific to PCI and security.
The Department of Health and Human Services requires organizations to conduct a risk analysis as the first step toward implementing safeguards specified in the HIPAA Security Rule, and ultimately achieving HIPAA compliance.
When you outsource your data and/or application hosting to a PCI hosting provider to protect your cardholder data, you need to test the following requirements and sub-requirements that directly reference and apply to working with a service provider.
One of the main concerns with cloud computing is security – when it comes to national industry security compliance standards such as PCI DSS or HIPAA, additional precautions must be taken in order to protect confidential data during transmission. While PCI compliance calls for very specific requirements to protect customer cardholder data, it is possible to remain compliant while using the cloud.
In the event of a PHI (protected health information) or HIPAA breach, the Office for Civil Rights requires several items from the reporting company. This also serves as a good starting place for improving your HIPAA compliance readiness.
With the confusion regarding what audits and auditor reports apply to certain aspects of data center standards, I felt the need to create a basic data center/hosting solution audit cheat sheet to simplify matters. Here’s your comprehensive guide to data center audits and reports.
With the litany of HIPAA breaches caused by business associates/IT vendors in the news lately, covered entities need to be more proactive when it comes to vetting their HIPAA hosting provider.
Sitting between secure, dedicated private cloud computing and open, low cost public cloud hosting is a secure, shared cloud middle ground we call managed cloud hosting.
Are you on the hook to undergo a HIPAA audit, but you’re not quite sure where to start? Online Tech recently passed our annual HIPAA audit of our Michigan data centers, giving us the ability to offer HIPAA compliant hosting solutions to healthcare organizations that need to pass HIPAA audits of their own.
There are a lot of benefits with cloud computing – cost-effective resource use, rapid provisioning, scalability and elasticity. One of the most significant advantages to cloud computing is how it changes disaster recovery, making it more cost-effective and lowering the bar for enterprises to deploy comprehensive DR plans for their entire IT infrastructure.
Are you hesitant about adopting cloud computing services into your IT infrastructure? You are not alone. Data security is the leading concern for IT professionals when it comes to cloud computing. Services like Amazons EC2 are simply not equipped to address the security and privacy needs of data-sensitive organizations.
June 8th, 2011 is “World IPv6 Day” and Online Tech will be participating in this event along with companies such as Facebook, Google, and Yahoo! in order to take a test flight of the new IP addressing system, IPv6.
We've worked closely with SaaS companies looking to achieve the advantages and cost savings that come from partnering with a premier Managed Data Center operator. Based on that experience, here are seven essential tips any SaaS company should be aware of before making a final selection.
In the process of designing OTVault and listening to mid-size business’ needs for online data storage, Online Tech uncovered 7 tips that IT managers gave when assessing the move from tape to online data storage.
We compare the costs of leveraging a managed server solution over leasing a server that impacts the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Sharing experiences from both the auditee and the service provider’s perspective that has helped us identify five key elements for not only surviving a SAS 70 audit, but thriving as a result of the audit.
A recent Gartner survey found that 42% of companies with a thousand employees or less had either fully or partially outsourced their data centers, while 28% are planning to do so within the next 12 months.
Making a decision on how to host a company’s IT infrastructure can be a difficult one that requires some planning. It is important to understand all of the hosting options available from cloud computing to managed dedicated servers and colocation.
A company’s IT infrastructure can be considered the glue that holds a company together, which is why it is crucial to the success of a business that it runs smoothly. A managed colocation data center can deliver a distinct advantage because of the immense benefits that go along with outsourcing part, or all, of a company’s IT infrastructure.
After reading an article by Penny Crosman in the “Wall Street & Technology Reports” January 2009 edition about monitoring servers in a remote data center, a few thoughts on the importance of remote server monitoring were provoked.
A private cloud computing platform is a stack of network, server and storage hardware dedicated to you for the purpose of cloud computing. When a managed cloud computing service is utilized, the stack of hardware becomes a customizable cloud of computing and storage resources that can be configured and re-configured when and as you wish.
The initial concern that IT managers have when looking to move from an in-house data closet or data center to a professionally managed colocation facility is the loss of immediate physical access to the servers.
We have all heard the horror stories of simple mistakes that lead to costly business disasters. It seems like every day on the news we hear about the next recall or outage that leads to the need for public relations to clean up the mess. More often than not, the damage is too great to overcome and that company which suffered the IT disaster is unable to recover.
One of the biggest IT buzz words of the few years, ‘cloud computing’ has brought incredible promise to the world of information technology. Cloud computing interest has lead to widespread curiosity and awareness of public cloud services.
Private cloud computing offers a number of significant advantages – including lower costs, faster server deployments, and higher levels of resiliency. What is often over looked is how the Private Cloud can dramatically changes the game for IT disaster recovery in terms of significantly lower costs, faster recovery times, and enhanced testability.
The Private Cloud Challenge: Where to Start?
While the concept of the private cloud is new to the world of Information Technology, it is not uncommon for companies to now fully realize the benefits of moving off of traditional server infrastructure to one that provides the flexibility and redundancy of the private cloud.
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PCI Compliant Cloud HostingThey have been there before. They know what was required and they had the team members to put the project together. It was the whole package that made this an easy decision. - Dean Scaros, President, Pay-Ease |
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