Umbrella
Quarterly Update

About the Umbrella Quarterly Update

Welcome to the Umbrella Managed Systems quarterly update newsletter! This newsletter is our way of keeping you in the loop about everything that’s been going on at Umbrella. Every quarter, we put together a comprehensive summary of all the latest news, updates, and exciting developments that have taken place over the past three months.

So, what can you expect from the Q1, 2023 Quarterly Update? Well, we are covering a wide range of topics, including introductions to new team members, exciting KPis, and proactive solutions we will be implementing to help our clients achieve their business goals.

The Umbrella Woosh!

Every Wednesday, the Umbrella Managed Systems team works in-office from our River Market location. And you know what makes this time together even cooler? Our weekly company huddle, of course!

Now, you might be wondering what makes our huddles so special. Well, let us tell you – it’s all about the Woosh! At the end of every meeting, we come together as a team to form an imaginary umbrella and create a big, thunderous Woosh! It’s a tradition that’s been with us since the very beginning, and it never fails to put a smile on our faces.

On this specific Wednesday our very own Tom, Proactive Operations Engineer and resident genius, brought in a gigantic umbrella for us to use! Needless to say, it was a welcomed surprise and put even bigger smiles on all of our faces. With that big ol’ umbrella, our Woosh was louder and more powerful than ever before.

So there you have it – just another Umbrella Wednesday, filled with fun, camaraderie, and, of course, plenty of Wooshes!

Stop by our LinkedIn Page to check out the full video!

Humble, Hungry, Smart Winner!

Every team member at Umbrella strives to be an ideal team player. The ideal team player embodies three virtues: humility, hunger, and people smarts. The power of this combination drastically accelerates and improves the process of building high-performing teams. Our staff continually submits votes for colleagues that exemplify the HHS traits and at the end of the quarter, a winner is selected.

Q4, 2022 Winner

2022 Employees of the Year!

Umbrella Welcomes New Hires!

Umbrella’s work to become Kansas City’s favorite MSP never stops! We are committed to providing premium IT services for our clients. Meeting these goals and delivering top-level IT services requires a team of talented individuals. Over the past 6 months, our team has grown significantly, and we are taking a moment to introduce you to our newest ideal team players.

Client Success

Melissa Mata | Service Manager, Client Success

Hello! I know many of you know me from my years in IT at CIG and then DHS. In addition to my experience in IT I also have several years of experience in Operations and Administrative Support which I feel will be helpful in my new role with Umbrella. I’ve always had an appreciation for the help Umbrella provides as a client and I am very excited to join the Umbrella team. Personally, I love our home on 11 acres we purchased 2 years ago. A nice surprise was several fruit trees and grape vines that we are learning to care for. I enjoy crocheting, cooking, and baking and host a weekly family dinner at our house.

Scott Clark | Virtual IT Director (vITD)

Hello! I have been in IT for 20 years and Managed Services supporting small businesses for 12 of those 20. That past experience has been helpful as I already know some of you and the tools that we use. I have a Bachelor’s degree in CS from Park University and an MBA from Keller. I don’t have any traditional hobbies and spend a lot of my spare time looking into MSP/Small Business related issues and trying to learn new things that can help me improve in my normal day-to-day. I am very passionate about the work that we do and the opportunities we have to the small businesses in our community.

On a personal note, I have been married to Sonia Clark for almost 19 years. We have a 13 year old son, Peyton, and 3 dogs and 2 cats. Growing up, I was always playing sports and had a dream of running a racquet for Van Der Meer Tennis. Some fun facts, I used to be a USPTR certified tennis instructor and had a theater scholarship in college.

Professional Services

Aaron Troester | Systems Engineer

I’ve been working in IT for about 12 years now. I specialize in networking, but also do a lot with PowerShell, Windows servers and automation. When I’m not working, I have 4 foster kids keeping me busy. In addition, I do civil war reenacting, read history or science fiction, or play board games.

Barry Rosenburg | Systems Engineer

My journey to IT started with an episode of a TV detective in which a recluse’s only communication with the outside world was passing messages between his guest house and the main house via a model train. It turns out he was using the train to test circuit boards for the government. As a Lionel train enthusiast at the time, it caught my attention and within a few weeks I had my first computer. After a few years, it was hello IT; goodbye Traffic Engineering. Outside of IT, I currently enjoy reading (mostly mysteries and thrillers), watching sports (baseball, football, and hockey), watching movies, listening to rock & roll, playing board games and cards, and spending time with my family and dogs.

Tanner Forbes | Systems Engineer

Hello! I’m Tanner Forbes! I’m excited to join the team! I worked in education for a long time before switching to IT but have hit the ground running. I am excited to get the chance to continue to grow and work hard with all of you! In my spare time I am a writer! I’m working on publishing my first novel now. I also love reading, video games, and cliffhangers. The most important thing to know about me is- (Tanner, don’t keep us in suspense! LOL)

Proactive Operations

Brad Komarek | Systems Administrator

My name is Brad Komarek. I am a 37-year-old prior military (Army) IT-oriented individual who enjoys board games, video games, and long walks on the beach. I grew up on a farm a short way away from Hays, KS. I greatly enjoy traveling, including international, love animals, and am a strong believer of being willing to try anything at least once. While the experience I’ve currently gained from Oracle Cerner and the Military is a bit different from what this new role will ask of me, I hope I can be as much of an asset to Umbrella as I have been to every team and company I’ve been a part of.

Reactive Operations

Matthew Locklear| Systems Engineer

I have a love for technology but outside of that I enjoy music and love being with my family. I was born in Kansas City, I love movies (especially Star Wars and Marvel), playing/listening to music, and making Legos. I’m excited to start my journey at Umbrella!

Rober Snow | Systems Engineer

Hi, my name is Robert Snow, I was born in London, England. I enjoy spending time with my friends and family. I have one sister and one brother and great nieces and nephews, I also like to play golf when I have the time and am an avid gamer. Other hobbies would be watching soccer/football, sci-fi, and exercising. I love to take vacations to the beach and Las Vegas. I’m calm, hardworking, humble and always try to make the best of a situation. I recently accepted a fantastic opportunity in the IT field and plan to make the most of it!

Business Development

Brandon Holley | Senior Sales Executive

I’ve been in Kansas City IT Sales for 10+ years. The majority of the time with Network Technologies (since purchased by The Purple Guys). I’m incredibly excited to be part of the team and help Umbrella grow! I spend the majority of my free time as a Kiddo Uber driver from sport to sport. I’m a deacon in the church, spend a lot of time having fun with the youth group, and host a quarterly LAN party (Age of Empires 2, Risk of Rain 2, and 7 Days to Die). My personal hobby is playing real-world Monopoly acquiring rental houses throughout the metro. I look forward to getting to know this incredible team, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at anytime if you’ve got questions about hobbies or the Sales Team!

Jess Bennett | Sales Representative Business Development

I am excited to join the team and meet everyone. I have been in sales for about five years; most of that was B2C as an insurance sales agent. Immediately before joining Umbrella-MS I was with another MSP here in KC. I enjoy reading fantasy and science fiction books, playing video games, going on hikes, and watching football. Some fun facts about me I used to work on political campaigns, I have two cats, and my wife’s name is also Jess.

Trey Ervin | Sales Representative Business Development

Born and Raised in KC. 28 years old. I’ve been in sales since I was 20. Last couple of years I’ve been doing contracted sales work for various logistics companies. Love traveling, sports, and being with family. Happy to be a part of the Umbrella team and help grow this company!

Top Client Feedback

The team works hard to delight you daily with professional expert IT support. That’s why we always encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions with us, whether it’s about our services or helpdesk support. We love receiving feedback and highlighting when we have done an excellent job. Here are some most recent favorite comments from that last quarter!

January

February

March

Critical KPI's

We use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of our business and ensure that we’re meeting our goals. By tracking specific metrics and benchmarks, we’re able to identify areas of strength and areas that may need improvement. This allows us to make data-driven decisions and allocate resources more effectively, resulting in better outcomes for you and our team. KPIs also help us to stay focused and accountable, ensuring that we’re always striving to improve and meet our high standards of excellence.

Proactive Focus

The Proactive Services team is dedicated to keeping our clients’ IT systems running smoothly. By monitoring and analyzing data, they identify potential issues before they become major problems and implement proactive solutions to address them.

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Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

By regularly measuring and analyzing customer satisfaction, we can identify areas for improvement and ensure that we’re delivering premium IT services.

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Resolution Met SLA

By ensuring that we meet or exceed our SLAs, we’re able to demonstrate our commitment to delivering prompt and effective solutions to your IT issues.

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% of Proactive Hours vs. Reactive Hours Logged

By prioritizing proactive work, we can minimize downtime and increase overall system stability for you as our client.

Here are a few of the major things we have done in Q1 and will be pushing in Q2.

We have designed and tested a 2^nd phase of Microsoft 365 security hardening which will add 9 additional security controls for clients, keeping them ahead of best practices.
In the process of developing and offering our Cybersecurity + and MCP plans, we have identified a set of 20 security standards that we will be adding to all clients in an attempt to keep our clients as secure as possible.
We have developed a baseline package for MacOS and iOS devices including default security standards and the setup of Apple Business Manager.
We are currently refining and finishing a package for our clients who have a remote workforce that will help keep them secure even when out of the office and when accessing data with their own devices.
We are currently in the development of a plan to utilize new features and functions included in the Microsoft Business premium license that ties directly into Defender for Office including settings for DLP, Safe attachments, and built-in Anti-Phishing reporting.

Security Awareness Training Updates

Now more than ever before, Security Awareness Training is important for your organization. The leadership team at Umbrella takes cybersecurity very seriously and has made security awareness training part of the ITMS program. Every month we send mock phishing tests to our staff and our clients to help them become more aware of suspicious emails.

We're happy to report that this quarter an average of 94.2% of users phished passed their monthly test.

Email addresses can be spoofed, or forged, to make messages appear to come from legitimate sources. Victims are much more likely to cooperate when they believe they are communicating with someone they know, which is even more reason to fully scrutinize all requests for sensitive info or money!

Blog Recap

In case you missed it, here are some of our favorite blog posts and important client communications from the last 90 days.

Identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities inside your organization.

Ransomware. Viruses. Trojans. These are the bad actors lurking in cyberspace, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting businesses with cybersecurity vulnerabilities. They aim to steal your precious data because cybercrime is big business. It’s a trillion-dollar “industry” that hurts thousands of small and medium-sized businesses each year. Don’t let your business fall prey.

Visit our blog for the full story.

Let’s Grow Together – Referring a Friend has Perks

Who better to help us tell our story than you! Umbrella has been in business for 15 years, providing high‐value IT services to the Kansas City metro area and beyond. We are excited to announce our new incentivized referral Program. Make sure you share this with your staff as their referrals count too!

How does it work?

With our referral program, we have made it easy for you and your staff to connect those in need of IT services with Umbrella Managed Systems. In exchange for referring your circle of influence, we are offering some great perks, including a huge discount off your monthly bill!

Visit our Referral Page and complete the referral form, it should only take about a minute. Once a form has been submitted, the Umbrella team will take over and reach out letting them know you referred them. We will meet with them, review their situation, and see how a partnership with Umbrella would benefit their organization.

Who should I refer?

We are happy to help where we can, but great referrals should …

Consist of 20 – 1,000 employees.
Be an organization who is looking for an MSP to manage or co-manage their IT.
Be located within a 50-mile radius of Kansas City. (Of course, we will talk to clients outside that on a case-by-case basis.)

We are committed to becoming Kansas City’s Favorite MSP! Umbrella positions the success of our clients at the core of everything we do. We pair innovative technologies with proactive and reactive services to create positive outcomes for your organization. Our people are the best at what they do, bringing years of industry experience in technology and cybersecurity.