Long gone are the days when one computer would take up a whole room. Now smartphones allow people to carry a minicomputer in their pocket everyday, and desk-sized computers at work connect employees instantly to everything they need to do their jobs at the click of a few buttons.
As computer systems have changed and evolved so much and so rapidly, so have information technology and network service companies in the Natural State.
One company, Network Services Group, was incorporated in 1989 in North Little Rock, and primarily focused on telephone system sales when it launched. In 1995, it absorbed another company and started in the computer business.
“Back then, the computer business was a little different,” CEO Ryan Flynn said. “The internet wasn’t super popular. We’ve been able to adapt as business and technology has adapted.”
Ryan Flynn
Many of NSG’s clients include health care and financial institutions, municipalities and auto dealerships.
Flynn said those markets have stringent regulations from the government on cybersecurity rules to make sure people’s information is protected.
Pinnacle IT in Little Rock works with a similar clientele, serving municipalities as firms in the legal and health care spaces.
Pinnacle started as a small, home-based company in 1992 and grew from there, now having five locations in the state and one in Texarkana, Texas.
CEO Chris Bates noted the pace of change in the industry, as well.
Chris Bates
“If you had told me in the mid-‘90s and early ‘00s about the cloud, I would have asked you what you were talking about,” he said.
Bates said the cloud is one of the biggest changes he has seen in recent years. He said benefits of using the cloud instead of a physical server became especially important when more people started working from home and still needed to access work information.
“It really does help with disaster recovery and business continuity if you don’t have everything bolted down to a single site,” he said. “It can also save a company money sometimes.”
Bates said outsourcing technology to an IT company can usually save companies money. It may not make sense for a small business, especially, to have a whole on-site IT department or staff member.
Little Rock’s Smiley Technologies has a history in banking software dating back to the 1960s, said Bethany Holland, Smiley Technologies’ director and network and information security officer.
Bethany Holland
“We are focused on great banking technology coupled with great customer service,” she said.
The company works with banks all over the country to simplify their infrastructure. It focuses its efforts on end-user support, network security, server admin, reporting and monitoring. The team also works with community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions to assist them with Emergency Capital Investment Program reports to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, she said.
Cybersecurity has been a main focus for all three companies, as well.
“Things are changing so fast in technology that changes in regulations and cybersecurity have got to be a focus — always,” Holland said.
She said every company, no matter its size, needs to worry about cybersecurity.
“At Smiley, we embed cybersecurity into everything we do,” she said. “We integrate cybersecurity into every aspect of our work, from software development and system patching to backup management and network security, along with various other tasks.”
Bates said he has also seen an “explosion of cybersecurity” since starting the company.
“Even 10 years ago, it was an afterthought,” he said.
Now many companies have access to sensitive client information, and they need to protect that in order to uphold a good reputation.
“We see attackers getting more creative and patient,” Holland said. “They aren’t just blasting out generic phishing emails anymore. They conduct reconnaissance and craft messages that look and feel legitimate. It’s not only malware or well-known scams either. Sometimes it’s just one well-crafted email that can lead to serious financial and reputational damage.”
Pinnacle and NSG offer educational services for clients such as practice emails that test business employees.
“People don’t think they have any data that a hacker or bad actor would want, but you do by simply existing,” said Teri Westbrook, director of cloud and security at Pinnacle.
Teri Westbrook
Westbrook said one easy way to try and spot if an email is a scam is if an email fits the criteria of being “known, needed and expected.”
“Stop clicking on everything,” she said.
“You can have intricate policies, but if you’re still going to click and download something malicious, you can’t stop that,” Bates said.
Flynn said Network Services Group uses an “endpoint detection response antivirus,” which is monitored 24/7. The technology looks for odd behaviors that would show a virus is on a device. That way, the issue can be caught as soon as possible.
“One big misconception is that IT/network support only involves resolving technical issues as they arise,” Holland said. “Effective IT/network support requires a more proactive approach.”
She said that approach includes anticipating potential disruptions and ensuring systems can recover from challenges such as outages and security breaches.
IT companies can work with businesses to determine exactly what services they will need to run efficiently and safely.
“It’s not one size fits all,” Flynn said.
He added that NSG comes up with a customized plan for its clients. The team does not dictate a solution, but rather listens to a company’s wants and needs and offers solutions and tools to accomplish that, he said.
“Another common misunderstanding is the notion that cybersecurity is simply about buying the right set of tools,” Holland said. “While technology can definitely help, cybersecurity is a continuous process that involves people, processes and technology working together.”
IT companies have also been paying attention to artificial intelligence. Flynn said it is a good tool, but he is hesitant about overreliance on the technology.
Holland said the last big game changer in banking technology was the ATM, cards and mobile banking.
“I’m not convinced we as an industry have found the next big thing in banking yet,” Holland said. “We are certainly tracking faster payments, AI and better insights to data for our partners and customers.”
READ ALSO: Kevin Trainor Joins Arkansas Alumni Association as COO
