ProviNET’s Recommended Best Practices (MSP)
At ProviNET, we believe in clarity and precision. We work hand-in-hand with you to create a strategic IT roadmap based on our recommended best practices, helping you define your long-term IT objectives. With our strategic IT management, we don’t just promise enhanced value and productivity – we illustrate what these improvements entail. In order to obtain the best possible outcomes, ProviNET maintains these recommended best practices.
ProviNET’s Recommended Best Practices for the Managed Services Program
Network and Power Equipment
Firewall
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
SonicWALL Fortinet |
Cisco Meraki Watchguard |
ISP provided routers Consumer grade routers |
Age |
Less than 5 years old |
Less than 5 years old |
Greater than 5 years old |
Subscriptions |
Current Advanced Threat Protection Subscription |
Current Advanced Threat Protection Subscription |
Missing or Lapsed Advanced Threat Protection Subscription |
Network Switches
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
Aruba Cisco Meraki |
Dell Extreme Fortinet HP Juniper Ruckus Ubiquiti |
Consumer grade switches |
Age |
Less than 5 years old |
Less than 7 years old |
Greater than 7 years old |
Speed |
10/100/1000 Mbps or greater |
10/100/1000 Mbps or greater |
10/100 Mbps or less |
Management |
Fully managed |
Fully managed |
Unmanaged |
WiFi Access Points
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
Aruba Cisco Meraki Ruckus |
Extreme Fortinet Juniper Xirrus Ubiquiti |
Consumer Grade |
Age |
Less than 5 years old |
Less than 5 years old |
Greater than 5 years old |
Management |
Centralized Management and Monitoring Capabilities |
Centralized Management and Monitoring Capabilities |
No Centralized Management and Monitoring Capabilities |
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
APC Eaton |
CyberPower Dell Emerson HP Liebert Tripp Lite |
Consumer Grade |
Age |
Less than 5 years old |
Less than 5 years old |
Greater than 5 years old |
Management |
Network Management Card |
Network Management Card |
No Network Management Card |
Servers and Applications
Server Hardware
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
Dell |
HP IBM Lenovo |
Whitebox End User Assembled |
Age |
Less than 5 years old |
Less than 5 years old |
Greater than 5 years old |
Warranty |
Must be under Hardware Warranty from Manufacturer |
Must be under Hardware Warranty from Manufacturer |
No Hardware Warranty |
Storage Area Network (SAN)
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
Dell EMC PowerVault Dell EMC Unity |
HPE MSA HPE Nimble Dell EqualLogic |
Consumer Grade |
Age |
Less than 5 years old |
Less than 5 years old |
Greater than 5 years old |
Warranty |
Must be under Hardware Warranty from Manufacturer |
Must be under Hardware Warranty from Manufacturer |
No Hardware Warranty |
Network Attached Storage (NAS)
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
Synology |
Buffalo QNAP |
Consumer Grade |
Age |
Less than 5 years old |
Less than 5 years old |
Greater than 5 years old |
Warranty |
Under Hardware Warranty from Manufacturer |
Under Hardware Warranty from Manufacturer |
No Hardware Warranty |
Operating System
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
Microsoft |
Microsoft |
AS400 Linux |
Version |
Windows Server 2022 Windows Server 2019 Windows Server 2016 |
Windows Server 2012 *
* On-premise thru 10/10/23, Azure thru 10/13/26 |
Operating System versions that have reached full end of support |
Licensing |
CSP Enterprise Agreement Volume Licensing |
OEM |
Unlicensed |
Hypervisor
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
VMware |
Microsoft Hyper-V |
Linux, Zen |
Version |
Supported version from Manufacturer |
Supported version from Manufacturer |
Greater than 5 years old |
Backup and Disaster Recovery
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
Datto Cove |
Axcient Unitrends Veeam |
Windows Backup External USB Drives |
Version |
Supported version from Manufacturer |
Supported version from Manufacturer |
No support from manufacturer |
Miscellaneous |
Must have immutable cloud storage |
Must have immutable cloud storage |
Local storage only |
Line of Business Applications
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Version |
Supported version from manufacturer and be supported on approved |
Supported version from manufacturer |
Self-developed software Software that is not compatible with installed OS |
Warranty |
Must have software maintenance and support contract |
Must have software maintenance and support contract |
|
Desktop/Laptops
Server Hardware
|
Approved |
Supported |
Unsupported |
Manufacturers |
Dell |
HP Lenovo Apple |
End User Assembled Retired workstations with unsupported OS Linux OS Machines not running Pro or Enterprise editions of OS |
Age |
Less than 5 years old |
Less than 5 years old |
Greater than 5 years old |
Warranty |
Recommended warranty for 3 years but not required for OS under active support by Microsoft. |
Recommended warranty for 3 years but not required for OS under active support by manufacturer. |
|