Level Blog
Latest articles.
From the IT world.
What Is an SLA?
This blog explains what an SLA is, how service level agreements work, and why they matter for IT teams and MSPs. It also explores SLA metrics, examples, best practices, and how Level supports stronger SLA performance through visibility, automation, and endpoint management.
Backup Shadow Copies Explained: How VSS Works, What It Protects, and Why It Isn't a Backup
Backup shadow copies help Windows capture consistent snapshots of active data without interrupting users or applications. Learn how Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) works, the difference between snapshots and backups, common recovery scenarios, and why shadow copies should be part of a broader backup strategy.
The State of Modern IT Operations
Modern IT operations are evolving rapidly as organizations manage more endpoints, cloud services, and security responsibilities than ever before. Learn the trends shaping today's IT teams and why proactive operations have become essential.
What Makes a Healthy Endpoint?
A healthy endpoint is more than a device that is online. Learn how visibility, secure configuration, patching, vulnerability management, functioning security controls, and recovery readiness contribute to overall endpoint health.
Major Vendor Outages This Month and How MSPs Can Prepare (July 2026)
July 2026 brought significant outages across AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Cloudflare. Learn what caused these incidents, why they matter to MSPs, and how to build a stronger strategy for monitoring, business continuity, and vendor risk management.
How Often Does File History Run?
How often does Windows File History run? Learn the default backup schedule, how File History creates versioned backups, how backup retention works, and where File History fits into a modern IT operations strategy.
The True Cost of Waiting Until Users Report Problems
Waiting for users to report IT issues may seem practical, but it often delays detection and increases business disruption. Learn how proactive monitoring helps IT teams identify problems earlier, improve operational visibility, and reduce downtime.
Why IT Standardization Matters
IT standardization creates consistency across configurations, processes, and security controls, making IT environments easier to secure, manage, and automate. Learn why standardized operations are a foundational step toward higher IT operations maturity and more efficient endpoint management.
What Is Operational Excellence in IT?
Operational excellence in IT goes beyond keeping systems online. Learn how governance, service management, security, resilience, performance measurement, and continual improvement help organizations build reliable IT operations and advance through the IT Operations Maturity Model.
What Are Managed IT Services?
Managed IT services provide ongoing technology support, monitoring, maintenance, and management through a third-party provider. This guide explains how managed IT services work, their benefits, common service types, and when businesses should use them.
What Is Endpoint Security?
Endpoint security protects laptops, desktops, servers, mobile devices, and other network-connected endpoints from cyber threats. It combines protection, monitoring, patching, access controls, and response capabilities to improve cybersecurity and reduce risk.
What Is Incident Management?
Incident management helps IT teams restore services quickly, minimize downtime, and continually improve operations. Learn the incident management lifecycle, best practices, key metrics, and how frameworks like ISO, NIST, CISA, and FIRST guide effective IT operations.
Why IT Complexity Keeps Increasing
Modern IT environments are more complex than ever, driven by hybrid work, cloud adoption, endpoint growth, and expanding cybersecurity responsibilities. Discover what's causing the complexity and how IT teams can better manage it.
The Biggest Challenges Facing Modern IT Teams
IT teams are managing more devices, cloud services, security responsibilities, and user expectations than ever before. Learn the biggest challenges shaping modern IT operations and how proactive strategies help organizations stay ahead.
Retail IT Infrastructure Management: Best Practices for Reliable, Secure Retail Operations
Retail IT infrastructure powers everything from POS systems and store networks to inventory management and payment processing. Learn the best practices and industry frameworks that help retailers build secure, resilient, and scalable technology environments.