Sales: 678.967.3854
Support: 866.252.6363

Recent studies show that as many as 93% of companies today are using at least some sort of cloud-based technology, although certainly some way more than others. Because of this, you may be thinking that these companies are also moving away from on-site servers and hardware, but this is not happening anywhere as quickly as you might expect. Many companies still keep their servers on-site, often running them as virtual machines. (Virtual servers: partitioning the servers into highly segregated segments and using each segments as if it were a separate server.) While keeping your servers on-self may not in itself be problematic, although there are certainly advantages to off-site storage, the problem we often see is that this equipment is aging, what we call “legacy hardware” – a nice way of saying it’s getting older and older.

There are a number of reasons why people hold on to legacy hardware from budget, to compatibility with older versions of software, to “it’s working fine.” While it has never been a good idea to hold on to aging equipment from productivity and uptime perspectives, today, such a decision could actually be catastrophic.

Even with all the discussion going on in tech circles about the necessity of multiple back-ups and off-site storage, estimates show that as many as 77% of companies are not actually prepared to completely restore their data in the event of a crash…and this includes companies using IT service providers. Smaller companies, which make up the majority of US firms, are more at risk than larger companies simply because they don’t have adequate personnel resources to manage, monitor and maintain.

Some of the lowest hanging fruit for cyber-criminals are legacy servers running legacy applications. In one survey taken just a few years ago, 96% of all the applications that were tested had at least one major security vulnerability, with a median of 14 vulnerabilities per application. While a company may save some money today by putting off upgrading to newer,  safer hardware and software, this could end up being a very expensive decision. Ransom ware is a major threat these days, and the vulnerabilities presented by legacy hardware and software often open the door to these attacks.

Legacy hardware also runs slower than newer ones. This decreases productivity by increasing response time. This affects competitiveness as well as employee frustration. Your older system doesn’t have the computing power of newer ones, which limits your ability to take advantage of powerful applications such as data analytics or collaboration tools.

A scary scenario: many companies believe they have been upgraded to newer versions of hardware and/or software, and only when there is a serious problem do they find out that many important functions are still being handled by an old server in the back of the office. If your company hasn’t had a recent IT assessment and risk analysis, you should speak to a managed IT support company that provides this type of comprehensive review free of charge. If serious vulnerabilities are discovered, this same managed IT services provider can outline short and long-term plans that can protect your company and your budget.

Selection of an outsourced IT company is a very important business decision. For more than a quarter century, Atlanta’s small to midsized businesses have relied on DynaSis’ for managed IT services, Internet security, IT assessments and 24 x 7 x 365 helpdesk support. Today, with cybercrime becoming an ever-increasing threat, DynaSis has become an industry leader in network protection and ransomware prevention. Please take a tour through our website at www.DynaSis.com or speak with a technical expert at 678.373.0716.

People sometimes wonder, why bother switching from the “old” Microsoft Office productivity suite to Microsoft Office 365. After all, with the old way, you still have Word, Excel and PowerPoint. As we have come to discover ourselves, there are lots of reasons to make the change, but one of the best is team collaboration. What does that mean? Team collaboration: the ability of a group of people (a “team”) to work closely together no matter where they are. So, let’s say your company is working on a project that includes a Word document to discuss the project’s parameters, an Excel spreadsheet to analyze costs and potential revenue, and a PowerPoint to explain the project to your client(s), the media, financiers, etc.

With Microsoft Office 365, during the preparation phase, team members can work on and share all their files in real-time, with each making changes with notations, until the work is complete. They can communicate through Skype for Business, which features the ability to not only show a document on the screen, but for each team member to actually work on that document in front of his/her team members. Instead of everyone emailing files back and forth, making corrections, then making corrections to the corrections, and corrections to those corrections, ad infinitum, in a single Skype meeting, all the finishing touches can be added.

When it comes time for the presentation, again, it’s Skype for business, which can pull your completed Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents up on the shared screen for all to see. If changes need to be made to satisfy a client, you can make them then and there.

Collaboration works in other ways, as well. Do you have multiple offices with people of varying skill sets in different locations? This type of high-level, yet easy to use collaboration allows growing companies to take advantage of highly skilled people who are located in one office, but whose talents are immediately needed in another.

Here’s an example: a construction company has offices and projects in different states. The nature of their business is cyclical, depending on weather, project bids won, local economy, etc. By using the tools available in Office 365, this company can share the talents and skills of employees between locations, not only reducing the need for highly paid employees at multiple offices, but also decreasing seasonal layoffs. Effectively, this enables a company like this to move from a “divisional” model to an integrated operation, forming teams that include individuals who may be located at remote distances from each other. And depending on a given project, the teams can change at a moment’s notice.

It also gives the company the ability to unify business practices and processes, where in the past, each division might set its own parameters, methodologies and workflows. By integrating seemingly simple processes such as calendars and email, less time is spent figuring out how to deal with fellow employees, and stress levels are greatly reduced.

We at DynaSis have been Microsoft partners since 1993 and we believe that Office 365 is not just the latest Office upgrade, but a giant leap forward and would love to share this knowledge with you. Give us a call or email us and we’ll take you on a “tour” of Office 365.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These days everyone is concerned about data security, and with good cause. Not surprisingly, Microsoft has been a leading player in security, along with reliability and user productivity. When they took the Office productivity suite to the cloud with Office 365, they also took a giant leap forward in terms of being able to secure your most important and confidential information.

But let’s make one thing perfectly clear: your data is yours and it belongs to you alone. Office 365 gives you extensive control over privacy and visibility in terms of who has access. You manage these controls and you can customize them to fit the needs of your company. In the unlikely event that you choose to leave Office 365, you take you data with you and it is completely removed from the Microsoft cloud. Let’s look at some other features:

Secure Identity Controls

Office 365 allows you to manage users through access control, identity management and password authentication, which fully supports 3rd party identity providers. Through the use of multi-factor authentication, you can choose the level of ID control that works best for your organization:

In other words, Office 365 gives you options from fairly basic to extremely advanced and you are free to choose what works best for you.

Infrastructure Security

Microsoft spans the globe and their sheer size allows the use of techniques and strategies for defense against attacks on their network that few service providers can offer…certainly far above the ability of the typical small to mid-sized business.

Threat Management

Microsoft uses threat management controls that identify intent, determine capability of achieving that intent, and the likelihood of that threat successfully exploiting a vulnerability. This protection includes email spam, malware, viruses, and protection of Exchange.

Mobility

Your people are on the move. They work from home, in airports, hotels, clients’ offices…in town and around the world, and they take their devices, both self-owned and company provided, wherever they go. Whether they use Apple, Android or Windows platforms, the Office 365 mobile device management system identifies, monitors and protects your company’s sensitive information.

Incident Response

Stuff happens. Microsoft has a highly-advanced incident response program that includes multiple dedicated teams to prevent security incidents from happening, but when they do occur, they are immediately detected and immediately responded to.

Multi-Tenant Security

This is a fancy way of saying that multiple clients share the same infrastructure, which sometimes leads to a concern about keeping one client’s date secure from another client. Microsoft works under the assumption that any single client may have bad intentions and has created an enterprise level of security that insures privacy, confidentiality and integrity of files. It would be next to impossible for any single company to achieve this level of security on their own. By the way, it is this multi-tenant structure that enable small companies (although large companies do this as well) to have enterprise level infrastructure at affordable costs.

Physical Security

All Office 365 clients’ data is stored in data centers located around the world, using multi-layer “defense-in-depth” security protection. These centers are constructed to withstand natural disasters, or unauthorized access and have extensive power and internet backup systems. Geo-redundancy (co-locating in multiple centers) with automatic failover provides still further protection.

So as you can see, Microsoft Office 365 provides extensive security controls. We hope this information will give you a strong level of comfort, but if you have any questions, please give us a call.

DynaSis has been a Microsoft Partner since 1993 and specializes in Office 365 installation. You can find us online at 678.373.3716 or www.DynaSis.com.

Cloud computing can move a business forward.

Last week we began a discussion of myths surrounding business cloud computing. Here is a quick recap of the ones we tackled:

1: Data can’t be all that safe in a “cloud” – not true.

2: We lose control of our data in the Cloud – not true.

3: If I move to the Cloud it means that everything has to be in the cloud – not true.

If you missed last week’s blog, you can find it HERE. There are a number of other myths surrounding business cloud computing that we want to address, so let’s pick it up again:

4: Cloud computing is only for tech companies. First of all, the way we see it, today every company is a technology company. Are you using computers? Do you have email? Do you shop or do research online? Chances are you answered “yes” to every one of these question so, yes, you should be looking at cloud computing.

5: The cloud is harmful to the environment. Some people think this is so because large data centers use a lot of energy. They do. But when you add up all the energy saved by the companies that use the data center, there is actually a net energy savings and pollution reduction.

6: The cloud costs jobs. The fact is, the cloud has created jobs. Estimates are that by the end of 2015, the cloud was responsible for creating more than 13,000,000 jobs across the globe. Some jobs were lost along the way, but many more were created. But computerization in the cloud, and in general, has been responsible for such an exponential increase in productivity that the net effect has been extremely positive for almost every business.

7: Migrating to the cloud is just too much trouble. That depends on who is doing the migration for you. The right IT service provider can make the process virtually painless and with minimal downtime.

8: You should avoid the cloud for highly important applications. Again, this goes to unfounded fear of the cloud and whether or not it is truly safe. In reality, your mission critical apps are best run in the cloud, where they will also benefit from minimized downtime and automatic backups.

9: I’ll be locked in to my cloud vendor. Not true. A knowledgeable and reliable managed IT service provider or skilled in-house IT manager can get you quickly and safely up and running in the cloud, and, if the need arises, transfer your files and applications to another.

10: The cloud is for large companies – smaller companies aren’t moving there. Today, companies of every size are moving to the Cloud. Why? 94% of IT managers report that their tech security is better in the cloud. 75% of SMBs using the cloud reported better availability. 91% of companies that have significant compliance requirements use the cloud to satisfy them.

11: The cloud is best for everything in every business. Every company is unique and every company’s needs are different. We work with many great firms that keep all their data on-premises, many that are fully in the cloud, and others that are using a hybrid infrastructure that combine both on-premises and cloud. The goal of a managed IT support company should always be to find the very best solution on a client-by-client basis, and at DynaSis, we have been doing just that for Atlanta small to mid-sized businesses for 25 years. If you would like to learn more about our DynaSis Business Cloud services, click HERE.

We provide complimentary IT Assessments to determine the best course of action in implementing business cloud computing, in whole or in part, at once or over time, based on your needs, comfort level and budget. We can be reached at www.DynaSis.com or 678.373.0716.

It may be one of the most unfortunate names ever given to a form of technology. The Cloud. On one hand, it seems wonderfully ethereal. On the other, how can you trust all your data and applications to something so flimsy and unstable as a cloud? So here’s the thing:

The Cloud is not a “Cloud”.

It is a network of highly secure data centers that provide a level of cyber security that few small to mid-sized businesses could afford on their own. The cloud got its name back in the 60s when software engineers would draw diagrams of the components on which they were working, then enclose them with a hand drawn bumpy circle that came to be known as the “cloud.” The name stuck.

It is unfortunate because one of the most important advances in cyber availability, security and mobility is all too often looked upon as something as flimsy as…a cloud! Today let’s look at some myths that surround the cloud and hopefully by dispelling them, you may decide to take a closer look the next time your IT service provider asks you to..

1: My data can’t really be safe if it’s out there floating around in a cloud. That must be what they call “cyber-space.” No. Your data isn’t floating around. It’s in one of those incredibly secure facilities mentioned above. And cyber-space isn’t a real thing. It’s just a euphemism used when someone can’t figure out what they did with their email.

2: If we move to the cloud, we won’t have control over our technology. Actually, you will still have total control. The data center is just a storage facility and you control what goes on. You will also find that your headaches and time spent maintaining and upgrading hardware and software will be significantly reduced. Plus, you will no longer have to spend larger and larger sums of money on email and document storage.

3: It’s all or nothing. I if start with the cloud, I have to move everything. Not so. Many IT service providers will suggest that implementations actually start in hybrid fashion, moving just one application, like email. Then many companies decide to move their productivity software to the cloud. In fact, every company’s migration can be different.

More next week

If you follow DynaSis on Facebook, LinkedIn, or elsewhere, you are aware that we have been discussing Digital Disruption for some time now. If not, here is a 30-second overview: digital disruption on a global scale happens with developments like the advent of computers and/or the Internet. On an industry-wide scale, Digital Disruption comes from events such as Uber’s effect on the taxi industry or Netflix’s effect on video rentals. Since neither you nor I are likely to re-invent the Internet, nor create the next Uber, we are far more interested in how positive Digital Disruption (aka Digital Transformation) can affect our own businesses.

Inertia is a powerful force. It’s the reason why we can’t push a boulder uphill, or why you fall when you jump out of a car (your feet stop when they hit the pavement, but your body keeps going.) And it is emotional inertia that keeps us from making changes in our business when we know we really should. This is what keeps us from embracing Digital Transformation: using technology to transform our business, propelling us past our competition. The alternative is waiting for our competition to propel past us.

The first step in overcoming inertia and bringing digital transformation into your business is as easy as migrating from the Microsoft Office version you are currently using, to Microsoft Office 365. This is not merely upgrading to a newer version of Office. This is providing your employees with the ability to become more productive, to collaborate with colleagues, to function as powerful and effective teams, all while greatly increasing your network security.

But here is where inertia often sets in. You are using a version of Office that’s only three or four years old. It’s working fine. Everyone uses it; everyone is skilled in it; everyone is comfortable. Why change? Good question, so here are some answers:

1: Your people have left the building…they are working from home, in airports, clients’ offices, on the beach, etc. Microsoft Office 365 lets them work with anytime, anywhere access to all their files. It works on desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

2: Up to five devices per user: desktops (home and office), laptops, tablets and smartphones.

3: Data loss prevention. Office 365 backs up data in its world-wide network of secure facilities, and you know that with Microsoft’s financial strength behind it, it will always be there.

4: New applications, like Delve. Delve acts like your personal secretary. It finds hard to find documents, does research, keeps track of your projects, and so much more. (There are many more new apps.)

5: Migration is easy and since Microsoft Office 365 updates itself, migration is a one-time thing, and never need be repeated as new versions come out.

Right now, it’s also especially cost effective as we at DynaSis have just introduced our Cloud Accelerator Program with great Microsoft Office 365 migration incentives. You owe it to your business to LEARN MORE.

With 25 years of experience providing Atlanta’s small to mid-sized business community with IT support, DynaSis continues to lead the way in IT security and managed support. Learn more at www.DynaSis.com or call us at 678-373-0716.

Now that you have made the switch, there are Office 365 features should be using. Yes, old habits die hard, so it is very likely that everyone on your team is continuing to use “O365” the same way you have been using the desktop-only application for years. That would be most unfortunate because many of the new Office 365 Features offer an opportunity to make everyone on your team much more productive...and improve network security.

Let’s look at a few:

1: Real-Time Co-authoring. In Word, Excel and PowerPoint, online collaboration becomes much more effective. When you save your files to OneDrive or SharePoint, your colleagues can work along with you, actually seeing each other’s changes as they are made.

2: Chat with Your Co-Workers right in O365. Skype in now built right into O365 and you can use it to chat, share your screens, as well as have audio and/or video chats with your cohorts…and you do it right there in the application you are using.

3: Instead of attaching files to emails, insert links into your emails that allow your co-workers to access the files right from the cloud. You can set up proper permissions, even allowing the person to whom you are emailing the right to make changes to the file. Of course, you can change permissions at any time.

4: OneNote notes can be easily converted to Outlook calendar events for yourself, or assign them to co-workers, even adding reminders and/or deadlines. You can also use OneNote to take meeting notes, then add details such as attendees, dates, etc., and distribute by email.

5: Your mouse can become a laser pointer for PowerPoint presentations. It just takes a simple keyboard shortcut. This is one of the very cool Office 365 features.

6: PowerMap Turns Data into a Map. This is a powerful “data visualization tool” that converts data into a solution that helps with analyzing and sharing data. In the image at the top of this blog, data about a certain condition within the 50 states was converted into a map showing each state in the color representing the value of that condition. It can be used for sales, opportunities, population, weather events or for a virtually unlimited number of possibilities.

To learn more and watch a short video on Office 365, CLICK HERE.

Keep checking back. We will be covering a lot more really cool features of Office 365 in the near future.

If you think of 2016 being the “mainstream” year for hackers, then 2017 will be their year of creativity and innovation. We are sometimes asked why, with all the brilliant minds working on cyber security, how can the hackers keep developing new methodologies and always seem to be one step ahead. The answer: the people developing these new tactics are pretty darned smart, too, and they have the advantage of being able to go off in different direction directions, while we have the task of constantly being on the alert so we can figure out where they are going.

Stephen Gates, a leading research intelligence analyst, tells us that the rates of ransomware and the following extortions will increase. In fact, the next generation of self-propagating worms paint a rather gloomy scenario. Unlike their earlier versions, these worms can infect hundreds of devices very quickly. You may be familiar with the attack on the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency that encrypted 2,000+ computers, most likely through this type of self-propagating worm. Gates expects this type of attack to become more commonplace.

Norman Guadango, a cyber security specialist at one of the country’s leading consumer-grade data storage solutions, says that almost 20% of small businesses have suffered a data loss in the past year and that the costs associated with these attacks often run between $82,000 and $256,000 each. This can include ransom payments, lost productivity, time spent recreating data, forensic cyber teams, and lost business.

Adding to the complexity is the fact that new versions of the viruses, ransomware and other forms of malware are constantly being mutated by their developers. They are also becoming more sophisticated in their methods of deployment. For example, one of the scenarios common today is, after gaining entry into your system, placing a snippet of code somewhere in one of your files and just let it sleep there for a while, eventually "phoning home" and letting its owner know it is there are ready for action. This vulnerability is then sold online to both amateur and professional hackers who are then free to cause all sorts of harm. Of course, only a small fraction of these attacks actually break through the security systems generally in place, but it only takes one.

A recent ransomware attack on one of our clients showed that they withstood 65,000 attacks over a two-day period, including cyber-attacks from Russia, China, Bulgaria, India, Israel and five other countries. But, again, all it takes is one. This company will be the subject of a case study that will be released over the next week or two, so keep an eye out for it.

At DynaSis, we work with a national team of cyber security professionals and together we have created some of the most advanced, effective, unique and proprietary cyber security software available today. Whether you are a DynaSis client or not, please consult with your managed IT service provider to make sure your defenses are secure and up-to-date. Learn More

2017 has started but some things will continue as before, such as the ever-increasing dangers of cyber-attacks. Cyber criminals are smarter today than they were a year ago and will be smarter on January 1, 2018 than they are today. Keeping one step ahead of them requires constant vigilance.

Below are some of the concerns we have for the coming year, derived from our discussions with other professionals around the country.

1: Hackers can be total amateurs

The tools needed are readily and inexpensively available online. And, trust me, the sellers could care less if you know how to use them. This presents problems on a number of fronts. First, the number of people hacking can be expected to grow considerably. Second, here is a true story that explains one of the dangers. A company was recently hacked with ransomware and received the ransom “note.” After some negotiations, they agreed to an amount and attempted to pay. The hacker was so inept that he could not figure out how to claim the ransom. He finally gave up and agreed to release the files free of charge. Unfortunately, he couldn’t figure out how to do that either, so he just disappeared into to “cyber-space” leaving the victim’s files totally locked up. Last we heard, the victim company was still unable to gain access and was rebuilding their files from scratch, having lost years of valuable information.

2: Suppliers’ systems open the way for hackers into their customers’ files.

Everything today is interconnected, which saves time and money, provides better service, fewer errors, etc., etc., etc. The problem is that if your system isn’t secure, hackers can use it as a back door to access your customers’ systems. And vice-versa. They can use your suppliers’ systems to access yours. An excellent example is Wendy’s where more than 1,000 of their franchises were attacked through a hole in their point-of-sale system.

3: The shortage of trained IT security professionals

At the moment, there are almost 5 1/2 million unfilled jobs in the US, including about 2 million in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, math). CNN recently ran a story on a coal-miner who learned how to build websites, but he is the exception. In terms of IT Security specifically, it has been estimated that more than 1,000,000 openings exist worldwide. One answer to this problem is the hiring of third party managed it services to act as a company’s CISO (Chief Information Security Officer), a concept that has been growing in popularity.

4: Ransomware will continue to grow.

Taking the proper precautions can usually prevent the intrusion of ransomware, and severely mitigate the damage it can cause if it does gain entry. Add to this the fact that prevention is usually far cheaper than paying the ransom. (Ransomware is so difficult to undo without the “key” that once it has infected your system, even the FBI suggests you just pay it.) Just how much this trend will grow will depend largely on the steps small to mid-sized businesses take to ward it off, but experience says that it will be too little too late.

5: DDoS attacks on IoT devices

All types of new IoT devices are on the market and our fear is that in the rush to get these into consumers’ hands, security has not been treated as a priority.

But first, some definitions: DDoS is a “distributed Denial of Service” attack. This occurs when the bandwidth of the targeted system is flooded with so much traffic that the bona-fide users cannot gain access…they are denied service. Why do this? Mostly it has been for ransom, but there have been reported cases of trying to hurt one’s competition. How easy and/or prevalent is this?

IoT: The Internet of Things. This is the networking of physical devices. Many things today are embedded with sensors that send signals to other devices. You can turn off your lights at home from across town. Or ask Alexa to play music. Or turn your air-conditioning down when you don’t expect to be home for a while. The concern here is that we really don’t know what information can be scooped up, or by who, but experience shows that when information is not properly protected, someone will be looking to grab it for illegitimate purposes.

Learn more at www.DynaSis.com/Managed-Security.

__________

 

We will be releasing our full report on Cyber Security 2017 within the next few weeks. Be on the lookout for it.

DynaSis has been serving the IT needs of small to mid-sized businesses in Atlanta since 1992 and is a national leader in IT Security. We offer a full range of managed security services that can be tailored to match your company’s needs and budget. Please contact us at (678) 373-0716.

Happy senior business woman with headset working on laptop

DynaSis, an Atlanta based IT managed service provider and long a leader in IT Education both in the Atlanta area and the nation, is starting the year with two live webinars as part of its ongoing Educational Series for C-Level Executives. On Wednesday, January 18th, in conjunction with its membership in the nationwide Business Tech Talks program, Dave Moorman, Founder and President of DynaSis, will be giving his widely acclaimed talk on Digital Disruption. The webinar begins at 2 PM EST, and you can register at www.DynaSis.com/webinars.

The second webinar, on Cyber Security 2017, is an updated version of Mr. Moorman’s Cyber Security seminar that was presented to audiences in the Atlanta area last year to rave reviews. This webinar begins at 11 AM on Thursday, February 2nd, at 11 AM EST, and you can also register at www.DynaSis.com/webinars.

Registrants will receive either the DynaSis White Paper on Digital Disruption: Who Will Be Left Standing?, or the White Paper on Cyber Security 2017.

Digital Disruption: Digital Disruption is a change in the way the whole world, or just an industry, or even a single company does business. Invention of the personal computer, or the Internet, or today’s mobility are examples of global digital disruption, white the effect of Uber on the taxi industry, or Netflix on video rentals are examples of industry wide changes. But Digital Disruption is also a powerful force on a company level, improving product development, time to market, prospect identification and conversion, production and virtually every other aspect of a business, while improving productivity, reducing costs,  minimizing risks and maximizing growth – all triggers for improved profitability. The question is: will digital disruption power you past your competition, or power your competition past you.

Cyber Security: The topic of Cyber Security has been so prevalent for so long, that becoming immune to the warnings you hear through the media is a real danger. If your company hasn’t been hit so far, complacency tends to set in, along with the feeling that the bad guys aren’t interested in me. That is most unfortunate and very dangerous. The reality is that every month, thousands of companies are hit with cyber-attacks for the very first time, and many of those will have their files so locked up, that they will have to pay huge ransoms to continue in business. (We even know of a case where the cyber-criminal involved was so inept that even when the company agreed to pay the ransom, the criminal couldn’t figure out how to unlock their files and just walked away, leaving the company in dire straits.)

At DynaSis, we’ve been through the “wars” and we welcome the opportunity to share what we have learned with you. Please register today at www.DynaSis.com/webinars.

DynaSis has been providing IT service to Atlanta’s small to mid-sized business community since 1992. We are now in our 25th year. Dave Moorman has been instrumental in the development of cyber security techniques that have been adopted across the nation and continues to work with other nationally renowned IT professionals on a regular basis to keep the DynaSis IT support team always ahead of the “bad guys”. Dave can be reached at (770) 569-4600.

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram