k_Street Consulting, LLC Blog

k_Street Consulting, LLC has been serving the Washington area since 2009, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Tip of the Week: Keep an Eye on Your IT While You Aren’t There

Tip of the Week: Keep an Eye on Your IT While You Aren’t There

As the workers that power many businesses are remaining at home, remote solutions have proven to be a significant tool in keeping productivity moving. However, with nobody going into the office, monitoring your IT environment is necessary to make sure that the infrastructure you depend on is still in the right conditions. For this week’s tip, we’ll discuss some best practices to help you do so.

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How Crisis is Responsible for Human Advancement

How Crisis is Responsible for Human Advancement

Despite how it might feel for many, the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is not the first time that humanity has dealt with such a serious health crisis. With the information technology we have at our disposal, we’ve been able to stifle the infection somewhat, with more innovation happening all the time. The same has happened at different times throughout history, so to keep our spirits up, we figured it would make sense to discuss how the darkest times also brought great progress.

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Tip of the Week: Streamline Your IT with These 4 Tips

Tip of the Week: Streamline Your IT with These 4 Tips

The world has been turned on its head recently and it has forced the hands of many business owners to make a complete digital transformation of their business. Many businesses have made this transformation previously, but haven’t completely worked out the logistics of it when the stay-at-home orders came down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today we will look at four elements of a digital transformation that are extremely useful for your business.

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Before Dismissing Remote Work, Consider the Benefits It Offers

Before Dismissing Remote Work, Consider the Benefits It Offers

“So, where have you been working?”

This isn’t an uncommon greeting when you haven’t seen someone in a while. With COVID-19’s influence, many people would answer that they have been working from home, if possible. While business owners may be resistant to the idea of remote work, the potential benefits make it possible that remote work is the silver lining to the coronavirus cloud hanging over us.

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The Cloud Can Contribute to Company Collaboration

The Cloud Can Contribute to Company Collaboration

Collaboration has always been key to the success of businesses, and with the cloud technologies now available, collaboration is possible in more ways than ever. COVID-19 has made business connectivity more important than ever, so we saw it fitting to recognize some of the cloud’s collaboration options. They come in a few distinct flavors:

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Consolidate Your Servers and Save Big

Consolidate Your Servers and Save Big

“It’s time to do some spring cleaning! It’s been put off long enough!”

It’s easy to let things pile up to deal with them at a later time, especially when you are on strict timelines and only have so many resources. That’s why my desk can look like a disorganized disaster some of the time (but in my defense, it cleans up very well when it needs to). 

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Tip of the Week: Phishing Attacks at Home

Tip of the Week: Phishing Attacks at Home

Microsoft’s latest Security Intelligence Report cites phishing attacks as the most prevalent cyberthreat. With the COVID-19 outbreak pushing large numbers of workers to their own homes, it is almost assuredly still the case. As a result, it is extremely important that you and your staff understand how to spot potential phishing attacks and what to do when confronted with an attack. Today, we will provide you some tips on how to identify and remediate such attacks.

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How to Trim Your IT Support Expenses (But Keep Your IT)

How to Trim Your IT Support Expenses (But Keep Your IT)

When a budget comes into play, it is important to remember that there are a few ways that you can adjust it beyond eliminating line items. For instance, you can instead optimize some of the most egregious financial requirements your technology has--its support costs--by translating the unpredictably variable costs you likely deal with now for your support, to the much more sustainable agreement that a managed service provider will operate through.

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Hackers Double Down During Crisis

Hackers Double Down During Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has most of the world at home. It has completely disrupted everyday life and has businesses scrapping their normal strategies for work-at-home policies that will at least allow them to maintain some productivity. These strategies, while highly effective, carry with them additional risk. Today, we take a look at some of the risks associated with relying on remote workers.

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Keep the Pandemic from Plundering Your Profitability

Keep the Pandemic from Plundering Your Profitability

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, affecting hundreds of thousands of people, and keeping hundreds of millions at home, the beginnings of recessionary fear have begun to hit small businesses. Today, we will go through a few elements that will help you get your business through this (and many other) anxious times. 

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Vendor Relationships Could See Strain

Vendor Relationships Could See Strain

The COVID-19 outbreak has a lot of business owners looking over their supply chains and their budgets wondering how they are ever going to make things work. If yours is like most businesses, you use IT to make your business smarter, more efficient, and help your workforce be more productive. Unfortunately, with recessionary winds swirling around as a result of this terrible situation, it may become inevitable that your business will have to do more with less for some time. 

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Make Sure Your Use of the Cloud is Secure

Make Sure Your Use of the Cloud is Secure

The cloud is an undeniably useful technology to implement in your business’ processes, and is a very popular option as a foreseeable result. This does not mean, however, that the cloud isn’t subject to some risks. Let’s go over a few risks the cloud presents, and how you can mitigate them by selecting the right provider.

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Handy IT Acronyms to Understand

Handy IT Acronyms to Understand

It is pretty apparent that there are a lot (a lot) of acronyms used when discussing IT. In fact, that itself is an acronym for information technology. They can all get pretty confusing if you don’t necessarily think about these things every day. Considering this, we’ve put together a list of terms for you to know that we think may be handy to have.

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When Working Remotely, VoIP is an Indispensable Tool

When Working Remotely, VoIP is an Indispensable Tool

With the widespread support of social distancing that current events have encouraged, remote working options are seeing an understandable surge in popularity. In order to make the most of “telecommuting,” as it is referred to, there are a lot of reasons to use a Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, solution. Let’s go over some.

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How is Your Business Going to React to a Crisis?

How is Your Business Going to React to a Crisis?

Everyone from Wall Street to Main Street is feeling the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. As a result, many businesses have had to enact their disaster recovery strategy to ensure that their business remains on solid footing during this dark time.

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Tip of the Week: Eight Ways to Optimize Remote Productivity

Tip of the Week: Eight Ways to Optimize Remote Productivity

There are a variety of reasons that you may find yourself working from home at some point or another. Whether there’s something going on at the office, you’re mindfully practicing social isolation, you’re home sick, or it is just an option you want to exercise, you need to be sure that you and the rest of your team are doing so in the best way. Here, we’re sharing a few tips to help you do so.

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Backup System is a Crucial Tool when Disaster Strikes

Backup System is a Crucial Tool when Disaster Strikes

Each March 31st, we like to observe World Backup Day, where we educate people about the benefits of having a comprehensive backup plan in place. This year, with tens of thousands of people being affected by Coronavirus, business has ground to a halt in large portions of the world. Today, we are going to look at the business continuity strategy and how, in times like these, you’ll be glad you have your data backed up. 

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Will 5G Change Wi-Fi as We Know It?

Will 5G Change Wi-Fi as We Know It?

The average person’s mobile plan comes with a data cap. It’s for this reason the Wi-Fi hotspot is looked on as an essential tool, especially with so much content available nowadays. With 5G on the horizon, some reports have suggested that Wi-Fi will be phased out by ubiquitous wireless Internet access. Turns out, in the immediate future, the Wi-Fi hotspot isn’t going anywhere.

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How to Operate in an Environmentally-Conscious Way

How to Operate in an Environmentally-Conscious Way

There are many reasons that you might want to make your office a little more “green.” As it happens, there are just as many ways that you can put forth the effort to do so. If you’re trying to run a more environmentally-conscious business, we have a selection of a few relatively simple ways to start.

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Cloud Communications Are Helping Drive Business Forward

Cloud Communications Are Helping Drive Business Forward

There are a lot of businesses that use cloud computing. In fact, the latest figures say that over 80 percent of businesses are now using some type of cloud platform for their operations. Of course, there are a lot of different options available to organizations, but one particularly useful solution that may not get a lot of attention is the unified communication platform. This month, we’ll take a look at the cloud-hosted communications platform.

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How to Maintain Productivity when Illnesses are Rampant

How to Maintain Productivity when Illnesses are Rampant

It is never a good situation when a widespread illness strikes. Not only does it impact many individuals on a personal level, the impacts reach to the businesses that employ them as well. As we deal with the current outbreak, it helps to keep in mind that there are various means out there to allow for a business’ productivity to continue… even if its employees shouldn’t be near one another.

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Considerations for Your Business Networking Setup

Considerations for Your Business Networking Setup

A business’ network is one of its key assets, which means that it is particularly important that yours is well-developed and planned. Here, we’ll go over a few basics and best practices for you to familiarize yourself with for when you need to reconsider your business network.

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Privacy Issues Surrounding Biometric Security

Privacy Issues Surrounding Biometric Security

Humans are social creatures, and as social creatures we create systems that separate us by our differences. IT professionals are known as such because they are experts at understanding and working with computers and information systems, just as Olympic gymnasts are regarded for their ability to compete in gymnastic events. Our differences are our identifiers. In fact, humans put labels on things to better identify them using even the most miniscule differences. 

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Smart Contracts Will Dominate the Mobile Age

Smart Contracts Will Dominate the Mobile Age

Contracts are a huge part of doing business. The practice is as old as the legal profession. You’ll be hard pressed to complete a transaction where money changes hands where there isn’t a document outlining the specifics of the liability each party takes on by entering that financial agreement. We call them receipts, but in retail, they are a signed contract. 

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You’d Be Surprised How Insecure Some Healthcare Providers Are

You’d Be Surprised How Insecure Some Healthcare Providers Are

The healthcare industry is in a difficult position. Despite the utility that connected devices present to medical providers, the Bluekeep vulnerability makes it seem as though connected devices aren’t a wise solution for many to use… and there’s nobody these organizations can blame but themselves.

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Tip of the Week: Using Microsoft Word Templates

Tip of the Week: Using Microsoft Word Templates

Microsoft Word is an excellent tool for businesses to use for a great assortment of their word processing needs… especially due to the assortment of editable templates available to users. For this week’s tip, we’ll go over how you can customize a Microsoft Word template to meet your preferences.

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You Need to Backup Your Data

You Need to Backup Your Data

When we start working with a new client, we’re often left surprised at their data backup and recovery strategy. It’s not always that they don’t really have a strategy for it (although this happens more than we’d like to admit), it’s just how sure many of them are that they don’t need to spend a lot of time and effort on it. This ambivalence is a major mistake that often leads to hardship. Today, we will talk a little bit about why backup is such a big deal.

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How to Encourage Collaboration in Your Place of Work

How to Encourage Collaboration in Your Place of Work

Collaboration: it is the gold standard of teamwork that so many businesses seek. If your employees aren’t naturally drawn to the idea, however, there are some ways that you can help to sell the concept. Let’s discuss a few of the ways that you can coax your users into collaborative behaviors.

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Tip of the Week: 5 Ways to Maximize Productivity, According to Experts

Tip of the Week: 5 Ways to Maximize Productivity, According to Experts

In most workspaces and offices, “productivity” is always present on the list of goals. Why settle for one task completed in a set time, when multiple tasks can be completed in the same amount of time without sacrificing the quality of the result? This goal is popular enough for many experts and consultants to have weighed in on. This week, our tip will involve a basic overview of some such strategies so you may consider them.

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How Secure is Your Use of Cloud Solutions?

How Secure is Your Use of Cloud Solutions?

Cloud computing is generally accepted today as a good option for businesses. While we aren’t arguing that this isn’t the case, we wanted to make sure that your cloud use--actual or theoretical--was sufficiently secure. Many will neglect to consider how secure their use of cloud solutions is, which is something that we’d like to fix.

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More Industries are Seeing Accountability and Security with Blockchain

More Industries are Seeing Accountability and Security with Blockchain

Blockchain is one of the most dynamic new technologies, but up until recently, there hasn’t been a lot accomplished in the way of creating viable distributed software titles. In fact, the most recognized technology created with blockchain is cryptocurrency. This says quite a bit. Today, we’ll look at blockchain-enhanced software and how it’s only a matter of time until it is a commonplace addition to most businesses.

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VoIP Can Replace Analog Phone Systems

VoIP Can Replace Analog Phone Systems

It’s true that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is probably going to be cheaper than using an enterprise phone system through your regional phone company. While cost reduction is a good reason to choose a service, VoIP does much more than just reduce communication costs. Implementing a VoIP platform also presents a lot of solid options that can help your business be more efficient and productive. 

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Should Your HR Department Be Worried (About Automation)?

Should Your HR Department Be Worried (About Automation)?

Most companies have some sort of human resources department. Some are bigger than others. Some are more effective than others. Typically, the HR department deals with a lot of the stuff that no one else likes to. Today, software is being created using artificial intelligence that will be able to complete many of these tasks. Let’s take a look at how automation is affecting the modern human resources department. 

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Can Outsourcing Be an Option for Your Business?

Can Outsourcing Be an Option for Your Business?

There is a major problem that the owners of most small-to-medium-sized businesses run into: impatience. Their business might not be growing at the rate they like, or they may just have too much work to accomplish in order to grow. Whatever the problem is, outsourcing parts of a business can really bring a whole lot of benefits. Let’s take a look at how outsourcing can help the modern business.

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Taking a Long Look at Your Company’s Bandwidth Needs

Taking a Long Look at Your Company’s Bandwidth Needs

The Internet has expanded people’s ability to do business, and with it has spurred on a series of innovations that have effectively changed the world. With today’s businesses almost assuredly spending on at least one cloud-based solution, and with mobility eking into almost every business in one form or another, the demand for more bandwidth is something most businesses are wrangling with. Today, we’ll describe what having enough bandwidth means.

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Tip of the Week: Fixing a Slow Internet Connection

Tip of the Week: Fixing a Slow Internet Connection

The modern business uses IT in so many ways that aim to make a business move faster, be more efficient, and ultimately, produce more than it would have without that technology. Each of these technologies are powerful in their own right, but they depend on two variables: electricity and a reliably fast Internet connection. When your Internet connection isn’t doing your business any favors, you need to look into why you aren’t getting the network speeds you are paying for. After all, your business depends on it. Today, we will take a look at a few ways you can go about troubleshooting a slow Internet connection.

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The Mobile Device: A Brief History

The Mobile Device: A Brief History

It may not seem like it, but the mobile device is very much like the Internet. They’ve both only been around a short time, demand for each is massive, and their mere presence has changed modern life. Today, we’ll take a look at how the mobile device came to be and give you a brief look at mobile device history.

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Is there a Difference Between Restarting and Just Turning It Off?

Is there a Difference Between Restarting and Just Turning It Off?

In a word, yes. Sure, there’s the obvious difference in that one leaves you with a computer that is turned off while the other results in it being turned on again, but there are other important differences that are present behind the scenes. Let’s go over a few of these differences, and how they impact when you should restart your computer versus when you should shut down completely.

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A Brief Review of Various Cybercrime Statistics

A Brief Review of Various Cybercrime Statistics

Each and every business should be prioritizing their cybersecurity, as hacking is as popular and ever and some of the worst malware in history is currently spreading. To really drive this point home, we’ve put together some telling cybercrime statistics that clearly demonstrate the damage that cybercrime can wreak.

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Verified Business SMS Added to Messages

Verified Business SMS Added to Messages

Now that text messaging is being used for marketing, it isn’t that rare to see messages in your inbox that are from businesses. Most of these messages, however, seem to come from a random number. Google has taken notice and is rolling out a way for businesses to verify that they are the ones that are sending users messages.

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Pros and Cons of Leaning on a Wireless Network

Pros and Cons of Leaning on a Wireless Network

The way your business accesses data is changing. Just a few years ago, you couldn’t imagine that you would have a comprehensive strategy to keep data secure when sending and receiving it wirelessly, but today wireless transmission methods have become more secure, reliable, and fast. Today, we’ll take a look at the difference between wired and wireless connections in the modern business.

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Tip of the Week: Four Fundamental Small Business Tech Tips

Tip of the Week: Four Fundamental Small Business Tech Tips

Technology impacts the business landscape more than it ever has, and its impact shows no sign of slowing. This is especially the case for the small business, which now has a much larger pool of competitors to deal with. As a result, it is more crucial than ever that small businesses take advantage of technology to assist them. Let’s go over a few tips that every small business should act upon.

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Integration Brings Benefits to Business

Integration Brings Benefits to Business

For today’s business, agility is important. Things can change so rapidly that if a business commits to one way of doing business, it could spell curtains for them if they are forced into making changes that don’t work with certain strategies or technologies they’ve chosen to use. These days, software integration can allow businesses to optimize the flow of information and change course quickly, all while keeping their business running effectively. Let’s take a look at this integration.

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IT Trends SMBs Should Focus On in 2020

IT Trends SMBs Should Focus On in 2020

Technology is a key part of operating a business nowadays, which is why advancements in business technology solutions are so important for organizations to keep pace with. Let’s review a few solutions and technologies that we predict businesses will (or at least, should) focus on this year.

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Tip of the Week: How to Avoid Phishing Scams

Tip of the Week: How to Avoid Phishing Scams

For many businesses, email plays a crucial role in the dessemination of information. Whether it is simply interacting with clients or pushing directions to individuals, email is a simple and efficient way to communicate. One problem that organizations are running into is that individuals are being inundated with social engineering messages called phishing. This strategy is causing major operational problems for businesses, from malware to data breaches to extended downtime. For this week’s tip, we identify what exactly phishing is and how it is used to the detriment of many businesses and other organizations.

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Social Engineering Isn’t Going Away

Social Engineering Isn’t Going Away

When someone starts talking about social engineering, people often get confused. They think we’re talking about cloning. While having two of something you love may not be terrible, the social engineering we routinely cite is much, much worse. Social engineering is the act of using social interactions to get people to make cybersecurity mistakes. Today, we’ll take a look at social engineering and how it can have a negative effect on your business. 

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How Well is Your Printing Managed?

How Well is Your Printing Managed?

The dreaded printer is often ignored by business professionals, until they have to use it, and it’s out of ink/toner, has a paper jam deep inside the machine, or they mysteriously disappear from the network for no reason. They are forgettable machines that hardly function properly and need constant maintenance; and, this can get really expensive.

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Tip of the Week: Making Microsoft OneDrive Work for You

Tip of the Week: Making Microsoft OneDrive Work for You

From its very beginnings, Microsoft has been creating devices and software to help users accomplish their goals. This is one reason why their solutions are so commonly found in businesses. Today, we wanted to focus on just one, OneDrive, and highlight some of its features that any business could find useful.

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What’s the Point of An IT Assessment

What’s the Point of An IT Assessment

In business today, information technology is being utilized in a manner that can make it seem like business isn’t possible without it. In some cases, it isn’t, but then there is technology being deployed that is simply inefficiently deployed, used haphazardly, and could be looked on as more of a liability than anything else. Frequently getting an IT assessment can help keep your IT infrastructure secure, agile, and aimed at solving your organization’s operational issues. Today, we’ll take a look at the IT assessment. 

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Motivate Your Employees with More Playful Work Practices

Motivate Your Employees with More Playful Work Practices

Workplace engagement has long been a conundrum--how do you maximize the productivity of your business without alienating your team through quotas and ironclad policies? Many businesses have been finding that an effective way to do just that has been to use a concept known as ‘gamification.’  Let’s explore gamification and how it might be useful to you.

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Tip of the Week: Why Rebooting Can Fix so Many Problems

Tip of the Week: Why Rebooting Can Fix so Many Problems

There is quite possibly no more famous question in IT services than “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” While it may sound like a joke (and has quite often been used as one), could this advice actually work? The short answer: it does. For this week’s tip, we’ll explain why that is.

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Why It’s Paramount to Keep Security in Mind

Why It’s Paramount to Keep Security in Mind

Over the last few years, there has been a meteoric rise in cybercrime, with nothing to indicate that rates will decrease anytime soon. Why would they? Bad actors and cybercriminals can make a pretty penny by attacking businesses, and they are only becoming more equipped and experienced in doing so. 

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Vendors Can Cost You More Than You Realize

Vendors Can Cost You More Than You Realize

Businesses use a lot of different vendors and many of them demand a certain amount of attention. Any attention you are spending on your vendors is attention that you aren’t spending on your business. Fortunately, there is a service that can reduce your exposure to unnecessary vendor calls.

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Are You Properly Managing Your Cloud Services?

Are You Properly Managing Your Cloud Services?

Today, cloud services can be used for about every facet of business. In fact, your business probably uses the cloud for some very important parts of your business. With so many options to choose from, business owners often develop a cloud strategy that includes software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and many more options. 

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2020’s Smartphones, in Review

2020’s Smartphones, in Review

There is no question that smartphones have assimilated into our daily communications, both on a personal level and in the professional sense. Apps allow us to be social, to accomplish work-related tasks, and yes, kill some time with the latest silly trending game. Of course, as time passes, these devices only grow more advanced. If you’re due for a replacement, you may want to examine some of your options before pulling the trigger.

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Collaboration Drives Business Efficiency

Collaboration Drives Business Efficiency

Much is made about collaboration. It’s not just a buzzword, it is extremely important in many parts of business. Collaboration is simply getting people to cooperate in their work to a successful end. While collaboration can be found in every business to some degree, it can be more of a challenge for the small business. Today, we’ll take a look at what constitutes successful collaboration, and how your organization can go about improving your collaborative capabilities.  

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Looking at Business Technology Trends from CES 2020

Looking at Business Technology Trends from CES 2020

The Consumer Electronics Show is where people get to see emerging technologies first. Typically thought of as an event where innovations in, well, consumer electronics are put on display, a lot of the technology on display at CES can be big news for businesses as well. Today, we are going to review some trends that CIOs and other business decision makers should be paying attention to.

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Why You Need to Be Concerned about Both Phishing and Ransomware

Why You Need to Be Concerned about Both Phishing and Ransomware

When people talk about cybersecurity nowadays, there certainly seems to be a lot of emphasis put on phishing attacks and ransomware. This is for good reason. Not only can either of these attack vectors create significant difficulties for a business, they are often used in tandem. Let’s discuss why these threats are so potent, and why they so often show up together.

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Managing Data is Easier with Data Virtualization

Managing Data is Easier with Data Virtualization

Businesses today rely on a lot of data, and of course, this data typically isn’t stored all in one place, or even in the same format. Normally, this would make trying to manage this data far more complicated, but modern organizations have a way to simplify their data management: data virtualization.

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Options for Effective Business Communications

Options for Effective Business Communications

Today’s business is much more collaborative than it was in the past. This means that there are a lot more communications to manage. Small businesses may use technology to try and bridge the gaps and large businesses use it to manage huge and complicated workflows. Today, we take a look at the average business’ internal communications, and which tools are best for increased productivity.

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Tip of the Week: How to Restore Your Android Apps and Settings

Tip of the Week: How to Restore Your Android Apps and Settings

There are a few reasons that you’d need to restore your Android device. Some reasons are good, like you finally got the phone you were given an IOU for over the holidays, and some are bad, like your old phone had just broken. For this week’s tip, we’ll assume it is the first reason, as we go over how you can easily prepare your phone data for migration.

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Cloud Services Are the Rideshare of Business Computing

Cloud Services Are the Rideshare of Business Computing

When you look at cloud services, it can be easy to wonder how it is so beneficial for businesses. After all, the monthly service charges are attractive, but how do they provide the value outside of cost? To understand how the cloud brings rapid and sustainable ROI, it may help to look at an analogy. 

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The Three Key Steps to Stop Malware

The Three Key Steps to Stop Malware

Malware is a bad thing. It’s right there in the name, as the prefix mal- comes from the Latin malus, which literally translates to “bad.” So, it only makes sense to try to keep it out of your business. Let’s discuss a few basics to form the foundation of your greater cybersecurity strategy.

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Business Continuity Includes Preparing for Death

Business Continuity Includes Preparing for Death

It’s never an easy thing to talk about, but it does need to be talked about. If one of your key employees were to pass away, how would it affect your business? How do you prepare for this type of inevitability?

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A Brief Look at Emerging Technologies

A Brief Look at Emerging Technologies

There is some fear in the implementation of new technology. Not really knowing what to expect and how it will resonate with your current systems and staff can be nerve-racking for even the most hardened entrepreneur. Today, there are a few technologies that have emerged and are on the cusp of being integrated into more business settings. Today, we take a brief look at these technologies.

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Windows 7 Has Nearly Ticked Its Last Tock

Windows 7 Has Nearly Ticked Its Last Tock

It won’t be long before Microsoft retires two of its most popular operating systems - but hopefully, you already knew that. Microsoft has made a point of reminding Windows 7 users that they need to upgrade before January 14 - and yet, many users haven’t done so.

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Tip of the Week: Working with PDF Files

Tip of the Week: Working with PDF Files

Portable Document Format files (better known as PDFs) have become incredibly common as a means to save documents in a constant and consistent format that can be viewed on just about any device. They also allow users to make some simple changes to make it even easier to review the data they contain. Here, we’ll go over a few options for this year’s first tips.

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Technology: Then and Now

Technology: Then and Now

Technology gives business owners opportunities to expand, and essentially has become the center of most business practices. Marketing, customer contact, all sorts of inter and intra communication methods now depend heavily on technology. Let’s take a look at what the past has brought, and what the future could bring us.

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Five Steps to Better Basic Cybersecurity

Five Steps to Better Basic Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity needs to be one of any business’ primary considerations. More than it ever has been before, cybersecurity is one of the biggest day-to-day issues that a business needs to deal with; and, this need is only exacerbated by the shortage of cybersecurity talent and loyalty to outdated security strategies have put many businesses in an unenviable, and vulnerable, position.

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Print More Intelligently with Print Management

Print More Intelligently with Print Management

Once upon a time, the printer was absolutely crucial for business to be conducted properly, but nowadays, the use of digital solutions has greatly reduced the need of printing things in greater volumes. However, this is not to say that printing is not still an important facet of your business to manage. Here, we’ll examine how print management can help a business do so.

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The Latest Android Malware is Almost Impossible to Remove

The Latest Android Malware is Almost Impossible to Remove

Sometimes a virus or malware infection can be so bad that the best solution is to completely wipe the device and start over with a factory reset. This can be pretty annoying. A new type of malware targeting Android devices just found a way to become even more annoying by being able to withstand a complete factory reset.

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IT is a Wonderful Life

IT is a Wonderful Life

Parker sat at his desk looking at a business card. He watched the snow fall lightly outside his window. He was the last person left in the office, as he typically was this time of year. He put down the business card and got up and walked over to the large pane of glass that was the only insulation from the harsh, cold wintery night. He placed his hand on the window and felt the bitter cold meet the palm of his hand. He stood there for a minute; maybe more than a minute. He began to cry. He was so angry at how things were going.

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With Multiple Windows EOL Events, You Need to Have a Plan

With Multiple Windows EOL Events, You Need to Have a Plan

January 14 marks the end of two Microsoft operating systems: Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2. After these titles are retired, using them could quickly result in a major problem for your business’ IT security. If you haven’t made the switch to other solutions by now, you are running out of options. Let’s quickly go over what you can do.

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Networking Isn’t What It Used to Be

Networking Isn’t What It Used to Be

There are times when people take their technology for granted. One of the most under-the-radar, yet crucial parts of a business’ technology infrastructure is the networking equipment. What we mean by this is the cables, switches, and routers that connect computers to the network and to the Internet. This month, we will take a look at typical office networking found in 2019 and the technologies that are primed to replace them. 

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Facebook and Your Privacy (Part 3)

Facebook and Your Privacy (Part 3)

Facebook’s servers process a massive amount of data each day… which only makes sense, considering their 2.4 billion active users. Unfortunately, the social network has had some issues over the past few years with data privacy. Whether you use Facebook as a social networking tool for your personal life, your business, or both, you need to know how to best take control of your own privacy on the platform.

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Facebook and Your Privacy (Part 2)

Facebook and Your Privacy (Part 2)

Wait! If you haven’t read part one of our Facebook privacy blog yet, you may want to do that before reading this one. If you’re ready, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at your Facebook settings to make sure that your account and its data are as secure as possible. If we’re being honest, protecting this kind of data hasn’t seemed to be one of the platform’s strong suits - and user privacy has been the star of many lists of concern.

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Facebook and Your Privacy (Part 1)

Facebook and Your Privacy (Part 1)

Two billion users strong, Facebook is one of the Internet’s most popular websites… which has frequently put the tech giant in the spotlight when it comes to how secure the data you’ve entrusted to them (in addition to what they’ve collected) really is. Today, we’ll discuss how you can access the information Facebook has on you.

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Recent Data Breaches You Should Know

Recent Data Breaches You Should Know

Imagine for a second what would happen if your business’ data was exposed and stolen. You’d have a really difficult time going forward as your client-base dwindled and you opportunities for growth dried up. The amazing part is that some very successful companies have this type of thing happens all the time. Today, we will look at some of the largest data breaches since September 1.

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Protect Smartphones Like Any Other Computer

Protect Smartphones Like Any Other Computer

We go into great depth on how to protect your desktop and laptop computers from malware and other malicious threats. In fact, one of the first steps you take anytime you are setting up a new computer is to install antivirus and other security programs. You do this because an unprotected device presents substantial risk. With the way people are using their smartphones today, it’s a solid practice to outfit your mobile device with the security software needed to maintain the security of your data.

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Tip of the Week: 3 Signs of a Phishing Attempt

Tip of the Week: 3 Signs of a Phishing Attempt

Social engineering is a very important component of many modern cyberattacks, as the popularity of phishing scams goes to show. Protecting yourself from phishing scams will require you to be able to identify them. For today’s tip, we’ll go over a few warning signs that someone may be trying to phish you through your email.

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Office Gadgets to Add to Your Holiday Shopping List

Office Gadgets to Add to Your Holiday Shopping List

It’s the holiday season, which means many offices are holding gift swaps between employees. In the spirit of the holidays, we thought it would be helpful to share some gift ideas for the people you work with.

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What to Include in a BYOD Policy

What to Include in a BYOD Policy

A Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy is something that many organizations have adopted, for a few good reasons: employee satisfaction, cost savings, and productivity boosts included. However, it’s crucial that you don’t just assume that you can adopt a policy like BYOD without establishing some ground rules that your employees need to abide by.

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Tip of the Week: Tips to Help Manage Your IT Inventory Better

Tip of the Week: Tips to Help Manage Your IT Inventory Better

IT inventory management, also known as IT asset management or ITAM, is an important process for any business to undergo. This is effectively the process of ensuring that all of your information technology resources are accounted for and protected. Here, we’ve assembled some practices that will help make this process much simpler.

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Is VoIP Really More Cost Effective?

Is VoIP Really More Cost Effective?

Every business can use some cost reductions. Most businesses have seen their margins shrink and would love to save some money, especially when it seems like as soon as it’s made it’s heading right back out the door. One way businesses can shave off their operational expenses is by shifting their business’ telephone system to a VoIP system. 

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End of Life Event on the Horizon

End of Life Event on the Horizon

If Windows 7 is still at work on some (or all) of your business’ workstations, you have about a month to upgrade or face dealing with major cybersecurity problems. This month we will look at the options a business would have if they need to upgrade from Windows 7 quickly.

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A Brief Look at Project Management Tools

A Brief Look at Project Management Tools

To build anything great on a budget or a timeline, you need to have good coordination. At the helm of these projects is the project manager. A job that is extraordinarily stressful and often equally thankless. After all, most customers take the positive resolution to any order for granted. This month, we will take a look at project management and the tools that are used by them to produce the best results possible. 

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Former Trend Micro Employee Sold 68,000 Customer Records to Scammers

Former Trend Micro Employee Sold 68,000 Customer Records to Scammers

Antivirus developer Trend Micro is doing some damage control after an ex-employee stole customer data and sold it to online scammers. These scammers have been calling Trend Micro customers. If you use Trend Micro, it’s best to be wary of any calls you get.

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You Are Most Definitely Using Cloud Computing

You Are Most Definitely Using Cloud Computing

The cloud is the new standard for businesses to handle their data storage and software distribution needs. We have a lot of experience in assisting our clients with the services they use via the cloud, and beyond that, most people are somehow connected to “the cloud” in some shape or form. However, this does raise a few questions about how secure our data actually is.

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Know Your Tech: Fiber Optics

Know Your Tech: Fiber Optics

The Internet is more than a piece of technology, it fuels huge swaths of the modern world. The economic benefits of the Internet are hard to estimate, but Cisco has tried, giving it a $19 trillion valuation, or about 21 percent of the total amount of money that is currently available in the world. So, if you have a resource that is valued at almost a quarter of humanity’s total monetary worth, you try to maximize the use of it.

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Solid Training can Make All the Difference

Solid Training can Make All the Difference

When many businesses look to add to their roster, they typically have a series of qualifications they need each applicant to meet before they grant interviews. They make their selection, do their entrance training, and then expect that the new hire will settle in and be as productive as possible as soon as possible.

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IT and Professional Services: A Strategic Relationship

IT and Professional Services: A Strategic Relationship

When you think of professional services, you may think about smart people doing important things that took them years to learn how to do. You may not, however, consider them the kind of people that lean on their technology to make their businesses work. This is because for the longest time, technology wasn’t a major part of the professional services landscape. 

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Considering How to Monitor Your Employees

Considering How to Monitor Your Employees

Do you know what drives me crazy? It’s the fact that, of all the lists of things you can do to improve your business and boost your productivity and optimize something or other… it seems there's not much to be said about how your employees factor in.

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Tip of the Week: Helpful Outlook Tips

Tip of the Week: Helpful Outlook Tips

Many businesses turn to Microsoft Outlook as their email client of choice. Did you know that Outlook comes with certain features that make it an even better business option? To help you get the most use out of Outlook, we’re sharing a few of these features as this week’s tip.

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Software Patching in the Cloud

Software Patching in the Cloud

A lot of computing is done today using cloud computing - basically, making use of the computing power, space, and applications that a provider has on their infrastructure as if they were your own. Doing so can provide a very specific benefit to your security, but, have you ever wondered how the cloud itself is protected? 

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Which Backup Strategy is Best?

Which Backup Strategy is Best?

It has reached the point that, if you have a business, you had better have a backup prepared. Otherwise, the digital data that modern businesses like yours rely on is vulnerable to loss. Of course, depending on the age of your business, you may have data that no longer applies to your operations. That’s why we’re going over how to select the data you should continue to back up.

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Tip of the Week: How to Control File Sharing in OneDrive

Tip of the Week: How to Control File Sharing in OneDrive

Microsoft’s solutions are fairly common among businesses, so there’s a fair chance that you utilize Microsoft Office 365, which gives you access to Microsoft’s cloud storage solution, OneDrive. Using this, your users are better able to share documents and collaborate on them… but what if you don’t want your users sharing company documents willy-nilly? Today, our tip will cover how to control sharing in OneDrive.

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Are Cloud Servers an Option?

Are Cloud Servers an Option?

Servers are the brains of your business insofar that’s where most of the critical information is stored, and a server failure (with no contingency plan in place) could spell the end-times for your business. With that information, you should be looking for the most reliable option that works for you. Today, we’re going to look at the differences between using hosted servers vs. paying for your own in-house server. 

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To Save Your Business from Disaster, Backup is Crucial

To Save Your Business from Disaster, Backup is Crucial

Businesses generate and collect a huge amount of data - some of it, practically useless, and some, critical to your business and its operations. It is this latter group that makes it so important that you have a comprehensive backup plan ready to go.

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Like IT or Not, You Need to Keep Up

Like IT or Not, You Need to Keep Up

You have to establish your organization as a contender. To do so, you’re going to need to use at least the caliber of tools that your competition is using. According to the 2020 State of IT report that Spiceworks has released, the majority of businesses with fewer than 100 employees have plans to adopt new technology solutions.

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How IT is Driving Innovative Developments

How IT is Driving Innovative Developments

Any healthy market economy relies on innovation. The simple act of making bright ideas even brighter helps boost economic efficiency and growth, creating a higher standard of living. Business processes are being transformed through information technology. Here, let’s look at how some of these shifts are shaping up.

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