June 25th, 2019 by admin
During the beginning stages of operations, demand can be slow at first and then gradually start picking up, but what happens when small demand increases to significant demand in a short period? When a company is experiencing expansion, it is usually...
Posted in: Solutions
April 20th, 2019 by admin
The possibilities are endless when it comes to being in the cloud. The majority of businesses are already in the cloud in some capacity, and your business may be one of them but are you entirely utilizing the benefits of the cloud? Private data centers...
Posted in: Solutions
April 26th, 2018 by admin
It's easy to grow jaded about presentation software. After all, each new version of PowerPoint and Keynote may feel like the equivalent of the same old room getting a new coat of paint. However, new tools and apps offer all sorts of fresh and clever ways...
Posted in: Solutions
April 3rd, 2018 by admin
While there's plenty of technology available to keep your business's data protected, the human element is still the most important piece to consider in safeguarding your company's data. Properly training employees to understand and implement data security...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
March 5th, 2018 by admin
When used well, instant messaging tools can increase productivity while offering secure information exchange in your office. Messaging works in business environments because it's less involved than email, easy to queue and fast to respond. Several free...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
November 8th, 2017 by admin
It's inevitable: employees working hard on a time-consuming project and then out of nowhere, the lights start to flicker and the power goes out. Suddenly, those workers express their frustration by pulling out their hair because they've just lost hours'...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
April 26th, 2017 by admin
Email and social media accounts provide a wealth of cyber security challenges for businesses. Hackers often look for exploits in account operations to steal information and seize control—both of which can be extremely damaging and difficult to combat....
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security, Partners and Industries
March 1st, 2017 by admin
When it comes to your office computers, a little bit of spring cleaning goes a long way. Sure, cleaning office computers can seem tedious. But think of it like preventative maintenance on a vehicle: In the best-case scenario, you'll never know all the...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
February 23rd, 2017 by admin
It's quite common that, over time, Windows systems accumulate a laundry list of programs that load when a user signs in. While generally benign, most of these "startup" programs are unlikely to actually benefit the user—so the computer ends up...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
February 15th, 2017 by admin
It's a familiar sighting in the workplace: the employee with half a dozen sticky notes attached to their computer monitor. While not the most confidential or elegant solution, these employees are on to something. Fortunately, technology has stepped in...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
February 8th, 2017 by admin
Your employees' computers may not be up to speed anymore after two or three years of use, but in many cases your staff can upgrade or tune up these devices to keep pace with work demands. Upgrades can often be purchased and installed for under $100 a...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
February 1st, 2017 by admin
Multi-tasking wizards have a secret: Modern operating systems offer a handy technique for managing multiple windows while maximizing available screen space, significantly increasing productivity. Depending on the OS, this feature may be referred to as...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
December 7th, 2016 by admin
If your company’s antivirus software is letting you down, you should think twice before installing a second one on a computer: It may actually make things worse. Multiple antivirus programs working in conjunction on the same device is not a case of...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
November 11th, 2016 by admin
In September 2016, Apple announced that the iPhone 7 will not feature a 3.5mm jack—meaning anyone who wants to use standard headphones (or the credit-card scanning Square Reader) will need an adapter. Only time will tell if removing the century-old...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
October 19th, 2016 by admin
Good news: Your IT staff can stop running regular hard drive defragmentation on your office computers. Improvements in technology have rendered this decade-old practice largely irrelevant. One less thing to worry about, as far as we’re concerned. Hard...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
October 12th, 2016 by admin
While modern computers are much more stable than their ancestors, trying to get work done on a slow, malfunctioning computer is still a business world rite of passage. Troubleshooting bad behavior on your work computer can, of course, be a tedious...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
September 28th, 2016 by admin
If your staff is complaining about slow Internet access at your office, it’s time to consider how well the Wi-Fi network is configured. Slow Wi-Fi is best known, after all, for transforming an otherwise ideal work environment into a slow-boiling pot...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
September 13th, 2016 by admin
Water-resistance probably isn’t on the feature checklist for your employee smartphones—but judging by how many of these devices meet an untimely end via liquid damage, it should be. It probably doesn't come as a surprise that dropping the device...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
August 24th, 2016 by admin
Secondary monitors have incredible potential to increase productivity in the workplace. It might not seem like much, but minimizing, maximizing, and arranging application windows on a single computer monitor can take up a significant amount of time....
Posted in: Hardware and Software
August 9th, 2016 by admin
There was a time when printers—in your office or home—were considered relatively "simple" office equipment: plug it in, connect it to the local network, and keep the ink fresh, and there wasn't much else to worry about. But times have changed. Today's...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security, Hardware and Software
August 2nd, 2016 by admin
Not all storage devices were built to stand the test of time, so it’s important for every business to ensure its data is backed up on a reliable platform. If you’ve ever needed to reference financial records or court cases from a decade ago, you’ll...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
July 26th, 2016 by admin
Last time, we talked about several handy do-it-yourself online tools to measure your office broadband speed. If your online connections aren't quite as fast as you expected from your service provider, don't be afraid to show them the "hard numbers"...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
July 19th, 2016 by admin
How fast is your company's broadband Internet speed compared to ten years ago? Chances are that while your online connection at work back then was faster than your first home Internet service (think of that annoying dial-up modem noise), if you tried...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
June 21st, 2016 by admin
More and more businesses are switching their storage solutions from hard disk drives (HDDs) to solid state drives (SSDs) for one simple reason: the appeal of faster loading times and increased productivity. However, HDDs can still be the better choice...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
June 7th, 2016 by admin
One of our pet peeves with some of our new customers is that once we come in to upgrade their IT network, they're careless about disposing their old hardware—specifically, their PC hard drives. They think that by simply deleting their existing files—email,...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security, Hardware and Software
May 17th, 2016 by admin
Let’s talk about desktop monitors. In many companies, large or small, an onboarding employee gets whatever display hardware might already reside in their assigned cube—no matter how old it is. But like most computer products, the technology is always...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
May 11th, 2016 by admin
Smartphone users can be broken down into two camps: those who can't live without lining up to buy the latest and greatest model the day it hits the stores, and those who hold on to their tried-and-true phone until it suddenly dies one morning. There's...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
April 12th, 2016 by admin
A couple months back, we touched on the story of our normally tech-savvy friend who got tricked into allowing his desktop PC to be infected with obvious malware. At first, he had the sickening feeling that comes with a virus-infected computer—but thanks...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
March 30th, 2016 by admin
If you think there's a new cyber-threat to worry about every week, you're probably right. The latest vulnerability to send shockwaves through the enterprise security community has been given a rather ominous acronym: DROWN, short for Decrypting RSA...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
February 17th, 2016 by admin
A new combination of a sophisticated password-stealing Trojan, powerful exploit kit, and content-encrypting ransomware is making its way around the Internet infecting Windows users. If it hits your business, you’re looking at a considerable loss of...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
January 12th, 2016 by admin
It's been talked about everywhere from the New York Times to Men's Health and Women's Health: Sitting at a desk all day may be dangerously unhealthy. Medical studies conducted around the world support the same conclusion: When a human body...
Posted in: Solutions, Hardware and Software
January 5th, 2016 by admin
What is the current state of your company's IT security training program—if you have one? Many companies settle for an annual group training session to broadly review the major types of cyber-threats—viruses, malware, and phishing. The problem with...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
December 2nd, 2015 by admin
Your business can take a productivity hit and incur unnecessary expenses because of a very common, often overlooked problem: dust buildup in computers. Dust inside computers can decrease their efficiency and even their operational lifespans. These...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
October 27th, 2015 by admin
Now that the dust has settled around the release of Windows 10, your SMB may be looking to increase productivity by upgrading your OS. Still, you should proceed with caution. The latest version of the operating system offers a more secure computing...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
October 6th, 2015 by admin
The big news out of Microsoft over the past couple of months is the much-ballyhooed release of Windows 10. While “Win10” finally addresses those annoying shortcomings of its predecessor Windows 8 (as we've discussed), it still hasn't corrected a dangerous...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
September 18th, 2015 by admin
Last spring, Hillary Clinton received a barrage of criticism after it was revealed that she used a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State—seemingly at odds with government security protocols, if not federal laws. Clinton would...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
August 27th, 2015 by admin
In this third installment of our blog series on Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) and Cloud-hosted virtual workspaces, we'd like to pass along a few pointers about when and how to plan a successful structured deployment within your organization. Everything...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
July 22nd, 2015 by admin
When we conduct our complimentary IT assessment for a prospective customer, one question we're frequently asked is "Can we do anything to cut down on the noise in our server room?" Most older office facilities in the Bay Area simply weren't designed...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
July 16th, 2015 by admin
We've spent plenty of time here talking about safeguarding your company against phishing and other forms of cyber-attack. As we've discussed, the first line of defense against phishing is to make sure your employees remain vigilant by avoiding email...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
May 20th, 2015 by admin
We've spent a lot of time on this blog talking about cyber-attacks—from nuisance hacking to data theft to virtual electronic terrorism—and the steps your company can take to defend itself. But what if, despite all your best efforts, you one day discover...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security, Solutions
May 1st, 2015 by admin
Apple TV, typically used as a video content streaming device for Netflix, YouTube, and iTunes, is fairly common in homes across the U.S. However, this crafty little device that can fit in your palm also has some impressive applications in an office setting...
Posted in: Hardware and Software
February 7th, 2014 by admin
I'll make a decent bet that your greatest Information Technology costs are not related to hardware and software. In fact, they're probably not related to physical technology at all. What is Your Greatest IT cost? Support labor! IT labor...
Posted in: Solutions
December 18th, 2013 by admin
Ready for the answers to our quiz? Drumroll please... Every single email is malicious EXCEPT for this one: “eFax message from “4082459385″. 1 page(s). Caller-ID: 408-245-9385″ - eFax Yep, that eFax message is 100% legitimate! Now let's discuss why...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
December 12th, 2013 by admin
Can you Spot the Malicious Emails/s?! After reading through our Cryptolocker and Ransomware blog series and learning how to identify a malicious email, it's time to put your new virus sleuthing skills to the test. Read through the list of email...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
November 21st, 2013 by admin
About half of all small business owners believe their business is too small to be a potential victim for virtual thieves and hacking. The facts, however, say something quite different. The majority of cyber attacks are actually perpetrated against...
Posted in: Cyber and Data Security
November 6th, 2013 by admin
The 5 basic tips below are essential to maintaining the health and efficiency of your network, servers, and computer systems. Please consult an expert IT Consultant or Managed Service Provider for more information about protecting your IT systems. ...
Posted in: Solutions
