Computer Consulting Service Blog

We’ve seen firsthand how the shift to remote work has revolutionized business operations. However, one area still causes friction for many business owners: the virtual meeting. A poorly executed remote meeting isn't just a time-waster; it can drain productivity and disengage your team, damaging your company culture. Today, we outline a few tips that show that with the right strategy and tools, your remote meetings can be even more effective and engaging than their in-person counterparts.

Now that AI has entered the mainstream, more businesses are implementing these tools into their daily operations. Tasks like drafting emails, brainstorming for a new project, or debugging code have all been made easier. Here’s the secret to making the most out of AI: you get out what you put in. What do we mean by this? Let’s find out.

Happy Halloween! Tonight, ghosties and goblins will roam from door to door, collecting candies along the way. This is to be expected. Less expected are the cyberthreats and attacks that darken the doors of modern businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Let’s talk about the things you need to do to keep your business safe, inside and out, every night of the year.

Your business’ relationship with IT has a direct correlation to how well it operates. If your technology fails, your business suffers productivity losses, as well as financial ones due to decreased reliability in the eyes of customers and clients. One of the best ways to ensure you’re following through on the promises you make to your customers is to implement a proactive IT strategy to replace the reactive approaches seen in the past.

It's a familiar challenge for businesses: how do you build customer loyalty and a strong user experience while also making sure that their data is protected? Sustainable success depends on mastering this delicate balance. Instead of choosing one over the other, the goal is to optimize data protection without hindering your ability to engage customers and drive growth.

While data might be the new currency, your own business’ data might be a bit too messy to make full use of. You might be paying to store it and protect it, but you’re not doing as much with your data as you’d like. Here’s how businesses find themselves with these “data graveyards” and why it essentially functions like a debt rather than an asset.

Business owners have a lot of duties and responsibilities, and while you can hire a lot of people to cover some of the more stressful ones, it might feel strange to outsource your company’s technology management. You know IT is important, so that’s why you feel like you have to do it yourself, or at least in-house, but in reality, you’re the last person who should be working with your technology—and we’ll explain why.

When a company experiences a cyberattack, the consequences go far beyond a single ransom payment. The financial fallout can be massive, with the average cost of a data breach now reaching over $4.88 million globally.

There’s a reason why we tend to focus on security, and that’s because it’s not a matter of if you experience a cyberattack, but when. It’s your responsibility to make sure that you’re ready to act in the right way when faced with these attacks. One of the best ways you can be prepared is by working with a managed service provider like us. Today, we have three ways we, as a managed service provider, can help you take the fight to cybersecurity threats.

Cyberscams can be incredibly well-crafted and dangerous, and a significant portion of this danger stems from the scammer's ability to effectively utilize the psychological triggers that we all possess to some degree. Modern security training tends to focus on what signs we all need to keep an eye out for—and for good reason—but it does little to explore why modern scams are as effective as they are.

Let’s fix that by taking a moment to examine the tricks the scammers play so you can be that much more prepared to stop them by understanding how they work.

There’s a lot of comfort to be found in familiarity. It’s why so many of us cling to the way we’ve always done things. It’s the root of the old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In many contexts, this can be very good advice. One place it isn’t: your business’ technology.

Neglecting to improve the technology your business relies on can itself incur significant inherent costs that aren’t immediately apparent. Let’s explore them to truly appreciate the benefits of keeping your business’ tech up to date.

Proactive IT is something we harp on a lot, and that’s because it works… especially compared to the alternatives. However, what does proactive IT mean, and how can you get the most out of your business technology?

Perhaps more importantly, how can you make sure your technology doesn’t become a liability rather than an asset?

You see it everywhere, again and again: how much return an investment into proper business technology will bring, with little to no context behind these claims. We want to fix that.

Let’s examine why so much information about modern IT options can be less than helpful, and see if we can’t clarify what it means. Simplifying tech for the businesses we work with is one of our primary goals, after all.

Do you know what goes into a successful data backup strategy? If not, know that your business depends on these contingencies to confidently face the challenges of today’s business world. Today, we’re breaking down the essentials of a sound backup strategy—and trust us when we say it’s more complicated than you think.

There are a few occasions that we get a very apparent example of how important basic cybersecurity is, regardless of where you are, and this year’s National Football League draft is one such example.

For those who don’t follow the NFL or the draft proceedings, multiple draftees received prank calls during the process, although one in particular is applicable to businesses of all kinds. Let’s examine this situation to reinforce a few critical cybersecurity best practices.

We’ve all heard it, perhaps even rolled our eyes at it: “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” This seemingly simplistic question has become a running gag in the world of IT support. But beneath the humor lies a fundamental truth: rebooting a device is often the most effective first step in resolving a surprising number of technical glitches.

We understand that, although it might sound elementary, this advice is based on solid technical principles.

Data storage can be difficult for SMBs to manage, but the cloud can make it significantly easier (and cheaper). There are real, tangible benefits of using the cloud for your data storage needs. Today, we’ll look at three major reasons why your organization should have cloud storage on its list of tech infrastructure priorities in the coming months.

Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is a common approach for businesses that want to take advantage of mobile technology to kickstart productivity. Instead of supplying each individual employee with company-owned devices, businesses allow employees to use their own devices for work-related purposes. While this is great on the budget, it’s only really effective (and safe) if the employee prioritizes security on their devices; otherwise, it’s a liability.

You open your email and you have a message claiming your bank account has been compromised. You click the link, log in, and, whoops, you just handed your credentials to a cybercriminal. You’ve been a victim of phishing, where scammers bait you with fake messages and reel you in like an unsuspecting fish. You don’t have to be their next catch. Here’s how to recognize and fight back against phishing attempts.

Besides all of those people who are advocating for the scaling back or non-implementation of tools to save jobs, most people understand the benefit of automation when it makes sense. Not only do machines tend to do certain tasks more effectively, they never willingly take a day off. Unfortunately, for every task that needs to be completed less than half can be automated, and that number drops even further when you take into account everything a human does at their job. Today, there are very few jobs that can be fully automated; even as AI has begun to be used more for business. This week, we wanted to discuss why automation may not be the answer you are looking for and why training humans holds a lot of value.