November 16th, 2017 by admin
Businesses use surge protectors every day without thinking about them; however, they are an incredibly important piece of technology that can make the difference between a $20.00 and a $2,000.00 equipment replacement. While uncommon, a power surge can...
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: Knowledge
September 19th, 2017 by admin
Setting up your conference room for wireless screen mirroring is the answer to employees sharing in a collective groan when it's time to connect a computer or mobile device to show a presentation. While setting up the conference room television or projector...
Posted in: Knowledge
September 6th, 2017 by admin
Online retailers are already working on business strategies for the Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday online shopping weekend months in advance. These three days are the busiest online shopping days for retailers, bringing in nearly $6 billion...
Posted in: Knowledge
August 29th, 2017 by admin
Adobe Flash, the web content standard the Internet loves to hate, will soon meet its ultimate demise: Adobe will finish phasing out the platform in 2020. Flash, first introduced in the early 2000s, has been on a gradual decline for almost as long as it...
July 11th, 2017 by admin
If your business is using 2-factor authentication or 2FA, methods to secure your important accounts, you may need to investigate better ways to implement the practice. Security experts widely recommend using 2FA, a system which utilizes a second security...
July 5th, 2017 by admin
It happens in every office eventually: an employee is going about their workday and suddenly their computer or monitor won't turn on. Fortunately, there's gold in those unused desktops and laptops stuck in the storage closet. Aside from the computers...
April 5th, 2017 by admin
If one of your office computers always seems to shut down or slow to a crawl at the busiest of times, you may have a case of overheating on your hands—especially if IT can't find anything wrong on the software level. Performance hiccups might seem like...
March 28th, 2017 by admin
If the sounds of disgruntled employees complaining about poor Wi-Fi connectivity are all too familiar in your SMB, it's time to consider switching to a mesh network. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi networks that use a single point of origin and optional...
Posted in: Knowledge
March 21st, 2017 by admin
With a little bit of effort, your staff can reap all the benefits of a laptop, and many of the perks of a desktop, with a little bit of planning and some additional hardware. It's a common perception that laptops lead in portability, while desktops specialize...
Posted in: Managed IT Services, Knowledge
March 9th, 2017 by admin
Network-Attached Storage (NAS) servers are a great asset for small businesses managing data. For the uninitiated, NAS is essentially a streamlined server designed specifically for sharing files between devices. Because of their simplified...
Posted in: Managed IT Services, Knowledge
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...
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...
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...
January 18th, 2017 by admin
Depending on your industry, modern virtual reality (VR) devices could offer impressive options to improve productivity. The video game industry, for one, has been a major player in pushing VR technology. Despite a handful of flops like Nintendo’s 1995...
Posted in: Knowledge
December 13th, 2016 by admin
In a rare move, Samsung fully recalled and discontinued production on its previously well-reviewed Galaxy Note 7 model following several verified cases of the devices catching fire. This unexpected turn of events has left a vacuum in the large smartphone...
Posted in: Knowledge
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...
October 26th, 2016 by admin
Work-disrupting messages like “please connect charger” and “plug in or find another power source” can be a huge source of frustration—not to mention a major productivity killer—for employees on the go. Nobody wants to see their phone battery go belly-up...
Posted in: Data, Managed IT Services, Solutions, Knowledge
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: Managed IT Services, Knowledge
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: Managed IT Services, Knowledge
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...
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...
September 7th, 2016 by admin
Google’s Chromebook platform has the potential to replace traditional laptops and increase productivity for businesses, much like it has in the consumer market at large. For the uninitiated, Chromebooks are Cloud-oriented laptops that run most operations...
Posted in: Knowledge
August 30th, 2016 by admin
Those old servers your business no longer uses—and keeps running anyway—are more than just a security risk: They’re hurting your firm’s bottom line. The term comatose server describes a functional server, connected to a network, that sits idle virtually...
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: Managed IT Services, Solutions, Knowledge
August 16th, 2016 by admin
Secure passwords and recovery strategies are an essential part of doing business in the digital age—and password manager programs can help streamline the process. Password managers store and, often, automate login credentials for individuals across...
Posted in: Managed IT Services, Solutions, Knowledge
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: Managed IT Services, Knowledge
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: Managed IT Services, Support, Solutions, Knowledge
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: Managed IT Services, Support, Knowledge
July 12th, 2016 by admin
If you've looked over our previous posts since we've started our blog, you know how serious we are about protecting your company from everyday cyber-threats—mainly phishing, ransomware, and various other malware. Today we'd like to discuss a different...
Posted in: Managed IT Services, Solutions, Knowledge
July 7th, 2016 by admin
It's a fair bet that one of your employees has already shown off a trendy new wearable gadget around the office. What began with Bluetooth earpieces would branch off into smartwatches, smart glasses, wrist-worn fitness trackers, and even smart clothing...
Posted in: Managed IT Services, Security, Knowledge
June 29th, 2016 by admin
Readers of our blog over the past few years know we were among the first in the Bay Area to warn our customers about the growing threats of ransomware—from the emergence of CryptoLocker and CryptoWall to our federal government's startling admission...
June 14th, 2016 by admin
A WISP is one of the most important documents for any company doing business over the Internet—which, in this day and age, is pretty much everybody. Who's responsible for drafting and maintaining your company's WISP? Or are you even sure what a WISP...
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: Data, Managed IT Services, Knowledge
May 24th, 2016 by admin
Those “Upgrade to Windows 10” notifications seem to be showing up everywhere, even in the middle of a weather forecast on Iowa television. What would’ve otherwise been an embarrassing interruption turned into a watercooler moment that anyone who used...
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: Managed IT Services, Knowledge
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...
May 3rd, 2016 by admin
Today we'd like to pass along a critical security advisory to all our customers: If any of your company's Windows systems still retain Apple's QuickTime for Windows software, uninstall it immediately—as soon as you finish reading this post (if not...
April 26th, 2016 by admin
Earlier today the cashier at the local drive-thru miskeyed the amount of cash I gave him into his register. Somewhat sheepishly, he asked if I had a smartphone so I could verify the correct amount of change. Fortunately, I never leave home without it....
Posted in: Managed IT Services, Support, Knowledge
April 7th, 2016 by admin
We're only a few months into 2016, but we've already seen two high-profile ransomware attacks—where cyber-crooks heavily encrypt a victim's computer files before demanding payment for a decryption key only they can provide. Two notable incidents grabbed...
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...
March 23rd, 2016 by admin
Since Apple famously introduced the Macintosh over three decades ago, Mac users have been confident that their computers are virtually immune to ransomware and other malware threats which plague their Windows counterparts. But those days are over. ...