Simple tips to increase cloud affordability
Moving to the cloud can save you a considerable amount of money, which explains its rise in popularity over the years. What many business owners fail to realize is that some cloud services come with hidden costs. And while they might seem insignificant at first, they can add up to a staggering amount if left unchecked. Minimize your cloud expenditures with these five tips: No standalones Cloud services come in various shapes and sizes, many of which are standalone platforms with rates that increase over time. Opt for a service provider that offers a suite of products that all work together. They are often less expensive than a group of standalone products. Another benefit of working with a cloud provider is that you receive a single point of contact to resolve your issues quickly and effectively. Experience matters If you plan on integrating a standalone cloud service into your system, make sure you hire an experienced integration consultant to facilitate a smooth transition. Integration mishaps can cause serious downtime and cost a lot of money. Backups are important Unnecessary or inefficient backups will waste cloud storage space. Examine your cloud storage data by asking the following questions: How many versions of this data do I need to store long-term? The more versions you store, the more it costs. What regulatory demands do I need to meet? Some data may need to be accessible for up to three years, whereas other data can be deleted after 30 days. How quickly do I need to access my backups? If it can wait for a day or two, archive that data to a less expensive service or offline at the provider’s data center. Remove users Many cloud service providers charge by the number of users in your system. By neglecting to manage the list of users, you could end up paying for people who no longer work for you. Implement processes that remove users when they are terminated and consider scheduling a regular audit. Ideally, this should be once every six months to a year, to ensure your cloud user list is up-to-date. Monitor proactively Ask your cloud provider whether they can proactively monitor your account and notify you of potential issues before they cause problems. This is especially important if you have a pay-as-you-go license that charges based on resource or storage consumption. Utilizing the right technology resources is vital to your business’s success, and so is knowing how to prevent them from racking up an overwhelming monthly bill. If you wish to enjoy all the benefits of cloud computing without breaking the bank, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Why CRM is important to your business
Investing in customer relationship management (CRM) software is absolutely essential for small- and medium-sized businesses that want to up their sales performance. It helps sales departments understand their clients, tailor their marketing efforts, and more. If your business isn’t using CRM yet, here are five reasons why you should. Grows with your business The ol’ Rolodex may have been useful for managing a few clients, but you’ll need a much better solution if you plan to maintain relationships with hundreds, possibly thousands, more. CRM scales with your business, meaning it can handle larger data sets and more clients as you expand your sales operation. Organizes your data CRM software acts as a central database for all your sales records and transactions. This means important customer information can be retrieved in just a few clicks rather than by rifling through thousands of documents, sticky notes, and disorganized cabinets. And since CRM is hosted in the cloud, sales data, customer interactions, and other actionable information are available for the entire company. Improves customer service Your sales team could be the most persuasive individuals in the world, but this means nothing if they can’t recall anything about their clients and their preferences. When your sales staff follows up on leads or existing customers, CRM will automatically retrieve contact history, past purchases, and customer preferences from your client database and display them on a single page during the call. Armed with detailed customer information, sales representatives will be able to recommend products and services that meet the client’s needs. So instead of struggling through a sales call, marketing employees can focus on delivering a professional sales pitch. Streamlines your sales funnel CRM comes equipped with workflow management functions, supporting your sales pipeline in a number of ways. For example, you can configure your CRM to send instant follow-up emails when a lead visits a particular product page. You can even use automation to track where certain leads are in the sales pipeline and delegate the task to one of your sales closers. Analyzes sales data With real-time sales information, business managers can track marketing campaigns and adjust their strategy accordingly. For instance, you might notice that click-through-rates for promotional emails and company newsletters are higher during Tuesday afternoon than Friday night. Having this information can help you focus your marketing efforts and message to generate more leads. In addition, you can use CRM to analyze customer calling activity, market demographics, lead conversion rates, and key performance indicators to influence future business decisions. Understanding your customers can put you several steps ahead of the competition. If you need to manage contacts, eliminate time-consuming procedures, and improve your sales performance, CRM is the perfect business solution. Contact us today to find out whether CRM is the right fit for your business. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Fix these five problems in Windows 10 now
Although Windows 10 is packed with wonderful new features, it’s far from perfect. Users have complained about storage, connectivity, and update issues, among other things. If you’ve encountered any of these issues, no need to panic. We have listed down five simple fixes to the most common Windows 10 problems. 1. Less storage space When you upgrade to Windows 10, your old software is not actually deleted but stored in your hard drive as “windows.old”. While this is a smart move that allows users to downgrade their software if they want, it also consumes a lot of space that you can use to store more important files. If you want to delete this previous version to free your storage space, first type “cleanup” on the Windows search bar to pull up the Disk Cleanup app. From there, you can either click on OK right away, or you can choose Clean up system files to ask Windows to scan your system. Either of these options will open a pop-up box that will ask whether you would like to delete previous Windows installations.Then, select the files you want to delete and click OK. 2. System Restore isn’t enabled In Windows 10, System Restore isn’t enabled by default. To turn it on, go to the Start Menu and type “Create a restore point.” Next, choose the system drive and click the Configure button, then select Turn on system protection. Use the slider to set an appropriate amount of maximum disk space to be used for restoring the system (about 5 GB should be enough). 3. Updates won’t work First off, check if you’ve upgraded to the most recent stable update. Users should hold off on installing the Fall 2018 update until issues are resolved. If your updates still don’t work, download and run Windows Update Troubleshooter and try to update again. 4. Privacy violations Windows 10 faces a lot of criticism over data privacy settings. We recommend you review them from time to time, especially after every update is released. To change the privacy settings, go to Start Menu > Settings > Privacy. On the left-hand side, you’ll see a list of features and data Windows has access to that you can disable, including the computer’s camera, microphone, account information, and so on. Turn off the ones that you don’t want Windows to have access to. If you use Windows Defender, go to Update & Security, and decide whether you want to enable cloud-based detection and automatic sample submission, which uploads suspicious files to Microsoft Servers for analysis. 5. Windows 10 uses up all the 4G data Windows 10 allows you to connect to the internet via cellular data, just in case the Wi-Fi is slow or unavailable. However, it can use up all your data if you’re not careful. To avoid this, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Data Usage. Select Cellular Data from connection options, and then click on Set Limit where you can adjust how much data your computer uses. We hope these five fixes will help enhance your Windows 10 experience . But while there are some issues you can fix by yourself, others are more complicated and would better be handled by IT experts. Call us today, and let our staff get rid of all your Windows 10 headaches. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
App virtualization: What you need to know
As a small- or medium-sized business (SMB) owner, you need to stay on top of IT trends to get ahead. However, many new IT solutions are quite confusing. One of those is app virtualization. To clear up the confusion, here is a quick overview of what it’s all about. What are non-virtualized apps? To understand app virtualization, first you need to understand how non-virtualized apps are installed. When you install an application like Skype or Slack onto a computer, the installer program puts most of the files required for the app to run on your hard drive’s Program Files folder. This process is usually fine for personal use but may become problematic if you install similar apps on your device. For instance, if two similar apps are installed on the same file destination, there’s a chance that they might conflict with each other and inevitably crash. Likewise, if you uninstall a program without knowing that it shares important files with another application, you run the risk of breaking the other one. The solution to this is app virtualization. What is app virtualization? App virtualization involves running a program in an environment separate from the physical server, allowing you to run programs that are normally incompatible with a certain operating system (OS). In other words, virtualized apps trick your computer into working as if the application is running on a local machine, but in fact, you’re actually accessing the app from somewhere else. Advantages of app virtualization App virtualization offers numerous advantages for SMBs, including: Quick installation times and less money spent on local installation Allowing incompatible applications to run on any local machine. For instance, if your laptop is dated and can’t run the latest apps on its own, you can lighten the load on your CPU by accessing virtualized apps instead. Mac users can run any Windows apps if your company’s local server runs Windows OS. Applications on your computers won’t be in conflict with each other since virtual apps are installed in a separate location. Upgrading is easy because your IT team won’t have to upgrade applications in individual desktops, they just have to upgrade the virtual application within the company’s local server. Applications can be accessed from any machine, allowing your employees to work from home or on the go if they choose to. Things to consider Before you start deploying app virtualization solutions, you need to have a stable network connection so users can smoothly stream apps. Note that some apps like antivirus programs are difficult to virtualize since they need to be closely integrated with your local OS. Virtualizing a workplace is no easy task, and that’s where we come in. If you’re convinced that your company can benefit from app virtualization, get in touch with our IT experts today. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
How to prevent VoIP threats
Now that digital collaboration is an integral part of any business, VoIP has become indispensable. Unfortunately, as it becomes more widespread, so do the threats against it. These attacks may not be as serious as ransomware or phishing, but they’re just as dangerous to SMBs. Here are five ways to protect your VoIP network against these threats. Since the majority of VoIP services involve live communications, people might think that it’s safer than stored data, which can be stolen at any time. What companies don’t realize is that valuable information moves across VoIP networks the same way sensitive documents are shared via email. In some cases, internet-based calls are more vulnerable to fraud, identity theft, eavesdropping, intentional disruption of service, and even financial loss. 24/7 monitoring VoIP security breaches usually take place outside operating hours. Attackers make phone calls using private accounts or access call records with confidential information on the sly. Contracting outsourced IT vendors to monitor network traffic for any abnormalities is the best way to avoid these security breaches. VoIP firewalls Firewalls specifically designed for IP-based telephony curb the types of traffic that are allowed into your network. They ensure that every connection is properly terminated at the end of a session and identify suspicious calling patterns. Virtually every VoIP vendor provides these protocols, but you should always consult with your IT services provider as to how these protocols will be managed within your organization. Encryption tools Due to lack of encryption, VoIP systems can be easily broken into by even inexperienced hackers, who can download and deploy tools to eavesdrop or intercept your calls. Some services claim to have built-in encryption, but companies still need to be vigilant and investigate how effective they are. Using encryption ensures that even if hackers successfully download individual audio or video, they still can’t decode the file unless they have a separate decryption key. Virtual private network Virtual private networks or VPNs create a secure connection between two points, as if they are occupying the same closed network. It’s like building a secret tunnel between you and the call receiver. Aside from encryption, establishing a VPN can help overcome complications involving Session Initiation Protocol trunking, a recommended VoIP feature. Password protection Using passwords to authenticate your access to private information is not as secure as it once was. Hackers can easily find or guess a password and use it for cyberattacks. This is why protecting the passwords themselves is a great layer of protection against threats. Employees should be instructed never to give any compromising information during a VoIP call, as eavesdropping is one of the easiest and most common cyberattacks against VoIP networks. VoIP is as important as any of your other network security considerations. It requires a unique combination of protection measures, and we’d love to give you advice on these. Give us a call today to get started. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
The perks of being an Office Insider
Office 365 is already packed with the latest productivity features, but for premium perks, opt for the Office Insider program. This gives Office subscribers a heads up on upcoming Microsoft releases and updates before other companies do. Here’s why Office Insider is perfect for business owners. Early Access Subscribing to Office Insider gives you access to new innovations, security updates, and bug fixes months before they are released to the public. This insider feature is available in two levels: the fast ring where updates are rolled out more frequently, but come with a few bugs, and the slow ring where updates are released slower, but come with little to no software bugs. What’s new for Office Insiders? Ideas in Excel Ideas is a bolt-shaped icon at the top right corner of the screen that helps you understand your data through high-level summaries, trends, and patterns. It will analyze your data and create attractive visuals about it in the task pane. Animated 3D graphics Animated 3D graphics like beating hearts, orbiting planets, and rampaging T-rex are now available on Powerpoint. You can insert 3D models from the internet and animate them with the Runner badge to spice up your PowerPoint slides. New proofreading tools Editor can now mark issues on spelling, grammar, and style with red, blue, and gold underlines. It provides suggestions to improve your writing in the Editor pane, which even explains the suggestions to better help you pick the best one. New look for the ribbon icons Ribbon icons now have crisp, clean lines, are visually optimized for all devices, and automatically updated. Coming Soon Outlook occasionally releases dramatic new features and for some people, it can be a little bit overwhelming. The Coming Soon feature allows you to have a window of time to try out new features before they become permanent. Competitive Advantage By being an Office 365 Insider, you can test the waters and get acquainted with the features way ahead of your competition. Reserving a meeting room can be a lot easier now through Outlook. Misspelled search terms are now automatically managed by Outlook. Also, with the new supercharged VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and MATCH functions, you can easily find answers to your queries. Feedback Subscribing to the Insider program also allows you to give your feedback directly to the Microsoft product team. It will help you to accustom yourself with the features earlier, and you’ll contribute to making Office 365 better for other users worldwide. You’ll be a part of the ongoing process of Office improvement. Office Insider can open up your company to a wide variety of productivity-boosting features. The only question you have to ask yourself now is: Do I want to be at the cutting edge of tech innovations? Contact us today to find out how you can get on the inside and know the latest Office updates. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Boost productivity with machine learning
Ever wonder why Google goes through all the trouble of remembering your searches and online shopping history? It’s not only for the company’s benefit, but also to make tasks and scheduling easy for you. By predicting work patterns and files that you are more likely to use, something called machine learning boosts your productivity. Based on thousands and possibly millions of recorded actions and data, machine learning analyzes your past actions to guess what you need to do next. Machine learning can suggest specific documents, launch apps, schedule meetings, and send emails depending on your email writing schedule, the device you’re using, and apps you’re using at the time. How does machine learning work? One great example is using the Explore button on Google Sheets. It’s a small cross icon button on the lower right portion of the screen that reveals data trends. Through machine learning, Explore can also analyze written data, and suggest the best layout and settings for you. It can even help you format and design your file! Machine learning ultimately helps you avoid menial tasks, like locating a document that’s lost in years of saved random documents in one folder. Machine learning automatically suggests files or websites that you usually open during certain times of day. Other routine tasks like searching for and downloading files, sorting emails, and launching apps are also made easier through machine learning. Imagine the time and effort that you’re going to save if you’re only focusing on jobs that actually require your brain cells to work! No more spam emails One of the best benefits of machine learning algorithms is the significant reduction of spam in your emails. Manually managing emails and sorting them into folders can take hours. That’s a huge waste of time and money if you’re paying employees for other, more technical, skills. If you still think of Gmail as a low-level consumer app, it’s time to reevaluate that assumption. Upgrading to the business subscription gives you greater control over the spam filter and malware detector so you can boost employee productivity. Replying to emails can be a monotonous task sometimes. But with Smart Reply, getting to inbox zero can be accomplished in minutes. Gmail suggests reply templates for each mail you receive. It’s already a great feature when you need to respond with something basic like, “Yea, that time works for me!” but it gets more accurate and intelligent every time you add a hand-typed a response to the database. All these features make work collaboration more accessible and way faster. This makes Google Apps perfect for businesses that require remote and constant collaboration with colleagues. For more information about these features, contact us today. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
7 of the best apps for Android devices
With literally millions of Android apps out there, choosing the ones that will help you get the most out of your smartphone or tablet can be daunting. The fact that there are countless options that offer basically the same features doesn’t help. Luckily, our list of some of the best Android apps will ensure you find the ones that suit your needs and your device. Google Drive Google Drive gives you 15GB of free cloud storage (you can purchase additional storage as needed), plus access to Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep to do both work and personal tasks even while on the go. It also includes Google Photos, which you can use to store, view, and share photos and videos. Microsoft Office apps The Microsoft Office apps bring you all the essential tools you need to get work done. They encompass all the familiar Office apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. Create and edit documents anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected device. And with these apps’ integration with OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud service, your documents are automatically saved and easily shared with others. Evernote Trouble keeping track of your tasks and ideas? Then Evernote is the app for you. Create handwritten notes, or notes that take the form of a voice memo, photo, screenshot, or an excerpt from an online article. And with their smart search tools, finding the notes or notebooks you need is a breeze. The Premium and Business options offer even more features. For example, the Business plan includes Spaces, which you can use to organize notes in separate notebooks that different teams in your company can access. AirDroid Exclusive to Android, AirDroid is a file-sharing app that lets you wirelessly transfer files from a smartphone or tablet to a PC, and vice versa, all at lightning speed. It also allows you to access your device from your computer — manage your messages, contacts, camera, media files, and apps from your laptop’s or desktop’s web browser. Pocket Save content from a wide range of sources for offline viewing with Pocket. If you come across an interesting article on a news site or a video on Twitter, simply tap on the Share button in your device’s menu or the share menu in an app to save it onto Pocket. You can add tags to your saved content, so that they’re easy to find and pull up when you need them. And if you’re happy with your picks, share them with others through their Pocket accounts or social media. CamScanner This nifty application allows you to use your Android tablet’s camera to scan documents such as invoices, forms, and receipts, and have them exported as PDF files. You can store, sync, and collaborate on these documents across a variety of web-enabled devices. The app also comes with support for sending faxes, OCR (optimal character recognition), printing, and more. LastPass Memorizing all your passwords for all your social media accounts, apps, and websites is a pain, and that’s why a good password manager like LastPass is essential. This app quickly generates strong and secure passwords, and automatically logs you into various apps and websites across all your devices. With LastPass, you don’t have to remember a password ever again. This list is far from being a comprehensive one, but these apps can help you get the most out of your device. If you want to learn how to use Android devices to boost your business’s efficiency, give us a call today. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
4 types of hackers that may target SMBs
When it comes to cyberattacks, most business owners get hung up on the technical and logistical details, forgetting another important aspect: motive. Why are hackers attacking people and organizations? And whom are they targeting? By answering these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of which of your business’s resources need the most protection. Script Kiddies Skill-wise, script kiddies (or skids, for short) are at the bottom of the hacker totem pole. Their name comes from the fact that they use scripts or other automated tools written by others. Most of the time, script kiddies are young people on a quest for internet notoriety. Or, more often than not, they’re simply bored and in search of a thrill. Many never become full-time hackers; in fact, many script kiddies end up using their skills for the greater good, working in the security industry. Though lacking in hacking know-how, script kiddies shouldn’t be dismissed so easily, as they can cause businesses much damage. In May 2000, for instance, a couple of skids sent out an email with the subject line “ILOVEYOU” and ended up causing a reported $10 billion in lost productivity and digital damage. Hacktivists Hacktivists are primarily politically motivated, and they often hack into businesses and government systems to promote a particular political agenda or to effect social change. These so-called “hackers with a cause” steal confidential information to expose or simply disrupt their target’s operations. If you’re a small- or medium-sized (SMB) owner, don’t think for a second that you’re immune to hacktivist attacks. This is especially true if your company is associated or partnered with organizations that are prime hacktivist targets. Or, if your business provides services that can be seen as unethical, you may targeted by hacktivists as well. Cybercriminals When a hacker breaks into digital systems or networks with malicious intent, they are considered a cybercriminal. Cybercriminals target everyone from individuals to SMBs to large enterprises and banks that either have a very valuable resource to steal or security that is easy to exploit, or a combination of both. They can attack in a number of ways, including using social engineering to trick users into volunteering sensitive personal or company data, which they can then sell in underground markets in the dark web. They can also infect computers with ransomware and other malware, or use digital technology to carry out “conventional crimes” like fraud and illegal gambling. Insiders Perhaps the scariest type of hacker is the one that lurks within your own organization. An insider can be anyone from current and former employees to contractors to business associates. Oftentimes their mission is payback: to right a wrong they believe a company has done them, they’ll steal sensitive documents or try to disrupt the organization somehow. Edward Snowden is a prime example of an insider who hacked his own organization — the US government. Now that you know what motivates your enemy, and you think you might be a target, it’s time to secure your business from the different types of hackers out there. Get in touch with our experts today to learn how. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Mac OS tips and tricks you should know
Most Mac users love the user-friendly, easy-to-navigate interface the Apple brand is known for. But did you know that using your Mac can be even easier? It’s hard to believe, but there are a few tricks that are sure to save you hours in the long run and bring a new level of usability to your Mac. Open programs and files faster Want a quicker way to open files and programs? If you’re tired of opening Finder and scrolling through hundreds of apps and files, you’ll be glad to know that there’s a much more efficient solution, and that’s Spotlight. To use Spotlight, follow these steps: Press Command + Space bar to launch your search. Type the first few letters of the app or file you’d like to open. On the drop-down menu that appears, scroll down to the app or file you’re searching for and hit Enter. Force quit apps When the pinwheel of death rears its ugly head, your application stalls and your productivity comes to a standstill. There’s no better time to make use of the Force Quit shortcut. Here’s how to do it. Press Command + Option + Esc to display the list of all running apps. Click on the one you’d like to quit. Launch apps, files, and server connections automatically Save time by automatically launching a program when you log in by following these steps: Go to System Preferences. Choose Users & Groups. Select your account. Click on Login Items. Use the plus and minus signs to add programs, files, folders, etc. you’d like to automatically launch upon login. Click Add to save. Take a screenshot Sometimes, sharing an image of what’s on your screen is easier than describing it in text. Here are three easy ways to take a screenshot on your Mac. For an image of your entire screen, press Command + Shift + 3. For an image of an open window, press Command + Shift + 4 and the space bar. Click on the window you’d like an image of. For an image of a portion of your display, press Command + Shift + 4. Click and drag over the area you’d like to get an image of. If you’re already using Mac OS Mojave, the latest version of Apple’s desktop OS, press Command + Shift + 5 to see the controls you need to capture images and record videos of your screen. Shut down and restart If your Mac freezes or your mouse or trackpad stops working, the only fix may be to force your Mac to shut down. Press Control + Option + Command + Eject to quit open programs and shut down your computer immediately. Or, if you want to quickly reboot your Mac, hit Control + Command + Eject. These are just a few of the dozens of tips and shortcuts that will make using your Mac even easier. If you’d like to learn more or need other IT-related assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.