Don?t worry, this happens all the time. The truth is that no matter how good of an investment your business? technology is – no matter how much money you make as a result of that technology – no matter how much you depend on that technology? that technology will fail. Today, well look at common technology problems and how important it is to have a backup plan with the fickle nature of this technology. Broken Technology If yours is like the average business, you have all types of technology that you use to get things done. This technology, however, has a tendency to malfunction regularly if you don?t have a strategy in place to proactively monitor and maintain it. This happens throughout a business. Some of the most widespread problems a business may experience with their IT include: Software problems: Software can be a major frustration for users and IT administrators, alike. Most pieces of software that are released have their bugs, which should probably be expected. The problem, however, is that users expect that all software, no matter who has developed it, to work flawlessly every time they use it. This expectation is, at best, is optimistic since most software titles will have some type of erroneous error. The problem becomes when that software error negatively affects one of your staff?s productivity and costs you extra in maintenance. Additionally, many software problems (and computer performance issues) have to do with the existence of malware on your system or network. Hardware problems: Sometimes hardware problems cause software problems, but most of the time if you have a problem with a piece of hardware, whether it be a workstation, a monitor, a router, a switch, or even a server, if that piece of hardware fails, it will almost certainly lead to some type of downtime; and, will be accompanied with repair or replacement costs shortly thereafter. Peripheral problems: Hardware that isn?t essential to organizational computing effectiveness is typically thought of as a peripheral. This includes easily replaceable hardware like a keyboard and/or mouse, and hardware that performs a specific special function such as a scanner, a printer, a copier, etc. Depending on what the malfunctioning peripheral is, fixing it could cost you next to nothing or could cost an arm and a leg. No matter what part of your IT infrastructure fails, replacing it is likely going to have to become a priority for you. If you get into a situation where some of the more expensive parts of your IT infrastructure begin to fail at once, or you have to deal with a companywide disaster, you may be facing a major problem. What Are My Options? Thankfully, before you panic about the thought of losing all that you?ve worked so hard for, you do have an option that will work to mitigate both unnecessary costs and the stress over failing technology: managed IT services. The IT experts at White Mountain IT Services can provide you with comprehensive monitoring which keeps a watchful eye over all of your IT to ensure that it is working as intended. If a machine or other device on your IT infrastructure is on its last legs, the powerful automated monitoring software will notify one of our professional technicians who then can be proactive about replacing the malfunctioning hardware, […]

Defining Encryption Encryption means that your data is scrambled in a way that obscures it from just anyone viewing it. What this means for email is that only the intended recipient can decrypt it, preventing those who might try to intercept it from being able to read it. For business email, this is particularly helpful. Security Security is the biggest reason to use encryption, and since it?s such an effective way to obscure data from prying eyes, it?s no wonder why. Many businesses utilize private or sensitive data, making it extremely important that it?s not exposed while in transit. In contrast to the way that hackers used to go about their business–breaking into networks and stealing data–many have opted instead to simply take a peek at the data while it?s moving from point A to point B. Encryption means they can?t do this anymore? well, they can, but they won?t see anything worth stealing due to the encryption scrambling the data. Compliance If your industry is one that must comply with regulations regarding data privacy, you might have to use encryption, so you can dodge hefty fines for not doing so. One of the best examples is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. What this states is that health information and records absolutely cannot be shared without the patient?s consent, meaning that if a hacker were to steal this information, the company responsible for storing it would be in direct violation of HIPAA. If you use encryption to make sure this doesn?t happen, you can protect your business from liability for this and your users from having their personal information stolen. Efficiency If you take the right measures to protect your email systems, then you?ll make the entire process easier as a whole. If you take the time to install systems that automatically encrypt your email, then that means you won?t have to manually do it. White Mountain IT Services can help you secure your email solution. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

I bet that you could easily list three such processes off the top of your head, right now. These processes, while needed, can ultimately be more of an annoyance than anything else. There?s just so many to see to, and your efforts could really be better used working on another task. A Hands-Off Solution The technology that could help you the most is known as automation, where certain processes can be automatically seen to once another has been completed. This is already a common enough solution. For instance, many websites have a handy dialogue box to help you better find what you are looking for, returning contextual answers that may solve your problem without the need to call in one of the website?s human support team members. The infamous Clippy, the Microsoft Office Assistant that would pop up and offer assistance with certain processes in Office applications, could be considered a very basic use of automation. If the user began to format their document in a certain way, Clippy would appear and try to advise them on how to do it properly, along with other pieces of unsolicited advice. Fortunately, not all automation is quite as insistent or obtrusive as Clippy was. Most of it can take place entirely behind the scenes, eliminating many of the time-intensive requirements that hold back significant productivity. Automation solutions today offer three particular benefits to those that leverage them: As we?ve mentioned, smaller tasks no longer require a user?s attention. This allows your employees to focus more on their bigger responsibilities in service to your customers and clients. Instead of spending time scheduling certain tasks to move to the next employee in line to work on a project, the right automation can take care of this, well, automatically. As a result, it is easier to maintain productivity and a standard operating procedure. Automation is also less error-prone than a human being would be, making it a faster and more accurate means of routing information to the applications that require it. Concerns Of course, no solution ever comes without any challenges, automation included. Some are more technical, but the major one that always comes up speaks to deeper human concerns. One the technical side, automation presents two major challenges: Automation still requires at least some monitoring by a human resource to ensure that the automation is functioning properly, and is also delivering a better return on investment than a human can. Otherwise, it may not be worth the effort it takes to implement and, again, monitor. This is something that many delegate to an outsourced provider. All of your different solutions and systems may not play so nicely with each other, making it necessary to integrate them into a single chain of automated processes. A technology professional from White Mountain IT Services can assist you in selecting the right ones for your needs. Finally, the last (and in many ways, worst) obstacle you may encounter is pushback from your employees. Yes, I know, you?re actually making their jobs easier and allowing them to tackle more important responsibilities – but look at it from their perspective for a moment. If you don?t fully explain the benefits behind your choice to implement automation, they may see it as their job being replaced by a machine. Therefore, to avoid this, bring […]

When you start to ascertain whether or not a piece of technology needs to be replaced or just eliminated, the first decision you have to make is obviously how does this piece of technology affect our product/service. If you can utilize the piece of technology and it helps fulfill opportunities, promotes productivity and efficiency, or is overall just a benefit for the company, it is pretty easy to ascertain how to proceed. If the piece of technology doesn?t provide obvious benefits, then you should try and understand what the problems are and why you may need to eliminate that technology. It isn?t always that simple. Today, we will go through technology that you might find in today?s business and describe the relevant signs that a piece of it may be failing. Server Hard Drives Traditional computing environments utilize hard disk drives (HDD) that generally last between three-to-five years and will show indications that a failure is imminent. They include: The drive is making strange noises (clicking, whirring, humming). Repeated crashes and software errors. Repeated disk errors. Strange computer behavior. These can also be signs that any computer that runs an HDD. Today there are computers that have what are known as solid state drives (SSD) in them. SSDs are largely expected to last longer, five-to-seven year and don?t always have the telltale signs of failure that HDDs do. Here is where monitoring your SSD comes in. Just like the RMM service we provide at White Mountain IT Services, if you like, you can download software that will allow you to monitor the strength of your SSD. Beyond that, there are some signs that your SSD is on its last legs. Error messages that continuously pop up, files that can?t be written or read, and there are frequent crashes during the boot phase. Upgrading your hard drive before a major failure of your IT would keep downtime to a minimum and keep costs associated with that downtime to a minimum. Networking Major networking problems can derail any business? relationships. The loss of access to the Internet and the data workers need to do their jobs extends pretty quickly to the cost of the product or service, and the staff?s ability to support. If you are having a problem staying connected, or getting the bandwidth that you need, you probably have a problem with a router, switch, or some other part of your networking system. What?s worse than having hardware that is failing? Not having that hardware in the first place. If your company needs help with their wireless network, mobile computing management system, or any other system used to connect people or move data around, reaching out to the IT professionals at White Mountain IT Services can be a great decision. If your IT seems like it is failing there is only one way to be sure that won?t be horribly costly for your business, call our professional technicians to do a full assessment of your business? technology today at (603) 889-0800.

Why You Need Backup While there can be no discrediting the importance of data backup in the face of a disaster, everyday annoyances and mistakes can also prevent your organization from working to its full potential. User errors and mistakes can be quite costly. For example, coffee is everywhere in the morning to facilitate early morning productivity, so it?s a very realistic possibility that it will spill onto keyboards or other components at some point. Some users might make a mistake with a keyboard shortcut and delete all of your hard work. You might even have a thief on the loose, stealing devices that might never be recovered. In any case, this is data that is gone, making backup a necessity in order to avoid the many loss situations you might overlook. Designing Your Backup Not all data backup solutions will be designed in the same way, and not all are going to be the right fit for your business. It?s important to get this right the first time so that it doesn?t influence your business? budget in the wrong way. For example, a single data backup might make sense from a specific point of view. While it might make sense to manage both your original data and your emergency copy to convenience yourself, this simply isn?t how the situation will play out. Having one data backup isn?t enough to secure your data, especially if that data is all located in one place. The ideal data backup solution will keep multiple copies of your data in several locations. The main reason for this is to make sure an isolated disaster, like a hacking attack or a flood, that destroys all data in one place doesn?t harm your ability to recover. The Ideal Solution It only makes sense that multiple copies of your data will increase the odds of your data surviving such a disaster incident. You also want to make sure that all your backups aren?t kept in the same place as your original data. It might seem like a good idea to have an on-site copy of your data backup–and it is–but for the purpose of disaster recovery, the cloud is a more effective delivery option, as it gives you an out when one might not otherwise be visible. White Mountain IT Services can help your business stay afloat during even the most difficult and unfortunate times. To learn more about our data backup and disaster recovery solution, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.