Do Your Research All disaster scenarios demand that you?re prepared with a business continuity plan, but the degree to which a business is susceptible to a natural disaster can vary by geographical location. Not all businesses will be vulnerable to hurricanes, for example, but there are countless other scenarios that could complicate things for your business. The statistics say that 30 percent of all downtime is caused by environmental factors, which includes anything from flooding and hurricanes to a little bit (or a lot of) humidity or extreme weather. Therefore, it?s up to you to know which risk factors exist for your business, as well as which systems you can implement to keep them from happening. While it?s not something that seems necessary, a monitoring system can help you avoid a disaster. Downtime costs alone have skyrocketed by 38 percent in only eight years, so you can save yourself a lot of trouble by implementing solutions designed to mitigate the effects of hurricanes and other disasters. Hurricanes are only growing larger and more dangerous (even simple rainstorms have increased precipitation by 70 percent), so you need to do all you can now while you still have a business to protect. Plan for the Worst Next, you should define what your business? worst-case scenario looks like and how you can get ready for it. An off-site data backup system plays a big role in making sure this doesn?t happen, as well as having your data stored in multiple locations outside of your office. This keeps your data as safe as possible, as it?s unlikely that a disaster could destroy all copies of your data. When the worst strikes, it?s also imperative that you have a plan to keep all of your employees in communication with each other, thus confirming their safety in the event of a hurricane or other disaster. This is also critical for relaying to your clients that something has happened, so they can expect service to be delayed in the interim. It?s also not a bad idea to have some provisions in your office just in case you find yourself unable to leave. Finally, be sure that a full shutdown is prepared for in any circumstance. You should have an outline for how to instigate this shutdown, as well as how you can get back in action once the danger has subsided. Recover from the Disaster Now that you have your plan fully outlined, you?ll need to ensure that the disaster will only have a small influence on your organization?s operations. You can give your employees the tools to work remotely so they can stay productive during the time your office isn?t functional. You can also make sure that your office is equipped with tools to keep damage internally to a minimum, including water pumps to keep flooding at bay. As far as your data goes, White Mountain IT Services can help with data backup and disaster recovery. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Why is an Admin Account Such a Big Deal? An administrator account is basically the highest level of privilege that you can give to someone on your network. Compared to the traditional user account, an admin account can do much, much more–and this isn?t necessarily a good thing. Keeping more traditional accounts than administrator accounts is a best practice because it minimizes risk to your network. This keeps an ordinary user from making drastic changes to a network, like installing software or moving important files around. Admin accounts can perform just about any action they want on a computer. Think of it as the way IT accesses a computer, as they need these permissions to apply updates and administer general maintenance. Every computer needs to have at least one admin account on it, but untrained users should not have admin permissions, as this could result in file changes that prevent the computer from working as intended. Why You Need to Limit Admin Account Use It might make sense to have admin permissions for your own computer account, but it?s actually not in your best interest. This is because there are major security problems that come from using an admin account as your primary device account. If the device is compromised in some way, the account could install malware with administrator privileges or make changes to important files. Even if you think you?ll need the extra privileges, we assure you that you don?t in almost any circumstance–at any rate, the security detriment isn?t worth it. Standard accounts will generally have more limited permissions, which means that a compromised account will only yield certain permissions, not the entirety of the computer. This is why we suggest limiting administrator accounts only to whoever is in charge of IT. If your business needs someone to manage its IT solutions, White Mountain IT Services can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Web conferencing solutions give companies like yours the opportunity to host business meetings in an online location, and all anyone needs to join is a computer (or mobile device) and an Internet connection. This gives your employees the freedom to get work done while out of the office. Additionally, there are many other benefits to using conferencing solutions. They include: Saving on Travel Costs In-person meetings are one of the big parts of doing business, but remote workers often can?t make this happen. Video conferencing makes this much easier, as you don?t have to worry about travel costs or being face-to-face with the others to have a conversation with someone about an important project. Speeds Up Business Meetings can be time-consuming. Rounding up everyone into the same room can make for a challenging and stressful situation, which is why it?s so much easier to simply use the Internet and a conferencing solution to make it happen. Since you don?t have to wait for everyone to be in physical attendance, this type of conferencing can help your business save time and money. Flexibility Scheduling meetings around the schedules of all other attendees can be difficult at times, as everyone has a different set of daily goals and responsibilities. Therefore, they appreciate the flexibility that a conferencing solution can offer. With the ability to share screens, collaborate in an online environment, and send out instant messages and emails, everyone can be updated about the status of the meeting easily. Build Engagement Conferencing gives your business the chance to engage with both current and potential clients in an easily-accessible format. Some conferencing solutions have built-in webinar options that give attendees the option to phone-in with their mobile device or with their desktop. Attendees can speak or type in the interface as well, giving you the chance to answer questions and interact with them. A modern conferencing solution can go a long way for your business. To learn more about how you can use a conferencing solution to reduce costs, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Try Turning it Off and On In a lot of ways, a computer is kind of like the human brain. If you don?t give it some rest every so often, it starts to grow sluggish. Imagine a good, proper reboot is a good night?s sleep for your computer, giving it a chance to restart functions that have been constantly going for the past several days. First, save any open files you?re working on. Next, click or tap on the Windows symbol in the Start menu, select the power icon, and hit Restart. Determine What?s Slow If restarting the computer doesn?t help, you need to figure out what is making it move so slowly. Narrowing down the issues can help with finding a resolution. Here are some tricks to try: Check if certain programs are moving slowly. If everything else feels normal, there might be an issue with a particular software. Click between your web pages to see if the Internet is slow, or if the pages are loading slowly. You can also try clearing your web browser?s cache and see if that helps. If you are having troubles accessing files on the network, then the issue is likely network-related. If the PC slows down at a specific time of day, then perhaps there is a virus scan occurring, or some other resource-intensive task. Run an Antivirus Scan If there isn?t a specific issue that you can identify, there?s the possibility that your computer has been infected by a virus or malware. Viruses and malware frequently utilize a lot of system resources, even if you can?t identify a specific problem. Try running a scan and see what results you get. You might be surprised at what you find. If you don?t run these scans regularly, you could potentially be leaving threats on your network for extended periods of time. You also want to make sure that your antivirus is properly maintained and updated with the latest threat definitions. Close Programs Running in the Background If your computer isn?t running as fast as you like, you can check the Task Manager to see which programs are eating up all your resources. You can open this up by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Escape. The tab you?re looking for is Processes. You?ll see several columns labeled CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network. These columns are filled with percentages telling just how much of it is being used. The Disk and Network columns are probably going to be either at or close to zero as long as you?re not saving or rendering files. The Memory and CPU columns will vary more, depending on how many applications you have opened up. If there are any columns that are consistently high, you might have an issue on your hands–particularly if CPU or Memory is at 90% or higher. You can sort these columns to determine which one is eating all your resources. Once you?ve found it, you can right-click on the application and click End Task (though this won?t save any work being done in the application, so be sure to do this first). Also of note is that some programs are required to keep your computer at optimal performance, one of which is your antivirus. You should always consult IT before ending a task that you think […]

A Brief Review of the IoT An Internet of Things device tends to have its typical functionality along with additional connection to the Internet. The only real caveat is that the device needs to not be something that would ordinarily have Internet connection as its primary function. Consider fitness devices like watches that can send data to your phone for easy viewing, as well as devices like Amazon Echo that can help you control your home with voice commands. The convenience and ?cool? factor surrounding these devices makes them popular among consumers, and as such, there is a high adoption rate for this technology. Projections place the economic value of the Internet of Things at approximately $4-$11 trillion by 2025, with some 20.4 billion devices all around the world by 2020. Home Usage by Businesses Since the IoT is largely associated with personal use and casual purposes, it?s largely known for being relatively insecure compared to other types of devices. However, Gartner reports that businesses are still using IoT devices, and not just to a minor degree. In fact, it?s estimated that 63% of IoT devices in 2017 were owned by consumers, while businesses contributed to 57% of the spending on IoT technology. This trend isn?t surprising, as the kind of features that consumers want, also translate well to a business? needs. For example, some of the devices used by consumers, like IoT powered security cameras, can also be used to monitor the office. Of course, the opposite is also true; there are devices for businesses that consumers simply can?t purchase due to the high price tag. An example of this is the smart devices used by subscription-based services like gyms. The IoT fitness equipment might be too expensive for the average user, but it?s just right for these kinds of businesses. Barriers to the IoT Implementing the Internet of Things in the workplace can be challenging. Before investing too much, be sure to check if there is a measurable need that the device addresses. The IoT is definitely more suited to businesses that have a lot of repetitive work, as it can be used to alleviate the monotony of these tasks. However, it?s important to make sure that an investment into the IoT will be worth it from a financial standpoint. Of course, security will continue to be a problem for IoT devices, so it?s also critical that you take this into account. To get started thinking about the Internet of Things as an asset rather than a threat, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.