How does your business manage its technology solutions? If you have an in-house IT department, you might think that you have a better shot at keeping your business safe from a hard drive failure, but this is only if your IT department isn?t already overwhelmed with work. You might find that implementing new solutions is tricky, which wastes time and resources on your part. What?s the small business to do? The choice that gets the most mileage for your business is outsourcing the care of your technology solutions to a managed service provider. Compared to the traditional break-fix IT model that many businesses (unfortunately) rely on, managed IT is more affordable and provides a plethora of benefits that you wouldn?t necessarily get through traditional break-fix maintenance. The break-fix model of IT management takes a reactive approach to technology maintenance, relying on issues that are already clear and present to indicate when you need your technology taken care of. This can lead to unnecessary downtime, meaning that your employees won?t be able to work while you?re waiting for maintenance. The costs of the break-fix model extend far beyond the costs of the maintenance itself. Not only can include large expenses such as a replacement server, or the cost of all the accumulated downtime during which your employees cannot do their jobs. Sometimes businesses get around the loophole of hiring an internal IT staff by taking an IT department?s responsibilities and handing them to the other workers–workers whose time is better spent on revenue building endeavors. If nobody within your company is designated as ?the IT guy,? you?ll encounter situations where the average employee is asking higher-ups how to resolve issues–a situation that wastes not just your employees? time, but yours as well. Their time is better spent being productive, but when their technology isn?t working properly, who can they go to for help? This is the major bonus of working with a managed IT provider. Not only can the managed IT provider act as the de facto help desk for your organization, they can also manage and maintain any hardware or software solutions you implement to keep issues to a minimum, thereby streamlining operations and mitigating downtime. Plus, if you leave the IT maintenance to your employees, who likely won?t know what they?re doing, you?re opening the doors for even more downtime caused by solutions not being implemented properly, introducing more work that needs to be done. When professional technicians do the job, they have a higher chance of doing it right the first time, reducing the risk of projects being repeated (a considerable waste of time and resources). Managed IT might just be the missing link for your business?s technology needs. To learn more, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.
Cisco?s survey covered 3000 North American adults who had a passing familiarity with IoT devices, providing invaluable data to both business-to-consumer and business-to-business organizations. Generally speaking, most consumers aren?t aware of just how far-reaching the Internet of Things can be. The Internet of Things encompasses all devices that have some sort of connection to the Internet, even devices that traditionally haven?t been able to take advantage of this connectivity. Some great examples include car navigation systems, street lamps, home security systems, and even health monitoring devices like pacemakers. While the majority of users were familiar with some of the more conventional Internet of Things devices, they had no clue that some of the stranger IoT devices could boast such connectivity. Despite this considerable difference in awareness, those who knowingly use IoT devices have had a positive response to it. 53% of respondents claim that connected devices have made their lives easier, while 47% of respondents claim that they have made their lives more efficient through connected devices. Even 34% of personal connected devices have made users feel more safe, which is valuable in and of itself. Despite these impressive numbers, only 9% of respondents claimed that their data felt more secure or private. Furthermore, only 14% of users felt that their vendors were transparent about how the information collected by these devices is used. It just goes to show that just because a device helps you, that device may not necessarily make you feel safe and secure. Even with these suspicions, it?s probable that the Internet of Things will continue to grow, which means that your organization needs to start accounting for these devices both in and around your office. If you think about it, your employees will likely be bringing multiple devices with them to the office in the first place, so you need to have policies put into place to ensure that data security isn?t sacrificed just for the privilege of bringing personal devices into the office. A Bring Your Own Device policy can go a long way toward limiting which connected devices have influence over your company?s network. Do you have any questions about how the Internet of Things and connected mobile devices can influence your business? White Mountain IT Services can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
Have you ever wondered what happens to your old devices after you throw them in the trash? Eventually, any discarded devices of yours will find their way into a landfill or shipped to a third-world country where they will accumulate. Anything used to construct these devices will have ultimately been wasted, as they are now useless hunks of precious metals, glass, and other resources. Here are some statistics about e-waste that might make you rethink tossing that old smartphone into your garbage can. 45 million tons of electronics were thrown away in 2016. Only 20% of e-waste is properly documented and recycled. $55 billion worth of raw materials are wasted on devices that are thrown away–with smartphones alone accounting for about $9 billion. 76% of all e-waste is ultimately unaccounted for with an unknown endgame. With more technology being produced every year, it?s natural to see the amount of e-waste rise as time progresses. Yet, e-waste is a considerable issue for your organization. There is one major pitfall that you?ll want to consider regarding your business?s e-waste: data security. Data SecurityAny data that can be found on your business? devices is at risk of being compromised, and if you no longer own the devices, this risk grows much greater. Consider this scenario; you discard your old smartphone when you purchase a new one, and a hacker finds it after you have disposed of it. They then proceed to access any accounts connected to it, including access to your company?s cloud-based network and data storage. They can do this even with something like an external hard drive. The logical conclusion to this dilemma is to make sure that your devices are properly wiped or destroyed prior to disposing them. You can do this by either physically destroying the device itself, or by reaching out to White Mountain IT Services. We can properly take care of your unneeded devices and follow the right steps to make sure that any devices you no longer need won?t unexpectedly place your organization at risk. Plus, we can help you recycle your devices so that they have a reduced chance of filling a dump somewhere halfway across the world. To learn more about how to eliminate unnecessary devices in an unwasteful manner, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
Tidy UpRegardless of the season, an Internet outage is an excellent opportunity to do some spring cleaning. Whether your workspace itself is getting a little cluttered, or the files on your local network need to be organized, what better time is there to make sure things are spic-and-span? Making sure that your workspace is tidy, and that your employees do the same, can also have benefits that will impact each employee and your organizational collaboration. An organized desk features fewer distractions than a cluttered one, and makes resources easier for someone else to find, should the desk?s tenant be out that day. This benefit extends to storage space around the office. A cluttered cabinet is one that?s hard to find things in. Taking the time to tidy it up will help you save time later, and doing it during an Internet outage means that you aren?t taking up time that could be spent doing something else. If you still have access to your data storage, take the opportunity to organize them. Folders are your friend in this case, as you can develop a hierarchy that permits you to arrange those ?loose? files scattered around your desktop into a concise and logical system, making them much easier to find. Teamwork!If there?s one weakness to a workplace being so technology-intensive, it?s the boundaries that it can put up between team members. Communicating through a screen all day doesn?t allow for the camaraderie that some old-fashioned facetime can develop, which can lead to improved synergy and productivity when working collaboratively. If your Internet fails you, you may want to take advantage of that time to encourage some face-to-face interactions. Whether they take the opportunity to hold meetings or fraternize with other departments, your employees can engage in some team building as they wait for Internet access to return. Alternatively, they can also meet up and discuss ideas they may have and never had the opportunity to share before. It isn?t just your employees who can benefit from this, either. Letting your employees get to know you a little better, and vice versa, can help keep them engaged and allow you to understand who they are a little better as you manage them. This allows you to better sculpt your management style to suit each employee, maximizing your impact. Go MobileMany employers may find that mobile devices can be distracting in the office, they can be a real blessing as well. Should your Internet fail you, your team may be able to continue working on some of their tasks by utilizing their mobile data, either as a part of a BYOD strategy with data reimbursement, or on a company-provided device. For assistance in setting up these solutions, reach out to us. What are some of the things you do to combat the loss of productivity due to an Internet outage? Share your strategies in the comments!
The most popular social media platforms generally have different uses in the business world. These include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and even some other emerging technologies like Snapchat and Instagram. If your organization learns to take advantage of these platforms, it can reap considerable benefits, but only if the risks are navigated effectively. The BenefitsThe social aspect of social media is the biggest reason your organization can make an impact with these platforms. When your organization has online accounts on social media platforms, you?re earning almost free exposure for your business. Prospective clients can see what your business does at a glance, more so than with a website in some ways. Individuals can share your page with others who might find it interesting. On the other hand, if more people are seeing your organization online, your competitors can catch a glimpse of what you?re doing to earn your share of the market, which can give them ideas to usurp your spot at the top. The RisksEven with these benefits, your organization faces significant risk from social media networks. Most of these issues stem from network security and user productivity, both of which can harm your business?s success. Network Security: Social media networks might create more of a web presence for your organization, but this is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. More hacking attacks can target your organization, and the passwords or usernames could be potentially stolen during data breaches. Phishing attacks could come through messaging apps as well. The best way to stay safe is to keep your users focused on social media best practices, and to remind them that they shouldn?t be posting about your workplace or practices on their own personal pages. User Productivity: Your employees might find the draw of social media to be too tempting–particularly during work hours, as quality of work can suffer or distract others. Your employees might find that Netflix is more fun than their current responsibilities, or that they simply can?t keep themselves from trash-talking your organization online in full view of the public. There are ways to keep your employees from accessing social media on your workplace workstations, but doing so can create a troublesome conflict. Therefore, you should have measures put into place that don?t lead you to ruin one good thing for every employee because of a few bad apples. A content filtering solution from White Mountain IT Services can help you maintain productivity while still allowing your employees to browse social media in a fashion. You can block access to time-wasting and dangerous websites, among these social media, on a per-user basis, allowing you to segment ?punishment? to only the truly unproductive employees. To learn more about content filtering, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
