Enter outsourced IT, the perfect solution to free up time so you can get back to doing what you do best, leading your company to economic security. How much time exactly will outsourcing your IT save you? That all depends on how involved you currently are with managing your company?s IT. The best way to put a hard number to this is to analyze the individual IT tasks that you?re currently overseeing. Then, once you?ve listed these tasks out, compare the results with the services provided by an outsourced IT company like White Mountain IT Services. The IT services that you can outsource to us include: Unlimited remote and on-site support Active Directory administration and maintenance File, folder, and share administration Security administration Network policy enforcement and administration Managed anti-virus and spyware monitoring, maintenance, and removal Backing up data as often as every 15 minutes Backing up open documents without interruption Restore deleted or corrupt files quickly Automatically protect your organization from inappropriate workplace content Intrusion prevention to stop hackers before they reach internal servers and desktops Protocol control to reclaim network bandwidth from applications that normally evade firewall rules If you?ve got a hand in managing even some of these basic IT tasks, then imagine what your schedule would look like if you didn?t have to touch these tasks ever again; or, anything on this list for that matter. By going this route with your IT, the amount of time you will save, even by eliminating only the small maintenance tasks on your day, will add up to a significant portion of time that you can invest in more lucrative endeavors. At the end of the day, you as a busy business owner must take an honest look at your situation and ask, is IT your responsibility, or are you trying to run a business? Freeing up the time your schedule longs for is as easy as making a phone call to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800. Don?t delay, call us today!
As a modern business, your success depends on your technology functioning properly. As many businesses have discovered when their solutions did not function as intended, the effects can have considerable impact to their success rates. To help keep your business running, you need to be sure that your solutions are maintained. How Not to Help Your BusinessWhen many people hear the term ?tech support,? the first thing that pops into their mind is the common perception of IT services, which is also known as a break-fix approach. This approach usually plays out in the following way: Something breaks or stops working as expected and a user (or users) can?t get work done. You reach out and contact tech support. A tech has to be sent out to resolve the issue. You wait for the tech to arrive. The tech arrives and resolves the issue. You pay the support fees. Your affected employees are able to return to work. While this approach does ultimately get your technology issue resolved, consider how much you?re really paying each time this happens. Sure, you?re paying your IT provider for their services, but there are other costs associated with this approach. Your employees still have to be paid for their time, even if the issue rendered them unable to complete their tasks. You also have to consider if the issue affected any of your clients as well. If the issue prevented them from receiving the benefit that they utilize your services for, they are not likely to be very pleased with you. If it happens often enough, many will likely seek out a competitor. Clearly, while this approach works, it certainly doesn?t minimize the damage an issue can potentially cause your business. How to Really Help Your BusinessMany businesses today are moving away from that version of tech support in favor of a different approach: managed services. With managed services, the approach to resolving technology issues plays out much differently. One of the managed service provider?s technology specialists notices that a mission-critical component on your network might soon experience an issue. They reach out and inform you of the potential issue. The MSP works to fix the problem remotely, if applicable. If the issue is covered by your service level agreement with the MSP, you pay nothing more than the predictable, monthly service fees. Your employees are able to continue their work, with little to no interruption. Managed services, like the ones that White Mountain IT Services can provide, will help you to minimize the amount of downtime that your business will experience. By working proactively to monitor and maintain your solutions, you can ensure that your workforce remains productive. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.
When we talk about mirroring, we mean using a larger screen to mimic the screen of your mobile device–hence the term ?mirroring,? as the screens are showing the same thing, just on a larger scale. Your Android device doesn?t necessarily come preloaded with this feature, but we can walk you through how to find the ideal solution in the Google Play Store. There are several different mirroring apps that you can use, with some of them even being available for free. One of the most popular ones is AirDroid, which can be found in the play store here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid&hl=en AirDroid needs root access and Wi-Fi in order to work effectively, so this might not be an option for the average employee who might not even know what root access is. Other apps can be used to similar effect, such as TeamViewer and others, but you should, of course, ask IT if your choice is adequate for your organization?s needs. There?s also the possibility that you already have a solution like this in place and you might not even know it, so asking IT about this topic could save you some wasted time and effort. Instead of mirroring your device?s screen, there is also the option to use a casting solution like Google Chromecast. This is a consumer-based technology that you can use with streaming apps like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu Plus, and others, but it also has uses in the business environment. Chromecast supports several business-related apps that you can cast from a connected device, like a smartphone or laptop. You?ll then see the the many apps that are compatible with Chromecast on your television screen. Think about the possibilities; you won?t have to huddle around a computer monitor to share documents, and you could conduct meetings in a more effective way. By mirroring and casting your applications, your organization can better utilize business applications for more enhanced meetings. If your organization could use a hand with implementing new technologies, we?re here to help. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
It?s just as important for a network to be secured as it is for the individuals accessing the network to follow security best practices. Here are 4 procedures that you and your staff can employ today to give your network safety a boost! The Art of Hover-craft: Regardless of whether you know the sender or not, it is a great idea to hover over all email links and attachments before clicking on them. While it?s possible that you?ll never actually be targeted by cyber criminals, staying vigilant against them may prevent a very costly mistake. It only takes a few extra seconds to make sure that the message you?ve received isn?t a cleverly disguised attempt to defraud your company or steal data. The Password Is?.Not Strong Enough: You?ve probably heard bad password stories like the alleged report that the nuclear weapon password for the US was ?password? or the most popular password of 2017 is ?123456?. Unfortunately, it?s true that even though many users realize their passwords are less than safe, their desire to practice network security is often not as strong as their desire use one, easy to remember password. More and more SMBs are employing password requirement standards – and some even enforce them by holding those accountable when a breach results from a weak password. Avoid Sending Personal Information by Email: Cyber criminals are experts at tricking people into sharing sensitive information. A great example of a common ruse used by hackers is called whaling. Whaling schemes spoof an email address, giving the impression that it is coming from a high level executive, like CEO or President. Since many people will follow the instruction of a superior without question, the recipient will send account information or personal data without hesitation. Of course, this isn?t saying that you should question all executive decrees, but rather just be vigilant about the type of information that you are willing to send. For example, whaling schemes often contain small typos or slight misspelling of names. Whaling schemes are just one of many deceptions available to cyber criminals. The best thing that a user can do is to question and confirm the authenticity of a request. When possible, avoid sharing personal information via unencrypted email all together. Keep the Network Security Dialogue Open: Communication between employees, managers and IT professionals is something that is seriously undervalued. Think about how ransomware has really exploded into the limelight over the past several months. Your less tech-savvy employees may not understand the difference between ransomware and keylogging malware. They might not realize that some data loss can not be recovered by a data backup. Establishing a line of communication between your staff and IT professionals might be the difference between an employee recognizing the warning signs of a virus and missing them because of a question they were afraid to ask. Are your employees aware of the sizable role their vigilance and attention can play when it comes to keeping your network safe? Even a network that is up-to-date with the latest security patches can?t protect your data from an attack that walks right in through an open door. White Mountain IT Services?s team of experienced IT professionals can help you make sure that your taking the proper precautions against cybercrime – on both the network and individual […]
Today, with nearly every business leaning heavily on some sort of computer-based technology, it becomes important for decision makers and business owners to analyze the performance of their tech, and of their staff. In the past, the eye test worked just fine, but today there are ways to measure the productivity and efficiency of every department of your business. It?s called business intelligence. Business intelligence (BI) refers to the practices of (as well as the technology used in) analyzing available information to help you make the best decisions for your business. In the past, business intelligence was very much as it is today, finding practices and procedures that create a better business without all the bells and whistles that contemporary BI practices provide. Every business has plenty of people that depend on it, and the better the business is run, the more it can do for those people. So while it?s easy to think of business intelligence in the 21st century as a complex process, it is just the process of doing what every successful business owner has done from the day they put out their shingle. While BI has been around for some time, modern BI is the practice of using the enormous amount of data your business creates to help you make better decisions. How does this work? Your business has loads of information stored in various places, but most of it is in databases. One stand-alone database may not help you, but if you are able to bring all of your data together in what is called a data warehouse, you can then begin to link the information. Once the information is in this repository, you can begin using state-of-the-art BI software to crawl the data and deliver reports that take this enormous amount of information and provide relatively easy-to-read reports. The best part about this BI software is that you can customize definitions to get the specificity you are looking for out of these reports. The software will return detailed analysis. So whether you run a retail store, a product manufacturer, or a high-volume restaurant, you will be able to ascertain what the best decisions are going forward. These metrics work for operations, marketing, distribution, and any part of the business that can be represented in numbers. The small business has begun to use technology in new and interesting ways; and, using it to bridge the gap between their larger competitors. Many times BI analysis can surprise even the most savvy business owner with truths about their company. BI lets business owners build efficiency through analysis, not through conjecture. This targeted and analytical approach is sure to be a huge benefit for any business that finds itself battling operational inefficiency or any number of other deficits they encounter. White Mountain IT Services wants to provide our clients with the information they need to build a more efficient business. We offer small and medium-sized businesses comprehensive IT support and other proactive IT services that are designed to eliminate downtime and build overall efficiency. Call us at (603) 889-0800 today to see how our professional technicians can help your business be more efficient.
