While it?s also important to consider your current IT infrastructure before making any drastic changes to your technology, you should also be aware of what cloud computing can help your business accomplish. Here are four ways that cloud computing can improve the way you do business. Growth ManagementA good cloud computing solution is capable of helping your business better manage its growth. The primary reason for this is that cloud solutions are generally scalable to meet the specific needs of a business, allowing for custom solutions that can be changed or updated with ease. Businesses might experience peak periods or go through hiring spurts, which means that their infrastructure is subject to change, making cloud computing an attractive choice. Increased ProductivityTaking advantage of cloud computing for your applications means that you can make them available to whoever needs access to them from a number of different devices. An example of this is hosting your productivity suite, like Microsoft Office or Google Drive, on a cloud server where they can be accessed by your team from any location. This helps them stay productive by improving access to mission-critical systems. Cost ReductionsIt?s a well-known fact that introducing brand new technology to your IT infrastructure can be a costly endeavor, and one that?s not kind to your budget if unplanned. One of the key benefits of cloud computing for small businesses is the decreased need for expensive hardware like servers and workstations. By hosting your IT infrastructure in the cloud, you can reduce the energy costs of operating this equipment, and consolidate your systems and make them easier to manage. Enhanced MobilityIn much the same way that cloud computing allows businesses to access their applications from remote locations, cloud computing helps organizations access data from various locations on a number of different devices. In other words, organizations don?t have to feel restricted by the office anymore. Employees can work anywhere, anytime, be it from the comfort of their own home or while abroad on a business trip. More than anything else, the cloud allows companies to be more flexible with their assets and finances. Your business can benefit from the cloud, too. Contact us at (603) 889-0800 today and ask our professional IT technicians how the cloud can improve the way you do business.

SharePoint is part of Microsoft Office 365. The advantage of SharePoint is that it can be accessed via web browser (IE, Chrome, or Firefox) on virtually any Internet-connected device, which means that you don?t have to have the SharePoint app downloaded on the device in order to view and access your files. SharePoint can be hosted on-premises (in your own IT infrastructure) or on the cloud. SharePoint is a versatile tool that Microsoft utilizes in a variety of ways. The Microsoft support website explains the different SharePoint technologies that are available to consumers. SharePoint Online. A cloud-based service, hosted by Microsoft, for businesses of all sizes. Instead of installing and deploying SharePoint Server in-house, you can subscribe to an Office 365 plan or to the standalone SharePoint Online service. Also, your employees can create intranet sites to share documents and files with colleagues and clients. SharePoint Foundation. SharePoint Foundation is available for on-premises deployment. You can use SharePoint Foundation to create many types of sites where you can collaborate on documents, lists, calendars, and other data. SharePoint Server. Organizations can deploy and manage SharePoint Server on-premises. This offers additional features and capabilities such as Enterprise Content Management, business intelligence, enterprise search, personal sites, and a news feed. OneDrive for Business folder sync. A desktop program that you can use to sync offline versions of files or a OneDrive for Business library to a folder on your computer. SharePoint allows you and your team to easily organize all of your corporate data so that everyone who needs it can access and share it. Here are a few ways that small businesses can use SharePoint: Share documents and files with employees and partners. Host internal training guides. Manage and organize projects. Keep commonly updated documents in order. Build and maintain repeatable processes. Use it as a single, central location for everything going on internally. Businesses that are already heavily-dependant upon Microsoft Office with its apps like OneDrive will get the most out of SharePoint. Microsoft has even taken big strides to integrate SharePoint with other popular enterprise software too, like Yammer, a corporate-style social network. Is SharePoint right for your company?s data needs? Before you officially select a cloud-based tool to handle and organize your company?s information, we recommend that you first check with the IT professionals at White Mountain IT Services. Contact us at (603) 889-0800 and we?ll take the time to analyze the data needs of your organization, and pair it up with the best solution available.

Here are three ways that a fax machine drains your budget. Keep in mind that none of these expenses are associated with the modern alternative, a fax server solution. Paying for a Dedicated Phone LineHaving a fax machine for your business requires a dedicated phone line. Without one, people trying to contact your company will be greeted with a busy signal when you?re sending or receiving a fax, which can translate to a lost sale. A fax server solution uses an Internet connection that doesn?t tie up your communications, allowing you to cut the cord on the dedicated fax phone line. Paper and Ink TonerGranted, paper and fax machine ink toner aren?t huge expenses, but they can add up quickly. It?s difficult to assign an exact figure on these numbers that apply to every office because it will vary from workplace to workplace, depending on how heavily the fax machine is used. You know how expensive it is to replace cartridges for your fax machine, but are you aware of just how much printer ink costs? According to The New York Times, one gallon of HP 02 Black ink adds up to $4,294.58 per gallon. Implementing a fax server solution from White Mountain IT Services is a big way to save money by going paperless. Fax Machine MaintenanceLike all technology, fax machines are prone to breaking down. A major hardware failure from your fax machine will require the time and attention of an IT technician. An on-site visit like this to service a specialty piece of equipment isn?t cheap. Additionally, fax machines come with a bunch of day-to-day maintenance tasks that equate to downtime and lost productivity for your staff. Having to do things like swap out ink cartridges, refill paper, take care of paper jams, tend to the sending and receiving of faxes, and even filing the paperwork, all of these waste precious minutes of productivity from the workday. A fax server solution from White Mountain IT Services will alleviate all of these fax machine expenses for your company. Instead of having to deal with paper and ink, you can send and receive digitized faxes in the form of PDF files, straight to your email inbox. And don?t forget about experiencing the joy of not having to look at that bulky fax machine sitting in the corner of your office. To learn more about how a fax server solution works, along with more ways that it will benefit your business, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Remote work is so important today that some folks would fall behind substantially without it. This is why it?s so common that the business professional has a smartphone or tablet when they leave the office, and one reason why it?s so important to have devices that are capable of producing quality work even when on the road. As of 2015, it?s estimated by Pew Research that 64 percent of all American adults own a smartphone. Here are three technologies that you can use to get more productivity out of your mobile devices. Bluetooth KeyboardYou don?t need us to tell you that typing on the on-screen smartphone or tablet keyboard is a pain. While the smartphone or tablet screen keyboard does have its perks for quick messages or emails, there are better ways to be productive with your device. If you want to type out longer documents, you need a stronger (and more comfortable) solution, like a portable bluetooth keyboard. Using this bluetooth gadget, you can avoid autocorrect errors and achieve laptop-like functionality easily. Bluetooth MouseIn much the same way that it?s difficult to type on a keyboard, it?s also a pain to navigate your productivity applications, like your word processor or email client, on your tablet with just your touch screen. To fix this issue, you can hook up a bluetooth-connected mouse that lets you feel like you?re on a laptop with a small screen. While it might seem like a trivial improvement, you?ll appreciate the extra control that the mouse gives you. Many tablets today are compatible with bluetooth mice, which, when combined with a keyboard, give you more of a traditional laptop experience with the mobility of a slim, light tablet. Bluetooth HeadsetThe reason we all use telephones is because they do something that the Internet used to not be able to provide; the ability to instantaneously contact someone. In most cases, however, we have to cease our current activity in order to focus on said call. This can make it irritating when working on the road. If you?re using a bluetooth headset, you can answer or make phone calls without interrupting your own work processes, or those of others around you. Bluetooth headsets also offer several other benefits, like the ability to listen to music, or listen to podcasts to keep yourself updated on the current best practices of your industry. What are some of your preferred ways to get more work done on your mobile devices? Let us know in the comments, and subscribe to our blog for more great articles on how to stay productive with your technology.

While it would be beneficial for you if we explained every aspect of employee risk management to you, there?s simply not enough room in a blog post to do so. Instead, we want to direct your attention to a great online tool brought to you by StaySafeOnline.org. It?s a quiz that helps your employees understand why and how they are putting their organization at risk by asking them questions about device usage, data sharing practices, and other security best practices. Inside, you?ll find a comprehensive employee security quiz that helps enlighten employees of how they?re putting their organization at risk, as well as why their behavior could be adversely affecting the organization?s ability to stay secure. After answering a question, the calculator will automatically adjust to show you your risk score. What the quiz doesn?t do, however, is explain ways that you can resolve the problems that lie at the heart of the employee?s risk score. For example, if you notice that there?s a significant amount of risk revolving around your organization’s data on mobile devices, you can integrate a mobile device management solution that?s designed to limit access to mission-critical data. In another example, if you feel your employees aren?t savvy about your IT security policies, provide refresher courses to help them better understand your business?s security goals. Granted, this quiz focuses primarily on user error and the repercussions of allowing data to leak out of your organization?s infrastructure through various means. Employees should always be conscious of what information they give to any external party, and should be especially careful when moving data outside of the office, even on company approved devices. White Mountain IT Services can help your business fully understand the current state of your network security infrastructure by performing a comprehensive network audit. We can check for weak points in your systems, including outdated technologies that require patching or software updates, as well as recommend a quality Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution that can largely mitigate a number of threats that could target your network. However, the primary issue at hand is data leakage for many organizations. We can help with this, too, by educating your end-users on the best practices of the industry and how they can best protect themselves and your organization from suspicious online activity. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.