That?s right. The open office actually decreased the overall performance of the employees. It was reported that these workers felt worse about their work environment, their performance, their attitude, and their co-worker relations; all from simply moving to the open office. This was due to a variety of reasons. Architectural Privacy vs Psychological PrivacyWhen you don?t feel like you can shut the rest of the world out, your ability to work can suffer because of it. This is called architectural privacy. It could be something as simple as shutting the door to your own personal office. Perhaps even the walls of a cubicle could be beneficial to you. But, the fact remains that without architectural privacy, one cannot reach psychological privacy, which can lead to higher performance and satisfaction in the workplace. Psychological privacy is the ability to control whether other employees have access to you. Even if they can just knock on the door to your office, the separation is still there, and can lead to a better work performance. By removing yourself from the group, you are also removing yourself from the constant feed of background noise that can disrupt your workflow. These factors can lead to impaired memory, aggravated migraines, and ulcers; stress-related symptoms that are common amongst those who work in open offices. Introverts Work Their WorstYour company likely has many different types of workers, and some of them are probably introverts; people who work best when they are isolated from the group, or are generally not very sociable. Solitude generally leads to more creative behavior, so closed offices are ideal for the introverts, who can really allow their unique abilities to shine without the distractions of the open office. In the open office, an introvert?s abilities are severely limited by background noise and disruptive conversation. Too Much MultitaskingCollaboration might have been the goal of the open office, but moving from one task to another has been proven to reduce overall work performance. It takes a lot of mental effort to help one person after another, all while trying to do your own work. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, it takes about 27 minutes to regain focus on a particular task after being dragged away by a meeting, a phone call, or helping a coworker with something. This can easily add up to hours of lost time, depending on how much multitasking and distraction occurs in your workplace. Can Technology Save the Open Office?For virtually every challenge faced in the office, there exists a business technology to alleviate it. However, given that the productivity problems of the open office go into human psychology and worker personality traits, it?s difficult to find a technological solution to offset such deep-seated problems as these. Solutions like apps that play ambient noise and giving workers mobile technology along with a reliable WiFi network will give them the ability to move to a quieter part of the room if they need to, but ultimately, these are just band-aid solutions and can?t totally offset 100 percent of the distractions found in the open office. These problems, amidst others such an atmosphere that?s conducive to spreading germs and illness, are some of the biggest reasons why private offices may be the most beneficial option for your employees. What?s your office […]

That?s right. The open office actually decreased the overall performance of the employees. It was reported that these workers felt worse about their work environment, their performance, their attitude, and their co-worker relations; all from simply moving to the open office. This was due to a variety of reasons. Architectural Privacy vs Psychological PrivacyWhen you don?t feel like you can shut the rest of the world out, your ability to work can suffer because of it. This is called architectural privacy. It could be something as simple as shutting the door to your own personal office. Perhaps even the walls of a cubicle could be beneficial to you. But, the fact remains that without architectural privacy, one cannot reach psychological privacy, which can lead to higher performance and satisfaction in the workplace. Psychological privacy is the ability to control whether other employees have access to you. Even if they can just knock on the door to your office, the separation is still there, and can lead to a better work performance. By removing yourself from the group, you are also removing yourself from the constant feed of background noise that can disrupt your workflow. These factors can lead to impaired memory, aggravated migraines, and ulcers; stress-related symptoms that are common amongst those who work in open offices. Introverts Work Their WorstYour company likely has many different types of workers, and some of them are probably introverts; people who work best when they are isolated from the group, or are generally not very sociable. Solitude generally leads to more creative behavior, so closed offices are ideal for the introverts, who can really allow their unique abilities to shine without the distractions of the open office. In the open office, an introvert?s abilities are severely limited by background noise and disruptive conversation. Too Much MultitaskingCollaboration might have been the goal of the open office, but moving from one task to another has been proven to reduce overall work performance. It takes a lot of mental effort to help one person after another, all while trying to do your own work. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, it takes about 27 minutes to regain focus on a particular task after being dragged away by a meeting, a phone call, or helping a coworker with something. This can easily add up to hours of lost time, depending on how much multitasking and distraction occurs in your workplace. Can Technology Save the Open Office?For virtually every challenge faced in the office, there exists a business technology to alleviate it. However, given that the productivity problems of the open office go into human psychology and worker personality traits, it?s difficult to find a technological solution to offset such deep-seated problems as these. Solutions like apps that play ambient noise and giving workers mobile technology along with a reliable WiFi network will give them the ability to move to a quieter part of the room if they need to, but ultimately, these are just band-aid solutions and can?t totally offset 100 percent of the distractions found in the open office. These problems, amidst others such an atmosphere that?s conducive to spreading germs and illness, are some of the biggest reasons why private offices may be the most beneficial option for your employees. What?s your office […]

However, you don?t want to take advice from just anyone. There are several things that you should be careful of when seeking a consultant. What You Shouldn?t Do Make consultation your only option. Outsourcing can be a valuable tool for businesses who need to accomplish a lot with a small staff, but if you spread your team too thin, you won?t know what?s going on. If you lose control of things, you might think that consultation is the only way out of the mess. Don?t fall into this trap. You should always know what needs to be done and how to do it. Confuse your responsibilities with your consultation agency?s. This is simply a matter of priority and responsibility. When you set out to receive business or IT consultation, both parties should know what they will be responsible for doing. Map it out beforehand and discuss it until you come to an agreement. Then, feel free to move forward. Lose sight of your true goal. With so much going on, it?s easy to forget what your goals are. Don?t let this happen to you. Take some time to outline what your goals are and when you want to accomplish them by. Consultants can help you gather information and build this outline. What You Should Do Avoid ambiguity. This is all about communication and making sure that everyone is on the same page. If your consultant doesn?t know what your plans are, or assumes too much, you won?t get accurate advice. Avoid this by remaining open. Find the perfect fit. On occasion, you?ll find yourself in a situation when entrusting an entire project to a consultant is beneficial. You want to make sure that you can trust the consultant to finish the project on time and within budget. To this end, only hire those who have proven their worth and have experience in the field. They might look good on paper, but nothing beats a trial run. Take responsibility for your actions. Once you make a decision, it?s with you until the end. Be prepared to accept the responsibility for what you do, especially if it?s bad. Don?t blame others, such as your consultant, for your mistakes. To this end, make sure that you hire someone who has skills that you yourself don?t have. This minimizes the chances that you?ll be stuck in a situation you don?t understand. At White Mountain IT Services, we know that operating a business is stressful, and that you have a lot on your plate. We always keep our clients in the loop and advise them every step of the way in their IT and business adventure. At the heart of our managed IT and consultation services, we are professionals who want nothing more than to see our clients succeed. White Mountain IT Services can perform any function of an in-house IT department without the need for extra salaries and expenses. If you can use a hand in outrunning the competition, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800. We?ll provide you with our expert opinions, as well as a technology roadmap that plans for the future, that will give you an edge on others in your industry.

However, you don?t want to take advice from just anyone. There are several things that you should be careful of when seeking a consultant. What You Shouldn?t Do Make consultation your only option. Outsourcing can be a valuable tool for businesses who need to accomplish a lot with a small staff, but if you spread your team too thin, you won?t know what?s going on. If you lose control of things, you might think that consultation is the only way out of the mess. Don?t fall into this trap. You should always know what needs to be done and how to do it. Confuse your responsibilities with your consultation agency?s. This is simply a matter of priority and responsibility. When you set out to receive business or IT consultation, both parties should know what they will be responsible for doing. Map it out beforehand and discuss it until you come to an agreement. Then, feel free to move forward. Lose sight of your true goal. With so much going on, it?s easy to forget what your goals are. Don?t let this happen to you. Take some time to outline what your goals are and when you want to accomplish them by. Consultants can help you gather information and build this outline. What You Should Do Avoid ambiguity. This is all about communication and making sure that everyone is on the same page. If your consultant doesn?t know what your plans are, or assumes too much, you won?t get accurate advice. Avoid this by remaining open. Find the perfect fit. On occasion, you?ll find yourself in a situation when entrusting an entire project to a consultant is beneficial. You want to make sure that you can trust the consultant to finish the project on time and within budget. To this end, only hire those who have proven their worth and have experience in the field. They might look good on paper, but nothing beats a trial run. Take responsibility for your actions. Once you make a decision, it?s with you until the end. Be prepared to accept the responsibility for what you do, especially if it?s bad. Don?t blame others, such as your consultant, for your mistakes. To this end, make sure that you hire someone who has skills that you yourself don?t have. This minimizes the chances that you?ll be stuck in a situation you don?t understand. At White Mountain IT Services, we know that operating a business is stressful, and that you have a lot on your plate. We always keep our clients in the loop and advise them every step of the way in their IT and business adventure. At the heart of our managed IT and consultation services, we are professionals who want nothing more than to see our clients succeed. White Mountain IT Services can perform any function of an in-house IT department without the need for extra salaries and expenses. If you can use a hand in outrunning the competition, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800. We?ll provide you with our expert opinions, as well as a technology roadmap that plans for the future, that will give you an edge on others in your industry.

Just like how malware is designed to reverse-engineer software to find flaws, antivirus and anti-malware software is designed to perform the same feat on viruses and malware. It looks for flaws in its code that can be exploited to remove it. Now, what would happen if you prevented malware from using this technique to find exploits in the first place? This is what security researcher, Jacob Torrey, is wondering. He presented his idea for a Hardened Anti-Reverse Engineering System (HARES) at the Singapore SyScan conference this March. The idea behind HARES is that it encrypts the software?s code until the processor absolutely needs to execute it. This means that the software can?t be decoded until it?s being executed, which makes it vastly more difficult for hackers to reverse-engineer the software. According to WIRED magazine: The result is a tough-to-crack protection from any hacker who would pirate the software, suss out security flaws that could compromise users, and even in some cases understand its basic functions. Unfortunately, as most developers of new technology know, there are always ways to turn something that can benefit the online community into a dangerous tool. HARES isn?t meant to create unencryptable malware, but you can bet that hackers will still attempt to use it to their benefit somehow. This puts unsuspecting systems at risk of hacking attacks, and if the technique were to become mainstream in the hacking community, it could lead to even more chaos. HARES obviously isn?t perfect, and it can be tricked through a number of different methods. When an application uses some type of encryption protocol, the decryption key needs to be installed in the computer?s CPU so the program is capable of encrypting it when necessary. A hacker that?s been around the block a time or two can potentially intercept this key while it?s in transit. This can let them decrypt the application and let them see the program?s commands, which allows them to counteract the protocol. One other method that hackers might use is by taking advantage of debugging features found within some hardware. This lets cybercriminals investigate commands made between the chip and the motherboard. The tools required for this kind of procedure are ridiculously expensive, so the average hacker probably won?t be able to afford them; therefore, it?s more logical to assume that this will see use on a national level. As always, it?s best to make sure you?re protected from the latest security threats. A Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution from White Mountain IT Services is the best bet business?s have to ensure maximum network security. The UTM is a comprehensive solution complete with firewall, antivirus, spam blocking, and content filtering functions. This helps keep your network air-tight while online. Give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800 to find out more about this solution.