Before we get into the technology that will likely make up the swan song for the smartphone, let?s take a second to look at what came before. Before the smartphone, the cellular phone was exceedingly popular. The innovation of which only took a couple of decades. The first phones were no less than literal mobile telephones, but it only took a couple of years before the form factor shrank down enough for mobile phones to be basically handheld devices. The problem for over a decade was that the infrastructure that allowed the mobile phone to work wasn?t built. Once it was, the manufacturing and dissemination of the mobile phone was rapid.  Today?s Smartphones If you asked people what was the first smartphone, they would say the Apple iPhone. While this answer isn?t really accurate, in the coming decades when smartphones are a thing of the past, it will likely be remembered that the iPhone was first. It has been less than two decades since the advent of the first iPhone and it?s pretty incredible that we?ve come as far as we have.  But?what?s next? You don?t have to worry if you just spent $1,500 on your new smartphone, you will likely go through a half dozen or more of them before the next thing gets here. The smartphone is integral to people?s lives as it is effectively a high-powered computer in your pocket that has near-perpetual connectivity. This allows it to be so important in so many situations of the modern person?s life that when a user accidentally drops and breaks their phone (or mistakenly leaves it at home) it is viewed as a big deal.  This, some would say, extreme reliance on these devices makes you think that they are so important that people will never, ever move past them. They are a part of the culture and are crucial to the administration of people?s day-to-day lives. There have been applications developed for about anything you can think of, and the app stores that fuel the smartphone market continue to grow?Including augmented reality apps.  Augmented Reality The ironic part of the whole thing is that augmented reality (AR) is the technology that just may make the smartphone go the way of the Dodo. Some of the world?s most successful technology companies are actively working on introducing augmented reality-fueled devices that would make the modern smartphone obsolete.  AR is effectively data that augments the display you are seeing. You know the little scoreboard on the screen when you watch a football game? That is augmented reality. The thing is that should these companies be able to create devices that could use augmented reality to do all the things that you do on your phone, it would destroy the smartphone, which hasn?t seen all that much difference in the form factor in almost two decades.  Heads Up AR The future of consumer electronics are smart glasses (or contact lenses). Before you deride that idea, remember how you felt when you heard about the possibility of smart glasses coming out over a decade ago? You thought it was super cool and only a matter of time before it happened, right? Well this is the form factor that is going to likely come after the smartphone and will start a whole new generation […]

Microsoft?s Certification Options Microsoft offers an assortment of IT certifications, differentiated by the aspect of information technology that an IT professional may focus on?all of which, of course, are framed around the tools that Microsoft offers to businesses. These options replace the relatively more fragmented and outdated Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer Program, including options like: Azure Administrator Associate – This certification serves as evidence that someone is proficient with Microsoft Azure and managing the resources that the platform makes available. Azure Solutions Architect Expert – Likewise, this certification signifies that someone is able to create Azure tools, as well as setting up an Azure environment and implementing the tools to secure and manage it appropriately. Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals – This certification shows that someone is familiar with how Microsoft technologies operate in terms of protecting your business? data. Modern Desktop Administrator Associate –  With this certification, one has demonstrated their proficiency in managing devices and applications in an enterprise environment, from deployment to ongoing security and everything in between. Certified Information System Security Professional The International Information System Security Certification Consortium created this prized certification to establish one?s expertise in planning and managing a security program for a business. This certification has some pretty stringent requirements, including an extensive certification pathway that involves training and evaluation. However, obtaining a certified membership to (ISC)? gives you access to a network of your fellow IT professionals and a library of continued educational opportunities. CompTIA A+ Technician As an entry-level certification, CompTIA A+ is a good certification for someone who is just starting off in their IT career as a help desk or support technician to secure, and can largely be seen as a good starting point for someone considering a career in IT. Covering the maintenance needs of various aspects of business computing, this certification requires a technician to pass two tests. Cisco Certified Network Associate As another entry-level certification, the CCNA certification covers how to manage enterprise-level networking equipment, like routers and switches, with specializations available in security, wireless, and voice networking. Obtaining this certification involves a written exam, and works well for a system or network administrator or a network engineer. Network+ This certification signifies a person?s familiarity with wireless and wired networks and their capability to manage them effectively. Requiring a passed exam evaluating how well a candidate can configure these networks and the devices that connect to them, this certification is another one that IT and help desk technicians should strongly consider obtaining. Turn to Us for Assistance from Fully Credentialed IT Professionals While we recommend that your in-house IT team members actively work to remain as credentialed as possible, you can always lean on the assistance of our team of IT professionals and resources. Find out more about our managed services and how they could benefit your business? operations by giving us a call at (603) 889-0800.

Let?s go through a few of these mistakes so that you?re in a better position to avoid them in your business? cybersecurity. Assuming You Are Secure Consider for a moment how confident you are that, if your business was to be targeted by a cyberattack, you could weather the storm unscathed. It is important that you don?t overestimate how secure you are. Never assume that you have done everything you can to protect your business from threats. There is always the risk that something crucial malfunctions or one of your team members makes a mistake. There are countless ways that your data can be stolen, undermined, damaged, or otherwise lost, so making the assumption that your business is inherently secure is a serious error in judgment. Overlooking Security Issues On a related note, it can be too simple to also assume that you don?t have to worry about being targeted, on account of your size as a small or medium-sized organization. This assumption leads to an increased likelihood of successful attacks due to lax precautions and lacking training, as well as no real security strategy in place to help protect your business? data. This is a systemic issue for many businesses, putting them in a seriously precarious position. Missing or Neglected Best Practices There are dozens of ways that you and your team can either help or hurt your organizational security preparedness. Failing to keep your software promptly updated, utilizing insecure passwords, and connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks are all bad habits you?ll want to avoid. Educating your team members (and yourself) about the importance of adhering to the standards that your best practices establish is a critical step to avoid a lot of avoidable issues. White Mountain IT Services is here to help. We offer a variety of helpful security precautions as a part of our comprehensive managed services, allowing us to not only assist your business in recovering from a security breach but avoid them altogether. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

This leaves a very small number of manufacturers holding down a large chunk of the smartphone market so they don?t have the overwhelming pressure to push the needle as much as they once did. In fact, many of the top manufacturers have actually invested in developing more in-house processes for the manufacturing of components that are actually spending on innovation. That?s not to say that there isn?t any innovation going on, but all in all, the things that manufacturers are doing with their smartphones aren?t much different than they were five years ago. Let?s take a look at one specific element of smartphones that is starting to get some new perspectives: the form factor. Changing the Form Factor Only over the past few years have smartphone manufacturers considered changing the form factor of the phones that they produce; and only then, it?s just a couple of manufacturers doing it. This is because a lot of companies don?t have the market share to do interesting new things with their devices and rely on standard products to be able to turn a profit.  For example, just before they ceased their smartphone division, the South Korean company LG released a phone called the LG Wing, which had two displays, but one was opened horizontally to create an interesting form factor that was like nothing that anyone had seen before. Then, as mentioned, it didn?t sell well enough to keep LG from shuttering their smartphone division permanently. Larger manufacturers like Samsung and Huawei have been first to market on smartphones with foldable screens. The foldable phones use a flexible OLED display to allow the devices to fold up. This tech seemed pretty improbable to catch on until Samsung released the Galaxy zFold in 2019. Around the same time Huawei Mate X launched. Each had a high-quality OLED foldable screen, but featured different mechanisms to make these bigger screens compact enough to be considered a smartphone. A year later Samsung doubled down with the Z Flip, which was effectively a flip phone from the early 2000s, but when you opened it up it was a flagship smartphone.  The next innovation is the ?rollable” phone. Using these pliable OLED displays, some manufacturers have played with the notion that the best way forward would be to keep the traditional form factor of a smartphone, but hide an expanded display inside the chassis of the phone. If a user wants to use a larger screen, they would toggle the screen to unroll and, voila, it will unroll to unveil a much larger screen. It remains to be seen when (or if) these expandable screens will get to market (or be a worthwhile innovation). One thing is for certain: smartphone manufacturers will continue to rely on the trusty form factor that has worked for them for over a decade.  If technology interests you, be sure to visit our blog weekly for articles aimed at expanding your business technology acumen. 

Let?s break down three examples of how engaging with a managed service provider, or MSP, allows you to accomplish this. An MSP Ensures Your Employees Have the Tools They Need Let?s say you were trying to chop down a tree. Do you think it would be faster to use a rusty, dulled hatchet, or a well-maintained chainsaw? This is the difference that a managed service provider can make for your business by equipping your team with the proper software and equipment and ensuring it is kept in top working condition. With this support at their backs, you can be confident that your team will not be held back by their tools, allowing them to accomplish more in their day and ultimately bring in more revenue as a result. An MSP Can Supplement Your Existing IT Team and Reduce Downtime Considering how closely profitability is tied to productivity, it should come as no surprise that downtime is a direct threat to your business? ability to make money. This is precisely why it is so important for every business to have access to information technology services and expertise. However, not every business is in the position to have a dedicated in-house team, and even if they can, it may not be large enough to sufficiently provide the benefits that any IT resource should. An MSP can help solve that problem by acting as either a supplement to your IT team or an entirely outsourced IT department, depending on your needs. In doing so, an MSP like White Mountain IT Services can help ensure that work is consistently being done, helping to ensure your profitability. An MSP Can Identify and Streamline Expensive Redundancies Let?s return to our tree-chopping example for a moment. Let?s say that your well-maintained chainsaw served you well enough that you were able to hire and equip employees to chop these trees for you, so you hired a small team of five. Meanwhile, you?ve also invested in 30 more chainsaws and are paying to have all of them regularly maintained. While a little bit of strategic redundancy is a good way to ensure business continuity, there is a line between ?pragmatic? and ?wasteful.? An MSP can use their insight into your business and its IT resources to catch if any of your business? IT is showing a similar pattern. Are you paying subscription costs for unused software? Are you relying on multiple services when a single one exists that provides everything you need? With an MSP like White Mountain IT Services in your corner, these opportunities to streamline your business can be embraced. Reach Out to Find Out How We Can Help You! White Mountain IT Services provides a wide range of managed IT services that businesses around New Hampshire can directly benefit from. Learn more about what we can do for you by giving us a call at (603) 889-0800.