What is Zero-Trust, Exactly? Zero-trust is generally what it sounds like: the default for every organization or business being to put zero trust in anything?any user, any piece of hardware, any network connection?until it has been verified as trustworthy and secure through rigorous authentication. Adopting a zero-trust policy is, and will be, a lengthy process that will take some time. It will take ongoing work to maintain its efficacy, with numerous aspects to see to before it will be as effective as it needs to be. Your zero-trust policy needs to take everything into consideration in order to effectively protect your operations. However, Zero-Trust is Relatively Simple to Implement When planning to adopt a zero-trust process, it is important to involve a few steps: Establish Your Goals for Your Zero-Trust Processes According to NIST?the National Institute of Standards and Technology?there are two goals behind zero-trust: preventing unauthorized access to your business? data and resources, and that access control measures remain as granular as possible. Naturally, these goals should be considered in addition to what you want for your organization. Establish Your Most Important Data Quick?think about what data your business couldn?t operate without, and how this data could be accessed. This information will be crucial to ensuring that your zero-trust strategy addresses the biggest and most egregious vulnerabilities that you?ll likely face. Establish How Prepared You are for Zero-Trust On a similar point, you also need to evaluate your network?s preparedness to follow the tenets of zero-trust. Is your network equipped with the appropriate safeguards? Are your endpoints sufficiently secured? Are your users abiding by the standards and policies you?ve dictated to them? Figuring out where your IT falls short will be key to your ultimate success.  Establish What You Need to Do to Improve Once you know where you need to improve, you?re in a position to do just that as you implement the necessary protections and network changes to support zero trust. As a general rule, this means that nothing should be trusted without being authenticated first, with real-time monitoring implemented.  Establish Monitoring Practices This real-time monitoring should continue into perpetuity, so that future threats and issues can be more effectively caught and mitigated. When all is said and done, a zero-trust policy is simply a more secure way to approach your business? network and resources. We can help you put it into practice. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

Outline A Realistic Spending Strategy It doesn?t matter what you are looking to buy, you need to know how much you have to spend. When putting together proposals designed to improve your business, they can quickly get extraordinarily expensive. By establishing clear budgetary restraints that you need to follow, you can be sure that you won?t deal with massive cost overruns that make getting a fast return on your technology investments impossible.  Conduct Thorough Research A lot of business owners and executives deal exclusively on budgets, not so much in the actual spending of it. It?s important that anyone that holds the purse strings on a technology budget be a part of the research team to vet potential solutions. The fact is that there are a lot of technology companies out there and some of them don?t have a very solid track record. You will want to do your research and consider companies that have an established history of fulfilling needs for companies like yours.  Consider Your Project Team Once you?ve pinpointed the technology you wish to implement, you will want to map out what a potential deployment will look like. This means identifying risks, where the cost benefits are, and what makes the deployment unique. The better you are at evaluating your would-be vendors, the project?s timeline, and the stress the new technology will put on your staff, the more ready you will be to get started and make the technology work for your business. Don?t Just Plan for Today The benefit of investing in technology is that it can help your business today and beyond. Unfortunately, many businesses are blinded by the technology itself and don?t value how it is going to work for your company as its growth arc expands. The more flexible any technology is, the better it will be down the line; and while it?s impossible to satisfy all your needs with one solution, if you can effectively implement technology that handles some abject pain points, the better off your business will be at the end of the project and beyond.  Question Everything Typically, any technology implementation your business goes through is going to cost more money upfront than it will going forward. This is because you have to factor in things like planning, design, procurement, deployment, and training?not to mention any operational hiccups that can come as a result. This leads to many decision makers wondering where the cost savings in any technology implementation are coming from. This is why you need to ask a lot of questions up front to ensure that your bases are covered and you know exactly what to expect from any new technology project.  Be Reasonable One major issue we see all the time from businesses that are looking to incorporate some new technology is that they rush through an IT project and end up having sustained troubles as a result. You will want to give any new technology initiative a conservative estimate in terms of the timeline of events. Remember, all solidly implemented technology projects have defined stages and if you rush through the planning, implementation, or backend tasks like training, you will probably have some problems with the overall project.  Spending on technology typically works pretty well to improve efficiency, overall operational productivity, and customer relationships, but […]

Hosted VoIP Hosted Voice over Internet Protocol is one of the most popular communication tools out there, and for good reason. VoIP uses your company?s bandwidth to run a telephone system. This frees your business from relying on your traditional telephone company?s services, and in return you get a system that is better in just about every way for a fraction of the cost. It?s a simple and beneficial solution that just makes sense to implement. You first need to determine if VoIP is appropriate for your business, as well as whether or not you?ll need more bandwidth to facilitate this change. Some companies have a backup broadband connection just in case their primary service goes down for whatever reason. VoIP is generally offered as a service, so you pay for the number of accounts you need on a per-month basis. You only pay for the accounts and the hardware they?ll be hosted on, and the handsets if you need them. With easy mobile applications and desktop software, you can use any device to make or receive calls, and it saves your business countless dollars in the process. Thanks to effective scalability, high-quality calling, and a robust array of features, VoIP can make a major difference for just about any business. Social Intranet A social intranet solution can also be an effective tool to increase collaboration in the workplace and beyond. A social intranet allows your team to share files seamlessly, making it easier than ever to work together even when separated or working remotely. Your social intranet solution will be tied to a central repository of data, and through integrations with various third-party apps, you can facilitate effective collaboration. These applications also often come with integrated communication tools like instant messaging, forums, VoIP, or video conferencing tools that make meetings a breeze. Just like Hosted VoIP, these intranet solutions are generally offered as a service, so you can reap a substantial amount of value through smart implementation. Furthermore, cloud-based productivity apps provide your employees with anywhere-anytime access to these solutions on approved devices. Video Conferencing One major shift in business communications came about as a result of the COVID pandemic: video conferencing. While it certainly existed prior to the pandemic, COVID made video conferencing platforms a necessity for any company looking to keep operations running while remote. Furthermore, advancements in video and audio conferencing have dramatically increased the quality of these services and solutions, and mobile devices have made them more available than ever before. These technology solutions might make all the difference for your operations moving forward. Do you need assistance with implementing any of the above technology solutions? White Mountain IT Services can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Tidy Things Up A cluttered workspace can distract you from working at your optimal productivity levels, so you should do your part to ensure that everything on your desk has its place. If your desk is the ?community desk? in the house, i.e. one that is used by multiple individuals, then try to emphasize the importance of keeping things clean and tidy. That means no junk mail piling up next to the keyboard, no unnecessary clutter, and other things that can accumulate over time and distract you from the work that needs to get done. Upgrade Your Chair It?s amazing what a good chair can do to help you stay focused and comfortable throughout the workday. If you?d rather not sit all day, you could also invest in a standing desk so that you aren?t as sedentary. Add Some Plants It?s been proven that a little natural touch to your office can improve productivity and make for a more comfortable environment. If your office doesn?t have windows showing off the great outdoors, then bring the great outdoors? indoors. You can add some potted plants to your office to make things a little less drab. Alternatively, if you don?t have much of a green thumb, you can get some fake plants.  Add a Personal Touch Nobody likes to work in a boring environment, so do what you can to spice up your workplace with a little bit of personal flair. Consider your interests and add in things that make you happy; doing so can make a big difference in showing off who you are as a person and in increasing your satisfaction with your office. Consider New Technology Solutions These tips might help your team be more productive by making the office more comfortable, but one of the other ways you can make their jobs easier is by investing in appropriate technology solutions that help them stay on task. White Mountain IT Services can help you acquire and implement new technologies with productivity in mind. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

We don?t have to treat this question as a hypothetical, either. We have actual examples to consider, in terms of how employees have responded to such news. Mandatory RTO Hasn?t Been Taken Well in the Recent Past There have been a number of companies that, having successfully implemented remote work when it was deemed necessary for safe operations, elected to roll back these capabilities. In May 2021, Jamie Dimon?CEO of JPMorgan?claimed that remote work ?doesn?t work for people who want to hustle,? and that it also ?doesn?t work for culture, doesn?t work for idea generation.? However, by April of this year, Dimon had conceded that only half of his entire workforce will return to the office full-time, with 10% remaining as full-time remote employees. In April, Apple mandated that all employees needed to be in the office at least three days each week. The employees responded by forming a group (?Apple Together?) and publishing an open letter criticizing the executives? decision. In March, David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, insisted that the company?s employees make the shift back to the office full-time. Only half of the company?s employees did so. Recently, Google Maps and the tech company Cognizant were convinced by their employees? petition against a return to their Bothell, Washington offices, pushing their RTO date from June 6th to September 6th. Finally?and perhaps most noticeably?Elon Musk has vocally come out against Tesla employees working from home, after emails leaked from Musk that stated, ?Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla.? He then doubled down on his statements by saying people who thought coming into work is an antiquated concept should ?pretend to work somewhere else.? Ouch. However, this all shows another form of resistance?not just the resistance that these employers still have against remote work, but the resistance that employees have against these return to office mandates. Many companies have taken note of this and have taken the opposite tack as the above, instead offering perks and special events for those willing to come back. Naturally, larger companies are able to do significant things to draw in their team members. Microsoft treated its employees in Redmond to a variety of perks?concerts by local bands, terrarium-making classes, and beer and wine tastings. Qualcomm (who makes the chips that may very well power the device you?re reading this on now) welcomed their employees back with a happy hour, and began numerous events and pop-up activities for team members. Of course, such activities are almost assuredly out of reach for small businesses. Therefore, It?s Important that You Remain Flexible, If Only to Avoid Pushback With unprecedented acceptance of remote work in the job market right now, you need to give your employees the level of workplace flexibility they want. The technologies that enable hybrid operations will be fundamental to doing so, which is something that we can help you implement. Reach out to us today to find out what we can offer to support your business, whether your operations are in-house, remote, or hybrid. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800.