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One look at the statistics is all it takes to understand the breadth of cybersecurity issues facing the world today. According to Accenture?s Cost of Cybercrime Study, 43 percent of all cyberattacks were aimed at small businesses and only a fraction of those businesses were ready to defend themselves.  This is why it is so important to have a dedicated network and cybersecurity strategy. If you neglect this part of your business, particularly in regards to training your staff on procedures and policies you might put in place, you are hindering their ability to go about their tasks in a secure and productive way. Here are four tips you can use to get your staff on-board with cybersecurity practices. #1 – Get Them to Relate Network security is not the most interesting topic in the world, especially for people who might not understand how it directly ties into their lives. You might have to get a little creative with this, but generally speaking, it is easier for someone to relate to the content of a security training session if they can see themselves or others they care about as the victims. Use real-life examples, like identity theft or data leaks due to negligent behavior, to reinforce why they need to take security seriously. Ultimately, their adherence to these policies is what will keep themselves and others safe from hackers. #2 – Always Promote Security People are impressionable, so if they are surrounded by a specific message, they will be more likely to pick up on it. You can leverage this trait with your cybersecurity messaging. If you are promoting cybersecurity and best practices in the workplace, you can create a culture surrounding it, one that sticks long-term. #3 – Consistent Training While pushing security might get you so far, consistent training will be the key to ensuring everyone remains aware of how important it is. You should hold training sessions on a regular basis which encompass the following topics: How to avoid becoming a victim of phishing What network resources they have access to The importance their role has in protecting company and customer data Solid password management and best practices What to do if they make a security mistake If every employee you have has a good handle on these five concepts, there is a great chance that there won?t be a network security disaster coming from your staff. #4 – Lead By Example If you want your team to take security seriously, you can start by taking it seriously yourself. If you implement policies and procedures, then you need to stick to those policies and procedures so employees know that it?s not just them who are responsible for sticking to them. If you implement security measures like firewalls, antivirus, multi-factor authentication, and others, you should be prepared to advocate for their use. People often look at these solutions as methods to protect the business from themselves rather than a means to protect the business from external forces, so be sure to foster the latter mindset. Remember that being a security mentor is something that involves listening to people and supporting them rather than demanding specific actions from them. It?s unlikely that everyone will understand the importance of cybersecurity policies at first, so take time to educate them so […]

What is Proactive Maintenance? The fact of the matter is that all your IT maintenance will fall into one of two categories: proactive and reactive. Reactive maintenance is your typical break-fix approach where you only address problems as they arise. Proactive maintenance relies on constant monitoring of your infrastructure to prevent problems from occurring in the first place, resulting in fewer costs and much less downtime. Perhaps now you see why there is such a big benefit to proactive maintenance; it prevents problems from shutting down your operations, resulting in greater profits and fewer expenses. Besides Greater Uptime, What are the Benefits of Proactive Maintenance? Cutting downtime is a great benefit, but the greatest benefit you can expect from proactive maintenance is that you can completely avoid hardware failure in most cases. Technicians like those at White Mountain IT Services who have been trained to identify issues with technology systems can address the issues as they show themselves, and thanks to various tools on the market, our technicians can resolve most of them remotely on the spot. It sure beats throwing away thousands of dollars on a new server unit, right? We can further break down proactive maintenance into two categories: predictive maintenance and preventative maintenance. Predictive maintenance anticipates issues that could occur with your technology and plans accordingly, whereas preventative maintenance follows a set schedule. Basically, there will always be tasks you can do to keep your technology lasting as long as possible. These are mostly preventative maintenance tasks that include monthly audits, software updates, and various other things that are scheduled and handled according to that schedule. Predictive maintenance has a more variable timeline while also including overall quality control and root cause analysis. No matter the type of technology maintenance your business needs, White Mountain IT Services has your back. We can proactively monitor your infrastructure for issues that could lead to downtime-causing problems, thereby addressing them before they cripple your operations. We can also set up a maintenance schedule and predict technology failures that could occur in the future. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Baseball?s Data Revolution Baseball is one of America?s longest standing institutions and has been evolving along with American society for over 140 years. That?s why it is not that surprising that the increase in data collection would coincide with a major shift in the sport. You have to go back about 30 years to see where this all starts. For a long time, baseball statistics were viewed at face value. You had your home runs, your runs batted in, your win-loss record. Along came some baseball fans that were also looking to measure players differently. Known as SABRmetrics (named after the Society of Baseball Research), new statistics were created that helped fans, and more importantly, a set of innovative front office executives measure every part of the game. This information then started to be used to construct baseball teams. If you?ve read the book (or have seen the movie) Moneyball, this is essentially what it was about.  As data collection got better and better, more statistics were created to start judging player performance. The result in this not only changed the way teams put together their rosters, it led to players changing their approach entirely. A few years back, hitters would get paid more if they hit home runs and pitchers would get more money for striking out a lot of hitters. This led to one of the biggest changes in modern baseball, the increase of strikeouts across the board. Batters, trying to increase home run output, changed their swing approaches to try to get the ball in the air. Sure there were more home runs hit, but the whole game has been changed as a result of the increase in actionable data.  Data Can Change Your Business, Too By collecting and utilizing data to make business decisions, you are doing so with much more knowledge than you would if you just made decisions off the cuff. For example, you may have had success in the past with the way that you measure employee performance. If you have workers that are reliable and have been working for you for a while, it stands to reason that you?ve done a good job measuring their performance. Through the use of data, you may actually discover that you have significant bias that is costing your business greatly. There is a place for the ?gut feeling?, but it?s probably not on the bottom line of your business.  The truth is that many managers like to cherry pick the numbers that support their opinions. This is doing nothing but hurting your endeavor. With the ability to take in and measure data, customize metrics, and all the other parts of business intelligence and business analytics, you could just find out that your business? lack of growth could be because of manager bias.  Want to Use Your Data to Make Your Business Better? Call Us Today! If you?d like to get some help setting up an analytics platform that can help you make more informed decisions, call us today at (603) 889-0800.

A Manager?s Job is to, Well, Manage I know, I know? obvious. However, this doesn?t mean that it is any less important to acknowledge that managerial styles don?t always line up perfectly to each team member?s work style. For instance, if a manager is accustomed to self-driven work processes, it may be difficult for the team members they manage to work if they need structure in the workplace. Therefore, managers need to anticipate these differences in work styles and communicate with each appropriately. For this, there are plenty of business software solutions available to help managers keep their team members on task, allowing you to keep track of who is to do what, and when, while outlining the goals they are to strive for. Communication is Key, as They Say You also want to ensure that management is able to facilitate the clear and open sharing of information?as appropriate, of course?by not only setting the example, but by doing so using the appropriate tools. Businesses should have a variety of communication technologies in place to promote collaboration and to give their external contacts plenty of options to embrace as they reach out. It is on management to take the lead on establishing these tools as the standard. Show your team how your communication solutions are to be used, and encourage them to use them the same way. Hold?and Lead?Effective Meetings There is definitely such a thing as ?too many meetings,? and it tends to be the side effect of ineffective meetings overall. There are a few ways to counteract this, like planning an itinerary to shape your meetings around. Of course, you also need the technology that will allow you to hold meetings with both in-house and remote employees, which a collaboration suite provides. Video conferencing helps to reduce the space between distant coworkers, in a manner of speaking, allowing you to lead them more effectively through a version of face-to-face conversation. Turn to Us to Equip Your Team with the Tools Your Managers Need At White Mountain IT Services, we?re experienced in identifying and implementing the solutions that businesses need for success, supporting every member of their team?including management. Reach out to us at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

Let?s go over why not. Repair-via-Violence is Sometimes Referred to as Percussive Maintenance Seriously, that?s the high-falutin? term for just smacking your technology around to make it work. According to Techopedia, the definition is as follows: ?In IT, percussive maintenance is the art of shaking, banging or pounding on something, in order to make it work. Experts generally define percussive maintenance as the use of rough impact on physical hardware to solve some type of malfunction.? I?m confident that you?ve observed some evidence of this working in your own life, even if it was as simple as slapping the television remote against your palm a few times. So, if it works, why not do it in the office? Because It Can Break Your Business? Technology, That?s Why Here?s the thing about percussive maintenance?the reason it sometimes works is that an issue can be the result of a loose connection, and the impact could manage to reposition the internal components. However, it could just as easily (and frankly, it?s more likely to) damage your device further. It really should come as no surprise that we?d take this stance?and we aren?t alone in the IT world in this. It sincerely is just a matter of statistics. Comparatively, what?s the chance of fixing a problem versus the chance of making it worse, making no difference, or messing something else up, too? Too high. It?s part of the reason that your heart stops whenever you fumble your phone: you know that it?s far more likely that it breaks it than makes it better. So, despite the (unfortunately) indisputable fact that percussive maintenance sometimes works, it is not something that we recommend. If anything, leave the computer-smacking to the professionals! Also, for the record, blowing on old video game cartridges or computer disks isn?t a remedy either (the moisture in your breath can corrode the copper connectors and cause long term damage). But we digress. With Managed Services, You?ll Have a Better Option than Just Hitting Your Device We can help you troubleshoot your technology and resolve the issues present, whether they?re the result of a software issue, computer virus, or yes, a hardware issue. Reach out to us and ask about our remote monitoring and management services by calling (603) 889-0800.