Simply put, there are some disasters that are just beyond your control. Take for example these four common disasters that can unexpectedly strike and destroy your data.     Natural Disasters While it?s true that some geographical locations are safer than others, the fact remains that no place on Earth is immune to a natural disaster that?s capable of disrupting your IT infrastructure and wiping out your data. Severe wind and thunderstorms can happen almost anywhere, and no spot on the planet is 100 percent earthquake-proof. Then there are more region-specific natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, tornados, etc. that you need to account for. While backing up your data won?t prevent a natural disaster from happening (nothing can), it will ensure that your data will survive?even if your IT infrastructure does not. However, simply backing up your data isn?t enough. In order to make sure that operations can resume as quickly as possible, your business continuity plan must include a reliable data recovery option. Man-Made Disasters        Whether the disaster is natural or man-made, the fact remains that it?s impossible to dodge a major disaster. Man-made disasters like warfare, terrorism, and fires can do some serious damage, while even minor man-made disasters can negatively affect operations, like a power outage. The trick to coming out on top of any disaster is to have a data backup solution in place that creates redundant copies of your data and stores your files in the cloud. A BDR solution from White Mountain IT Services provides this kind of protection for your business.      Hardware Failure Every hard drive comes with a chance of failing and crashing. To think otherwise is to kid yourself. Therefore, you need a data backup solution in place that can protect and recover your digital assets, should your hard drive crash on your watch. This is one reason why a BDR solution from White Mountain IT Services utilizes redundant copies of your backed-up data by storing them in the cloud, should a hardware failure ever strike the backed-up copies that you store in-house. For companies that are serious about protecting their data, it takes this level of redundancy to ensure that your data will be available when you need it the most.   User Error People make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes result in the deletion of data. In fact, user error is the number one cause of data loss, so you never want to become overly confident that your well-trained team can never make a mistake. However, with a reliable backup and disaster recovery solution in place, you can be confident that, should a major problem ever happen, you?ll be able to easily revert back to a previous copy of your data and keep operations humming along.    Natural and man-made disasters, hardware failure, and user error, all of these culprits can derail the productivity of a business, or worse, cause a company to go out of business within a year if there?s no data backup solution in place. While you can?t erase the reality of disasters from putting your business at risk, you can do something about it by implementing BDR. Call White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

How Can AI Image Generation Be Used to Boost Microsoft?s Tools? Ask any designer, writer, or other content creator you know?the blank page can be daunting to face down. The intention behind these new tools is to help give a user something to put on that page that they can then use as a springboard. Take the new Microsoft Designer application that is being released?AI is functionally built into the software, with users having the capability to provide a description of what they need to the DALL-E 2 AI. The image generation platform will then provide numerous generated images for the user to select from. Designer was originally a feature within Microsoft PowerPoint, but its utility proved sufficient for a standalone application to be developed. Microsoft also has plans to add Designer into Edge and Bing to allow users to access these capabilities as they create social media posts and custom images. It Isn?t All Smooth Sailing for Microsoft?s AI Project There are assorted concerns that this kind of technology presents that Microsoft has needed to consider as they have developed these features?both in their existing software titles and in those newly-developed ones, like Designer. First off, AI-generated images as a practical concept are not without some controversies. In simple terms, the platforms (referred to as image synthesis models) used to create these images do so by effectively compiling the millions of images on the Internet that relate to the prompts?the vast majority of which are protected by copyright laws, and it isn?t as though your AI platform is securing permission to reference each and every image from each and every respective owner. It?s almost as if you went online and looked at Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream, and then immediately painted The Shriek or The Shout or The Squawk, just with exponentially more pieces of art referenced. In fact, almost this exact scenario is boasted about on the OpenAI website, where Johannes Vermeer?s Girl with a Pearl Earring is ?reimagined? numerous times, all in the same art style as the original. This is all to say nothing of the fact that the Internet is, well, the Internet, and that DALL-E 2 is sourcing its data from the variety of reference material to be found there. As a result, damaging social biases, inappropriate materials, and other potentially problematic content could easily find its way into the images of DALL-E 2?and by extension, Microsoft?s integration of it. However, it is important to note that Microsoft has been communicative about how these issues are being proactively addressed, citing their partnership with OpenAI to ensure that safeguards are put in place to prevent the aforementioned concerns and demonstrably taking their time with the rollout of these tools. Is This Something You?d Use for Your Business? If not, what are a few things that your business could use to improve its technology? Give us a call to find out how we can make it easier for you to implement and maintain these tools and solutions. Reach out at (603) 889-0800.

What is a Hybrid Work Environment? When people imagine the workplace, they generally see it in black and white rather than shades of gray. Either an employee works in the office and gets everything done from their work desk, or they work remotely and do not need to make the trip to the office. Hybrid work is a mixture of both, where the employee spends a certain amount of time working in-house and the rest of the time working remotely. If anything, a hybrid workplace model is more of a compromise than anything else, giving employees the freedom to work remotely while still coming to the workplace as needed for meetings and other responsibilities. How Can It Be Achieved? So, you want to implement a hybrid workplace. That?s great, but how can it be done in a way that gives employees the flexibility they desire while ensuring that employers get what they need from in-house operations, too? One way that you can ensure that your hybrid workplace solution works in your favor is to design with remote work as the priority. The reasoning behind this is simple; if it can be done remotely, it can be done in-house. The reverse cannot be said quite so easily, as in-house systems are designed specifically for in-house operations. Since remote work is so accommodating in the fact that it allows employees to work from anywhere, it also allows those who do choose to work in-house the ability to do so with little-to-no restriction. It also helps to ensure that your office has the accommodations necessary to handle any amount of in-house workers as needed. Some companies utilize a desk reservation system where employees can book a desk or workspace for the days that they plan on coming to the office. This transitions into the next tip we have, which is to make sure that employees have access to the technology they need to succeed, be it laptops, smartphones, software, data access, or any other assets that they might require on a day-to-day basis. By making sure that your employees have access to this technology, they will be able to transition between remote work and in-house work seamlessly. Don?t Let Technology Be Your Sticking Point As you might imagine, the proper hybrid workplace will revolve around access to technology solutions that allow your employees to work anywhere at any time on whatever devices they have been assigned or choose to use. The possibilities might seem overwhelming, but remember that you are not alone in this pursuit. White Mountain IT Services is available to assist your organization with the shift to a remote or hybrid workplace. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

We wanted to share a few warning signs that your technology has reached the point where you?re ready to upgrade it. Your Technology Has Slowed Considerably It?s pretty predictable that, as it ages, your technology will gradually work more and more slowly?both due to its age, of course, but also compared to the newer devices that your coworkers may have access to. If the reduced speed becomes a challenge for your daily processes, that?s a pretty reliable sign that an upgrade is in order. Your Productivity Has Suffered On a similar note, you need to consider if your technology and its aforementioned slowness is having an impact on what can be accomplished during the day. If it is, or if you?re dealing with persistent crashes and other issues, that?s another good sign that an update or upgrade is in order. Your Devices Are No Longer Compatible with App Upgrades or Necessary Security Patches This is how you know beyond any doubt that an upgrade is in order. Upgrades and security patches are implemented for a reason, so going without puts you at risk of data theft or other security breaches. If a hacker sees an opportunity, they?ll take it. Applying these updates and patches?and ensuring that your device can handle them?is something you need to prioritize as a result. Having said that, it is important that you keep these devices maintained and fully repaired to ensure that they can accept these patches and updates. Desktop workstations are complicated pieces of hardware, so asking a professional to give a problematic device a once-over before committing to an expensive investment is a practical course of action. We can serve as that professional for you. We?ve assembled a team that is more than capable of assisting you with your updates and upgrades, regardless of where you may be in the process. Whatever your needs may be?from acquiring new devices to properly wiping the data from your existing ones before disposing of them appropriately?we have you covered. Get started today by giving us a call at (603) 889-0800.