by Felicien | Jun 16, 2017 | Education
An external IT services company may be exactly what small and growing businesses need: Here’s why.
Partnering with an external IT services companies brings plenty of benefits, especially for small and mid-sized companies that are grappling with the data challenges of an evolving world: The problem is that many businesses don’t realize that. They are acquainted with web hosting and similar simple services, but they have trouble understanding the benefits of a more complex IT services and consulting firm. If you’re having trouble convincing someone in your company to use outside services, here are some of the top advantages.
1. Understanding the Needs of Your Business from an IT Perspective
Forming an IT plan can be hard when you don’t have much experience with the IT systems that you want: That seems like an easy concept, but many growing companies struggle with accepting it. They think that they can come up with the ideal IT plan alone, and that’s a dangerous prospect. Leaders may know the most about their company, but why not join forces with someone who knows more about IT? Data and consultant companies often have years of experience in helping growing business: They usually know what companies need better than the companies themselves, and can prevent leaders from making dangerous assumptions about what the business needs.
2. Greatly Decreased Time Until End of Rollout
Do you dread those planning and rollout processes that take the better part of a year and still have problems afterward? To greatly speed up the process, contract with an external IT and set a new, much better deadline. IT service companies are skilled at taking the most time-consuming steps and finding quick solutions, especially when it comes to building plans and checklists to keep everything flowing smoothly.
3. Knowledge of Threat Trends and Vulnerabilities
Ideally, all businesses should keep track of data attacks and discovered vulnerabilities in computer and mobile systems. But that’s asking a lot, especially for younger businesses that aren’t sure where to begin and don’t really have the resources to invest in a full IT team. One of the increasingly popular advantages of partnering with an outside IT specialist company is that it is their job to keep track of these threats. They know what companies around the world are dealing with. They know what newest vulnerabilities are being exploited. They also know what patches and steps are necessary to keep business data protected. Frequently, data attacks are caused by a lack of awareness. Part of the “IT services” offered by these external companies is that necessary awareness and the solutions that come with it.
4. Experience in Making Deals and Finding the Right Pricing Packages
Finding the right vendors can prove extremely challenging, especially for companies that think they know what they are doing, but really don’t. Consultants and services companies, on the other hand, deal with vendors by the bucketload. They know which vendors update their security regularly, and which don’t. They know which overcharge, and which are too new to trust, and which are probably going to fail or be absorbed by another brand within the next year. They have access to all the valuable data necessary to choose the right vendors: Shouldn’t you take advantage of it?
5. Understanding Long-Term Reliability
The viability of data systems is a tricky subject, one closely connected with the knowledge of many different platforms and general brand evolution. Should you adopt that new service now, or wait for a few updates first? Is this platform ideal for my industry, or should I start making plans to switch before it’s too late? Is that app going to stay useful, or be overtaken by better competitors in a couple years? That’s knowledge that companies can’t really learn without many, many years implementing and switching data solutions. IT firms, however, are well-prepared to offer good advice on these subjects.
6. Knowing the Right Metrics to Measure
Don’t pick up data at random to make important decisions. Partner with an IT firm and find out exactly what metrics you should be measuring to ensure security, stability, and speed. Too much data can be overwhelming, too little data can fuel ignorance, but the right types of data can empower smart decisions.
7. Compliance Audits
Newer companies tend to walk a compliance tightrope as they learn about regulations and state/federal requirements for their data. If you need help managing compliance requirements, seek a company that can perform an external audit of your processes and finds out what’s up to code – and what needs to be updated. This is far, far preferable to getting hit with massive fines if something happens and your company is complying with proper regulations.
8. Risk Management
Do you need data insurance? How much do you need? Will customers be able to sue you? Who will be liable if you partner with vendors and consultants? These are important risk issues, and IT specialists have the answers that you need. Don’t be afraid to ask the honest, important questions when meeting with external IT service companies – that’s what they are there for! They can also help you save money by recommending the risk management services you actually need.
9. Downtime and Disaster Solutions
When the worst happens, you need to be prepared. IT services companies can recommend the best backup and protection services – and may be able to offer some of their own as well. They can also help you find a server setup and hosting services that guarantee minimal downtime. If something does shut down your data, you can get advice on how to progress until business operations are up again.
10. Flexibility and Scalability
What happens when your company needs to switch to a different platform or a different set of devices? What if your customer base is growing rapidly – are your services going to be able to keep up without performance issues? This is one of the best times to consult an outside company with experience in transitioning services over to versions with the right scalability.
If you have specific questions about what IT services can do for your {city} company, contact {company} today! You can reach us by {phone} or {email}.
by Felicien | Jun 15, 2017 | Education
In an effort to reduce the intrusive and annoying nature of such ads, Google has announced that their new browser version will feature an automatic ad blocker.
Consider the vast amounts of information, communication, and entertainment, which is funneled through the Internet daily. How often are you part of this stream and how often is your Internet activity interrupted by annoying pop-up ads? For most patrons of the Web, this experience is all too familiar. Follow a link, wait 10 seconds on an ad page before your initial page loads. Play a video clip and watch an ad, usually twice the volume of the intended video.
In an effort to reduce the intrusive and annoying nature of such ads, Google has announced that their new browser version will feature an automatic ad blocker as part of its software. Of course, there are some more specific details for how the ad blocking will work, which we will detail below. And, as some have already asked, we will consider the potential negatives this system may have. Let’s start with some information about how and when the service will work.
A Better Web Experience
In approximately six months, Google’s Chrome browser, for desktop and mobile versions, will include an ad blocker. This will be designed to get rid of the ads consumers find the most disruptive or unnecessary. This advanced notice will hopefully give those companies funded through ads to bring their marketing practices up to Google’s standards. And, good news for companies already in compliance for Internet advertising, as Google’s ad blocker will filter the intrusive, yet allow the ads deemed appropriate through the Coalition for Better Ads. This coalition represents a fairly large (and growing) group of corporations who aims is to supply regulations for how Internet advertising should appear, in order to give advertisers space and opportunity to profit within this digital landscape.
Profitability and Competition
On the surface, it might appear as if Google is arbitrarily blocking out certain ads and Web publishers. Some have complained that only the consumer is benefiting from these moves, with competition from mega corporations making it impossible for the small ad companies to compete. Not so, says Google. In fact, the ad blocking standards they are imposing will help to give all ads space and views they want. And, as discussed in online forums, traditional ad blocking systems block all ads, regardless of content or appearance, whereas Google’s ad blocker will be selective and still allow for ad revenue to be created through online content.
Google and other web browsers consider the advertising landscape to be akin to an ecosystem, in which you have to maintain a healthy balance in order for the ecosystem to thrive. With this in mind, ads which, for example, hijack a consumer’s screen, automatically play blaring music or continually flash and follow as people attempt to scroll are considered toxic waste in the ecosystem. This kind of ad paints a negative picture of all advertising on the Web and pushes consumers to eliminate all ads through third-party blockers or abstaining from the internet altogether. This kind of negative reputation and response hurts all advertisers and encourages the most disruptive types to up their efforts to be even more belligerent and sneaky. After all, bad press is still press, right? Therefore, the aim becomes to agree upon and adhere to a type of best practices for all advertisers, in which the ads are seen, but don’t become overly intrusive and drive away the very consumers they’re looking to attract and capture.
A Bright Future
With this kind of announcement, some see the signaling of an oncoming change or a shift in the current Internet. Truthfully, the Web is in a constant state of evolution. Change often leads to even more positive results. Plus, it hardly seems plausible that all advertising problems will disappear with the addition of this corporate level ad blocking. More than likely, this is only the first of many steps to help regulate such a vast and powerful resource.
The advertising potential the Internet possesses is far too grandiose to be hemmed in, even from some of the most prominent of Web fixtures. We are more likely to witness the growth and true second wave development of the art of Internet advertising.
Consider the TV ads of the 50s and 60s, compared to the slickness of today’s ads, not to mention the expert product placement appearing on most network TV regularly. We are light years away from a Howdy Doody fudge bar spot. It only seems logical that the newest and potentially most powerful entertainment and social network in existence will, in turn, up its advertising game. Google understands their stake in this business all too well. Currently, approximately 58% of all Internet users are using Chrome as their browser. This kind of leverage gives Google the ability to call some big shots, with the hope and belief by many that this is exactly what the Internet community needs.
by Felicien | Jun 15, 2017 | Education
A discussion of a particularly nasty strain of malware downloader and what you need to know to keep yourself, your business and your employees protected.
Conventional wisdom tells us that if you’re trying to keep your employees, your clients and ultimately your business safe from virtual harm, a little bit of old-fashioned common sense goes a long way. You’ve likely already been investing in ongoing security training, making sure that you and your team know how to identify a phishing email when you see one or know how to spot a rogue download coming from a mile away.
But what happens if even this isn’t enough to get the job done? What if there was a new and terrifying form of malware that could infect any PC in its path, even if the user never clicked on any suspicious-looking links in the first place? It sounds like a nightmare scenario, doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, that’s precisely the type of situation that we now find ourselves in. Security researchers from Trend Micro and Dodge This Security recently uncovered a technique that cyber criminals have been using around the world. An advanced malware downloader could potentially uninstall a banking Trojan horse on your computer – even if you never “accidentally” gave it permission.
21st Century Cyber Terror
Generally speaking, Trojan horses in the past have been limited in scope because they require some type of input from the user in order to execute. A file doesn’t just appear on your hard drive – you have to give it permission, usually while you think you’re downloading something totally legitimate. Even at that point, in an enterprise environment, a password will typically have to be provided. These two barriers have been enough to stop a large number of potential cyber attacks… until now.
The new banking Trojan discovered by security researchers simply requires that the user hovers their mouse pointer over a hyperlink in a carrier PowerPoint file. At that point, the damage has already been down – the Trojan has infected the machine and there is little that can be done about it.
Research reveals that this technique has already been incredibly successful, striking victims around the world. It has been seen in various companies and organizations all across Europe, in the Middle East and even in Africa.
The good news is that you can still train your employees to avoid this type of situation – you just need to take your old techniques and update them with a new spin. In most cases, victims received an email that was usually finance related. They would get an email supposedly from a client or colleague with a subject line like “Invoice” or “Order Number.” The PowerPoint presentation – which itself was fairly harmless – was contained inside.
Once that PowerPoint presentation was viewed in a browser (as many popular options like Firefox or Apple’s Safari have the capability to do), users could easily be exposed to the rogue link and the virus hiding just behind it.
Embedded inside the link, which typically reads “Loading, Please Wait…”, is a malicious PowerShell script. Because of the nature of PowerShell, users don’t have to actually click it – they just have to hover over it. As this is a technique commonly used to check for rogue links in the first place (hovering your mouse over a link will usually give you a peak at the associated URL), it has been particularly damaging in many situations.
Equally, good news is the fact that if a computer is running a newer version of Microsoft’s Office productivity suite, end users will STILL need to approve the malware’s download before it has the opportunity to infect a PC. This is because more modern versions of Microsoft Office have a feature called “Protected View,” which automatically displays a prompt identifying something as a “potential security concern” as soon as a script tries to execute itself.
Once a computer is infected, it can easily steal everything from user credentials to bank account information and more in seconds.
This is just another in a long line of examples as to why ongoing security training is so essential for your employees. Every computer connected to your office network is a potential vulnerability just waiting to be exploited by someone who knows what they’re doing. If even one user falls victim to this attack, it could bring your entire network to its knees.
As always in terms of cyber security, the best defense is absolutely a good offense. In addition to making sure that your employees are aware of attacks like these, you’ll want to make it a priority for your IT team to update all software whenever possible. Many don’t realize that updates to productivity suites like Microsoft Office don’t just come with fancy new features and sleek new graphical user interfaces – they usually also include bug fixes and security patches designed to stop attacks like these from happening.
As far as this particular malware downloader is concerned, research indicates that it seems to have died down after almost 1500 detections at the end of May 2017. However, it is always a possibility that this was just a test run for something far bigger and more sinister that could make its way across the planet at some point in the not-too-distant future. Whether or not we’ll be seeing an increased use of this downloader at some point soon remains to be seen, but it’s still a good idea to prepare your team accordingly just in case.
{company} is incredibly proud to act as your one-stop source for all of the breaking news, tips, tricks and best practices you need to not only keep you and your employees safe from digital threats but to wield the full might of modern technology to your advantage. If you’re in or around the {city} area and would like to find out more information about this topic, or if you have any additional questions that you’d like to get more specific answers to, please don’t delay – give us a call at {phone} or send us a message at {email} today.
by Felicien | Jun 14, 2017 | Education
Technology is an essential part of the modern business in large part due to the way that it helps bring people together. Since the beginning, Microsoft solutions like OneDrive and SharePoint have been founded on this simple fact – by making it easier for people to collaborate and communicate with one another, organizational leaders can create an environment where everyone can contribute towards the goal of working “smarter, not harder” whenever possible.
At Microsoft’s recent SharePoint Virtual Summit, company officials debuted a number of new features for both platforms that seem to double down on this simple-yet-critical goals. The features, which will begin making their way to users later on this summer, are intended to improve the way that organizations can connect both internally among employees and externally with clients.
OneDrive Updates
The centerpieces of Microsoft’s summer update spree in terms of OnePoint is undoubtedly the new “file sharing experience,” a feature designed to improve OneDrive’s integration with the built-in file management tools found in the Windows 7, Windows 10 and MacOS operating systems.
When users navigate to an Office 365 file or folder using either the “File Explorer” file management system on Windows or “Finder” on a Mac, a new OneDrive-centric “Sharing” option will appear. This is similar to the way services like Dropbox already work in that employees can now share files and other documents with one another WITHOUT navigating away from the file manager or opening a different piece of software.
The same window will give users the option to create Web links for colleagues from external organizations or even from their clients. What sets OneDrive apart from their competitors, however, comes by way of the far deeper level of control that it provides. Users can set an expiration date on all links that they create, for example, and can even modify the permissions they give to any particular shared file. If someone is sharing a proof of concept document with a client that they want them to SEE but not EDIT, it is now simple to make that happen in just a few quick clicks of a mouse.
One specialist described the OneDrive updates as “collaboration on my own terms.” He said that Microsoft is going deeper than just allowing people to share documents – instead, it’s now possible to truly connect with someone in a meaningful way the same way you would if they were sitting beside you in an office. People can connect anyWHERE, anyTIME with anyONE – something that will be of particular value to the collaborative environment with many employees working remotely.
Because OneDrive sharing permissions will also be tightened, end users will have a far superior level of visibility over who can view, modify or even access certain documents. This will also go a long way towards maintaining a much-needed level of security in a digital age that is growing more dangerous by the day.
The Future of SharePoint
During the same event, Microsoft also announced that a new feature called “communication sites” are coming to SharePoint later this year. They’re designed as an alternative to the existing “team sites,” offering employees a much better and more user-friendly way to distribute content more broadly across and organization than ever before.
If a certain piece of information needs to be seen by as many employees as possible as quickly as possible, users can create a “communication site” in seconds to do exactly that. If the venue of an upcoming company picnic has suddenly changed due to unpredictable weather issues and people are already in transit, the “communication site” can bring together elements like Bing Maps, an image gallery, a general messaging service and more – all in an effort to spread the word as far as possible as fast as you can.
Microsoft also announced a new feature that administrators have been clamoring for in particular – the new “Site Management” page. Viewing and managing all SharePoint sites is no longer a time-consuming and frustrating experience. Instead, administrators can navigate to a single page that serves as a comprehensive destination for viewing and managing all sites, no exceptions. That noise you just heard was the collective sigh of administrators around the country enthusiastically awaiting this release.
Another upcoming feature that will allow admins to rest easy – a newly designed “Device Access” page, distilling all of the various access controls for mobile collaboration down to a single window. Businesses can now quickly set policies restricting file sharing based on users, devices, and location characteristics, helping to cut off small security incidents before they have a chance to become much bigger (and undoubtedly more expensive) ones down the road.
More Features on the Horizon
In related news, Microsoft also took the opportunity to announce changes to PowerApps – the company’s “no fuss, no muss, no-code” business app builder. End users will soon have the option to create custom forms that appear in SharePoint lists and libraries. Approval flows are also on the horizon, which are built on the Flow automated workflow platform and are intended to speed up the approval process at many different organizations.
Microsoft has taken a lot of flak over the years for releasing “solutions in search of a problem” or for making “changes just for the sake of it” with many of its products. The company’s flagship operating system seems to have been a particularly notable culprit of this, though Windows 10 has undoubtedly gotten things back on track. Regardless of what has happened in the past, one thing is for sure – Microsoft’s summer update spree to both OneDrive and SharePoint, in particular, reaffirm its commitment to its customers and their own workflows moving forward.
Microsoft seems to genuinely want to make it possible for organizations to work “smarter, not harder.” While the company’s definition of “smarter” is often up for debate, steps like these show that the tech giant is at the very least moving in the right direction.
{company} is incredibly proud to be your premiere source for all the industry news, tips, tricks and best practices you need to run the business you’ve always dreamed of. If you’re in or around the {city} area and you’d like to find out more about Microsoft’s OneDrive and SharePoint summer update spree, or if you have any additional questions that you’d like to see answered, please don’t delay – contact us today at {phone} or by sending us an email to {email}.
by Felicien | Jun 13, 2017 | Education
June 13th is the Day to Celebrate Being a Geek!
When you hear the word “geek” what image does your brain conjure up? If you’re like some people, this might be a bespectacled young man who uses his razor-sharp mind to write binary code for those nifty apps that you’ve become accustomed to as you streamline your busy life. While that is certainly one way that a person can be a geek, it is far from being a club that is exclusive only to those people who are into computers. In fact, these days, you can find geeks in nearly every sector and industry.
June 13th: Geeks Will Take Over the World
Well, not really. However, June 13th IS the day that has been proclaimed to be “Embrace Your Geekness Day.” While the word geek hasn’t always been a compliment, these days geeks are trendy. Even those people who used to be called “sports fans” or “sports nuts” are now referred to as “sports geeks.”
What Exactly is a “Geek” Anyway?
This might be a trick question since there is no one-size-fits-all definition of a geek. It’s safe to say, however, that computer geeks now run the world to some extent. Whether they do so behind the scenes by writing code or engaging in other engineering tasks or they enter the picture when there’s a problem in the form of repair, having a strong interest in, and knowledge of, computers is almost imperative if you want to stay abreast of the ever-changing world of technology.
Geeks Don’t Necessarily Equal Computers
Geeks also refer to people who have a consuming obsession in one — or even more! — things. In many cases, geeks can talk about their favorite subject for hours, spouting useful tidbits and facts. These obsessions can be as unique as the people themselves and can run the gamut of interests. Comic books, Star Wars, cosplay, LARP, Pokemon, Medieval reenactors and video games are just a few of the numerous interests that your favorite geek might hold.
How Can YOU Celebrate “Embrace Your Geekness Day”?
Are you a closet geek who has an obsession that no one else knows about? Celebrate “Embrace Your Geekness Day” on June 13th and find other fellow geeks that you can connect and bond with. If there is one thing that geeks love to do, it’s talk about their interests. What better way to do that then to proclaim your geekiness loud and proud so other geeks that share your interest can find you? Who knows what will come of it if you join or grow your community of geeks? By combining your knowledge, creativity, and imagination with other like-minded geeks, it is entirely possible that the next great gadget, tool or media presentation will result.
So, what are you waiting for? You better start making plans now so you can celebrate “Embrace Your Geekness Day” in style on June 13th! At {company}, we love geeks of all types! We’d love to hear your ideas for making this year’s “Embrace Your Geekness Day” the best one ever! Contact us via {email} or call us at {phone} for more information.
