Computerware Blog

With months and months of bad news, many businesses are trying to find the right recipe to keep from having to make the hard decisions. Problem is that these hard decisions are looking as if they are going to be inevitable. With costs rising and revenues shrinking, there needs to be a strategic urgency that will allow your business to sustain operations when other companies are laying off their workers and folding into obscurity. Today, we take a look at some of the technology investments that you can make to keep your business afloat during the economic downturn. 

Human beings are naturally inquisitive creatures, which makes it all the easier for us to be convinced of different things. Cereal mascots promise wild flavors that will send kids on a Mom-approved adventure, magazine covers promise countless sure-fire ways to be rid of that stubborn belly fat, and—more sinisterly—phishing attacks promise to be something that they are not. As hackers have found, this tactic has proven to be worth investing time in.

The nature of many of today’s businesses is building one product over and over and over. When you have that level of repetitiveness, it helps people find their niche, yes, but it can also result in the attention given to the task to suffer. While a disengaged employee is nothing new, they can cause some operational problems. By and large, a couple of staff hiccups won’t have a huge impact on your business, unless that lack of engagement impacts your cybersecurity. That’s because there are some threats out there that could absolutely cripple your business’ ability to sustain operations. Today, we’ll talk about how to get your staff to care about malware, hackers, and the like. 

Could you tell me when the last time your routers were updated? How about when your servers were last maintained? How old is the hardware in your office? Where would someone go to get a new keyboard? If you don’t know the answers to these questions it is possible that your IT is not properly inventoried. This month, we’ll discuss the importance of keeping a technology inventory.

Most business owners are looking for a way to cut their costs. One way that many firms can see some cost reduction is to increase productivity through solid collaboration. Today, there are many digital tools designed to get more eyes on a project, but they may not completely fit your strategy. Let’s look at some strategies that are used to promote collaboration, and some tools that can fuel it.

If you don’t think that your business is at risk of cyberattack from the Internet, you are running your business on borrowed time. If you want to avoid this scenario, you will have to be prepared to do what you can to keep it safe.  This entails following some strict rules and being smart about where and when to deploy security checkpoints. We looked at what an organization needs to do in order to keep the threats that are bandying about from having a marked effect on your business.

With businesses trying to feel out the situation, there is going to be some anxiety, some indecisiveness, even some fear about reopening too early (or too late). It may be a perfect time, however, to start to look at ways you can innovate your business. One way you can do that is by reinventing your business’ communications platform. 

As restrictions have started to ease and business returns to some semblance of normal, organizations are left picking up the pieces of a disaster that almost none of them planned for. Let’s look at some of the statistics that explain where small businesses are at this time, and some tips on how to get your business back being the productive company you remember.

The Coronavirus outbreak is one of the most remarkable events in our lives, but it is not the first time that people have had to deal with these seemingly mystical forces. Today, we have been able to stem the tide a little bit with our access to information technology, but for past pandemic victims, some good did come out of tragedy. This month we thought we’d talk about the importance of innovation in dark times. 

Every business needs some sort of telephone system. If you are looking to save some money, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) platform is a good place to start. However, VoIP can do more than just trim down your communications spend. There are many other options that VoIP can open up for the benefit of your business’ efficiency and productivity.

The tragic reality of the COVID-19 pandemic is that businesses are in a very uncomfortable situation. As the virus made its way around the world, many businesses have had to enact their version of a disaster recovery policy. Not all businesses will look at this the same way, but if you want your business to have the kind of continuity that will allow it to get through tough situations like this, formally creating a disaster recovery policy will put you in the position to weather any storm you encounter.

Like it or not, many businesses have been forced to send employees home thanks to COVID-19. That has left a lot of business owners and managers stuck with a whole new paradigm to deal with.

A business’ data is one of its biggest assets. For the smaller business, large portions of an IT budget can be spent storing data. One way to keep costs down and maintain control over all this data is by utilizing Network Attached Storage (NAS). 

Cloud computing has been extremely useful for millions of businesses. With Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) titles providing sustainable computing options, and many businesses using the cloud for their organization’s data backup, cloud computing has become commonplace as a cost effective alternative to buying all types of IT. Another way that businesses are leveraging their monthly IT budget is on cloud-based communications platforms. This month we thought we would discuss cloud communications and how your business can benefit from making a switch.

With so many different technologies being used in business, it can sometimes be too much for the people out there who aren’t as tech savvy as others. In fact, some of the people you will work alongside will not be able to grasp some of the simplest technology concepts. Unfortunately, these people don’t know a fraction of what they need to about the technology they use, and it could put your organization at a disadvantage. This month, we thought we’d give you a few pointers on how to talk to your less-technology-inclined co-workers.

Millions of people find themselves sitting in front of a computer moving files around and corresponding with people over the phone, through email, or updating info in the company’s line of business app. What many of them don’t know, however, is that, at any time, they are only a couple of clicks away from causing major problems for their company. Therefore, it is extremely important to train your staff on what to look for and how to address those situations when they do arise.

Businesses’ data needs are changing. Over the past few years, more care about data security, and with the amount of dangerous threats expanding as well, it is important to ensure that any technology moves you make don’t end up putting your business in harm’s way. Today, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of wiring up your computer network. 

Getting a new computer or smartphone is always exciting for the individual. For the growing business, however, getting new computers can be a giant pain in the neck. That’s not to say that a hardware refresh isn’t an exciting time for a business, it’s just that to get the new hardware to a point where it can be usable takes some doing. Today, we’ll talk a little bit about bloatware, why manufacturers install it, and how to get rid of it quickly. 

The small business owner has to do a lot. In fact, the smaller the business, the more he/she has to do. One thing that many small business owners do is make technology decisions. By acting like the organization's CIO or CTO (short for Chief Information Officer or Chief Technology Officer, respectively), the small business owner needs to understand what his/her organization’s technology needs are. Or, he/she needs to outsource that role. 

No one can tell when a disaster is going to strike or what form that disaster is going to take. The cause could be a storm, human error, or some freak occurrence that nobody could have seen coming. In order to get back up and running after one of these incidents a company needs to have a strong business continuity strategy. An essential part of this strategy is knowing how to recover data depending on the way it’s lost. Getting data back and working for your company is the only way to stave off ruin, so let’s look at data recovery strategies that can literally save your business.