ATECH MSP Blog

As the holiday season we just survived shows us, new technology can be a really popular topic, especially for consumers. Businesses, on the other hand, have a lot of their excitement tempered by how much of a risk new tech presents - something could just as easily be a game-changer for their operations as it could prove to be a major source of problems that ultimately creates huge issues.

One of the earliest memories I can remember is being relentlessly reminded “organization is the key to success”.  While it might have been a comedic expression to say while cleaning up the house, becoming a business owner has undoubtedly caused organization to become more of a strategy rather than an obsession.

“Memes” have entered the common language in a very real way, as everyone - from politicians to people on Facebook to yes, businesses - use them to communicate their messages… but why? Today, we’ll go over why the Internet meme has become so common, as well as share some of our favorite IT memes.

With any luck, hearing that Microsoft is calling it quits on two of its most popular operating systems is old news. After all, Microsoft has been reminding Windows 7 users that January 14 is their end of support date, and that they really need to upgrade… but about 25 percent of Windows 7 users haven’t.

Your business email is a very useful tool, if used properly. Unfortunately, there are plenty of ways that your email can also serve as a major time sink. For this week’s tip, we wanted to explore a few ways to help keep email useful, rather than distracting and stressful.

A quick Google search for “the most important thing for a company to be successful” kicks back a huge number of results - with answers ranging from “effective team management” to “sales skills” to “good decision making” to “strong relationships.” What do the vast majority of these answers have in common? They all rely on effective communications skills. Considering this, it seems prudent to encourage the kind of communication that nurtures success.

As a general rule, necessity dictates when a business upgrades the technology, they use each day. Sometimes it is because the tech they have been using can no longer support their needs, and sometimes, the solutions that are utilized simply aren’t efficient enough to keep up with operations any longer. New technologies may be adopted as a means to increase productivity, while others may actually be required by government-mandated regulations.

In recognition of the holiday this year, we’ve decided to adapt a famous tale to a more contemporary setting, and create a parody of the holiday classic, A Christmas Story. We hope you enjoy this retelling, as much as we enjoyed writing it!

As a managed service provider, we realize that it may not be totally clear what it is that we do, exactly. To resolve this, we wanted to devote a blog to review what we provide to businesses like yours, and how our services can benefit you.

Businesses deal in relationships. They have to create a relationship with their clients and customers to keep them coming in the door, whether they are serving other business needs or consumer ones. Of course, it can be hard enough to manage all of the relationships in one’s personal life… how can one possibly add business relationships into the mix?

The Internet is an indispensable tool, that much is certain. Unfortunately, the only other certainty is that there are millions of people on the Internet looking to intercept data, breach networks, and steal anything they can. That is why your business spends those extra precious dollars on cybersecurity. One tool that isn’t always mentioned as a part of a cybersecurity strategy is the virtual private network, or VPN. 

With the big day just over a week away, a lot of people are scouring websites for the right gift. While frantic online shopping like this has become a holiday tradition in its own right, there is no reason to spoil the season by having your identity stolen online. That’s why we wanted to quickly review a few safeguards to keep in mind while online shopping.

There are plenty of reasons - including employee satisfaction, productivity benefits, and cost savings, to boot - that many organizations have adopted BYOD (or Bring Your Own Device) policies. Having said that, it is important that you have a few guidelines and other policies firmly established concerning your employees’ secure use of their own devices… policies, such as:

To keep your business’ network and infrastructure secure, you need to adhere to solid password practices. That includes not using the same password across different sites, using password managers when possible, and choosing passwords that are unique, but memorable. One of the most useful technologies used to secure accounts is two-factor authentication (2FA). Let’s take a look at how to incorporate 2FA into your security strategy.

In today’s day and age, it is effectively unheard of for a business not to rely on the Internet in some shape or form. This means that maintaining a well-functioning network is of increased importance for businesses of all sizes, which in turn will require you to make a few critical determinations. Here, we’ll examine some of the factors that may indicate your networking equipment is due for a refresh.

The Internet has made it possible to purchase goods and services so easily that we need new people to blame when we don’t have those purchases in hand in less than 72 hours. The speed in which shipping is capable nowadays is the result of superior logistics. If your business is beginning to utilize ecommerce, or if it has trouble with the costs associated with the distribution of your goods, a fleet management system could be the solution to your problems. 

Employees are without a doubt the most unpredictable resource within your business. Nothing can be more catastrophic to data security than a careless or untrained worker. Enforcing safe practices and policies doesn’t have to feel like a chore, if training is handled properly. In fact, employees typically become eager to learn how to avoid the latest and greatest cyber-related threats. These threats plague not just our work lives, but our everyday lives as well. Today, we will discuss what you and your employees should be aware of in today’s connected world. 

Regardless of what you do, it’s a good bet that your business creates a lot of data. Some of which is completely essential to its sustainability. In order to protect it against data loss and disaster, you will need data backup. Today’s best options leverage cloud computing to ensure redundancy and availability. Today, we’ll take a look at data backup and how choosing one that incorporates cloud services can actually save your business.

Ever since it started to be looked on as a reliable computing option for businesses, cloud computing has been exceedingly popular. Businesses and individuals use cloud computing platforms for their infrastructure needs, their application deployment, their file sharing and storage, and for redundancy to protect their business, but have you ever wondered how the cloud platforms themselves are kept up to date? Today, we will look into it. 

Many business owners like to crunch the numbers in order to fully understand where their hard-earned money is going. Essential business communication tools are just one of the things that are under your expense's category. However, phone service is dwindling across the globe, much in part due to the benefits associated with VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol.