ATECH MSP Blog

When a budget comes into play, it is important to remember that there are a few ways that you can adjust it beyond eliminating line items. For instance, you can instead optimize some of the most egregious financial requirements your technology has--its support costs--by translating the unpredictably variable costs you likely deal with now for your support, to the much more sustainable agreement that a managed service provider will operate through.

It is pretty apparent that there are a lot (a lot) of acronyms used when discussing IT. In fact, that itself is an acronym for information technology. They can all get pretty confusing if you don’t necessarily think about these things every day. Considering this, we’ve put together a list of terms for you to know that we think may be handy to have.

With the widespread support of social distancing that current events have encouraged, remote working options are seeing an understandable surge in popularity. In order to make the most of “telecommuting,” as it is referred to, there are a lot of reasons to use a Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, solution. Let’s go over some.

Each March 31st, we like to observe World Backup Day, where we educate people about the benefits of having a comprehensive backup plan in place. This year, with tens of thousands of people being affected by Coronavirus, business has ground to a halt in large portions of the world. Today, we are going to look at the business continuity strategy and how, in times like these, you’ll be glad you have your data backed up. 

It is never a good situation when a widespread illness strikes. Not only does it impact many individuals on a personal level, the impacts reach to the businesses that employ them as well. As we deal with the current outbreak, it helps to keep in mind that there are various means out there to allow for a business’ productivity to continue… even if its employees shouldn’t be near one another.

A business’ network is one of its key assets, which means that it is particularly important that yours is well-developed and planned. Here, we’ll go over a few basics and best practices for you to familiarize yourself with for when you need to reconsider your business network.

When we start working with a new client, we’re often left surprised at their data backup and recovery strategy. It’s not always that they don’t really have a strategy for it (although this happens more than we’d like to admit), it’s just how sure many of them are that they don’t need to spend a lot of time and effort on it. This ambivalence is a major mistake that often leads to hardship. Today, we will talk a little bit about why backup is such a big deal.

Blockchain is one of the most dynamic new technologies, but up until recently, there hasn’t been a lot accomplished in the way of creating viable distributed software titles. In fact, the most recognized technology created with blockchain is cryptocurrency. This says quite a bit. Today, we’ll look at blockchain-enhanced software and how it’s only a matter of time until it is a commonplace addition to most businesses.

It’s true that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is probably going to be cheaper than using an enterprise phone system through your regional phone company. While cost reduction is a good reason to choose a service, VoIP does much more than just reduce communication costs. Implementing a VoIP platform also presents a lot of solid options that can help your business be more efficient and productive. 

Most companies have some sort of human resources department. Some are bigger than others. Some are more effective than others. Typically, the HR department deals with a lot of the stuff that no one else likes to. Today, software is being created using artificial intelligence that will be able to complete many of these tasks. Let’s take a look at how automation is affecting the modern human resources department. 

The dreaded printer is often ignored by business professionals, until they have to use it, and it’s out of ink/toner, has a paper jam deep inside the machine, or they mysteriously disappear from the network for no reason. They are forgettable machines that hardly function properly and need constant maintenance; and, this can get really expensive.

Have you received text messages from businesses? You are definitely not alone. Today’s businesses, looking for even the slightest advantage have begun using SMS messaging to push their products and services on potential customers. This strategy is more or less as effective as other forms of marketing that target people’s personal accounts. The problem with text-based marketing is that the phone numbers that people get messages from often change and seem very much like spam. 

To make any business decision, you must weigh the pros and the cons of your options. This includes when you may be considering managed services as your support method. As we are admittedly biased in favor of you adopting managed services, we wanted to review just a few ways a managed service agreement can help you optimize some critical business considerations.

While blockchain technologies may have entered the public awareness thanks to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, this is far from the technology’s only application. We wanted to take a few minutes and explore how the blockchain’s features promise many benefits to established and emerging industries.

Some of the best technologies blend in with everyday life. For example, smart speakers are designed in a way to be both functional and inconspicuous. Conversely, some technology that you may have dismissed initially can present some serious benefits for your company. One of those technologies is the digital sign. 

Most companies lean pretty heavily on their technology. They typically invest in tried-and-true technology solutions to cover their operational problems, while trying to find innovative tools that return higher yields on their investments. For 2020, there are a few trends most SMBs are going to want to take head on. They include:

When you consider all that the typical workstation has to endure (potentially grubby hands poking at it all day, crumbs, sneezes, you get the idea), there is little wonder that our devices can get so dirty. Here, we’ll be discussing how to properly clean your device.

As the data that you store on your business’ computers is valuable, it is inherently a desirable target to cybercriminals and scammers alike. This means that it is in your best interest to have comprehensive protections in place to protect this data from their activities. Let’s go over exactly what a firewall is, and how they make up a critical portion of your business’ defenses.

Upgrading your business’ technology can be extraordinarily expensive. If you’ve been using the same desktops for years, but don't necessarily have the money to upgrade your whole business’ IT, an option that you can consider is deploying a hosted desktop. Today, we will define exactly what a hosted desktop is, and why it is a good solution for companies that are in a bind. 

Virtual assistants are everywhere. Either a device can be controlled with them, or it has the assistant built into it natively, and they are now common in the home and the office alike. In fact, their daily use in the workplace has been predicted by Gartner to reach 25 percent by 2021.