Archive for the ‘Tech Tips’ Category
Top Cloud Computing Benefits for SMBs
Filed under: New & Exciting, Tech Tips | Tags: business, cloud, save money, tips
Comments (4) Cloud computing offers many services to businesses including infrastructure, applications, and/or storage space, all for a nominal fee. This is extremely beneficial to the many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) investigating making the move to the cloud.
Like any business, SMBs want to keep costs under control. They are not looking to purchase additional infrastructure, servers, application programs and operation systems for use at their own premises. That’s where the cloud comes into the picture. Cloud hosting enables a business to run its websites or any other computing service on one or more virtual servers, making cloud hosting an extremely popular and valuable service.
Cloud computing is an on-demand subscription model, enabling on-demand access to reliable and configurable resources that can be quickly provisioned and released. An SMB pays only for the resources it uses making cloud computing a huge advantage.
Top cloud computing benefits for SMBs include:
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The Benefits of Cloud-based Solutions: Hard ROI vs. Soft ROI
As I’ve discussed in this blog, today many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are discovering the benefits of cloud-based solutions, or “virtualization.” By virtualizing, a business’ server capacity and business applications can avoid the need for a costly investment in hardware and software, and the organization can focus its attention and budget on the core business.
With cloud-based solutions it is no longer necessary to spend valuable investment funds on in-house servers and complex infrastructure technology. An IT service provider can help create a platform that can handle a business’ IT needs.
By working in the cloud, an organization will be flexible and cost efficient and they can easily respond to changing market needs, internal demands, and the arrival of new technologies. The IT service provider keeps them ahead of the game when it comes to hardware and software, allowing the organizations to concentrate on the business.
When considering the costs, benefits, and potential return on investment (ROI) of cloud-based solutions, IT Managers should consider two primary types of ROI calculations: Hard ROI and Soft ROI. Read more »
Protecting Your Mobile Device
There are tons of mobile devices available today offering a variety of features that allows us to stay connected and conduct our business activities while away from the office. With our smart phones or tablets, we are able to access email, create and edit documents, download files from the web, access our company VPN and be productive remotely in many other ways that were impossible a few short years ago.
With so much information on hand at all times, it is important to ask yourself how secure is the information on my smart phone? Many of you already may have settings and tools in place to ensure your information will be secure, but here are a few tips to consider implementing that may guarantee the security of your smart phone. Read more »
The Benefits of Virtualization
Today, like many larger enterprise companies, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are adopting virtualization. Why? Like most business decisions, the decision to virtualize comes down to cost savings and productivity gains. This technology minimizes hardware costs by moving from physical to virtual (i.e. software-based) servers. The radical shift from traditional “big iron” hardware solutions to virtualized “cloud” based systems allows users to operate one piece of hardware to support multiple systems.
An SMB can run several virtual machines on a single real computer system and the virtualization software will provide memory, processor and other hardware resources to each virtual machine. This shift enables IT administrators to allocate these resources quickly, to the highest priority applications and to the business needs that require them the most. Additionally… Read more »
The Information Technology (IT) Assessment Score – What it Means
In a recent blog, I emphasized the importance of conducting IT assessments. Based on the feedback I received, I want to delve a little deeper into assessment scoring. Typically designed to analyze the state of a business’ current technology and identify areas that need improvement, the goal is to provide a company with a path that will ensure it can leverage its IT to help the business succeed. Read more »
The Importance of IT Assessments
Filed under: Tech Tips | Tags: business, changes, IT, networking
Leave a Comment IT assessments are designed to analyze the state of a business’ current technology and identify areas that need improvement. The overall goal of the assessment is to provide a company with a path that will ensure it can leverage its IT to help its business succeed.
As a company grows, so does demand on information systems and resources. If there are system performance problems, customers may question the business’ capability to provide goods and services. The IT assessment is the predecessor to an effective IT strategy, where management, users, and IT provide input into the future of the company’s technology environment and investment.
Specific and detailed recommendations should be provided to the company according to priority. Key benefits of an IT assessment include: Read more »
Remote Access Options
Filed under: Tech Tips | Tags: changes, collaberation, networking
Leave a Comment The Telework Research Network http://undress4success.com/research/telecommuting-statistics/ estimates that 20 to 30 million people currently work from home at least one day a week. In fact, there are an increasing number of workers who say their workday begins before they set foot in the office – conducting work responsibilities from their home computers or smartphones. Mobility, especially in the business sector, is an expectation for many and for that reason there are many applications that provide access to the home-based computers from anywhere in the world.
Here are a few of those applications: Read more »
The Shift to Hosted Email Services
Filed under: Tech Tips | Tags: budget, email, save money, tips
Leave a Comment Email is the most important communications tool in business today. It’s tough to be productive and successful without it. As a result, many SMBs are making the move to a hosted Exchange Server or webmail-powered email solution. Why? Outsourced email hosting can be a more cost-effective and lower maintenance way to run an end-to-end email infrastructure.
No business ever wants their email to go down – not even for a few minutes. Since locally-hosted e-mail systems can be expensive to build and costly to maintain, hosted email provides the opportunity for SMBs to benefit from the features of modern corporate email systems without the need to invest thousands of dollars to build their own systems. Read more »
The Benefits of Remote Network Monitoring and Management
One of the key determinants to an organization’s success is the security, performance and availability of its IT infrastructure. Customers want to be ensured that their network monitoring services are able to identify a network emergency the moment it happens, or better yet, are able to recognize signs of trouble and take action to prevent problems from ever occurring.
The solution – Remote network monitoring and management.
It is a cost-effective solution where a business’ IT network is monitored 24/7, delivering proactive management and performance. Read more »
Effective Computing Habits for Windows® Users
Filed under: Tech Tips | Tags: consulting, IT, maintenance, tips, windows 7
Leave a Comment Working off a slow, disorganized computer can be frustrating. Unfortunately, the task of organizing it may be one of the lowest priorities on a necessary list of To-Dos. But by performing a little regular maintenance, computers will be effective and efficient for a long time.
Here are a few easy-to-follow suggestions to ensure your computer is on the right track to being a well-organized, high-performance device. Read more »
