In our last post, we explained four ways that managed services providers (MSPs) can help support your remote work requirements. By assisting with virtual private networks (VPNs), conferencing and collaboration solutions, cloud services, and cybersecurity, MSPs can help organizations overcome the technical challenges associated with work-from-home strategies. We also recognize that providing technology solutions and [...]
Like the dot-com crash of 2001 and the global recession of 2007, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic falls into the category of Black Swan incidents — extremely rare and unpredictable events that cause catastrophic economic damage. Although businesses must scramble to remain operational during a Black Swan event, their long-term survival often depends on what they [...]
Factors such as cost, location, and offerings are major focal points for companies when they are shopping around for new IT support vendors. However, there is one major point that many of us tend to forget to look for during the shopping process. The missing link is a customer-centric outlook and relationship, offered by our [...]
Psychologists claim that first impressions are formed within the first 30 seconds of a meeting, and that brief encounter will set the tone for how the relationship will ultimately develop. Surveys about employee onboarding processes seem to indicate that organizations aren’t putting their best foot forward. One recent study claims that onboarding is a critical [...]
The 2017-2018 flu season is shaping up as one the worst in recent memory. Widespread outbreaks have been reported in every state except Hawaii, although some regions have been hit harder than others. Some states report that flu cases have tripled or more since last year. Alabama has declared a state of emergency. While the [...]
Convenience and immediacy make instant messaging (IM) a popular collaboration tool. Underlying presence technology allows users to instantly see who is online and available, which makes it easy for groups of coworkers to share ideas, files, text, images, links, code and more. The problem is that there is very little oversight of IM. Although consumer [...]
In our last post, we discussed the business benefits of video collaboration. Video conferencing solutions have moved out of the boardroom and onto desktops and mobile devices. This enables remote and mobile workers to communicate and collaborate via video without time-consuming setup or complex technology. Even telepresence solutions, which create the effect that everyone is [...]
In a previous post, we discussed the top business issues, IT priorities and challenges in the coming year for small to midsize businesses (SMBs), according to a recent report from Techaisle. The top IT priorities are cloud computing, collaboration, mobility, security for cloud and mobile, and digitization. We’ve also discussed data analytics, enterprise resource planning [...]
In the previous post, we discussed the factors that should be considered when choosing a productivity suite such as Microsoft Office, Google for Work, Apple iWork, or an open-source tool such as Open Office by Apache. Most importantly, organizations need to prioritize the needs of the end-user and provide employees with the features and functionality [...]
