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Most businesses rely on their technology. However, a failure to manage that technology can lead to significant financial waste and operational inefficiencies. One major way a business can waste money is through over-investment in unnecessary or overly complex IT infrastructure. Let’s briefly examine how companies waste their money on technology and how to identify if technology is working for your business. 

As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, businesses need to stay ahead of the curve. That’s where an IT consultant comes in. Whoever is currently managing your IT and providing technical support should have a pretty good idea of how your business works, and they should be able to help you plan and implement new technologies that will help you remain competitive in this always-changing landscape.

There's a lot of pressure on (often understaffed and overworked) internal IT teams to manage and maintain increasingly complex systems. For businesses noticing signs of strain on their IT staff, seeking assistance from managed services providers (MSPs) could be the remedy. Here's how an MSP like us can alleviate the pressure and contribute to workplace wellness for all.

Information technology offers businesses of all sizes significant benefits, very much including small and medium-sized organizations. Let’s go through five modern tools that offer this kind of inclusive utility to the point that we see them as essential for successful business operations today.

From managing customer data to conducting online transactions to keeping your staff on task, technology plays a crucial role in every aspect of business operations. As a result, businesses need reliable IT support to ensure their systems are running smoothly and securely. While some businesses opt for in-house IT departments, others choose to outsource their IT needs to managed IT service providers. In this blog post, we will explore why paying for managed IT services is a better alternative to in-house IT departments.

If your business has five or more computers, or an expensive server, then you need access to a professional who can provide technical support. There is a huge difference between a local guy who can fix a computer and a professional who understands the intricacies of a business network—think of it like asking your pizza delivery guy to serve your entire extended family a Thanksgiving dinner.

This one is for all of the business owners, C-level executives, directors, and office managers throughout Otsego, Delaware, and Chenango county. I think your intentions are pure, but you might be doing something at work each and every day that is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.

For many businesses (and employees), remote work has been a godsend, while proving its value and efficacy as a viable means of productivity… particularly when certain health crises make gathering in the office an unsafe prospect. Recently, businesses have adopted somewhat-hybridized approaches to their work processes. While this is clearly a wise move for the business, it also opens the door for some otherwise unprecedented challenges.

Let’s get right to it: if your computer has something wrong with it, it is going to get in your way. It’s going to be slower, it’s going to crash, it’s going to stop you from being productive. That’s just the start of it, too.

With tax season quickly reaching its crescendo, accountants and CPAs face increased threats to their data security. Your clients' financial information is too good for a cybercriminal to pass up. Now is the time to prepare yourself to fight a cyberattack. Learn how managed IT can support your business in a variety of ways.

Remote monitoring and management software helps businesses of all sizes avoid issues of equally variable sizes, which is why it is a key facet of the managed IT service model. We wanted to review some of the ways that it benefits the managed service provider, and as a result, benefits our clients.

While it is true that many small and medium-sized businesses don’t have access to the resources enterprise-level businesses do, they don’t have to find themselves on the outside looking in. By partnering with an MSP, SMBs can have access to the same IT resources as larger organizations at a price that is within their reach.

It wasn't too long ago that we had to lug a computer into the shop to get it fixed if something were to go wrong with it. Frankly, with the pace that business is conducted at today, this approach simply isn’t effective for businesses any longer. Now, with the support of a managed service provider, support is available much more efficiently and affordably than ever. Check out our series for more information into other subject. 

Information technology support has developed and evolved as the methods and equipment used have improved. As a result of this development, there are a variety of ways that managed IT providers can deliver additional value through their services. In this series, we’re exploring the many benefits a business can gather through managed services - here, focusing on the support available.

In order for one methodology to replace another, it has to provide more value than the one that came before. In terms of IT support, managed services can deliver far greater value than the familiar break/fix method. In this series, we’ll explore the value that managed services contribute to a business, starting with their proactive nature.

Downtime is a major problem for businesses, and it’s largely a result of technology taking over the workplace. Since many jobs rely on technology to be done properly, it stands to reason that broken-down technology can pose a considerable issue for businesses--not to mention the costs that are associated with downtime and maintenance. A help desk can alleviate some of the pressure that the average employee feels as a result of relying on technology in the workplace.

Does your business have trouble with managing and maintaining your technology? If so, you’re not alone. Many small businesses struggle with even the most basic elements of IT maintenance. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just take this responsibility and shift it off of your employees? The best way to approach technology maintenance is to implement managed IT services.

Do you know what almost every business in the world has in common, from the likes of Walmart, Amazon, and Samsung, to the many establishments (like yours) that have made Oneonta their home? There are actually two things: one, they all use technology in some way to enable their operations, and second, this technology can sometimes stop working.

As more and more businesses rely on technology solutions to accomplish their everyday tasks, there is a natural expectation for there to be a bit of a learning curve as these advanced solutions are prioritized and accounted for. However, a few industry research firms have compiled their expectations for how this learning curve tendency will influence the needs and challenges businesses will face during the rest of the year.

In the natural course of doing business, an owner/operator will have to face many difficult situations, but none of these situations are as difficult as asking them to determine whether or not to close the doors of the business for good. Many problems could cause a business to fail, but it has to hurt the failing owner a little more when the solution for the problem was not only within his/her reach, it was affordable.

Two major concerns of every business owner are the protection of their company and making sure their technology does what it’s supposed to do. It can be overwhelming to manage these two aspects on your own, which makes outsourcing the security and maintenance of your IT such an attractive option.

How much time does your business waste on managing its own technology services? This includes maintaining your email solution, upgrading and managing your desktop infrastructure, and keeping your network secure from both internal and external threats. We would understand if you said that you don’t have time to both run your business and its technology, but we are of the firm belief that you shouldn’t have to choose one over the other.

Information technology is a necessity in today’s world. No matter the industry, IT solutions play a major part in daily operations, so businesses need their solutions to be in working order. In order to ensure that they are, many have turned to managed service providers.

As a modern business, your success depends on your technology functioning properly. As many businesses have discovered when their solutions did not function as intended, the effects can have considerable impact to their success rates. To help keep your business running, you need to be sure that your solutions are maintained.

While maintaining any system can be a pain, your business can’t afford not to maintain your network. An MSP can help you to do so, delivering the benefits of regular network maintenance.

Today’s businesses still require a lot of hardwork and dedication, but technology assists with day-to-day tasks, and gives more opportunities than we could otherwise imagine. As such, it needs to be in optimal shape, but what business has the time to see to that? Well, with the help of remote monitoring and management, yours does.

If there’s an issue that everyone is hesitant to acknowledge, it is said that there is an elephant in the room. Many companies may find that today, these elephants live in their server rooms. We’ll acknowledge these elephants and talk about a few ways that you can evict them from your company’s IT.

Tech support is there to help you, except when it isn’t. Many fraudsters will pose as a support technician to gain a target’s trust, only to cause them serious issues. To keep your organization safe, make sure that you are able to spot the warning signs of tech support fraud.

It’s a fact that most businesses today are rolling out technology as a part of their strategic plan to improve productivity and make their business more efficient. The more technology your organization relies on, the more crucial it is to get comprehensive IT support for that IT.

Businesses of all sizes use varying degrees of technology to improve organizational productivity, efficiency, and security. The more a business depends on its data, the more crucial it is for them to manage and maintain the systems in which this data is dependent. For organizations that have a lack of financial resources to support these systems, it is often left to unqualified employees, putting your business at risk. What do you do when you need expertise that you lack and can’t afford to hire in-house staff?

Computers need to be maintained in order to ensure that they are working as optimally as possible. It’s also known that technology solutions are prone to failure, be it from users making mistakes, deliberately ruining something in a fit of rage, or components simply failing. If you’re concerned about the wellbeing of your organization’s IT, then you need to rely on a technology specialist who can manage and maintain it.

Most modern businesses depend on technology in at least some capacity, whether it’s for productivity, efficiency, or even security purposes. Without access to important data and applications, your business is a shell of its former glory. This is why it’s so important for businesses like yours to implement managed IT services. It certainly beats having untrained employees maintain your crucial computing systems!

Managed services - what are they? The short answer, other people managing the IT systems that you rely on every day to be productive and accomplish your tasks. In essence, they are a freedom from dealing with the troublesome and time-consuming parts of leveraging technology. You may have heard this much about managed services before, but have never been given a deeper understanding of what they entail. That is precisely what we aim to accomplish below.

Technology support can be one of the major pain points for businesses, and it’s not something that your organization wants to invest in without thinking about the details. Technology support as a service has a lot to offer when compared with the break/fix method. We’ll help you make the right decision by explaining why remote IT services are a major benefit for any business.

Tech-support scammers traditionally are people who dial random numbers and try to convince the people on the other end of the phone that their computer has problems and they can fix them if the user allows them to remote into the device. They use tactics that are as generic and vague as possible, to avoid having to mention any specifics; and, since some people (especially those who have computers that are a few years old) find that their system’s performance is sluggish, they will give these people access. This typically ends in disaster.

Let’s say you get a bill in the mail for technology support, but you don’t necessarily know why you got it. Pretty troubling, right? Clearly someone in your organization isn’t privy about the proper method of getting help for their technology, but if you regularly work with a break-fix IT provider, this kind of correspondence (and cost) is unavoidable. Thankfully, there’s a simple solution to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.

It’s a far too common scene in businesses: an employee is working on an important project when their workstation starts acting up. Flustered, they call in the IT department, but they won’t be able to make it up to them for an hour at least. So, what’s a worker to do? Just sit there and wait? With a Help Desk solution, this wouldn't be an issue.

Fundamentally, business is simple: if you take in more revenue than you have expenses, your company is a success. There are just so many elements to manage to ensure that revenues outpace expenses that it becomes difficult to ascertain what you can do to cut costs and see a higher degree of profitability for your efforts.

Technology maintenance and management is one of the major pain points of all businesses, but it comes more easily to large organizations that have large budgets. Unfortunately, small organizations are often left out, placing such an important aspect of managing their business on the back burner. How, then, can you take advantage of proactive IT maintenance without breaking your budget?

Managing a business is a tedious endeavor where time is a precious commodity. Therefore, it’s the goal of every business owner to dedicate as much of their time as possible to leading profit-making initiatives, which, let’s face it, can’t happen if you’re busy troubleshooting computer and network problems.

You might have only recently heard about outsourced IT services, but you might be surprised to hear that they have been around for far longer than you previously thought. Even before managed IT, however, business owners and individuals alike were using the outsourced services of others to simplify operations and day-to-day tasks related to their technology management.

Despite the industries that can be classified as “professional services” being widely varied, many of them could find substantial benefits in enlisting support from a managed service provider. Let’s examine a few of the solutions that an MSP offers, and how these solutions could help a business achieve more during the workday.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a fully-trained and certified staff of IT professionals sitting in the corner of your office, keeping your technology in line? Unfortunately, small businesses often don’t have the budget required to hire an internal IT department filled with security analysts and network technicians. Even if they do, they don’t have the workforce to handle all of the responsibilities of a full IT department. What’s the best way to handle your organization’s IT?

For the majority of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), finding the right technology solution is the key to growth. According to a recent study, businesses with 250 employees or less whose primary goal for 2018 is growth cited IT systems and technology applications as their top strategy for facilitating growth. However, in order for technology to provide the most ample amount of growth for your business, they must be the right selection for your individual needs. By working with an MSP, you’ll have a team of business technology solutions experts as your disposal, at a fraction of the cost of hiring an internal IT department to find and implement the IT required to accomplish your desired growth.

How does your organization manage its IT? For some businesses, it’s not an easy choice or even a remotely affordable one. Some companies are forced to endure subpar services from break-fix IT providers that don’t necessarily have the tools available to prevent issues from happening. Others try to prevent issues from evolving into major concerns. These others are the organizations that have the right idea behind technology maintenance.

How does your business manage its technology solutions? If you have an in-house IT department, you might think that you have a better shot at keeping your business safe from a hard drive failure, but this is only if your IT department isn’t already overwhelmed with work. You might find that implementing new solutions is tricky, which wastes time and resources on your part. What’s the small business to do?

Let’s say that your team is deep within the throes of productivity on a major project, and even the slightest hiccup will knock off their momentum and derail all progress. What would happen if the software they need to do their job suddenly became unusable, or settings on their workstation get changed without their knowledge? Without a reliable IT department, you might be out of luck.

Business owners expect a lot out of their IT network, and rightfully so. However, technology isn’t perfect and can sometimes get in the way of these expectations. To overcome these technology shortcomings, IT administrators and business owners can benefit by outsourcing these expectations, especially when it comes to these three crucial aspects of IT.

Every organization has mission-critical systems that they rely on in order to function, and the IT technician is responsible for keeping them running. Modern technology and best practices have given rise to a new way of managing business technology, one that knocks the traditional break-fix IT out of the water.

You started your business because you have a particular skill set. This is what allows you to continue doing business as usual. However, this also means that there are some topics that you might not understand completely. This is why you hire employees from diverse backgrounds, and it’s one reason that you should consider outsourcing what you can to professionals in specific fields.

When running a business, you can’t always upgrade your technology to the latest and greatest equipment or software every time something new comes out. Yet, you also don’t want to be left behind, which would be limiting to your growth and mobility. Moving forward can be a daunting task, especially if you haven’t revamped your IT strategy in some time. Paying attention to the details is an important part of avoiding potential roadblocks with your future IT strategy.

If you’re one of the unfortunate souls still using Windows 8 (as opposed to 8.1) on your business’s workstations, you should consider upgrading, and as soon as possible. Microsoft has cut off support for its infant operating system, so if you want patches, security updates, and just a better overall operating system, upgrading to Windows 8.1 or 10 is an ideal solution to this dilemma.

A whole lot of technical training is what separates an average PC user from the IT technician servicing their malfunctioning computer. We know a lot about how technology works, and this knowledge is no guarded secret. In fact, we’re happy to share it with you.

When it comes to service jobs, there are two kinds: Those where the work is highly visible, and those where work gets accomplished behind the scenes. Each service is valued and needed, yet, one may receive more attention and recognition than the other. Managed IT service falls under the latter category, and we’re totally okay with that.

As a business owner, you know that technology is a necessary, albeit unpredictable, investment. Your organization thrives off of it operating as expected, yet suffers when it doesn’t function properly. This is the primary reason why the idea of help desk support was first introduced. It’s an effective medium through which your employees can receive tech support when it’s needed most.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that cat memes infest the Internet to the point where it’s difficult to not see one. But, have you considered that it might not be that people are obsessed with cats, and that maybe the cats are simply overwhelmed by their ego as a superior race? Perhaps cats understand technology far better than even humans do, and they are the masterminds behind why the Internet has gone cat-crazy.

One of the most important factors that you should consider when looking for IT staff is how much you can trust them. After all, they’re dealing with your technology. You’re trusting them with incredible responsibility. Therefore, you need to be sure they are honest, hard-working individuals. How can you ensure that you aren’t getting blindsided by your IT staff?

Technology has come a long way since 2003. It seems like just yesterday that Microsoft dropped support for Windows XP, and in just a few short months, they’ll be dropping support for Windows Server 2003, as well. If your business is one of the many still utilizing this server operating system, you’ll want to make sure that you upgrade away from it before July 14th, 2015. Otherwise, you’ll be running without security patches or updates.

You know that one unlucky employee that seems to have the most problems with their computer? Perhaps they keep getting an error that no one can replicate, or they need a little help setting up a Mail Merge? Due to most managers only knowing of two technical support options, business owners can get stuck in a tough spot with employees like this.

IT support is heavily reliant upon communication between both parties involved. Without both sides being on the same page, IT support miscommunications are far more likely to happen. Sometimes you just can’t help but laugh at poor communication skills, as seen in the 2001 movie Zoolander. But thankfully, these situations don’t arise too often in the non-fictional universe… right?

Your PC's CPU (Central Processing Unit) is one of the many delecate components inside your computer. The CPU essentially does all of the thinking that your PC needs to do, processing instructions from your operating system and all of your programs. That might not seem like a big deal, but most CPUs today handle billions of processes every second. It doesn't store data (that's the hard drive) but if the CPU fails to work properly, you won't be getting much work done.

It takes a special kind of person to give great customer service. If someone can't pick up on social cues, or if they have a low tolerance for repetitive questions, they will end up offending a lot of customers. To assist our clients with their IT problems, we make sure to hire the most helpful customer service representatives that we can find.

If you're like most heavy Internet users, you've got multiple Google accounts and you have to think twice about which Gmail address to give someone. It's not like you set out to have three, or five, or even ten Google accounts. It just kind of happened over time. Can anything be done to streamline your different Google accounts?

This world is dangerous; there are murderers, serial killers, and identity thieves. These dangerous criminals aside, many people ignore the digital world and find solace in thinking that they are untouchable in their online community. Little do they know, some of the most dangerous criminals in the world exist on the other end of a telephone line, sitting in front of a computer: Hackers. One of the easiest ways to shield yourself from these criminals is to keep your antivirus up to date.

We are creatures of habit. We love our routines and live in "comfort zones." Getting anybody to do anything outside of their comfort zone is always challenging. A comfort zone typically applies to social situations, but it can also apply to technology. Don't let an emotional attachment to old technology keep you from taking advantage of new money-making solutions!

The first pitch of another Major League Baseball season is being thrown this afternoon and with 2,427 more games on the docket in the regular season, it won't be the last. One of the greatest feats a player (or a team) can accomplish in baseball is by throwing a perfect game. To do so, a team's pitcher (or pitchers) must complete nine innings without allowing a baserunner.

As the top American collegiate men's and women's basketball teams are poised to take the court to decide national champions in 2014 NCAA tournament, local businesses are in a competition of their own; to turn a profit. There are three ways your business and your favorite team share a similar path to success.

For a modern business that depends on its technology, few things are worse than when a server crashes, causing an entire organization to experience downtime. The only thing worse than downtime is the repair bill that accompanies it. In desperate times like this, is your IT company taking advantage of your misfortune?

For most small business owners, your average week includes several moments where you look at your expense sheet and search for ways to cut costs and improve the profitability, and thus, the sustainability of your company. Around the holidays, when business picks up for everyone, some small businesses run into problems that stunt their net profitability. The inability to spend the money that larger companies can, will often result in handcuffing a business' ability to compete.

If you've never taken advantage of remote support to remedy an IT problem, then you're likely doing IT support the hard way by having a technician physically take care of every issue. While it's always nice to chat with your friendly tech, you may be able to save yourself a whole lot of time and money by taking care of the issue with remote support.

How does it make you feel having to call IT support? If you've never talked with one of our IT technicians, then you may think of the stereotypical scenario of dealing with an incoherent foreigner and dread making the call. We feel IT Support should be quick, easy, and resolve the problem, not test the limits of your patience.

IT support is not without its stereotypes. These stereotypes can make for some great humor, as seen in Jimmy Fallon's Saturday Night Live character, Nick Burns, Your Company's Computer Guy. Behind every Nick Burns stereotype is a truth about poor IT service. Let's take a look at Nick to show you how we are nothing like him.

For small and medium-sized businesses, technology management can be a tricky situation. You want to ensure that your IT doesn't break your budget, but you also want to make using your technology as easy as possible for your end users. Unfortunately, for many employees, your business’s technology conduct and practices could be driving them insane.

The break-fix IT model can be exhausting and unpredictable. When your technology unexpectedly breaks down, you shouldn’t have to grasp at straws just to keep operations running. Thanks to the proactive approach of managed IT services, the break-fix model is on borrowed time. Will your business move on from this antiquated method of managing technology, or will it remain stuck in the past, unable to move forward?

Technology’s incredible growth has brought about a need for technicians who are skilled enough to handle everyday maintenance. As time passes, technology grows more complex, and as such it requires more comprehensive maintenance. Eventually, innovators in the IT industry discovered that their services could be improved by preventing technology problems from happening in the first place. Enter: managed IT services.