Many businesses are discovering how great it is for employees to use their personal devices to accomplish work. BYOD has been proven to improve productivity and worker satisfaction; but like so many great things, these BYOD benefits are in danger of being shut down as employers are becoming concerned about being sued. How can you still benefit from BYOD while being protected from lawsuits?
When you go home for the night and lock your office door, what happens in your office under the cover of darkness? During the day, you are present to monitor what goes on and control the chaos, but what kind of monitoring and controls are in place for your office at night?
Are you going to make sure your machete is handy and start boarding up your windows for the coming of George Romero's slow-moving walking dead, or will you load up on ammo and lock yourself in a bunker for the more active and feral Max Brooks-type zombies? What about your data, like your Zombie Survival Guide E-book? Is it safe?
The majority of businesses that experience data loss will not recover. You may think that, if you are careful, then you will not need a backup solution, but statistics say otherwise. A 2009 study by Blackblaze.com revealed that 46% of users experience data loss every year! This figure makes sense when you consider the five most common factors of data loss.
When you hear the phrase, "The machines are taking over," you may think of science fiction stories where robots become self-aware and enslave humanity. You may not have realized it, but the machines have already taken over; not with a violent uprising, but through what's called the Internet of Things (IoT).
It takes a big person to admit when they're wrong, and there's nothing bigger than Microsoft. Windows 8 hasn't sold like Microsoft anticipated, and users pin the blame solely on one little button, the Start button, or the lack thereof. With Windows Blue (officially previewing June 26), it's rumored that Microsoft is remorsefully bringing back the button.
With all the attention that hackers receive, you would think that they are solely responsible for every network security breach, but the truth of the matter is that most damages to company networks are due to negligence. Here are the four most common IT security oversights that can lead to major damages to your network.
There was a time when tape backup was the cheapest and the standard data backup solution for businesses. Over the years, cloud services have become more affordable, and now cloud backup solutions like a BDR are cheaper and give businesses more security features. If you are still backing up with tape, then you may be losing money and even putting your business at risk!
Working in front of a computer all day can be challenging for your mind, but not very stimulating for your body. Anything physical that you can add to your routine will benefit your health and stave off the negative side effects that come from sitting in one place for too long. Stretching is a great and easy way to get physical, and yes, there is an app for that.
For most of the last decade the telecommunications company Research in Motion (RIM) led a worldwide smartphone charge with it's series of Blackberry devices. In the past two years, however, RIM's revenue stream has been cut in half and their staggering profits have turned into substantial losses. Can anything save this struggling company?
Emotions aside, whenever an employee is fired or quits, their departure means extra paperwork for Human Resources. After the farewell cake has been cleaned up, the exit interview has been completed, and all the resignation forms have been filed, it is now vital that the former employee's access to the company's network be completely removed.
When you mention the term 'disaster recovery,' most people think about the big ground-shattering events like earthquakes, fires, floods, tropical storms, etc. While these natural events are certainly disasters and devastating in their own right, smaller things can constitute as a disaster for your business, and they aren't seasonal. 99% of disasters happen in the office, most are server failures or some type of data loss.
Thank you to everyone who attended Take Your Agency to the Next Level on January 30, 2009! This year's event was another success, with the overwhelming favorite session being "Ask the Geeks", where Jerry Fetty and Bryant Caudill answered a wide-range of technology and automation questions.
Not only did attendees walk away with a wealth of information and guidance from SMART I.T. Services, many left the seminar with some great prize giveaways just for attending.
The biggest winner of the day was Action Insurance (pictured left with Jerry Fetty) of Utica, MI, who were awarded with our $60,000 Extreme Agency Technology Makeover. Hetrick & Associates of Marquette, MI and Burr & Company of Grand Rapids, MI were also finalists for the makeover. In the coming months, Action Insurance will receive a variety of technology solutions to help increase the productivity of their agency.
Check back often for videos and additional tidbits from the seminar. In the meantime, check out a few pictures from Take Your Agency to the Next Level 2009 below.
Keeping information and company resources organized can be challenging. In today’s economy, it is especially important to have your systems as organized as possible to maintain optimal efficiency.
On February 25, 2009, Bryant Caudill of SMART I.T. Services presented "Creating and Maintaining a Free Intranet Site," a webinar that gave a first-hand look at what Microsoft SharePoint has to offer and how to easily organize your company resources by setting up an intranet site of your own.
Follow along as Bryant guides you through setting up a sample intranet site using SharePoint. This webinar is broken up into 6 sections, clocking in around an hour. Visit our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/smartitservices to view the complete webinar.
Stay tuned for our next webinar, "Increasing Productivity with Remote Workers," taking place on March 25, 2009 from 10:00 am - 11:00 am.
Action Insuranceof Utica, MI was the winner of SMART I.T. Services' Extreme Technology Makeover. They were announced as the winner at Take Your Agency to the Next Level on January 30, 2009. Check out their creative video submission for the technology makeover!
By popular demand, the grand opening from Take Your Agency to the Next Level 2009 is available for viewing, featuring Jerry Fetty as Super Smart IT Guy.
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