For such an… eventful… year, it started off with little anticipation of the events to come. Businesses had ample time to plan their 2020 technology budgets, but most (if not all) of these budgets were postponed (if not thrown out the proverbial window) with the spread of COVID-19.
Network security is a major point of emphasis for most businesses that rely on their IT. As a result, mobile security should work in concert with your network security rules. Here are a couple of guidelines you will want to include to ensure that your mobile platform stays secure:
If you want to tell Google to omit certain potential results from your search, you can use the hyphen/subtraction mark to define what you don’t want considered.
Let’s review what true collaboration is, and how you can lead your company towards more collaborative behaviors in your day-to-day undertakings.
First, it is important that we define the difference between these two seemingly synonymous terms. While it is possible to work as a team without collaborating, collaboration requires some element of teamwork to be present.
According to the National Cyber Security Centre, a government security organization based in the United Kingdom, a hacking group known as “APT29” (also referred to as “the Dukes” or “Cozy Bear”) has actively targeted the research centers conducting research into developing a COVID-19 vaccine. These claims have been supported by both the United States’ National Security Agency and Canada’s Communications Security Establishment.
On July 3rd, the Tony-winning Broadway musical was released on Disney+, meaning that history buffs and theater nerds alike don’t have to Wait for It. Even better, you can now watch Hamilton with all your friends. We Know, it’s pretty cool, especially since you don’t all need to be In the Room Where it Happens. Let’s go over how you can arrange that in this song-title-pun-filled blog.
Consider the capabilities of our mobile devices today, as compared to those that were considered high-end before Apple premiered the iPhone in 2007 (Not to discredit all the classic PDA/smartphones that came before the iPhone, like the Palm Trio, the Blackberry, and the line of super cool HTC Windows phones, but general consensus feels that the big shift in mobile computing really started with Apple). The difference is staggering. While those devices that are affectionately referred to as “dumb phones” certainly can contain sensitive data, it is effectively nothing compared to what a smartphone can access.
There’s been a consistent pattern that has emerged with popular software applications: a major update or other change is made, and uproar on social media ensues.
Just look at what happened when the Android platform’s Facebook application began requesting access to the user’s smartphone camera several years ago now. While this was required so that Facebook’s newly released native photo-taking capabilities could be embraced, there was still a lot said about it on social media.
Data security is a priority for many people, but even amongst them, mobile applications often aren’t even considered a potential threat to their data. While you should ever only download applications from an official application store, some attacks can potentially slip through the vetting process to be distributed via these means. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider every application you have installed and the permissions that each one demands. If these permissions seem excessive for the application’s needs, reconsider if the app is necessary to use (chances are, it isn’t). This helps protect you against the tactic that many cybercriminals use: getting a harmless app to the store, and then turning it malicious with an update once it is downloaded.
As states have mandated that businesses either close or move operations offsite for the well-being of their employees and clients, many people seem to have been caught off-guard by the duration of these orders. As a result, many businesses have since shifted from a “shut down and wait it out” strategy to trying to do whatever they can—which, for many, is implementing a remote workforce.
Basically, your documentation should be a complete inventory of all the technology you have, first divided between your hardware and software solutions.
When most people think about IT, their thoughts turn to the phone calls they make to tech support that usually take forever and feel like they do little to move the recovery process along, or they think about the technician who comes in to repair something onsite, making a huge mess and causing a distraction. Naturally, this has made many business owners and users loath to call in IT services, preferring to make do as best they can with what they have. Neglecting IT-related problems, just like neglecting signs of malaise, can exacerbate problems substantially.
Let’s face it—a spreadsheet full of points and figures isn’t the most comprehensive way to view your data. It is far better to instead format that data into a table, as you can then reorganize it and filter it as needed. Once your data is in a spreadsheet, creating a table is as simple as selecting one of your cells, pressing Ctrl + T, and then hitting Enter.
A techy colleague of mine was taking advantage of a rainy weekend to update his internal infrastructure. For the sake of our story, we’ll call him Bobby. Bobby was migrating his entire server over to brand new hardware on a new rack. Without getting too technical, his server contained several virtual servers running in tandem, controlling his overall network, storing his data, and running his line of business applications. In other words, it was critical to his business. If it were to go down, his employees would be nearly crippled.
From a certain point of view, businesses now find themselves in a unique position to restructure their operations. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an inconvenient case study of sorts that shows a promising outlook on remote productivity.
It has also helped to shine the light on how impactful waste can be in poorly managed IT strategies. Without any engaged oversight, the heightened use of cloud services can lead to a few considerable issues, including
Printing costs are typically tied up in ink/toner. That’s not the only cost, but unless you are using premium paper to print out sales and marketing reports or the company newsletter, it is the major one. For color printers, it’s an even larger expense since you typically need multiple toner cartridges to get the desired effect. This is why knowing what your organization is paying per page to print is so crucial. It’s a pretty straightforward equation.
Businesses have the option to use three different cloud deployments:
Research In Action surveyed 468 CIOs about their company’s cloud usage and the costs they understand. A majority said that their company’s cloud computing investments were some of the largest technology expenses on their company’s budget. Fewer CIOs consider the hidden costs of the technology, as most of them trust their vendors to make the determinations needed to keep their business’ cloud platforms viable and available. Many of them admitted to monitoring the fluctuations in cost, but feel as though the technology provides the best value possible.
One of the psychological keys to effectively working from home is to identify a certain area as the at-home workplace and stick to it. Preferably, this workplace is away from the distractions of the kitchen and its snacks or the bedroom and its temptation of a nap. Once you have found your area, make sure that you have it equipped with the tools you will need to be productive, like a laptop, external monitor, and any other accessories you use.
In so many words, data automation is the collection and transcription of data using software, rather than the outdated and time-consuming manual processes that were once necessary.
Rather than one of your valuable employees being committed to data entry instead of the other tasks that are better suited to their talents and abilities, data automation utilizes technology to attend to it. As a result, your team can focus on their other responsibilities, while your data is managed more efficiently and accurately.
Coleman Technologies has been serving the British Columbia area since 1999, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses. Our experience has allowed us to build and develop the infrastructure needed to keep our prices affordable and our clients up and running.
20178 96 Avenue, C400
Langley, British Columbia V1M 0B2
Mon to Fri 9:00am to 6:00pm
