First of all, it’s important not to panic. Many organizations have been offering work-from-home perks for years. Not only is it entirely possible to keep business running, but many businesses see a boost in productivity. A two-year Stanford study shows that in general, remote workers are as productive, if not more so, than those confined to an office.
We’ll get the simplest habit out of the way first: don’t leave things, like lights and peripherals, powered on when they aren’t necessary. Build the habit of switching them off when they aren’t in use. It may help to label your switches to ensure the right lights are turning off at the right time.
Modern technology solutions are another good way to reduce the amount of power that your hardware and infrastructure require. Public cloud options, like Google Drive and Microsoft Office 365, offer a dual benefit in that they not only enable remote capabilities (more on that shortly), they allow you to scale back your on-site infrastructure needs. As a result, your energy requirements are likewise decreased. The same result can come from keeping your hardware and business infrastructure (like the aforementioned lights) up-to-date, as newer technologies are more energy efficient.
On the subject of using up-to-date solutions, these solutions also help minimize the need to print very much at all. Using collaborative technology can therefore reduce the amount of paper waste your business produces.
Returning briefly to the idea of remote work solutions, enabling your employees to operate from home is another means of reducing the environmental impact your business contributes. Not only will your office require less energy by default, there will be fewer emissions generated thanks to the reduced amount of traffic on the road from commuters.
If you do require your staff members to be present in the office, encouraging them to set up carpooling groups is another way that you can help reduce the emissions they produce. After all, one car produces fewer emissions than four would, and it gives your staff time to connect, to boot.
The average office has quite a few disposable options that could very well be replaced with reusable ones. Switch the paper and plastic products in the break room for washable, reusable options, down to the coffee filter. Instead of offering sugar packets and individual creamer cups, have communal dispensers that can be refilled. Will it make a huge difference? No, but it is something, and it will ultimately be less costly to your business in the long run.
As the nature of the work environment has shifted, laptops just make more sense for many employees than the desktop. This is good, because laptops not only help enable remote work, they also require far less energy in comparison.
Finally, as you make these upgrades to your location, equipment, and processes, make sure you are properly disposing of the elements you are replacing--including your equipment. Due to the environmentally-hazardous components that are used to make them, most modern pieces of technology shouldn’t just be thrown out. Instead (once you’ve made sure that all data has been good and wiped from the device) enlist a reputable professional to ethically recycle your device and its components.
We can help you with many of these initiatives, while improving the general functionality of your business’ technology. To learn more, give Coleman Technologies a call at (604) 513-9428.
Looking outside your own business to get work done can be intimidating. Can you trust outsourced talent? Will I lose control over my business? Is it really a value? These questions and many more are reasonable to ask, but if there is one sure thing about outsourcing is that there are clear financial benefits.
The decreased cost of outsourcing is the most well-known feature of the strategy. Obviously, it is extraordinarily expensive to onboard new help, purchase the resources that new hire needs to do the job you need him/her to do, and expand your benefits package (if you offer one) to another person. When you outsource, you may still pay a comparable rate in pay, but you will get someone that has the specific skills you need them for, and you’ll likely save a lot of capital by eliminating the associated costs.
Your organization may see some major operational benefits from choosing to outsource. They include:
Outsourcing can present a business’ leadership the ability to be more aggressive with their resources. There is a lot to do at the average business, giving regular employees access to trained and reliable resources can free them up to focus on operational issues while speeding up business significantly.
Typically, outsourcers come onboard with very specific skills and no long-term employment contract. This gives the organization the flexibility to find the gig-worker that fits the immediate needs of the company rather than committing to one employee over large swaths of time.
In the course of doing business, decision makers are confronted with variable risks. Outsourcing allows many of the risks to be disregarded, although it creates some others. Overall, however, outsourcing will often present a net-positive situation for any business.
Coleman Technologies offers high-value outsourced IT services and support for British Columbia businesses. If you would like to learn more, call us today at (604) 513-9428.
The purpose of having an assessment done on your organization’s information systems is simple: to gain a more complete understanding of how your IT works in regards to your business. That’s not to say that having an understanding how everything fits will, in itself, make your business’ IT more effective. No, that’s on you, but in order to know that you need to change, eliminate, or reconfigure parts of your IT strategy, understanding what systems do what is essential.
Moreover, the assessment gives decision makers a look at how inefficient their IT strategy is, and how to make the changes necessary to make those systems work better for the company. A thorough IT assessment will have several parts to it. Today, we are going to go through what to expect when you get an assessment; or, what you need to look at if you want to objectively assess your own business’ IT.
Two crucial metrics that will repeatedly make an appearance are your total cost of ownership, and your return on investment.
Let’s look how these metrics come into play during an IT assessment:
Typically, if your organization is going to conduct an IT assessment, there is some reason for it, and the results of this assessment (or audit, if you prefer) will likely have more to do with your future investments than many other actions would. This fact dictates that the audit is carried out by IT professionals who have the training needed to recognize inconsistencies, irregularities, and most importantly inefficiencies.
Any good IT assessment will begin by putting together a comprehensive Asset Detail Report. This will tell you what IT resources you have, when they were implemented and serviced, the latest firmware and software license and much, much more. This will cover all of your IT, including printers, copiers, cloud-based platforms, computing and networking hardware, software, and more.
Additionally, you might find it helpful (at this stage) to create something known as a site diagram or network map. This visual guide is used to map out the flow of data through your business.
The assessment team will next audit your network by performing a SWOT analysis (which analyzes your business network’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). In this process it will become more clear what potential problems your network has and what it’s doing to function efficiently. There will be investment suggestions aimed to help reduce your organization’s IT risk, while also promoting solid TCO rates and improving your ROI.
Finally, a risk report is assembled that combines the results from a variety of factors, including:
There are some other factors included in a finished assessment report. These include the status of domain controllers, the Active Directory settings, other potential vulnerabilities (like weak passwords and missing software updates), and any known network vulnerabilities.
Your finalized assessment will give you a comprehensive report that will be an indispensable tool for decision makers.
If you are looking for help identifying your company’s IT issues, call our knowledgeable technicians today at (604) 513-9428.
Let’s start by examining the reasons for communications that businesses use to manage their internal processes.
Now, let’s consider a few solutions that can help you to accomplish solid information sharing and collaboration.
When you think of internal communications at work, the lion’s share of it will fill this need. Employees need to know certain things to maintain continuity of a business. This includes the publication of policies, procedures, plans, or potential changes to each. To accommodate the sharing of all this knowledge, businesses use the following tools:
Nowadays, collaboration is important for every business’ success. Business moves faster and if you don’t have some semblance of coordination between your employees in separate departments, it can cost more than time. It can be the difference between generating revenue and not. Here are some tools used to boost collaboration:
The IT professionals at Coleman Technologies have the expertise and access to solutions to help you solve any of your business’ operational problems. Call us today at (604) 513-9428 to learn more.
Before we discuss what the last decade brought us, I wanted to remind everyone just how limitless innovations are. Many years ago, many of these inventions or technologies seemed unrealistic for the times.
Let’s go through the past decade’s biggest hits, as well as what we might see in years to come.
While many technologies were introduced in the 2000s, the 2010s saw these technologies used in bigger, more innovative ways. Let’s take a brief look at the past ten years and what improvements we saw.
While 4G was actually first developed in 2009, but primarily spreading in the early 2010s, 4G wireless changed the capabilities of wireless data transmission. As a result, further innovations were made, encouraging (and sometimes forcing) technologies to improve. The companies that worked in real-time and heavily depended on application deployment were suddenly given the tools they needed to really take root. Furthermore, 4G was responsible for the viability of many of today’s biggest players, including Spotify, Instagram, Uber, and Snapchat - among many others.
Can you believe that the iPad has only been around for about a decade? It was the first of many mass-produced consumer tablets, and it took other companies a few years to catch up as they followed Apple’s lead. Powered by iOS, and featuring a large screen, the explosive initial sales of the iPad cemented the tablet’s reputation as a useful device, both at home and in the workplace.
In June of 2012, the longstanding wireless networking standard was upgraded for the first time in years. This sixth standard allowed a new age of connectivity, permitting a far larger number of devices to be connected to the Internet.
As we suggested in the section on 4G, streaming was growing in popularity, and it is safe to say that the first Chromecast was partially responsible for that. While it may seem practically ubiquitous today, integrated casting was revolutionary upon its release… and in many ways, it changed how businesses could communicate ideas. Conference rooms everywhere are now equipped to work with this (or similar) technologies.
Today, every major technology brand has its own take on the virtual assistant. Apple has the OG - Siri - while Microsoft has Cortana, Google has its Google Assistant, Amazon has Alexa, and Samsung has Bixby. As such, the development of this technology spurred a new competitive spirit among these rivals, to the benefit of the user. With all of these companies working to create advanced, better assistants to sway consumers, machine learning has improved exponentially through these efforts.
Despite largely flying under the radar, one of the most impactful advancements of the decade is the development of the USB Type C connector. With the exception of Apple, it has been accepted as the industry’s standard connection for power and data transmission, and can therefore be found on most post-2015 devices.
As they attempted to put together a mobile OS, and their redesigned Windows 8.1 OS failing to replace the aging Windows 7, Windows 10 was developed to standardize the Windows experience and modernize it for longevity. Now, Windows 10 has been established as the standard, running on 64 percent of all PCs in existence, a number that will grow even higher as Windows 7 is finally put out to pasture.
While there is an argument that, technically speaking, the Internet of Things is more of a 2010s development, the 2020s are poised to be the decade that Internet-connected devices are truly viable tools, with the necessary integrations, functionality, and (most critically) security finally in place. This is predicted much for the same reason that mobile technology took off last decade - the fact that wireless networks improved.
Frankly, there’s so much more we have yet to accomplish, as the near future is poised to turn what was very recently science fiction into fact. For instance, the next 10 years will likely see the following technologies come more into the mainstream:
With certain areas currently rolling out the 5G wireless standard, and more guaranteed to follow, there is hope of a fundamental shift in how people can use their technology. As if today’s networks weren’t already burdened by our data demands, we are only increasing these demands as time passes. However, 5G potentially promises a variety of benefits - including ubiquitous access, powered by broadcast sites that focus on delivering performance to each user rather than to a given neighborhood. Today’s 5G users have experienced speeds measured in gigabits, so just imagine this capability spreading.
While the phrase “artificial intelligence” has been somewhat inflated by popular culture, the more practical use of artificial intelligence is slated to increase by a significant amount in the 2020s. Today, neural networks are already in use as a means to recognize data patterns, assisting in automation processes. With the amount of data increasing exponentially, these neural networks are bound to see exponential benefits, and we will be able to put AI to use in more complex and dynamic applications.
Like we said, the Internet of Things is only going to grow as time passes, and the many technologies and solutions that are included under this umbrella term will finally have the wireless capabilities needed to make a real impact. Cities will be made smart, using AI to increase the efficiency of crucial services and eliminate waste. Driverless cars will make commuting and traveling safer, and crucial systems in finance, healthcare, and infrastructure will be improved.
There has been a notable trend toward increasing how immersive our technology is, and that will culminate in something known as mixed reality. As the predicted replacement to today’s mobile platforms, MR would provide interactive overlays in real-time for all kinds of applications, ultimately reducing data strains. As a result, we could see a variety of applications be completely revolutionized, including education, entertainment, and social interaction.
Just as it did throughout the last decade, technology is sure to transform throughout the coming one. What innovations do you hope to see? Let us know in the comments!
In the past, businesses greatly relied on the use of their printers, but it really can’t be said that this use is particularly monitored, even now. As a matter of fact, a survey conducted by Buyer’s Laboratory suggests that a full 90 percent of companies (yes, nine-zero) don’t keep track of their printing costs - a number that can regularly add up to over five percent of a business’ total revenue. If this seems high, take a moment to consider the different expenses that contribute to this total.
Naturally, you have to consider the resources you need in order to use a printer. You need the requisite paper and ink, but not many people would think to include the electrical costs of keeping the printer in operation. You also need to take the time (about 15 percent of it) that your IT department spends dealing with printer-related issues and the 23 percent of help desk calls that are made in regard to these issues.
This all impacts your operational budget, and there’s a chance that you weren't even aware of it.
For starters, you need to begin tracking your printing costs, as it will be beneficial to find out how much of your budget is potentially being eaten away by unneeded spending there. Secondly, you should implement a print management solution to make it easier to continue this tracking in the future.
In order to really get the most out of your print management solution, you should have a strategy that allows you to do so. By granting you with greater insights into your printing, you can figure out ways to minimize or eliminate excessive costs, without negatively impacting the accessibility of printed materials.
When considering your options for a print management platform, we recommend that you look for the following features:
If your business’ documents are resulting in excessive costs, reach out to our IT experts today! Coleman Technologies can help you keep your printing under control. Call (604) 513-9428 to learn more.
Times have changed.
Today, the professional services industry is experiencing somewhat of a makeover. The effort-based expectations of the past are being replaced with outcome-driven expectations, leaving many professionals looking to technologies to help their businesses manage this shift in expectations. Typically, businesses begin their quest for efficiency by automating mundane portions of the business. This creates cost savings and promotes speed. The problem this model presents for professional services firms is that they don’t have many parts of their business that can be automated.
Since the front office and the back office of many professional services firms have some form of disconnect, and much of the work dictates that a person handles the intricacies of that work, automation isn’t really an option. That doesn’t mean there aren’t ways for professional services to utilize new technology to promote faster, more accurate, and more efficient operations. One way that professional services companies can improve is by making a digital transformation.
The digital transformation refers to shift from analogue systems to digital ones. Over the past twenty years many analogue systems have been retired to make way for digital ones. This includes cloud-hosted solutions for time and resource management, productivity and collaboration, and even for the archival of information. The added efficiency a professional services firm can gain from committing to digital systems--especially in the processes listed above--is sure to quicken the pace of your business’ operations. Let’s take a look at the technologies some of the most utilized professional services companies are beginning to use.
Medical practices have been improving their IT under mandate for almost a decade. How has the digital improvement gone? A study from 2018 showed that 60 percent of practices that have upgraded their information systems have had a positive experience, while 23.5 percent had (what they’re calling) positive-to-mixed results. Only eight percent reported having a negative experience implementing technology. It took healthcare officials at every level working together to achieve digital transformations that help fuel electronic health records and other technologies used to help curtail cost redundancies and promote the delivery of comprehensive care.
There are a lot of lawyers that like to continue to do things the way they always have. After all, it is one of the oldest professions and there is a standard of decorum that many lawyers adhere to. In many ways the legal profession remains unchanged. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t using technology. The profession as a whole may not benefit from automation as much as other professionals, but it still does benefit through other solutions like document management, mobile management, and other digital systems often utilized with remote workforces.
Most professional services firms are, like most other businesses, using information systems to improve operations and be the best firm that they can be. If you are working in the professional services market and would like to learn more about how your firm would go about making a digital transformation, call the professional service experts at Coleman Technologies today at (604) 513-9428.
Which seems a little ridiculous to me, if I’m being honest. Your staff is one of your biggest investments. On top of that, it is important to remember that, since your employees are human beings, pushing them to do more might actually result in them accomplishing less.
In my experience, the best way to help an employee accomplish their best is to track their performance and evaluate their next steps. Is this always foolproof? No - but as I said, in my experience, it is the best way.
Before we go any further, it is important that I make something clear: we are proceeding with the understanding and acceptance that your employees are like any others: flawed human beings, capable of a lot and likewise distracted by a lot. Either way, holding them to the same standards as we would some automated alternative is unfair, as I am sure you would agree.
However, and somewhat unfortunately, this often isn’t the impression that employees get from management. Some common complaints from employees are:
Now, put in a list like this, these don’t look too great, and you may want to shrug them off and assume that they aren’t happening in your company… they almost certainly are.
Having said that, I want you to think back to when you once worked for someone else. How did you feel going in every day? Now look at that list again - some of those line items may have helped motivate you to go into business for yourself.
Let’s face it - entrepreneurship isn’t something that people are really “born to do”...it is a decision that people make, usually after paying their dues and working for other people and seeing ways that they would do things differently (or in their minds, better). Some staff members love working for certain people, and other staff members don’t, occasionally acting on it.
The point of all this: people are people, and as such, there is no single equation for dealing with employees well.
This means that, no matter what you do and what style of management you use, not all employees are going to be a good fit at your company. This means that, along the line, someone was going to feel displeased about their work situation.
Remember, while you should still be doing everything you can to make the work environment as amiable as possible for your employees, some just aren’t going to be a good fit, and may need to be addressed in other ways.
At the end of the day, it is important that you realize while payroll can be your greatest investment, it can also be your worst. This means that you need to keep track of how your employees are performing and spending their time in the office, which leads you to the prospect of actually tracking your employees in the workplace.
This opens up a few more questions, starting with the data you are actually collecting. What is it that you are trying to track? Should you keep it simple, monitoring attendance or the number of hours an employee actually spends in the office? Are there different performance indicators that you like to keep updated metrics concerning? Do you want to monitor keystrokes, making sure that they are working diligently throughout the day, or their browsing histories to make sure they aren’t putting your company in jeopardy by visiting sites they shouldn’t be?
This is where things can get a little murky as far as business ethics are concerned. How much do you really need to know, and how much will you collect as collateral data?
As it stands today, employee monitoring software is in high demand, the market growing as more businesses decide to protect themselves against theft by an employee. The consensus seems to be swaying toward the opinion that you can’t trust your employees not to take advantage of you, either by stealing data and other resources, or dishonestly reporting their time.
There is also a lot of license given to businesses in terms of what can legally be done to protect their own assets, especially where an employee’s privacy is concerned. Courts have ruled in some cases that a company can track an employee’s behavior after they have left the confines of the office. Consider the permissions that a user needs to agree to in order to access work-related files on a personal device. There is little to stop the employer from also going through private messages with that access.
So yes, it is currently legal to monitor your employees, which means the decision really falls to you and your conscience. Of course, this may change, or it could just as likely stay the same. Privacy is a contentious subject these days, with no clear indication of how things will turn out when (and if) it is ever settled.
One of the hallmarks of employee monitoring is the fact that the monitoring itself is kept about as hidden as the behaviors it is meant to catch. Whether you’re keeping an eye on your surveillance footage, web activity, internal correspondence, or keystrokes, the person being monitored traditionally would only find out if they were told… which isn’t something that companies have traditionally done, either.
I would urge you to actually break from tradition here.
Ethics aside for a moment, it just makes more practical sense to inform your users how their activity is to be monitored. Not only will this transparency help you build and maintain trust amongst your users, but it can also help keep issues from developing in the first place. Think about it - what happens when people realize there’s a patrol car on the highway? They immediately check the speedometer and correct their speed. Transparency has a great way of acting as a deterrent in that way.
You also want to consider the kind of metrics you’re actually collecting before you evaluate your employees based on them. Do the metrics line up with how the employee provides value to the business, and/or the actual value they deliver? Look at it this way - when you’re looking to buy an appliance, like a toaster, you won’t find out how well the toast is browned by measuring the length of the power supply cord. Metrics can be useful tools, but only where they practically apply.
Finally, don’t give up on your employees too quickly. If your monitoring picks up on one of your staff members having a tough time, try addressing the situation as your first option. Sudden downturns in employee productivity are usually caused by something, and that something might be fixable. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t terminate an employee if you need to, just to consider alternatives before diving into the hiring process again and losing what may still be a valuable resource.
What are your feelings on employee monitoring, and using these kinds of solutions? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and check back in with our blog to learn more about optimizing and securing your business’ technology.
One basic strategy to sorting out your data is to backup the files that you can’t feasibly replace otherwise. This simple, yet effective approach could easily save your business… but, why go through the effort of sorting through your data at all?
Seeing as your data is one of - if not the - most important resources that your business has, why not just back up all of it?
This endeavor becomes much easier with the Backup and Disaster Recovery appliance that we offer, as it can easily map out and replicate your data stores. Now, it must be said that not every business generates enough vital data to justify a large investment into a data backup. However, as we mentioned above, today’s threat landscape means that what data you do have needs to be protected.
There are several different varieties of data backup for you to consider, keeping in mind what it is you are backing up and when you need those backups to be ready. These backups include:
As you may have gathered, a full backup copies all of your data and configurations and saves them to a single platform, whether that be a NAS (network attached storage) device, a cloud backup, or tape (pro tip: don’t use tape backup).
This has the benefits of offering a comprehensive backup that you need, with quick restoration times for single files or folders. A full restore takes a much longer period of time to complete, and full backups are more expensive due to the greater need of storage space. Any backup strategy will typically start off with a full backup.
This kind of backup keeps track of any changes that are made to data, which allows it to be used for data that is continuously updated. The costs of an incremental backup are quite reasonable, making it a good choice (despite not being totally comprehensive) for a business that generates large amounts of data.
Similarly to incremental backups, a differential backup keeps track of changes that are made between the times that a full backup is run, keeping their backups more up to date.
This kind of backup is best for redundancy, as it creates a mirror image of the system that is being backed up. While these backups are the fastest to restore, they also take up the most storage space.
Depending on your business’ particular needs, a backup can be run weekly, daily, or even as frequently as every 15 minutes.
The 3-2-1 Rule is a simple way to remember what you need to maintain if you want to keep your data protected enough. Here’s how it breaks down:
This strategy makes it so your data is both secure, and convenient to you.
To learn more about data backups and best practices concerning them, reach out to Coleman Technologies at (604) 513-9428.
While not all of your data may be equally valuable, data loss is a bad thing across the board. This is precisely why Coleman Technologies offers comprehensive data backup and disaster recovery solutions.
Backing up your data allows you to sidestep the potential catastrophes that would come with the loss of your most critical information. Here, we’ll review a few situations that could put this data at risk to demonstrate how crucial having a backup really is.
Just about every business on Earth could potentially be impacted by some kind of weather event. Some deal with hurricanes, some deal with high winds and tornadoes, others with earthquakes and floods… you get the picture. Unfortunately, whichever one impacts your business, there isn’t very much you can do in the moment - which is why it is important to prepare now, so you can reopen again after the fact. Many don’t prepare, and therefore, don’t reopen.
Acting proactively and maintaining a backup allows you to more quickly bounce back after disaster has struck, allowing your business a second chance.
Cybersecurity is a huge topic today, as there are many, many threats out there designed to target businesses. Take ransomware, for example: all it takes for you to lose access to your files is for an employee to click on the wrong thing. Not good.
However, using a BDR (in conjunction with a comprehensive business continuity plan) to keep your files safely backed up enables you to quickly restore data from an onsite backup copy of your data, while keeping another copy offsite for redundant protections and simplified migrations. This keeps you safe from a variety of threats, including ransomware and many other forms of malware.
The BDR is supremely useful in that it gives you an on-demand resource to pull your data from, on demand, as it is needed. This is particularly handy if a team is collaborating on a project, and somebody accidentally deletes something absolutely critical to the project. With a backup, your progress won’t be lost to bad luck.
A BDR allows you to breathe a little easier about your files and their security. To find out about adopting one for your business, reach out to Coleman Technologies today. Call (604) 513-9428 to get started.
Information technology systems are the foundation of the many processes that a lot of businesses rely on. These systems enable you to store data efficiently, putting it to use and interfacing with it collaboratively - but as these systems are so crucial, they must also be properly monitored and maintained.
After all, without its technology, a business that relies on said technology isn’t going to be able to accomplish much.
This has been a driving force behind innovations to technology - boosting reliability, introducing transformative tools, and advancing both business and society at large. However, since this isn’t particularly easy to put into practice, various industry thought leaders have been actively attempting to transform a variety of considerations, including:
This has effectively been accomplished by developing solutions to meet assessed needs. As a result, new solutions are being thought up to help expand IT from its role in support to actively promoting key business tasks.
Cognitive computing is the processing of business data through a combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other powerful computing resources. With these systems, patterns can be recognized, data mined, and language processed far more efficiently than without. With more information, businesses that leverage cognitive computing can see considerable benefits:
Using these technologies also allows you to support various other aspects of your operations, both internally (filling out your operational structure) and externally (automating customer retention efforts). By making a business more “intelligent,” these investments can provide a competitive advantage, as well as more diverse means of generating revenues.
A data breach can be catastrophic for a business - and attacks happen far too often today to be ignored. Quite a few tools have been developed to help block out these threats, as well as improve internal data security initiatives.
Of these tools, many leverage AI and machine learning to adapt a cybersecurity policy to better match the threats a business contends with. However, these systems aren’t impervious to threats, which means that business owners need to identify their potential risks, including:
It is also important to mention that this list is far from comprehensive - there are many more threats out there to resist, avoid, and otherwise defend against. Today’s tools are the most effective way to accomplish this.
To learn more about how you can adopt technology that helps your business succeed, reach out to the IT professionals at Coleman Technologies.
The number one thing you need to know about data analysis is that the data you use needs to be structured in a way to allow you to get the most accurate information possible. This isn’t always easy. In order to put your business in the right position you can’t just rely on decision makers to go with their gut reaction, you need a definitive plan fueled by empirical data so that you avoid huge costs to solve small problems. The simplest way to do this is to identify trends inside and outside of your business. You can do this through a dedicated business analytics platform, using your organizational data to help you make sound business decisions.
Another part of the business that can be improved through the use of analysis is operations. Traditionally, the more efficient your business is, the more effective it is. This doesn’t change because you have data; but, with the data you can get a better perspective about how your business works, how your customers interact with your company, and a lot more. The better you understand the separate parts of your business the more you can confront its pain points and build effectiveness.
Since you are in business to make money, it stands to reason that using any resources to help you do that is beneficial for the company. Combing through your operations and marketing data can provide opportunities that you didn’t know were there. It can make all the difference for the small business that needs to transition quickly in order to sustain operations.
It’s been said that data is the new oil. That may or may not be true, but for the small business, drilling into your data to see the best way forward is a solid practice that will become commonplace before long. To get out in front of it, call the IT professionals at Coleman Technologies at (604) 513-9428 and we will help you get started using your data to benefit your business today.
The Managed Service Provider (MSP) provide an experience unlike traditional service providers’ methodology. Let’s take a look at two scenarios:
Tom is emailing his boss in regard to a company project when all of a sudden his software closes. Tom tries to re-open his email, resulting in well, no result. Tom, frustrated at his email software, spam clicks the application which causes his entire computer to freeze. He has to ask his neighbor to contact their IT department for him. Unfortunately, they are out for lunch which results in a massive amount of downtime for not only Tom but for the business itself.
Jerry, who works for a business on the other side of town, is working on a project when he too is experiencing technical difficulties. Jerry has been working on a new business logo in his graphic design software. While opening his file, he is prompted with a message informing him that his software license is not valid. Jerry wastes no time in creating a ticket with his managed service provider. Within minutes, a technician remotes into Jerry’s computer, reconciling the issue at hand. Jerry is up and working in a timely manner.
Time is money, so why not save yourself time with managed services?
Managed service providers leverage remote support simply because of how efficient it is. It doesn’t make sense for a technician to come all the way out to your business to resolve an issue that could have been resolved at their own office. However, when a situation occurs where a technician is actually required to be present, managed service providers have trained staff ready to be dispatched.
When something goes wrong, IT support needs to be present. It isn’t cost effective to have IT support present when your infrastructure is operating as it should.
Time is a business’ most scarce resource, so why waste any of it? Every moment is valuable, so you can’t afford to sit idle waiting for IT to return back from lunch or wait for them to have a free moment. To ensure you get the most out of every second, Coleman Technologies offers managed services which can greatly benefit your business.
This is far from the end when discussing the benefits of managed services. Return back to our blog page to read part three of this series. If you would like to discuss additional support options offered with managed IT services, give us a call at (604) 513-9428.
Which scenario which would you prefer to be in:
You take your car to a shop for a tune up. A technician calls to inform you that your engine has hardly any oil in it due to a leak. However, he replaces a gasket and tops your oil off. The simple fix has cost just $80.
OR
You notice your car is leaving dark black stains in your driveway, but after a quick google search determine that your car is probably fine, and the money you could be spending on a tune up could be better spent on an iPhone. Once all the oil is gone, your motor has completely seized due to the lack of lubrication, and you have to use your brand new iPhone to call a repair shop. The new motor will set you back $3,000.
Your answer to the question should be obvious, but how can you take the same proactive approach with IT? The strategy most businesses choose is one that has proven its worth -- managed IT services.
Managed IT services monitor systems through the use of remote monitoring. This strategy is extremely beneficial as an IT staff does not need to be on-site at all times. By using state-of-the-art tools, managed IT providers are able to monitor your business' network and hardware, ensuring they are operating correctly. If it is not working correctly, a technician is typically able to resolve the issue remotely. This, of course, means you might not even be aware of a potential issue--and most of the time--it will be resolved before you know it.
Having a fix-it-when-it-breaks attitude has no place in any business. The value that managed IT services delivers cannot be matched. The only comparable proactive solution is having an on-site IT staff working around the clock. How much do you think that would cost you?
Imagine paying staff to sit around waiting for something to break. Now imagine paying the non-IT staff to sit around, while your IT staff tries to resolve the issue. The biggest cost a business faces with malfunctioning hardware is typically the downtime that results from it.
Coleman Technologies provides simple yet effective means which act before little issues turn into operational catastrophes. One solution we offer is a comprehensive patch management service. Not updating software leaves your business susceptible to data breaches. A data breach could put not only all of your data at risk, it could jeopardize your entire business.
To learn how easily you can adopt proactive measures into your business, give us a call at (604) 513-9428. Be sure to check for part two of this series on Friday.
When you are looking for servers, there is a pretty good chance that you need to centralize application delivery, file storage, or some other core function of your business. A server is a high-powered computer that runs specialized software that is used to support the multiple users that your business has on staff. Some of the multi-user applications that servers are used for include email, some type of messaging, print servers designed to manage company-wide print jobs, and customer relationship management (CRM). If your business already uses one or multiple servers, you need to establish whether you need to upgrade and migrate; or, if you’ve outgrown your hardware and need to set up a new server, and where to host it.
If you are looking to set up your first server, you have an interesting decision to make. Do you set up your new server at your place of business, or do you host it with an established cloud provider? Traditionally, companies would be better served to host their hardware locally, but with cloud services from some of the most reputable companies in the world now available with built-in support and anywhere-anytime access, it stands to reason that looking at how each is priced out is a prudent move by any decision maker.
With the purchase of a server, a company takes on the costs of the hardware, which are often substantial, they then deploy software and have to pay to have that hardware managed. If the hardware costs aren’t enough, the maintenance costs can be multiple times that. When you add in utility costs, you are looking at a large capital cost with a smaller operational outlay. With cloud computing, however, you can get a reasonably secure server that can be accessed from any place users have access to a high-speed Internet connection. This provides accessibility that many other servers don’t have, while paying per month rather than up front. The costs don’t add up quite as fast (the capital outlay is virtually zero), but the operational costs spike, often exceeding what you would pay for a server over time.
Let’s make a list of some pros and cons:
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
It all comes down to system control. If you want (or need to have) control over your hardware in order to meet federal, state, or industry regulations, hosting your servers onsite is suggested. If you don’t have these regulations to meet, there’s no reason hosting your servers in a public cloud interface can’t be a viable alternative for your company.
One option that many businesses are using today is the establishment of a private cloud server. A private cloud server is hosted either onsite or in its own dedicated cloud space, and delivers a business a lot of the pros listed above, albeit at substantial cost. The establishment of the private cloud allows companies that need to have control over the management of their organizations data and applications to have it, while providing the ability for users to access the data and applications outside of the confines of its physical network.
Regardless of what kind of server you are looking for the experts at Coleman Technologies can help. Find out more about your server options by calling us today at (604) 513-9428.
We’re not trying to talk smack about organizations that are forced into this position. Small businesses have it tough, especially with the more technical aspects of infrastructure management and the finer details of computing. It takes more than a passable amount of knowledge to manage an infrastructure filled with the IT needed for your employees to complete their duties on a daily basis.
Vendors are there to sell you the products and services that your company needs to thrive, including the processes of building, delivering, and supporting these products and services. If you want to be successful in the business world, it’s your prerogative to create a solid relationship with your vendors. Unfortunately, vendor representatives can eat up a considerable amount of the time you should be spending managing your business.
One particular study suggests that IT vendors can take up over 13 percent of a CIO’s time; that’s time that your business simply can’t get back. We recommend taking action now to change the way your organization handles vendor management. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
Don’t let vendors hold you back from being successful--that’s not what they’re there for. To find out how you can better manage your vendors and resources, give us a call at (604) 513-9428.
For many smaller businesses the IT administrator’s position is not one held by a certified IT professional. It is held by whomever is most knowledgeable about computers; or, even worse, the person who most uses a particular machine. This can lead to complete catastrophe.
A help desk, either as a standalone service, or as a part of a larger managed services platform, can provide the kind of comprehensive IT support every organization is looking for. It doesn’t just battle broken technology, either. It also reduces downtime that comes from human error, whether it be from IT related issues or situational incompetence. If your staff can’t do their jobs efficiently because they encounter technology-induced roadblocks, having IT experts available around-the-clock to look into and fix most of the problems your staff could have is a huge benefit.
Additionally, if you do have a dedicated IT administrator or outsource your IT management to a firm that doesn’t offer help desk, having remote technicians at the ready can help an IT department that is stretched thin. Augmenting your IT staff by instituting a help desk can keep their attention on the projects that will help the organization move forward more successfully.
If your business finds itself falling short in terms of help desk support, look no further. Coleman Technologies can help your business get the support it needs to maintain operational efficiency. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.
Video conferencing can help business owners accomplish a plethora of tasks in the workplace. For one, video conferencing gives you the power to directly communicate with other parties, like vendors, customers, regulators, etc., without being in the same physical location. You also have the option to share screens, documents, presentations, and more through a video conferencing setup.
A chat platform will give users the ability to communicate both in and out of the office, whether it’s providing assistance to your clients or acting as a communication infrastructure for your employees. Some organizations have even taken to automating chat platforms to provide a more effective service to their clients. In fact, these services are often more cost-effective, and they come with a high level of customizability to provide an alternative to having a traditional support line.
Voice over IP has been around for quite some time, and it’s so popular that even cable companies are providing it these days. The biggest component of a successful VoIP platform is ensuring that you’re not overpaying for bandwidth. Your business’ phone system will run over your organization’s Internet connection, so it’s crucial that you’re not buying more than needed. A VoIP solution, when implemented correctly, can save you time and resources better spent elsewhere. VoIP systems can integrate well with other services, as well.
Everyone has a mobile device of some sort, so businesses are beginning to leverage this to their advantage through the use of Bring Your Own Device. Organizations that have employees who often travel for work will find it beneficial for them to bring their own devices into the workplace so as to offset the cost of purchasing work devices for them… as long as there are limits in place, of course.
Of course, securing these devices is also of the utmost importance, which is why solutions such as mobile device management exist. These solutions give administrators the chance to limit a device’s data access based on user privileges, limit the kinds of software installed on them, and more. Mobile device management might be hard to implement for certain businesses with outspoken employees, so address these issues accordingly.
Intranet solutions consist of a data system that can be used for file sharing. A company intranet can be used in various ways; they can be hosted on-site, in a private cloud solution, or implemented in a hybrid solution. An intranet hosted on your local area network can give any computer that’s connected to the network the ability to access the intranet. Given the right permissions, an intranet can enable collaboration utilizing this single point of storage.
A cloud-based solution can be hosted on private hardware, but it will depend on the integration and whether or not you’ve set up access control and authorization. Cloud systems are generally hosted outside the confines of your physical network, yet they offer a considerable amount of flexibility with access to data and applications.
There are countless cloud services out there that your organization can use to establish lines of communication, including email, instant messaging, collaboration software, and more.
If you can unify your business’ communications, you will see quite a lot of benefits. Centralized software gives you the opportunity to host all of your applications in one location, like VoIP, Instant Messaging, Video Conferencing, etc., and it all reports back to one location where it can be tracked. Unified communications are a great way to monitor transparency and increase the value of your solution.
Coleman Technologies’s IT experts can present you with the best communications solutions for your organization. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.
Don’t worry… we don’t expect you to try and work while you’re running as fast as you can. What we mean by “sprinting” is that you commit to focused, intensive work for a period of time, followed by a shorter period of rest.
The human body has certain capabilities, and is subject to certain limits. The way we are designed, we are meant to spend our time either spending or accumulating energy. These cycles are known as ultradian rhythms. Using our brains counts against this energy.
As a result, our focus is limited to somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes. Research indicates that, in order to perform well again after that, you need to take a 20-to-30 minute break so your brain can recover.
A sprinting methodology fits this pattern to a ‘T.’ By narrowing your focus to a single one of your tasks and blocking out distractions, you are better able to commit yourself to your goal. Once you hit the end of your sprint, you spend your recovery time refocusing yourself and preparing for your next foray into intense productivity.
Various authors and researchers have provided anecdotal evidence as to the efficacy of this approach:
One of sprinting’s biggest benefits is something that many people are very familiar with: the feeling of being in “the zone.” It’s that time when you are fully committed to your task at hand, and are enjoying yourself as you apply yourself. Psychologists refer to this as “flow.”
One psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, has committed his career to studying flow. As he said in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, he wrote:
“The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen.”
To make flow happen, sprinting once again fits quite well. Incorporating these patterns into your daily routine will help you to work more productively and ultimately, be more successful in your work.
What methods have you used to boost your productivity? Share some in the comments!
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
