Archives for March 2020

5 Best Practices for Buying Technology for Employees

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Buying technology for personal use can be exciting once you get past the price tag. Yet there are many factors to consider when investing in technology for employee use.

There are many digital tools available to improve the day-to-day way people do their jobs. Providing the right tech can increase productivity, streamline processes, and improve employee engagement. Yet determining which solutions are smartest for your team takes work.

Investing in a technology that doesn’t suit the needs of your staff can hurt your business:

  • Learning a new technology takes time away from other mission-critical tasks.
  • Employees resent the change when the tech further complicates their day.
  • Staff feel unheard and disrespected when asked to use digital tools that don’t help.
  • Disgruntled employees disengage, which hurts customer experience.
  • Employees look for an easier way to do their work and may change work environments as an answer.

Best practices for buying employee technology

Providing the best technological tools supports a more productive, energized, and motivated workforce. These best practices help bridge the gap between IT ambition and actual employee experience.

Know how work gets done

Many decision makers think they know how work is done, but they haven’t actually been in the trenches in years. Looking at the metrics to analyze process efficiency isn’t enough. Purchasing officers need to understand the employee’s daily journey. They need a good answer to the question “how is this technology going to make my work experience better?”

Understand the IT environment

Just as technology is evolving, the work environment is adapting too. Before buying employee technology, determine where people are working most. Are they in the office or remote? Do they sit all day at a desk or need to be on the move? Are they customer-facing? Or do they need more collaborative tools with internal teams?

Don’t make any IT purchases without weighing up whether the technology can handle the use it’s going to get. If someone is going to need access to the technology on a shop floor, a brand-new desktop is going to be a bust, whereas an employee who travels all the time for work is going to prefer a rugged but lightweight laptop.

Aim for uniformity

Bringing a shiny new Apple computer into a PC environment can be problematic. Loyalty to one manufacturer or software can help people embrace new tools quicker. Additionally, it makes buying parts and warranty much easier. You’re also more likely to be able to take advantage of product integrations and interoperability.

Develop consistent relationships

If you’re buying a lot of technology at one time you may be eligible for volume pricing. Plus, if you’re returning again to a supplier you’ve worked with in the past, you could ask about a loyalty bonus.

Working with a managed service provider to find the right tech solutions is also useful. Their supplier relationships can lead to volume discounts, better-than-retail pricing, and improved warranties.

Seek employee input

New technology introduces change into the work environment, but people don’t love change, especially if they feel a new system or software is being pushed upon them. It will help to ask staff what tools or technology they want. Often they already know!

Technology is an essential part of how people experience work. It’s easy to get seduced by a bright, shiny new device or promising feature. Instead, make decisions based on whether the technology can do what you need it to do and whether it’s going to make the employees’ work environment better or worse.

Need help making decisions about the right technology for your teams? We can help. Contact our experts today at 478-474-0861

How to Get Your Devices to Play Nicely Together: Home Networking Help

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Why can’t we all just get along? You’ve probably thought that before. But the sentiment is also one that goes through our heads when we’re trying to set up home networking. When cables and passwords abound, we can’t help but wish it was easier to get all our devices to play nicely together. Here’s help.

Desktop computers. Laptops. Tablets. Network printers. Routers. Modems. Smartphones. Smart speakers. Media players. Gaming systems. Homes today have many, if not all of these. Each has all sorts of features, and they’d be even more useful if they connected to one another. If only it wasn’t so challenging to get all our devices to relay information between each other reliably.

Home networking can bring so many benefits. You might enjoy:

  • accessing emails on all your devices, wherever you are;
  • surfing the Web using your voice;
  • being able to share files, photos, and other media with any other networked device;
  • viewing a baby photo album from your computer on your Smart TV during a Sweet 16 birthday party;
  • printing from your smartphone or other devices, even when not connected to the device via cable, using AirPrint or Google Cloud Print;
  • backing up all computers in the house to a centralized location via the network;
  • securing your activity on all devices at home with a protected Wi-Fi network.

Yep, all that sounds pretty great, but we’re right back where we started. How do we get our devices to do all that?

What Your Home Network Needs

First, take a moment to imagine connecting all the computers and smart devices in your home via cables. Ack! As if you want more cables snaking around your home! You don’t want to feel as if you’re rooming with Medusa.

So, you’ll be looking into a wireless home network to connect your devices to the internet and each other. That means setting up a modem and a router (we’re assuming you already have an internet service provider).

The modem is what connects your network to the internet. The router connects your devices to each other and to the internet through your modem. The router communicates the wireless signal between your devices and the modem. A gateway option combines the modem and router functions in one device.

If your home is spread out over several floors or square feet, or you have to deal with thick walls, you might have difficulties at home with Wi-Fi dead spots. Great! You’ve made all this effort, and it’s still not working! You could try a mesh network. Instead of making one device do all the signaling, a primary router and many smaller satellites (or nodes) relay the signals with equal power.

Securing Your Home Network

When you get your devices connected, you’ll want to secure your home network. Taking these simple steps helps protect your personal information and prevent cyberattacks.

First, change the default passwords on your modem and router, and choose something more complex than “123456,” “password,” or “letmein.”

You’ll also want to set up a guest network if the router supports it. This allows visitors to access the Wi-Fi without you having to share access to your main network.

Also, rename your Wi-Fi network so that it isn’t obvious that it’s your house. For example, if you live at 920 Hassell Place, you wouldn’t name it 920Hassell. Or, if you’re the Wilsons, don’t name it WilsonNetwork. Don’t make it easy for someone trying to target you to identify which network they are trying to hack.

You like using all your devices, but getting them all networked seems like a headache. Still, once you have a home network set up, you’ll wonder why you waited so long. Don’t put off the convenience any longer. We can help you get all your devices playing together nicely and securely. Contact us today at 478-474-0861

Are You Doing Your IT Due Diligence?

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The words “due diligence” may make you think of a courtroom drama on television. Surely, that’s something only lawyers have to worry about? Not so fast. Due diligence is something your business can be doing, too. Are you covering the basics?

Due diligence is about taking care and being cautious in doing business. It extends to how you manage your technology, too. You may think you’re immune to a data breach or cyberattack, but cybercriminals can target you regardless of business size or industry sector.

Depending on your industry, you may even have compliance or regulatory laws to follow. Some insurance providers also expect a certain level of security standards from you. The costs associated with these cyber incidents are increasing, too. Don’t leave your business vulnerable.

What due diligence involves

Technological due diligence requires attention to several areas. Generally, you’ll need to show the following:

  1. Each staff member has a unique login. Require complex, distinct passwords. Educated your people to protect these (e.g. not write them on stickie notes that sit on their desktop).
  2. You have a process in place for regular data backup. We recommend a 3-2-1 backup strategy. Keep three copies of your business data. One on the cloud with the other two on different devices (e.g. on your local computer and on a backup USB drive).
  3. You patch and upgrade security consistently. Ignoring those reminders and waiting for the next release is risky.
  4. You’ve installed antivirus software. You won’t know your computers are infected until it’s too late. Be proactive.
  5. Email filtering is in place. These filters help protect your business from spam, malware, phishing, and other threats.
  6. You have installed firewalls to monitor and control ingoing and outgoing network traffic.
  7. You limit user access. Instead of giving everyone full access, set conditions based on role and responsibility. This approach minimizes vulnerabilities.
  8. There are physical security procedures to limit access to your environment. You might install security cameras, fence a perimeter, and require RFID scanning in protected areas.
  9. If your company lets employees use their own phones, laptops, or tablets, have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy in place. Installing mobile device management software is useful, too (and we can help with that!)
  10. You test your security, too. You can’t take a set-and-sit approach to securing your network, systems, and hardware. Ongoing testing will help you identify risks, repair vulnerabilities, and protect your business.

It can also help you to prove that you’re being diligent by:

  • keeping copies of any training provided and employee handbook messaging;
  • updating your organizational chart regularly;
  • vetting contractors/vendors before granting them access;
  • having a policy in place that quickly denies access to any former employees;
  • inventorying all devices on your network.

IT due diligence protects your business. Meeting these security standards can also cut costs and preserve your brand reputation. Demonstrating vigilance helps you avoid hefty compliance or regulatory fines and fight litigation. In the event of legal action, you’ll also want to prove the efforts you made. So, be sure to thoroughly document all IT security efforts.

Due diligence doesn’t have to be difficult. Our experts can help you determine the best preventative measures for your organization. Some business risks will pay off, sure, but when it comes to your IT, caution will have the best results.

Does Mesh Wi-Fi Make Sense in Your Home?

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Wi-Fi is a top contender for a technology most of us rely upon. After all, Wi-Fi often provides our wireless high-speed internet and network connections. Without Wi-Fi we’d be stuck watching another reality TV show on a cable-connected device. We couldn’t work from wherever we wanted in our homes. Gulp, the horror!

Well, just when you were becoming familiar with Wi-Fi, technology is adapting. Now, you might want to consider Mesh Wi-Fi for your home. If you live in a big house or an apartment with thick interior walls, or your living space is spread out over multiple stories, you may have experienced dead spots. They’re no fun, right?

Enter Mesh Wi-Fi. Traditional Wi-Fi relies on a single router. If you were having connectivity issues, you might have invested in a Wi-Fi booster or Wi-Fi extender, but now you can reach far areas with a Wi-Fi Mesh system.

Mesh networks aren’t new. They’re already in use in businesses and on military bases with their own isolated networks. But now you can also optimize home connectivity with Mesh Wi-Fi.

How Mesh Wi-Fi works

With Mesh Wi-Fi, you’ll place several smaller, connected devices around the house. Instead of having one central routing hub linking Wi-Fi signals via radio waves to the modem, you’ll have many access points (also known as satellites) capturing and rebroadcasting the routing signals you need for connectivity.

Benefits of Mesh Wi-Fi

Having ready access to a strong, reliable Wi-Fi signal wherever you are in your home is a good thing, but that’s not the only advantage of Mesh Wi-Fi. Other benefits include:

  • Greater speed. With all access points broadcasting the same signal, you can cut the lag from having multiple, simultaneous connectivity requests.
  • Better coverage. Typical Mesh Wi-Fi router devices claim to cover from 4,500 to 6,000 square feet.
  • Ease of use. The typical Mesh router system is automated and provides a mobile app for easy management, even remotely.
  • Integration with other Smart Home devices such as Alexa is often a feature.
  • Parental controls are available with certain brands of these router systems.

Securing your Mesh Wi-Fi

Just as with traditional Wi-Fi, the security of your Mesh Wi-Fi will depend on your keeping your router devices safe. This means:

  • changing the device’s administrative credentials and password from their default settings;
  • setting up devices to automatically check for and install security patch updates;
  • changing the network name to something unique, not something that immediately identifies the network as yours (e.g. if you live at 804 Water Wheel, don’t call your network 804 Water);
  • setting up a guest Wi-Fi network allowing visitors to log on instead of providing every guest to your home with your access credentials.

Mesh Wi-Fi is also known as whole-home Wi-Fi, but you may not need this expansive solution. Consider: How often do you have connectivity issues? How many Wi-Fi dead zones are you dealing with? What’s your budget? And do you really want several more devices strewn around your house? You might need only to set up your traditional router and modem more efficiently.

Want to learn more about dealing with slow connectivity or dead spots in your home? Give us a call at 478-474-0861. Our experts can help you decide on the best Wi-Fi connectivity option for your needs.

Is Your Businesses IT Ready for the Coronavirus?

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Is Your Businesses IT Ready for the Coronavirus?

The Coronavirus is spreading as fast as feared. Business must be ready for the worst. One priority? Protecting the health of employees. Preparing the way for remote working is one top recommendation.

News of the virus, which the WHO is now calling COVID-19, has prompted urgent interest in remote work. Business collaboration software, virtual desktops, and private networks can all help. This tech helps business continue as usual, even with quarantined employees.

It’s difficult to imagine you aren’t aware of the looming health pandemic. Trying to limit the contagion, we’ve already seen big business take major measures. These include:

  • Nike temporarily closed its European headquarters when an employee was diagnosed with the virus. After the first death in Washington state in the U.S., the company also closed its world headquarters for a deep clean of its campus.
  • Twitter told its roughly 4,900 employees to stay home to work.

Other businesses are weighing up the options. Furloughs? Changes to sick leave? Or encouraging work from home. The last option appeals, but how do employees work remotely? How can they continue collaborating with people they used to sit beside, meet in the office, or travel to see? Technological solutions.

The Right Technology for Remote Work

Remote workers want a centralized platform with a simplified (yet secure) login process. Business collaboration software is a great enabler of mobile, flexible work. Replace in-person meetings with voice or video conferencing. Streamline chat, voice, and video in one software platform. Tools such as Microsoft Teams, Google’s G-suite, or Slack, allow business to create team channels.

Business collaboration tools also simplify access to email, calendars, documents, and file sharing. Employees can use a single sign-on to access business tools and data. This supports improved efficiency and increased transparency.

Providing a virtual desktop can provide access to important business applications, as well. Virtual desktops in the cloud allow users to work separately from their personal computers. The software virtualizes the user’s unique desktop environment at any workstation. All the data and applications are stored on a central server. Users access apps, folders, and toolbars from anywhere, with a consistent, secure experience.

Using a cloud-based solution also provides peace of mind. While remote workers access the corporate network, the sensitive data isn’t stored locally. So, the business needn’t worry about the loss or theft of sensitive data. Plus, cloud-based virtual desktops are easy to rapidly install outside a quarantined area.

Worried about securing those remote connections? Another option is a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN connects computers, smartphones, or tablets to a shared or public network as if connecting to a private network. These encrypted connections to the internet secure data and protect employees’ mobile activities.

Mobile Work Helps Every Day

You can hope that your employees stay healthy and your business remains unaffected, but why take that risk? Empowering remote work benefits business, even without the threat of a fatal flu.

Remote teams enjoy greater work-life balance. The workers spend less time commuting and are more productive. Empowered, they also feel trusted and more engaged.

Meanwhile, business can save money on physical space and hardware investments. Additionally, the hiring pool of qualified personnel expands with remote work, and the business can offer its services more globally and flexibly. All that’s true whether the coronavirus becomes an issue for your business or not.

Enabling a remote workforce takes technology. Need help installing and connecting your employees? We can help. Contact us today at 478-474-0861.

Security Patches – The Better Way to Update

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Updates often come at the worst moment. You go to shut down your laptop to rush to a meeting, and you get a “Windows is updating. Do not power off” message. Argh!

Or you leave your desktop to go to a meeting and come back to find your computer has restarted in your absence. Those unexpected bug fixes and performance improvements lost you all your unsaved work.

You know updates are important. They help patch security flaws. These are the vulnerabilities that hackers love to exploit. Updating helps you keep business documents and data safe. Software updates can also add new, useful features and remove outdated ones. Plus, keeping software and systems up to date is good cyber citizenship. Security patches protect from attacks that could also impact employees, customers, and partners.

Updating is a pain but oh so important

The WannaCry ransomware attacked hundreds of thousands of computers in more than 150 countries. Among those infected were the UK National Health Service, FedEx, Telefonica, the Russian Interior Ministry, and more, all because people (and companies) weren’t keeping their computers updated. The later Petya ransomware preyed on the same vulnerabilities, despite the publicity around WannaCry and Microsoft having already released a patch.

Still, people don’t bother updating. According to a Skype survey, 40% of respondents didn’t update their machines when prompted, almost 25% required a second prompt. Nearly 45% worried that installing the update would weaken their computer’s security.

And keeping Windows up to date isn’t enough. Cybercriminals aren’t stopping there, so you can’t either. You also need to be patching third-party applications such as Java or your Adobe suite. More employees are also bringing their own devices to the workplace. Overlooking security updates for these entry points is like leaving a window wide open and expecting criminals to walk by.

Equifax’s failure to update a Java virtual machine proved costly. Hackers accessed over 145 million credit reports in 2017. The company lost more than $5 billion in market cap, and the CEO lost his job.

Businesses need a better way to keep your software security patches current. Here’s help.

Keeping security patches current, conveniently

Avoid the inconvenience of the “Update Now” interruption by setting up automated patching. Patching all your computers or different device types can be time consuming.

Determine when downtime won’t be as disruptive, and schedule patches for that timeframe. This lets you update an entire department when they aren’t there, or patch individual computers around the employee’s schedule. For instance, if your accountant comes in only on Tuesdays, you wouldn’t patch that computer that day.

This approach also creates a consistency your employees can plan around, which allows them to manage all security updates without you having to lift a finger.

To do this, you can outsource the patching to a managed service provider (MSP). The MSP installs remote monitoring and management (RMM) software to manage all security updates without you having to lift a finger.

The RMM software gives your IT partner visibility into your business technology. They’ll track your hardware, software, and network environments to keep ahead of issues. This sets your business up to respond faster to any events.

Using the RMM, the MSP can automate software patching and OS updates to reduce the hassle. The RMM can be cloud-based or on-premises (requires onsite hardware investment).

Conclusion

Automating or outsourcing software updates can improve your security and compliance. Your employees enjoy new features, extended support, and access to the latest technology. A reliable, secure system can improve stability, speed processes, and drive increased productivity.

Get expert help determining patching priorities, or partner with an MSP to install RMM and monitor and resolve issues remotely. Give us a call at 478-474-0861!

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