Most business owners I talk to have some form of backup. Maybe it's an external drive plugged into a server, or perhaps everything is saved in the cloud. While these are great starts, they often have a single point of failure. If your office has a fire, that external drive is gone. If a user accidentally deletes a folder and it syncs to the cloud, that data might be gone before you notice.

To make a backup "trustworthy," we use a framework called the 3-2-1-1 Rule. It sounds like a football play, but it’s actually a recipe for peace of mind.

It is tempting to look at your monthly IT bill and wonder if you could be doing more with less. I see it all the time: a business owner tries to trim the overhead by simplifying their technology. Usually, that starts by letting go of a managed security plan in favor of a basic, off-the-shelf antivirus found online for a few dollars a month.

Running a small business is often romanticized as a scrappy adventure, a series of late nights and breakthroughs, but anyone actually in the trenches knows it’s more like trying to repair a plane while it’s hurtling through the air at thirty thousand feet than it is a pleasant stroll in the park. 

Most business owners view their IT the same way they view their utilities: they only notice it when the connection drops or a system fails. However, in an era where your digital infrastructure is the backbone of your entire operation, waiting for something to break before you address it is risky.

As someone who works with technology every day, I’ve seen the magic it can bring to a business. I’ve also seen the headaches and the hidden costs that can harm its efforts. If you own a business, you might think of IT as just the Wi-Fi or the guy who fixes the printer. I’m here to tell you that mindset will cost you dearly. I want to share four uncomfortable, non-technical truths that every practical business owner needs to accept about their technology.

Small and medium-sized businesses are continuously grappling with the complexities of their supply chain. If you're trying to compete with industry giants, the right technology is more accessible and affordable than ever. This month, we will go into some of the ways you can make your supply chain more efficient.

Many business owners, especially those running small or medium-sized enterprises and even startups, often wonder if their company is big enough to justify investing in managed IT services. The common misconception is that outsourced IT support is only for larger businesses with complex networks and hundreds of employees. The fact is that there is no minimum size a business must reach to significantly benefit from managed IT services.

How do you know when it’s time to fire one of your vendors? Better yet, how do you know when you’re better off firing your IT vendor to find a better option? These kinds of situations can be stressful, but they’re not impossible. We’re here to help you make the call, as well as to offer a better alternative that saves you time, energy, and money.

Starting a new business is an exciting journey, but making the right technology choices is crucial for long-term success. A solid IT plan ensures smooth operations, security, and scalability. This month, we teach you some ways you can go about building one.

More small and medium-sized businesses than ever are seeing AI's potential to transform their operations. However, like any technology, AI has its own set of pros and cons. Let's discuss three major advantages and drawbacks you can expect if using it in your business. Hopefully, it helps you make an informed decision about adopting AI.

Microsoft's cybersecurity vulnerabilities have been making headlines recently. These lapses in security are causing concern for customers worldwide. The impact of these vulnerabilities is far-reaching. It affects network security and increases the risk of data breaches, causing somewhat of a ripple effect.

With technology being so important for all businesses in at least some capacity, it’s no small wonder that effectively using it (and having someone on-hand to manage it all) is tremendously valuable for any company. This is where a managed service provider (MSP) can be helpful, even for businesses that have a dedicated IT department. All small businesses benefit from working with an MSP.

I was meeting with an old colleague the other day. We met over Microsoft Teams to just check in and see how they were doing—no real itinerary, just to check in with a familiar face that I haven’t personally talked to in a few years. They had a little trouble getting into Microsoft Teams, since they were used to Zoom. I patiently smiled and helped them through it, and told them “No worries, it’s always the little differences that complicate things!”

At the time, I said this just to be empathetic. At first, the nerdy computer-geek part of my brain told me that the process to get into a Zoom meeting vs a Teams meeting, from their perspective, is exactly the same. But after the call, I really thought about this small interaction, and you know what? Things have gotten complicated.

So, you want to utilize cloud computing for your business. Making that decision is a good start, but now you need to figure out how the cloud will help accomplish the goals you’ve set for your business. You need to develop a cloud strategy.

Fortunately, we can help.

The business world is always ebbing and flowing with new concepts, ideas, and strategies in the  attempt to innovate. The more technology can be used to do things that help a business run, the more processes can be automated bringing a layer of efficiency that isn’t possible without it. Let’s take a brief look at some of the technology trends that small businesses will be confronted with in 2023. 

What makes a small to medium-sized business so different from a large, enterprise-sized one? The amount of people and moving parts, of course, but if you really consider it, there isn’t all that much. This is why when looking to control your small business’ IT support costs, choosing managed IT services is a good option. This month, we thought we’d take a look at some of the other benefits managed IT can bring your organization:

Nowadays, social media companies have a lot of power and influence, which is part of the reason that so many of today’s largest businesses have adopted social media as a critical promotional tool. With the average person spending about two hours and 24 minutes on social media and messaging applications per day, this makes social media a clear opportunity for any sized business to embrace. Let’s consider a few ways this can be accomplished for these different businesses.

Budgeting for your technology can be pretty difficult. You never really know when some problem is going to present itself and cost your business an arm and a leg. Since you can’t always see what’s coming, saving money when you can is important. Let’s take a look at a few ways that you can save money on your business’ IT.

You don’t need to be repeatedly told just how important risk management is. If you did, you probably wouldn’t have made it this far. One problem you see from business owners today is that while they understand just how many problems there are--and which ones they need to find solutions for first--they want to grow their company so fast that they overlook potential problems and end up hurting their business as a result. This month, we thought we would talk a little bit about contingency planning and how, if it is done right, it can have a marked effect on your business’ ability to carry-on after a problematic event. 

If your business uses technology to be more productive and efficient, you know that as soon as you buy a piece of new technology, there is another one right behind it that has more power, or better features. This is true for consumers as well. This constant innovation is what has made technology a viable option for many small businesses. After all, if computers hadn’t been innovated on constantly, they’d still be the size of a room (or wouldn’t exist at all).