SMART Blog

For the IT administrator and the small business owner, it can be a bewildering experience when your company comes under siege from employee-induced cyberthreats; especially if you, like many other companies, have started prioritizing security training. Even if the threat is thwarted early and the effect on the business is negligible, it is important that you trust the people who have access to your organization’s digital resources. Let’s look at some of the reasons some of your staff take cybersecurity initiatives worse than others. 

For any business to succeed, it needs to exhibit some degree of empathy toward its audience. Otherwise, the services and products they offer will be less likely to meet the priorities and needs that its targets are experiencing.

As a managed service provider, this is perhaps most true of us, as our services revolve around predicting the needs of our clientele and resolving them… ideally, before the client even realizes they have a need to fulfill.

Technology has ingrained itself into just about every facet of modern life, particularly in the business world where every competitive edge makes a difference. Many small and medium-sized businesses simply don’t have the staff on-hand to manage and maintain their technology solutions, instead opting to outsource this important responsibility to managed service providers (MSPs).

It’s always an exciting time when you commit to a new IT project that promises to change your organization for the better. Of course, the exciting stuff is what comes after the implementation process—a process that can range from easy-as-pie to incredibly complex and stressful, depending on the expertise your organization employs.

It should come as no surprise that nowadays, a business’ information technology and security precautions are frequently tied closely together—and wisely so. Not only can today’s technology greatly augment the security a business can defend itself with, but advanced security is needed to protect the critical IT that modern businesses rely on to function.

This makes it critical that these two aspects of your business work together, so let’s go over some ways to ensure they can do so optimally.

If you or your business are worried about cybersecurity, we’d like to say, “Congratulations, you get it!” Too many people fail to take cybersecurity seriously, and with hackers and data breaches making headlines worldwide, you cannot underestimate them. Today, we want to cover how a cybersecurity consultant can save you time, money, and stress over your security systems.

Some parts of running your business’ infrastructure involve a lot of time… time that you simply don’t have in the day. Applying patches, monitoring network traffic, and updating software solutions are all the usual culprits. In light of this, we recommend that businesses implement a solution that allows for management to occur remotely, as it can provide a great benefit for businesses with both limited workforces and budgets.

IT is meant to help, not hinder, your business operations. This is the cornerstone of the way that most organizations need to think about technology maintenance. Unfortunately, some organizations either don’t have dedicated IT support, or waste valuable time and resources working with break-fix providers who don’t have their business’s best interests in mind. To keep your organization from falling victim to these practices, you should consider managed IT for your technology maintenance.

When was the last time you had to reach out to IT support, only to have to wait for the tech to drive to your office and resolve the problem far too late? This is a common occurrence amongst business owners, and if your technology is mission-critical, you can’t afford to deal with more downtime than necessary. How can your business more effectively take advantage of technology support? A remote monitoring and maintenance solution may be just what you need.

When your organization is suffering with failing computer hardware, you will almost certainly experience increased downtime that will result in operational inefficiency and an overall lack of productivity. In order to keep your business technology properly working for you, you will need access to knowledgeable technicians and their years of IT expertise.

How often does your technology experience trouble? If your business is constantly dealing with technical hiccups, your assets, which are meant to help your agency grow, can quickly become a nuisance that holds you back. How can you take better care of your technology, and use it to usher in a new era of productivity?

There was once a time when businesses would only seek out technological expertise when it was necessary. This would be when a major component was on its last leg, or if they required new technology following a major hardware failure. Today, a better type of IT service model allows businesses to avoid the downtime and unexpected support costs associated with broken technology, by practicing proactive maintenance.

Running a business isn’t easy, and it’s only made more difficult by the incredible amount of responsibility thrown at you on a daily basis. One of the most difficult parts of running a business is managing the technology, as well as all of its bells and whistles. Here are five of the most difficult challenges that a business faces when trying to optimize their IT infrastructure.

We all know the pain of contriving a brand new business solution. It takes time to implement and it can be an unnecessary hurdle to greater operational efficiency. Therefore, the best way to make the most out of a brand new solution is to use one that requires minimal setup, and can be implemented immediately into your business strategy.

It’s well known in the business world that outsourcing your IT will yield significant savings for your IT budget. However, did you know that the benefits of outsourcing IT go beyond monetary savings? For example, gaining access to a new skillset is just one valuable benefit to outsourced IT that doesn’t have a column in your budget.

We often discuss why it’s important that a business takes proactive measures to resolve IT issues before they become problems, but these definitions might be lost on some of our followers. In order to understand the true value of our IT services, it’s imperative that you’re able to distinguish the difference between these two disruptive sources to your technology.

Modern businesses are built upon their data. Therefore, you need someone you trust to oversee it. Having the wrong person handle your IT systems could turn into a number of time-consuming, costly, and irritating problems for you. Here’s a list of the six most common IT problems that can be prevented by going with a trusted IT service provider.

IT support is heavily reliant upon communication between both parties involved. Without both sides being on the same page, IT support miscommunications are far more likely to happen. Sometimes you just can’t help but laugh at poor communication skills, as seen in the 2001 movie Zoolander. But thankfully, these situations don’t arise too often in the non-fictional universe… right?

It's no secret that the Internet is full of dangerous activity. Too many people think their networks are safe without any kind of protection. We don't mean to say that the Internet isn't safe, but that it's only as safe as you make it for yourself. In order to keep your small business safe, you should implement protective software, like a firewall. A firewall can help keep your company safe from online threats, and believe us when we say that a little bit of protection goes a long way.

When your business runs efficiently, you will see the positive side effects start relatively quickly. While this seems pretty reasonable to most everyone, there are many business owners that don't know how to best produce the kind of efficiency that will take their business to the next level.