Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

Your organization will accrue technology over time, eventually leading to technological clutter that can create considerable problems for your company moving forward. It helps to declutter your technology from time to time and clean up not just your office’s physical space, but your infrastructure as a whole.

There comes a time when every good piece of technology needs to be replaced, whether it’s due to hardware failure or it’s simply obsolete. When this happens, it is critical that you take measures to safeguard data located on your old devices by properly deleting it. But before we get into that, let’s discuss some of the steps you want to take prior to deleting your data, as well as what the process entails.

At this stage, you don’t need us to tell you that ransomware is bad. This threat has gone from being an emerging problem to one that is now sensationalized and commonplace in headlines and news stories around the world. According to a recent study, even organizations that do pay the ransom when they get infected by this threat are playing with fire.

One of the best ways you can improve operations is by building a knowledge base consisting of policies, procedures, and any other information that needs to be accessed by the people who work for your organization or utilize its services. It’s well-known that businesses that have well-documented policies and procedures have less difficulty bringing new talent on board, experience fewer operational problems, and provide great resources for employees, customers, and vendors. Let’s take a look at what goes into creating a successful working knowledge base.

Workplace stress has become a key issue in today’s business environment, and many studies have been performed to demonstrate why there has been such an increase, as well as what can be done to stymie its impact. Microsoft has recently filed a patent to show how seriously this issue must be taken. While it’s good to see the tech company invested in resolving this issue, one has to wonder whether the help of a new technology solution is necessary in identifying stressors in their workplace environment.

No matter how new a device is, the unfortunate truth is that it will not last forever. Eventually, you will need to replace your device; the question then becomes what you do with your old technology. While you could just throw it in the trash, this is not only wasteful but also a security risk. In order to protect both your personal data and the environment, you must go through the proper channels to make sure that e-waste gets properly disposed of.

While it may not seem so at first glance, the concept of “productivity” has evolved significantly in the last few centuries—the amount of time it has been seen as a priority. Beginning once technology enabled the focus of life to be less day-to-day survival and more centered around industry and scale, the first whispers of our modern view of productivity started in the late 1700s. Let’s briefly examine how our view of productivity developed, and how many are looking at it today.

Businesses are using more remote workers than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary for them to react and they did, but it has proven to have a handful of challenges. One of the most stark issues that remote workers face is the assault on their mental health. Most newly-remote workers once held several conversations with co-workers day-in and day-out and being isolated for 12 months has taken its toll. This shift is having negative effects on businesses from all over the world. Let’s take a look at a couple of things that you can do about it. 

Many people have fallen out of the habit of answering their mobile phones when they receive a call, simply because of the rising prevalence that scam calls have seen in the past few years. While these calls are undeniably annoying, they can also be dangerous, which is why it suits your interests to prevent them as much as possible.

Technology is a staple for business improvements, which is why it is always important to keep a few basics in mind as you go through your operations. Let’s go through a few key strategies, just to really drive their importance home.

While nobody likes to presume the worst will happen in their business, it must be a point that comes into consideration. Statistics are statistics, as they are, and as such there is always the chance—a considerable chance, in fact—that your business will suffer from some form of disaster. Due to this, we always recommend that you have some means of protecting your data throughout, with a plan to respond to such events accordingly.

With so many companies pivoting to remote operations this year, strategies to keep your data and infrastructure secure have had to pivot as well. Today, we’ll go through some important variables that you need to address to maintain a secure and reliable computing environment when you are supporting a remote workforce. 

Unless you’re very, very new here, you’ve probably seen how much we prioritize that a business prepares a comprehensive data backup strategy to help secure its continuity. Many recent events have only reinforced the importance of such a backup strategy, so let’s take a few minutes to review what needs to go into yours.

With schools now in full swing, some places are still forcing parents into the unenviable position of having to play educator as well as having to work full-time. This has caused a lot of stress for a lot of people. As the pandemic keeps people from congregating in numbers, school administrators will most likely err on the side of caution to attempt to keep COVID-19 from ravaging homes the way it has since March. Parents--some of whom are still working from home--need help if they can’t count on schools to be open for business as usual. Today, we’ll outline a few tips that people could benefit from if they are asked to work or go to school from their home. 

Windows 7 was once the best operating system ever made by leaps and bounds. Now, it’s unsupported and shouldn’t be found on any Internet-connected device. Unfortunately, this isn’t the truth as millions of people are still using Windows 7 for their businesses. Today, we will take a look at why Windows 7 is dangerous and what options businesses have to upgrade away from the unsupported OS.

If there’s one buzzword heard more than any other in today’s workplace, I’d be willing to bet it could be “collaboration”… and no wonder. Collaboration serves a very important purpose in today’s operations, which is why establishing the processes that encourage it makes sense for your business’ well-being.

Notifications are one of the Android mobile platform’s most-often-used functions, but they can perhaps also detract from workplace focus the most. To help limit these interruptions, we’re dedicating this week’s tip to better managing these notifications for your productivity.

Are your company’s policies and procedures documented? If not, they should be. Having a policy and procedure manual will act as an easy-to-distribute guide to educate your staff on the expectations you have for them. It will also provide a physical document that can be referenced if employees have questions about anything pertaining to your business. Today, we will give you a few tips on how to best go about completing an employee handbook for your business. 

We all use email, in fact, without an email account you couldn’t do much of anything online. For those that use it for business, it can be a complete drag, often hindering as much as it helps. Microsoft has improved their Outlook platform with some useful features aimed at cutting down on the time that you have to stare at your email. Let’s take a look at two options you can use to get the most out of your email in Outlook:

While one would certainly hope that you would only hire people that you would trust to work for you, the big question still remains of whether or not you should trust them. Our advice: you certainly should, for the good of your business. Here’s why.