Nobody likes getting large support bills from technology companies—especially when they are unexpected. This is the case for both the business owners footing the bill and the employees who might be held responsible for racking up the bill in the first place. This puts SMBs in a bit of an impossible situation; either spend money to keep employees productive, or save money and suffer from productivity issues.
Unexpected downtime can wreak havoc on businesses large and small, which is especially bad when so many paths lead to it. Let’s explore some of downtime’s causes, and equally importantly, how it can be avoided.
While your business might last into the near future, your IT is more challenging to upkeep and preserve over time. You’ll have to consider reworking and restructuring your infrastructure to ensure that it stands the test of time. Let’s review some warning signs that it might be time to do just that.
Your business needs IT expertise, regardless of how much it is integrated into your operations. You need someone on staff who not only understands your technology, but someone who can help you make the most of it to get the leg up on competition. Today, we want to explore how you can hire the right IT professionals for your organization’s specific needs, including both hard and soft skills.
Technology is a major pain point for just about all businesses, whether you’re a small mom-and-pop store or a medium-sized (and quickly growing) name in your community. You’ll always have the technology to upkeep, from computers and servers to software solutions or point-of-sale registers. This month, we want to discuss how managed IT solutions can help you maximize your resources by offering a simple, easy, and cost-effective alternative to hiring multiple in-house technicians.
We love to highlight how technology helps businesses thrive, particularly small and medium-sized businesses with a lot of growth potential but limited by their budgets. This is why we provide SMBs with managed IT services specifically designed to drive business growth. If you have yet to consider outsourcing your IT needs, you could be missing out on a golden opportunity to alleviate many of the pain points your organization suffers from on a daily basis.
One of the biggest signs that your business is doing well is that it is growing. When it starts to grow, you might notice that your office suddenly feels a little cramped. While moving an office can be stressful, it is often necessary to ensure that your company can continue to flourish. From an IT perspective, it can be even more challenging.
All organizations rely on their information systems to be consistently available when required, with some businesses being unable to function without them. When these systems undergo necessary maintenance, such as software patches, it can pose challenges for employees who rely on their continuous availability. In this discussion, we delve into the proactive approach to IT maintenance, exploring its strategic benefits in preventing downtime for businesses.
As a small business, we’re sure you want to improve your profit margin so that you can offer more exciting and innovative services or products. One way that many businesses bleed capital is through their IT expenses. While it might make sense on paper to address technology challenges only when they present themselves, the truth is the exact opposite.
You might hear us discuss the benefits of “proactive IT maintenance” all the time, but what does the word “proactive” really mean for technology management? Today, we want to demystify some of the jargon surrounding proactive IT and show you just how great of a value proposition it really is.
We work with quite a few businesses, but one is a lot more remote than the rest of them. We wanted to share a story that one of our more discreet client organizations told us after we helped them resolve a particular challenge. Don’t worry, we asked, and sharing this won’t land us on the naughty list.
Businesses that struggle with managing technology have a lot to gain by working with a managed service provider, or MSP. These providers are able to help businesses just like yours maintain and improve operations through the use of technology management tools and services. Here are three of the greatest benefits that working with an MSP can provide for businesses just like yours.
Obtaining professional insights is invaluable and it can be difficult to do as fees for consulting have shot through the roof. IT consulting plays a pivotal role in providing businesses with a profound understanding of their technological environment. Here are various ways in which IT consulting enhances a business' approach to technology, fostering informed and strategic decision-making.
Your IT is a big deal, even if you don’t think it is. Managing IT is indeed a substantial and often complex responsibility that can be more extensive than some business owners initially realize. It demands your attention, and not just because you pay for it, but because a properly managed IT strategy can have major benefits for your business. A realistic perspective can go a long way toward setting you up for success. Let’s outline some ways your business can lose control over its technology budget.
Cybersecurity has become a paramount concern for individuals and organizations alike. With the constant threat of cyberattacks and data breaches, it is crucial to have robust security measures in place. This is where cybersecurity consulting comes into play. Below, we will explore the various ways in which consulting services contribute to enhancing cybersecurity.
If your business works with many different vendors, then you know that your vendor management strategy can very much take on a life of its own and spiral out of control. The more time you spend working with vendors, the more time you’re not spending on the actual tasks associated with your job responsibilities. This means that you’re leaving a lot of wasted productivity and time on the table. We’re here to help you get the most out of managing your vendor relationships, as well as one secret that can help you get the most out of them.
Even the most technology-literate of your average employees is not going to have the knowledge needed to manage and maintain your entire business infrastructure, and you shouldn’t expect them to, either. It takes a special kind of attention and training to manage complicated enterprise-level technology, but how can you make sure your business has access to these important resources?
It’s never a good time to deal with budget cuts, and unfortunately, due to its large costs and investments, technology management, maintenance, and infrastructure are often a victim of them. Let’s go over how you can lessen or mitigate the hit you take when dealing with an IT budget cut.
There is an inherent value associated with outsourcing the management of your technology to a managed service provider, or MSP. With your team taking a more hands-off approach to technology, they can instead focus on being more productive. If you’re still on the fence about this approach to technology and business, then we have some questions you should consider asking if you are thinking about learning more about MSPs and what they do.
Let me ask you a question: if you had a toilet that needed repairing, would you rather trust a plumber with a few decades of experience or a toddler that had just (mostly) learned how to use the toilet?
That’s what we thought… but when it comes to your business’ technology, finding someone with experience can be a bit more challenging. Let’s discuss the way that the right IT management produces improved business outcomes.
Hacking attacks can be stressful to manage, but when you add in that they can strike when you least expect them to, it gets a lot worse. You’ll never know how you respond to such an event unless you simulate it and replicate it somehow. This is what the penetration test is used for; it provides your business with a way to prepare for cyberattacks.
How does your company manage its technology? Does it struggle with the idea of managing multiple workstations, server units, networking components, mobile devices, and more? If so, then read on—we have some tips to help you better manage the many different technological parts of your organization.
Data security isn’t the easiest thing in the world to plan for, especially if your organization doesn’t have any dedicated security professionals on-hand. While protecting your data with traditional methods, like passwords, firewalls, and antivirus, is important, what measures are you taking to make sure a thief isn’t just walking into your office and making off with your technology?
How does your business manage its IT resources? Do you have a chief information officer, or CIO, in-house who manages everything related to your technology? If not, who is the one responsible for managing and maintaining your systems? If you don’t know the answer to this question, we have a reality check for you: you need to.
You should never settle for less than the best, especially with your business’ technology solutions. Unfortunately, this part of any company’s operations can be so stressful to manage that people often push IT maintenance to the wayside. So, if your company is not performing maintenance on its technology, how can it remain functional? It’s all about finding someone with the right skill set to manage your technology, something that is easier said than done.
Every business has vendors and most of them take up more time than they probably should. Some of the relationships are pragmatic and fulfilling, but many take up too much time and effort and tend to distract decision makers from focusing on what is truly important within the business. As far as technology goes, depending on your company, you may have a dozen or more vendors contacting you sometimes a couple of times a month looking for you to expand your investment with their companies. Let’s talk about how vendor management can help your business.
How does your business manage its IT resources? Do you have a chief information officer, or CIO, in-house who manages everything related to your technology? If not, who is the one responsible for managing and maintaining your systems? If you don’t know the answer to this question, we have a reality check for you: you need to.
In a world of “as a service” business models, where services are distributed by month or by billing cycle, users are not necessarily buying things outright to replace them at a later date. The issue with this Software as a Service (SaaS) model is that too many of these solutions implemented all at once can create a messy web of software that needs to be managed. How can you make sure that you are getting the most out of your solutions without driving yourself up the wall?
Technology support is a necessity for a business that wants to stay operational. To this end, a quality help desk is vital. Unfortunately, not all help desks have the same level of quality and knowledge on how to best support your business. We’ve put together a list of traits that you should look for when it comes to finding the best help desk support for your business.
Technology management is a pain point for businesses, particularly smaller ones that might not have the vast amount of resources as larger organizations or enterprises. That being said, small businesses have a secret weapon that allows them to compete with larger businesses, and it comes in the form of managed IT services. What is a managed service provider, and how does working with one dramatically change the dynamic of your business’ operations?
Your business’ network is so important that if something were to infiltrate it that doesn’t belong there, it could wreak havoc on your whole company. One way that businesses can get their cybersecurity to a reliable place is through what is called penetration testing. This month, we thought we would briefly describe what exactly penetration testing is and how it can help your business.
Businesses of all sizes have been able to successfully overcome operational challenges by rethinking and adapting the technology they utilize. Let’s consider a huge example and look at what The Lego Group (as in the building blocks) has done to address some of their technological challenges with improved solutions—as well as how your business can do the same.
For most people, the term tech support is pretty self-explanatory. The terms managed services and MSP… not so much. Let’s go over what makes managed services and what we do as a managed service provider so different from the IT support you may be used to. To start, we’ll review where the idea of an MSP came from, and end with what one like us can do for you.
When you think of managed services, you may not really understand just how it fits into your business. This month we wanted to demonstrate how a managed services provider can deliver a lot of value.
When you see that we offer tech support, you almost certainly have an idea of what that means. However, upon hearing about our typical service delivery for the first time, many people are really surprised by how different our services—as a managed service provider—are. These differences are not an accident. Let’s go back in time a little while to explore how managed services came about, and what difference they could make for you.
Working in IT for any length of time will make you understand that it isn’t just novice workers that have trouble with their computers. In truth, about seven out of ten people can’t diagnose and fix simple IT problems. With that truth, it’s evident that any business that relies on IT, or at least on the productivity of people who use workstations, needs to have some type of strategy to keep those endpoints up, running, and managed proficiently.
Your business’ critical IT systems are on the fritz again, and you aren’t sure what’s causing the problem. Fortunately, you have access to help. When you don’t feel well, or something’s wrong with your body, you visit your healthcare provider. They’ll examine you, diagnose the problem, and prescribe a solution. This process has been in place for millennia. Much more recently, it was also adopted by a very different sector: the information technology industry in what is known as managed IT services.
Running a business is often a circus. Many times, it requires several juggling acts and a dog and pony show to just get things done. This couldn’t be more true nowadays as business owners are considering how to get out from under the quarter where COVID-19 took away revenue streams and caused many businesses to temporarily close their doors. Today, we’re going to look at some ways you can stretch your capital to try and return to business-as-usual.
When you think of professional services, you may think about smart people doing important things that took them years to learn how to do. You may not, however, consider them the kind of people that lean on their technology to make their businesses work. This is because for the longest time, technology wasn’t a major part of the professional services landscape.
You have to establish your organization as a contender. To do so, you’re going to need to use at least the caliber of tools that your competition is using. According to the 2020 State of IT report that Spiceworks has released, the majority of businesses with fewer than 100 employees have plans to adopt new technology solutions.
There is no question that today’s business operations require technology, but even that doesn’t tell the whole story. Not only do businesses need technology, they need to maintain this technology as well. Below, we’ll review the three basic steps to technology maintenance… and how we can help simplify these steps for you.
Patches are a critically important aspect of your technology. As a result, you need to be sure that yours are managed properly. We have three tips to share so you can optimize your patch management processes.
Many businesses struggle with the reality of everyday IT issues, one of which is receiving the right kind of support and maintenance to ensure everything goes according to plan. When considering your business’ IT maintenance and management, you need to consider the service provider, the distance they travel to and from your office, and ease of support. How can you make sure that your business finds the right solution or service?
It doesn’t matter how intensively a business uses their technology, there will always be a need for maintenance of some sort, whether it’s something as simple as a point-of-sale system or a full-fledged desktop workstation. Some businesses might have a complete IT department, while others might not have the resources to allocate to this role. We’ll walk you through how, no matter what kind of organization you operate, your business can benefit from a help desk solution.
Just like plenty of other industries all over the world, the manufacturing industry is beginning to take advantage of new IT solutions. Manufacturers can benefit considerably from implementing new and improved technology, including solutions connecting the Internet of Things, Asset Management, and Big Data analytics to their current IT approach.
Technology can go a long way toward helping businesses be more productive with their time, but only if the solutions implemented are right and proper for your organization. We’ll discuss three services that you can provide for your business that can maximize productivity with technology solutions.
Most industries utilize automation to at least some degree. With plenty of benefits that can be taken advantage of, businesses need to remember that they still must be careful about implementing these systems, as failing to do so could cause downtime and negatively impact productivity. Here are some of the major benefits and detriments that your organizations should consider when examining automation.
As a business, you focus on providing a specific good or service to your area. This means spending a considerable amount of time trying to make your organization the go-to SMB for that particular service. All organizations specialize in a certain craft, but sometimes their skills may fall short of their needs in areas that lay outside this expertise. Outsourcing is a simple way for businesses to leverage skills that aren’t part of their expertise without taking the time to learn the skill themselves, and it’s an invaluable part of any business owner’s strategy.
An internal IT department serves two primary purposes for businesses. The first is to keep an eye on your technology problems and resolve them. The second is to plan for the future and implement new strategies that will help your organization function more effectively. The problem for the average small business is that their IT department often doesn’t have the luxury of performing both of these tasks.
As you design your business’ IT infrastructure, it is important that you look months and years into the future, rather than just what you need in the moment. A good managed service provider will understand that--which makes it your job to find a good one. The following questions will help to more quickly narrow down your search to find the best provider for your needs.
Nothing lasts forever, especially not the technology that a business relies on to function. Between typical wear and tear and the always-improving trajectory that the technology industry follows, you will likely need to actively evaluate your needs and what you resultantly need to obtain. Today, we’ll walk you through how this technology assessment should be shaped.
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how important it is to have a handle on your clients’ needs. After all, how else are you supposed to offer them the level of service that they need to remain satisfied enough to stay subscribed to what you offer? This endeavor is exactly why a customer relationship management (or CRM) system is so crucial.
Your business depends on a budget to come out in the black at the end of the fiscal year, and the way you invest that budget will have a considerable impact. As you create this budget, your IT needs to be one of your top considerations - after all, it is what effectively powers the modern business. Here, we’ll discuss how diligently incorporating your IT into your budget can help your business be more successful down the line.
One of the key benefits of managed IT services is right in the title. It’s managed, meaning that you don’t have to worry about maintaining or configuring your systems. Many small businesses see these kinds of advertisements out in the world but don’t necessarily understand what services are being marketed to them. We’ll take a deep dive into what you can expect from “managed” services for your organization.
It’s not uncommon to hear about small businesses having difficulty with managing and maintaining IT solutions. Even the most basic topics regarding business technology can be troublesome for businesses with limited budgets and resources. It makes sense that you would want to remove this responsibility from whoever is doing it, but how can you do so without destroying your bottom line?
Does your business technology help you improve operations, or does it hinder your staff to the point where it’s nothing but a frustration? Chances are that your business requires considerable IT maintenance just to keep things moving forward, but if yourself and your employees are responsible for such a duty, you could be wasting valuable time and effort for other business ventures. To solve this dilemma, you should consider managed IT services for your network maintenance.
Technology can be fickle at times. When it’s not working properly, it can hold your business back from reaching its maximum potential. Therefore, in order to maximize your bottom line, it becomes common sense to ensure that your technology is in proper working order at all times. The problem lies in the fact that you may not necessarily specialize in technology management, and don’t have the time or budget to perform maintenance yourself. What’s the SMB to do?
Not too long ago, businesses would seek out technology professionals for help in resolving difficulties. Nowadays, the way companies go about IT maintenance has been turned on its head. Instead of reacting to major hardware failure, businesses are finding it more economical to proactively maintain their technology, preventing major issues from happening in the first place.
How does your business handle technology problems that come with using servers, workstations and other solutions in the workplace? Do you solve problems as they come up, or do you take a proactive stance to keep your tech under control? Either way, the fact remains that break-fix IT is an inefficient and wasteful way of approaching your technology solutions, especially with managed service providers changing the way SMBs implement technology.
2016 is well underway, but how are you approaching your company’s IT? If you’re using the outdated break-fix model, then your calendar might as well read 2006, or even 1996. Essentially, every year brings new technologies, which means new challenges for your IT network. To handle this influx, you’re going to want an IT maintenance solution that keeps up with the times.
Is your network running a little sluggish? Computing hardware isn’t perfect and requires a certain level of maintenance in order to keep everything running at capacity. Before you swap out your old server units for new ones, try these maintenance best practices.
If your IT isn’t fully integrated in the day-to-day operations of your company, it can be holding your team back from achieving maximum productivity and efficiency. Granted, you have to have a dedicated IT department before they can be even remotely involved with your business. Some small and medium-sized businesses consider themselves savvy enough to get by without dedicated IT support, but they’re sadly mistaken.
Businesses that take advantage of outsourced IT are successfully able to cut costs on their IT budget, but did you know that there are several other benefits that can be taken advantage of by integrating outsourced IT? For instance, outsourcing IT gives you access to several skilled individuals, all with different skillsets, that your IT budget might not normally support.
A growing company tends to experience a lot of IT pains. This is because growth usually goes hand-in-hand with an expanding IT infrastructure, and your in-house IT staff might not be able to keep up with the increased workload. This is especially painful if your budget isn’t as flexible as you’d like. You decide that it’s in your best interest to outsource your IT, but where should you start looking?
We’ve been known to discuss the importance of proactive IT solutions and handling issues before they become problems. However, the difference between the two isn’t always as clear as it should be. The true value of our managed IT services can only be understood if the difference between the two can be distinguished.
Have you ever wondered where some of the top talent in the world comes from? Not everyone knows how to find the best vendor for their needs, but with our IT service called vendor management, we find fixes to problems which lie outside our area of expertise. Despite what you might think, you may not be entirely unfamiliar with vendor management. In fact, you use it for several everyday services as it is.
Have you ever been stuck in a technology rut while working on a major project? If this is an everyday occurrence for you, your gut might be telling you that there’s a better way to handle your business’s IT. Most of the time, there’s usually a better way to handle these issues, and it’s with the latest and greatest technology. Your IT provider needs to be familiar with the most recent developments, good or bad, to deliver you the best quality services available.
Your data is the foundation which your business is built upon. It only makes sense that someone should be overseeing it. If the wrong person were to handle your company’s IT, it could have disastrous consequences. Resolving common IT problems can allow your business to operate at a much greater velocity, putting an end to time-consuming and costly annoyances. Here are six common issues that managed IT services can prevent.
We're just about to roll into a weekend, which to a lot of employees (and hopefully some business owners) means a little bit of relaxation and freedom from the day-to-day grind of business - not that it's all THAT bad, but it's nice to step away for a while, right?
We know what it's like running a business. Sometimes you simply can't unplug, step away, and be free. There's just too much to worry about, and not enough time in the day. Business owners often sacrifice that little bit of freedom the weekend brings (when you should be spending time with family, recharging your batteries, and preparing for yet another Monday). We have a few ways to help you free up more time.
It's hard to tell the difference between the words Internet and intranet. What difference do two letters make, anyway? You'd be surprised to find out that it means everything when trying to pinpoint your internal marketing strategies. Linguistics offers the key to understanding the differences between the two words.
Due to the overwhelming success of George Lucas's science-fiction film franchise Star Wars, fans all over the world will be celebrating May 4th as a holiday (May the Fourth be with you). Star Wars wouldn't have been nearly as successful if it weren't for its fascinating space technology, something that was previously only imagined by the most creative of minds. X-wings, blasters, and hyperdrives seem really neat, but they can break down just as easily as present-day space technology. There's something about the unknown void that is space which draws our attention, even if it's "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."
Humans are notorious for staying within their comfort zones. When something new or unfamiliar rears its ugly head, we often are too habitual to change with the times. While this is mostly applicable to social situations, such as an introvert being stuck in a hot, stuffy room full of people, comfort zones can also apply to your outdated laptop or smartphone. Upgrading can be challenging, but very rewarding.
Today is opening day for Major League Baseball. Teams are finishing up spring training and making the last round of cuts before they start the regular season. In the MLB, each team is allowed to have 25 players on their club when they break camp. Every year each club has a handful of guys that make that decision hard for the General Manager.
This situation happens in your business as well. After determining the viability of an expense, the least viable expenses are often cut from the budget. Redundant expenses can really drive down the bottom line, so cuts are made. Here are three ways the IT professionals at k_Street Consulting, LLC can save your organization money and give your team the best chance to succeed.
Because technology plays such a crucial role in everything you do, you would benefit from a single service that covers all of your tech needs. Trying to keep track of every vendor for every piece of equipment can make using technology complicated--which is the opposite what technology is supposed to do.
