Articles

Nine Easy Steps to a Realistic IT Budget

If you struggle annually to develop an IT budget that allocates the right amount of money to the right things, following these nine steps will make sure you arrive at the right answers year after year. 1. Talk to your staff. IT can’t develop a plan to serve its customers (i.e. your employees) without knowing what they need and how…

Technology Move Tips – Minimize the Business Interruption and Hassle

Update your phone number Ensure you can transfer your current phone number(s), local phone service and features, such as voice mail, to your new location. If not, get new ones and arrange for call forwarding for at least 90 days. Ensure you can transfer your local long distance and long-distance services at the same time. This is usually a good…

Supercharge Teamwork Securely

Microsoft has been around a long time. Some view them as past their prime and losing ground to Google. When I tell you the latest version of Microsoft Office is actually something to write home about, I don’t expect to get more than a, “I’ve heard that before?” Let’s see if I can change your mind. Best Microsoft Office release…

How the Latest, Greatest Smartphones Stack Up

If you’re tempted by the newest high-end smartphones, here’s what CRN’s reviewer has to say about them: In trying to compare Samsung’s top-of-the-line offering to Apple’s, the reviewer notes that the Galaxy Note8, which starts at $930, is only slightly less expensive than the iPhone X, which will start at $999. The Galaxy Note8 is an Android phone that packs…

Shadow IT: What You Don’t See Can Hurt You

Shadow IT is any technology used by employees that your IT department doesn’t know about. That would never happen to us, you may say — but you’re probably wrong. According to Gartner, most companies hugely underestimate how much shadow IT their employees are using. And that’s a big problem, because what you don’t know about, you can’t secure. Outsourcing your…

How to Protect your Employees from Phishing

Phishing is one of the biggest security threats to Xantrion’s clients right now. Small and midsize businesses are low-hanging fruit for attackers because they have more worth stealing than an individual, but fewer security safeguards than a larger business. What’s more, phishing attempts, or social engineering attacks, are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated. The harder they are to spot,…

How to Avoid the Top 5 Pitfalls of Moving to Cloud Services

1. Not knowing that you’re already moving to cloud services Whether you know it or not, your company is probably already using cloud services. Maybe some of your employees have signed up for an online file-sharing service like Dropbox or Box without informing IT. Maybe you’re using a hosted project management tool like Wrike or team collaboration app like Slack…

Cybersecurity and Compliance Concerns? Microsoft Office 365 Has You Covered

Over the last year or so, we’ve been encouraging our clients who want to use a cloud-based office productivity suite to choose Microsoft Office 365. We’ve already talked about its rich functionality, ease of use, availability, and cost-effectiveness. Now we’d like to talk about its security and compliance features. Microsoft is an industry leader in data compliance, so it should…

Getting Extra Value from Microsoft Office 365: OneDrive and Mobile Apps

Recently, we started talking about getting more value out of Microsoft Office 365 in your business if you are already using it, by using Skype for Business. This month we want to talk about getting more value out of Microsoft Office 365 in your business if you are already using it, by using OneDrive for Business and Mobile Apps. OneDrive…

Why IT Best Practices are Imperative for Supporting a Mobile Work Force

As illustrated by our medical device company case study, gone are the days when employees only worked out of an office and wielded a simple set of tools to get work done. In today’s world of mobile computing with anytime, anywhere work, employees use whatever device is most convenient, whether it is a desktop at home, a laptop at work,…

What You Need to Know About Microsoft Office 365

By Tom Snyder, COO Q: My company wants to use a cloud-based office productivity suite. Why should we use Microsoft Office 365? A: Simple: Microsoft Office 365 has evolved into a mature suite of productivity apps that are tightly integrated with the on-premises version of Microsoft Office, allowing your employees to work and collaborate across the two without interruption or…

Ransomware Infections Are Through The Roof: What Should you do?

The quick money to be made in ransomware scams appears to be driving furious innovation in the cybercrime world. A recent Trend Micro report stated that some cybercriminals have begun using macros and scripts, professional-looking phishing pages, and a computer’s master boot record to get victims to activate the malware on their computer systems. As a result, ransomware infections are…

Protect Your Network: Give Employees Secure Online File Sharing

As the workforce becomes more mobile, your employees need to be able to do their jobs as easily on the go as they do at a desk. In fact, they expect nothing less. How do you make sure they’re using cloud technology that improves their efficiency, productivity, and collaboration without sacrificing cybersecurity? Many companies don’t. Either deliberately or through lack…

Building a Foundation for Cybersecurity Risk Management

Cybersecurity used to be primarily a concern for IT departments at large companies to tackle through technology — but that’s no longer true. Today, even small and midsized companies need to worry about the ramifications and repercussions of cybercrime. Cybercriminals are increasingly sophisticated, relentless, highly skilled, and well-funded. Their exploits are often targeted, automated, and even sponsored by nation-states with…

Help Your Employees Protect Sensitive Data

Spending on cybersecurity hit an all-time high in 2017. Unfortunately, so did the frequency of cybercrime — proof that tools alone aren’t enough to keep your sensitive information safe. In fact, employees who inadvertently give hackers access to the company computer network are one of the leading causes of data breaches. If you don’t want your employees to be the…

Installing Windows 10: Not For Amateurs

We recently surveyed Xantrion engineers to see whether the free upgrade to Windows 10 was something that people should undertake on their own. The answer is that, while Windows 10 is a fine operating system, most users won’t be able to complete the upgrade without some amount of professional troubleshooting. Putting the upgrade process to the test Our engineers have…

Cybercons are Increasingly Clever: You Have to be Too

Determined cybercriminals are constantly inventing new ways to access your company bank account. Sometimes they try to break in. Sometimes they try to steal your passwords and account information. But some of their techniques are designed to get you to simply hand over the money—and these social engineering tactics are becoming even more common. One social engineering con we…

A Holistic Approach to IT Compliance

Few issues in the last several years have been more bewildering and frustrating for organizations than government rules regarding the security and retention of electronic data. More than one organization has probably wished there was a way to comply, in one fell swoop, with all the regulations, from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to the Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act (HIPAA)…

Can Cloud Services Protect my Business from Disasters?

In our opinion, yes. In addition, cloud services are also the most cost-effective way to protect your business from disaster. When it comes to IT, there are two kinds of risks. One involves system failures, whether they’re caused by hardware, software, human error, or natural disaster. Minimizing these risks is called business continuity planning. The other involves the damage to…

How to Ensure your Data is Available When You Need It

The worst time to discover that your backup system isn’t working is when you’ve lost key information and need to recover it. Nowadays, there are as many ways to back up your data as there are ways to lose it. Products range from the venerable tape back up to hard drives to online backup services. No matter which product ends…

iPads in the Office

Back in December, we blogged about Apple’s growing popularity in the business world. Since then, we’ve received quite a few inquiries about iPads in the workplace. Our service manager has been handling these IT support calls. These are the three questions he gets most often — and the answers he’s most likely to give: • Email on an iPad?…

IT Policies and Procedures: The Missing Piece of the Cybersecurity Puzzle

New technologies have emerged that allow unprecedented efficiency, freedom and functionality e.g. cloud services, mobile computing, etc. However, they also introduce new risks that are harder to control and have higher impacts when something goes wrong. Technical measures, such as data backups and virus protection, are important for maintaining cybersecurity. However, they are only a part of the puzzle. They…

New Cybersecurity Measures Required to Protect Against Online Banking Attacks

We have observed that increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks are being directed at the on-line banking systems of our clients. In particular, targeted attack mechanisms which are either new or which have been modified so they are not recognizable to antivirus software. This new cyberthreat requires changes in cybersecurity practice to ensure that you are not victimized, suddenly discovering that criminals have…

Online Backups: The Foundation for a Cost-Effective Disaster Recovery Plan

As long as you have a reliable, high-speed internet connection; select a reputable online backup service or managed service provider, that provides online backups for you. Online backups provide: • Instant offsite electronic data protection: Data is automatically moved offsite to a hardened storage facility (i.e. the facility has redundant internet connections, servers, and power and is constructed…

The Mac-Lover’s Solution to Working in a Windows Environment

By Darren Nyberg, Senior Consultant If you’re a stickler for quality the way I am, there’s no substitute for an Apple. Just look at the new generation of Macs: they have the highest screen resolution of any available, the trackpad is large and responsive, and the keyboard is so wonderfully tactile that just resting your hands on it is comfortable…