April, 2013
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Is Social Media Activity Good for Business?
Social Media if used correctly can be a tremendous tool for engaging with customers and building relationships. At the same time, it can also be a productivity burden and potential business threat if not managed and monitored properly. Many companies have implemented new social media policies to curb employee productivity issues and to get [...]
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Are Certifications Still a Necessity?
At one time, having an MCSE really meant something in the industry. Technicians and technical personnel worked long and hard to reach their certification statuses in order to obtain a job, get promoted, or provide status for their companies. But are certifications like this really still necessary in today’s environment? The answer is it [...]
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Are you using Technology to its Full Potential?
The answer to this question is most likely no. Looking at all of the different technology we use from notebooks, desktops, smartphones, and tablets, to software, operating systems, and so much more, we are just scratching the surface of the features and benefits built into most of the things we use. Neither software nor [...]
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Is the Customer Always Right?
One thing I have heard many times over the years is, “The customer is always right!” Now what may come as a shock to some is this just isn’t always true. The way this should really be rephrased is “The customer always has the right to a respectful and well thought out plan of [...]
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How will RMM Evolve?
RMM or (Remote Monitoring and Management) has been around for some time, helping IT companies and MSP’s keep an eye on their customer’s vital networks and devices. The RMM solution has helped to define the current standards and made the Managed Services business model what it is today. Most RMM solutions provide a number of [...]
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What Can Cloud Infrastructure as a Service not Do?
It seems that many traditional hardware items can be virtualized or emulated to work in a software or cloud environment. This is great, but if everything was off premise how would the internal network that connects an office to the outside world be protected? Items such as secure firewalls and switches still have a [...]
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Is Franchising The Right Option for an IT Business?
Investors and entrepreneurs across the nation and in just about every country have found success in franchised business opportunities. For those not wanting to build a business from the ground up, a franchise provides the potential for distinct and guided processes, support and marketing help, brand awareness, defined tools, and provided documentation. Though retail [...]
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Did Encryption just get a whole lot more Necessary?
A very controversial bill has passed the house that has many thinking about their fourth amendment rights. CISPA otherwise known as The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act is now on its way to the senate and has many worried about its potential implications to the public. The entire thing had me thinking about [...]
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Is Managed Services Making You Money?
Have you ever taken all of your Managed services costs; RMM, remote and onsite tech hours, various subscriptions, outsourced management, and any other associated managed services costs, and compared those to your managed services revenues? This, not so simple undertaking, may reveal things aren’t as great as we might expect in the world of managed [...]
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I almost can afford a Share of Apple Stock
Apple stock continues to fall amongst speculation of another bad quarter from the Cupertino Company. Shareholders continued a sell off, which had the stock see a low of $398.11 during trading today. Investors have been watching related companies and chip makers tied to apple products and are seeing revenues from these companies missing their [...]
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Will Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure Offering be able to compete with Amazon?
Microsoft has announced price matching with Amazon for its Windows Azure cloud infrastructure offering, which will have Microsoft partners seeing up to a 33% savings over the current pricing model. This comes as a surprise considering the low cost of Amazon’s cloud offering and Microsoft’s usual unwillingness to heavily discount its services. The move comes [...]
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What To Do and Not to Do at an IT Conference
IT conferences, tradeshows, and workshops can provide a great place for education, information, and networking for participants. In order to get the most value and ROI out of any event, there are a few definite Do’s and Do Not’s when attending. Do Take Lots of Business Cards: It is surprising the amount of people [...]
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Do IT Companies Still Need a Retail Store Front?
Retail and mom and pop computer shops have continued to decline over time leaving fewer and fewer places for the regular Joe’s to go for technology advice. This would seem to be a natural evolution given the big box store domination as well as the shift to professional managed services and technology consulting companies. [...]
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It’s All Microsoft’s Fault!
Image source: www.wpcentral.com The media is overrun today with news stories about the significant decline (11-14%) in PC sales. Most of the headlines and stories would have you believing that this is all due to the recent release and lack of excitement over the Windows 8 platform. Well media, as much as I would [...]
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With PC sales on the Decline Can Ingram Micro Win with HaaS?
Reports of steep declines in PC sales in favor of tablet and mobile devices continue to pour in to mainstream and technology based media outlets. Even so, technology distributor Ingram Micro is jumping into the Hardware as a Service (HaaS) game with their latest announcement. The company, which provides hardware, software, and services [...]
