There are many ways to manage your time for IT, the most common one being 70% of your time on maintenance and 30% on innovation and development. If you want your organization to grow, you need to invert those numbers and do the exact opposite. There’s one simple way you can change up your approach, and it’s not nearly as complicated as you might think.
Do you know what one of the most irritating budgetary issues you have to deal with is? One we've heard about quite a bit is the rush to spend every allocated cent in the IT budget before these funds are redistributed to other departments.
While the instinct is understandable, we want to reinforce that you should never make IT purchases solely to meet a spending benchmark. Instead, all invested funds should be directed so that you see returns.
Did you know that, in physics, regardless of how much time, sweat, and energy you put into pushing a boulder, if it doesn’t move, the “work done” is seen as zero? The same is true in business… at the end of the day, your investment in your organization and its people is only worthwhile if you see results.
Thus, you need to ask yourself: how much work are your team members actually getting done? Are they moving the boulder, or are they just trying a lot but not actually making any progress? Below we examine what often leads to this kind of stagnant struggle and how you can fix it.
Technology doesn’t last forever, so what would you do if your keyboard or computer monitor died tomorrow? Some might just throw the technology in the trash and not think twice about it, but that’s the exact opposite of what you should do. Instead, Macro Systems urges you to go through the proper channels to properly dispose of your old electronics—if not for the environment’s sake, then for your business’.
Business owners have a lot of responsibilities, and while you can hire a lot of people to cover some of the more stressful ones, it might feel strange to outsource your company’s technology management. You know IT is imperative, so that’s why you feel like you have to do it yourself, or at least in-house, but in reality, you’re the last person who should be working with your technology—and we’ll explain why.
Your business wants to utilize every opportunity it can to increase its bottom line and eliminate unnecessary costs, but how often does printing enter into the conversation? You waste more paper, ink, and toner than you think by not keeping a close watch on your printing practices. The right technology can not only reduce these wasteful practices but eliminate them entirely, giving you more capital to invest elsewhere in your business.
There’s a reason why we tend to focus on security; it’s not a matter of if you experience a cyberattack, but when. It’s your responsibility to make sure that you’re ready to act in the right way when faced with these attacks. One of the best ways you can be prepared is by working with a managed service provider like us. Listed below are three ways we, as a managed service provider, can help you take the fight to cybersecurity threats.
Although most days you should lock your computer when ending the day, shutting down your PC and rebooting it on occasion can provide some huge benefits. Doing so helps you avoid some of the more common computer problems that can be incredibly disruptive.
As necessary as it is, business technology tends to be expensive, especially when things go wrong. Historically, these costs took the form of capital expenditures, which meant they were inherently expensive and unpredictable by nature.
This is why it is so critical to shift your business IT to an operating expense. Listed below: why this is the case and how to implement this change.
Proactive IT is something we talk about a lot, and that’s because it works… especially compared to the alternatives. That being said, what does proactive IT mean, and how can you get the most out of your business technology?
Perhaps more critically, how can you make sure your technology doesn’t become a liability rather than an asset?
Productivity is one of the most common modern business goals, with many doing everything they can to optimize it. In fact, today is officially World Productivity Day, highlighting the significant importance placed on this specific metric.
Despite this, productivity can often feel unreachable… regardless of how busy one is throughout the day. Listed below are three habits that will significantly support your work and help make the most of your time.
Business owners have to wear many hats. You're the CEO, the head of sales, the marketing guru, and often, the de facto IT department. It's understandable that with so much to do, dealing with a sluggish computer or a temperamental software program gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. A laissez-faire attitude towards your technology can have serious consequences, however. Listed below: why being lazy with your IT causes more harm than good.
Do you ever wonder why some businesses seem to have endless technology issues? It’s not by accident. It's usually a matter of not having the smart, simple habits in place to combat problems that present themselves. Listed below are three ways that your business can avoid large technology headaches.
For small and medium-sized businesses, a data backup plan may seem difficult or even impossible to implement without the right in-house IT expertise. That’s no excuse to neglect data backup. Listed below is an explanation of the 3-2-1 backup rule, which is an ideal standard to aim for.
You see it everywhere, again and again: how much return an investment into proper business technology will bring, with little to no context behind these claims. We want to fix that.
Listed below is a look at why so much information about today's IT options can be less than helpful, and see if we can’t clarify what it means. Simplifying technology for the businesses we work with is one of our primary goals, after all.
While it’s the longest-running joke in the world of IT, the question “Have you tried turning it on and off again?” is still an imperative one to consider when things are going awry. There’s a good reason why it’s such well-known advice, too: turning your device off can help solve a significant amount of technical issues. Why is this the case, and what can you learn from it?
We’ve all heard it, probably even rolled our eyes at it: “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” This seemingly simplistic question has become a running gag in the world of IT support. But under the humor lies a fundamental truth: rebooting a device is often the most effective first step in resolving a surprising number of technical glitches.
Although it might sound elementary, this advice is based on solid technical principles.
When your business’ data is so important to your successful operations, there are certain precautions that you simply need to take for the sake of your business’ longevity. One such precaution: data backup.
Your data is the gas that powers your business’ engine, whether you’re referring to project files and intellectual property or financial info and customer records. As such, imagine what it would mean if your business ran out of gas… or, more accurately, it was siphoned out.
If your company has at least a couple of employees who spend part of their workday in a different location, are you doing all you can to help them be as productive as possible? While remote work is beneficial in so many circumstances, there are a lot of caveats to it that must be considered. Listed below is how you can mitigate risk and keep remote work from becoming a liability for your organization.
Alas, crises happen, so the only responsible course is preparing your organization to deal with them. Let’s walk through what modern crisis management should look like for businesses of all sizes, identifying the steps to address these risks and protect your operations.
