Macro Systems Blog

If you are a business owner that has been in business for a decade you’ve probably seen how emerging technologies have altered the face of business. Technologies such as cloud computing have created opportunities for many businesses to get the powerful computing infrastructures they need without enormous upfront costs. As this trend continues, the IT services have begun to move past core IT management and support and onto providing real solutions for the modern business. Let's take a look at how the Managed Service Provider (MSP) is at the forefront of a data revolution that has no end in sight.

It's likely that you’ve had to deal with the following scenario: You're efficiently working when you try to open an application only to be rebuked by an error message on the screen that tells you that there is some type of critical error. You close that out hoping that it was a one-time exception, but it appears up again. You think to yourself, “Why does this always happen?”

Your organization needs to have data backup and disaster recovery; there is no exception to this rule. Your business is risking far too much by not implementing data backup and disaster recovery. Below we will review situations in which a company may find its data endangered, as well as how modern businesses can keep their data secure.

There's a good chance that if you're in business today, there at least a couple devices on your network that you haven’t touched in years, might not be using, or don’t even need. Sadly, there are times when the technology you have doesn’t do anything but take up space. If you feel like you are spending too much on your technology, you may be right. By finding the IT that helps your organization operate more smoothly, and terminating plans for implementing technology that doesn’t provide sustainable returns may be a sound strategy.

Productivity is one of the most important aspects of successfully running a business; without productivity no work can get done. Even if your employees seem like they are keeping themselves busy, a study from the Harvard Business School suggests they may not be as busy as you think they are. How does this work, and what can you do to resolve this problem?

Imagine your business has experienced significant growth over the past couple of years. It’s not outpacing your IT infrastructure, and the cracks are starting to show in more ways than one. This makes it hard to plan for the future, implement new IT initiatives, and react to issues as they crop up. If your organization doesn’t have an internal IT department watching these developments, outsourcing can be a viable option to make sure all of your organizations technological needs keep your progress moving forward.

Tech-support scammers are typically just people who dial random numbers, try to convince the person on the other end that their computer has problems and they can fix them if the user allows them to remote into the device. They utilize tactics that are as generic and vague as possible to avoid having to mention any specifics; because some people find that their system’s performance is sluggish, they will give these people access, which usually ends in disaster.

How many Vendors do you have to deal with? The answer to that is most likely, quite a few. Now consider how much time is spent managing each of them. Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was some way to limit this time to essentially nothing? 

Your business operations are contingent on your budget; your business will rely on its budget to guide it fiscally through the next year of operation. Alas, IT resources, which can be unpredictable, care little about your budget. Let's examine some ways that you can keep your IT budget from breaking the bank, as well as how you can improve success over time via proper management of your IT assets.

You serve as a vendor to your clients, supplying them with a required good or service. Similarly, you have vendors that supply you with the goods and services that enable you to do so. Yet, how well are your vendors managed?

Organizations of all sizes utilize varying degrees of technology to upgrade productivity, efficiency, and security. The more an organization depends on its data, the more imperative it is for them to manage and maintain the systems in which this data is dependent. For businesses that have a lack of financial resources to support these systems, it is often left to unqualified employees, putting your organization at risk. What do you do when you need expertise that you lack and can’t afford to hire in-house staff?

While small businesses can obviously benefit from technology, they can also bite off more than they can chew, which can result in a dangerous increase in costs. A responsible business owner will avoid this temptation and prioritize the solutions they need over the ones they want, creating profitability and generating capital needed to make other improvements.

If you don’t recognize the worst-case scenario when constructing your organization's disaster recovery strategy, you’ll inevitably suffer from it when it disaster strikes. Taking into account all of these nuances is one of the key ways your business can prepare for such an event. All of these instances need to be considered when implementing your business continuity plan. Let's examine this below.

There is a chance that you view your vendors as a necessary evil. While you have to work with them to get the software or tools that your organization needs to function, it’s difficult to not think of everything else that could be accomplished in the time you spend dealing with them. Alas, there are even more costs to dealing with vendors that you may not have considered.

More often than not, technology is expensive. You’ll rarely look at your IT invoices without cringing a bit. Nonetheless, it’s imperative that you take a look at these AT LEAST every once in a while to understand just what you’re getting from your technology budget. You want to ensure that your IT purchases are yielding a positive return on investment, and thus providing value for your business.

A couple sounds are familiar to any office: keys clacking away, coffee being drank, and the rattling, squawking hum of the printer. Yet this image presents a critical question: do you know how much your printer is costing your company each time it is utilized? Let's review how you can calculate this investment.

How does your organization leverage data backup? Depending on the way your organization functions and your particular needs, your data backup solution will vary from others in your industry. Still, one thing is absolutely undeniable: your business can’t afford to not utilize some type of data backup system.

Most organizations are reliant on software solutions in order to stay productive. It could be a spreadsheet builder, a word processor, or merely data storage in the cloud; all software is deeply entrenched in the current business world. Your organization be taking full advantage of this! You can start by implementing Software as a Service.

IT project managers are an imperative part of any new technology initiative in your business; you should be looking for particular requirements when searching for a project manager for your latest project implementation. Listed below are some specific traits that your organization should look for in an IT project manager.

Nearly everyone, at some point in time, has been involved in a situation where personalities clash. This is natural; different people are born with different predispositions and are raised in different environments. Still, in the business world, one should do their best to keep personal differences from affecting their necessary professional relationships.