You may have heard that the US traced the SolarWinds attack back to the Kremlin. Due to the level of invasion this attack had upon "US government agencies and private companies," retaliation of some kind seems expected. These groups, with their extremely sensitive data banks ,were infiltrated while the Trump administration was in office. Preparations for this cyber offense are in full swing, with the offense itself to occur any day. What Do We Know? From the available information thus … [Read more...]
Prepare For A Permanent Remote Workforce With UCaaS
We have seen how effective and cost-saving remote working has become. For these reasons, prepare yourself and your business for cloud services in our workforce. Unified Communications as a Service, or UCaaS, is allowing more freedom to many companies. For example, the ability to accommodate workers that can connect with each other and the cloud is changing the world. What else can UCaaS do for our companies? Maintaining efficiency while lowering overhead costs are some of the most impactful new … [Read more...]
Managed Integration is Crucial for a Successful Digital Transformation
A successful digital transformation is heavily dependent upon managed integrations. A great example is when your CRM upgrades to a sleeker UI experience, the enhancements are helpful, but the transition towards using the new version can be frustrating. Indeed, when an application changes, certain familiar aspects are no longer available or possible to perform. How does this impact daily operations? Are there ways to prevent potential issues that can inevitably arise when moving to a different … [Read more...]
SD-WAN: Survey Reveals Pain Points
Recently, a survey was performed by Telia Carrier that has revealed the biggest pain points for the SD-WAN industry. Customer demand and customer performance showed a large discrepancy, with the largest pain point in security. Here is a graph that shows the breakdown of Telia's results: As COVID is now a part of the entire global workforce, SD-WAN has become even more desired by industries of all types. The ability to remotely view usage and issues, make configuration changes, and pull … [Read more...]
Optimization Needs for Cloud Spending = Opportunity
As businesses move more of their applications and other tools to be cloud-based, the need for cloud expertise is expanding. This creates opportunity and challenge in many ways due to the newly fundamental need for companies to start or continue working from the cloud. Currently, virtual and remote workers are the biggest cause of the IT industry's need towards an optimization of cloud spending. However, the re-allocation of existing budgets has to be taken into account for these new … [Read more...]
How to Create and Maintain Customer Trust
Creating and maintaining trust with your customers can be a slow process as they learn by experience whether you are reliable and dependable. This takes time within the commerce world, just as it does within the personal world. What types of indicators allow you to trust someone, let alone an entire company? When you have signed with a new customer, the next steps involve giving you the keys to their castle, like managing their security and back ups. Doing this is difficult and stressful for all … [Read more...]
Skype for Business Retiring End of July: What Does This Mean for You?
Microsoft's Skype for Business Online service is retiring end of July, 2021. The company recommends anyone using that platform, move to their Teams product/service. Teams has been consistently growing bigger as the weeks go by, organically replacing any needs for the older platform. As we have all noticed, the remote workforce explosion has pushed the need for group and individual IM usage. In-person meetings are quickly becoming a thing of the past, with company and personal communications … [Read more...]
External IT Expertise: Needs Are On The Rise
As we move further into the cloud, the need for speed in the deployment of applications and services is ramping up. Most customer want these to be up and running practically immediately, increasing the opportunity for those who can assist. With security and compliance a huge concern for almost all companies, additional external IT expertise is becoming a necessary aspect in the success of a digital transformation. These external resources must be prepared to show how they rise above the … [Read more...]
Spotlight: The First African American PhD in Computer Science
We are happily celebrating the first African American to receive their PhD in Computer Science. This achievement was a major boon for the industry on many levels, as all voices deserve to be heard and respected. Dr. Clarence “Skip” Ellis was from Chicago, IL, and started working on computers at the age of 15. While most teens were out socializing with friends, Dr. Ellis spent much of his time reading through computer manuals. After receiving a scholarship in 1960 to attend Beloit College, … [Read more...]
Why are IT Advisors Often Kept Up at Night? Data.
This may sound like a riddle, but it is a real concern. Advisors in the IT industry continue to feel troubled by the issues that arise in two major areas: The quality of their customers' data and ensuring it is secure. IT Advisors Can Maintain Comfort With Quality Data Maintaining comfort with data can be achieved when IT advisors ensure the quality and security of that data are successful. Customers will be the first to let you know if their connection, reliability, and security do not … [Read more...]