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Directive Blogs

Directive has been serving the Oneonta area since 1993, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

The Problem With Devaluing Employees

Running a business can be tough and result in a lot of frustration from staff, management, and customers. Sometimes that frustration can boil over and cause consternation among the core elements that need to function for a business to be successful. This week, let’s look at an issue that can really hurt your business.

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5 Ways You Can Improve Your Business’ Inventory Management

Sure, retailers have to manage their inventory effectively, but have you ever thought about the way your own business manages what it keeps on hand? Today we want to discuss five ways your business can more effectively manage inventory—and it turns out technology plays a pretty significant part in improving any inventory control system.

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Just Because You Can Automate Something, Doesn’t Mean You Should

One way businesses attempt to save money is through automating certain processes and tasks that have traditionally been time-consuming or monotonous for their workforce. When implemented appropriately, automation can cut costs, streamline operations, and improve quality of life for workers. However, just because a task can be automated doesn’t necessarily mean that it should be automated. Let’s look at the arguments for and against automation in these contexts.

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Bureaucracy In Your Business Can Ruin Efficiency

For business managers, it can sometimes be difficult to create policies and procedures that allow for the efficiency that they’d like to see from their business. Business growth leads to more complex situations which in turn demand more complex procedures. This enhanced complexity can not only get constant in that you need to alter the way things are done, you also could fall into the trap of mistakenly putting productivity roadblocks up that can alter the way your business operates.

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Is Outsourcing HR Right for Your Business?

Lots of businesses are facing a financial crunch as the margins they operate under continue to shrink. This unfortunate trend has led a lot of businesses to outsource elements of their operations to try and cut costs. One part of the business that is either outsourced or cut out entirely has been the human resources department. 

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Three Quick Ways to Boost Your Business’ Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks are a serious problem that all businesses face in some form or another, but there are small, everyday tasks you can do to ensure that they impact your organization as minimally as possible. It takes intention and effort to protect your business and its infrastructure, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be hard. Here are three simple ways you can keep your infrastructure secure.

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How to Keep Rapid Growth From Hurting Your Business

All successful businesses want to grow and better themselves, as growth is a direct indicator that you are doing something right, from providing better services to your customers or servicing more customers. If you’re not ready to adapt to this growth, you’re in for a difficult time. Here are three ways you can keep your business operating even when you’re experiencing unprecedented growth.

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Your Business Can Get a Lot of Use from Data

Businesses can now capture and use more data to help them run an efficient business than ever before. That’s not to say a lot of businesses actually do. In this month’s newsletter, we thought we’d discuss the use of data and how it can be used to improve your business.

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Sometimes, Business Growth Requires You to Be a Bit Uncomfortable

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, largely because there’s a lot that can pop up and cause problems that need to be addressed. Let’s discuss how successful business owners rally through tough times to help attain this kind of success.

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Look Outside Your Business to Get the Help You Need

There are countless moving parts to any successful business, and smaller companies often have the issue of their employees juggling multiple different tasks and wearing all kinds of different hats in addition to their outlined job duties and responsibilities. You might encounter situations where you don’t know what to do, and it can be overwhelming when so much needs to get done in so little time.

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Keeping Your Business Agile Can Really Pay Off

Technology advances at an incredible rate, and the successful business has much work to do in order to keep up with it. How does your organization’s ability to change and adapt hold up compared to your competitors? This concept, dubbed business agility, is of critical importance in today’s fast-paced business environment, and if you aren’t prepared to assess it, you might be falling behind the competition.

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Avoid these 3 Things When Making Technology Decisions

Your business’ technology is a great tool, or at least it can be. Like any other part of business, getting value out of your business’ technology is essential. In order for you to see the kind of value from your tech that you’d expect, you first need to approach it by making good decisions. This month, we wanted to go over a few ways that you could fall into a trap with your IT.

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Four Problems that Can Undermine an IT Project

It might be an understatement to suggest that things don’t always go smoothly in business. The truth is that when one problem is solved, another is often created. This is why we lean on our technology. These “solutions” are intended to fix many of the speedbumps, but that doesn’t mean that choosing, deploying, and supporting these systems don’t come with some problems as well. Today, we look at three reasons an IT project could fail. 

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Three Ways to Help Your IT Budget Go Further

Running a business can be stressful, and if you can’t find time to juggle the countless variables that are at play every day of the week, you’ll quickly find yourself falling behind what needs to be done. Technology is one such area where falling behind is easy, especially when it comes to purchasing and implementing new tools. Unfortunately, your IT budget is not limitless, so how can you make the most of it? Let’s take a look.

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Companies Seeing a Lot of Turnover in Their IT Teams

We all know the importance of IT maintenance and management when it comes to effectively running a business, but it’s really hard to ensure that your technology is being properly maintained when your staff have one foot out the door. A new survey from Gartner suggests that IT employees are more likely to leave your business than other non-IT employees, and this puts a heavier burden on you to make sure technology is properly taken care of.

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Remote Policies That Do (and Don’t) Transition Well to In-House Operations

The COVID-19 pandemic is still in full swing, and while many companies buckled under the pressure put on them to maintain operations, others have managed to adapt through the use of remote technology solutions. Businesses have put into place policies surrounding this remote technology, many of which are both helpful and harmful.

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Hybrid Work Can Keep Your Workforce Together

Ever since employees began returning to the office after getting a taste of remote work, there has been an ongoing war between employers wishing a return to normalcy and the employees who would rather get their work done from the comforts of their own home. Now, a new survey indicates that half of employees would rather quit than deal with an employer who mandates a return to the office environment.

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The 8 Things Every Business Continuity Plan Needs

When considering a continuity plan for your business, you need to consider some scenarios that may not ever happen. This is called risk management and it is the basis of keeping your business up and running regardless of the situations that it encounters. This month, we thought we would outline some of the variables that need to be addressed when creating a comprehensive business continuity plan. 

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Is Your Business’ Antiquated Technology Holding You Back?

When was the last time that you took a hard look at your business’ technology? How old are some of the devices that you rely on each day? These are critical questions to answer if you want your business to succeed. Let’s discuss why upgrading is so important, and how to determine when the time to upgrade comes.

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What You Need to Do to Keep Your IT Projects from Failing

The process of implementing new technology for your business can be a tiresome, frustrating, and confusing process. This is especially the case when you implement a new technology solution only to find that it was absolutely not worth the effort. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why your IT project deployment might not go according to plan, as well as how you can make sure this does not happen for your company.

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Don’t Make Security Harder for Your Business

Security can be tough for small businesses to optimize, but that does not make it any less important. One such way that security can work against you is actually your employees’ predispositions toward it; the cognitive biases that your employees have regarding security can put your company at risk, even if that is the last thing on their minds.

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Controlling Distractions Can Improve Productivity

Technology is such a wonderful tool for productivity, but one thing that you need to understand is that it cannot work miracles. At the end of the day, we are all still human; distractions creep in that technology cannot prevent. Some users struggle with staying focused, which in turn leads to unproductive behaviors, all of which compounds to create wasted time and money. Let’s discuss some ways that your employees can overcome distractions in the workplace.

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Tip of the Week: How to Properly Inventory Your Technology

Businesses use technology to varying degrees, but even small businesses have a lot of technology that must be tracked on a daily basis. With so many devices floating around the office, how are you making sure that you know who has which device, when it was issued, and how it’s being used? We suppose the question is not “how” you are keeping track of it all, but “if.” For this task, we recommend implementing an inventory tracking system for your business’ technological assets.

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Building Trust in Business with a Consistent Approach

For a worker, one of the most maddening things that can happen at work is when there is a lack of consistency with the leadership. It can throw a figurative wrench into everything that you are trying to accomplish. Some examples of people not being consistent include:

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3 Tips to Help You Make Better IT Decisions

Making solid business decisions can sometimes be confusing. Not that you try to make anything other than good decisions, but a lot of business is, and has always been, trial and error; and, you may know this from experience, error happens to be a big part of it. Today, we thought we would discuss what goes into good technology decisions and how many times it comes down to the results. 

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How Have Businesses and Their Technology Been Impacted by COVID-19?

There is no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has had no small impact on the way that business is conducted. A considerable part of that impact is directed toward the technology that powers these businesses. One way or another, the way that businesses use their technology is bound to be influenced before all this is over.

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The Extreme Changes Businesses Have to Make to Survive COVID-19

For the months that COVID-19 has been around, everyone has done all they can to hold on to their business. They have closed down, they have closed their offices and forced their employees to work from home, they have borrowed money and scaled back or eliminated their 2020 plans. It would be nice if all that sacrifice would pay off, but the frustrating reality is that there is going to be a lot of sustained discomfort for a lot of business owners. Let’s take a look at some things small business owners should consider as they reopen their businesses. 

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Tip of the Week: How a Hokie Gift Can Revolutionize Your Network

How many times have you gone to the store and bought something that you already had? Unfortunately, this happens all the time, but fortunately it’s usually a half gallon of milk or a loaf of bread. When it happens in your business, it can be much more expensive. Today, we will advocate for an inventory strategy that will keep you from spending wads of cash on redundant investments. 

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Small Businesses Face Hard Work Getting Back to Normal

It isn’t exactly business as usual, but things are beginning to resemble the reality we all knew before COVID-19, thanks to the use of cloud services as a means to continue processes while social distancing is still in play. However, some businesses may still be reluctant to embrace them.

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How to Create Cybersecurity Policies for Your Company

If you’re in business today, there are three words that are critical for you keep in mind: Cybersecurity. Is. Important. As such, every business needs to have taken the time to put together a cybersecurity policy--a set of guidelines that instruct the business how to proceed with the highest level of security possible. We’ve taken the liberty of suggesting a few guidelines for your business to follow as you do so.

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Promoting Profits: Collaboration

With most businesses looking to control costs, their decision makers need to find innovative new ways to do business. One way that many firms can increase productivity without raising costs is to promote a culture of collaboration. Today, we’ll take a look at some of the useful technology that businesses can leverage to improve their output.

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Why You Need to Allow Access to Your Knowledge

It isn’t uncommon for business owners to keep their knowledge close to the chest, hesitant to share what some might consider valuable proprietary information with their staff or - heaven forbid - their clients. While we agree that you shouldn’t necessarily overshare with your clients, your staff needs to have access to some information in order to do their jobs

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Are You Putting Your Business at Risk by Neglecting Upgrades?

It’s expensive running a business, especially here in Upstate NY. For smaller businesses, sometimes making payroll or getting through the first of the month is a matter of being frugal or cutting back a little.

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Oneonta Businesses Need to Train Staff on Cybersecurity Best Practices

As much as your employees are some of your greatest assets, they also have the potential to be some of the biggest security risks that your business can encounter. To help mitigate these risks, you need to make sure your employees are trained to recognize threats and respond appropriately.

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Tip of the Week: Stretch Your Legs and Get Healthy at Work

The office is a place where work gets done, but it’s also known as a sedentary lifestyle. Workplace wellness programs might be an $8 billion industry, but the effectiveness of these programs has yet to be determined. Let’s take a look at what kind of office wellness programs might work for you.

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Managing Millennials May Be Challenging, But Worth It

Generation Y (or Millennials, as they are more commonly known) have a rough reputation in the business world. Whether they’re being blamed for the death of entire industries or mocked for their fondness for avocado toast, it isn’t often that millennials are taken seriously - especially in the workplace. However, if nurtured correctly, this group has the potential to produce some of your top performers. Here, we’ll get into how to do so.

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What the Modern Worker Expects at His/Her Job

There aren’t many happier moments for a person than when they score their first big job. The opportunity to use the skills they have learned, and to pay off some of the debt that knowledge set them back, are two activities most people who are in this position relish. However, you can’t expect these opportunities to keep your employees around forever... you need to meet (and sometimes manage) their other expectations of the workplace.

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Businesses Always Battle Risk

The way that an organization handles risk is a big deal. Despite being born out of opportunity, opening a business itself can be looked on by many a major risk. As a result, every business should be looking to manage their risk. Today, we take a look at the role risk plays in business, and how IT, for all its benefits, carries with it some risk.

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Don’t Make the Solutions More Complicated Than the Problem

The act of “yak shaving,” also known as “bikeshedding,” is a specific kind of procrastination that can hold you back from getting the most out of your workday. This week’s tip is dedicated to explaining what this nonsensical phrase means and why it’s beneficial to keep your employees on track.

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A PSA PSA: Build a More Efficient Business

In order to build a profitable business, productivity has to remain consistent. If your business offers a service, and you are having a hard time managing all its moving parts, professional services automation (PSA) software may be right for you. Today, we will give a quick overview of what exactly a PSA is, and how it can serve as an extremely useful tool for businesses who operate in the professional services space.

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The Future of IT; 2019 is The Year Your Business Hires a Managed Service Provider

Chances are that if you are a business owner that has been in business for a decade you’ve seen how emerging technologies have changed the face of business. Technologies like cloud computing have opened up opportunities for many businesses to get the powerful computing infrastructures they need without massive upfront costs. As this trend continues, the IT services has begun to move past core IT management and support and onto providing real solutions for the modern business. Today, we will look at how the Managed Service Provider (MSP) is at the forefront of a data revolution that has no end in sight.

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Strategizing Your IT Leads to Better Business

Business technology continues to grow in importance for the small and medium-sized business, especially as many prepare for 2019. Where enterprise-level companies have long been using technology to bring people together and drive overall productivity, many SMBs are new to these opportunities. The availability of cloud resources, coupled with shifts in security, mobility, and other core technologies, makes it important for every organization, no matter what size, to have a comprehensive technology strategy.

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Tip of the Week: Why You Should Reexamine Your Business Practices

As a business adopts certain “best practices,” it is important for business leaders to consider why they are adopted, and more importantly, are they really for the best? There are many problems that subscribing to false best practices can produce, and so it becomes important to identify, adjust, and resolve them.

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How to Turn Intrapreneurs Into a Goldmine of Good Ideas

Entrepreneurs enjoy an almost mythical standing in the business world as visionary leaders risking everything on an idea that, if successful, pays off in a big way. Yet, few understand the role of the intrapreneur; those who have equally big ideas, but operate in the context of established companies. Your business likely has dynamic intrapreneurs in your midst, but how do you make sure their voices are heard?

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3 Reasons Why it Makes Sense to Outsource Your Email Management

How many emails does your organization receive every day? Chances are that you can’t find time in your day-to-day operations to maintain and manage your email solution as well as you’d like, and in a world where threats to your organization’s network lurk around every corner, you can never be too careful. How can you make sure that you’re taking proper care of your business’s email infrastructure, without sacrificing the time and manpower required to do so?

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A Look Ahead: SMB Technology for 2018

Vince Lombardi, one of the most successful head coaches in NFL history, once said “If you are five minutes early, you are already ten minutes late.” Although it wasn’t its intended use, this quotation can easily apply to technology. The tech industry is constantly changing, improving, and innovating. Adapting to changes is something all businesses must do to thrive, small and medium businesses included.

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Unpaid Invoices are a Major Problem For SMBs

While many different people open businesses, the primary reason that they all do so is to make money. A positive cash flow is essential if the business is to generate funds that support a cause or provide a decent living. However, to collect this cash flow, a business must have their invoices returned. As it happens, this doesn’t often occur in a timely manner.

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5 Ways to Reduce Technology-Related Stress in the New Year

Your business either has a sound plan to manage its IT maintenance, or it does not. There is no middle ground here. Either you have an internal team dedicated to maintaining your IT infrastructure, or it’s not being taken care of as well as it should be. Even if you do have an internal team, you might notice that they simply don’t have time on their hands to handle all of their responsibilities. We’re here to introduce you to one of the most notable ways of keeping your technology in proper working order: managed IT services.

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Why You Need to Be Certain You’re Using Licensed Software

Using pirated software or abusing your software licenses for your business is heavily frowned upon. However, many software companies, in an attempt to protect their products, have unleashed a practice that can actually reward those who let it happen in the first place.

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Why You Need to Properly Dispose of e-Waste

Technology has become more commonplace in offices and homes all around the world, and you might find yourself replacing it more often than previously thought. This leads to an awful lot of waste that can accumulate in your office, be it an extra smartphone, desktop, or something as simple as a random, non-functional hard drive. However, getting rid of your old, unnecessary tech isn’t as simple as throwing paper into a recycling bin, and it shows in the amount of e-waste that infects the world every day.

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4 Skills Needed for IT Project Management Success

An IT project manager is an important part of any new technology initiative in your workplace. Therefore, you should be looking for specific requirements when finding a project manager for your latest project implementation. Here are some specific traits that your business should look for in an IT project manager.

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3 Security Lessons We Learned the Hard Way in 2017

2017 was filled with security issues ranging from threats and small attacks to major security breaches. You can learn a lot from the misfortunes of other ill-prepared organizations about how to prepare for and handle cybersecurity issues. This week’s tip is dedicated to learning a bit from some of the security problems that may have flown over your radar last year.

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IoT Security is a Key Business Concern

The Internet of Things is everywhere, which means that potential security risks are also everywhere. Your business needs to take the risks presented by the IoT into account and prepare accordingly.

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Overburdened Business Owners Should Consider Managed IT

It’s no secret that a business owner has more than enough to deal with, regardless of that business’ size.

Whether the business has 10 employees or 100, the business owner has to deal with the stress of managing the minutiae of everyday operations, along with any other issues that may pop up. As one might assume, financial concerns can contribute considerably to that stress.

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Should You Outsource Your IT Project’s Management?

Any project manager will tell you that there are countless issues that can get in the way of a successful implementation. To nobody’s surprise, business technology can aid project management by streamlining operations and making the entire process much easier for everyone involved. We’ll dig into the details about how project management software and value-based managed IT services can help you complete projects on-time and on-budget.

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Bias Can Impact Your Business from Within

Despite what you may have heard, a bias is not an inherently bad thing. However, if not considered rationally, a bias can easily lead you to make a business decision that does more harm than good. Researchers have uncovered why we hold the biases we do, and how we might work to overcome them.

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All Work and No Play Makes Fewer Opportunities

The office is a workplace, so it most likely isn’t a place that is often associated with fun and games. However, different aspects of games have been shown to provide significant benefits when introduced into the professional environment. Today, we’ll explore some of the ways that a little frivolity may benefit your office.

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Help! My Staff Hates My Company’s IT!

Fellow business owners, do you ever feel like you need to walk around on eggshells when it comes time to implement a new process or policy with your employees? Does it seem like your staff fights back tooth and nail when there is any technology change or IT restriction? You aren’t alone.

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Why Small Businesses Need to Properly Manage Active Directory

Active Directory wordcloudThe purpose of a solid business network is to iron out the chaos of running multiple computers whose users need to access and share files and documents. With sharing comes the need to restrict some users from certain files, all while protecting your IT infrastructure from the inside and out.

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Simple Math: Less Focus on IT Equals More Focus on Your Business

2 + 2 chalkboard

You are an expert in your field, right? Whether you sell a product or commit to a batch of service offerings, you know your job and you know it well. We're guessing you have some great employees who know their job well too, right? You hired them because of their drive, interest, and possibly knowledge in the field (or you spend plenty of time teaching and training them). So when someone's computer goes down, why should they waste their time trying to fix it?

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Microsoft Office 2013 Sneak Peak

microsoft office iconMicrosoft has released a preview of their highly anticipated Microsoft Office 2013, with features meant to coincide with their release of Windows 8 set to be released this fall. Like Windows 8, Office 2013 was designed to accommodate the needs of not only individuals but businesses, as well.

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Is it Plugged In? Avoid Wasting Time with PC Vendors

guy stressed out on phoneWe've all been there; dealing with long, annoying tech support, hoping to make that extended warranty worth while. Should you eventually speak to a human, you run the risk of running smack into a language barrier. Then, there is always the inevitable 'Did you turn off your computer and turn it back on?' Would you really be still on hold if you hadn't tried everything you could think of?

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Employee Training - Businesses Can't Afford Not To

4 employees sitting at table during meeting

As a business owner, if you've ever looked into training seminars, you've probably been taken back by the price. Your industry likely has a whole slew of organizations dedicated to business training, and there are often training courses on specific software packages you use in your day-to-day line of business. Your employees may know full-well how to do their job, but are they doing it as effectively as possible in order to drive business forward?

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Don't Let a Storm Put You Out of Business

lightning striking over cityNature can be pretty impressive. It can interrupt the day-to-day operations of businesses, cause major damage, and cost your business in expensive downtime. Having a good business continuity plan (and ensuring you have it set in place) can make or break your company when mother nature comes knocking at your door.

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5 Factors When Shopping for Upstate New York IT Support

nametag Are you looking for a new computer service provider? Deciding on a company to handle your technology is a choice that carries a little more weight than let's say, switching your cable provider. You are essentially giving this new computer company access to all of your company's sensitive information. No pressure!

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Old School Methods for New School Business Success

b2ap3_thumbnail_conferencing_for_good_business_400.jpgAs technology keeps leading us into the future, it can be easy to lose sight of traditional leadership methods. Since the newest gadgets are so appealing, it's tempting to have technology automate our decision making as a crutch. Can technology really replace the old school business leadership practices?

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Claim and Manage Your Business Online with Google My Business

You’ve probably noticed that when you search for a particular business using words like or similar to “near me,” Google will display three business options at the top of your search results, and then will load additional businesses once you click “More places.” Remember - people in your area that are looking for a business like yours will probably be doing exactly that. How can you make sure you are in those top three results?

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Small Businesses Face Challenges in 2018

The modern small business will face several challenges in 2018. The world is changing, and with it, so is business. For many small businesses, this can either be looked on as the opportunity they’ve been waiting for, or, it can be viewed as the beginning of the end. No matter what situations you are faced with this year, understanding what problems your business faces, and how to solve them is imperative to your small business’ success.

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Strong Internal Communications Can Bring Major Benefits

Internal communications are remarkably important for a business with multiple moving parts. In a world with many choices for communication, how does your company keep in touch? We’ve put together five great ways that your company can take advantage of today’s networking technology to create an infrastructure meant to help your employees stay connected to one another and promote organizational cooperation.

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The 4 Most Pressing IT Issues You Have to Be Aware Of

b2ap3_thumbnail_it_lessons_400.jpgRegardless of how your business’s administration is set up, you should be aware that anyone in a position of authority must have a basic understanding of how IT, and its related responsibilities, functions for your business. Here are four ways that you can learn more about how IT works within your organization.

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Tip of the Week: Don’t Let Work Ruin Your Friendships, or Friendships Ruin Your Work

b2ap3_thumbnail_be_the_boss_400.jpgAs a business owner, you walk a fine line between boss and friend. While you want to be approachable and have a company culture that’s friendly, you can’t have your employees be your closest friends. Being too close to your staff will blur your authority, breed favoritism, and make it difficult to fire people; but not being friendly will make for a cold working environment. How do you manage this social dynamic?

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Cyberattacks Can Have Physical Consequences

b2ap3_thumbnail_physical_problems_for_hacks_400.jpgBusiness owners primarily concentrate more on the digital effects of hacking rather than the physical side of it. After all, hacking some code through a network can’t harm you or anybody else in the real world, right? Wrong. As shown by a recent hack in Germany, ignoring network security can be a dangerous gambit.

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What Backsourcing Your IT Looks Like

b2ap3_thumbnail_backsourcing_it_from_success_400.jpgIf you’re looking to save some money on IT, outsourcing your company’s IT services is a simple and effective method. This concept has grown tremendously over the past several years, and the saved expenses are one of its biggest attractions. However, businesses sometimes decide that it might be time to backsource their IT.

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3 Businesses That Manage Other Businesses on Your Behalf

b2ap3_thumbnail_business_to_business_management_400.jpgWe offer a handy IT service called vendor management. This is where we resolve technology issues on behalf of your business by coordinating with vendors to provide a fix, even if it lies outside the realms of our expertise. You may not realize it, but you actually use vendor management services for other everyday aspects of your life.

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Internet vs. Intranet

b2ap3_thumbnail_intranet_not_internet_400.jpgCan you tell the difference between the two words, Internet and Intranet? The difference is much more than simply two letters. Both are valuable marketing tools, particularly for small businesses, but what exactly differentiates them from each other? The key to understanding this is a simple English lesson.

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Retro 1800s Business Practices Can Cost Your Company Money!

b2ap3_thumbnail_document_management_400.jpgTrivia time! Do you know what device was invented in 1892 that changed the face of offices around the world? If you guessed the fax machine then you're close, but you need to think further ahead by almost 50 years (the first fax machine was patented in 1843 by Alexander Bain). More influential than even the fax machine is the file cabinet, established in 1892.

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The Most Expensive Paper You’ll Ever Buy… or Not

b2ap3_thumbnail_digital_paper_400.jpgIt's no surprise that technology is taking over our lives. It's everywhere; from the workplace to every inch of our homes, new technology exists where it wouldn't have twenty years ago. Bluetooth-connected kitchen appliances allow their owners to turn them on and off from a distance. Cars can connect to the Internet. Google has produced glasses that allow you to browse the Internet. There are tons of innovative, new inventions that have had a huge impact on the way small business owners manage their workplaces, but nothing can compare to the significance of being able to receive text files from anywhere in the world via email and fax.

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3 Reasons to Supplement Your In-House IT Department

b2ap3_thumbnail_co-managed_it_400.jpgJust because you have an IT technician on staff, doesn't mean your technology needs are 100% covered. The people making up your IT department are just that, people, and because they are people, having reliable coverage can be difficult. Outsourcing your IT department is the perfect way to get the extra coverage your business needs, especially when your IT team can't be there for you.

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Are Connected Employees More Valuable?

b2ap3_thumbnail_connected_employees_value_400.jpgWhenever you hire a new employee, you essentially incorporate their social network into the networking reach of your business. With this reality in mind (along with the measurable influence of an employee's use of social media) you have to ask yourself, "Is a connected employee more valuable than a non-connected employee?"

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Block Away Distractions With UTM

b2ap3_thumbnail_march_madness_it_400.jpgAs the top American collegiate men's and women's basketball teams are poised to take the court to decide national champions in 2014 NCAA tournament, local businesses are in a competition of their own; to turn a profit. There are three ways your business and your favorite team share a similar path to success.

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Winning from Home Part 2: Employers Benefit

b2ap3_thumbnail_good_for_business_400.jpgWhen it comes to working from home, everybody wins! In our last article, we looked at how employees win because working from home saves them time and money from commuting. Employers are another group that benefits because working from home makes doing business more productive and more efficient.

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2014 Technology Trends: Business Intelligence Analytics

b2ap3_thumbnail_business_400.jpgOne of the best ways to leverage technology in order to make your business more profitable is to take advantage of the latest trends. 2014 presents business owners with dynamic new trends that are improving operations and providing the competitive edge. Over the next week we will highlight three of the most important trends that your business can take advantage of, beginning with Business Intelligence Analytics.

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6 Ways to Step it Up While Spending Down

b2ap3_thumbnail_save_money_with_technology_400.jpgExpenses from running a business can add up quickly. We want to help by sharing six easy things you can do that will save you money and improve your workplace. Even though these two goals may seem diametrically opposed, we have found that they can work together in a synchronized harmony!

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Be Prepared to do Business without Computers

b2ap3_thumbnail_prep400.jpgBusinesses that are aggressive will grow quickly, and in the same way, businesses that have an aggressive continuity plan will survive the worst disasters. You need to aggressively be prepared for any disaster, even the scenarios that leave your company without computers.

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The 4 Best Things about Remote Support

b2ap3_thumbnail_rsupport400.jpgIf you've never taken advantage of remote support to remedy an IT problem, then you're likely doing IT support the hard way by having a technician physically take care of every issue. While it's always nice to chat with your friendly tech, you may be able to save yourself a whole lot of time and money by taking care of the issue with remote support.

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Watch Your @#%!ing Mouth at Work!

b2ap3_thumbnail_smdb400.jpgLanguage is one of the biggest contributors to determining office culture. For example, a workplace where the management motivates with threats will be a completely different environment than an office where encouragement is liberally applied. The allowance or forbiddance of swearing is another major indicator of your company's culture. How does the language in your office reflect your company's values?

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Backup Protects Your Most Valuable Data

b2ap3_thumbnail_twentyp400.jpgThe importance of backing up your company's data cannot be stressed enough. Data is your business' most valuable asset, as evidenced by the fact that companies unable to access their data for ten days after a major disaster (like Hurricane Sandy that hit the mid atlantic and northeast U.S) will not survive the next fiscal year. Here's how to protect your business with data backup.

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Does Working from Home Turn an Employee into a Deranged Psychotic?

b2ap3_thumbnail_workfh400.jpgThanks to cloud computing technology, many businesses are taking advantage of having a mobile workforce by allowing their staff to work from home. Working from home can be beneficial by making workers more productive, saving employees' time and money from commuting, and increasing worker satisfaction, but how can you know for sure if work is really getting done?

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6 Ways to Motivate Your Employees

b2ap3_thumbnail_motivateam400.jpgHave you been frustrated with your employees lately? Maybe they aren't getting projects done on time, or aren't producing at a very high quality. Have you ever considered that you have substantial control over their job performance? People only work if they are motivated to do so. Here are six ways to motivate your employees. 

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IBM CEO Shares 3 Benefits of Successful Data Management

b2ap3_thumbnail_datamang400.jpgAs your company grows and enters into more competitive markets, your ability to access reliable and accurate data is of the utmost importance. Ginni Rometty; CEO, president, and chair of IBM, shared her insight on data management in her speech on October 2nd at the IBM InterConnect 2013 event. Here are three benefits of successful data management according to Rometty.

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By the Numbers: A Look at The Cost of Downtime

b2ap3_thumbnail_bleh400.jpgIf your business has never experienced a major computer problem, then it's easy to underestimate just how damaging downtime can be. This conclusion can be drawn from a recent survey of small business owners, where 65% estimated they would only lose $500 if their company's network went down for a day. In reality, downtime is much more costly than $500.

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Bulletproof Your Customer Service Policy

b2ap3_thumbnail_success400.jpgThe way you treat customers, handle their feedback, and serve their needs can be the most powerful selling point of your business. Customer satisfaction comes down to the way customers feel after they've made a purchase. Your customer service policy can either make or break your business. Here's how to bulletproof your customer service policy.

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3 Data Backup Options for Your Business

b2ap3_thumbnail_bu1-400.jpgWhat would happen if your business experienced a disaster and your sensitive information was erased? If you don't have a business continuity plan in place that includes data backup and recovery, then it's highly unlikely your company will survive. To protect your business, you will want to consider and choose one of these three backup solutions.

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How Prepared is Your Business for a Disaster?

b2ap3_thumbnail_disaster400.jpgIn a recent survey of small businesses, only 13% of respondents believed themselves to be susceptible to a disaster resulting in data loss. That means 87% of small businesses must be located in a fortress where they are protected from every natural disaster--yeah right! No business is immune from disaster; therefore, every company needs a disaster plan.

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5 BYOD Benefits for Your Business

b2ap3_thumbnail_fingerfone400.jpgThe latest trend in business technology is employees bringing in their personal devices to work. This trend is commonly referred to as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), and it's presenting businesses with both new opportunities and challenges. We will breakdown BYOD into 2 parts; benefits and risks. In part 1, we will look at five benefits of BYOD.

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5 Qualities of Influential Business Leadership

b2ap3_thumbnail_success400.jpgAs a business owner, your position of leadership is crucial to the success of your company. If you've been appointed a leadership role, you are undoubtedly making key decisions and setting the tone of your office culture. You want to be a leader worth following.

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The Danger of Easy Network Security

b2ap3_thumbnail_securitee400.jpgWhen your network's security is doing its job and keeping your business safe, it's easy to not think about it because you don't feel the heat from any threats. Just because you're not feeling the heat, however, doesn't mean you're out of the kitchen. Even if you enjoy strong security, you will still need to perform regular security maintenances.

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Use the 80/20 Rule to Save on Data Backup Costs

b2ap3_thumbnail_8020-400.jpgBacking up your company's data is critical when it comes to keeping operations going after a disaster. Data backup is an important operating expense that you can't afford to skip out on, but if you're looking to cut back on the cost of your data backup service, then you should consider the 80/20 Rule.

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4 Tips to Build a Network Jigsaw Puzzle

b2ap3_thumbnail_puzman400.jpgYour IT infrastructure is a lot like a puzzle. There are many pieces of technology that connect to form one big solution. If just one piece of the puzzle is missing, then the picture is incomplete and the solution will not work properly. Good thing we're great at piecing together IT puzzles!

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5 Personnel Expenses Saved By Outsourcing IT

b2ap3_thumbnail_thisguy400.jpgIt's convenient to have an in-house IT technician. If your computer freezes up, you can call the IT department and they will swoop in and save the day. This is how in-house IT is supposed to work, but it's hard to hire anyone that's 100% reliable. We think it's actually more advantageous to outsource your IT; here are 5 reasons why.

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