January 6, 2012
Viruses, spam, spyware and other malware cost small businesses billions of dollars each year in lost productivity, stolen identities and IT support costs.
What small businesses need to understand is that these gremlins are easy to avoid when common sense and some simple precautions are applied. And avoid is the key word; your strategy should be to stay as far away from these things in the first place so that you dont have to experience the lost time and cost associated with cleaning up the mess they leave.
So how can a small business avoid viruses, spam, and spyware?
The following is a list of 10 best practices for small businesses:
1. Use antivirus software that is automatically updated on all machines
2. Use a hosted spam filtering service that filters the spam before it ever makes it to your local network
3. Make sure employees know that you have a policy that work computers are only to be used for work purposes
4. Dont give your business email address to a non-business source
5. Dont forward jokes, chain mail, etc. to other employees
6. Never open an attachment from an unknown source
7. Never open an attachment with an unknown file extension
8. Dont download free toolbars, shopping assistants, weather bug, etc. on your work computer
9. Never give your information or download information from an unknown site
10. Never update banking or other sensitive personal information using a link sent to you via email ” always navigate directly to the site and log in there.
As you can see, most of these tips dont require you to buy anything or use any special technology. Viruses, spam and spyware prey on human nature ” curiosity, laziness, etc. ” to get past technology-based defences, so you must educate yourself and your employees to know what to avoid.
One last tip: if you do feel like you have a virus or something else attacking your computer, unplug it from your network immediately. The last thing you want to do is give it to everyone else in your office ” thats when things get really expensive.
December 2, 2011
Running a small business is filled with big challenges.
In fact, the more your business grows, the more you may find yourself wearing a wide range of hats. With the rapid changes today in information technology (IT), staying abreast of industry trends and knowing how they impact your business can be intimidating.
Does this challenge sound familiar to you?
If it does, you know the stress of managing your IT systems is magnified when it comes to the decisions and logistics involved with moving your business.
As your business grows, you may find that you have to change offices frequently. If you have experienced this with your organization-congratulations! It means your business is a success.
However, the success of your office move will be impacted heavily by the effective transfer of your information technology to your new location. This is an area of critical importance, and also an area where many small business owners lack experience and confidence.
Based on our experience managing the technology needs of hundreds of small businesses in a wide variety of industries, we have developed recommended practices that will help small businesses conduct a smooth and cost-effective move to a new location.
All of our recommendations are simple. So simple in fact, that most businesses tend to neglect them.
Tip #2: Plan well in advance
Planning a business move takes time. A lot of time. It can be years from the day you decide to move until the day you begin working in your new office.
A critical part of your move is planning. Failing to plan means planning to fail. So its important that you engage everyone involved in your move at the right time to keep everything on track.
Your first step should be to contact a commercial real estate broker. Brokers are critical because they have a depth of knowledge that only comes with being involved in the field every day. When selecting a broker, choose one who is willing to be your top ally in the moving process.
Brokers will not only be able to help you find space, but they will also:
Help you negotiate the best price and terms
Introduce you to key vendors
Steer you away from roadblocks theyve encountered in other client relocations
When you are within six months of your move, it is very important that you begin to plan your transition from a technology perspective.
There are several key milestones you must hit to make your technology transfer a smooth one. Failure to do so can bring your move to a screeching halt-and thats not what you want to have happen. If you want to make sure it doesnt, we encourage you to consider the remaining key points in this report.
November 25, 2011
With limited time and staff resources, efficiency can be increased by strategic infrastructure management. Infrastructure management is an overall plan that puts into place sound policies to control all hardware and other human related facilities in a company so it can run efficiently. Managing infrastructure is about the interconnection of network, applications and hardware. As most management tools focus on one area, it is not always easy to know the amount of time that is being spent on each task. The following tips can help in efficiently managing your organization’s infrastructure.
Carry out an evaluation – Understanding your environment is the first step to efficient infrastructure management. You can ascertain whether the company is adhering to the standards for all its services and products. It is best to create a catalog of IT services so that they can be tracked.
Track tech support calls – By setting up a knowledge base, you can track problems that show up on a regular basis. It is a simple way to maximize technical support staff and further the efficient infrastructure management goals. A knowledge base and sound infrastructure monitoring keep you updated on configuration issues and enable the creation of a self-service site with solutions for common problems.
Automate processes and keep them consistent – Automating management processes wherever possible is a good practice to adopt. Tools such as an active directory can categorize people and equipment into groups and apply standards and permissions to those groups rather than individuals. So whether it is configuration management or software upgrades, check and propagate changes automatically.
Deliberate before adding devices – Once an assessment is complete, servers with extra capacity can be identified. Instead of adding another server, consider other options like virtualization or consolidation of technologies.
Consider service-oriented architectures (SOA) – Without eliminating their legacy applications, midsize companies can migrate to systems oriented architecture (SOA) and still reduce the cost of integration. Identify the highest business priority, start prioritizing the components that need to be shifted to the to SOA first and then return to the concept of the IT service catalog.
Infrastructure optimization is not a complex process, but infrastructure needs to be managed efficiently because once a product is developed it has to be invariably looked after or maintained in order to survive long and strong. Management focuses on key problems in a systematic manner and incrementally improves the organization’s capabilities. It is therefore very important that an organization has a very good and effective IT infrastructure management service.
September 24, 2011
If you have installed accounting software like QuickBooks software or Peachtree Accounting for your business, you can simply sit back and relax, while all the accounting activities would be skillfully taken care of. Irrespective of the large or small size of the business, the best accounting software like Sage Software can help you to invest your time and skills for doing better things rather than managing accounts.
If you have been inspired by the thought of installing Sage Software or any other accounting software, then this is the right time to go ahead. There are many companies in the IT market that boast of selling the most effective and efficient accounting software at the most affordable prices. But before you purchase any such software, it is important to consider the following points.
Choose the right product
You must select the most appropriate accounting software for your organization depending on the size of your company and your requirements. You can choose from Peachtree Accounting, QuickBooks software or Sage Software that are know for delivering excellent results. To make your job easy popular software Solutions Company like A2R Solutions provides custom-made software for different industries like construction, manufacturing, distribution and non-profit organizations.
Cost Effectiveness
After you have decided which particular accounting software you would like to install for your business, you can look for the price tags of different companies. Ideally you should shop around a bit comparing the prices quoted by the different software companies, as price can vary greatly for exactly the same product.
Ensure that all your requirements would me met
The accounting software products like QuickBooks software and Peachtree Accounting are so vast and diversified. Hence you need to ensure that your entire accounting requirement would be met. These softwares are available in several versions hence make sure that you are going for the right product that would have all the features you require. The major differences are usually – number of reports available, inventory management capability and number of users allowed.
Invest in good brands
As there are numerous IT companies that are selling software products, so the options are unlimited for you. Don’t get confused amidst so many options. Purchase your software from a reputed firm that will guarantee accurate outcomes and good after-sales-services.
Easy to operate
One of the most important things to consider before buying accounting software is to ensure that it is easy to operate. If you end up buying a product, which requires complex commands and expert handling, then it not worth the money as you will have to appoint an experienced person to handle it. Rather you can simply check the usage of the software before buying to ensure that it will not require much time and intelligence. Get the person who will be ultimately operating the software to test it.