The ACCENT Learning Hub

Like a lot of business leaders I know, I’m in the middle of strategic planning as we begin 2022. My vision is to build enterprise value into my company, and that includes building an organization that can handle the growth. So, what’s most on my mind right now is how to develop management strength. To get this process going, I’ve been asking – what does the org chart look like at this new level? What do we need to do to continue to deliver the best possible client service? In my mind, we need to get the leaders in position. Then they can mold their teams, hiring and training as needed, and identify technologies that will layer in efficiencies.

WiFi is an essential part of our everyday lives in today's interconnected world. You can access free guest WiFi practically anywhere -- coffee shops, gas stations, big-box chain stores -- you name it. Offering WiFi is considered a courtesy to your customers, and in some cases, necessary for vendors or other guests who may be delivering presentations at your office. This begs the question: should you implement guest WiFi at your office, and is it safe for your business network?

Ask Adam what it’s like to work on the Alpha team at Accent, and he’ll say it’s fun. However, as team members joke around, they never lose sight of what they’re doing – solving problems. So when Adam and his coworker Philip were coined the “Adobe whisperers,” it was with a spirit of fun but also out of respect for their ability to solve some very annoying problems that clients were having with their software.

No one wants to pay more for IT than what you really need to, but unfortunately, costs have a way of creeping up if you’re not effectively managing all aspects of IT. At the same time, business leaders are more than willing to spend money on IT if they know they'll get a return on their investment. But how do you know if you're overspending or if you're investing more in the right areas to get better results?

It’s easy to fall behind on the latest technology lingo. After all, new information technology (IT) buzzwords and acronyms pop up on a seemingly daily basis. We’re here to help. We’ve compiled a list of 7 IT buzzwords you’ve probably heard but may not know exactly what they mean, why they’re important, and how they relate to your business.

As cyber risks and the threat of cyber attacks have increased for small and medium-sized businesses, so has the need for cyber liability insurance. Cyber insurance helps you cover costs involved with mitigating and recovering from a data breach. This kind of coverage is not usually part of your general business coverage, and you shouldn’t assume that you’re covered under your managed IT service provider’s plan, because you’re not.

2021 brought some form of normalcy back to the Southern California business climate and, if you’re like many business leaders, you’re happy to turn the calendar to 2022 with the hope that forward progress continues. Whatever your business goals look like for the new year, they’ll need to be supported by a solid business technology plan.

Company password policies may not be exciting (and you likely find yourself frustrated with them at times) but they’re an important piece to keeping company data out of the wrong hands. It seems like a simple step, yet strong password policies and best practices are a huge issue, specifically in the small to mid-size business (SMB) market. Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 80% of breaches from hacking involved lost, stolen, or weak passwords.

If you’ve been following the news, you may have heard about the recently discovered Log4j vulnerability but you may not be clear on what it is and how it could affect your business. We’re here to help. The details are still unfolding, but here’s what we know now.

One moment Eric W. might be responding to help tickets, and the next he could be restoring a crashed email server that brought an entire business grinding to a halt. As a Level 3 Senior Systems Engineer for Accent Computer Solutions, Eric relishes the unpredictability that each day brings.