Education Center

Every business wants to reduce its costs. Over the years, I’ve talked to hundreds of Southern California business executives and many of them are concerned about what they’re paying for IT Support Agreements.

The conversation goes in one of two directions: either their provider is doing a good job, so they feel like it must be easy, or they aren’t doing a good job and the executive feels like they’re paying a lot for little gain.

If you’re happy with your current IT services vendor but it seems like your costs are going up, it’s natural to evaluate where your money is going, and to look for ways to bring expenses down.

Is there a way to reduce IT support contract, or IT services agreement, costs? Here are a few things to dig into to answer that question.

We’re living in a time where cybercrime and ransomware attacks are announced like the next big box office hit. They’re making an impact worldwide, and it’s causing many businesses to suffer downtime, loss of business, and increased costs to recover from attacks.

One of the most common types of scams affecting businesses is referred to as phishing. Phishing attacks are generally emails that entice users to perform an action, like clicking a link to an infected webpage, opening a malicious attachment, or even wiring money.

By now you’ve likely heard about the massive ransomware attack that plagued companies worldwide in May, called WannaCry (a.k.a. WannaCrypt, Wanna Decryptor or WCry).

WannaCry is a type of virus known as ransomware. WannaCry targeted Windows computers that were missing certain patches, or security updates. This virus got to those vulnerable computers through the Internet, or by users interacting with malicious emails. If successful, the malware encrypted files and asked for a ransom in cyber currency, Bitcoin, for the decryption key. It would also install a back door that must be removed after encryption.

In today’s fiercely competitive, technology-fueled world, there is one thing that businesses must provide their customers to survive: a great customer experience.

This cyclical process begins with the sales cycle, follows through post-sale support, and then repeats itself when the customer is ready to buy again. It involves selling more, fulfilling orders faster, and offering the best customer service.

Whether your company has 15 employees or 50,000, it is imperative that your technology consistently works how it’s supposed to. You need a clear vision of where technology is going in your business, and you need to get rid of roadblocks that are holding the company back from achieving its goals.

There are two big things in the business technology world coming up in July – one you’ll need to act on immediately if it affects you and one that you should hold off on. I’m talking about Microsoft ending support for Windows Server 2003 on July 14 and releasing its latest operating system, Windows 10, on July 29.

Let’s start with Windows Server 2003 end-of-life and how that will impact businesses that continue to run it.

Information technology is critical to operations for most companies and has the power to catapult growth when utilized effectively. Conversely, if things aren't going well with IT, powerful business tools can quickly become frustrating and expensive roadblocks to achieving business objectives.

As a business owner or executive, you’re probably investing in some high-tech IT security measures to keep your company’s data safe and out of the wrong hands.

What about the simple, low-tech security steps?

Unfortunately, sometimes people overlook the simple things they can to do to mitigate the risk of someone getting hold of something that they shouldn’t.

The New Year is right around the corner – have you made your resolutions yet? In addition to the usual personal resolutions, such as eating healthy and spending more time with family, I encourage business owners and managers to add a few business resolutions to their list.

Information technology is critical to operations for most companies and has the power to stop, or at least disrupt, business if things aren’t going well. When utilized properly, information technology can give companies a strategic advantage and help them accomplish their business goals and objectives.

Email is an incredible tool for business communication, but do you ever feel like it’s a distraction that’s hurting your productivity?