DaaS can assist in providing an end-to-end solutions, including hardware, peripherals, and managed services to simplify and reduce overall IT costs.

When we think of work and the devices we use for work, many of us will readily mention a desktop computer, or a laptop and move on. Not too long ago, the “corporate” way of doing work was to rely on a particular device, say a desktop computer device that had enough ‘power user’ specifications, to ensure productivity. Laptops were not the main stay of any ‘serious worker’ since they were under powered and super expensive to warrant purchasing it for business use.

Today, thanks to cloud services like Amazon’s AWS, Google’s G Suite of productivity apps, Microsoft’s Office 365 and Azure, and the availability and stability of high-speed internet access, it is now possible to offload much of the work that needed powerful computers to the cloud.

That means that no matter which device we use, we are now able to transition work between devices and have the confidence that everything will be in-sync. In addition, it is also now possible for less powerful devices (like a Chromebook, for example) to become much more capable by tapping into file systems hosted in the cloud.

However, according to Forrester Research, about 74 percent of information workers use two or more devices for work — and 52 percent use three or more! To top it off, it is estimated that about 14 percent of employees use six or more corporate-issued or approved tech devices.

These devices include what Brian Hughes calls “the battlewagon” – company laptop, workstation/desktop computer, company provisioned mobile phone, Voice-over-IP (VoIP) desk phone, personal mobile phone, and a couple of tablet computers of varying sizes and use-cases. (more…)

The 10 Disaster Planning Essentials For A Small Business Network

If your data is important to your business and you cannot afford to have your operations halted for days – even weeks – due to data loss or corruption, then you need to have a disaster recovery plan in place.

A disaster can happen at any time on any day and is likely to occur at the most inconvenient time. If you aren’t already prepared, you run the risk of having the disaster coming before you have in place a plan to handle it.

We have outlined 10 things you should have in place to make sure your business or organization could be back up and running again in the event of a disaster.

1. Have a written disaster recovery plan

As simple as it may sound, just thinking through in ADVANCE what needs to happen if, say, your business server computer has a meltdown or a natural disaster wipes out your office, will go a long way in getting things back up and running, fast. At a minimum, the plan should contain details on what disaster could happen and a step-by-step process of what to do, who should do it and how. Also include contact information for various providers and username and password information for various key web sites.

Writing this plan will also allow you to think about what you need to budget for backup, maintenance and disaster recovery. If you can’t afford to have your network down for more than a few hours, then you need a plan that can get you back up and running within that time frame. You may want the ability to virtualize your server, allowing the office to run off of the virtualized server while the real server is repaired. (more…)