With the ever increasingly rapid advance in information technology, many small businesses in the Austin, Texas area, especially commercial printing companies, face overwhelming business tech problems.
Now more than ever, we depend on technology to run our business (and our lives). When the “Internet goes down,” most businesses are at a standstill until they are back online, costing thousands of dollars in lost productivity and sales.
It’s not just the BIG business tech problems, but things like file access, password protection, being able to print and recovering files or versions of files that were accidentally overwritten or deleted. All of these business tech problems are common needs in today’s technology-heavy enterprises. (more…)
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A business office Move always present a big pain for those involved, but it doesn’t have to be a horrific, expensive experience. The number one complaint from someone who’s experienced a “bad” move is, “I didn’t know I needed to…” followed closely by “I completely forgot that…” In other words, it’s what you don’t do that makes the move a disaster.
To make your business office move easy and effortless, here are the 4 most common mistakes to avoid:
Mistake #1 — Not Using A Checklist
One common business office move mistake is not using a checklist. This may seem like a no-brainer to those who manage projects, but project management may not be a forte of someone placed in charge of your move (like an office admin, or the IT guy). Even those who use a list typically fail to make the list detailed enough. (more…)
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Mobile Device Safety Tips For Commercial Printing Executives
It is safe to say that most executives of commercial printing businesses are tied to their mobile phones. Given the sensitive nature of the customer data they sometimes have to manage and communicate, mobile device safety is very important.
Commercial printing executives sometimes have a crazy schedule, and usually have to deal with the erratic demands from customers who want the job done now, on the fly – even when Print-on-Demand customers submit design materials late, or approve proofs at the last minute.
Mobile devices come in handy for looking up requests for quotes, proof approvals, sending files to customers, and browsing websites. At times, when there is a little break from the hectic schedule, mobile devices allow us to keep in contact with friends and family, buy stuff, and pay bills.
Mobile devices can be a double-edged sword. They allow us to store data, contact information, photos, emails and files; and when we can afford to take breaks, provide a source for entertainment.
They could also be a major source of headaches by exposing users to malicious software.
Not managing their usage properly can lead to situations where all that personal information and valuable data, not to mention the information of customers and partners, could be at risk. (more…)
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How Organizations Can Prevent Downtime And Ensure That Even If Cyber Thieves Keep A-Knockin’, They Can’t Come In
Small businesses and organizations in Round Rock, Texas and surrounding cities can prevent downtime, keep cyber thieves at bay, and prepare for disaster by implementing simple backup and disaster recovery strategies.
A study presented at the International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks showed that small-business networks are attacked every 39 seconds by some type of hacker or malicious software. Thankfully, having the proper firewall and office network security tools can prevent even the most determined cyber hacker from getting his hands on your network. Are your systems covered?
Does your organization have someone looking after the network who knows what they’re doing? Or is the IT position assigned to the so-called “Accidental IT Person” – an ad hoc position taken on by whoever knows the most about computers? The danger of not being able to prevent downtime here is that if this person has a full-time job, perhaps as the office manager, or graphic designer, they won’t necessarily be keeping everything locked down and updated.
A good way to prevent downtime is to have a dedicated IT person on staff, or outsource the task to a local computer service company. By leveraging an IT services provider, you will have access to a team of qualified experts. (more…)
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If your critical 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 read this report on disaster planning and act on the information shared.
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.
This report will outline 10 things you should have in place to make sure your business could be back up and running again in the event of a disaster.
1. Have a Written Plan
As simple as it may sound, just thinking through in ADVANCE what needs to happen if your server has a meltdown or a natural disaster wipes out your office, will go a long way in getting it back 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. If you can afford to be down for a couple of days, there are cheaper solutions. Once written, print out a copy and store it in a fireproof safe, an offsite copy (at your home) and a copy with your IT consultant.
2. Hire a Trusted Professional to Help You
Trying to recover your data after a disaster without professional help is business suicide; one misstep during the recovery process can result in forever losing your data or result in weeks of downtime. Make sure you work with someone who has experience in both setting up business contingency plans (so you have a good framework from which you CAN restore your network) and experience in data recovery. (more…)
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