31478 Industrial Road Suite 200, Livonia, Michigan 48150 sales@xfer.com

XFER Blog

XFER Blog

XFER has been serving the Livonia area since 1994, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Tip of the Week: Methods to Preserve Remote and Hybrid Employee Engagement

Tip of the Week: Methods to Preserve Remote and Hybrid Employee Engagement

With remote and hybrid work models becoming prominent parts of the business world, it’s time to start considering the challenges and benefits that such work can bring about for your own organization. Specifically, you want to examine how engagement is affected by these workplace models. How can you ensure employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention even while utilizing a remote or hybrid workplace model?

Continue reading

Make the Best Decisions Possible with Business AI

Make the Best Decisions Possible with Business AI

AI can have transformative effects on your business' operations, provided you can navigate its various pros and cons. Today, we want to highlight some of the greatest benefits and disadvantages that AI poses for any business looking to implement it into its operations.

Continue reading

How to Ward Against Getting Ransomware

How to Ward Against Getting Ransomware

Every year, there seems to be a notable increase in high-profile ransomware attacks. If you haven't yet devised a plan to shield your business from these dangers, the time to act is now. Luckily, there are proactive steps you can take to reduce the impact of ransomware attacks, and it all starts with preparation.

Continue reading

The 3 Most Essential Cybersecurity Best Practices for SMBs

The 3 Most Essential Cybersecurity Best Practices for SMBs

The misconception that small businesses are immune to cyberthreats is dangerous. In reality, their size and often lax security measures make them attractive targets. The cost of a cyber incident can be devastating for small and medium-sized businesses. It can lead to downtime, reputation damage, and significant financial loss.

Continue reading

Explaining How Opportunity Cost is Not Synonymous with Value

Explaining How Opportunity Cost is Not Synonymous with Value

Sometimes, in business, you will hear about the opportunity cost of a decision. You may not be familiar with this concept that involves the investments you make in your organization's technology. In today’s article, we will discuss the opportunity cost of technology and why that cost may not be one you should be unwilling to take on. 

Continue reading

Five Tricks to Keep Your Tech Secure While Traveling

Five Tricks to Keep Your Tech Secure While Traveling

You or one of your employees may need to work while on the road for many reasons. Unfortunately, this can be dangerous if you aren’t careful. We wanted to take a few minutes to (hopefully) review some security best practices your entire team should follow should they ever find themselves working as they travel.

Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Hover Over Links to Prevent Hacking Attacks

Tip of the Week: Hover Over Links to Prevent Hacking Attacks

The fact is that phishing messages are all over the place. It doesn’t matter if you are a large corporation or a small business with only a dozen employees; the threat of phishing attacks is real and should be prepared for. Thankfully, one of the easiest ways to avoid phishing messages is as easy as moving your mouse. We are, of course, talking about hovering over links.

Continue reading

Printers Can Pose a Security Risk If You Aren’t Careful

Printers Can Pose a Security Risk If You Aren’t Careful

Multifunctional printers can be indispensable business tools. However, they also pose significant security risks, potentially serving as entry points for cybercriminals seeking to exploit vulnerabilities and pilfer sensitive data and resources. Safeguarding your organization against these threats is paramount. This blog post will explore key measures to fortify your networks against printer-based vulnerabilities.

Continue reading

The Right Investments Can Positively Influence Your IT Budget

CutCosts

Managing a budget is difficult, let alone budgeting for something as complicated as your IT infrastructure. Even though IT is notoriously difficult to budget for, it still continues to grow as a priority for organizations. How can you ensure that your budget can keep up with the projected expenses of your IT in the next several years?

Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Clean Your Laptop with These Helpful Tips

CleanLaptop

It might not be as obvious as with a desktop computer, with their visible fans and external components, but laptops also must be kept clean and tidy, free of dust and debris. There is a bit of a different process to keeping a laptop clean compared to a traditional desktop, though, so today, we want to highlight these differences and walk you through how it’s done.

Continue reading

How Has Ransomware Evolved Over the Years?

Ransomware

Did you know that the first case of ransomware surfaced in 1989? Since then, it has grown far more dangerous and common. Let’s examine some of the numbers regarding ransomware and how you can avoid it affecting your organization. 

Continue reading

How Today’s IT Can Help Your Business Operate More Sustainably

sustainable_457082477_400

In 1987, the United Nations defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Today, almost 40 years later, businesses have various options to help promote their own sustainability. Let’s discuss just a few options and how we can help you enact them. 

Continue reading

What Does the Windows 10 End of Life Mean for Your Business?

EndOfLife

After the major flop that was Windows 8 and the 8.1 Update, Microsoft hit a home run with Windows 10 in both the personal and professional contexts. However, Windows 11 is now in a position to succeed Windows 10, and Microsoft is making plans to end support for Windows 10. Here’s what you’ll need to know.

Continue reading

How Business Management Styles Influence Your Operations

Leadership_242949927_400

No two leaders will have the exact same approach to the considerable task at hand, but it can be remarkably helpful to see what others do so you can make better decisions regarding your own management style. Let’s take a look at some specific leadership styles and whether they work well (or don’t).

Continue reading

Devalue your Employees and It Might Be the Last Thing Your Business Does

MadBoss_73699741_400

You don’t need us to remind you that running a business can be incredibly stressful. This stress comes from all kinds of factors, whether it concerns your staff, your management, or even your customers. However, if left unchecked, friction between your various internal forces can have negative consequences on your operations.

Continue reading

How to Install APK Files, and Why You Might Not Want To

AndroidAPK_438638885_400

When you download a program or application to your computer, you must install it through its operating system. The same is true for your Android smartphone, but the file names are a bit different, and the process is a little more convoluted… and for good reason. Today, we want to walk you through how APK files work and why it might not be a good idea to install them on your device in the traditional sense.

Continue reading

It’s Important to Track All of Your IT Infrastructure

TrackIT_301378525_400

When evaluating your business assets, it's essential to prioritize technology. Let's briefly go into the reasons why this is important and explore effective management strategies your business can roll out to improve your operations.

Continue reading

Tip of the Week: How to Make Good Investments in Your IT

SpendWisely_744739953_400

With technology being such an important part of doing business, making the right calls on how to spend your IT budget is important. Before diving into any technology purchases, take a step back and assess your business’ specific needs. What are your goals, challenges, and pain points? Understanding these aspects will help you narrow down the technologies that truly add value to your operations. Let’s take a look at a few technologies that can help a business spend wisely on their IT. 

Continue reading

Why Your Business Needs 24/7 Network Monitoring and Surveillance

Monitor_616073081_400

Do you have the time to monitor your networks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? If not, you’re like every other business owner out there, and if you’re not monitoring your network, you’re potentially leaving it open to a lot more threats than you should feel comfortable with. 

Continue reading

Introducing Microsoft Copilot

Copilot_604736385_400

Microsoft is constantly innovating to maintain its status as one of the world's largest and most well-respected technology companies. One of its prize projects is Copilot, an operating system-integrated artificial intelligence. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss some of the major changes coming to Copilot and how they can improve people’s lives at work and at home. 

Continue reading