XFER Blog

Your IT is a big deal, even if you don’t think it is. Managing IT is indeed a substantial and often complex responsibility that can be more extensive than some business owners initially realize. It demands your attention, and not just because you pay for it, but because a properly managed IT strategy can have major benefits for your business. A realistic perspective can go a long way toward setting you up for success. Let’s outline some ways your business can lose control over its technology budget.

Cybersecurity has become a paramount concern for individuals and organizations alike. With the constant threat of cyberattacks and data breaches, it is crucial to have robust security measures in place. This is where cybersecurity consulting comes into play. Below, we will explore the various ways in which consulting services contribute to enhancing cybersecurity.

If your business works with many different vendors, then you know that your vendor management strategy can very much take on a life of its own and spiral out of control. The more time you spend working with vendors, the more time you’re not spending on the actual tasks associated with your job responsibilities. This means that you’re leaving a lot of wasted productivity and time on the table. We’re here to help you get the most out of managing your vendor relationships, as well as one secret that can help you get the most out of them.

Even the most technology-literate of your average employees is not going to have the knowledge needed to manage and maintain your entire business infrastructure, and you shouldn’t expect them to, either. It takes a special kind of attention and training to manage complicated enterprise-level technology, but how can you make sure your business has access to these important resources?

It’s never a good time to deal with budget cuts, and unfortunately, due to its large costs and investments, technology management, maintenance, and infrastructure are often a victim of them. Let’s go over how you can lessen or mitigate the hit you take when dealing with an IT budget cut.

There is an inherent value associated with outsourcing the management of your technology to a managed service provider, or MSP. With your team taking a more hands-off approach to technology, they can instead focus on being more productive. If you’re still on the fence about this approach to technology and business, then we have some questions you should consider asking if you are thinking about learning more about MSPs and what they do.

Let me ask you a question: if you had a toilet that needed repairing, would you rather trust a plumber with a few decades of experience or a toddler that had just (mostly) learned how to use the toilet?

That’s what we thought… but when it comes to your business’ technology, finding someone with experience can be a bit more challenging. Let’s discuss the way that the right IT management produces improved business outcomes.

Hacking attacks can be stressful to manage, but when you add in that they can strike when you least expect them to, it gets a lot worse. You’ll never know how you respond to such an event unless you simulate it and replicate it somehow. This is what the penetration test is used for; it provides your business with a way to prepare for cyberattacks.

How does your company manage its technology? Does it struggle with the idea of managing multiple workstations, server units, networking components, mobile devices, and more? If so, then read on—we have some tips to help you better manage the many different technological parts of your organization.

Data security isn’t the easiest thing in the world to plan for, especially if your organization doesn’t have any dedicated security professionals on-hand. While protecting your data with traditional methods, like passwords, firewalls, and antivirus, is important, what measures are you taking to make sure a thief isn’t just walking into your office and making off with your technology?

How does your business manage its IT resources? Do you have a chief information officer, or CIO, in-house who manages everything related to your technology? If not, who is the one responsible for managing and maintaining your systems? If you don’t know the answer to this question, we have a reality check for you: you need to.

You should never settle for less than the best, especially with your business’ technology solutions. Unfortunately, this part of any company’s operations can be so stressful to manage that people often push IT maintenance to the wayside. So, if your company is not performing maintenance on its technology, how can it remain functional? It’s all about finding someone with the right skill set to manage your technology, something that is easier said than done.

Every business has vendors and most of them take up more time than they probably should. Some of the relationships are pragmatic and fulfilling, but many take up too much time and effort and tend to distract decision makers from focusing on what is truly important within the business. As far as technology goes, depending on your company, you may have a dozen or more vendors contacting you sometimes a couple of times a month looking for you to expand your investment with their companies. Let’s talk about how vendor management can help your business.

How does your business manage its IT resources? Do you have a chief information officer, or CIO, in-house who manages everything related to your technology? If not, who is the one responsible for managing and maintaining your systems? If you don’t know the answer to this question, we have a reality check for you: you need to.

In a world of “as a service” business models, where services are distributed by month or by billing cycle, users are not necessarily buying things outright to replace them at a later date. The issue with this Software as a Service (SaaS) model is that too many of these solutions implemented all at once can create a messy web of software that needs to be managed. How can you make sure that you are getting the most out of your solutions without driving yourself up the wall?

Technology support is a necessity for a business that wants to stay operational. To this end, a quality help desk is vital. Unfortunately, not all help desks have the same level of quality and knowledge on how to best support your business. We’ve put together a list of traits that you should look for when it comes to finding the best help desk support for your business.

Technology management is a pain point for businesses, particularly smaller ones that might not have the vast amount of resources as larger organizations or enterprises. That being said, small businesses have a secret weapon that allows them to compete with larger businesses, and it comes in the form of managed IT services. What is a managed service provider, and how does working with one dramatically change the dynamic of your business’ operations?

Your business’ network is so important that if something were to infiltrate it that doesn’t belong there, it could wreak havoc on your whole company. One way that businesses can get their cybersecurity to a reliable place is through what is called penetration testing. This month, we thought we would briefly describe what exactly penetration testing is and how it can help your business. 

Businesses of all sizes have been able to successfully overcome operational challenges by rethinking and adapting the technology they utilize. Let’s consider a huge example and look at what The Lego Group (as in the building blocks) has done to address some of their technological challenges with improved solutions—as well as how your business can do the same.

For most people, the term tech support is pretty self-explanatory. The terms managed services and MSP… not so much. Let’s go over what makes managed services and what we do as a managed service provider so different from the IT support you may be used to. To start, we’ll review where the idea of an MSP came from, and end with what one like us can do for you.