MSPNetworks Blog

Small businesses seemingly always need to take a long look at the way they do things because they need to be as efficient as possible to carve out a market share. This often means using technology to make everything work. There are many different types of technologies that can help any SMB build more efficient operations, but the two we will outline in today’s blog, are two technologies that are probably doing the most to help SMBs improve. 

Artificial Intelligence 

AI is all the rage today, but unlike a lot of the IT that businesses try, AI is here to stay. There isn’t a technology that has more promise that is already on the market today, and sure, the effectiveness and costs of the technology are pretty variable, but there are some pretty stark benefits for businesses. Here are three ways AI is being used by businesses:

Customer Service Automation

There are several ways that a business can use AI to make their customer-facing processes more attractive and efficient. One of the most prevalent at the time of this writing is through the use of chatbot technologies. Chatbots are AI-powered systems that can handle routine customer inquiries, provide information, and even assist in the purchasing process. This technology not only enhances customer experience by providing instant responses but also frees up human resources for more complex and revenue-generating tasks.

Data Analysis and Insights

Being able to acquire information that allows for better insights and decision-making is one of the great benefits of the digital age. With AI, these platforms are getting better. AI can analyze historical data to identify patterns and trends, helping businesses make informed predictions about future outcomes. This can be applied to various aspects, such as sales forecasting, inventory management, and identifying market trends.

Process Automation

AI can give businesses the ability to automate repetitive tasks and streamline workflows. This includes automating data entry, invoicing, and other administrative processes, allowing employees to focus on higher-value tasks that require creativity and critical thinking. The more you can automate, the more unburdened your staff is.

Cloud Computing

You probably are already quite familiar with cloud computing. Most businesses utilize some type of cloud resource whether that is tied to its data backup, its email, or some other complementary computing resource. Many organizations don’t, however, truly understand the benefits they could be gaining from using the cloud for their organizational computing needs. Let’s look at three major benefits of cloud computing. 

Cost Efficiency

Cloud offerings feature the pay-as-you-go pricing model, allowing organizations to pay only for the resources they consume. This eliminates the need for large upfront investments in hardware and infrastructure. Cloud providers also operate on a massive scale, which enables them to distribute costs across a large customer base. This results in lower per-unit costs for services, making it more cost-effective for organizations compared to managing their data centers.

Scalability and Flexibility

One of the biggest benefits of cloud computing is the on-demand resources it provides. By providing the ability to scale resources up or down based on demand the cloud can deliver the amount of flexibility and scalability they need. This flexibility allows businesses to respond quickly to changing requirements, ensuring they have the right amount of computing power and storage at any given time.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Finally, one of the most important uses of cloud computing is protecting the integrity of an organization’s IT infrastructure. Business continuity is a big part of ensuring that any would-be operational problem your business could run into, and has actions that remedy those problems enough to continue operations. 

The first way that cloud computing influences data redundancy is through the data backup systems. One of the best practices when rolling out a comprehensive backup system is to have a reliable offsite backup. Backing up your business’ data to the cloud is quite possibly the best way to do it. Another way the cloud helps is through its integrated disaster recovery options. In the event of a natural disaster or other disruption, organizations can quickly recover their data and applications, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity.

Technology is a big part of doing business in today’s digital world. Other technologies such as the Internet of Things and blockchain present new ways to accomplish organizational goals. If you would like some help determining how to deploy innovative technologies for your business, give us a call today at (516) 403-9001.

You might be familiar with the concept of hosting a service or application in-house on your own server units, and if you are, you know all about the struggles that come along with doing so. But what if we told you that you can get the same benefits of hosting your own applications and IT systems without the need for any of the bulky equipment taking up space in your office? Yes, that’s right—you too can host your business applications, even if you do not have the space to do so, and it’s all thanks to the cloud.

Traditional Hosting

Small businesses often struggle with the traditional methods of application hosting, and it’s really due to no fault of their own. If you think about small businesses, you might notice that many simply do not have the space to accommodate hosting technology. They also might run into challenges with procurement due to limited budgets, and if they do manage to procure the correct technology, it can be a challenge to maintain it and keep it functional.

One way that companies can circumvent these challenges is by working with a managed service provider who offers hosting services. Take MSPNetworks, for example. Our cloud services give small businesses the ability to leverage the technology without any of the struggles of your traditional methods. Basically, we can host aspects of your technology infrastructure, like your email, line-of-business applications, or Voice over IP telephone system, so that you don’t have to worry about hosting it yourself. You might be surprised by how convenient cloud hosting can be for a business like yours.

Cloud Hosting

We cannot discuss cloud hosting without first discussing the limitations of traditional hosting. It used to be the case that hosting applications on your in-house network would limit how and when you could access it. For example, if you host your own email server, if it’s not configured to allow remote access, you can only access it while on the in-house network. This is why the cloud has really taken off in the business sector; the anytime-anywhere access idea is just too good to pass up.

Most services your business implements can be accessible online via the cloud, and as long as you are working with a managed service provider for your hosting needs, you don’t have to worry about where those services or applications will live. Best of all, outsourcing the hosting and management of your services means that you can focus elsewhere within your organization, like keeping operations running in the most efficient way possible.

MSPNetworks can help your business achieve this hands-off approach to its IT management and maintenance. To learn more about how we can change your outlook on technology hosting, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

The cloud is a great tool to improve the accessibility of applications and data, but with so many options available to businesses, it can be a bit intimidating to get started with it. Let’s go over some of the various types of cloud solutions available, as well as some of the more well-known services that you might find helpful.

Keep in mind while you are reading this that all businesses will have different cloud needs, and as such, no two solutions will work in exactly the same way. We encourage you to reach out to us before making a decision as to what cloud solution you implement, as you will want to make sure that the solution you implement benefits your business as best it can.

The Public vs Private vs Hybrid Dilemma

Many businesses are unsure what type of cloud solution is best for their particular needs. To simplify things a bit, we have outlined some of the most common types of cloud environments. Use the information below to make the most informed decision possible:

• Public: The public cloud involves your organization storing data in its own dedicated part of a public cloud infrastructure. Basically, think of it like renting space online to host whatever you need to be hosted. Many businesses prefer the public cloud because of its ease of implementation, but it is not as flexible or customizable as other solutions out there, as you have limited control over the infrastructure itself.
• Private: A private cloud is a private place for you to store your data on-premises. Think of it as buying out a whole building to do whatever you would like with. Many businesses prefer the private cloud because they can make any changes they want to their infrastructure, including (most importantly) security.
• Hybrid: A hybrid cloud solution is kind of like a mixture of public and private clouds. Similar to the public cloud, you are not responsible for hosting the hybrid cloud solution, but you have just as much control over it as you would if you had a private cloud solution. It’s a great middle-ground for any business looking to implement cloud solutions.

Examples of Cloud Solutions

To give you an idea of what is out there for cloud solutions, here are some of the more popular cloud hosting providers that you might be familiar with:

• Google Workspace
• Microsoft OneDrive/Microsoft 365
• Amazon Web Services/Amazon Drive
• Dropbox
• iDrive
• And many more

While the above are some of the more popular choices for cloud storage and application deployment, we want to urge anyone looking to take advantage of the cloud to do their research and make informed decisions by working with a managed service provider like MSPNetworks. We can help you sift through the options available to you and implement a system that is perfect for your needs.

MSPNetworks can help your organization make the best decision possible for its cloud-based needs. To learn more about how we can help your organization, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Cloud computing has been one of the most utilized tools for business in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it crucial for businesses to give remote access to tools and one effective way to make that happen was to look to the cloud. This has expanded an already booming market and presents businesses of all sizes with the opportunity to get the computing they need without huge upfront costs. Today, we’ll take a look at the cloud computing market and how you can leverage hosted computing solutions to improve your business. 

The Cloud Market

The cloud market was already hundreds of billions of dollars before 2020, but the realities of a global pandemic accelerated the growth of many cloud services. While overall growth might seem a little subdued when you look at the numbers, the percentage of growth cloud computing platforms saw in 2020 makes it one of the most utilized technologies in the world. 

Gartner has estimated that the 2020 public cloud market will come in around $258 billion which is a firm increase of 6.3 percent over 2019 numbers. In a clear recession that is extraordinarily impressive. What’s more, nearly half of all IT spending is now spent in the cloud. In fact, 60-to-70 percent of all new software purchased in 2020 were in the form of cloud solutions. 

A case could be made that cloud computing was COVID Kryptonite and it is actively changing the way we do business. The growth of AI and other automation-fueling technologies will be at the top of most business’ “get” lists as uncertainty takes hold over businesses. 

How Can My Business Use the Cloud?

Your business probably already has invested in cloud services at some point. If you have a hosted email server that you don’t have physical access to, you are using public cloud services. With the uncertainty of business today, with everything that is going on, having control over your digital resources is important.

One of the best reasons to use cloud services is that you can get the computing you need. Do you need a certain amount of file storage? You can get it in the cloud. Do you have a budget that is set in stone? You can find the resources you need in the cloud. Do you need scalable computing resources for specific project needs? The cloud presents a massive benefit for a business with variable user software demands. In fact, today, you can literally get any type of computing that you need in the cloud: from full infrastructures to host your business’ IT environments to software, to security to communications and much, much more.

Your business is most certainly a candidate for cloud services. It’s that simple. You just need some professional insight to help you determine what IT investments would be better off hosting yourself and which are right for the public cloud. At MSPNetworks, we have a team of certified technicians that are adept in the procurement, deployment, and support of today’s most important business technologies. Our staff can help you determine the best places to invest in IT, and how to keep your costs down at a time when everyone is looking to manage their budgets. Give us a call today at (516) 403-9001 to see how we can help you use technology to build a better business.

This is a strange time for everyone. For business owners, it’s filled with uncertainty as many of their businesses have had to shut down in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Others were forced into embracing remote operations. For these companies, their cloud platforms are turning out to be major benefits. Today, we’ll explain why.

Identifying the Best Plan Ahead

A business owner’s priorities have likely changed during the past few months. They’ve gone from worrying about specific problems to being concerned over the sustainability of their entire enterprise. It is important for the businesses owner to stop worrying about how to keep their business functioning in the same way that it was, and focus on coming up with a plan to adjust to the situation they are in and do the best they can to keep operations sustainable and profitable. 

The advice we’d give is to consider a cloud migration strategy. This shift will allow for anytime/anywhere access and will work to reduce your management, support, and utility costs. Furthermore, there are specific tools available in the cloud that can simplify your entire computing platform.

If you are chomping at the bit to move your computing infrastructure to the cloud, you should start by choosing the systems that need remote access. This will ensure that you will have a lot of the most valuable resources for your needs. After that you can work your way onto new workloads. Migrating your business’ computing resources to the cloud in phases will reduce the strain you will put on your staff, as the process of doing so is time consuming. 

As you are doing so, you will need to train your staff on the best practices of authentication, including password management and other security protocols to prepare them to protect your new cloud systems. Otherwise, setting up the cloud is as simple as working with your IT administrator to get the tools to the people that need them.

MSPNetworks can help. If you want to improve your IT infrastructure, or if you are forced into accepting remote operations, give us a call at (516) 403-9001 and our knowledgeable professionals will help find the solution that works for your organization’s needs. 

We hear a lot about the benefits of moving your business to the cloud. It can reduce that big expense on new infrastructure and the ongoing management costs. The cloud can increase the effectiveness of your IT budget. It can add functionality and increase user satisfaction. 

Businesses are rapidly moving all or portions of their IT to the cloud, and for a lot of good reasons, but before you do, it is important to remember the following:

The Cloud Is Someone Else’s Computer

Depending on how you look at it, this is either a pro or a con. If you are hosting your data in the cloud, you are essentially entrusting someone else to manage your data. That might mean that the data is in better hands - a professional data center with top-notch security, climate control, near-perfect uptime, and certified staff to manage the hardware, software, and network equipment is usually a big step up from most small business management.

That said, anyone can sell cloud storage. Anyone can lease out a portion of a data center, or keep a shared server on their premise and sell you cloud computing resources from it. 

Before you pull the trigger, you’ll want to understand what kinds of SLAs (service level agreement) you have, how emergencies are handled, and make sure you are getting the computing resources you need.

Cloud Migrations Can Be Disruptive

Migrating your infrastructure to the cloud could be a fairly straightforward process, or it could require a lot of time and labor. Don’t get fooled by the low monthly price - there will often be some legwork to move the data, configure the environment, train your users, and make tweaks.

That migration time doesn’t mean you don’t have access to your data, but the transition could take time, and anytime users need to change their regular everyday processes, it can slow things down.

When Done Right, It’s Worth It

Today, most businesses can benefit from at least some degree of cloud computing, whether it be some basics like hosted email and document management (like G Suite or Office 365), data backups, or a line-of-business app, to moving most of your infrastructure to a hosted environment.

The problem most businesses run into is when a cloud implementation isn’t planned out properly, or is handled poorly. 

We’d love to talk to you about the cloud. Give us a call at (516) 403-9001 and set up an appointment!

When you look at the cloud service business model, it can be easy to wonder how it is so beneficial to businesses - or really, how it fiscally can be. After all, dollars to donuts, the monthly service charges most likely add up to less than a business would spend for another, comparable service. To understand how the cloud does this, it may help to look at something that often occurs in the office.

Let’s say, ordering lunch.

How the Cloud is Like a Lunch Order

Cost Efficiency

Let’s say you are at work, and you decide you want pizza for lunch, as do some of your coworkers. Now, you could each purchase a slice or two for $5, and everyone would be happy. However, if you bought an entire pizza pie for $15 by pooling your money, there’s a good chance that each person could get the same amount of pizza for a more affordable cost.

This is essentially how cloud services work. Because you are just storing your data, applications, or what have you on someone else’s computer, you pay them rent for the privilege, as well as to support their maintenance of the infrastructure required. Admittedly, this sounds like it would be more expensive than just purchasing and maintaining the infrastructure itself - but there’s a key difference with cloud services.

That difference is you often aren’t the only one using that infrastructure.

Just like multiple people pitching in for a pizza ultimately comes out to be less expensive than each person buying their slices individually, multiple businesses paying to support a cloud infrastructure provides each of them with a better deal.

Reduced Maintenance

This combination of leasing their share of the cloud and contributing to its upkeep also allows the business to avoid large, surprise costs.

Let’s say that, to continue the lunch metaphor, you decide to make your pizza one day, but the dough you bought at the grocery store is rancid. As a result, not only is your pizza no longer edible, you are out the money you spent on its ingredients. This is the same experience of a business that is managing an internal solution and encounters an issue with it. Now, outsourcing your cloud needs to a service provider is more like ordering a pizza out - if there is something wrong with it when it is delivered, it isn’t your responsibility to make it right - it’s the cloud provider’s/pizzeria’s.

Productivity

Finally, just like ordering a pizza, cloud services allow you to better utilize your time to accomplish more. Both making a pizza and (albeit on a much grander scale) maintaining an infrastructure can be time-intensive tasks, which means that either will prevent you from taking care of other matters. Turning to an outsourced resource, like a pizzeria or a cloud provider, means that this time is freed up… which leaves you available to carry out other tasks that could help generate revenue. Furthermore, you will also have more space to be productive, as both can be remotely accomplished and delivered to your location, eliminating the need for bulky (and potentially expensive) pizza ovens/servers.

Do cloud services sound like an appetizing option for your business? Reach out to the professionals at MSPNetworks to learn more! Give us a call at (516) 403-9001.

The cloud can bring numerous benefits to a business. Public cloud offerings can reduce technology costs, provide scalability and flexibility to a business’ computing infrastructure, promote collaboration, protect your business from data loss, and much, much more. What it cannot do, however, is guarantee the control some organizations wish to have over their technology infrastructure. Some businesses prioritize that control, while others are bound by industry and government-induced regulations. For those businesses, there is the hybrid cloud.

The hybrid cloud is a cloud interface that combines the cost-effective solutions from the public cloud with the control and organizational effectiveness of a private cloud. With processing or applications working in each environment, there needs to be some coordination that provides the business’ resources the ability to integrate the two systems. Let’s take a look at the basics of a hybrid cloud strategy.

Public + Private = Hybrid

Some businesses can get away using public cloud resources for their whole IT strategy. Being able to trust cloud services vendors with your business’ most sensitive information is not easy. That’s why many businesses keep that data in onsite servers. If a company has a remote workforce--and, according to the latest numbers, nearly 56 percent of companies allow for some semblance of remote work--the LAN network isn’t going to cut it.

For this reason, the private cloud was born. The private cloud, which is a centralized computing environment that can be accessed remotely, was able to significantly speed up business, but the capital costs were substantial. To reduce capital costs, public cloud services were retained. Hybrid cloud computing was born. Businesses can get the cost reduction found with public cloud services, while also getting the control and security that comes with onsite-hosted, remotely accessible IT solutions. Companies now could do more with less; and, their workers could do it from wherever they are, delivering value all the way around.

How Does It Work?

Since a company’s hybrid cloud isn’t either a public cloud or a private cloud, in order for them to work in concert, there needs to be some coordination. In hybrid cloud computing, an orchestration layer enables users to easily move data and applications in, over, and around a hybrid cloud interface.

What Are the Benefits?

We talked a little about cost reduction, but more specifically it isn’t that at all. It is more of a cost redistribution. In fact, over time, you should expect to pay the same for a private cloud as you would a public cloud service. The effect it has for your business isn’t any less noteworthy, however. Capital expenditures, especially significant outlays that come with new hardware, can vary quite a bit depending on many different factors. This variability is a problem for your IT budget. With a per user/per month solution you can quickly identify what your costs are and predict them months ahead of time. Since you take in new revenue, paying for public cloud resources is easier.

The private cloud’s benefits are easier to ascertain. Having control over sensitive data is always important, but when your customers and employees (and everyone else who trusts you with data) are at stake, it is essential that you have the control over that data. Since keeping this information, and often centrally-used applications that may have some of this data tied to them, out of the public cloud is prudent, the hybrid cloud interface effectively protects the data and applications you need protected, while still providing the access your organization needs.

Are you searching for a solution to your organization’s computing needs? Contact the professionals at MSPNetworks today at (516) 403-9001.

Consultation is something that can save businesses a considerable amount of time and resources. After all, you can’t expect a business professional to know everything there is to know about everything. Professional services, like those of lawyers, financial consultants, accountants, advisers, and marketing specialists, are required by just about all businesses to at least some extent. Suffice to say that each of these specialists has dedicated software and IT solutions that are needed for success.

Software as a Service
The cloud has created a revolution in professional service acquisition, making it easier than ever before to leverage software applications. Software as a Service, or SaaS, is the delivery of software applications through the cloud for a monthly fee. SaaS solutions are typically billed by the user, and they include services like Office 365 and G Suite. Software developers have built services that can be deployed through the cloud, making them much more accessible and flexible according to the business’ specific needs.

Mobile Solutions
Mobility can put businesses in a favorable position, and from a professional services standpoint, it can also create a lot of complications. For example, professional service providers need to consider the federal, state, and industry regulations that might entail implementing more layers of security for sending and receiving certain data. Mobility might create more opportunities to be productive, but it also means that data is being exposed to more threats, meaning that those in professional services industries need to be careful about how it is utilized.

A virtual private network, or VPN, is the easiest way to solve this dilemma, as it provides a layer of encryption that gives your employees the ability to keep data secure while it’s in transit. Furthermore, this frees providers from bringing paper documents with them all over the place, meaning that there is less opportunity to lose physical documents.

Document Management
Access to information is one of the most important parts of running a professional services business. This is true both in and out of the office. A document management system is critical to guaranteeing access to a digital database rather than a filing cabinet, opening up lots of opportunities for accessibility and convenience. You can store files as PDFs in a secure database, and a relational database management system will provide an end user with the ability to search the system for keywords in these documents. All the user needs is an Internet connection.

MSPNetworks can equip your organization with all of the above tools. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

In today’s modern business world, you’d be hard-pressed to find an organization that doesn’t utilize the cloud to at least some extent. Let’s take a dive into how businesses use the cloud to be more sustainable and efficient.

Understanding How Business Computing Has Changed
It wasn’t so long ago that users needed the physical copy of a movie to watch it, but with the advent of streaming at an affordable monthly rate, people are finding that they are spending less money and still getting all the access to movies that they love. The same can be said for television series, as you don’t have to wait for the airing time to watch a specific episode.

This cloud-based model has been adopted by many companies that provide software to organizations. Rather than purchasing licenses, businesses instead choose to pay a monthly fee for each user to access this service through the cloud. Of course, when it’s absolutely needed, the organization might still choose to purchase the software outright, but cloud computing is generally considered the standard.

Why Cloud Computing Is So Popular
Rather than selling consumers installation codes or discs, the cloud enables organizations like Adobe and Microsoft to deliver services to users based specifically on what they need. Here are just some of the many benefits:

• Reduced Piracy: The cloud is able to prevent software piracy simply by making it more accessible. The solutions are better protected by the developer, as the user needs an account to access it. Plus, if users have more access to these solutions, they will be less likely to seek alternative means of accessing it through piracy.
• Reduced Business Requirements: On-site infrastructure also plays a role in how often users can take advantage of software solutions. While businesses would need to implement full-blown workstations in the past, cloud solutions enable workers to access services on any device they own, whether it’s a slimmed down workstation or their laptop.
• Reduced User Restrictions: Users are less restricted by resources when they use the cloud for certain services. For example, the momentary “genius” moment where you’re not in front of a computer won’t help if you have no way to record it. The cloud gives employees the opportunity to take advantage of solutions on mobile devices, making them much more accessible when needed most.
• Reduced Financial Toll: A user might need a large down payment for purchasing a software license, as well as all the services fees required to maintain the infrastructure. Software as a service through the cloud makes it so that software is more accessible and affordable to businesses.

Does your business want to take advantage of software in the cloud? MSPNetworks can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Technology plays an integral part in just about all modern businesses in some way, shape or form. Without a place to purchase devices, however, no one can reap the benefits of them. Some businesses are vendors that provide organizations with these devices. In a sense, they act as the middle man between the producer and the consumer, acquiring devices for sale to businesses and users alike. In this way, vendors are critical for every single business.

There are vendors for just about anything that businesses need, including supplies, equipment, and services. One particularly important vendor nowadays is one that provides cloud-based services to businesses. Since the cloud is much more than just your average utility these days, your choice in vendor will play a significant role in how much your organization benefits from the cloud.

Selecting the Right Cloud Vendor
Doing your research is one of the best ways you can learn more about cloud providers and your specific goals. Once you have a list of your business’ priorities for both the short-term and long-term, you’ll be able to work with your IT resources to ensure that compatibility with the cloud is adequate. This is more involved than you might think. The vendor you ultimately go with needs to provide what you need at an affordable rate, and there should be some kind of consistent service that you can measure. You should also be able to trust your vendors to provide the agreed-upon services in a timely manner, whether it’s for services rendered or for equipment.

How Cloud Services Are Different
Vendors for cloud services are generally held to a higher standard. The data hosted in a cloud-based environment will naturally be at stake, meaning that security is a major aspect that can’t be ignored for these services. Be sure to also consider data access; who within your organization (and without) will be able to access data stored in the applications? Will your vendor be able to access it as well? Following the setup, you’ll have a variety of factors to include in your discussion with your vendors. This might include how important specific functions of your service are, how compliant their policies are, and how much risk is associated with working with the particular vendor.

MSPNetworks can help your business make the right call regarding its cloud services. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

When we discuss our service offerings, we understand that it can all seem like a little much, especially to the small business that - up to this point - has never needed all these fancy solutions to operate effectively. However, there are a few considerations that the business this scenario applies to needs to account for. For instance, is it certain that these solutions are unnecessary?

As it happens, probably not. On top of that, these solutions will only make doing business easier for you.

Apart from size and scope, what’s all that different between your operation and that of a large business? Not all that much - which means that you both are going about business in similar ways. At least, you probably should be.

If you still aren’t convinced, we’ve assembled a few common IT-based tools and solutions and reviewed the benefits each can deliver.

Web-Based Payments
Balancing out all of your business-essential tasks, it’s probably safe to say that ‘collecting payments’ ranks pretty high on that list. Any organization that provides goods and/or services needs to be reimbursed for those goods and/or services in some way if they are going to last very long. Accepting payments online can help encourage this by eliminating the need for a patron to visit your place of business to hand over a check, potentially reducing the time that your invoices are left outstanding.

Of course, to implement this intelligently, you will need to make sure that this is implemented securely. Many security solutions integrate this requirement, so we can help advise you on the right platform to use and assist you in managing it.

Communication
Promising something to your business’ audience is one thing. Ensuring that you can pull it off behind-the-scenes is another. The right technology solutions will help your team keep clear communications with each other, whether it’s a project management system, company email account, or an internal chat interface.

You may be surprised to discover how many time-wasting issues can be avoided just through the mitigation of miscommunication, thanks to simpler and more informative referential information. Progress toward goals, potential and imminent complications, and other key milestones are all made much easier to keep track of.

Social Media
While many see social media as an activity that is inappropriate for businesses, it can actually be highly beneficial to your strategy to leverage it in some ways. Not only can it be a highly effective marketing tool, it can give you some improved insight into what your clients or customers are looking for, thereby helping you shape your strategy.

Then there’s its potential to be used as a line of communication with your audience. Someone seeking customer service would find it easy just to send a brief message to your business on social media, as long as someone is keeping an eye on the account and responding to these messages.

Being too quick to discredit social media can have an impact on a business’ success. Leveraging it to assist your operations can as well, but with a much more preferable outcome.

Cloud Computing
There are many applications for cloud computing that businesses of all sizes could benefit from considerably. The ability to securely access data enables a team to access their data and collaborate on it from effectively anywhere, a highly useful prospect for many businesses. Alternatively, the cloud can be used to host a comprehensive business backup as an ace in the hole in case of disaster.

If you’re reconsidering how you implement IT solutions in your business, give us a call at (516) 403-9001. We can help you shape your strategy to fit your precise needs.

Businesses spend a lot of time thinking about new technology solutions, but new organizations in particular need all of the tools they can get to be competitive in the competitive marketplace. The cloud is one of those tools that will continue to grow alongside your business provided you take measures to keep it flexible enough to change as needed. We’ll help you understand how the cloud can be great for new businesses, as well as some of the solutions you can take advantage of through it.

The Cloud for Communications
All businesses need a telephone system of some kind. The traditional telephone infrastructure used by older organizations got a lot of mileage, but it’s unnecessary for the modern office. In traditional business telephone solutions adding users can be irritating and expensive. Cloud-based communication solutions like Voice over IP allow you to add extensions while taking advantage of everyday features that you would get with a more traditional telephone system. The benefits include eliminating an unnecessary service in traditional telephony while consolidating your infrastructure to use your bandwidth for communications.

The Cloud for Data Storage
The cloud allows for easy access to data storage. This gives your team the capabilities to access the same files from anywhere at any time as long as they have the correct permissions. Cloud-based data access promotes flexibility in devices used for work purposes as well as productivity by enabling employees to work as they see fit. Of course, permissions are something that must be paid attention to, as the more people who can access data, the more likely it is that something goes wrong with it. A good rule to follow is limit data access by user role.

The Cloud for Application Access
Some businesses have critical applications installed on every workstation, but this can be expensive and time-consuming. For one, you have to install this software on all devices they are needed on. This means you need multiple software licenses for each instance of the software running, whether it’s in use or not. Storing applications in the cloud gives your business more opportunity to apply patches and updates as needed, as well as making account management much easier.

How does your business use the cloud to its advantage? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to reach out to us at (516) 403-9001 for more tips on how you can leverage the cloud to your organization’s benefit.