MSPNetworks Blog

It’s not hyperbole to suggest that many people in business these days prefer digital communication over the alternative. Smartphones have evolved over time and adapted to this need. That said, using a smartphone to communicate does still have its fair share of unwritten rules to follow. Let’s discuss some of the dos and don’ts of smartphones.

Smartphones and tablets have opened up a world of opportunities for small business owners, allowing them to streamline operations, enhance customer engagement, and boost productivity. Today, we\'ll explore how mobile devices are a great tool for small businesses and the myriad ways they contribute to success.

Accessibility and Flexibility

One of the most significant advantages of mobile devices for small businesses is accessibility. With a smartphone or tablet, business owners and employees can access essential data, applications, and resources from virtually anywhere at any time. This flexibility is invaluable, especially for small businesses that may not have the resources to maintain a physical office 24/7. Whether you\'re on the go, working from home, or meeting with clients, your business is always at your fingertips.

Communication and Collaboration

Effective communication and collaboration are the cornerstones of a successful business. Mobile devices make it easier than ever for small businesses to stay connected. Email, messaging apps, and video conferencing tools allow for real-time communication with employees, clients, and suppliers, no matter where they are located. Collaboration apps enable teams to work together seamlessly on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, building a more productive team.

Marketing and Social Media Management

Mobile devices are a vital tool for digital marketing and social media management. Small businesses can create and execute marketing campaigns, monitor social media engagement, and even schedule posts from their smartphones or tablets. Apps can simplify social media management, while email marketing platforms provide mobile-friendly options for reaching customers on the go.

Data Analysis and Reporting

Access to data is crucial for making informed business decisions. Mobile devices enable small business owners to track key performance metrics and access analytics tools on the fly. Whether it\'s monitoring website traffic, sales trends, or customer behavior, mobile apps can allow for real-time data analysis and reporting.

Task Management and Organization

Mobile devices can serve as personal assistants for small business owners. Task management apps help entrepreneurs stay organized and prioritize tasks. Calendar apps keep track of appointments and deadlines, sending reminders to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. These tools help small businesses operate efficiently and meet their goals.

Customer Engagement and Support

Providing excellent customer service is vital for small businesses to thrive. Mobile devices facilitate customer engagement through various channels, including social media, email, and live chat. Small business owners can respond to customer inquiries promptly, address concerns, and build lasting relationships. Customer relationship management (CRM) apps also offer mobile versions for on-the-go management of customer data.

If you\'re a small business owner, don\'t underestimate the potential of your smartphone or tablet—it might just be the unsung hero of your success story. To learn more about how we can help your organization leverage mobile technology, give us a call today at (516) 403-9001.

Let’s face it; running a business can be expensive, and taking any measures possible to mitigate those costs can have huge benefits for your bottom line. One way companies are minimizing costs is by implementing a Bring Your Own Device policy, or BYOD, to allow employees to use their own personal devices for work purposes. We’re here to help you do so without putting security at risk.

But first, what does a Bring Your Own Device policy entail, and why is it so popular and effective for businesses?

BYOD is More Than Just an Employee Convenience

BYOD, when implemented properly, can give your employees the ability to use their personal devices for work purposes, opening up a whole range of benefits for both the employer and the employee. For the employee, they get to use a device they are familiar with, allowing them to be more productive. For the employer, they save capital by not having to provide employees with technology.

These benefits, however, are only effective when the devices are properly managed and secured. Let’s discuss some ways you can keep BYOD from becoming a liability for your company.

Issues Related to BYOD Strategy

Plan Ahead

Most business decisions cannot be made haphazardly, especially when it comes to technology implementation. You’ll want to take your time and consider the various elements involved with any change to your technology strategy. For example, you will want to consider that your business is working with data, and that data should not be accessed by anyone without the proper permissions; especially on a device that you don’t have much control over.

This is where classification comes in. Assign levels of classification to dictate who can access which data and on which devices. A good rule to follow is that you should work from the principle of least privilege. Provide the least amount of access possible for your staff to do their jobs, and nothing more until it becomes evident that they need further access. The fewer people who can access said data, the more secure it will be.

Be Prepared for Problems

The best way to prevent issues from escalating is to expect them to happen and be ready to address them. You might run into issues with your expectations for the policy differing from your team’s, which could lead to friction between management and your workforce. As such, you need to be ready to respond to situations where your authority and their privacy might clash.

We recommend that you always be transparent with your team about security and make sure their privacy is a priority whenever possible. We’ll cover this topic in greater detail in a moment, but for now, try to make security as easy as possible by providing them with easy-to-use tools like password managers and antivirus to reduce friction whenever possible.

Weigh Privacy and Security Appropriately

Ultimately, the trickiest part about BYOD is managing the balance between security and privacy in a way where your team feels respected and in control of their own technology, not the other way around. Your BYOD policy should maintain privacy without sacrificing security, something that a mobile device management tool can make much easier to manage. This will help to reduce friction whenever possible.

Let MSPNetworks Help

If you’re ready to implement BYOD, we can help make the process easier. To learn more, call us at (516) 403-9001 today.

No one wants to lose their phone, but it does happen. Whether you’ve left it somewhere or it has clearly been taken, you need to know how to respond to this situation. In this week’s blog, we will give you some tips on what to do if your phone has gone missing.

Your phone isn’t just your phone. They contain every contact we have, all of our correspondence, your payment card information, your banking details, and about everything personal you could possibly imagine. So losing it or having it stolen is a big, big deal. First, you should try to find your phone.

Find Your Phone

If you think that maybe your lost device isn’t the result of theft, you can first retrace your steps and have someone try to call it. Most cell providers can help if you are one of the people who keep your phone on silent and play a loud noise to help you locate it. If this helps you find it, great; if not, it’s time to take it up a level. Both Apple and Android offer a location program that can track lost or stolen phones. You’ll need to set up this feature prior to having your phone go missing, but since there is a good chance that you paid over $1,000 for a new flagship smartphone, it should be one of your first actions when you get the phone home. 

Hopefully, after using the find my phone feature, you will find that you left it someplace and can simply go retrieve it. If that’s not the case, you need to take immediate action to keep your life from being upended completely. Here are some things you should do if you find that you aren’t going to be able to retrieve your phone. 

Cancel Your Service for that Particular Device

The first thing you are going to want to do is call your service provider from another phone and tell them the situation. They will work to shut down service to the phone. They will also help you deal with the situation as you will need to get a replacement phone.

Deactivate Your Personal Accounts

You will need to work fast to deactivate your mobile accounts. You can choose to do this individually, or you can use the service on your phone to wipe everything from the device. This is the best-case scenario when your phone goes missing because it removes the possibility of someone gaining access to the accounts on your phone and making your life that much worse. Most mobile platforms back up your data to the cloud, so you won’t actually lose everything, but it keeps that information from being stolen. 

Change Your Passwords

Obviously, this is a time-consuming task, but you will want to go through and change all of your passwords to ensure that there is no unauthorized access to your accounts. While you should be changing your passwords every so often anyway, being forced to is a big deal and will take a lot of time and effort. 

Report It to Authorities

If you suspect that someone has made off with your smartphone, you will want to file a police report, even if you don’t think the police will do much about it. The more information authorities have regarding any crime that has been carried out, the better they will be about prevention in the future. Additionally, if you happen to have insurance that covers your device, many providers will require a police report to be filed. 

Report the Lost Device to IT

If you use the device for work, you have to immediately report the device lost or stolen if it is. Your IT department will then work to shut down access to work-related devices and can actually go so far as to wipe your phone if it hasn’t already been completed. 

Get a New Phone and Move On

It may be a traumatizing experience to lose your device since you, like many other people, depend so heavily on it, but the best thing is to ensure that you take care of a lost or stolen device and then move into a new phone as soon as possible. 

It’s going to take some work, but you will be back to normal in no time. Check back to our blog regularly for useful technology information that can help you manage the technology you use day after day.

Mobile devices demand a special type of attention in order to ensure security. You want to ensure that your devices are protected as well as possible, but you also need to ensure that this does not come at the expense of your employees’ productivity or efficiency. We’ve put together a list of common security issues you might encounter when securing your mobile devices, as well as a couple of practices you can implement to work toward an adequate level of cybersecurity for your mobile infrastructure.

Malicious Applications

Mobile applications will be crucial to productivity with your mobile devices. Just like how laptops and desktops run software and programs, mobile devices require applications for various tasks, including data storage, file access, communication, productivity, and many more. You can usually find these applications on the designated app store for Android or iOS, but you might have to dodge a couple of malicious applications in the process. Make sure you are downloading the appropriate app from a trusted developer rather than a fake, malicious one.

Unsecured Connections

Mobile devices will be connecting to wireless networks in order to dodge the use of mobile data for every little task, but the problem with most public wireless networks is that they are unsecured and susceptible to attacks from all sorts of threats. Even if they are secured, they likely are not secured appropriately, and hackers might be able to intercept or view data traveling to and from your device.

Lost or Stolen Devices

One of the major challenges of mobile devices is the fact that they are… well, mobile, and as such, more likely to be lost compared to your traditional in-house technology solutions. It’s easy enough to misplace a smartphone or laptop, and it’s just as easy for a thief to walk away with it if you take your eyes off of them long enough. 

Security Solutions

To keep your mobile devices from becoming a major pain in the neck from a security standpoint, we recommend that you implement the following solutions and measures. They will go a long way toward keeping your business and its data safe.

• Mobile Device Management: An MDM solution gives your business the power to control app downloads and permissions on devices, all while remotely wiping lost or stolen devices as needed. It makes keeping track of your company’s mobile devices as easy as can be.
• Virtual Private Networks: A VPN is a powerful security tool that gives your mobile devices access to an encrypted connection to your business’ data infrastructure. This means that a hacker won’t simply be able to steal data while it’s in transit, and if they do, they will have to deal with military-grade encryption to make heads or tails of it.

Mobile device security doesn’t have to be difficult; make it easier by contacting MSPNetworks at (516) 403-9001!

Did you know that people tend to spend an average of 3-5 hours on their phones every day? The smartphone might be one of the most useful modern tools out there, but it can get in the way of running your business if you let it. Here are a couple of ways you can get the most out of your smartphone for business purposes.

What Does the Average Smartphone Usage Look Like?

People tend to use their smartphones in different ways, but there are certain trends that emerge. Here are some of the popular things people use their smartphones for:

• Texting (88%)
• Email (70%)
• Social Media (68%)
• Camera (61%)
• News (58%)
• Shopping (56%)
• Weather (54%)
• Banking (45%)
• Watching video content (42%)
• Gaming (41%)

Making phone calls is suspiciously omitted from this list. The study shows that only about 35 percent of users make phone calls with their smartphones on a daily basis. Up to a quarter of respondents claim they haven’t made a call in the past week, and a third of them state that they ignore calls unless they are expecting them. Even five percent of people claim they have never made a call with their current smartphone.

How Can Your Business Use This Information to Improve Your Mobile Reach?

If you want your staff to use their smartphones to make and receive calls, it might be a tall order, to say the least. However, if you want to improve your business’ mobile reach, there are several benefits to doing so. Here are just a few of them.

Improved Productivity

If you can improve employee engagement, you can improve their productivity. Several studies show that work/life smartphone correlation, whether it’s for using personal devices or for a BYOD policy, leads to a 20 percent increase in profitability. Naturally, this is a result of increased productivity. You might be worried about employees spending too much time on their phones, but the fact of the matter is that the numbers do not lie in this regard.

Reduced Turnover

Since phones have become intertwined with the lives of employees and people all over the world, it’s a problem when they are told they cannot use them. While it’s one thing to spend the shift playing mobile games, it’s another entirely to stop someone from responding to an email on their mobile device. To keep employee turnover to a minimum, be sure to place value in your employees as people, and a relaxed smartphone policy can make this more possible.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

People like to stay connected to their services, and if you provide service offerings to customers, they will feel more connected to your business if your employees have smartphones. Most employees don’t mind replying to quick emails after hours; it’s just part of their job. This also helps to create repeat customers and generate more profit.

What does your business’ smartphone usage look like? MSPNetworks can help you take it to the next level. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Last week we took a look at three of the most impressive phones on the market. Those phones all cost a pretty penny. Not that you will get a new smartphone for a song, but it’s just not feasible for most people to drop over a thousand bucks on a new smartphone. Most cellular carriers make it palatable by allowing people to finance the phones as a part of their monthly cellular service, but if you are looking for a strong device that comes in under $500, here are three good options.

Google Pixel 5a 5G

Google has re-established themselves as a player in the flagship smartphone space with their new Google Pixel 6-model phones with a new silicon offering, Tensor. Before they released that phone, however, they decided to release what is seemingly a copy of their last smartphone, the Pixel 4a, to act as their mid-range offering. The Pixel 5a, then, is that device. 

Built on an aluminum frame with a brushed aluminum back and Gorilla Glass 6 front, the Pixel 5a features a 6.34-inch 1,080 x 2,400 pixel OLED display. Instead of Google’s new Tensor chip, the 5a runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G with 6GB of RAM and 128 GB of onboard storage. These specs are almost identical to the Pixel 4a’s, but for a mid-range smartphone it has enough speed and capability to do about anything you need it to.

The camera setup is still extremely impressive—as it has been on every Pixel smartphone to date. The marriage of Google’s stock Android OS (now to Android 12) and the Pixel 5a’s 12.2 MP wide-angle lens and 16MP ultrawide angle lens takes some of the best pictures you can get on a mid-tier smartphone. The front-facing lens is a 8 MP wide-angle offering.

The biggest improvement Google has made over the Pixel 4a is in the battery. This time around the Pixel 5a, has a 4,680 mAh battery that features a 122 hour endurance rating and 18W fast charging. It also features a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and IP67 dust and water resistance. Available in only one color (mostly black) the Pixel 5a is available for $449 from the Google store. 

Google Pixel 5a
Body:  Aluminum frame, aluminum back, Gorilla Glass 3 front. 
Display: 6.34-inch OLED, 1,080 x 2,400 (~415 ppi)
OS: Android 11, Upgradable to Android 12
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
Memory: 6 GB RAM, 128 GB Storage
Expandable Memory: No
Cameras: Rear - 12.2 MP 27mm; 16 MP 119º; Front - 8 MP 24mm
Sounds: Stereo sound
Battery (battery endurance rating): 4,680 mAh (122 hours)
Security: Rear-mounted fingerprint sensor
Miscellaneous: IP67 dust and water resistant
Other versions: n/a

Samsung Galaxy A71 5G

When breaking down Samsung’s A-series devices, it can get pretty confusing. For example, Samsung offers the Galaxy A72, which would rationally be an upgrade over last year’s A71, right? The thing is, that there is no 5G capability in the new A72. The only new mid-range model Samsung gave 5G capability this year was the A52s 5G, which in its own right is a great mid-range phone, but if all is equal the A71 5G brings the most value to the table at the current time. This is because they are very similar phones and the Galaxy A71 5G can be had for about a hundred bucks less.

The A71 5G is built on an aluminum frame with a plastic back and Gorilla Glass 3 on the front. Its 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus display features a 1,080 x 2,400 resolution. The device runs on an Exynos 980 chipset and features 6 or 8 GB of RAM, depending on the model you choose. Both options come with 126 GB of onboard storage and a microSDXC slot for expandable storage. Out of the box it runs on Samsung’s One UI 3.0 operating system which is on top of Android 10, but upgrades to both have it running Android 11 and One UI 3.2.

One place where the A71 5G shows its value is in the camera. There are four rear-facing lenses: a 64 MP wide-angle lens, a 12 MP ultrawide lens, a 5 MP macro and a 5MP depth sensor. The front-facing camera is a 32 MP wide-angle lens. 

The Galaxy A71 5G is obviously 5G capable and comes with a better-than-average 4500 mAh battery and 25W fast charging. For security, the device has an optical in-display fingerprint sensor. Available in Prism Cube Black, Prism Cube Silver, and Prism Cube Blue, the Samsung Galaxy A71 5G can be found online for about $250-to-$350. 

Samsung Galaxy A71 5G
Body: Aluminum frame, plastic back, Gorilla Glass 3 front
Display: 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus, 1,050 x 2,400 (~393 ppi)
OS: Android 10, upgradeable to Android 11; One UI 3.0
Chipset: Exynos 980
Memory: 6-to-8 GB RAM; 128 GB onboard storage
Expandable Memory: microSDXC
Cameras: Rear - 64 MP 26mm; 12 MP 123º; 5 MP macro; 5 MP depth; Front - 32 MP 26mm 
Sounds: Stereo sound
Battery (battery endurance rating): 4,500 mAh (98  hours)
Security: In-display fingerprint sensor
Miscellaneous: 25W fast charging
Other versions: Samsung Galaxy A71; Samsung Galaxy A72 (2021)

Motorola Moto G Power

Motorola has long made solid Android devices and the 2022 version of the Motorola Moto G Power is no exception. Built on a hard plastic frame with a plastic back and glass front, the Moto G Power doesn’t have the build quality of the other two devices on this list, but what it lacks in that arena it makes up for in value. 

The Moto G Power features a 6.6-inch IPS LCD, 90 hertz display with 720 x 1,600 resolution. It runs Android 11 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 chipset. It features 4 GB of RAM and either 64 GB or 128 GB of onboard storage. If these specs seem low, consider that for the price (around $200), you won’t get a better internal configuration for the money. 

The camera setup of the Moto G Power is simple but powerful with a 48 MP wide-angle camera and two 2 MP sensors for depth and macro resolution. The front-facing camera is an 8 MP wide-angle lens. 

The big value here is the battery. With a 5,000 mAh battery and 10W fast charging, the Moto G Power stands up to its name, giving users over 130 hours of endurance for under $200. It has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for security and a water-repellent coating. Available in Flash Gray and Polar Silver, the Motorola G Power is an inexpensive phone that checks most of the boxes users are looking for. 

Motorola G Power
Body: Plastic frame, plastic back, glass front
Display: 6.6-inch IPS LCD; 720 x 1,600 (~270 ppi)
OS: Android 11
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 662
Memory: 4 GB RAM; 64-to-126 GB onboard storage
Expandable Memory: microSDXC
Cameras: Rear - 48 MP wide; 2 MP depth; 2MP macro; Front - 8 MP wide
Sounds: Stereo sound
Battery (battery endurance rating): 5,000 mAh (~130 hours)
Security: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
Miscellaneous: Water-repellent coating
Other versions: n/a

Other Considerations

When looking to get value from your next phone purchase, we’d be remiss not to mention that if you purchase an old flagship, you may get more value than purchasing a new phone outright. Sure, you may pay upwards of $500 for a flagship phone that is a year old, but it is literally half the price of purchasing a new one. 

You can also get a lot of value by buying this year’s flagship model that isn’t the top notch option. For example Apple’s iPhone 13 is much cheaper than the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Google Pixel 6 with their new Tensor chip is a venerable steal at only $599. Either way, finding value in your phone is not all that difficult if you don’t feel like paying over $1,000 (or an extra $50 a month in your monthly phone bill) for the latest and the greatest smartphone.

We’ll wrap up our annual smartphone series with a look at the foldable phones and new form factors that have the potential to change the way we work and play. Check back next week and don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

For the past two weeks we have looked at some of the best phones and some that bring the most value. This week, we turned our gaze to a form factor that is only a couple of years old, but seems to be the future of mobile technology, foldable screens. The different form factors made possible by foldable OLED technology make the future of mobile devices more exciting. Let’s take a look at three of the top foldable devices right now.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G

A couple of years ago Samsung came out with their first foldable device, the Galaxy Z Fold, and while the device itself wasn’t anything to really write home about, it did usher in a whole new era of mobile computing. The Galaxy Z Fold3, the third iteration of the line, is by far the most notable of the foldable devices.

The Z Fold3 is built on an aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass Victus front and back. When the phone is folded, it has a 6.2-inch, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 832 x 2268px display that has a booming 120 hertz refresh rate. Basically they put a high-end, mid-size smartphone screen on the outside cover of the phone. This means that it can ostensibly be used folded up most of the time, but unfolded it gives you a nice tablet-like experience. The larger screen is made from plastic, but it’s remarkable how it doesn’t lose any effectiveness.

The rest of the phone has flagship specs. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chip, and comes with a whopping 12 GB of RAM and 256 or 512 GB of onboard storage. The device runs Android 11, but is able to be upgraded to Android 12 and Samsung’s One UI OS. More and more applications are being designed to take advantage of the foldable screen and the flexibility it gives users.

The Z Fold3 features a 12 MP wide-angle lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), a 12 MP telephoto lens with 2x zoom and OIS, and a 12 MP ultra wide-angle lens. The front-facing camera on the large display is a 4 MP in-display wide-angle lens, while the cover camera is 10 MP wide-angle lens. Overall, the Z Fold3 presents a pretty impressive cache of cameras to do most anything you would need a smartphone to do.

The battery is pretty small at 4,400 mAh, but comes with 25 Watt fast charging to offset the lowly 75 hour endurance rating. For security, there is a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. Other features include a iPX8 water resistance rating, Samsung’s DeX capability and 5G capability.

This ingenious device is available in Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Phantom Green, Thom Browne Edition, and an exclusive Wooyoungmi Edition, the Galaxy Z Fold3 costs nearly $2,000 from Samsung and most major cell carriers.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G

Body: Aluminum Frame, Gorilla Glass Victus front and back, plastic large display

Display: Closed - 6.2-inch Super AMOLED 2X, 120 Hz, 832 x 2,268 (~374 ppi); Open - 7.6-inch Super AMOLED 2X, 120 Hz, 1768 x 2208

OS: Android 11; upgradable to Android 12, One UI 4.0

Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

Memory: 12 GB RAM; 256-to-512 GB onboard storage

Expandable Memory: No

Cameras: Rear - 12 MP, 26mm, OIS; 12 MP 52mm 2x optical zoom OIS; 12 MP 123º ultrawide. Front of device - 10 MP 26mm; Front of folded display - 4 MP under-display

Sounds: Stereo Sound

Battery (battery endurance rating): 4,400 mAh (75 hours)

Security: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor

Miscellaneous: Samsung DeX, IPX8 water resistant, 24W fast charging

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3

Samsung is definitely the leader in foldable devices. As the Z Fold3 is an engineering marvel, the Z Flip3 brings back one of the most popular form factors in smartphone history. The Z Flip3 is Samsung’s best folding phone for people who want both a compact device and a large smartphone experience. The Z Flip3 is effectively a flagship smartphone that folds in half for safekeeping.

The device is made on an aluminum frame, it has a plastic front and a back made from Gorilla Glass Victus. The screen is made from plastic and houses a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display that comes in at 1,080 x 2,640 pixels and sports a 120 Hz refresh rate. Not bad for a phone that folds in half. When folded there is a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED screen for quick view of time and notifications.

The device runs Android 11 (upgradable to Android 12 with Samsung’s One UI 4.0) on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 FG chip. It comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB or 258 GB of onboard storage. For security it has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

The camera on the Z Flip3 has a 12 MP wide-angle lens and a 12 MP ultrawide angle lens, while the selfie camera is a 10 MP wide-angle lens. The battery is a paltry 3,300 mAh offering that allows for 15W fast charging. At a 69-hour endurance rating, the device is at the low end of the premium smartphone market…but it folds in half.

Available in a litany of colors including Phantom Black, Green, Cream, Pink, Dream White and more, the Z Flip3 runs about $1,000 from your friendly neighborhood cell carrier or from Samsung directly.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3

Body: Aluminum frame, plastic front, Gorilla Glass Victus back

Display: 6.7-inch Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120 Hz, 1,080 x 2,640px

OS: Android 11; Upgradable to Android 12, Samsung One UI 4.0

Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G

Memory: 8 GB RAM; 128 GB-to- 256 GB of onboard storage

Expandable Memory: No

Cameras: Rear - 12 MP 27mm OIS; 12 MP 123º; Front - 10 MP 26mm

Sounds: Stereo sound

Battery (battery endurance rating): 3,300 (69 hours)

Security: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor

Miscellaneous: IPX8 water resistant, 15 W fast charging

Microsoft Surface Duo 2

Samsung might have superiority over the foldable device space, but other manufacturers are creating some pretty useful devices, too. Microsoft is one of them and their newest folding smartphone is a big upgrade over the first Surface Duo. Well, it has cameras this time at least.

The Surface Duo 2 has great build quality, what you would expect from a Surface line product. There is no outside display like you would find on the Samsung devices, but when closed there is enough of the wrap-around screen to show the time, notifications, and other information. When the device is open there are effectively two 5.8-inch AMOLED panels that add up to a total of an 8.3-inch screen when it’s completely folded out as it functions with large bezels.

The Surface Duo 2 runs Android 11 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chip and has 8 GB of RAM and can go up to 512 GB of onboard storage. It comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for security. The battery of the Duo 2 is a 4,449 mAh power cell with available 23W fast charging.

Microsoft decided to put a full suite of cameras on this year's model, a feature that was suspiciously left off of last year’s. The rear mounted cameras have a 12 MP wide-angle lens with OIS, a 12 MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom and OIS and a 16 MP ultra wide-angle lens. The front-facing camera is a 12 MP wide-angle lens.

Available in Glacier and Obsidian, the Microsoft Duo 2 is currently being sold for $1,500 online and at microsoft.com.

Microsoft Surface Duo 2

Body: Plastic frame, Gorilla Glass Victus front and back

Display: 8.3-inch AMOLED, 90 hz, 1,832 x2,688 (~401 ppi)

OS: Android 11

Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

Memory: 8 GB RAM; 128-to-512 GB onboard storage

Expandable Memory: No

Cameras: Rear - 12 MP 27mm OIS; 12 MP 51mm telephoto 2x optical zoom OIS; 16 MP 13 mm; Front - 12 MP 24mm

Sounds: Stereo sound

Battery (battery endurance rating): 4,449 mAh

Security: Side-mounted fingerprint reader

Miscellaneous: Stylus support

The foldable phone, or some other form factor using the incredible OLED foldable panels, is definitely not a fad. Once manufacturers can roll out these devices for less, you will see more people snatching them up.

Of the three devices we went through, what was your favorite? Are there any other devices that you would recommend to other users? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and check back to our blog for more great technology content.

Make no mistake, the impact that your mobile device strategy has on your business is an important one. It can make or break your organization’s security, as well as stymie or encourage your organization’s productivity. Therefore, you should do everything in your power to make sure that your mobile device management platform is working to your company’s advantage. Let’s take a look at some of the features that all good MDM platforms should enable.

Even with all of the features that mobile device management platforms allow, there are some that are absolute non-negotiables that your organization cannot afford to pass up. Here are just a few of them.

The Ability to Lock and Remotely Wipe Data

This feature is one that you hope not to need, but this does not make it any less necessary. If employees are to lose devices, or if they are stolen and inaccessible, you need to have a contingency plan in place to remotely wipe them of all data, sensitive or not. Doing so ensures data privacy and keeps hackers or thieves from stealing data that does not belong to them.

Whitelisting and Blacklisting Apps

If your employees are using devices for company purposes, they should not be downloading apps all willy-nilly. Rather, you should have a specific policy in place regarding the use of applications with certain ones designated for work-related purposes. This helps you control the flow of data to external applications and helps to mitigate opportunities for leakage. Furthermore, if you give employees a list of acceptable applications, they can then use that information to find the best solutions for their own specific needs.

Device Tracking and Inventory

Your mobile device management platform should be able to track devices, but most important of all is knowing who is responsible for which device and how many of which device you currently have issued to your staff. This gives you opportunities to collect information on how your devices are used, as well as provides a way of getting in touch with someone if their devices start to show inconsistencies that could lead to security troubles. Really, this just boils down to making sure that you know where the devices are and what they are used for.

Enforcement of Security Features

Your mobile devices should be protected in as many ways as possible with proper passwords being the absolute bare minimum. In fact, we recommend that you also implement some type of multi-factor authentication, such as biometric authentication, whenever possible, as well as powerful encryption tools that keep the data found on mobile devices as secure as possible.

If your organization wants to take its mobile device management to the next level, we recommend working with MSPNetworks to establish your needs. We can then work with you to ensure your business is taking all of the appropriate steps forward with its mobile device strategy. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

It’s no surprise that mobile technology has infiltrated the workplace in more ways than one. Many businesses issue company-owned devices to their employees to get work done while out of the office, while others allow employees to bring their own devices, or use their own laptops and smartphones for fulfilling their day-to-day duties. That being said, it’s important to remember that mobile devices need to be managed in a very specific way to maintain security.

Let’s discuss how your business can manage the benefits of mobile devices in the workplace without sacrificing security.

Remote Wiping

Let’s say that one of your employees goes on a business trip and they set their briefcase down for a moment while they order a cup of coffee or some other task. When they return, the briefcase is gone, along with any devices that were in it. Besides scolding the employee for their negligence, your first thought might drift to the question of “What about the data found on that laptop?” What might the thief do with such data? The possibilities should have you concerned. Should you fail to recover the device, you will want the capabilities to remotely wipe the device of any and all sensitive data. This is to ensure that hackers don’t make use of it against your organization and to comply with various data privacy regulations. While it might stink to lose the device and have to replace it, it would stink more to have that data fall into the wrong hands.

Whitelisting and Blacklisting Applications

Some smartphone and desktop applications will be more secure than others, meaning that you will need to be extra cautious in what you allow applications to access on your devices. While we encourage all users to pay attention to what permissions are granted to applications, this is especially important for businesses. You should have the capabilities to whitelist and blacklist applications based on their potential merits or risks, thus keeping your devices (and data) as secure as possible.

Managing and Tracking Devices

Finally, you will want to consider a method for keeping track of any and all devices used to access your organization’s data. This includes any company-issued devices and employee-owned devices used for work purposes. You want to know who has which device at any given time, when that device was issued, what the employee is using the device for, etc. All of this helps you keep track of devices so that you can be sure they are being used effectively and, most important of all, safely.

Implement a Mobile Device Management Policy

If you want a comprehensive all-in-one policy to keep track of your company’s mobile devices, look no further than mobile device management from MSPNetworks. We can help your business stay on top of its mobile devices and reinforce best practices at every turn. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Few technologies in our time have been as anticipated as the fifth generation of wireless communications. 5G, as it is colloquially known, is promising to bring a whole new level of automation to society and business. One place 5G is sure to make big waves is with the Internet of Things, the billions of smart devices and services that are increasingly being leaned on as a new economy emerges. Today, we will take a brief look at 5G’s current state, its capabilities, and what it means for the future of the Internet of Things.

5G at the Start of 2021

5G has been used in marketing for several years now, but it was only in 2020 that any telecoms started pushing out the technology. There are three major benefits of 5G:

1. Lower latency - The technology promises to basically eliminate the latency issues people have with their wireless cellular applications.
2. Increased rates - Faster wireless speeds allow data to be transmitted, providing users with content quicker. 
3. Enhanced capacity - As 5G grows, more devices will be able to be connected, meaning more can be done.

As with every upgrade made to cellular networks, it takes some time to implement as telecoms need to put the infrastructure in place and manufacturers need to create devices that support this new technology. 

What 5G Means for IoT

The Internet of Things has been growing and growing for years now. Some estimates put the total number of “things” on the IoT at about 26 billion in 2020. With technology that will allow tools to operate with virtually no latency, IoT devices can be developed to do many things that aren’t possible with 4G LTE, the cellular platform that is used by most users today. Since the viability of Internet of Things devices is tied to how they perform, the lack of latency and the increased speed is going to help developers produce devices around consumer’s lives more accurately and proficiently than ever. With 5G speeds, which are reported to be up to 7.5 Gbps or about .94 gigabytes per second. To put that in perspective, users could potentially download an average 1080p movie in about 8 to 10 seconds. This means major changes for society. Here are a few examples of how 5G is going to change the way we look at IoT devices:

1. Manufacturing - Business is going to change precipitously, but no industry will see the gains that manufacturers will. The low-latency, high-speed connections means that business can happen in virtual real time, with massive amounts of data processed and rendered to make decision-making simpler and a more dynamic process. This means quality control, procurement, distribution, and customer relationship management all improve as smart technology actively tracks and reports data at remarkable speed. 
2. Supply chain - Today, supply chain management requires a lot of oversight. IoT has been slowly being deployed to make this process more efficient, but with the 5G connectivity and reporting issues that today’s smart devices have, it will improve a business’ ability to manage their supply chain effectively. 
3. Municipal - One of the most interesting ways that IoT is being deployed is as automotive triggers for municipal services. With the implementation of 5G and IoT, you will begin to see “smart cities” developed where essential utilities such as water, sewer, traffic, and electricity are all managed through the use of IoT devices that modulate the need for changes to these systems with very little human oversight: saving taxpayers gobs of cash. 
4. Autonomous vehicles - One of the most pronounced IoT devices being tied to a 5G upgrade are autonomous vehicles. This not only includes taxis and other car services, it includes the multi-billion-dollar shipping industry. A lot of information goes into making an autonomous vehicle safe for road use, and with 5G you will finally have the speed and reduction of latency to make it a viable situation.
5. Healthcare - In healthcare, 5G will make healthcare more efficient by being able to handle the enormous amount of data that is sent and received. Today, these systems are useful but are often marginalized by the speeds and latency of modern Internet connections. With gigabit speeds and very little perceptible latency, you will begin to see that all information that is needed for every patient is there on demand. 

The Internet of Things and 5G are two emerging technology trends that look as if they will improve our society. What do you think? Do you think that the convergence of these two technologies means as much as it seems to? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and stop back at our blog for news and insight about today’s (and tomorrow’s) information technology.

Think about how happy you are when you first get your new phone. If you are like most of us you can’t keep your hands off of it. You try all the new features out and mutter to yourself, “wow, this is so cool”. The enthusiasm that people have for their new mobile devices can be a major benefit for the company they work for, too. Today, we are going to discuss how, with all the features and powerful computing power, you can work effectively on your smartphone.

Select the Right Apps

The main benefit of a mobile device, beyond the mobility, is that the software that runs on the machine is already in one, easy-to-use, place. Every smartphone runs off of mobile apps, that you can find on the mobile app store provided by the operating system. For Android apps, there is the Google Play Store, and for iOS apps, there is the Apple App Store. Any type of productivity software you may need can be downloaded for free from those stores. 

To use your smartphone as a productivity tool you will want to eliminate most of the distractions. 

Apps, while being essential for mobile device productivity, can also present monumental distractions. The app store itself can be a distraction as you can literally spend hours scrolling through apps looking for the right one for you. You will want to eliminate a lot of the apps that could cause you distractions and prioritize apps that will assist your productivity. 

Once you have the apps downloaded, you will then want to arrange the apps on the device in a manner that makes it simple for you to navigate to the apps that you need. For example, you can group communications apps together to keep them in one place rather than have them strewn about the device. 

Disable Certain Notifications

While there are notifications that can be very useful, they can also be the most distracting. By turning off notifications to apps that may not have any value, you can really eliminate one potential distraction. Since focus on a task is essential to produce the best results, you can really do without that Facebook notification telling you four people you barely know have a birthday today.

Update Software Regularly

Apps are software. Like the software on your PC, your apps need to be updated and patched regularly as to avoid serious security and privacy concerns. Moreover, mobile app updates often come with useful new features. These updates are usually handled automatically, but it’s good practice to check to make sure that your apps are up-to-date and secure. 

For more great tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your technology, subscribe to our blog today.

Today is the first day of the third decade of the 21st century. For some, it’s just another year, but for others it seems almost impossible that we’ve reached this point without floating cars and manned missions to Jupiter. Fifty years ago, some of the technology that is used in the course of doing business was simply fiction or conjecture. We thought it would be neat to take a look at some of the technological changes made since 1970.

Using our time machine, we want to travel through time to identify some technologies that have been invented in the past 50 years. The microchip (microprocessor) was invented in 1959, so that doesn’t quite fit the criteria of our list. Multi-location networking was also a thing as the ARPANET had just rolled out the year before. These technologies were the predecessors for some of the best tech we’ve seen developed over the past 50 years.

We start in the 1970s... 

1970s

Like most of society, the technology world was changing rapidly in the early 1970s. In quick succession, computing went from something that businesses and individuals only thought of in passing to a revolution that could change the world. New technologies that we would laugh at today were just reaching the market. Here is a brief list of some of the technologies that debuted in the 1970s:

• Automated Teller Machine (ATM) - Introduced automated banking.
• Intel 1103 memory chip - It was the first memory chip produced by Intel that introduced their dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). 
• Intel 4004 microprocessor - Intel also released the very first microprocessor.
• Email - The first emails were introduced and sent over the ARPANET.
• Xerox Laser Printer - The Xerox 9700, the first laser printer was developed.
• SuperPaint - The first computer used for digital imaging manipulation was introduced.
• Mobile Networking - ARPA developed the first wireless network out of a van in San Francisco and tested out early versions of VoIP. 
• The First Cell Phone - Motorola introduced the cell phone in 1973.
• Groundwork for the Internet - European researchers created “networks of networks” in a process called internetworking.
• Local Area Networks (LAN) - Using ethernet, Xerox created the first commercial LAN. IBM and Datapoint also introduced solutions.
• First Mass Storage - IBM introduces their 3850 mass storage system. It stored up to 236 GB of data. 
• Business Networks Expand - Packet-switched business networks like CompuServe, Telenet, and Tymnet are introduced, connecting business terminals to servers. 
• PC Wars - Apple’s first commercial personal computer, the Apple II was released in 1977 as were the Commodore PET, and the Tandy/Radio Shack PC called the TRS-80. 
• LaserDisc - The forerunner to the CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray disk, the LaserDisk was expensive, but offered superior audio and visual quality than the tape-based systems of the time. 
• WordStar - One of the most popular word processors of the early PC age. 
• Introduction of Online Services - Services such as MicroNet (also known as CompuServe Information Service) and The Source started what could be described as a precursor to the Internet. These services provided early versions of what you would find with AOL and Prodigy in the early 90s. 
• Business PCs - VisiCalc, a software that automated the recalculation of spreadsheets effectively turned the growing PC market into a business PC market overnight. 
• The First Malware - In 1979 the first Internet worm was created as a way to search for idle processors on the ARPANET. 

1980s

After the immense amount of technological invention in the 1970s, innovation was the name of the game going forward. In the 1980s, many of the systems that were lauded as revolutionary got a new look, and many of the technologies expanded, especially for businesses. Here are some of the computing technologies that were introduced--or improved upon--in the 1980s:

• 3½-inch Floppy Disk Drive - There was a 5½-inch disk drive, there was a 3-inch, 3¼-inch, and the 3.9-inch floppy drive, but Sony developed the 3½-inch drive that Hewlett-Packard started putting in their PCs. It quickly grew to become the standard. 
• Hard Disk Drive for Microcomputers - Seagate Technology’s ST506 was the first hard disk drive created for microcomputers. The drive held 5 MB of data, five times your average floppy disk. 
• Business Workstations - Both Apollo and Sun Microsystems created hardware that would run resource-intensive graphics programs used for engineering and scientific research. 
• MS-DOS - Microsoft Disk Operating System, or MS-DOS, was released for IBM computers. 
• Lotus 1-2-3 - The first software suite that offered a word processor, spreadsheet program, and a database. It helped businesses get the tools they needed in one single software suite. 
• Apple Lisa - The first personal computer that came with a functioning graphical user interface (GUI).
• Bernoulli Box - The Bernoulli Box was the first hard drive that was removable. Disks ranged from 5MB to 230MB.
• CD-ROM - The CD was already catching on in the mid-1980s when the CD-ROM, a construct that could store 550MB of data caught on and was the standard for years to come.  
• Apple Macintosh - Apple’s Macintosh was the first mainstream mouse-driven computer, that came equipped with several applications that set the standard for personal computing of the time including MacWrite (first to use WYSIWYG) and MacPaint, which was the first mouse-based drawing program. 
• Flash Memory - Flash memory, which can be quickly erased and written over several times was invented in a Toshiba lab.
• PC Limited - Michael Dell dropped out of school to focus on a business where he built IBM-compatible computers from stock components. It soon became one of the most successful computer retailers in the world. 
• The Internet - U.S. Internet protocols are improved by the formation of NSFNET, the last step in what would become the Internet. 
• GSM Standard - Setting a standard for mobile networks, and introducing text messaging, the mobile revolution started in the late 1980s in Europe. 
• Computer Fraud and Abuse Act - The result from Robert T. Morris sent a nondestructive worm through the new Internet causing major damage. He was tried and convicted and had to serve community service for hacking the Internet.
• Macintosh Portable - It may not have sold well or been a success by any measure, but it did start computer manufacturers in their quest to build portable computers; something most users today completely appreciate. 

1990s

The 1990s saw a complete shift in the way that people used technology. Businesses, schools, and home users increased their use of computing technology and the growth of the Internet, which brought with it extreme prosperity followed by a crash that threatened the economies of some of the most technologically-savvy countries in the world. Here is a look at some of the technologies introduced in the 1990s.

• High Performance Computing and Communication Act - The U.S. Congress created the National Information Infrastructure that spent nearly a billion dollars on various networking initiatives that were aimed at improving commercial and individual access to the Internet. 
• NSF Lifts Internet Restrictions - Soon after the National Science Foundation (NSF), the entity that oversaw the modern Internet, removed its restrictions, giving businesses and individuals access to Internet-based materials. At this time the Internet service provider (ISP) is introduced as well.
• JPEG - The JPEG compression standard for images was introduced. 
• Solid State Drive - The first commercially available solid-state drive was introduced by SunDisk (today SanDisk).
• Personal Data Assistant - Before there was Siri and the Google Assistant, there were devices that aimed to help people keep organized. Apple’s Newton and Palm’s Pilot are two examples of mobile computing platforms aimed to help users.
• Intel Releases Pentium - Pentium was the fifth generation of the “x86” line of microprocessors. The new processors made programs run faster as multi-instructional computing became more necessary. 
• Microsoft Windows NT - It was the first 32-bit version of Windows, making it a powerful option for IBM and IBM-compatible machines. 
• Mosaic - The first true Internet browser, it had provided users a new level of access to Internet resources. 
• The First Online Ads - As people started to join the “world wide web” en masse, online ads were a rare occurrence. As you know, today, the Internet is one large billboard.
• CompactFlash - SanDisk introduced flash disks which were then incorporated into many consumer and professional electronic devices. 
• Zip Disk - Understanding the need for more data storage, Iomega introduced the Zip Disk that provided users the ability to get 100MB of storage on a disk not much bigger than the standard 3.5-inch disks that had become standard. Over time Zip drives could store up to 2GB before the technology became antiquated.
• Browser wars - Half of Mosaic's team broke off and started Netscape, while Microsoft used the source code of the Mosaic browser to create their Internet Explorer browser. The two browsers went head-to-head. Netscape thrived for a short time, but since IE was shipped with every Windows OS, it was hard for them to compete. Today, Microsoft has scrapped IE and features the Edge browser, while Netscape failed and became the basis for Mozilla’s Firefox browser that is still popular today. 
• The ThinkPad 701C - Manufacturers had been trying to make a laptop computer for several years, but the ThinkPad 701 gave users a full desktop experience in a portable machine. 
• Java - Sun Microsystems introduced Java, which let a program run on any system, opening up development for modern PCs from just the major players in computing. The language JavaScript was developed at the same time, but stands independently despite sharing the same handle. 
• Online Services - AOL, Prodigy, and CompuServe had been the major players for much of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, giving users a “walled garden” experience of the web, but with the development of Microsoft Network (MSN) it opened up the web much more to the end user.
• Windows 95 - The first modern OS that focused on an Internet-connected experience. It also introduced the concept of plug and play, a great innovation for allowing peripherals to connect without having to initiate setup from a driver disk. 
• CD-RW - An optical disk used for data storage and could be written and written over several hundred times; a feature not many people actually took advantage of.
• Visual Studio - Programming new software became big business and essential to the sustainability of new web-based platforms. Visual Studio 97 helped push this along. 
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act - A law passed by the U.S. congress that began to crack down on the sharing of copyrighted intellectual property over the Internet.
• Wi-Fi - The establishment of Wi-Fi expanded the ability for computers to access networks and the Internet without wires.

2000s

As the millennium approached there were fears that the software developed wouldn’t work when the calendar changed. Millions of dollars were spent ensuring the world wouldn’t stop. After Y2K (as it was called), the 2000s would produce some of the most amazing technology the world had ever seen; and, would change the way people look at the world, forever. Let’s take a look at the list:

• The Camera Phone - Japanese manufacturer SoftBank introduced the first cellular phone with a built-in camera. 
• USB Flash Drive - The USB flash drive, jump drive, or memory stick was just a way for people to take data on the go, but it has turned out to be the basis of many other technologies as well. 
• BitTorrent - A peer-to-peer file sharing service that allows users to upload and download files, typically media. It has seen controversy as lawyers of the music and movie industry have claimed that BitTorrent facilitates the theft of their clients’ intellectual property. 
• iTunes - iTunes introduced the sale of new music through a digital medium. Unlike the peer-to-peer sharing, iTunes was set up as a store for music. 
• Myspace - Myspace might not have been the first or the largest social network, but it was the most important in the early 2000s. Facebook soon entered the market and is now one of the world’s most important and divisive companies. 
• Google - Google’s IPO was a seminal moment for the Internet as we know it. Already a popular search engine, Google cracked the code for how to monetize search results online. Today, it is one of the largest, and most lucrative companies in all of tech.
• AWS Cloud Services - The retail giant Amazon launched its Amazon Web Services providing companies the computing hardware they need in the cloud. Services like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure followed. 
• Netflix - A streaming movie service that has changed the way people look at media. 
• Apple iPhone - In what was one of the most important technology inventions in decades, Apple released the iPhone, which may have not been the first smartphone, but it sure seems like it was.
• Bitcoin - The first cryptocurrency was the result of a blockchain created by a person (or people) that goes/go by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Releasing the source code as open-source software has resulted in thousands of other cryptocurrencies, as well as many innovations using the blockchain ledger technology.
• BDR - Before backup and disaster recovery, there was mostly tape. When the cloud-based network-attached storage solutions came to be, businesses had a better solution to protect their data. 

2010s

The more that technology was innovated upon, the less was going into developing new technology. After the launch of the iPhone, there was a definite trend in the way that people began to look at their tech. If it wasn’t mobile or simple to use, it had no function. Let’s take a look at how those ideas came to pass in the 2010s:

• IBM’s Watson - The world was introduced to Watson when the AI defeated some of the very best humans at Jeopardy! Unfortunately, that is the end of lots of people’s exposure to Watson. Watson has subsequently been used in several fields to improve efficiency, education, cooperation and more. 
• Apple iPad - Just as they did with the iPhone, a few years later Apple introduced the iPad. The tablet computer that was completely touchscreen and used the same App store found on the iPhone was the beginning of one of the largest consumer electronics booms since the advent of the TV. 
• Adobe Creative Cloud - Just as Amazon Web Services and Azure provide virtual hardware services, Software as a Service (SaaS) started to expand rapidly at the beginning of the last decade. One title (of the many) was Adobe Creative Cloud, which gives users access to all the creative Adobe software through a monthly subscription service. 
• Arab Spring Protests - For the first time in human history, social media became the center of a series of organized protests that resulted in regime change, election transparency, and more. 
• Spotify - A music streaming service competes directly with other streaming services like Google Play Music, iTunes, and more. This Netflix-style model is proving to be a huge selling point for users.
• The Internet of Things - Smart devices started popping up quickly and with exponential growth now find themselves almost everywhere. 
• Virtual Assistants - Using AI, the development of Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Google Assistant have started integrating technology into moment-to-moment situations.
• Ransomware - A devastating strain of malware that locks down a user’s files and demands a ransom payment. It has affected millions of users, thousands of businesses, and some municipalities.
• Net Neutrality and Its Repeal - Trying to find an equitable arrangement on who controls the Internet has been nothing but contentious over the past decade. As it stands today the ISPs hold the power, but for much of the past decade the FCC did. Stay tuned.

Technology has come a long way in the past 50 years, and it will be interesting to see where it goes in the next 50. Is there anything we missed? If so, share it with us in the comments section below. Happy New Year! 

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.

While smartphones and tablets can help businesses quite a bit, they can also be quite detrimental to their success. If you can get past the issues related to employees bringing their own devices to the workplace, then you’ll be able to save a considerable amount of time and resources on device procurement, but you certainly want to make sure you have a mobile device management policy put in place first.

Mobile Device Management in a Nutshell
Mobile Device Management, or MDM, allows your employees to use their mobile devices for work purposes, but without the many risks associated with doing so. It does this by using encryption, giving an administrator control over who accesses what information based on pre-established roles and permissions. This basically gives your employees the freedom to use their devices for work purposes, minus the frustration that it causes for you. This keeps your data as secure as possible while maintaining employee freedoms. Businesses that have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy generally take advantage of MDM as part of it.

What MDM Allows
MDM allows for several benefits that are great for businesses looking to save money and keep their devices secure:

• Cost Effectiveness: The fewer devices you have to purchase for your employees, the more you’ll save in procurement. If you go the route of BYOD, an MDM can alleviate some of your concerns regarding this.
• Management Capabilities: MDM gives your business the ability to oversee the security of any employee device, even remotely. This can help to make sure that a device doesn’t bring a threat home to the network unknowingly. It also gives your administrators the ability to make sure work-related applications are installed and configured properly. Admins also have the power to block any distrust worthy apps or users, as well as remotely wipe any lost BYOD devices to keep them from being used to access company data.
• Improved Compliance: Some industries have specific standards that must be met in order to avoid repercussions or comeuppance. MDM solutions are all about maintaining compliance with these standards. This gives businesses an advantage if they ever encounter a data breach.

To learn more about how MSPNetworks can help you with MDM, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.