SCW Blog

Running a business is rarely easy. There are a lot of moving parts that require attention and there are only so many hours in the day to get everything done. As technology professionals, we often notice that small business owners can do themselves a disservice by not truly understanding their business—whether that be by having delusions of grandeur or by not having the proper perspective that would allow them to do more to build sustained and consistent prosperity. In this week’s blog we take a look at some of the ways that business owners hinder their chance of success.

There are countless threats out there that can leave your business in a worse state than before, including viruses and malware, ransomware, data breaches, and other types of phishing attacks. It’s hard to go about your day without worrying about these types of threats, especially in today’s connected business world. However, the ones you need to watch out for most of all are the ones that are so personal you’d never expect them.

Communication and collaboration tools are central to the success of any business—especially in today’s connected business landscape. More than anything else, you cannot let your collaboration tools put your company data at risk. We have some tips you can use to avoid some of the common challenges that businesses face with collaboration and data security.

Your keyboard sees a lot of use, probably more than any other piece of technology related to your computer. It’s how you interface and interact with it, and if you don’t take the time to clean it up every so often, it’s going to get pretty nasty. Let’s go over how you can clean your keyboard, as well as a couple of tips to keep it cleaner over the long term.

One of the more challenging issues to deal with as a business owner is bridging the gap with your unhappy employees. While it’s certainly true that unhappy employees could be upset for any number of reasons, some of which are completely unrelated to work, there are others that you might have complete control over without necessarily realizing it. Let’s go over how you can help your employees be happier and more fulfilled during their time with your business and, thereby, more productive as a result.

Collaboration is a major part of any business endeavor, and if you play your cards right, you can use effective collaboration methods to improve your company’s productivity and innovation. At the heart of these improvements is technology; the right tools can streamline collaboration and make your efforts much more efficient and effective.

You use your keyboard more than your average piece of technology, and as such, it can quickly grow pretty gross. Today, we want to talk about how you can not only clean your keyboard, but how you can also keep it clean so you don’t have to go through the cleaning process nearly as often.

We aren’t shy in terms of talking about phishing, its dangers, and what can be done to prevent it. However, it can be too easy to focus directly on email phishing and exclude the many other forms that phishing can and often does take.

Take, for instance, smishing.

Modern laptops are great, in principle. Not only do you have a ton of options to get a device that does everything you need, but you get the added benefit of having a portable workstation. That being said, working on a laptop all the time isn’t exactly the most comfortable way to get things done. Fortunately, most modern laptops can easily be used like a desktop PC with just a few components.

Your business relies on its IT, but if you don’t have the experience managing these systems they can do more harm than good. Managing and troubleshooting problems can be difficult for those who aren’t trained and certified, so having access to professionals that are can make a significant difference for your business. In this week’s blog we will discuss the value that having certified IT technicians at your organization’s disposal can have a significant effect on your business. 

It’s more important than ever to know just how much your business currently spends (and should plan to spend) on cybersecurity, both of which can be addressed by understanding the goal of cybersecurity protections and how they affect your company’s defenses. Let’s consider how much you should spend on cybersecurity, as well as what protections that spending can afford.

Businesses are always trying to get the tools they need to do things in the most efficient manner they can. They are under pressure to do so and therefore can have issues when they decide to implement technology that doesn’t necessarily help them meet their goals. In this week’s blog, we take a look at how having the right view of technology can set up some long-term success for your business. 

Hackers and scammers are everywhere and are continuously littering your business with situations that could put its operations in jeopardy. One of the most hacked industries is healthcare, as hackers make a point at going after patient information. Let’s go through some of the reasons why hackers find health data so attractive. 

Much of our blog content discusses the technology used by businesses as a part of their operations, but technology is extremely valuable for several other parts of running a business, including managing relationships with existing and potential customers. The technology of marketing can be remarkably effective for getting the word out about your goods and services, and you will want to ensure your IT is up to the task of managing it.

Today’s business leans on collaboration more than ever. Employees that work together efficiently and effectively can streamline processes and create a lot of positive momentum for a business that includes enhancing productivity and fostering innovation. Let’s go through a few variables that fuel solid collaboration. 

Technology brings a lot of benefits, but it can also cause problems. Small and mid-sized businesses that rely on technology will have to confront these challenges to get the most out of their IT. Let’s take a look at three of the most common technology problems that SMBs face. 

Data is a critical asset for modern businesses, simply because it can be utilized to help improve an organization’s operations in a variety of ways. Let’s explore some of the various approaches you can take to leveraging the data you collect to add value to your business.

Businesses make money by providing services to their customers that bring them value. This business model is at the core of managed IT services, where the offerings are widely considered to pay for themselves, so to speak. Individually, the services might not seem like they would impact your bottom line that much, but when combined, they are a force to be reckoned with.

We’ve all found ourselves in a pickle due to a dead smartphone battery, and if not, you’ve been living with a charger perpetually on your person. What is it that kills a smartphone’s battery so quickly?

As it turns out, a lot of things impact your smartphone’s capability to hold and maintain a charge over time. Let’s run through the list of factors that you could encounter, and how you can address them.

Cybersecurity is a complicated beast. Not only do you have to be sure that you’re protected from threats coming from outside your business, there are also a few very real threats that can originate from inside your business, too. Both are critical to prevent, which can be quite effectively accomplished via a zero trust approach to your security.