SCW Blog

Small businesses rely on technology each and every day to accomplish their business goals, which are largely influenced by the technology that is available to leverage. To continue this cycle, it helps to look ahead and anticipate what will be prioritized next in computing and IT innovation. It appears that today’s businesses are more focused on convenience.

More businesses are moving to mobile technology than ever before, and one of the most popular solutions to this phenomenon comes in the form of Android smartphones. Android devices actually have quite a lot of hidden features that you’ll want to consider so that you can get the most out of your technology. Here are some efficient tips to help you get more productivity out of your Android device.

Intel has had publicity problems in the past, but now things are getting critical. An issue was reported that could potentially cause the processing power of their chips to diminish. What are being known as the Meltdown or Spectre vulnerabilities, have businesses scrambling around looking for ways to protect their data and infrastructure from what is seemingly an oversight that affects most of today’s CPU architectures; namely those that rely on virtual memory.

No technology lasts forever. Your business will need to replace server hardware or workstations eventually, no matter how well you take care of it. However, what do you do with the hard drive of any device that you have to replace? If you don’t take action to destroy your old hard drive (after moving any data off of it as needed), you could be in violation of various compliance guidelines issued by HIPAA.

In order to activate Windows 10, a user will need a product key. In an ideal world, that would be the end of it, but in the actual world, there are situations that will require the most-likely-long-gone product key to be entered once again. For this week’s tip, we’ll go over a way to ensure you never lose your Windows 10 product key again. All it takes is a Microsoft account.

If you think about it, password security is an interesting phenomenon. The odds are that a user knows the importance of using a strong password, as well as the potential consequences of using weak ones. Yet, time after time, people would rather go with passwords that are easy to type and remember, as opposed to adding a few simple security measures.

According to the homeland security adviser to the White House, Tom Bossert, international blame for the global WannaCry attack is being directed toward North Korea. Responsibility for the attack that spanned from May 12th to the 15th of 2017 has been firmly placed on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which Bossert says is in agreement with the conclusions of Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

Cortana is becoming more of a utility with every feature that is added to its capabilities. Fans of Google’s applications will be happy to hear that Cortana can now play nice with the likes of Gmail, Google Contact, and Google Calendar. We’ll take you through the steps to set up an integration between these programs and Cortana.

Business cards have long been part of business etiquette. In the late Renaissance period, visitors were announced with special cards that signified the arrival of the guest and reminding the recipient of their social obligations. The Industrial Revolution transformed these into trade cards, and the professional business card as we know it got its start. Today, the business card is a useful networking tool, even though transferring the information into a phone can be a hassle.

“The elephant in the room” has long been used as an analogy for a blatantly obvious problem that everyone is hesitant, if not unwilling, to acknowledge. Many companies find that they have elephants like these in their server rooms. Today, we’ll discuss some of these metaphorical elephants and how your company can get rid of them.

Mobility is a key to business today, as evidenced by essentially every business utilizing some sort of mobile device in their operations. However, one major consideration that has kept mobile devices from being truly mobile is the battery life of these devices, and the fact that the limited nature of battery life keeps these devices from ever migrating too far from their wired power source. This is an issue that many anticipate that wireless charging technology can resolve.

Your business relies on the Internet in order to accomplish a number of goals, including finding out information about your competition, accessing applications stored in the cloud, and simply staying in touch with your various contacts. However, there’s always room for improvement, and even some of the most simple tips can be a considerable help in achieving your day-to-day goals. Here are three ways you can make better use of your Internet browser.

Downloading an app is a fairly straightforward process on an Android device. Access the Google Play store, find the app, and press install. However, when you first try to use the app, things can sometimes become more complicated as your phone starts asking you for vague permissions. For today’s tip, we’ll explore what these permission requests are actually asking for.

Uh oh. It’s the big day, and you’ve just realized that you’ve forgotten to purchase a gift for a special someone (or twelve). Thank goodness for online shopping, right? However, you still need to keep your digital security in mind as you try to save the holiday--cybercriminals aren’t the type to take a break during one of the most potentially lucrative times of year.

How does your business stay in touch with both in-house employees and clients? One of the ways a traditional business would do so is by using the wired handset telephone, but such a device can’t keep up with the demands of modern businesses. In fact, you can make leaps and bounds by making the jump to a digital voice solution called VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol.

Since many modern businesses rely on technology, it becomes mandatory that they have an idea on how to best protect themselves against the myriad of threats that can be found online. Knowing what kind of threats that you may encounter is key to concocting a thorough cybersecurity strategy.

There was once a time that it was expected that the tablet would overtake PCs as the computing device of choice, but the steady decline of tablet sales would suggest that was a prediction that missed the mark. The question is--why? As it turns out, there are a few reasons that the tablet isn’t performing as expected.

Spreadsheets are excellent ways to communicate a lot of information in a concise format. However, the big problem is that a spreadsheet alone isn’t very visually appealing. To remedy this, you can add other visual elements, like charts, into your Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. For today’s tip, we’ll go over some of your options.

How does your business handle its IT management? It’s inevitable that your organization will suffer from technology troubles at some point or another, and it might seem like you have little control over it at times. However, the way that you manage your business’s IT can have a considerable effect on how your organization functions on a grand scale. What’s the best way to handle something as important as technology maintenance for your organization?

Cortana is a very useful assistant to have around the office, but did you know how useful Cortana can be in other aspects of your life? With football season underway, we felt it was appropriate to share how Cortana can help you follow your favorite teams. Of course, this will work for any sport, and it is a very easy process.