As much of the East Coast prepares for the upcoming Winter Blizzard, here are a few simple steps you can take to minimize any damage to your computer systems and data:
Cloud computing is all the rage these days, and while some companies are moving their whole IT infrastructure to the cloud, many others are choosing to streamline their businesses by moving individual business applications.
If you are considering moving any of your company’s software applications “to the cloud,” make sure to consider these 5 tips BEFORE pulling the trigger:
Here’s a question you’ve probably never thought about: If your IT guy went away, would you know where all the passwords, data, software licenses and disks, key codes, and other important information were stored? Do you know how to log into your server? Do you know the passwords to all your employee’s workstations? Do you know where your offsite data is stored and how to access it? Is your network documented so that another IT person could come in and pick up where they left off? If not, your IT guy is holding you prisoner.
If he’s doing a good job, you might not mind too much; however, you should STILL have him or her document your network in case they didn’t show up one day for work. And if you AREN’T really happy with their work and aren’t sure if they are doing a good job, that’s all the more you should have this done.
Occasionally we’ve run across potential new clients who aren’t really happy with their IT guy’s work, but stay with them out of fear. This is NEVER a good reason to stay with your current provider.
If you can’t trust the person with the most access and power over your computer network – the core of your business – you need to find someone you CAN trust. A truly professional person or provider would NEVER hold their client hostage or do any harm in handing over the “keys to the kingdom” to another company. And any good IT firm should be able to walk you through the transition to prevent that person from doing any damage.