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What is a Solid State Drive? First, it helps to have an understanding of what a hard disk drive is (HDD), which are commonly used to store data. HDDs have rotating metal platters on the inside and a mechanism for reading and writing data to those disks. Each time data is written or read from the drive, the computer needs to spend a moment spinning up these disks and seeking the data needed, a process that can take a short amount of time. Solid state drives, on the other hand, have no moving parts that are prone to breaking down. They use flash memory to store data to the device, and since they don?t require motion to seek, store, or write data, they tend to operate at much faster speeds. Why Use One Over a Hard Disk Drive? There are several reasons to use an SSD over an HDD. Here are just a few of the most notable reasons: Faster boot times – If you store your operating system on an SSD, it will load much faster, allowing you to get more done, more quickly. Faster application access – Your applications will load much faster if they are stored on an SSD. Less noise – SSDs make much less noise because they don?t have moving parts on the inside, and they are much more efficient energy-wise. SSDs are great for their price point – While they are still more expensive than your average HDD, an SSD is affordable enough that it is worth the investment if you can manage it. Is a Solid State Drive Right for You? We won?t beat around the bush. If you have the funds to invest in SSDs for your workstations, the benefits are just too good to pass up. Not only are they faster and more reliable, but they are more accessible today than they have ever been before. If you want to implement solid state drives for your business, look no further than White Mountain IT Services. Our trusted technicians will work to acquire only the best and most reliable technology solutions on the market for your business. To learn more about how we can help you improve operations and reliability through the use of technology, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
3 Questions You Can Ask Your Employees About Your Technology There are many questions you can ask your employees, but most of them will fall into the below categories. They don?t have to be terribly specific, and you don?t have to know what exactly you are looking for in a response, but it will help that your employees know you are seeking to improve their working conditions. What Works for You Right Now? Sometimes it?s helpful to know what is working well for your employees. If you know what works well, you can use this feedback to consider other solutions that will provide a similar level of satisfaction. For example, if your employees marvel at the speed of your Internet connection, you can interpret this as, ?I like it when the technology I work with is fast and responsive.? You can then apply this broad interpretation to other areas of your IT infrastructure. What Challenges Do You Face? Unless you are on the frontlines working alongside your staff, you likely have a much different view of the business. You might see analytics and processes, but not necessarily how these processes work in practice. Asking your employees questions that prompt them to consider the issues they encounter in their day-to-day duties and responsibilities will give you an idea of what needs to be resolved. What Would Make Your Lives Easier? Your staff will like to know that you are actively seeking to make their day-to-day lives easier, so this is a question that they will for sure appreciate you asking. When they are given the opportunity to seek solutions for the problems they are facing, they will be more satisfied and thus more likely to stick around to see the fruits of your efforts. Of course, you can?t make everyone happy, nor should you try to. There will always be one or two holdouts that are resistant to change, no matter how well-intentioned or well-implemented your strategy is. Still, it is imperative that you get employee feedback on your technology solutions, as they are the ones who have to be productive with them. Continue the Conversation with Us If you need a hand with applying the feedback you receive from your employees regarding the technology they work with, White Mountain IT Services can help you address their concerns. To get started, just give us a call at (603) 889-0800.
How Does This Threat Work? According to security researcher ProxyLife on Twitter, there are several strains of malware utilizing an old version of the Calculator application loaded on Microsoft?s Windows operating systems. This particular version of the Calculator app was used on Windows 7, and this threat works by tricking a user into downloading an ISO disc image disguised as a PDF or other file. The ISO uses a shortcut to open the included Calculator application. One of the features of the Windows 7 Calculator app is the use of Dynamic Link Libraries, or .dll files, rather than defaulting to Windows? system default libraries. This is a feature that hasn?t been used in the Calculator app since Windows 7, hence the need to run the older version of the software. The Calculator app runs these libraries to infect the system with malware, and since the Calculator appears to be a legitimate application used by Windows, the system doesn?t think twice about it, allowing it to circumvent Windows? built-in security benchmarks. How Much Should You Worry About It? Ultimately, we think it?s reasonable to look at this threat as an obscure one that simply shows off the ingenuity of hackers and how they are using tools in different ways. It?s not clear whether or not Microsoft has issued an update to Defender to stop these attacks, but all you need to know is that you likely won?t encounter this type of threat, so long as you are treating potential threat vectors with the scrutiny they deserve, i.e. not downloading random files that are suspicious at best. Even if it is unlikely you will encounter these threats, it?s a bit unnerving that trusted and known applications can create these types of issues for your IT department. One way to make sure you don?t let threats fly under the radar, even for those that aren?t deemed threats by your operating system, is to proactively monitor your infrastructure for anything that is out of the ordinary. You can then take steps to contain, isolate, and eliminate them. Let Us Help You Monitor Your Network If you would rather not worry about keeping tabs on your network, White Mountain IT Services is happy to assist with this incredibly important part of running a business. We can implement comprehensive data security measures that minimize the opportunity for hackers to infiltrate your network. To learn more, contact us today at (603) 889-0800.
Automate What You Can Every business has a lot of moving parts. In a small business, one person could wear a half-dozen or more hats. The more that can be reliably done by machines, the more effective your business is going to be. When you are thinking about how to invest in your business, the answer should always be to produce and sell more and spend less to do it. That?s not always easy, but with tools integrated with artificial intelligence, end-to-end management software, and smart tools this can become a lot easier. Collaborate Better These days, businesses are often forced to do more with less. Even if they aren?t, having systems in place that improve the ability for people to collaborate can mean enhanced efficiency and productivity. While there are software systems and other technologies that can individually boost your staff?s ability to collaborate, true collaboration is achieved through a dedication to trust the other members of your team. In order to do that, you need tools that make this easier (or possible). Let?s take a look at some of the tools teams are using to improve their collaboration. Customer Relationship Management – The CRM doesn?t just help improve customer satisfaction, it can also help your team work together on projects. The software can help stabilize any task by giving a consistent platform to update team members (and customers) to keep any task or project working efficiently. Video conferencing – A video conferencing software doesn?t just help businesses with remote teams?although it is a must-have for organizations that sport them?it is one of the very best collaboration tools there is in business. Not only can team members meet with each other at the push of a button, it can also speed up projects and help ensure tasks are completed correctly more frequently, a major consideration for any business that relies on collaboration. Collaboration tools – Today, there are many collaboration tools that are specifically designed to keep project teams working together. Most feature a forum-like construct that allows for person-to-person communication and a myriad of software integrations designed to give every member of a collaboration team the resources they need in one easy-to-use platform. Productivity apps – Today?s cloud-based productivity applications give employees the ability to work inside the same document/spreadsheet/presentation. This can not only work to improve productivity, it can bring with it a level of rapid quality assurance that traditionally wasn?t available to businesses with stand-alone productivity suites. What?s best, any person with an active login and an Internet connection can use these tools, providing the flexibility and organizational scalability needed to ensure that any deadline is met. Engage with Your Customer Base Without your customers, your business wouldn?t be one. This is why one of the most important parts of your business is to reach out to your customers and keep them engaged. Studies show that customer retention is almost five times less costly for a business than customer acquisition. Moreover, it is much easier to expand your current customers? spend than it is to try to find new customers to fill the gaps. We listed the CRM above as a crucial collaboration tool, but its main function is to keep your customers in the loop. This provides opportunities to get more feedback from them and […]
Defining the Internet of Things About a decade ago, these new ?smart? devices and technologies became extremely prevalent and started to add value to peoples? lives, making them easier and more efficient. Naturally, businesses wanted to capitalize on the desire for these new technology solutions, leading to the massive growth of smart technology we see today. And, of course, when consumers find value in smart technology, businesses inevitably do as well. There are now well over 14 billion IoT devices, including smartphones, connected to the Internet. The IoT is also one of the most well-funded technology markets out there with nearly $5 billion invested in it every year. IoT Devices Are Everywhere The IoT has several practical uses for your business, and they all come with their own unique challenges with integration and security. You also need to consider the fact that most if not all of your employees have a smartphone, a factor which could influence the applications your organization uses. Furthermore, you?ll want to ensure that they are not inadvertently putting your organization at risk by bringing threats onto your network. For enterprises and manufacturers, industrial IoT devices can impact operations and give employees better ways of getting things done. Therefore, you?ll have to train your employees on how to use them. Setting up IoT as a platform for business efficiency might mean building your infrastructure from the ground up with IoT in mind, or it might mean integrating applications with the back-end operations of your infrastructure. Setup and Security Questions for Implementing IoT for Business It?s natural that businesses will use the IoT in ways much different from what you might expect a home user would, but that doesn?t mean these consumer-level tools can?t also save you money. You can use IoT devices to save time and resources with smart thermostats, lights, personal assistants, and so on? all adding specific value to your organization. There are more complex solutions to utilize, too, like asset tracking and inventory management. While these can help you keep tabs on your supply chain and resources, they can quickly complicate your infrastructure if you don?t set them up properly. Still, they enable automation that could be a valuable tool for your company moving forward, enabling you to get data to make better decisions in the future. To ensure your business is profitable and adaptable to change, you need to implement technology that can scale according to your needs while maintaining security. IoT can complicate this, as it creates several security discrepancies that must be considered if you want to maximize the value gained from using them. It?s true that businesses can use the IoT to cut costs and improve efficiency, but you?ll need to be strategic in their implementation to see these results. White Mountain IT Services can help you assess your business? needs and examine how IoT devices can improve your operations. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
