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IT is an Investment It?s easy to look at IT in sort of the same way you would look at car insurance?as a necessary evil. You?ve got to have it, it comes in handy when you need it, and you even like doing business with the folks that offer it, but you only rarely see the value. Technology could (and should) be more than that though. The problem is, as business owners we?re so used to only having the ?money? conversation when it comes to IT. How much is it going to cost? Oh, the prices are going up? Oh, I need to upgrade? Before long, it?s easy to feel like you are just signing checks without really seeing the value. We get that! For the clients we completely manage and maintain, it?s pretty rare that some of the people in the company even see us throughout the year, simply because we?re able to prevent issues remotely. This leads to fewer onsite visits and fewer support calls, but at the end of the day, that?s way more productivity. If you want a more drastic example, think about what your business could be doing without ANY computers. It?s almost a silly thought experiment today, but it just shows you how critical IT really is for most organizations. The entire point of utilizing technology is to improve productivity, increase performance, reduce problems, and get more done. There are likely plenty of inefficiencies in your organization right now that technology can improve for you, it?s just a matter of ironing them out with an IT consultant who understands your business. What Should Be Included in a Yearly IT Budget? You can break down your IT budget into three categories. One-time expenses Ongoing expenses Support/Emergency expenses One-time expenses are exactly what they sound like. When you need to purchase new hardware or software, or pay for a consulting fee, that will fall under a one-time expense. Sometimes, hardware can be leased, and software often falls under a subscription model, but usually there are still some upfront costs. The biggest one-time expense most business owners miss is going to be your regular upgrades. You can usually expect to get about 3-to-4 years of life out of your typical workstation or laptop. Proper maintenance and support can usually add an additional year or two, but consider that a bonus. Servers tend to have a longer lifespan of about 5-to-8 years, and proper maintenance and a clean, controlled environment will keep them operational towards the higher end of that range. If you have hardware that is reaching the end of its lifecycle, you need to budget the replacement of that hardware. Ongoing expenses range from your software and subscriptions, to cloud hosting, support contracts, and any other costs. For businesses that have their own internal IT department, you?ll want to include the salaries, promotions, and benefits of your IT staff, as well as any costs you might need to have for recruiting. This should cover the upkeep of everything on your network. Expect that you?ll need to allot time to keep your devices updated, ensure that antivirus is ran, and backups are checked. This can be a pretty significant part of your IT budget, and when this type of work isn?t done properly, the next category (support/emergency […]
What is a DBMS? The database management system is a piece of software used to create and manage your organization’s databases. It offers features that allow you to create new databases, update the tables, easily and quickly retrieve information from the database, and enhance the data found in the database. It is effectively the dashboard that allows you to sort and view your organization?s data. Most DBMS titles also provide tools that allow users to alter the way a database works, so that a business can alter it to meet the needs of that business. Many times your business? databases will be managed by a single party with the front end fueling business management titles like a customer relationship management (CRM) program. The Benefits of Database Management There are several valuable benefits of a DBMS. Some of which include: Improved Data Security A DBMS can help users share all types of information quickly and easily, sure, but one thing it excels at is keeping that information safe. By providing fast answers to database queries, the DBMS provides access to data, often in real time. The integrated access control system inside the DBMS ensures that only authorized parties are subject to the underlying data, keeping the system secure. Better Data Integration The DBMS can be used to see how processes in one part of your business affect the processes in another part. This was once done manually and took a long time with a lot of people, but now can be completely automated making it much, much quicker and much more accurate. Consistency and Regulatory Compliance In using a DBMS, you can be certain that the view you have of your data is accurate and consistent. This, along with the ability to manage your organization?s data centrally, provides intrinsic data privacy and security benefits, making the DBMS a crucial tool for organizations that need to stay compliant with data regulations. Improved Decision Making The reliability of the data managed by a properly deployed and maintained DBMS are simply better than data that is loosely tied together manually. It?s that simple. Better data management creates more truly actionable information that can help your business move ahead quickly. With data being a huge deal for nearly every organization, having the tools and expertise at your disposal to help your business? data work to help improve your business is important. If you would like to learn more about databases, the DBMS, and the role they play in business give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.
First, we?ll talk about how managed IT can provide value for your organization?s project management efforts, and then we?ll tackle how project management software specifically can aid in this. Managed IT for Project Management You can?t make progress on a project if your technology solutions are constantly experiencing problems. For example, if an employee is trying to work with Microsoft Office, but the license runs out for the solution, they?ll be unable to get work done with that solution. The same thing could happen for just about any software your business relies on to get the job done, as well as just about any other asset that your project management team needs. White Mountain IT Services can help your business manage its IT so that your assets are always available when you need them most (like in the middle of a project implementation). This means that you won?t have to worry about your technology experiencing any inefficiencies while you?re focused on the project?s implementation. In essence, by effectively doing our job, we can help you get your job done as smoothly and efficiently as possible. This means that instead of focusing on keeping your technology solutions working as intended, you?re focused on getting the job done as quickly as possible, meaning you experience less downtime and save more money for other endeavors. Project Management Software Project managers have the responsibility of managing all of this information and connecting the implementation team with all the resources they need to get the job done. This is often easier said than done, but thanks to project management software, your organization can take advantage of a central hub-like interface to connect all resources to users in a centralized fashion. In essence, project management software helps your team communicate and access resources in the most convenient way possible. Project managers can take a look at progress, assign tasks to specific individuals, check the current state of the project?s budget, and so much more, all through a single software solution. This helps to make sure that projects are completed in a timely manner, keeping your business from having to redo the implementation process multiple times (because we all know that doing something twice wastes time and money better spent elsewhere). White Mountain IT Services can help your business get started with managed IT and project management. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
Adjust Your Startup Page in Google Chrome The startup page in Google Chrome will open up whenever you open a new tab, so it?s important to set it to whatever you think will get the best results for your productivity or convenience. To access these settings, use the three-dot icon in the top-right corner of the screen. Select the option for Settings. In the left column, you?ll see the On Startup option. Click this and select one of the three options which appear: Open the new tab page Continue where you left off Open a specific page or set of pages Now, your choice will largely depend on what you want your startup page to do. You can have it open a plain old tab, have it open up the last one you closed, or open a specific page (or pages, if you?d rather). It all depends on what functionality you want from your browser. For example, you might want your browser to open up to your email or maybe even your cloud storage. Now, you could always navigate to it yourself, but you can save some time by having your browser do the work for you. If you want more assistance with your technology, be sure to call us at (603) 889-0800.
Minimal Level Obviously, you can choose to invest minimally or not at all. A lot of businesses choose to avoid technology upgrades as much as possible because they don?t find them to have any major positive effects on their business. Today, technology is an extremely important part of the customer experience, so some investment is going to be necessary, but you can bare bones it pretty well if you find minimal technology and instituting break/fix strategies are worth it for your business. Base Level The base level IT investment is basically spending enough every year to ensure that your business can use the technology you have effectively and that you have a minimum amount of technology in place to ensure that you deal with technology-related problems enough to keep things on the up and up. Many times, businesses that don?t have the capital to invest in a lot of technology-related upgrades find themselves investing enough in their IT by choosing services over purchasing IT outright. This means subscribing to managed IT services in lieu of hiring in-house IT administrators and choosing cloud computing over hardware that has to be constantly monitored and maintained. Moderate Level The moderate level of IT investment is where you will find a lot of technology-centric companies. They may not be overhauling their IT and implementing a quarterly IT project, but they do house their own hardware and keep it managed and maintained well. Typically, companies that adhere to a moderate IT investment schedule complete regular refreshes and keep their IT up and running effectively with comprehensive redundancy and have a plan for their IT should there be problems with it. Superior Level A company that makes IT a priority tends to have significant capital to spend with a very specific plan of how that money will be spent. These companies have teams of IT administrators working diligently on implementing new projects, training their staff, and keeping their employees working on up-to-date technology. Companies that invest a lot of capital in their technology don?t just throw money at it and hope it sticks, but can get through a failed implementation and still commit to trying again without taking too big of a hit to the bottom line. What kind of business are you? At White Mountain IT Services, we can help any business stretch their technology investments from consultation and planning, to managing and maintaining crucial systems, and helping to cut down on the costs of your new IT projects. Give us a call today at (603) 889-0800 for more information.