Finding Qualified Individuals for IT ManagementYou don?t want your end-users to be the ones administering and managing your technology solutions, mainly because they?re probably not trained or experienced enough to confidently do so. You want IT professionals handling your technology whenever possible. These technicians should have an impressive resum? complete with experience, certifications, and a good reputation. Balancing Innovation and UpkeepBusinesses need to ensure that a certain amount of innovation is happening in order to keep themselves at the forefront of the competition. Unfortunately, integrating new solutions and normal, everyday maintenances often conflict with each other; especially if the team performing maintenance is the same one which is responsible for innovation. In order to succeed in the most secure and efficient way possible, businesses need to adapt to changes in their IT environment while keeping their technology maintained and up to date. Gathering Information and InsightsOne of the best ways your business can get a head start on IT is by doing your research before committing to a particular solution. A tech-savvy professional is someone you want on your side when considering significant changes to your IT infrastructure. This helps you ensure that you don?t make changes that could potentially be incompatible with your hardware or software. Planning Ahead for Future DevelopmentsWhat problems can you see your business running into in the future? You want to make sure that your IT infrastructure is flexible enough to account for growth if necessary. Building an IT roadmap that anticipates the growth of your business, as well as changes in your business model and more, can help you prepare for the future of your IT. Providing Training for End-UsersYour users are arguably one of the most valuable assets your business has, and if they don?t know how to use your technology solutions, what good is the technology? One of the most vital roles that your tech support should be able to supply for your end-users is training. This helps them better leverage their technology and saves your team time, especially when trying to diagnose potential issues that are caused by simple user confusion. This might feel a little overwhelming, but you don?t have to worry about it. White Mountain IT Services can help your organization overcome these five challenges. We can equip your business with personal IT consultants whose ultimate goal is the same as yours; for your business to succeed. Our talented professionals examine your infrastructure for potential weak points and improvements, then work around your budget to get the solutions you need to maximize efficiency. Furthermore, we can help your employees better understand their technology and get more out of their workday. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

Cloud OptionsThere are three major cloud computing platforms that every small and medium-sized business owner should know. They are Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Each of these offerings can be deployed from a public or private cloud system. Platform as a Service – PaaS provides organizations with a platform that provides users all the computing they need to develop, run, and manage web-based applications. This interface allows for high-level customization, without the complexity inherent in traditional development platforms. In other words, this is an extremely custom solution developed specifically for your unique needs. Infrastructure as a Service – IaaS provides users with a fully virtualized computing infrastructure platform. This interface allows users to do anything they would regularly do on their traditional computers. It can be hosted as an outsourced solution, or on a partitioned on-site server. Software as a Service – SaaS is basically the delivery of a piece of software that?s hosted in the cloud. By implementing a software as a service plan, users get the same software that they would have had to purchase and manage, in the cloud for a flat monthly fee. This allows business to shift costs from the capital budget to the operations budget, on a month-to-month basis. Microsoft?s Office 365 is a popular example of this. Cloud SecurityWhile it took some time for cloud computing to convince business professionals that it is a secure enough platform to ?do? business over, cloud implementation, specifically SaaS offerings, have seen an impressive increase over the past three years. This growth is due in large part to the revelation that a cloud interface is as secure as any other server as long as they are managed and maintained properly. A solution hosted in a data center that?s three states away is equally secure as the cloud environment hosted in your server room as long as they use the same security protocols; in fact, they can often afford better security than your budget may allow. For this reason the cloud?s upward trend figures to continue. By relying on secure and scalable cloud platforms, businesses can find affordable computing resources from dozens of reputable vendors that are no less secure than if you hosted them yourself. If you are one of the many business owners who feel as if they absolutely need control of their organization?s data, relying on a cloud platform that?s hosted outside of your place of business may be a difficult change to make. If you believe that controlling security permissions in-house and deploying it to the people that absolutely need it is the only way to keep your organization safe from security issues, then it may be time to reconsider that position by considering the benefits that integrating a cloud solution can deliver. At White Mountain IT Services, we can build a secure and powerful cloud platform that meets the needs of your business, and we can set you up with any cloud resource you may need to keep your IT costs low without losing the essential computing systems your business depends on. Call us today at (603) 889-0800 to speak with one of our trusted technology professionals.

There are two different kinds of ways virtualization services can affect your desktop business model. They are Desktop as a Service (DaaS), and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: A virtual desktop infrastructure, or VDI, takes advantage of multiple desktop instances on a single server. This allows for different systems to be called from a single server, effectively giving your employees access to multiple applications and operating systems without having them installed on their desktops. Similarly, your IT department has the ability to allocate CPU and RAM accordingly, offering great versatility and control over your computing infrastructure. The primary dissuading factor for small and medium-sized businesses is that this kind of infrastructure, while offering an impressive amount of control, demands attention from dedicated IT professionals. Desktop as a Service: Rather than be in full control of your technology, the DaaS service model is a completely hosted solution that?s designed with the small and medium-sized business in mind. It?s designed to be outsourced to IT professionals who know how to utilize the latest technology, and have the resources to handle an increased workload. This allows your business to avoid the responsibilities of dealing with complex technology, while allowing your users to take advantage of the benefits with any of the management knowledge or responsibility. What?s Best for Your Business?It?s likely that even if your SMB does have an in-house IT department, they?re strapped for any spare time to innovate and integrate a new solution like a VDI. It?s often more beneficial for SMBs to outsource this responsibility to a managed IT service company like White Mountain IT Services. You gain the abilities of several professional IT technicians who have years of experience implementing solutions just like these, and your business?s bottom line will substantially increase due to the decrease in operational expenditures. With virtualized desktop services, you can run thin clients instead of full-fledged workstations, which consume less power and are more dynamic in nature. Furthermore, since your solution is completely hosted on our virtual server, you?ll save money by operating minimal hardware on-site. For your business to take full control of its technology, you want only the most qualified professionals on hand. White Mountain IT Services can provide the necessary experience to fully utilize your virtualized desktop solution. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

Your typical company executive is not a master in technological logistics. Many of them defer to people that have some semblance of an idea about those types of things. What concerns many companies is that they can?t afford to dedicate an employee to the development of a mobile strategy. There are also considerations that have to be made regarding the security of your mobile platforms, and whether or not your organization will be promoting employees to use their own mobile devices on your company network. If building mobility has become a priority for your company, there are many applications that are available on the three major mobile platforms. Two of which are: Calendar Every platform has an integrated calendar program and all three present an opportunity to keep you in the know about important events. All three of them sync up to a central account, the two most popular are Google?s Gmail and Microsoft?s Outlook. Each device, including the devices running iOS, can integrate their calendar with the mail account they use most. To use your calendar most effectively, you will have to utilize the sync feature made available by your device?s operating system. Follow the instructions on the corresponding pages to sync your smartphone calendar with your account. Android iOS Windows Phone 8.1 Once that?s done, you can begin to get the most out of your device. By keeping a dedicated and up-to-date calendar, you can begin to take advantage of the mobility that the smartphone promises. Note-Taking AppsThere are literally dozens of note capturing applications on the various app stores. Three of the best ones are Evernote, Microsoft OneNote, and Google Keep. Obviously OneNote will come standard on Windows 8.1 Phones and Google Keep will come standard on Android, but Apple device users will have to download one. The most popular one, for good reason, is Evernote. These apps mostly do the same thing: They allow users to jot down information, capture screenshots, and record audio to make it easier for people that have to juggle tasks and manage time to complete tasks properly. Controlling All of the DataAs a business owner, you need to be ahead of the game before your employees start piecemealing solutions together. If you don?t have a calendar in place for your business, for example, a staff member might take it upon themselves to throw something together. This isn?t a bad thing until you realize you have different applications and workflows being done all throughout the organization with no standardization or documented process. By researching and committing to a solution, you can take steps to deploy it for all employees, allowing you to control where your data is and what happens to it when someone leaves the company. You don?t need to handle this on your own. You can rely on your account manager at White Mountain IT Services for consultation. It is obvious that the number one device that a company can use to push their initiatives forward is the smartphone. The smartphone is such a productivity tool (and security threat) that as a part of a company?s mobile device management policy, a company will be absolutely forced to make a decision on the use of employee smartphones on the network, known as a BYOD strategy. If your organization needs a whole strategy to manage […]

Is Windows 10 Free?First, let?s talk about how Microsoft is handling the licensing/upgrade model. This has caused a lot of confusion over the past few months. If you are running a legitimate copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8, it?s likely that you?re eligible to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. There are a few requirements: If you have Windows 7, you need to be updated to Service Pack 1 If you have Windows 8, you need to be updated to Windows 8.1. Your version of Windows needs to be a registered copy. Windows 7 and 8 Enterprise are NOT eligible for the free upgrade. Windows RT is not eligible for the free upgrade. You have one year from July 29th, 2015 to get your free update to Windows 10. In short, most Windows 7 and 8.1 users will be able to upgrade their operating system to Windows 10 for free, as long as they do it within the next year. What?s New in Windows 10? The Slickest Windows Experience YetSince a lot of people didn?t care for some of the changes made in Windows 8 and 8.1, Microsoft toned down what wasn?t working. The Metro Live tile interface that received a lot of flack has returned, but it?s less intrusive. Unless you?re using a tablet-like device or you want it front and center, the brightly-colored tiles stay tucked away. CortanaMicrosoft?s answer to Siri, Cortana, is integrated with Windows 10. Cortana brings voice search capabilities to Windows in much the same way Siri does for the iPhone. She can help search for files, open applications, and search Bing. It?s nice to see this technology finally hit desktops and laptops, but it?s pretty clear smartphones are the ideal environment for Cortana. We don?t foresee many people talking into their PC?s microphone the way they might on their mobile device. Also, Android users will immediately feel out of place without any integration with Google. As expected, Microsoft?s Cortana is solely partnered with Microsoft Bing for web searches. It?s not a terrible interface, but power users are going to feel a little odd not having the choice. Asking Cortana to ?sing a song? almost makes up for this shortcoming though (give it a try). Lots and Lots of Little TweaksThere are new keyboard shortcuts, better window controls, improved notifications, and a lot of other little improvements. Most users probably won?t dig into these very deeply, but if you want to get the most out of your gadgets, Windows 10 delivers users a lot of nifty improvements to explore. One of the most interesting additions is virtual desktops, which allow you to spread your work across multiple desktops that you can cycle through quickly. The New BrowserMicrosoft Edge, the long awaited replacement for Internet Explorer, is a huge improvement. The browser is faster, more secure, and has a lot of modern features reminiscent of smartphone browsers. It?s easy to share information, take notes, and get access to relevant information. Edge might not convert any die-hard Firefox or Chrome fans, but it should improve the experience of users who just use what browser the operating system gives them. Furthermore, you can take notes and draw on web pages for future reference. Tighter Integrations with Office 365This is where things start to get really interesting. It?s […]