Blogs

As a small- to mid-sized business (SMB) owner, you want to spend judiciously on your IT. If you don't plan your IT budget, it can balloon unexpectedly, throwing your numbers awry. Most big businesses have enough money to shoulder unplanned expenses. But for SMBs whose pockets don’t go as deep, such runaway projects can be catastrophic to your bottomline.

If you’re a small- to mid-sized business (SMB), transitioning to the cloud can be daunting. You want to minimize downtime while moving to the cloud, which is why it pays to partner with a managed services provider (MSP) like Online Computers. Our years of experience and expertise guarantee that we can make your transition to the cloud cost-effective.

Given how zero trust security is getting a lot of attention these days, you may think it’s a new concept. But it was back in 2010 when John Kindervag of Forrester Research first coined the term “zero trust” to describe their security model, which had a simple rule: “Trust no one.

Cloud technology has become so integral to running a business that it’s easy to forget how we ever lived without it. Salespeople stream company videos from YouTube during meetings with leads, human resources managers organize company calendars in web browser apps, and almost everyone sends emails from cloud-based inboxes.

Did you know that nearly half of all the data breaches businesses suffer occur at the hands of their vendors? With small businesses having dozens of vendors and large enterprises having hundreds, it’s even more important now for companies to manage the risks across the supply chain.

You know the drill: you’ve just created an online account, and now you’re asked to come up with a strong password. Certain sites even have password guidelines and will judge the strength of your password: Use at least 12 characters! Use a variety of letters, numbers, punctuation, and special characters! Use upper- and lowercase for letters!

Aside from those, they have other rules you need to remember: Do not use real words found in a dictionary! Do not use real words spelled backwards! Never use your birthday, driver’s license number, street name, favorite color! Never use “password,” “123456789,” “1111111111,” “abc123,” and “qwerty” as passwords!

And so you freeze.

It’s a simple question, but one that businesses need to answer. Who do we put first — the customer or the employee? For this chicken-and-egg debate, there’s actually a clear answer. But it may not be what you expect.

The argument for the customer

When it comes to customer satisfaction, there’s no dearth of quotes: The customer is always right.

If you think that AI isn’t already being used to create content in official publications, think again. Such notable sources as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, The Associated Press, and Yahoo! Sports are already generating content with AI. Granted, these stories are mostly the who, what, when, and where variety, like sports shorts that focus on successes, scores, and statistics.

The issues of online security and privacy continue to be of utmost concern for businesses. Last year, nearly half a billion personal records was stolen by hackers; that’s a 126 percent jump from 2017. And so far in 2019, hackers have stolen over $4 billion via crypto crimes.

Having a full schedule isn’t necessarily a sign that someone manages his or her time effectively. Chances are, the opposite is the case. There’s far more to achieving an optimal work-life balance than trying to get your calendar filled up. Having a full diary is more likely a sign of stress and impending burnout.