Cloud

Web Hosting: A Brief Overview

Business, Cloud, Personal, Technology
Are you looking to create a website for your business? Aside from the design and functionality of your website, make sure to also look into your web host. To get you started, here is a quick explanation of web hosts and which hosting type is best for your business.   What is a web host? A web host sells or leases memory space on its servers so your website can have a virtual location on the internet. Their services include online storage for all of your site’s files and web pages. Many web hosts also offer domain name hosting, which creates a web address that users can type into a web browser to access your website (e.g., google.com, inc.com, etc.). Combine these two hosting services and you have the main foundations for your website. You can also get domain-based email … READ MORE »

What Does Proactive Cybersecurity Entail?

Business, Cloud, Security, Technology
Most IT service providers (ITSPs) promise some level of “proactive” cybersecurity consulting. All businesses embrace the idea of preventing cyberattacks and data breaches before they happen, and ITSPs themselves would much rather brainstorm safeguards than troubleshoot time-sensitive downtime events. But it’s not always clear what proactive cybersecurity entails, so let’s take a minute to go over it. Understand the threats you’re facing Before any small- or medium-sized business (SMB) can work toward preventing cyberattacks, everyone involved needs to know exactly what they’re up against. Whether you’re working with in-house IT staff or an ITSP, you should review what types of attacks are most common in your industry. Ideally, your team would spearhead this review a few times a year. Reevaluate what it is you’re protecting Once you have a list of the biggest threats to your organization, you need to … READ MORE »

Is Your Business Continuity Plan Doomed To Fail?

Business, Cloud, Security, Technology
No business continuity plan is perfect. Each plan has risks that can result in your business’s failure if not taken into account from the start. But don’t blame it all on your managed IT services provider (MSP) — often, a system’s design has loopholes to start with. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why business continuity plans fail. Over-optimistic testing The initial testing attempt is usually the most important, because it’s when MSPs can pinpoint potential pain points in the recovery plan. However, they usually test the system in full, instead of in phases. This can cause MSPs to overlook specific points, with too many factors overwhelming them all at the same time. Insufficient remote user licenses MSPs give remote user licenses to businesses so that employees can access a remote desktop software when they need to, … READ MORE »

Make The Most Out Of Microsoft Word With These Tips

Business, Cloud, Personal, Technology
Microsoft Word remains the word processing software of choice for businesses large and small. With Word, you can create a wide variety of documents, from reports to invoices to brochures. Word also has a number of features that, when utilized properly, could greatly enhance your productivity and efficiency at work. Let’s take a look at some of these. Work on Word Online Don’t have the Word app on your computer, tablet, or smartphone? Go to office.com, sign in with your Microsoft account, and open Word Online, the web version of Word. Collaborate on files You and your colleagues can now edit the same Word document simultaneously in real time. Simply save the document to your Microsoft OneDrive account, click Share, and send the link to the file to your coworkers. People with the link can access and edit the document using … READ MORE »

5 Tips to Work Smarter in Outlook

Business, Cloud, Technology
Microsoft Outlook comes with many features that make managing your busy schedule and boosting your productivity easier. If you find Outlook’s myriad capabilities a little overwhelming, don’t worry — these tips and tricks will have you using Outlook like a pro in no time.   Organize your inbox Is your Outlook inbox getting a little too cluttered for your liking? Use the Clean Up feature to tidy up your inbox. From your inbox, click the Home tab and choose from one of three Clean Up options: Clean Up Conversation – reviews an email thread or a conversation and deletes redundant messages Clean Up Folder – reviews conversations in a selected folder and deletes redundant messages Clean Up Folder & Subfolders – reviews all messages in a selected folder and any subfolders, and deletes redundant messages in all of them Be careful using this, … READ MORE »

The Dangers of Autocomplete Passwords

Business, Cloud, Personal, Security, Technology
Hackers have found a new way to track you online. Aside from using advertisements and suggestions, they can now use autocomplete passwords to track you down. Feeling unsecure? Here are some ways to keep you out of harm’s way. Why auto-fill passwords are so dangerous As of December 2018, there are 4.1 billion internet users in the world. This means users have to create dozens of passwords, either to protect their account or simply to meet the password-creation requirements of the platform they’re using. Unfortunately, only 20% of US internet users have different passwords for their multiple online accounts. Certain web browsers have integrated a mechanism that enables usernames and passwords to be automatically entered into a web form. On the other hand, password manager applications have made it easy to access login credentials. But these aren’t completely safe. Tricking … READ MORE »

Office 365 Add-Ons That Boost Productivity

Business, Cloud, Technology
Microsoft’s Office 365 has made everyday business operations more efficient with programs like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook. As if that’s not enough, it also offers these add-ons that streamline users’ workflow. #1. Teams Teams is ideal for organizations that collaborate frequently. It’s an instant messaging and document-sharing platform which seamlessly integrates with Office 365 programs and services. Users can create channels to work on projects, discuss topics, hold meetings, and more. And like similar programs such as Slack and Google Hangouts, Teams is customizable and accessible across mobile devices. #2. Office Tabs Office Tabs allows you to open multiple files in one window, which saves you from having to go through each opened document until you find the right one. It also lets you save or close the list of tabs in a single click, with an additional … READ MORE »

Should You Adopt the Cloud During COVID-19?

Business, Cloud, Security, Technology
With the COVID-19 pandemic, many business owners are cutting costs and jeopardizing their organization’s efficiency as a result. If you want to avoid this outcome, you should invest in cloud technology. The cloud will not just help you save money, but it will also help your business run more efficiently.   Ensuring continuity and efficiency with the cloud The need to stay at home and practice social distancing have changed the way many businesses operate. With their employees unable to come to the office, organizations are forced to function with a remote team whose members are often miles away from each other. This is where cloud technology helps. When you migrate your data to the cloud, your files are stored in a centralized server that can be accessed via the internet. So as long as a user has an internet-connected … READ MORE »

The Cloud and Virtualization Explained

Business, Cloud, Technology
Cloud computing and virtualization are similar but that doesn’t mean that one can be substituted for the other. Each has its own benefits, so it pays to know how both work, so you can take advantage of them. Virtualization Imagine a company with five servers, each assigned a single task such as storage, email, etc. If there were a spike in email traffic, it would overwhelm the email server, causing it to slow down. Adding another server would solve this problem, but it would be expensive and inefficient on days with less traffic. With virtualization, you can combine the resources of all five servers in our example. So if the email server gets bogged down, it can borrow resources from any of the other servers with extra capacity. The process is not as simple as it sounds, and businesses often … READ MORE »

Microsoft Office 365 is Now Microsoft 365 Business

Business, Cloud, Technology
Change can be difficult in business, but it can also usher in a new era of productivity and profitability. Microsoft is shooting for better ways to improve productivity and elevate data integrity with its new Microsoft 365 product. Name Change Microsoft has time and again shown that they are willing to make drastic changes to their products and services in the name of development. Their Windows 10 operating system (OS), for instance, is a far cry from its predecessor Windows 8. Microsoft made the jump from what they thought would be a revolutionary tile-based design in Windows 8 to a classic, ergonomically designed Windows 10. The tech giant has once again made drastic changes, this time to their award-winning line of productivity apps Microsoft Office 365. O365, as it was lovingly referred to for nearly a decade, is now the … READ MORE »