Data Net Blog

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it, in many ways. While its impact on our day-to-day lives has been huge, the impact has been even more severe from a business perspective. The social distancing norms, staggered operating hours so as to limit crowds, the masks, shields, barriers, and what-not! From the business continuity perspective, companies have had to adapt themselves to the new normal very quickly.

The United Nations is responsible for protecting human rights all over the world, as well as creating more sustainable and climate-friendly policies. With the rise of artificial intelligence being at the forefront of many countries’ technological innovations, it’s natural that AI would be thrust into the crosshairs at some point. The UN hopes to develop guidelines that protect people’s access to and use of AI without allowing it to cause more significant problems.

Running a small business often inspires dreams of rapid expansion and immediate success. However, it’s crucial to balance ambition with realistic expectations to ensure sustainable growth. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss how entrepreneurs and managers can set achievable goals while maintaining business stability.

In our last blog post, we discussed 3 reasons SMBs usually cite for not signing a service level agreement with an MSP. In this blog post, we suggest how an SLA with an MSP will add value to your business, irrespective of your business size, budget and the presence of an in-house IT team.

Sextortion scams are far from glamorous. These attacks involve a scammer claiming to have compromising photos or videos of their target engaged in explicit activities—often suggesting this footage was captured through their online behavior. The scammer then threatens to release this material unless a ransom is paid.

Managed IT services are becoming more popular by the day. Businesses, big and small, are bringing managed service providers onboard to handle their IT requirements. The bigger IT players like IBM, Accenture, CISCO act as MSPs to larger organizations, while the typical managed service provider is often hired by SMBs. However, there’s a question that crops up time and again--Do SMBs really need an MSP? SMBs are sometimes in two minds when it comes to bringing an MSP on board and typically use one of the following justifications.

Our IT requirements are limited

A lot of businesses in the small to mid-size range believe that their IT needs don’t warrant a full-time service level agreement with an MSP. They believe the only times they need to invest in IT is at the start of their business or when rolling out new technology. As a result, they don’t see much value in signing a service level agreement with an MSP.

We are tight on budget

SMBs also tend to cut on the IT budget and invest those funds elsewhere--generally in areas where they see tangible results, such as hiring new customer-facing staff or a new advertising campaign. So, when SMBs find themselves a little tight on the budget, the IT department sees the cut.

We have our in-house IT person/team

Businesses with an in-house IT expert or even a small in-house IT team feel that is sufficient for handling any IT needs and an SLA is just an added expenditure.

So, did your reason make it to the list? Stay tuned for our next blog post, where we will discuss how an SLA with a managed service provider can add value to your business.

Communications are huge for a business, and in the course of doing business, no other communication tool is as valuable as the telephone. Today’s businesses have a real choice on how they want to purchase their telephone system, and the more your business relies on collaboration and innovative communications tools such as video conferencing, the more it becomes evident that VoIP is the best option. Today, we’ll explain how VoIP can bring substantial value to your business.

It was recently disclosed that Slim CD, a payment gateway, suffered a data breach that exposed many, many credit card accounts (nearly 1.7 million) from August 17th, 2023, until June 15th, 2024.

Let’s discuss the situation and how it provides a lesson for your business to take seriously.

In a recent industry survey, it was found that one of the biggest factors holding back small and mid-sized firms from achieving their business goals was IT. One may argue that smaller businesses lack the capital that the bigger players have to invest in their business, but even with all other aspects being more or less equal, the difference brought about by their lack of investment in IT was found to be a key differentiating factor--far more than other elements such as marketing, human resources and even industry expertise.

AI is everywhere and it could be said that it is transforming the modern economy. With each passing day the technology is becoming an essential tool for businesses looking to boost their overall business efficiency. Small businesses can use AI in a number of ways and in today’s blog, we’ll explore how they can use AI to their advantage.

Many small or mid-sized businesses don’t focus much on IT as they should. For a lot of them, the focus is on customers, ensuring they have enough staff to meet their client needs, expanding their business and driving revenue by selling. IT comes into the picture initially when the business is being set up. Once they have their IT infrastructure up and running, it tends to take a backseat. The typical mid-sized or small business owner seems to prefer the firefighting approach to IT--meaning, they reach out to an IT service provider only when they have an IT problem.

In this blog and our conversations with clients, we frequently discuss the importance of protecting accounts with complex and unique passwords and multi-factor authentication. These actions are crucial, but there is a tool out there that can really improve any business’ account security: the password manager. 

Today, we’ll discuss the password manager and why it is such a great tool for keeping passwords complex and secure. 

The state of Internet security is always a trip. There are scams literally everywhere and there are better minds than ours that want to solve the myriad of problems that users run into online. One such platform is the secure communications software Telegram founded by Pavel Durov. In this attempt to revolutionize the instant messaging space, he’s found himself in some pretty hot water. Let’s dive right in.

Smaller firms may hear about AI and how data is driving the big corporations of the world, but they often don’t realize that they can do the same. The size and age of your business doesn’t have to be a limiting factor in whether you use data. Today’s blog is a quick look at data management for the small firm.

The first lesson is: don’t take your data for granted. The basic business model for some large IT companies is monetizing the data that they collect. While this may not be your goal, you probably collect a great deal of data about your customers, prospects, and operations. An MSP can help you make better use of that data. Here are just three examples.

Moving your business’ IT infrastructure is quite an endeavor, but a few preparatory steps can make it easier. Let’s review them and see if there are any opportunities hiding in this task.

It is time you were encouraged to stop looking at the technology you use to run your business as just some reliable piece of invisible infrastructure that hums along in the background.

The demand for digital storage has skyrocketed over time. While hard disk drives (HDDs) once dominated the market, solid-state drives (SSDs) are now becoming more popular thanks to their speed, durability, and increasing affordability.

That said, HDDs are still in wide use, though they are far more susceptible to failure compared to SSDs. So, how can you spot the signs that your hard drive might be on the verge of failing?

The United States National Security Agency, or NSA, is well known for its expertise in cybersecurity. So, when the NSA releases practices to help keep mobile devices more secure, it's smart to pay attention to what it says.

Let’s examine a few of their shared practices and see what we can learn.

Many small businesses tend to view an MSP as the local fire truck. Available when an emergency happens, they rush in, put out whatever tech fires broke out, and then leave. This is also known as the "break-fix” approach to technical support. However, an MSP can bring many types of value to a small business. In particular, an MSP can function as a strategic partner for a small business. Technology needs to be part of your long-term strategic planning. MSPs have the ability to devote energy to understanding emerging trends that can help your organization develop a “technology roadmap.” This is a long-term strategy document that outlines how and what technology should be used going forward. The roadmap takes a proactive view of technology as a strategic tool for the long-term growth of the business. Individual parts of a technology road map will address specific aspects of the company’s “technology” such as software development, infrastructure upgrades, digital transformation, and product innovation. A technology roadmap that includes product innovation is especially important. Questions to ask in this context would be “can technology improve the delivery of products and services, or improve qualitatively the nature of the product or service itself?” The roadmap may also include research and development initiatives. As part of C-suite plans to stay competitive and thrive in the market, leadership needs to understand what new technologies are available for future innovation.

Technology has enabled us to achieve more than ever before, but with that progress comes higher expectations. Increased productivity demands can sometimes feel overwhelming, making it essential to find effective ways to manage tasks. There's a natural limit to how much we can do, however, and certain obstacles can push us to that limit more quickly. Today, we’ll explore two common productivity pitfalls that many face.