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Bits-N-Bytes

Welcome to the IntegrIT Network Solutions "Bits-N-Bytes" newsletter with tips to help you keep your computers and network running efficiently. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, manage and opt-out links are provided at the bottom of the newsletter. This will not impact your other email alerts. 

We're here, ready to help you fully control and manage your IT systems so that you can focus on growing your business, increasing sales, and meeting your goals. It's easy to reach us!

1. Call us at (866) 578-6220

2. Send us an email

We will contact you within 24 hours or less. Happy Computing! 

IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc., Bringing Integrity and IT Together™

How Proactive Updates and Patching Help you Stay on Top of the Game

Viruses and other forms of malware can wreak untold havoc in your computer systems, which causes productivity loss and problems that affect the service you deliver to your customers. This is why subscribing to a service that maintains and prevents the spread of viruses in your system and network can go a long way in ensuring that your IT-based operations continue smoothly and efficiently.

However, viruses account for only a fraction of the problems your computer system can suffer. With many businesses such as yours relying greatly on the capabilities of their IT systems, it stands to reason that all steps must be taken to ensure that it is properly maintained and functions as effectively as possible.

One very efficient way to do this that’s getting much attention these days is Managed Services. This is an affordable and cost-effective means of making sure that your IT continues to function at optimum levels at all times.

Here’s how it works: Companies routinely experience IT-related problems that they have difficulty solving. Managed Services provides 24×7 proactive monitoring of your systems and ensures all systems are up to date, preventing problems from happening in the first place.

We had a client who decided several months back to save money by scaling back their Managed Services Plan.  This ended up being a very expensive mistake.  Since we were no longer providing necessary updates and 24x7 monitoring to their network, they suffered a major outage, which put them out of business for several hours.

Updating, patching, and constant maintenance to your system is important to protecting your system from a slew of potentially damaging problems. Improvements and upgrades help your system function better, which enhances your company’s capabilities and helps you achieve a higher level of productivity. Managed Services Providers help you stay on top of the game with little worries and predictable costs - especially in the long run.

Thinking about checking out Managed Services? We’re here for you. We respond to all our clients’ concerns and deliver service specific to their particular needs. We keep ourselves up to date with the latest fixes, patches, and upgrades so you always have the best and the latest means to help increase your productivity and help you deliver your services better. We know the best ways to prevent viruses and other preventive maintenance methods that maximize your IT systems capabilities.

• Choose from our pre-packaged MSP plans - We offer 4 great Rest Assured plans from which to choose.

• Build your own MSP - Take any of our plans and combine them into a hybrid plan that meets your needs.

We can customize a plan to fit your business model and budget.

Contact us at 425-787-0193 or info@integrit-network.com to discuss how to move from "worry" to "worry free."

Happy Computing from IntegrIT Network Solutions

Business Continuity Planning Series - Part I

It’s Autumn in the beautiful Pacific Northwest; the leaves are beginning to turn, Football is in the air, and Small Businesses all over our area are beginning to think about power outages. I received so much positive feedback on the Cloud series articles in our summer newsletters that I decided I would start a new series covering Business Continuity Planning.

Disaster recovery and business continuity planning are processes that help organizations prepare for disruptive events—whether those events might include a hurricane or simply a power outage caused by a backhoe in the parking lot. The Business Owner involvement in this process can range from overseeing the plan, to providing input and support, to putting the plan into action during an emergency.

First I want to start by answering a basic question I am asked frequently:

Q: "Disaster recovery" seems fairly self-explanatory. Is there any difference between that and "business continuity planning?"

A: Disaster recovery is the process by which you resume business after a disruptive event. The event might be something huge, such as an earthquake or something small, like malfunctioning software caused by a computer virus.

Given the human tendency to look on the bright side, many small business owners are prone to ignoring "disaster recovery" because disaster seems an unlikely event.

"Business continuity planning" suggests a more comprehensive approach to making sure you can keep making money, not only after a natural calamity but also in the event of smaller disruptions, including illness or departure of key staffers, supply chain partner problems, or other challenges that businesses face from time to time.

Despite these distinctions, the two terms are often married under the acronym BC/DR because of their many common considerations. All BC/DR plans need to address how employees will communicate, where they will go, and how they will keep doing their jobs. The details can vary greatly, depending on the size and scope of a company and the way it does business.

In next month's article, I will dive deeper into the components of a basic Business Continuity Plan, but for now – GO SEAHAWKS!

About the Author: Larry Owens is President and Chief Technologist at IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc. For more information go to www.integrit-network.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Client Spotlight: SIR Construction

Every month we choose a customer to be our “Client of the Month.” It’s our way of acknowledging clients and thanking those who support us and our business with referrals and repeat business.

Fred Desimone
CFO

This month’s featured client of the month is SIR Construction. Located in Mukilteo, Washington, SIR Construction is a full service general contractor specializing in Insurance Restoration and Construction Defect Resolution and Repair. Founded in 1987, they have established a successful track record in building restoration, reconstruction and construction defect resolution and repair. They consider each project a custom job and take great pride in assuring each of their client’s satisfaction and peace of mind.  To learn more about SIR Construction, visit their Website at www.sirconstruction.com.

Here’s what Fred had to say about IntegrIT Network Solutions: "Your prompt service and ability to get things running smoothly are terrific. Not only did you correct the servers allocation, you ensured the data backup process was secure and correct. That gives me plenty of peace of mind."

You might be my next Client Of The Month . . . Watch for your name and picture here!

The Enemy Within: The Biggest Threat To Your Company’s Critical, Confidential Data Revealed

If you ask most business owners what’s the biggest threat to their company’s network and data, they might say, “viruses, hackers and cyber criminals,” or perhaps “faulty hardware, software and system failures.” But research is showing a much different reality.

According to a recent study published by Computer Economics (a research and metrics company for IT managers) revealed that employee sabotage – whether it be for financial gain, retribution or some other motivation – accounts for a bigger threat than viruses, hackers, hardware failures and natural disasters.

With so much critical data and operations tied up in a company’s network, internal sabotage from employees becomes an even greater risk. In a matter of minutes, an employee can delete software or erase years of data vital to a company. They can purposefully download viruses or attempt to tarnish their employer’s reputation by posting pornography on their company’s web site or spamming all clients with racist, hateful and slanderous e-mails. Or they can simply download client lists and other confidential information and sell it to competitors, post it online or use it to start a competitive business.

What are the reasons why they do this? The biggest one given is simply “job dissatisfaction.” Another contributing factor seems to be the recent downturn in the economy. Cut backs, layoffs and fewer raises have given rise to employees stealing data, equipment or money. For example, a law firm recently discovered their internal IT person was purchasing computer equipment on the company’s credit card and reselling it on eBay. He had embezzled over $40,000 before the company caught up to what he was doing.

Another company suspected that one of their employees was stealing and suspended them from work until a further investigation could be conducted. When the employee caught wind of what was happening, they deleted over a year’s worth of company e-mails – all containing important client records and history – in an effort to cover their tracks. Fortunately this company had a solid backup system in place and was able to immediately recover all the data within a few hours.

To protect yourself, we strongly recommend you have an offsite backup of your data in place. Call us today at 425-787-0193 for a free consultation.

Computer Tip of the Month

Most of us can't remember the laundry list of shortcut keys in Word (or any other program). Here's the short list of the best shortcut keys to know. If you learn only these key combinations, you're guaranteed to save time.

• Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V = Cut, Copy, and Paste respectively. These work in virtually every Windows program. Learn them, use them, save LOTS of time and mousing around in the Edit menu.

• Ctrl+B = Apply Bold. Highlight text then click Ctrl+B...voila insto-bold.

• Ctrl+I = Apply Italic. Same idea as adding bold, except it adds italic instead.

• Ctrl+Y = Repeat the last action. Say you just added a row to a table. Click Ctrl+Y and add another one. Keep doing it and add a whole bunch of them.

• Ctrl+spacebar = remove all local formatting. If text looks weird, it could be because you accidently added something. It's also good consistency. You can make sure that the only formatting you're applying is the stuff you've set up in your styles.

• Shft+F3 = Toggles case. If you know people who type in all upper case, you have my permission to rip the Caps Lock key off their keyboard. In the meantime, use Shift+F3 to switch case from UPPER, lower, and Initial Caps.

• Ctrl+Home, Ctrl+End = Move to the top and bottom of a document, respectively.

• F8 + arrow keys = Select text. Sometimes selecting large bodies of text with the mouse is a big pain. Use F8 in conjunction with the arrow keys or Page Up and Page Down keys to select it more easily.

Want to get more great tips like this daily?  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Check Out What’s New at IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc.

5 Time-Saving Techie Tips That Will Add An Hour Or MORE To Your Day

So the question is, what are some small, time-saving technologies we can use to automate or speed up what we get done to save us that precious hour?

If you don't have a full time IT Support Staff or a proactive support plan with a company such as IntegrIT Network Solutions, here are our 5 favorites:

1. Use an aggressive spam filter. Over 80% of the e-mails being sent daily are not-so-delicious spam. And if you’re like me, you’re getting dozens of these every day, which can easily add up to 5-10 minutes per day sifting, sorting through and deleting the spam from the e-mails you want. We recommend, of course, our Spam filter program because it is updated 2,000 to 4,000 times per day to ensure protection from even the newest spammer tricks! Plus, eliminating spam temptations from your STAFF will not only cut down on the time they waste on it, but will also drastically reduce your chances of getting viruses and spyware on your network.

2. Replace Old PCs. While it’s hard to truly estimate how much total time is wasted waiting on an old, slow computer to process tasks, start up, etc., I can tell ya, it adds up. Let’s say your old PC takes 10 seconds longer to process a task than a fresh, new one. Might not seem like a lot, but with users averaging 100-150 tasks a day conservatively are wasting 16-25 minutes a day. Add in the crashes and other problems old PCs cause and you’re probably closer to 30-35 minutes a day.

3. Maintain Your Network. Another tip that will save you a lot of time is patching, updating, and optimizing your server and workstations. You’d be surprised how much slower even a new machine will start to run if not maintained properly.

4. Document management. This is a HUGE time-saver if you are a paper-heavy office (like attorneys, doctors, contractors, etc.). But even if you aren’t, scanning and storing paper documents so they can be searched on and located in seconds rather than minutes or hours is a HUGE time saver. Plus, it’s a greener solution, improves document security, enables users to access critical documents remotely AND (if that’s not enough) prevents important paper from loss or damage.

5. Implement SharePoint or Other Business Collaboration Software. Be honest: how much time is wasted in your office because people are duplicating efforts, can’t find information and documents they need or backtracking to FIX mistakes made? This, like time wasted on old PCs and downtime, may be hard to calculate, but I would conservatively guess that folks are wasting at least 30 minutes a day or MORE because of disorganization. That’s why we recommend growing companies implement software to organize projects and documents into a SINGLE location, making it easier for everyone to get on the same page.

Want To Implement Any Of These In Your Office? Give us a call at 425-787-0193 and we can show you how these technologies (and dozens of others we offer) can streamline your operations, saving you a LOT of time!

"In our business, network reliability is critical. Because IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc. is constantly monitoring, maintaining, and updating our systems, network issues rarely arise, and when they do they can be dealt with remotely - usually within minutes. Using IntegrIT Network Solutions' Rest Assured™ service plan has not only eliminated any downtime, but has given us the peace of mind we need to carry on our business with confidence. Thanks!"  ~ John Marker, Bering Industrial, Inc., Edmonds, WA