Small businesses in Seattle looking to cut computing costs and improve efficiency are finding the many benefits of cloud-based computing services increasingly attractive. The cloud works by using the internet and central remote servers to preserve data and applications. This allows businesses to use applications without installation and lets businesses access personal files at any computer that has Internet access.

Some of the most popular cloud computing benefits for small business are:

Peace of Mind: Storing files on a secure, reliable, cloud computing services helps eliminate backup worries and gives you anytime access to your files. And such services require no maintenance from the user.

Accessibility: Cloud computing provides an easy way to collaborate, especially if yours is the kind of small business that has employees who work from different places and devices–or has remote employees, board members, or vendors who need access to your data.

Cost Savings: You save money every month as well because you no longer need to manage servers, desktops and phone systems. The traditional way of doing it all yourself in house is now a thing of the very expensive past.

To determine if moving to cloud computing is right for your small business, answer these questions:

• Do you need to make a substantial cut to your IT spending?
• Is information access necessary outside the office?
• Can you operate without custom / proprietary applications for your business?
• Does your company need to compete with big business competition?
• Is ease of scalability a must for your organization?
• Do any of your software applications have an end of life looming?
• Is your server hardware more than 5 years old?
• Does your company need a better disaster recovery plan?

If you answered yes to a majority of these questions, then you have a good case for moving to cloud computing. The cloud enables the small business to react and respond more quickly and efficiently to their customers – the edge that small companies need to succeed, allowing them to compete on a more level the playing field.

Making changes in your organization is quicker and easier in the cloud, specifically if your business needs to significantly scale its resources up and down. A cloud environment is very well suited for a small business that can take applications off the shelf and utilize with minor modifications.

Moving to the cloud depends on each unique situation. Business owners who carefully evaluate the pros and cons of cloud computing can best take advantage of all it provides. However, by not getting your business ready to use the cloud, you run the risk of being left behind by your more agile competitors in the Seattle market. The key to stay ahead of your competition (big or small) is to improve efficiency, ensure the security of your data and reduce your costs.

While it is true that the cloud can save your Seattle small business in a monetary sense, scrapping all existing systems and moving entirely to the cloud may not be the best approach. If you must have the ability to be up and running during a blackout, you may want to start by moving to a hybrid platform, where daily operational data is in the cloud and critical enterprise information is stored locally.

Whether you put some or all of your business operations in the cloud, it is imperative that you do your homework on any potential cloud service vendor. It is possible that a cloud provider may go out of business or become unable to continue supporting the very application you became dependent on to run your business. You need to know the key questions to  ask a potential cloud computing service provider before you take flight.

Although there are many advantages to moving business applications to the cloud, Seattle small business owners need to be aware that there is a lot more involved with going into the cloud to do it effectively. In order to make certain your move to the cloud is effective, it is necessary to work with a knowledgeable and reputable Seattle IT consulting firm to ensure your company doesn’t fall from the sky without a parachute.

Are you thinking about moving all or parts of your computer network “to the cloud” but worried about who can access your data? You’re not alone.

Many security experts, software companies and cloud service providers alike agree that cloud computing offers a MORE secure way to store data. In fact, the US government’s cyber security adviser Howard Schmidt had said that cloud computing will enable businesses to catch up on security issues.

That’s because most small businesses do NOT have high-security measures in place for their data onsite and lack tight password protection policies, firewall management, and backup procedures.

The same business owners who verbalize their concern about putting their data in the cloud are backing up their entire network to a tape drive and leaving it in their car overnight – or are using weak passwords for important access points to their network, which are much bigger security risks than storing it in a highly secure, highly redundant cloud platform. That’s like saying you’d rather stuff your money into a mattress at home than keep it in a bank because you’re not sure who can see and touch your money.

Of course, with any data storage there is risk and there’s no way to completely guarantee absolute security. That said, most cloud providers are far more diligent about security and invest millions of dollars into ensuring all aspects of security are as tight as possible. At IntegrIT Network Solutions we have spent a considerable amount of time investigating various cloud solutions and vendors for our clients.

If you want more information on cloud security and what to look for, you can always call us at 425-787-0193 or contact us by email.

Learn more about Cloud Computing by checking out our blog. We have written several articles on this subject.

It can easily be argued that technology does provide a return for your money. If you don’t agree, try communicating with your clients and without e-mail or tracking inventory with pen and paper.

The right technology applied with a smart strategy can certainly give any business owner a strategic advantage in faster delivery of goods and services to customers, greater productivity, lowered production costs and the like. In fact, there aren’t too many businesses that can operate without a few core IT applications. But the reality is that your bank account is going to be a bit lighter after you install that new upgrade or technology, so how do you know if that IT upgrade or project is worth the money?

The right way to look at the true price of any IT project or upgrade is to look at TCO or “total cost of ownership” and not just the PRICE of the project or upgrade. For example, if you buy a car, the price of the car is only one cost of owning it. You also have to consider insurance, gas and routine maintenance like new tires and oil changes to get an accurate look at what you’ll pay. Therefore, the total COST of owning a car is far more than just the price tag – and a cheaper car up front can end up costing more in the long-haul if frequent repairs are needed.

In IT, the same principle applies. You have to look at the TOTAL cost of a particular IT decision, not just the price tag, when comparing options. For example, the real cost of not upgrading a network may actually be higher than spending several thousand dollars on new equipment and upgrades when you accurately assess the total cost of maintenance, service fees, and poor performance.

These days, many business owners are looking at “going to the cloud” because they want to save money. And in many cases, it will do just that, but the cost savings will often come in the form of cheaper devices, less maintenance, and low (or no) upgrade costs over a 3 year period – not in a month to month service fee. So before you say “No” or “Yes” to that next IT project, make sure you are taking into consideration the TOTAL cost of your decision, and make sure you are talking to a true pro who understands the difference between the price of something and the total cost.

Our customer case studies provide direct insight in to how IntegrIT Network Solutions is helping companies become more efficient with the right technology and a smart strategy.

IntegrIT Network Solutions is proud to announce the sponsorship of local youth theater production, “On the Road Again,” a hilarious adaptation of the MGM classic, The Wizard of Oz. The theater troupe, Applause Players, is based out of Mill Creek Washington and focuses on fun, while giving its students the experience of a professional environment and learning how a real theater company operates.

What makes Applause Players different from most community theater groups is, they write their own musical scripts to include more “main” roles for all involved so every actor is a star.  This allows the organization directors to, not only tweak certain roles to truly fit their students – but also, create enough parts for everyone to be a “main character” in some shape or form.  Everyone in the productions gets to sing, dance, have lines, and a moment in the spotlight!

In addition to its financial support, IntegrIT Network Solutions staff has donated several hours of volunteer work behind the scenes, helping with various projects necessary to make the show happen.  ”It gives us a great sense of community to support such a worthwhile program and it’s a way to give back to those who have helped support our business,” says Julie Rice – vice president of business development at IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc.

The performances take place at the Wade James Theater in Edmonds at the end of this month.  There are three performances:

• Friday, April 27 – 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday, April 28 – 6:00 p.m.
• Sunday, April 29 – 2:00 p.m.

For more information about the show, read more here.

We all have faced this issue at some point of time - sending emails with missing file attachments.  We push the send button, only to remember moments later that we forgot to attach the file we said we had attached to the email.  Now you have to resend the email to the participants apologizing for clogging their email with another message that now has the attachment.

Thanks to a free plug-in for Outlook, now you can be alerted when you do just that, saving you from this embarrassing scenario. CodeTwo’s nifty Outlook Attachment Reminder scans the text of outgoing email when you hit the send button for certain key phrases, such as “attached” and “see file”.  If one of the key phrases is present in the email and an attachment is not, the plug-in pops up a window to alert you and allow you to attach a file before sending. 

You can even add to or modify the list of keywords it looks for, alter the text of the alert, and opt to have the application scan the email body, subject line or both (the default).  Handily, Outlook Attachment Reminder only scans material you write, so if you compose a reply and the quoted original message includes one or more of the keywords the program looks for, it will not trigger an alert.

Head over to CodeTwo’s website to learn more about and download the free Outlook Attachment Reminder.  This freeware tool is very easy to install and configure.  Once the program is installed, launch it on your computer and it’s ready to scan your outgoing Outlook email and alert about missing attachments.  It’s as simple as that.  To change the program’s settings, open Outlook and click on the program’s icon on the ribbon.

This is a program worth having to keep you from looking absent-minded to your peers, management, or clients.

Get it now at http://www.codetwo.com/freeware/outlook-attachment-reminder/

Watch a demo by clicking the image below.

Want more great tips like this?  View our Technology Tips Blog or sign up for our eNewsletter.

As with many business decisions, what is best depends entirely on what resources you have available and what goals you are trying to meet. The field of computer service is broad and complex. Do you need a website built, an office connected and supported, e-mail services, or a complete overhaul of all of the above? Information security and data redundancy are important as well. If you’re interested in computer services, but aren’t totally sure where to start, let this be a guide. There are some basic considerations to be made when contacting IT professionals – most importantly, figuring out what it is that you need.

Web Services – E-mail, Internet Service, Websites

One aspect of the computer service industry – perhaps the largest aspect, in fact – is the internet. Different business types have different relationships to the web. For some, it’s a communication platform and little else. For those, basic e-mail service and connectivity is usually sufficient. For others, especially those businesses who are manufacturing and distributing material, selling through a website, or offering some kind of ongoing service, the web becomes an important customer portal. The effective design and operation/maintenance of such a portal is essential to the business, and it should be treated as such. Many internet service providers (ISPs) will offer these services as part of a connectivity package, but frequently, it’s a better idea to make arrangements with an outside party. Should something go wrong, ISP contracts can be very difficult to penetrate if someone needs to be held accountable.

Hardware and Maintenance

Despite the importance of the web and web services, none of it would be possible without hardware. These are the physical machines and their components – monitors, towers, their components, and so on. Matching hardware needs to business demands is very important. It’s very easy to overspend on hardware. The allure of top of the line machines consistently overshadows practical application – the simple fact is most office computing requires a fraction of a machine’s resources. On the other hand, it’s important that employees be able to work quickly and effectively. Machines that are too slow are frustrating, and pushing an old machine to the limits can cause problems.

Software and Support

Computer software determines what your office hardware does. The most important piece of software is the operating system, generally a Microsoft Windows product of some kind. Productivity suites like Microsoft Office are installed on top of the operating system, allowing for desktop publishing, spreadsheed development, and so forth. Determining the software needs of your company, as well as the budget to purchase them, is an important part of a computer service provider’s job. Not only will we help you figure out what software functions you need, if your budget doesn’t accommodate them all, we may be able to suggest alternatives.

If you have any questions about choosing a computer service provider that weren’t answered here, don’t hesitate to contact us. We can provide service in all of these categories and more. Schedule a consultation with us today!

Savvy business owners and managers know that they can get better productivity from their staff if their IT is designed to deliver that productivity.  But the technology landscape is constantly changing, and businesses grow and change. What you bought just a few years ago for your business could now be the very thing that is holding it back from bigger and better achievements.  

Human Resources are getting more expensive all the time; meanwhile most technology gets cheaper over time.  So  you see, it makes little sense to hire great staff and then lumber them with technology that hinders their ability to give you maximum return from their time. And yet this is what we see small and medium businesses (SMBs) doing all the time, especially those that have high growth and have not found the time to sit and plan their IT properly.

Productivity is only one reason for an audit.  Security is another big reason due to the sheer number of ways that your business can be affected by subversive threats. 

Commercial espionage is on the rise (competitors stealing your business information).  Information leaks can be devastating.  Spyware & viruses can cause widespread outages or allow hackers back door access to secretly control your network in order to send spam or conduct further hacking attempts on other networks. 

The simple encryption on many wireless devices can be cracked by a high school student in less than 60 seconds.  Staff can attempt to get other staff fired (or worse) by sending emails as them or conducting damaging or risky activities while logged on as another person.  Every year the types and nature of these threats change.

If you think security is not an issue for your business, it’s either in the 0.03% minority, or else you are not well informed.

The reasons to conduct an IT audit include:

• Ensuring that servers are properly configured for both efficiency and security (many servers are not, simply because the people that set them up didn’t know how to do it properly. There is NO IT INDUSTRY QUALIFICATION required to call yourself an “Expert Server Installer”, and thus most IT people are far from expert.

• Searching for and identifying specific productivity drains in current hardware or software.

• Obtain an asset listing of all hardware (useful for depreciation schedules and equipment lifespan planning)

• Seeking causes of frequent problems.

• Make certain backup systems are adequate, monitored, tested regularly (I’ll say TESTED REGULARLY again to let that sink in).

• Ensure Security measures are adequate for viruses, spyware, Internet perimeter intrusion detection & prevention (firewall), data security, passwords, encryption etc etc.

• Check for compliance issues that could lead to hefty fines due to missed industry regulatory standards

• A list of all software installed on the network to see if your business has the correct licensing or is unwittingly participating in software piracy and risking big fines.

Even if you just look only at the predictable costs of not having a well-tuned network, and ignore all the other essential points above, you’ll see what we’re driving at with an IT Network Audit. 

Some basic maths…

Do the maths on some very conservative productivity losses from the average 20 staff small business:

• Let’s assume that inadequate or poorly maintained technology is wasting each staff member only 5 minutes per day in avoidable slow boot times, slow program response times, and the occasional bug or crash.  In most cases it is much higher than 5 minutes, but lets be very conservative.ve.

• Assume also that once a year there is an avoidable security incident like a virus outbreak or hacking breach, or widespread Trojan that is sending out spam, or some other avoidable failure with one of your central IT resources that affects everyone.  Let’s say that this results in 4 hours of widespread downtime.

• Calculations: (5 minutes per day x 5 days per week x 41 work weeks in the year x 20 staff) + (240 minutes x 20 staff) = 25,300 minutes.

That’s over 420 hours of wasted time over the year.

Or 52 x 8 hour wasted days, which is likely to be worth anywhere between $20,000 and $50,000 at your COST price, not taking into consideration lost opportunities etc. At BEST that’s tens of thousands of dollars straight off your profit. 

It makes spending a bit of money on an audit and some remedial maintenance positively the cheapest possible action you could take.

To sum it up, an effective IT Network Audit should address these areas for adequacy of controls and other connected operations to ensure system effectiveness. When the audit is conducted, there’s a need to determine exactly where controls can be relied on from the centralized or de-centralized viewpoint. The progression of a checklist for successful IT auditing will certainly prove to be beneficial in the complete method.

A company must begin its search for ‘IT consulting services’ by having a clear vision/idea about its objectives, goals, and needs. It has been observed that most of the companies fail to find the right ‘IT consultant’ because they have no clear idea about their company’s future growth, their business objectives, and more importantly their basic business needs. And at the end of the day, this hinders their expected business outcome. Hence before a company reaches out for a consultant, it is suggested that it must know its budget, its business milestones, along with its timelines.

Why companies hesitate to reach out for consulting service:
Any company that intends to approach an IT consulting firm needs guidance on issues such as their resource utilization, data sharing, system/technological upgrades, etc. This enhances the risk of confidential information leakage. Moreover, the hiring costs/charges of IT consultancy for a small business, with only a limited budget, might weigh too heavy on them. Probably, these are the factors that restrict companies from reaching out for IT consulting services.

A need for mutual understanding between companies and consultants:
There is a strong urge for a recognizable and comprehensive company-consultant relationship. IT consulting firms must understand a company’s business goals and provide them with services that will facilitate better output. They must ensure that updates/changes that have been made go along with a company’s demand and promise security.

Steps to be considered once the deal is done:
Once an agreement has been signed by a company and its new IT consultancy firm, teams representing both parties must sit and discuss, and try to understand each other’s queries and suggestions. The team from the company end must ask the following questions:

> How will the upgrades/changes benefit their business?
> Why should a change be made?
> How will the recommended changes be implemented?
> What are the resources required?
> What would be the total budget required for implementation of expected changes?

The IT consultancy firm must provide a company with satisfactory answers regarding every aspect of network/system upgradation.

Limitations for IT consultancy firms:
Consulting firms should restrict themselves from amending a client’s company policies in order to achieve their task, rather they should stick to the ‘terms of contract’, focusing more on their client’s business goals.

Searching for the right IT consulting firm:
A company can start the search for right consultancy firm by,

> asking for references from business associates.
> asking friends.
> checking the track records of well-known and experienced IT consultancy companies.
> looking for firms that provide expertise as requirement of project.
> asking for work samples in order to gain confidence in their work.

IT consulting services, an essential part for a company’s future business growth:
An experienced and well skilled ‘IT consulting firm’ is fully capable of providing a company with an unexpected boost to its business growth. IT consultancy helps an organization discover its potential business volume, so that the company may get the most out of their assets and investments.

‘Seattle IT Consulting’ facilitates its client companies with a systematic project control program, where highly skilled and experienced consultants present best possible solutions. ‘Seattle IT Consulting’ also provides a comprehensive IT support and services program which can be customized according to client’s business objectives and needs.

As a local provider of IT support services in Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mukilteo, Everett, Bellevue, Kirkland, and Seattle, IntegrIT Network Solutions is proud to not only offer professional network and computer care, but also support the communities we serve. Whether we’re providing professional technology services for our fellow business owners or participating in local activities and events, we enjoy staying involved and supporting the greater Seattle community. At IntegrIT, your neighborhood is ours, and we take pride in offering IT services and support to better, not just your business computer network but, our entire community

Since starting our business in 2003, we try to support and volunteer our time in the community whenever possible. That’s why our vice president of business development, Julie Rice, spent a day in March as a volunteer judge at the Washington State DECA Career Development Conference for high school business students in Washington State. DECA is a national non-profit organization that assists high school students with career development skills and prepares young leaders for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. DECA helps students attain the skills necessary to succeed in the business world today. As a DECA alumni, Julie enjoyed giving back and experiencing the energy this event brings. Being a part of this event brought back fond memories from her two years as a DECA student, competing at both the State and National levels. 

Julie Rice (left) with fellow judge Nikki Balcerak of the Seattle Chamber

Washington DECA is the 5th largest DECA association in the world with more than 10,000 student members. The competition consists of mock interviews, marketing campaigns, and several leadership exercises for the students. As a judge for the Marketing Communications Decision Making competition, Julie saw firsthand how Washington State public schools really are producing the leaders of tomorrow!  As local business professionals, we are happy to give back and encourage students to attain the tools they need to thrive later in life. As we continue to expand our business, we plan to stay involved in the community and lend support to other organizations. 

With the Internet and e-mail providing a free, viral platform for online scammers, hackers, and cyber criminals, there’s no doubt that at some point you’ll receive an e-mail hoax. Some are harmless, but many can lead to virus infections, identity theft, or worse.

Here are some common themes to watch out for:

 Supposedly free giveaways in exchange for forwarding e-mails

 Banks, Facebook, PayPal or other organization requesting personal information or to change password

 Bogus virus alerts

 False appeals to help sick children

 Pointless petitions that lead nowhere and accomplish nothing

 Dire, and completely fictional, warnings about products, companies, government policies or coming events

Legitimate companies tend to use customer names or user names in the e-mail, and banks often will include part of an account number. Phishing emails typically offer generic greetings, like “Dear PayPal customer.”

Probably the most common indicator that an e-mail is a hoax is the “Send this e-mail to everyone in your address book” request. Hoax writers want their material to be spread as far and wide as possible, so almost every hoax e-mail will have this request built into the message.

Another surefire indicator that an e-mail is a hoax is that they don’t provide a checkable reference to back up claims. Genuine competitions, promotions, giveaways or charity drives will almost always provide a link to a company website or publication. Real virus warnings should only come from your installed anti-virus software. E-mails containing government or company policy information are likely to include references to checkable sources such as news articles, websites, or other publications.

A third indicator is often the actual language used. E-mail hoax writers have a tendency to use an emotive, “over-the-top” style of writing peppered with words and phrases such as “Urgent,” “Danger,” “Worse virus ever,” and so on. Another indication is that these messages contain ALL CAPITAL LETTERS for added emphasis. When in doubt, don’t forward the message or take the action requested.

How to avoid phishing scams

• Never send passwords, bank account numbers, or other private information in an e-mail.

• Avoid clicking links in e-mails, especially any that are requesting private information.

• Be wary of any unexpected e-mail attachments or links, even from people you know.

• Never enter private or personal information into a popup.

• Look for ‘https://’ and a lock icon in the address bar before entering any private information.

• Check the sender information to see if it looks legitimate.

• Inspect the hyperlinks inside the body of the e-mail.

• Have an updated anti-virus program that can scan e-mail.

• Check it out on snopes.com by searching for email subject on that site.

What to do if you think you have been a victim of a scam

If you suspect that you’ve responded to a phishing scam with personal or financial information, take these steps to minimize any damage and protect your identity.

• Change the passwords or PINs on all your online accounts that you think might be compromised.

• Place a fraud alert on your credit reports. Check with your bank or financial advisor if you’re not sure how to do this.

• Contact the bank or the online merchant directly. Do not follow the link in the fraudulent email message.

• If you know of any accounts that were accessed or opened fraudulently, close those accounts.

• Routinely review your bank and credit card statements monthly for unexplained charges or inquiries that you didn’t initiate.

Where to report phishing attempts

You can forward suspected phishing e-mails to reportphishing@antiphishing.org and spam@uce.gov. Companies typically have an address to forward phishing examples to, such as “spoof @ company.com.” Always include the entire phishing e-mail. Complaints can be lodged with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at the FBI.

If you would like to learn more about email management tools you can put in place to keep your company network secure, please visit the IntegrIT Network Solutions Website at www.integrit-network.com for more information.