Technology

By Ryan Woltering on Sep 14, 2016 in Business, Cloud Computing, Office 365, Technology, Websites |

To the Cloud! We have all heard about the ‘cloud’; we all use ‘the cloud’ every single day with our cell phones, email platforms, hell, even Facebook uses ‘the cloud’. But what is the cloud and how can you use it to improve your business productivity, efficiency and maintain your bottom line? Simple, I’ll tell you how. First, we need to know: What is the cloud? Well, essentially, the cloud is a collection of strategically placed datacenters that house hundreds if not thousands of servers that store all types of information from emails, to browsing history, to credit card data to everything in between. By using the power of these massive data centers, many large companies and developers are able to build applications and store data that have direct impact on our lives. Gone are the days of a company having a headquartered building with a basement full of servers; that if the internet went down or the power went out, customers were unable to access that company’s website, banking resources or email systems. Now, information is stored across these datacenters so that if a datacenter in one region is inaccessible, another datacenter in a different region will provide access to the resource that is requested. As a result of this scalability, resources such as email, data storage, websites and apps are available at an extremely low cost and with nearly 100% uptime/availability. Ok, so what does this mean for me and my business? Well, chances are if you use Gmail, Facebook, a banking platform, hell even the web based version of Quickbooks, you are interacting with the cloud. This is all fine and dandy, but if your business utilizes any type of IT related infrastructure, such as a website, email or data storage or even Quickbooks, then it may be time to take advantage of the power and cost savings of the cloud. If you are using an in-house email solution such as an on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server, Lotus, or any other in-house email platform; or, if you are using an email platform provided by your web hosting company, then it is time to move over to a platform that actually works. The 2 biggest providers are Google...

By cic_adminuser on Sep 30, 2014 in Technology, Windows | 0 comments

Microsoft recently announced that it is preparing to release (to developers of course) Windows 10. This new version of Windows has many new features that seems to ‘marry’ the beloved features of Windows 7, with the ‘nifty’ features of Windows 8. If you or your business is in the market for a new computer, but it isn’t necessarily an emergency, I would wait until Windows 10 is out. Sadly, there is no ETA as to when Windows 10 will be release to the public, but I would imagine by Spring. I would recommend sticking with Windows 7, at least until 10 comes out. Windows 7 is tried and true and will carry its weight until 10 is fully released and ready to be deployed. If you are in the market for a new PC, I would definitely try to get it with Windows 7 installed. Unfortunately, many of the hardware companies are forcing Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 onto new devices. There are a few that still allow you to configure a PC with Windows 7. If you are unable to find a computer with Windows 7, then I would recommend letting us know as we may be able to downgrade you to Windows 7 (if your computer supports it). Windows 8.1 isn’t the worst thing in the world, but based on what I have seen with Windows 10, it may be best to just wait until it is released to the...