You may think that your printing expenses aren’t a major concern. But if they’re not managed well, you may end up with a bloated IT budget that’s mostly comprised of hardware, supply purchases, and equipment maintenance costs. Your business can save money and time by following these five tips.

Replace outdated printers

Your outdated and cheap printers may meet the absolute minimum requirements, but they’re taking a bit out of your IT budget.

Any piece of equipment that is five years old (or older) requires frequent repairs and causes more trouble than it’s worth. Because old printers are no longer under warranty, fixing them is costly and challenging. It’s also difficult to find replacement parts for old printers because manufacturers have stopped carrying them.

When you replace outdated equipment with newer, multi-functional upgrades, you’re investing in hardware that will pay for itself with increases in productivity and efficiency.

Avoid purchasing unnecessary supplies

A poorly managed printer environment will result in a stockpile of cartridges, toners, and reams of paper. This happens when, for example, an employee mistakes a basic malfunction for a lack of ink and then makes an unnecessary supply request. This is more common than you may think, and definitely more expensive.

In the absence of a dedicated printer manager, you can avoid this situation by automating supply replacement. Assign a point person to proactively place orders when supplies are about to run out, so one person is accountable for avoiding needless orders.

Impose strict process workflows

Submitting expense reports, filing trip reimbursements, and other administrative tasks require a proper document workflow. Without proper guidelines, employees and administrative staff end up printing unnecessary documents.

Automate your company’s document-driven processes to reduce or prevent redundant print jobs that result in stacks of abandoned documents. These print jobs aren’t just wasteful, they’re also a security and privacy concern.

Go paperless

Designing a document management solution that reduces paper consumption is an effective way to save money. It may not be possible in every department, but those who can do their jobs without printing should be either forced or incentivized to do so. Printing lengthy email chains that can be discussed in a meeting is just one example of a wasteful practice that should be avoided.

Reduce IT support calls for printing issues

Calling on an in-house IT technician to assist with problems like paper jams, printer Wi-Fi issues, and other concerns probably does more harm than good. You and your IT personnel could avoid dealing with these productivity killers by identifying the problem areas of your print environment. Then, you can work on solutions specific to your office, such as drafting a printing workflow or getting help from document management experts who can recommend time- and budget-saving solutions.

Partnering with experts to manage your IT workflow will make your day-to-day operations more efficient and save money on printing costs. Our experts will gladly recommend best practices and tips on document management. Call us today.

Source: Pronto

Firefox may not be as ubiquitous as it used to be, but it remains a powerful browser. Make sure you’re taking full advantage of its capabilities by using these tools:

Firefox’s secret tweak interface

Catering to the more tech-savvy users, Firefox’s secret interface gives you a peek behind the curtain into the world of coding. This helps you make adjustments to improve browser performance.

Customize your toolbar

Choose which tools you want to see in your Firefox toolbar and maybe even discover new ones you haven’t heard of! Click on the menu button on the top-right corner and then click Customize. Drag and drop desired items into the toolbar, which is located along the address bar near the top of the browser page.

The master password

‘One can never be too safe’ is the mentality you should have every time you log on. Enter the master password. This acts like a key that unlocks all your vital passwords and information that could be detrimental if left exposed.

Create your own password by going to the menu button > Options > Privacy & Security. Then check the box next to “Use a master password” and follow the directions in the pop-up window.

Customize your own shortcuts

If Mozilla’s current shortcuts take too long to master, consider your problem solved. With the help of the Shortkeys add-on, you have the luxury to design your own shortcut sequences. No more confusion, no more time wasted.

URL autocomplete

To spare you the fuss of entering prefixes or suffixes, Firefox lets the new URL autocomplete feature do the work for you. For example, type in “wordpress” in the address bar followed by Ctrl + Enter (Mac: Command + Enter) and voila! Firefox fills in the www and the .com parts.

Firefox Send

This feature enables you to share files up to 1G in size. The files you send are encrypted for added security. Your recipient doesn’t even have to have an account — all they need is a password to receive your file.

Firefox is still developing and with the browser market becoming more and more competitive, there is no doubt that this smart tool will only become smarter and more versatile in the future.

If you want to discover new ways to make Firefox work for your business, just give us a call.

Source: Pronto

Security audits are an excellent way to set the benchmark for your company’s data integrity. It is also a reliable way of identifying gaps in your system before they can be exploited by hackers.

Auditing and the security strategy

Audits are necessary to maintain system integrity and uphold quality. These system checks help identify security gaps and guarantee business stakeholders that the company is doing everything in its power to ensure that all of its information is uncompromised.

The three key procedures of an audit are assess, assign, and audit. Having a methodical way of auditing helps you avoid missing important details. It is also crucial that each stage is treated with the same level of importance to ensure thorough and comprehensive auditing.

During the assessment phase, have your IT partner look at the security system you have in place. All of your business computers and servers need to be checked, as well as every program and every user. Doing an assessment should give you an overview of how secure your business currently is, along with any weak points that need to be improved.
After the assessment, you may begin assigning solutions and solution providers. Ask your IT provider about solutions they can provide for each of your network/system gaps. And for issues that they can’t handle (perhaps because certain machines and software are highly specialized), ask your IT provider for their whitelist of partners.

Finally, you conclude your audit cycle with an “audit” — one last look-around before releasing the system back into the wild. Make sure that installations, patches, and upgrades are integrated properly and working seamlessly. For future reference, you’ll also want to take down notes just in case you need information about software and hardware improvements done during this audit cycle.

What exactly should be audited?

When conducting an audit, there are three factors you should focus on:

The state of your security – Security — especially digital security — is never at an impasse, and it is always in flux. Why? Because according to the Clark School at the University of Maryland, hackers attack every 39 seconds. And that’s not even accounting for other cyberattacks such as phishing, ransomware, and malware. This means that system security has shorter and shorter expiration dates nowadays, which makes audits all the more crucial to accomplishing your security strategy.

The changes made – The key to having long-term data integrity is a continuity plan — and not just one that addresses severe business disruptions such as those caused by calamity or disaster. A true continuity plan tries to address every conceivable risk realistically, especially those that can trip up business operations, such as cyberattacks. This can only be possible if you know what kind of hardware and software comprise your system, as well as their respective updates and improvements.

Who has access to what – Data systems — even proprietary ones — should allow administrators some control over who sees what. Total accessibility is a very dangerous prospect, especially since business nowadays is increasingly hinged on internet presence. An audit will let you check on user access so that you can make necessary adjustments to protect your data.

If you are looking for help in developing a security strategy for your business, contact us today to see how our managed solutions can help.

Source: Pronto

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an application with features that can help predict and identify risks and opportunities for your business products or services? Microsoft has turned this concept into reality with Office 365 Power BI’s predictive forecasting. Familiarize yourself with what predictive forecasting is and how it can help your business.

Predictive forecasting uses a variety of statistical techniques, such as modeling and data mining, to analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about the future.
The predictive forecasting function of Office 365 provides users with the skills to generate reports, interactive charts, and 3D visualizations of business performance.

Its built-in predictive forecasting models can automatically detect seasonality in the data, though users can override this by applying a non-seasonal algorithm if they so desire. It also enables users to see how results are affected by adjusting the parameters of the time or confidence interval assigned to be analyzed. Simply put, users can perform advanced forecasting without the complexity that usually accompanies these kinds of processes.

Power BI’s predictive forecasting can also help fill in gaps with data. Power View, an interactive data exploration and presentation tool, fills in missing values from a data set before carrying out a forecast for a more accurate result.

Get started with forecasting by doing following:

1. Simply upload a workbook with a Power View time series line chart to Power BI for Office 365.
2. Open the file in Power BI.
3. Click on the forecast arrow or drag the forecast dot in the line chart and you’ll see forecasting parameters appear in the analysis pane to the right of your report. To get your forecast or projection, configure the parameters:
   1. Forecast Length – This lets you look as far into the future as you wish, be it in days, months, or years.
   2. Confidence Interval – This parameter allows you to indicate the probability of how close predicted values will be to the eventual actual numbers, e.g., you can be 80% certain that actual sales figures next year will be within the range of your forecast.
   3. Ignore Last – Outliers in datasets can distort averages and forecasts. For instance, you want to look into sales for the past 12 months, but you know that the data of every month goes through adjustments before being locked in. With Ignore Last, you can take out data from the most recent month if the numbers haven’t been adjusted yet.
   4. Seasonality – A dataset is said to exhibit seasonality when a pattern can be discerned when looking at values over cycles of time. If you anticipate seasonality in a particular workbook, you can specify if it is monthly, quarterly, or yearly.

Predictive forecasting, if used properly, can immensely help with the overall strategic planning, market penetration, and operation of your business.

Looking to learn more about Office 365 and its features? Call us today for a chat.

Source: Pronto

Most of us don’t normally associate Business Intelligence (BI) with small- or medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The huge investment required to hire data-delving specialists makes us think BI is only for larger organizations. But this is no longer the case. Not only does a growing selection of self-service tools make BI more affordable for SMBs, but it also makes data management more efficient, given that your business probably creates and holds more data than you realize, making it easier for you to get going. It’s time you start harnessing data that will help you to make more strategic business decisions.

You’ve already got the data you need

It’s easy to underestimate the amount of data your SMB already has at its disposal. In every area of your business, from finance and sales to customer relations and website management, the software packages you use to simplify your everyday operations are packed with reams of information that most of us don’t even think twice about. By talking to key stakeholders in your organization’s various departments, you can get an idea of the kind of data you already have, how it’s generated, and where it’s stored. You can then start to think about using BI tools to transform that information into meaningful business insights that will inform your decision-making. No need for you to invest in time-consuming data generation from scratch!

Self-service BI tools are plentiful — and affordable

The emergence of self-service BI puts useful business analytics within reach of smaller business owners who lack the fancy-pants budgets of larger corporations. In fact, there are numerous self-service BI tools that you can use to get started in this area without even spending a dime. Microsoft Power BI is a powerful application that’s pleasingly user-friendly, and most businesses will find the functions they need in the free version. Zoho Analytics has a low entry-level cost, too, and the slightly pricier yet still affordable Tableau is another option that’s worth exploring.

It’s easy to get started

BI is an intimidating term, especially for the average business owner. But by taking small steps, it’s easy for anyone to get started — and before you know it, you’ll be enjoying the benefits of having data-driven, intelligence-based insights that will enable you to make better business decisions.

Most self-service BI tools come with built-in suggestions for reports that businesses commonly run and find useful. Other worthwhile statistics to explore include the percentage of your clients who cancel within a set period, website landing pages that generate the longest visits, your most profitable individual products or services, the days or months in which you generate your highest revenues, and which of your clients bring in the most revenue and profit.

Truly harnessing data is the future of the business world — it’s how companies like yours can make smarter decisions that increase efficiency and profitability. And having self-service tools available means SMBs no longer need a crazy budget to be able to afford the benefits of BI. To find out more about putting in place the tools that can help you do smarter business, just give us a call.

Source: Pronto