For anybody who still thinks that VoIP is a fad or not reliable enough for their business, please understand that the FCC is actively working to do away with the PSTN (traditional Land based copper phone lines) and make everything IP based (Voice over Internet Protocol).

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/123109-att-tells-fcc-its-time.html?hpg1=bn.

Even AT&T realizes that this transition is just a matter of time.  Predictably not ‘IF’ but ‘WHEN.’

This means someday in the near future every phone call will be VoIP.

Also, VoIP was listed in this press release as the best performing industry of the last and upcoming decades: http://www.ibisworld.com/pressrelease/pressrelease.aspx?prid=210.

These two things point to one direction.

When are you going to maximize your company’s resources and transition to the more flexible, more valuable, and more cost effective (cheaper!) method of communications?

Call me today at 630-960-9200 and I can help guide you in this process and help your company improve communications, save money, and increase your positive bottom line.

There are three things on the Internet that irk me beyond reason.

Number one of course is rogue security software.  No additional info needed here!

Number two is trial-ware that does not give you a fully working product. How are you suppose to evaluate their solution if you cannot test every function?

Number three is “piggybacking” software applications. We have written about each of these items before in different terms, but I want to bring up the subject of piggybacking again because of something that is happening more and more.  This is malicious software that is installed with another program. Never a good idea.

Oh wait; there is a fourth – automatic renewals that charge your credit card without asking. I hate them – and we don’t have them.

A lot of companies we come across have an IT support strategy based on ‘a guy.’  An IT guy working full time somewhere else.  The owner’s nephew.  A guy who works in the plant but has set up a network of his own at this house.

EVERYTHING in your business rides on your computer network and the data it holds – which is exactly why you can’t afford to have an incompetent person managing it.  But how can you k now for sure if you have the right person or company?  How can a non-technical person know if they are paying for sub-standard support?  And how can you make sure you don’t find out the hard way after a major disaster erases all your data and brings down your network for a week?

Email me for more information – including a report we published “A 2010 Guide to Choosing a Reliable Technical Support Firm.”

I think you will find it a quick read – packed with valuable information.

Thank goodness we drink our own medicine…….

As most of you will know, one of the services we offer our clients is Disaster Recovery via our secure offsite backup  – where we use special software to protect your business critical data and get your technology up and running again in the event of problems or missing files.  Not only do we protect, but we make restoration easy and quick.  The key to true disaster recovery.

This month we had a bit of a nasty shock when – thanks to some pesky failed disks – one of our own internal Servers had a problem and failed.  This meant we had to do perform  Disaster Recovery on one of our own systems.

Is this the definition of irony? Perhaps; but we were thankful for the protection of our offsite backup we use.  It had us recovered and running without a hitch and in very short order.

From our own personal experience, we highly recommend it!

Interested in how to protect your own company’s data or assets?  Please call today at 630-960-9200 and we will give you a free 30 day trial.  We will even let you try our powerful local data vault device for quicker recovery and added protection.

In today’s difficult market environment, many small and medium businesses are looking for better solutions for their technology management and support.  The best effective and money saving solutions are found in flat rate services that monitor your technology 24×7, is proactive, and has unlimited onsite and remote support. But is this business model valuable? We say yes—and think you’ll agree when we explain why.

With flat-rate, unlimited support, an IT firm constantly manages your network, typically from afar. In other words, someone will prevent many IT problems—and fix those that do occur before they disrupt your operations.

Despite this benefit, many companies still consider unlimited support an unnecessary expense because it typically involves a monthly flat rate fee. But there are many ways that such a model actually lowers your IT costs.

• Lower overhead. It can be expensive to hire and train IT staff. In fact, staffing is often the largest portion of a company’s IT budget. You can eliminate much of that expense with outsourced unlimited support, which provide you with high-quality IT staff at a fraction of the cost.  You get the expertise of various staff members that have a vast array of experience.

• Increased cost predictability. The cost of responding to an IT problem is usually an unplanned expense—and often can be a significant one. With unlimited support, you prevent problems, so you can better predict (and therefore manage) IT costs.  And when issues do come up, there are no additional costs.

• A better business model. Additionally, unlimited support provides an efficient business model. There’s less IT down time, which means employees are less frustrated and customers are always served. No more lost employee time (and $$) with outages or inefficient systems. That increases employee retention and helps you create long-term business relationships—which in turn can increase your revenue.

Contact us today for more information about our unlimited, flat-rate technical support.  I guess being proactive really is valuable!

In a new study commissioned by Microsoft and performed by Freeform Dynamics Ltd. finds that IT support companies enable better business productivity and efficiency, and those small businesses that use hosted services perform better financially than other small business that do not. Despite the global recession, most small and medium businesses surveyed in 2010 reported an increase in revenue over the year 2008.

Those companies that reported growth view technology as critical to their business success. In fact, over 55% of those surveyed say that IT is critical, up from 35% in 2008. And of the companies that embrace IT, 60 percent saw revenues grow over the last 12 months.

What does this say about technology and its implications for business success?
Specifically, this study indicates that small businesses are beginning to see the real benefits and value of cloud computing, with over 40% saying they use hosted technology of some sort. Over one half of those using cloud computer stated they have increased revenues by 30% or more, in contrast to 90 percent of respondents not using hosted technology that saw decreases in revenue.
The research director for the report, Dale Vile, stated: “Our assessment of the report tells us that an increased focus on IT correlates with good performance in all the size categories surveyed. The whole picture corroborates the notion that technology and hosted services can provide tangible business advantage, even for smaller companies, and it’s not surprising to see that investment in IT and hosting go hand in hand with good financial performance.”

Overall, the report describes the advantages of hosted or cloud technology:

1. Reduced Costs
2. Reduced IT Maintenance
3. Increased business value
4. Increased productivity
5. Increased competitiveness

Here at Sky Technology, we drink our own medicine.

We are using our own cutting edge hosted solutions to manage and grow our business. Also, we have numerous successful, local (and a few national) businesses that are saving significant money, increasing productivity, and generally becoming an updated efficient model of business 2010 style.

Our economy has changed, what are you doing to adapt?

Not sure? Need guidance? Let us at Sky Technology help you equip your business for success.  630-960-9200

Businesses are constantly changing.  Is your company’s backup and disaster recovery plan changing with your business needs?  Do you know what your disaster recovery process is?  Does your company have a plan if something catastrophic happens to your company’s technology?  I can’t tell you how important this is.  Studies show that approximately 60% of small businesses that have a catastrophic data loss (without backup) are out of business within 24 months.  That is pretty serious.

If you have a disaster recovery plan, then you are preventing such events from disrupting your normal business operations – or at least you were at the time you created the plan.  But how long ago was that?

As your business has grown, it is likely that the products or services you offer (or at least the way you deliver them) has changed as well.  For example, the increase in technology-based processes over the past few years has likely increased your reliance on the availability of your network, computers, servers, and the data on them.

These changes usually require an updated approach to your disaster recovery plan.  As a result, we recommend a regular review of your plan.  If you make changes, they should be tested and documented so all employees (or vendors) can be trained accordingly.

Finally, keep in mind that reviewing your disaster recovery plan is not a one time event.  Because changes in your service/products, or the way you deliver them, are likely to continue.  This review should be conducted on a regular schedule.

That is something our unlimited, flat-rate clients enjoy for no additional charge.  We are constantly monitoring their business processes and any changes in their technology are appropriately included in the disaster recovery process.

If your company does not have a proper plan in place – or if you are not even sure what disaster recovery means and the reason why you need it, contact us today at Sky Technology: 630-960-9200.

We can help save your business from disaster.