MicroTech Systems IT Service Blog

Leaders wear multiple hats, regardless of the organization's size. Sure. But we know, as small business leaders, we feel the pressure to try to do more with less. Over the last three decades, we've seen the role that technology plays in enabling us to be more effective as a company and for our clients. Technology, we find, is often needed and used, but not cared for or maintained as carefully as it should. Why? Because everything we do for our business requires time, money, skills, and resources to accomplish the caring and feeding each department needs to aid in the growth of the company.

These days, you don’t have to look too far on social media to find a #10YearChallenge. Some are simple: post a photo of yourself from 2009 and another from today to see how much you’ve changed. Others are using the hashtag for bigger and broader things to reflect on, such as climate change, sustainability, and global conflicts.

With almost 50 years of IT support experience, we know the industry has changed and with different terminology for different things; we thought we’d set the record straight.

Small businesses are looking to take advantage of SaaS solutions and the technology value they provide because it is at a price-point you can afford. The unforeseen challenge that we’re seeing is the added complexity to your systems that makes managing all the moving pieces more difficult. With so many disparate components of office software, for example, SMBs can struggle to keep pace with increasingly rapid update cycles. And upgrade cycles are significantly quicker (and more expensive) than they once were.

When you’re running a small business, these are inefficiencies you can’t afford. That’s why the move to an all-in-one toolkit like Office 365 can be so valuable for SMBs.

To reap the benefits of cloud computing without having to juggle multiple tools, more SMBs are switching to all-in-one tools with a migration to Office 365, Microsoft's business collaboration platform.

Today, one out of five corporate employees use an Office 365 cloud service, changing the way all businesses leverage traditional desktop applications, now in the cloud. Office 365 brings together many of your standalone applications in a centralized platform that takes advantage of the many benefits of cloud computing.

How efficient is your network? How worried are you about potential security vulnerabilities? Are you continually coping with IT issues? It may be time to consider getting some consistent outside help. Not just for when problems arise, and you can’t fix them, but more importantly, before issues occur. A managed services provider can help your business by handling many of the tasks associated with protecting, upgrading, and monitoring your network. An MSP will focus on performance and on a proactive approach to managing your infrastructure so you and your c-suite can grow your business model.

For hackers, American small business culture represents a target-rich environment. Small businesses don’t often possess robust institutions designed to deter attackers. They might not use commercial grade antivirus, and they most likely don’t use tools such as strong passwords or two-factor authentication. They almost certainly don’t employ firewalls, IDS/IPS, or SIEM tools, and all but the largest and most well-resourced SMBs don’t employ a full-time employee to monitor these tools. Many of the decision-makers at these companies don’t see the need for robust security measures.

No one wakes up and seeks out mediocre IT service.

Every IT service provider has a story to tell you. Maybe they focus on their technical pedigree. Or, maybe they promise to provide better service than any competitor could.

...and how to Avoid These IT Mistakes in 2019

No IT strategy is ever certain – business leaders make plenty of well-informed assumptions about the future of information technology, only to find out that the future takes a different turn. This year, everyone made plenty of assumptions about the cloud, the IoT, information security, and more. What did businesses get wrong – and how will we fix things in the year to come?