At least once every week, IT departments experience this exchange: "Have you heard about the new AI tool that promises to revolutionise their work?"

As is often the case, the market is filled with noise and empty promises about Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to recent McKinsey research, 78% of businesses currently utilize AI technologies - and that figure continues to increase rapidly.

Software promises to automate tasks, reduce workloads and "future proof" teams; however, not all solutions deliver on this promise; rather some are released quickly to capitalize on hype. Being aware of this distinction for IT businesses is key in remaining relevant.

AI is nothing new, yet within the pas...

Have you ever opened a report and been wondering "Where should I start?"

Are You Running a Small or Mid-Sized Company?

Have You Found Yourself Surrounded by Marketing Stats, Operational Data and other Unwanted Reports?

While each report may contain "Important" Data, your brain becomes overwhelmed when trying to process them all before reaching a definitive decision?

1. One study discovered that people generally process about 34,000 pieces of data each day on average.

Line graphs may help, while pie charts can be effective (but only in small doses if they're not microscopically tiny).

2. Heatmaps provide an effective way of monitoring activity by time of day.

Heatmaps allow businesses to identify su...

Cyberattacks can start with just a click. An intruder could gain entry to all your online activity with just one login that requires only username and password information.

Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) often rely on credentials as the cornerstone of their security. According to MasterCard research, 46% of SMBs have experienced cyberattacks - nearly half of these breaches involved stolen passwords being obtained illegally - something you do not wish to be part of.

This guide is intended to show you how to protect against intruders by making their job harder. Our aim isn't to overwhelm you with tech jargon; rather, our focus is providing IT-minded small business owners with advanced yet...

Have you noticed how quickly your technology setup has expanded over time without you realising? One day you had just a laptop, licenses and some software; now there are numerous tools and devices you did not sign up for!

Recent findings of the SaaS Management Index demonstrated that small businesses employing less than 500 people use an average of 172 cloud apps - many without even an IT department!

There are countless moving parts, and it can be easy for all these pieces to work against each other without an organized plan in place. People improvise, systems don't communicate effectively and money is wasted on activities that won't help grow the business. An IT roadmap may provide useful gui...

Imagine someone mid-presentation with Zoom (or the room) fully engaged when, suddenly, their laptop freezes up causing an audible grunt from all participants in the presentation. Such tension creates tension which affects people's views of their job as a source of frustration.

Employee experiences matter more than ever when it comes to workplace culture and productivity. From login, clicking links, sharing documents or any other way they interact with employees on a daily basis - when these moments go smoothly morale increases while failure manifests in productivity losses and staff retention issues.

Deloitte found organizations with robust digital experiences saw a 22% increase in employee en...

Unreliable Wi-Fi can ruin your day. Just as your team is trying to meet deadlines, everything starts lagging behind - suddenly video calls freeze or files fail to upload, creating an extremely frustrating and inhibiting environment that negatively impacts productivity throughout your company.

As soon as a network slowdown becomes a regular occurrence, frustration increases rapidly. But here's some good news: most businesses don't need to completely redesign their system to address these problems - often, just making some tweaks can bring it back alive!

No need for an extensive IT team: working with an effective IT partner, you can quickly identify what's slowing down your system and implement ...

Technology can quickly drain your budget without you being aware of it. Just when everything seems under control, unexpected expenses arise that you need to account for - as running a small business is far from easy!

Your IT expenses won't become an obstacle when partnering with an expert who can manage them properly, and this guide will help you better understand this aspect of IT expense management.

How to Manage IT Spend Strategically

Step One: Know Your Business Expenses

First and foremost, become mindful of all of the expenses related to your business. Ask yourself: "What am I paying for?" You should then pose this question:

• What equipment does your team rely upon daily?


• How many different so...

Microsoft recently made an important announcement: Azure sign-ins will soon require multifactor authentication (MFA). This change is designed to increase security; even if you do not use Azure yourself, MFA provides a simple and effective method for protecting digital assets.

What Is Multi-Factor Verification (MFV)?

Picture adding an extra layer of security to your business doorway.

Your normal login to an account involves just one password, which may no longer provide enough protection against cyber criminals; MFA provides additional layers of security by saying to someone, "Okay, I see the key but also need your ID!"

After entering your password, you are then required to take an extra step to ...

System updates may be bothersome; they take too much time and consume both bandwidth and storage space.

Microsoft promises to make life simpler for its Windows 11 24H2 Update users.

This feature, known as "checkpoint cumulative updates", may sound technical but it's actually very straightforward and helpful.

Windows receives regular cumulative updates that encompass the latest fixes and enhancements, making up one large bundle that may take time to download and install.

Checkpoint Cumulative Updates now offer an alternative approach to system upgrades: your system will receive smaller updates over time rather than one major one at a time, providing minor tweaks made since its last major checkpo...