Jackson Thornton Technologies News + Updates

Technology is a big part of how businesses run today, but that also makes them prime targets for cyberattacks. These attacks can shut down operations and steal sensitive data. Let’s look at five common cybersecurity issues businesses deal with:

Computer problems can be super frustrating, especially when they slow you down while working. Many times, it is something that can be fixed quickly, but then there are issues that an experienced IT professional has to address. Let’s take a look at some of the most common computer problems professionals run into.

It’s natural for businesses to rely on their tools, like IT, to achieve success, but if you don’t take care of your systems, it could lead to downtime. You can bypass many of these challenges with the right approach to technology maintenance. We want to highlight some of the proactive methods you can use to keep downtime to a minimum.

Managing servers can be a challenging task for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Despite being essential to your operations, servers are complex technologies that, if not managed properly, can lead to wasted time, energy, and resources. Today, we’ll explore the key functions of server management and how to maximize your current resources.

Most businesses rely on their technology. However, a failure to manage that technology can lead to significant financial waste and operational inefficiencies. One major way a business can waste money is through over-investment in unnecessary or overly complex IT infrastructure. Let’s briefly examine how companies waste their money on technology and how to identify if technology is working for your business. 

There's a lot of pressure on (often understaffed and overworked) internal IT teams to manage and maintain increasingly complex systems. For businesses noticing signs of strain on their IT staff, seeking assistance from managed services providers (MSPs) could be the remedy. Here's how an MSP like us can alleviate the pressure and contribute to workplace wellness for all.

Information technology offers businesses of all sizes significant benefits, very much including small and medium-sized organizations. Let’s go through five modern tools that offer this kind of inclusive utility to the point that we see them as essential for successful business operations today.

Do you have employees who struggle with their technology? Chances are that there will always be individuals who are not as proficient with it as you might expect, and without a dedicated IT resource to ask for assistance, they might get frustrated and disengage with their work. You need to provide the right support to your employees, and you’re in luck; we have just the right solution to your problems: a help desk!

Cost/Benefit is a term you hear a lot. It’s always used in conversations about potential investment and means something. Well, at least it should. One of the places that many people can gain benefits from their investments is by outsourcing some of their responsibilities to an outside vendor. This works especially well with IT management. Let’s take a look at why outsourcing your technology support and management is a good investment.

It’s an unfortunate fact that all businesses will inherently face some threats during their operations. That’s inescapable. From cyberattacks to natural disasters to good, old-fashioned accidents, you’re liable to face no small risk. This risk makes a process known as risk mitigation so critical for all businesses to undergo with some regularity.

Let’s review a few aspects of creating and maintaining a dependable risk mitigation strategy.

This goes out to all the business owners, managers, department heads, and other leaders in the workplace who have to field user complaints and issues.

Being in this position can be hard, because you often have to say no. No, we can’t change the timeline or increase the budget for this project. No, we can’t do XYZ that way because it would break compliance. No, we can’t get new hardware/software in until we get it approved in the budget. Repeat ad nauseam.

A company’s IT strategy can define how it handles its entire operational strategy. That’s why it is so important to carefully consider your organizational approach to IT. Not only does it allow you to align your IT, and its support, to your business’ goals, but it also allows you to consider the circumstances that you operate under and find viable solutions to business problems. That’s not all. Let’s list some of the reasons that businesses should consider customizing their IT strategy to their business initiatives.

Many businesses, irrespective of their size, are increasingly turning towards managed services to streamline their operations, reduce expenses, and elevate their overall customer value proposition. The utilization of managed services has revolutionized the landscape, not just in terms of cost-saving, but also in facilitating businesses to grow and extract greater value from their IT infrastructure. Let's take a look into how managed services achieve this dual objective.

With technological advancements, challenges arise, and technical issues inevitably occur. This is where an IT help desk comes into play. Let’s explore how an IT help desk operates and why it is a valuable asset for any business.

Businesses use all types of sayings to try to draw in customers. One of the core selling points of managed IT services is that “it pays for itself”. This is more than just marketing. The multiple services that make up managed IT services all help a business save time and money, but when added together, it can really help the bottom line of a business more than most services they can use. In this week’s blog we thought we would go through the core elements of a managed IT services agreement to show how it really does pay for itself. 

Cloud computing has been touted as one of the most innovative and important technologies for smaller businesses as they look to compete with larger organizations. How it makes this possible is by offering dynamic computing environments that can help bring these smaller businesses into the information age without saddling them with massive infrastructure costs while doing so. That’s not to say that the cloud is cheap by any means, and this month we will discuss how cloud computing is a great option for nearly any business. 

How does your business manage its IT? Do you have an in-house team, and how busy are they with all of the hustle and bustle of their everyday duties? Do they have time to address the many challenges and requests made of them? If not, then perhaps you should consider a different model for your IT management. Luckily, we have just the opportunity for you, and you won’t want to miss out on it.

Even though the modern workplace tends to be PC-centric, Apple has had a major impact on technology and computing. It’s undeniable that Apple is pretty consistent with producing sleek, high-end hardware and efficient operating systems. Apple’s former CEO, Steve Jobs, was known to be a visionary and a perfectionist. That’s what makes this story even weirder.

Business technology is a useful tool, there’s no way around it. Unfortunately for businesses, technology has to be replaced every so often. Even if the technology doesn’t break, there are innovations made that can help your organization do what you do better. The thing is: Technology does break, so you need to understand how to get the most value out of it when it is working. 

Downtime is a killer for any business. When a business is forced into confronting its technology support deficits, it usually means that they’ve been dealing with too much broken technology and downtime, and the costs associated with it. One way your business can avoid losing huge chunks of time to broken technology is to add a professional help desk to support your IT administrator.