Directive Blogs

As a business owner, you are always on the lookout for money saving solutions. Technology offers cost-effective options because it can be used to save money by implementing something new, instead of making cuts. A print server solution is one example of how upgrading your technology can save you money.

Upgrading your network and shopping for new technology can be a daunting task. Technology is expensive and it's an investment that will help your business grow, but that's only if you purchase what you need. A poor technology purchase can actually be a budget buster. To maximize your new technology purchases, it's worth it to partner with IT professionals.

You wouldn't make a major technology purchase without first researching it. A person who gives you advice is essentially putting their reputation on the line. When it comes to technology and our IT services, we will confidently offer you our expert advice in order to help provide you with the best solution possible. In business, this is called a guarantee!

If it's been a few years since you setup your wireless network, then you may be overdue for an upgrade. Thanks to more devices having mobile capabilities, and more employees bringing their devices to work, wireless network technology has advanced quickly. Your old router might not be up for the new demands of the mobile office.

There's a tidal wave of different consumer devices available on the market; smartphones, tablets, laptops, netbooks, and much more. Employees love their devices and love bringing them to work. If your company is allowing for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), then you will want professional support to get the most out of it.

As a business, you have to market yourself. Fitting everything you do into a catch phrase doesn't do justice to your many services. We know the feeling. As an IT Company, we do much more than computer repair. In fact, we work hard to find solutions for every part of business, including areas you wouldn't suspect, like administration and more!

The whole point of making a budget is to control costs. All it takes is one surprise to undo all the careful work of budget planning. No department is immune to unplanned expenses, and while it's impossible to totally prevent budget-busting expenses across the board, you can take action to turn many surprise expenses into controllable costs.

Many businesses are migrating their computing needs over to the cloud. In a worldwide survey, Gartner found that 60% of businesses have increased their budgets for cloud services through 2014. Yet, cloud computing may not be right for every business. For companies that would like cloud services, but may have cloud anxiety, going with a private cloud is a valid option.

When it comes to computer memory, redundancy is a good thing. The more places that you have your data backed up to, the better off you will be if something happens to your hard drive. RAID is a common hard drive formatting procedure that improves server performance and protects your data in the event of a crash.

Every business needs to backup their data. If your company is hit with a disaster, and there is no backup in place, then it will be a critical hit to your operation. Backing up data with tape is a widely used solution, and while this is better than nothing, it is very inefficient compared to using BDR.

We’re all familiar with the “Dummies” book series, they are helpful when it comes to understanding specific topics, but not all of us have the time to read a manual of information. We want to dummify web knowledge regarding the web’s ever changing buzzwords and platforms. This will help educate you on what web services and products are available for your company’s website. Every business owner should at least be aware of the website platform they are using and be fluent enough to understand its capabilities. If your website breaks, then having at least a basic understanding will make interacting with your website maintenance team go smoother, and give you a foot in the door if you ever want to take the plunge and learn more.

Do you feel tied down by your phone system? Traditional phone plans can be expensive and your phone bill will grow if you try to do more, like add lines and use extra features. One of the ways that the Internet can help your business save money and grow is by replacing expensive phone plans with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Isn't it nice to have everything prepared for you? Of course it is. Whether it's having your dinner made for you when you get home, or having your car turned over to you fueled up and cleaned out, everybody appreciates having everything taken care of. In the world of technology, we take care of everything with our turnkey business management solutions.

Servers have always been one of the more expensive yet crucial pieces of your IT infrastructure. A new development in servers is the microserver, which is a stripped down version of a server. The appeal is that they can be designed to handle one task efficiently, and therefore, use fewer resources while costing less to purchase and maintain.

We often talk about the need to back up your data, but did you know that it is also a best practice to back up your hardware? Backing up your hardware works differently than data backup; whereas data backup involves network devices and a cloud, backing up your hardware is a simple matter of having extra computer components on your premise.

Michele Secor was born in the Oneonta area and lived in Vermont for many years before coming back to the area and joining our Accounting Department in October of 2012. She lives in Otego, NY with her husband Scott, 2 sons Ryan & Alex and their pet rabbit Mr. Fluff Fluff. Her hobbies include reading, home renovation and gardening. Michele enjoys spending time with her family, especially going camping in the summer and visiting the ocean as often as possible. As the Controller, Michele is an indispensable part of the Directive team.

Have you ever felt like your business is missing out on a big opportunity simply because you are unaware of it? In order to see a hidden opportunity, you need a fresh set of eyes. You need the help of an expert who knows what to look for, and you need regular input. This is exactly why we offer business technology reviews.

As busy as you are, the last thing that you want is to have one more thing to keep track of. This is why you have us take care of your IT infrastructure; it is worth it compared to learning how to troubleshoot each problem by yourself. Did you know that we can take care of more than just your computer network? With our vendor management service, we can also keep track of all of your technology.

The consumer adaptation of mobile devices continues to skyrocket. In America, there is a 46% ownership rate of smartphones among adults, this according to Pew Research. Tablets are also a booming market, projected to sell 1.2 billion units in 2013. If your business is not taking advantage of this trend, then you may be missing out on a golden opportunity.

Using strong passwords is a critical part of keeping your network protected. For years we have been preaching the need to use complex passwords, along with the need to use different passwords for different accounts. As the technology of crackers (not the salted kind) improves, the need to be diligent about password security intensifies.