Directive Blogs

Business growth is a double edged sword. It is great that you are increasing revenue, but you now have to deal with growing pains. These growing pains are often felt with your technology. Is your network cobbled together with random computers and your wires are one big tangle ball? Directive can help relieve these IT growing pains with network mapping.

It always feels a bit peculiar to come across a fax machine still being used in the modern office. With all of our digital advancements, the fax machine should have gone the way of the floppy disk. Contrary to common sense, it is estimated that there are 131 million fax machines still in operation around the world.

In business, you will gladly take every advantage that you can in regards to communications. This is because better communications will positively impact everything you do. Switching your phones system from a traditional carrier to a Voice over IP (VoIP) internet solution will not only give your business a communications edge, but also save you 50-70% on your phone bill.

You are confident that your employees are good at problem solving, this is why you hired them. Your staff may even thrive on finding solutions with limited resources and keeping operations within budget. It is wonderful that you have surrounded yourself with skillful people, but using your bright staff to fix an IT problem may hurt your business in the long run.

Does it sometimes feel that business is going well, yet your bottom line is taking a hit? If time is money, then downtime is anti-money, and downtime may be your biggest budget buster. To help you determine exactly how much your IT downtime is costing you, we have two mathematical formulas you can apply to your business.

If Back to the Future's Marty McFly time traveled to the modern office, he would probably feel a little disoriented. He would see employees squinting at little televisions, mobile devices right out of Star Trek, and no rows of file cabinets. Then Marty would notice a fax machine and feel right at home, because fax machines have been around forever.

Success is what you make of it, and everybody has a different definition of what success is. Whether your goals are to revolutionize your industry or simply earn enough to provide for yourself and your family, building success is a step by step process.

Technology today makes it easy for businesses to let employees work from home. Offering secure remote access gives employees the flexibility to work on the road, at events, or from home as if they were at their desks in the office. Is this good for small businesses?

At Directive, we hate seeing our clients suffer from slow computers, bogged down networks, and other computer issues that prevent work from happening seamlessly. That's why we are so passionate about proactively safeguarding your network BEFORE issues happen, in order to prevent expensive downtime.

What a weird post this is going to be. We've recently launched a software application called JoomConnect. It's been having some great success. It's in part responsible for bringing a lot of work to our small company bringing our staff from 9 to 17 strong in a very short time (7 of them in 60 days). It's been awesome and we've been training and getting everyone up to speed. We have been super impressed with the new members of our team and we'll be introducing them shortly (soon as we can catch our breath).

We are working for some of the industry greats, like ConnectWise, HTG Peer Groups and many incredible IT/MSP Partners that have adopted JoomConnect for use in their businesses as well as our awesome local clientele.

The time to implement a social media policy is now.

Your social media policy outlines for employees your companies guidelines or principles for communicating in the online world.  Your company should have a communications policy in place that spell out your expectations for phone and email, it’s important that you add social media and online site usage to this policy.

Business owners, this one is definitely for you. You've probably experienced the fact that shaving expenses here and there can lead to more flexibility and long-term savings, but at what cost? Are you limiting your company by nixing those extra services and costs? Sometimes you can get more and still save money. Let's look at a few ways Upstate New York businesses can do just that.

Here's a scenario: Tom's computer is acting up and getting a blue screen error a couple times a day. Obviously this is a problem because it drastically cuts into Tom's efficiency. Tom is a smart guy though, so his manager asks him to see if he can fix it before calling support and putting in a ticket. After all, tech support costs money. Tom spends about 4 hours across the next few days researching the issue, attempting a few things, and finally fixes it. Way to go Tom! You just saved the company money... or did you?

Security is an important aspect to a company's continuity, and while portions of business security involve things like anti-virus and firewalls, other aspects of security can't be handled by a piece of equipment. In these cases, your organization needs to create security policies, and keep them up to date as the company grows and changes. There are many policies and sub policies that are necessary for any organization that, if non-existent, can cause chaos down the road.

For a small or midsize business, technology budgets are naturally fairly slim. It goes without saying that a company needs to get the best bang for their buck with their IT infrastructure, and it's not uncommon to see workstations and other devices still in play years after their prime. This leads to underperforming technology, which in turn, limits what your bottom line can accomplish (remember, your team is only as good as your worst player). Some small businesses are approaching technology in ways that would normally be reserved for HR's interactions with employees, but they are finding that this can improve performance.

At many businesses, if you look in the waste bin or the recycle bin, you'll probably find a lot of paper. Paper is one of the most common waste products at businesses and as such is also one of the biggest sustainability opportunities for businesses large and small. The environmental benefits are great, but going paperless has some huge benefits for small businesses beyond being green.