TaylorWorks, Inc. Blog

Businesses spent a lot of time and money in 2020 adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic. One could argue that many of them didn’t have a plan until it was to the point where either they made one, or their business collapsed. Some collapsed anyway. It has been a difficult year with businesses that have made it through doing the right things and using a set of new tools that allowed their operations to remain effective. Many of these tools will be phased out when the time comes, but one is absolutely here to stay: video conferencing.

Your business’ network is so important that if something were to infiltrate it that doesn’t belong there, it could wreak havoc on your whole company. One way that businesses can get their cybersecurity to a reliable place is through what is called penetration testing. This month, we thought we would briefly describe what exactly penetration testing is and how it can help your business. 

Managed Services provide endless benefits to any business, no matter the size. Having a “Fix it when it breaks” attitude is an unrealistic way to run your business in an era that is so heavily technology-dependent. Today we dive into the many reasons a Managed Service Provider (MSP) can maximize your investment. 

More businesses rely on their mobile strategies than ever before. For the most part, this uptick in mobility has helped sustain some business at a time when many would be expected to fail, but relying more on mobile definitely comes with some risks. This month we thought we would take a long look at mobility and how it can be a risky proposition for the modern small business.

Professional services run the world. As a result, it is imperative that they innovate with the times. It is increasingly important that professional services companies keep their finger on the pulse of new technology. Let’s take a look at some of the technology that can benefit professional services companies.

Backup strategies vary. Some companies choose theirs for its value. Some back up everything. Some ignore it all together. While we definitely don’t advise the latter, we do understand that it is a financial investment for what is essentially insurance. What’s more effective is building a backup plan that fits the type of data you create and store. 

In the course of doing business everyone has their own specific responsibilities. One overarching responsibility that all employees need to have today is awareness. The health of a business depends on it. A staff’s failure to properly shoulder their load of security can have an immensely negative result for both the employee and the company. Today, we’re going to explain that when your organization gets breached by hackers, that fault is largely yours.

Businesses of all kinds depend on the technology that they use, whether it’s their email, a CRM, or just a single PC with a spreadsheet program. Those businesses that keep it real simple, have to know that there is technology out there that can help them bring in more revenue streams or properly manage the ones they already have. Those that look to technology to solve their business’ operational woes, tend to have several options to choose from. One thing is certain, if you have proper counsel when making technology decisions for your business, your chances of spending your capital wisely increase substantially.

Finding ways to save money is something that most entrepreneurs take pride in. Today, as costs of doing business continue to climb, VoIP can present the business owner with the rare solution that actually saves them money. Hosted VoIP, in particular—where your phone system is hosted in the cloud—presents an innovative and straightforward way to reduce your business’ operational costs. Let’s take a look at some ways it goes about doing this.

Novelty holidays have been all the rage for the past couple years. The thing is that if you are going to celebrate World Kimchi Day on November 22 or its sister holiday, World Cabbage Day on February 17, you either really like cabbage, or you really like holidays. With so many people using technology as a major part of their life and business, it’s no surprise that it is well represented on the holiday calendar. You have a few we’ve already missed: National Technology Day on January 6, Data Privacy Day on January 28, and National Clean Out Your Computer Day on February 8, but there are three important IT “holidays” this month. Let’s take a look at them now.

With cloud computing being utilized by a majority of businesses nowadays, it’s not as big of a surprise when one wants to move files from a locally-hosted server to a cloud server; or, from a cloud server to a new cloud server. This presents a fair amount of problems that you have to be mindful of if you want to move the data and applications over properly. Today, we’ll take a look at some problems you may face, and how to make sure they don’t weigh down your next cloud migration. 

A business that has workers that are above average at maintaining productivity is typically a successful business. There are an endless number of suggestions on how to be and remain productive, and how to sustain that productivity. One thing that isn’t typically mentioned in all of that self-help advice is the role that patience plays in productivity. This month we thought we would do just that.

Let’s begin with a cold, hard fact—if a business has been targeted by cybercrime from an outside source, there is a 68 percent chance that another attempt to access their network will come within one year. This statistic comes from Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity solutions provider. Despite this reality, there seems to be a perception that there’s some unwritten rule somewhere that a company can only be attacked once. 

Productivity improves as time management improves. It seems like a simple notion, but if you aren’t deliberate about managing your time, there isn’t much positive movement that is going to be had in the productivity meter. This month, we thought we would help you by giving you a few strategies that will work to improve your employees’ productivity. 

The Novel Coronavirus has made its way around the world and it has certainly changed the way a lot of businesses do things. Some businesses have put in some type of disaster recovery platform. This is basically a plan for returning to continuity after some type of disaster, but we are seeing that many business continuity plans were not broad enough to take on a worldwide pandemic. Sadly, many of these businesses won’t open again.

Running a business is hard. There are a million-and-six things that have to be done each day just to keep the doors open. For this reason, it is crucial that a business’ employees want to be there. In today’s competitive marketplace, there simply isn’t time to waste on workers that don’t pull their weight. So, how do you get them to want to be there? This month, we will take a look at that very issue. 

No doubt you’ve noticed the increased use of smartphones. No matter where you go, people are on their phones. Sometimes they are using them in places you wouldn’t even imagine. For the modern business, employee smartphone usage can be a major pain in the side. Today, we’ll go into how smartphone usage helps and hurts a business and how to go about keeping employees from being on their phones for large chunks of the workday.

When you think of managed services, you may not really understand just how it fits into your business. This month we wanted to demonstrate how a managed services provider can deliver a lot of value. 

Many small business owners will temper their investments into IT security because they are of the notion that because their businesses are so small, they can’t be affected by hackers. We get it: prioritizing IT security is more expensive than you like and that money can justifiably be used elsewhere for more gain. The problem is that small businesses can and do get targeted by hackers. In fact, over 25 percent of all data breaches happen to small businesses. In today’s cyberthreat climate, your business can’t rely on luck. Let’s take a look at what you can invest in to protect your network and infrastructure.

Some businesses will put pressure on themselves to get some of the most innovative technology tools available. On the surface, this seems like a great idea, but just because a piece of technology exists, doesn’t mean it will help your business right now. We thought it would be a good time to take a look at some strategies that will help you build the technology your business needs to see a positive return on those investments.