What is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) & How It Works

Date: Author: Categories: Helpful Tips, Small Business2 Comments

Here’s an example of what multi-factor authentication (MFA) is not. For instance, you head to your online bank account to login. Entering the username and password into the designated fields and click on login. From here, you’ve gained access to your bank information. Easy peasy and you go about your business. Wait one second! If you’re one of the 54% of consumers who use five or fewer passwords for all of your online accounts, you could be setting yourself up for failure.

Recycling passwords is a big no-no. We highly advise coming up with unique passwords for all digital channels. We published a blog post discussing the importance of unique passwords and why using the same password is bad.

Let’s dive right in and discuss the benefits of multi-factor authentication.

Continue reading

Windows 7 Support is Ending — Here’s Why You Should Upgrade to Windows 10

Date: Author: Categories: Helpful Tips, Small Business, Windows Support Tags: , , No comments yet.

Are your computers still running on Windows 7 — or even (yikes!) something older?

We’ve previously discussed that support for Windows 7 is discontinuing early next year, which means now is a great time to upgrade your business’ Windows machines to Windows 10. What happens when support for an Operating System ends? How easy is it to upgrade to Windows 10? We have answers to those questions and more.

Continue reading

Data Backup & Recovery – Back Up Critical Business Data

Date: Author: Categories: Backup, Small Business Tags: , No comments yet.

Here in Southern California, over the last couple of months we’ve seen quite a number of natural disasters. The Woolsey & Hill Fire, followed by rain that closed down some highways and streets, and mudslides inhibiting individuals from driving to work. Today is a good day to remind businesses having a backup strategy in place is a must in case a natural disaster occurs.

Every business, no matter what size, needs a data backup strategy. The data a business accumulates over time becomes a valuable digital asset that’s irreplaceable. For instance, if a bookkeeper were to maintain all of their customer’s financial data on her PC and out of nowhere the hard drive crashes. What steps does the bookkeeper have to restore the data? First, the bookkeeper can research the internet and perform the task on her own. Second, she can take the hard drive to a computer store to determine if the drive is recoverable. Lastly, work with a managed IT service provider who can help restore the hard drive back to normal. Notice the time and effort into recovering the data. Wasted productivity. Even worse, lost revenue due to time wasted on choosing a hard drive solution.

Continue reading

Small Business Guide For IT Support – Part 1

Date: Author: Categories: IT Guide, Small Business Tags: , 2 Comments

A lot of small business owners have to juggle many facets of the organization. Everything from generating revenue for the business, providing customer service to all the clients to managing the day to day operations and addressing any technical issues that arise. We will be composing a three part blog series to provide valuable insight into how a small business can utilize a managed service provider (MSP) and the benefits of partnering with an experienced IT company. The first part of the three part series will discuss how a small business can utilize a managed service provider and how much time and money can be saved.

Continue reading