Don’t Fall Behind The Technology Curve.
With 2016 rapidly approaching now is the time to start evaluating the year that has passed and planning for the year ahead of us. While this is usually focusing on end of year taxes, deadlines and achieving goals while looking into projections, sales and a new set of goals, I challenge you to take a step back and evaluate your technology status. Are you still running Windows XP on those old PC’s and just crossing your fingers? Are you exercising you and your staff’s patience with your internet speed? Is your entire 2015 year backed up?
With technology ever changing, and I mean changing almost on a daily basis it is hard to keep up. However falling to far behind the curve can land you in some disastrous situations and catching up could almost be impossible. To maintain your business’ technology try to do a little each month or year. Below are a few fixes that are recommended to be completed before the end of 2015.
If you are still running Windows XP on your PCs – UPGRADE.
Not only is the software no longer being supported by Microsoft but it’s outdated. There are far too many new and productive features on the newer Windows Operating systems to ignore them. Windows XP was first released in 2001 … almost 14 years ago!!! There is not many things you rely on today that you did 14 years ago and your operating system shouldn’t be one of them. **Side Note: if your PC came with Windows XP, you need to upgrade that as well. Just bite the bullet
If you don’t have a Firewall – GET ONE
We have all heard the stories of Target and Home Depot’s data breaches amongst many others this year. If these giants are being hacked, what makes you think that you are safe? You might say to yourself, well I don’t take credit cards … newsflash … hackers don’t just want credit card numbers. If you are storing any sort of sensitive data, even just customer contact information, it all has a price on the black market and hackers are willing to mine for it.
If you are still using phone lines – GO VOIP
24.5% of homes dropped their land lines in the last year, that’s roughly 52 Million people. Telephone lines will soon be a thing of the past and while you may have dropped it at home it’s now time to drop it at the office. Not only will you be saving yourself some big bucks but you will ahead of the curve when everyone goes digital
BACK – IT – UP
This should be done on more than just a yearly basis, however if you have not backed up your work and files yet this year. DO IT NOW. There are many different types of back up options available to you whether it be hardware or to the cloud, talking with a IT Service provider could help you decide which options or combination of options is right for you and your industry.
For more information on the upgrades discussed in this article or how we can help with equipment financing with no payments until January 2016 call us at 866.371.2265 or email us at info@sde-tech.com