Datalyst Blog

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is great. It can be a pivotal tool to help you transform your business’ communications infrastructure, provided you implement it with intention. Today, we want to share three of the biggest benefits your business can expect to enjoy from switching to a VoIP solution.

Data storage is hardly the most interesting topic out there, but it’s one that your business needs to consider if it’s going to flourish in the modern era. The cloud offers you real benefits from traditional on-premises file storage, all while being cheaper and more efficient. Let’s take a look at three reasons you might consider cloud storage over in-house infrastructure for your company’s data storage needs.

There are plenty of reasons why a business might lose some or all of its data, ranging from cyberattacks to hardware failure. Unfortunately, there isn’t any real reason your business won’t be one of the unlucky ones.

This makes it imperative that you prepare for this eventuality. Let’s discuss how to do so with the help of data redundancy.

Security should be at the top of any business owner’s list of priorities. While cybersecurity often gets the spotlight, physical security is just as critical; after all, if someone can walk in and steal your equipment, all the firewalls in the world won’t help you. Fortunately, technology has made it easier than ever to protect your business from physical threats. Here are some physical security technologies small businesses can use to keep their assets safe.

Cloud computing is one of the most powerful technologies that has emerged over the past few decades. It has shifted how individuals and companies access resources, manage data, and store information. With the opportunities to scale online vastly expanding, businesses that want to make the most of their technology can turn to the cloud to save money and improve operations.

Running a business today without technology is pretty much impossible. Whether it’s email or messaging for communication or point-of-sale software for stores, every business depends on tech. Where there’s tech, there has to be someone to manage it.

In today’s age of ransomware, climate change, and worldwide pandemics, a lot can happen that could spell trouble for your organization. This is why it is so critical for your company to have a business continuity plan. There are many factors that contribute to a successful business continuity plan, one of which is a disaster recovery plan. But wait, aren’t those the same thing? Not quite.

We all know companies collect a lot of data. After all, your business is no exception to this rule, and you likely collect significant consumer data to facilitate operations. But if you get the itch to protect your personal privacy (and you should), there are ways to limit how much advertisers, criminals, and other companies can gain access to. Here are just a couple of ways.

Many people still underestimate the importance of cybersecurity and data privacy, putting themselves and others at risk. Most individuals are accustomed to sharing personal information online, whether through social media, e-commerce platforms, or various digital services. However, this lack of caution can lead to serious security breaches, identity theft, and even financial fraud. When people fail to take basic security measures, such as using strong passwords or enabling two-factor authentication, they create vulnerabilities that malicious actors can exploit. These weaknesses don’t just impact them personally but also expose organizations and communities to cyberattacks.

An expiration date helps to make sure you aren’t buying fast-turning foods at the grocery store, and now, the technology industry is making strides to establish a similar standard. A new industry report recommends new legislation pushing for End-of-Life (EoL) disclosure, which would, in theory, allow businesses and consumers alike to make more informed purchasing decisions. What does this mean for your business?

In today’s digital landscape, IT security isn’t optional—it’s vital. If your business uses email, connects to the Internet, or relies on mobile devices, you’re exposed to potential threats. Use this guide to discover the key steps every business needs to protect its data and reputation.

There you are, working on the most important project of your career. You’ve worked through the initial problems and are making progress, and then your computer crashes. Panic sets in. You reboot, hoping that will fix the problem. It doesn’t. This is the nightmare scenario that haunts businesses and individuals alike. If you don’t have a solid backup plan, you’re one spilled coffee or rogue virus away from disaster. 

Artificial intelligence is taking over enterprise computing. So much so that there is some degree of cynicism among CIOs and other technology leaders about what exactly AI can do for them. The reality is that AI can do some pretty remarkable things and is advancing pretty quickly, but if you are expecting it to transform your business with minimal effort, you might be in for a rude awakening. This month, we want to take a look at how AI is beneficial for businesses and what to expect from the technology in the near future. 

Although successful business owners are often cut from different cloths, one factor that many share is constantly measuring and assessing everything involving your business. From the profitability of particular departments, to equipment lifecycles, to the various expenses your company pays each month, the key to sustainable growth is by understanding what works and what doesn’t.

Technology is the cornerstone of most modern business operations, making supporting this technology more important than ever. That’s one reason we’re so proud to provide IT assistance to our fellow businesses.

As we’ve done so, however, we’ve noted that some assistance is required more often than other forms of support. Let’s go over what some of these usual suspects are, and why it is so helpful to have someone (ideally, us) assisting you in managing them.

Absolutely nobody likes dealing with passwords. They’re annoying, hard to remember, and yet, somehow, hackers seem to have no problem cracking them. That’s where password managers come in. They take the stress out of remembering a hundred different logins while keeping your business secure. If you’re still relying on sticky notes or using the same password for everything so you can remember it, it’s time to make the switch.

If your job is running a business, it’s pretty likely that making time to fully compare and understand every piece of business technology just isn’t in the cards. Even if you are pretty comfortable around computers and networking equipment, there are a lot of solutions out there, each with a big list of pros and cons. Finding exactly what you need can be challenging, time consuming, and cost you a lot of time and money if it doesn’t quite fit in with what you already have in place.

For businesses, one of the scariest threats out there is that of compliance fines for not holding up your end of the bargain with your customers’ data. But what goes into compliance, and what does it look like? We won’t be digging into the nitty-gritty of what these specific regulations require; rather, we’re performing a broad analysis of what businesses should be doing to ensure compliance, regardless of the protocol or the industry.

Imagine owning an elevator that you would only service if it broke down? Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, that’s exactly what businesses do when they rely on a break/fix IT strategy.

Break/fix IT means waiting until something goes wrong before calling in the experts. While this might seem like a cost-saving move, in reality, it’s a fast track to frustration, downtime, and lost revenue. Let’s break down why this approach makes no sense in today’s business world.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen some very significant price increases for computing hardware. Back in 2011, major floods in Thailand caused a hard drive shortage and caused prices to shoot upwards. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, work-from-home peripherals like webcams, headsets, and docking stations were sometimes hard to get and sold at a premium. When the crypto world started buying entire data centers of Nvidia GPUs, the cost of high-end PCs and gaming PCs started to skyrocket.

2025 in particular is going to be an interesting year when it comes to the cost of typical office hardware, and experts are urging that business owners get ahead of the game to avoid exceeding their projected budget.