Prevent access or use of business computers by unauthorized individuals. Laptops can be particularly easy targets for theft or can be lost, so lock them up when unattended. Make sure a separate user account is created for each employee and require strong passwords. Administrative privileges should only be given to trusted IT staff and key personnel.

Ransomware creates a nightmare scenario for every business it targets. It results in lost access to critical systems and data, prolonged downtime, lost productivity, and lost profits. And as ransomware continues to become more sophisticated, the level of risk small and mid-sized businesses face increases.

The impact to business continuity, productivity, and reputation alone are a grave cause for concern, but the financial damage is where the real danger lies. Ransomware demands routinely cost hundreds – sometimes even thousands – of dollars, in addition to the funds your business is losing as a result of the sudden halt in day-to-day operations.

Most technology experts advise strongly against paying ransomware demands. Aside from the high cost, paying does not guarantee that you will receive the promised access to your data. And the more businesses cave to these demands, the more money cyber criminals are able to make, encouraging them to keep targeting businesses and keep raising their price.

Often, the real concern isn’t whether or not you should pay the ransom, but rather whether your business will be able to recover from the damage caused by the infection. Losing access to critical files and applications for any length of time is problematic, to say the least, and it’s estimated that less than half of all ransomware victims are able to fully recover after an attack.

There are several reasons for this grim statistic. A business that pays for the decryption key and receives it run the risk of their data being corrupted during the decryption process, rendering the data useless. The loss of necessary files can result in missed deadlines or lost sales, and keep even the most basic tasks from being completed for days, or even weeks. News of compromised client data can push consumers into taking their business elsewhere and keep new customers from doing business with you. All of these factors lead to significant financial losses for your business.

Even with a recovery plan in place, the time and effort required to restore data from backups, clean all traces of the infection from your systems and network, and get your operations up and running again still results in downtime. Whether the “clean up” takes a few hours, or a few days, that’s still a long period of time where your business has little to no access to your systems and data. The client needs to go unaddressed, productivity nosedives, and your business’ reputation suffers.

The best case scenario when dealing with a ransomware attack? Your business has a rock-solid business continuity plan in place that allows your staff to carry on as usual with minimal to no downtime, and security monitoring in place that can detect an infection the moment it happens, allowing the infection to be contained before it has the chance to spread and cause significant damage.

The faster you and your IT support provider can spot, quarantine, and remove a ransomware infection, the better your business’ chances of bouncing back will be. Ransomware that runs its course unchecked has devastating consequences. Having a plan in place to stop that from happening is essential for the future of your business.

Want to learn more about the steps you can take to protect your business from the financial damage ransomware causes? Contact us at {email} or {phone}. We’re the IT professionals businesses in {city} trust.

The most significant difference between a regular Windows 10 laptop and a Chromebook is the operating system.

Companies with extensive field operations often look for the best ways to save money. Google, or Alphabet as the parent is now known, has created an OS they call Chrome OS. It is the OS used on Google OS laptops that are called Chromebooks.

The most significant difference between a regular laptop and a Chromebook is the operating system. Most new non-Apple laptop computers run Windows 10. Windows 10 is a full-featured OS that works well on and offline. Chromebooks are more limited in what they can do but do offer good security. So, let’s make a side-by-side comparison.

Comparison of Windows 10 Laptop and Chromebook

Both operating systems start at budget-friendly prices to more expensive devices with big screens including touch capability and many other bells and whistles. The least expensive version of a Chromebook sells for around $160 versus around $200 for a similar size Windows 10 laptop.

User Interface

The Chrome OS was first developed as Google’s Chrome Browser. Building on that ancestry, the Chromebook is good at running almost any app from its browser window. The browser is the heart of the Chromebook OS and automatically updates whenever there is a new OS version. Since the OS and the browser are tied tightly together, security issues are far less prevalent than found on the Windows 10 OS.

On the other hand, the Windows 10 OS allows internet access from either the included Windows Explorer browser, Windows Edge browser, or a third-party browser such as Chrome or Firefox. The Windows OS is robust and allows for using many programs that are freestanding such as MS Office. The office solution is a full download that competes with Google’s web-only documents, spreadsheets, and a presentation part that replaces MS Excel. Chromebook users who want to use MS Office can use MS Office Online that is browser based.

Some claim the Chrome OS interface is the OS of choice due to its simplicity and security. But, the Windows 10 OS gets high points for its robustness and ease of customizing.

This is a tie between the two OS’.

Battery Life

The purpose of laptops and Chromebooks is to be able to use your device away from the office. This means battery life is an important consideration for deciding on a Chromebook or Windows 10 notebook.

Across the many makers and configurations of the Chromebook, the average battery life was 9 hours and 59 minutes. But, the average 13-inch Windows laptop lasts just 6 hours and 35 minutes.

As far as battery power is concerned, Chromebook is the clear winner.

Online Security

Unlike a Windows 10 notebook, a Chromebook does not need any protection from security breaches or viruses. Any new security features automatically appear as soon as you boot the Chromebook.

Windows 10 requires that you use its built-in security or download anti-virus programs and keep your system patched as new security patches are released.

The winner is Chromebook.

OS Speed

Chromebooks are known for their astonishing quick boot times – under 5 seconds compared to a Windows 10 boot time of about one minute.

But, Chromebook’s run slow, this is because of a slow internet connection speed as almost all processing for a Chromebook takes place in the cloud. Windows recover from its slower boot time by processing much of its tasks in RAM.

Windows wins this comparison.

For more information about different operating systems contact {company} in {city} is the trusted choice when it comes to staying ahead of the latest information technology tips, tricks, and news. Contact us at {phone} or send us an {email} for more details.

By optimizing your website for the Google Knowledge Panel, you can reinforce your business’s good reputation and improve the likelihood of customer conversions.

Google searches are the bread and butter of modern marketing. As the world’s most widely used search engine, Google provides access to billions of potential customers. Thus no company can afford not to have its content perform well in searches on the site. To better match businesses with prospective clients, Google has released the Knowledge Panel, an essential resource for any marketing effort:

Panel Profile

The Knowledge Panel is a window that appears next to search results on Google. It summarizes key information from the top pages, quickly teaching users all they need to know. For searches that relate closely to a particular company, the panel provides a description of that firm, including its address, its phone number, its hours of operation, and its rating from Google reviews.

The Knowledge Panel is not limited to describing individual companies. If a user searches for a more general company description— say “Ethiopian restaurants in {city}”— the panel will bring up a list of three companies that fit that description. This list does not provide as many details about each company, but still gives customers a powerful first impression of them.

Producing For The Panel

Whether your business gets a Knowledge Panel for a particular search depends on a variety of characteristics. Many of these, such as location, are not things you can control directly. Nonetheless, you can increase the number of searches that give you a panel by:

• Providing A Photo– Upload a profile picture for your page that represents your company, is not a logo, and is at least 250 by 250 pixels in size. A proper photo will improve your algorithm for the Panel.
• Request Reviews– Encourage your customers to review your company on Google and give you a rating, as this affects the algorithm.
• Deliver Data– Give Google as much information about your business as possible, and make sure it is all accurate.

Though these tips help you get a Knowledge Panel, the most important thing you can do is to offer your customers quality service. The better and more enthusiastically customers review your company, the more likely you are to appear in the panel.

Acute Advantages

Appearing on a Knowledge Panel offers a wide variety of benefits for your business, allowing you to:

• Take Advantage Of Timing– Customers who are in a hurry don’t have time to click on and read each search result. They are thus overwhelmingly more likely to contact or visit a company that appears in the panel.
• Motivate Memories– Even if customers don’t convert immediately upon seeing your panel, they are more likely to remember your business and thus switch in the future.
• Reinforce Your Reputation– If past customers consistently rate your business well, this will be reflected in the panel, ensuring that future customers will immediately know how you have served their predecessors.

{company} provides key insights into the Knowledge Panel and all other marketing resources. For more information, contact us at {phone} or {email} today.

Used by permission

The latest version of Microsoft Outlook is designed to be a personal information manager, not just email. Learn the shortcut tricks and a user can become a power communicator very quickly.  

While many wish there might be another choice, it is unlikely that Microsoft Outlook as a user interface is going to go away anytime soon in the workplace. In this regard, those who see the long perspective focus far more on how to use Microsoft Outlook effectively versus trying to replace it. And that’s where power users are really pushing the boundaries of the tool for maximum performance and the least amount of time communicating.

Here are 12 shortcuts that really stretch Outlook for what it can do for a user:

1. Keyboard Shortcuts – Yes, there are menu commands. However, it’s those who know the keyboard shortcuts who really get things done amazingly fast. Shortcuts go direct to the function needed, and it doesn’t take long to get used to them. Beginners often just print out a cheat sheet.
2. Quick Steps – In addition to the keyboard shortcuts, Outlook has a number of Quick Steps. Started with the 2010 version, this is the macro version of shortcuts. They are customizable, so you can make personal multi-step tasks that happen with one code versus three or four menus.
3. The Clipboard Email Creator – A neat feature, one puts the text in the clipboard and then with Ctrl-V Outlook will automatically convert it into a message, calendar post, or contact entry.
4. Email Shortcuts – Outlook comes with a number of built-in sorting features for fast locating of a given email message. Learning them allows a user to control the mass of messages that come in daily.
5. Limiting Notices – A default notice in Outlook will notice every new email, but these can be limited to just high priority parties, cutting down time and focusing attention better. It’s a simple rule creation in Outlook.
6. Flagging – Ever had an important email that you needed to find later but couldn’t? Red flagging makes it easy to find a pin in a haystack of messages.
7. Template Powering – Saved email templates for commonly sent emails cuts down a great deal of time, and it protects messaging when protocols have to be followed.
8. Folders – Simple but effective, active sorting of emails into labeled folders makes them extremely easy to find, segmenting out other emails not needed at the time.
9. Quick Message Saving – Many people use cut and paste or printing to an Adobe PDF file to save a message. Instead, one can just drag it to the desktop which changes the email to a .MSG format file, easy to open in Outlook.
10. Utilize All the Features – Outlook isn’t just email, it’s also a task-minder, calendar and journal. Don’t ignore them.
11. Use Priority Tagging – Outlook has a number of priority fields and color coding for tagging. Using these make it easy to sort and filter items for what’s critical versus fluff.
12. Natural Language – The software includes a feature where natural language can be typed in to the date field. For example, type in “Christmas” or “four days from today” and Outlook will recognize it on the calendar and implement the item.

Microsoft will be ending support for Office 2013 at the end of February. Are you ready to make the transition to feature-rich Office 2016?

Microsoft has made an announcement to inform Office 365 users that support will no longer be offered for the 2013 version of the software. The last day of support from the company for Office 2013 will be February 28, 2017.

The announcement was made to help ensure all users of this suite are able to get the very most out of the package in their business. As Microsoft moves away from this product, they will instead be promoting the Office 2016 product suite.

If your enterprise is still using Office 2013, there are some key points to be aware of as this change takes effect:

• Feature updates for Office 2013 will no longer be released by the Microsoft company.
• Language packs and client applications will cease to be available for Office 365 via the Microsoft Admin Center and self-service portal.
• The focus of the Microsoft company will be on supporting and upgrading the 2016 version of Office going forward.

These end-of-support changes apply to the following versions and subscriptions of Microsoft Office:

• Office 365 Pro Plus
• Business
• Small Business Premium
• Visio Pro
• Project Pro

Users should be aware that since Office 2016 doesn’t offer support for Microsoft Exchange Servers dated from 2007 or before, businesses still using these applications will have to make upgrades to their mail servers as well.

Critical security updates for the Microsoft Office 2013 suite of products will extend longer than the support deadline – to April 10, 2018. However, enterprises using Office 2013 should strongly consider making a move to Office 2016 to ensure ongoing access to support. Making the upgrade will also allow your business to take advantage of the very latest in the cutting-edge productivity features that have been added by Microsoft to Office 2016.

Numerous Compelling Reasons to Make the Move to Office 2016

With the latest versions of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel in Office 2016, users are now able to look up online information quickly and easily right from the document interface. Users and staff members also have access to more advanced and intuitive collaborative features including Office 365 Planner, Delve, Skype integrations, and more.

Enterprises planning to use the end-of-support deadline as an opportunity to upgrade should be aware of the following minimum system requirements for Office 2016:

• Windows 7 OS, or above
• At least 2GB RAM
• 1280 x 800 or better screen resolution
• A 1 GHz or higher processor
• A minimum 3 GB of disk space available

To make the transition smoother for businesses opting to make a move, Microsoft will be offering a service they are calling FastTrack migration. FastTrack allows companies to make the switch to the more feature-rich version of Office 2016 more quickly.

However, you can make a move even more effortless by partnering with an experienced pro to help with the transition. If your enterprise is ready to upgrade to Office 2016, let {company} of {city} assist you. We offer a range of services to help ensure Office 365 is always current and running smoothly. Contact us at {phone}, or send us an email at {email}.

Used by permission