Does your technology cost you $$ or make you $$?

Most businesses feel that technology is an expense and not a tool to make them better than their competition.  When was the last time you heard someone say that their (fill in the blank) is saving them money or just made everyone in the company work better?

How about having a company contact list?  A company calendar?  You would be amazed at how many companies don’t even have these simple features.

Technology, implemented correctly saves you $$, less down time, staff working more efficiently etc.  It also makes you $$ when you trust it to make your sales staff work faster.  It makes you $$ when as the owner you can focus on growing your business and not being distracted when things aren’t working correctly.

 

John

Does your IT support live in a cave?

A lot of our new business comes from companies that are feeling some kind of technology pain.  When we come onsite we quickly see solutions that are years behind the times.  And this is usually because the support the small business has been receiving is by a company that “lives in a cave”.  They won’t stay current, they won’t learn the latest offerings, they won’t interact in their community and they won’t go to trade shows.  Our industry changes too fast to “live in a cave”.

They sell and install what they know.  What you learned a year ago doesn’t fly anymore.  You have to stay current to make sure that what you sell is the best possible solution to your client.

 

John

Is your “IT Guy” a technician or your business partner?

Most small businesses hire a technician to resolve their technology problems.  They think that technology is an expense and not an integral part of their company.  I spoke with a potential client last week that fell into the first category.

They called us because they were submitting a bid to a large company for a long term contract.  One of the first questions they were asked was “How is your technology?”

This one question made the owner realize they he had been ignoring this critical part of is business for too long.

A technician will fix what is broken.  A partner will help you grow your business that benefits both companies.

 

John

Disaster Recovery Lunch and Learn February 3rd.

RNC Inc. is having it’s Disaster Recovery Lunch and learn this week.  This will be an education only event to show current and potential clients the benefits and cost savings of a data disaster recovery plan for their business.

This is a no stress lunch at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine, CA.  The event starts on Weds, Feb 3rd at 12:30 and is scheduled to last until 2:00pm.

We will be giving out some great gifts from Microsoft and StorageCraft.

All proceeds go the Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund.

If you are interested and want to bring a colleague please register here.

We look forward to seeing everyone.

 

John

How many computers do you have in your home?

If you have kids I am guessing you have a least 3.  One for you, one for your wife or husband and one for the kids.  A common theme comes up several times a year:  My kids computer at home is running really slow or it has all kinds of viruses.  The usual answer is backup and reinstall Windows.  However, there is a new solution on the market that is a huge bonus for families and even micro companies.  Windows Home Server  This little guy does some really amazing things for households with multiple computers, Mac or PC.

First off it is really small and quiet.  Doesn’t use a mouse, keyboard or monitor and can fit almost anywhere.

You can have up to 10 computers access it and here is the short list of what it can do:

• Backup all pc’s including Macs everyday and retain on average 3 months of daily backups.  Wouldn’t that be great to bring your kids pc back to 2 months ago when it was working perfect?  Takes about 30 minutes or less to do via 1 CD.  :-)
• Creates a shortcut on everyone’s desktop that points to folders that can contain music, pictures, videos and documents that everyone can share.
• Offers remote access back to your house to login to your pc or those important files or pictures all via a browser
• Offers a nightly offsite backup service of all your info so if the house burns down or there is a theft you won’t lose all your photos or videos, etc.
• Running out of storage space on the Home Server?  No problem buy another drive, insert it into the server and in 3 minutes you just added more space.

There are 2 different manufacturers right now.  HP and Acer.  HP offers more software options and better support but you do pay more.

They start out at around $400, (Acer) and go all the way up to $700 depending on what features you want. We recommend staying away from the HP LX195 model due to it only having 1 drive max.

 

So if you are looking to start fresh for the New Year this is a great way to go.

 

John