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Microsoft Office has been a staple of the business world for decades now. Not many businesses can go very long without using Word, Excel, Powerpoint or Outlook. But Microsoft Office 365 is a new way to use these essential business tools. Is it worth it to make the switch? Or is it best to just continue to use the same old version we have always used?

Microsoft Office 365 Follows You

In the past, Microsoft Office came with a user key that you entered when you installed Office on your workstation. This allowed you to use office on that workstation. Essentially, Microsoft Office was licensed to a workstation. Microsoft Office 365 is licensed to you, not to a specific workstation. That means you can access your Office 365 account from a PC, a Mac, a tablet, and a smartphone. Wherever you are, you can log into your Microsoft Office 365 account.

It is hurricane season in the North Atlantic. If you have a SWFL business that has data saved on computers that you would not be very happy about if you lose. . .  you need to come up with a SWFL business data plan for hurricane season.  

Hurricanes are not the only danger your data faces during hurricane season.  Hurricane season is also the wettest season of the year.  Flooding from excessive rain can destroy electronics.  In addition, thunder storms are prevalent this time of year whether they are part of a tropical system or not.  Lightning strikes can cause power surges, or just knock out the power at unexpected times.  And everyone knows that data can be lost if you do not properly shut down your computer.  

VOIP (Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol) entails a group of technologies aimed at delivering communications in addition to multimedia sessions through the internet. There are many other terms used to refer to VoIP such as internet telephony, broadband telephone, or broadband telephony services. Business entities willing to realize success need to move to VOIP telephony. Lately, a lot of business entities, especially in SWFL (South West Florida) are shifting towards VOIP. As a business owner, outsourcing IT services comes with plenty of services such as improving productivity and saving costs. SWFL businesses need to switch to consider this option as a smarter way of communicating. Below are five reasons why your business located in SWFL need to consider VOIP:

There is no set timeline for upgrading your SWFL business technology equipment and the right time to upgrade depends on the size of the business and nature of work. Another critical factor to consider is which tech equipment you should be investing in; this will mainly depend on the uniqueness of each business. However, the following are some signs that owners of SWFL businesses should use to detect their tech equipment is outdated and it’s time to upgrade.

In today’s digital world, businesses use network systems to store their data safely. But with the increase of cyber-attack globally, many companies have fallen in the hands of hackers who end up stealing crucial information or even taking hostage the whole system.

Although big companies are able to hire a team of professionals to manage any system failure, this is not the case to small businesses with limited budget. Most of them do not have network monitoring tools which makes them vulnerable to cyber-attack. That’s why you need to outsource network monitoring services so as to safeguard your network systems in real-time.

Hurricane season starts June 1st, and US forecasters are saying that it could be worse then normal.  This isn’t great news for southwest Florida.  Many people are still recovering from hurricane Irma that hit us last September.  With the season off to an early start with Alberto sweeping through the are before the official start of the season, it is time to start getting prepared for disaster.  

The recent announcement made by the US Small Business South Florida District naming SeaDek as the National Exporter of the year can motivate and inspire other small businesses in South Florida to expand internationally. To succeed in this endeavor, South Florida businesses should improve their technology. One way to do this is to outsource IT services. When a group of tech people are taking care of your other business needs like minimizing downtimes, you can solely focus on innovating products and enhancing marketing strategies to effectively reach out to your target audience.

Outsourcing IT services offers plenty of benefits to you as a business owner. You’re able to use the latest technologies to your advantage, improve productivity, and save costs. Switching to VOIP is one thing you need to consider as this is a smarter way of communicating. If you’re a business owner in South Florida, here are five reasons why you should switch to VOIP:

Cost-Effective

In comparison, traditional phone systems are thrice the cost of Voice Over Internet Protocol or VOIP. Switching to the latter means saving tons of money that could be spent on marketing your South Florida business. You can use the funds to explore other technology that’s beneficial to your business.

Technology plays a pivotal role in the workplace, and new business tech can help your small company reach new levels of success. One of the best ways to take advantage of the latest technology is by partnering with a managed service provider. Instead of trying to handle IT on your own, an IT provider will give your small business access to state of the art technology and provide technical assistance at any time. If you are still undecided, here are just a few of the benefits of outsourcing IT services.

Network Monitoring

Security issues can arise at any moment and cause a business to experience significant amounts of downtime. However, partnering with a managed service provider will enable your small business to gain access to around the clock monitoring services. If any unusual activity is detected on the network, the IT provider will investigate further and prevent any issues from developing into a widespread problem.

Cloud Computing

Another advantage of using new business tech is that it will give your company access to cloud technology. The use of cloud services allows employees to access information from any location that has an internet connection. Instead of working solely inside an office, employees can access important documents on a business trip or even work from home. This added flexibility gives employees the freedom to work from nearly any location and allows multiple employees to collaborate on the same project together.

Over the last several decades, the number of technical assets a modern company needs has multiplied several times over. With all these devices, applications, online platforms, and services to keep track of, it’s no wonder hackers are having a field day. Even the most talented and capable sysadmin in the world can’t personally keep track of every single technical asset in a company.

Luckily, there is one service that can help your IT staff more than almost any other called network monitoring. The concept of network monitoring is simple enough. Essentially it can serve as the eyes and years of your sysadmins. Continue reading for a list of four reasons your Southwest Florida business needs network marketing.

Immediately Detecting Problems

The first and most obviously useful application of network monitoring is the ability to detect issues the moment they occur. Network monitoring can eliminate the problem of undetected errors because the monitoring software can be configured to send an admin an alert the moment an error occurs. This gives your team the best possible chance of locating, troubleshooting, and solving the issue immediately, and hopefully long before a customer or client has a chance to encounter it.

Predicts Future Issues

Another great use of network monitoring is the ability to see patterns in the data and predict future problematic behavior. If, for instance, if a particular program is for some reason taking more resources every time it runs, this could be a sign of a leaky piece of code, excessive logging, or a large cache that isn’t clearing itself. Network monitoring can identify this kind of behavior allowing your technicians to investigate and solve before the growing program can crash a server by demanding too many resources at some point in the future.

Southeast Florida- Collier, Sarasota, Lee, Charlotte, Glades, DeSoto, Hendry and Manatee Counties- has been experiencing robust business activities since the end of the 2008 financial crisis in 2011.

Some of the most common businesses in this region are;
• Tourism and related services – hotels, holiday homes, serviced condominiums, etc.,
• Agriculture business activities in the landlocked counties of Hendry, Glades, and, DeSoto.
• Real estate businesses -Quantity Surveying, Construction Management, Interior Design, Urban Planning, Realtors, etc. – These businesses are more pronounced in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Southern Lee and Eastern Bradenton.
• Other Businesses – retail stores, auto sales and garages, malls, Insurance, Banks, transport, and communication, etc. just to mention a few.

With sustained positive growth over a period of more than seven years, businesses have to move to the next level and achieve a level of sophistication for future sustainability. IT outsourcing is one of the approaches that companies in this region can adapt to meet both short-term and long-term growth.