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HP Instant Ink is one of the most exciting things to happen to printing and running a home office or small business in a long time. This new program makes it possible to print at home more cheaply, conveniently and responsibly than ever before. Here’s my HP Instant Ink review with how it works and what you need to know about this new technology.
Recent estimates show us that a single hour of downtime costs businesses an average of $8,500. What’s worse is that it can take months to recover business systems after a crash. This means that businesses can haemorrhage thousands or even millions in revenue while they struggle to get back on track. Your equipment is only as good as your backups – if the latter fail, so do your systems. The best way to avoid this situation is by having a reliable system of backup in place that keeps all your company’s data stored safely offsite. This backup needs to be updated as often as possible and its integrity and availability checked at regular intervals. Cloud backup and recovery services, such as those offered by Backup Solutions Houston can also be a very useful option for businesses looking to mitigate the cost of downtimes or data loss.
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Spending on public cloud services is predicted to exceed $480 billion in 2023.
Gartner says and will account for more than 45% of enterprise IT spending by 2026, up from less than 17% in 2021.
Executive teams seem confident, too; McKinsey says that by 2030, the cloud will have an estimated $1 trillion in business value.
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Database backups are a key component of protecting your organization’s data. Your database backup strategy should include multiple layers of protection, each with a different purpose. Some layers can help you recover from user errors, others can help back up your databases locally for fast restoration in case of accidental deletions, and others are there to protect you against natural disasters or data loss. You could choose to add yet other layers engaged in backing up your databases in the cloud to protect you from equipment failure or natural disaster. For larger businesses, it might make sense to replicate the production database in many different regions around the world. In case of failure in any single region, it will be possible to reroute traffic to another region and keep running until normal operations are restored.
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A lot of people use the words privacy and security like they have the same meaning. But that’s not true. In this guest post, Chris tells us what the difference between privacy and security is and how you can understand the difference.
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Staying safe from cybercrime is an increasingly important concern for businesses. Recent data indicates that cyberattacks against corporate networks increased by 50% in 2021 compared to 2020. As we become more connected, consumers and businesses alike are vulnerable to malware, phishing attacks, and viruses. According to Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime Study, 43% of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses, but only 14% are prepared to defend themselves. What’s more, the implications of falling victim to such online crimes can be dire – particularly if the business stores the personal or financial data of customers. A layered security approach is a critical element of your overall cybersecurity strategy. This means that you use multiple forms of protection to help protect your business, including firewalls and intrusion prevention systems (IPS), and anti-virus software. The goal is to use an array of different technologies to monitor, detect and stop cyberattacks before they can cause damage. For detailed guidance on how to implement these strategies in your local business, consider reaching out to Managed Security Services. Here are some practical cybersecurity strategies that you can implement with your business right now:
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Incidents involving the mishandling of consumer data have made headlines recently. Amazon was fined a record $887 million for violating consumer privacy laws, and WhatsApp reportedly lost millions of customers after its privacy policy was updated and proved unpopular due to privacy issues. Recent reports indicate that in response to the pandemic and new legislation, privacy budgets increased by 13% last year to $2.7 million from $2.4 million for the average organization.
Clearly, privacy is at the top of everyone’s mind as digital footprints have surged in the wake of the pandemic. Privacy has also proved beneficial for organizations, especially small and medium-sized businesses. Recent statistics show us that SMBs have reportedly gained benefits of $3.0 million (typically benefits worth 1.8 times their privacy investment) on average.
So, more and better privacy is a good thing. In this guest post, Andrew Dalman will talk about key ways in which users can protect their online privacy better. For more information on how your organization can help guarantee employee and user privacy, please reach out to IT security Vancouver.
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Long time followers of mine know I’m in to online privacy and internet freedom. It was a big challange for me to figure out how to stay secure while traveling. You’re using someone else’s wifi all the time, there are different internet laws in every country you visit and what if your mobile phone or laptop gets stolen? I collected my favorite tips to stay secure at all times.
From secure browsers, encrypted messengers and password managers, here’s how you stay secure online and offline during traveling.
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It’s no secret that smartphones are incredibly powerful compared to computers of the past. Most people have access to huge amounts of processing power in their daily lives, with their phones being able to handle tasks that used to be the job of a much larger machine. Of course, though, like any digital device, your phone will slowly get slower if you don’t give it the right care. To help you out with this, this article will be exploring some of the best ways to keep your Android or iPhone running smoothly, all without having to spend any money in the process.
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Deploying your business’s IT doesn’t sound like a demanding job, but it can quirky spiral out of control if you’re not careful about it. Preparing to deploy technology across your business can be a demanding job, but for anyone that is tech-savvy, it can actually seem like a relatively simple task. Unfortunately, deploying business IT is a lot different from doing a small-scale project at home. You’re far better off leaving it up to the experts, and in this article, we’re going to share 6 reasons why you should never do it yourself. (more…)
Are you thinking about buying a new car in the near future? If so, then you might want to consider investing in one that is self-driving. We have no doubt that you have heard of this new tech advancement which has been on the market for years. But hearing about it in clickbait articles isn’t quite the same as understanding what it is and whether it’s going to be the right choice for you. So, before you get behind the wheel, let’s get to grips with the autonomous vehicles available right now. (more…)
When an app is in the late design phase, a whole slew of things have to come together. The only trouble is, they have to come together at the same time, in the same place. This is when things get a little tough and troubling because all parts of your business have to coordinate their efforts in the same direction. During app development, departments are basically told to go off and work on their own until every aspect is ready to move onto the next stage. Then departments will be brought together to finalize on a phase and then move forward. During the final stage of app development, you’re going to be meeting together like never before. Almost every person in every department will be working overtime to get the app finished. As the business owner, you need to have a clear plan for what you’re going to do in the final few weeks before launch day.
Tunnel vision is something you need to be careful of. It can happen to anyone and lead to some serious implications. You don’t want to be a company that was so focussed on achieving the core goals of an app, that they don’t plan for the future needs of customers. Adaptive and responsive design is therefore of the utmost priority. No more do we see this than in the smartphone arena. Smartphones are able to utilize the latest software through updates for at least 5 years. This keeps customers happy as they don’t expect their apps and products to stop working after a couple of years. Inevitably, this has pushed up customer expectations and thus, your app must be adaptive to future changes.
Having a responsive design is going to allow you to build upon the app well after release. Instead of caging yourself into the concept of the app itself, design the app like a container, able to accept unforeseen things in the future. Although responsive design is not as flexible as adaptive design, it still allows you to accept contemporary designs albeit in a less desirable manner. The core is, keeping the app in a somewhat stringent form, allowing outside and new factors to be utilized, but not changing the app drastically. It’s more likely you will be using responsive design for customers using your app on an iOS device as it’s not as customizable as Android.
Above all else, the user experience is the area that needs to be the most refined. Your color theme and artistic design, won’t be accepted by everyone. Aesthetics are incredibly subjective and thus you shouldn’t try to please any side too much in this area. However, user experience can be deemed universal. A customer using your app in Singapore might have the same navigation issues as a customer in Finland. In the final phase of app development, user insights are going to act profoundly on your decisions. Interacting with consumers to get their feedback and insight is crucial. However, the challenge of insights is that they’re not observations. Insights can show you things you didn’t know existed. Seeing the app from a totally different perspective from you, consumers can show you flaws that were not even evident to your programming team.
With so many complex tests, insights and issues that need troubleshooting, how do you keep track of everything? A user research software will present to you a toolbox of solutions, helping you to garner as many insights as possible. Quality user insights can then be filtered, allowing you to make user-centric decisions. The digital experience of your app is massively improved by such tactile design choices. The software also gives you access to all valuable research methods, participant sourcing capabilities as well as qualitative and quantitative data. Scaling and automating the research process, you create a smooth cycle of efficient insight gathering and effective design altering.
The simple fact of the matter is, the average smartphone user has a plethora of apps, and you’re just one of them. In a sea of apps, how can you stand out the most? Apps like LinkedIn and Facebook have chosen to go the route of, ‘everything is a notification’. Every little thing, from a post about a topic you’ve previously clicked for, a friend updating their status, to a news source posting a new article, is shown in your notification bar. This is a form of FOMO. The ‘fear of missing out’ is an extremely powerful sales tools. But it’s a prickly bush, not without its consequences for the app designer. Video games use this technique the most, as giving the user only a short amount of time to click on something such as a reward, clue or discount, traps them into a loop of FOMO and instant gratification.
The reason why many companies use FOMO is that, it’s very common for a customer to download your app and after a few days, simply forget it even exists on their device. But FOMO can lead to distrust and a feeling of exploitation. Users that aren’t affected by FOMO, will be even more likely to uninstall your app when they see countdown clocks under items they’re going to miss out on if they don’t keep tapping away. You must find other ways to make your app relevant for everyday use. Integrating your app with other systems such as for Google Suite, Gmail, YouTube and task management software for professionals is highly recommended.
When consumers download your app, you must have a pop-up page whereby your your security is explained. If someone else is trying to access one’s account via the app, the consumer should be notified via ways of a trusted contact. This can be through email, phone number, text or perhaps through the app itself in the form of a notification.
The final phase of app design is perhaps the most exciting. By utilizing research software that collates the best insights, you make highly effective user-oriented decisions. Utilize adaptive and responsive design for different platforms such as iOS and Android.