Tag: business tech

  • 10 Questions Your New IT Provider Should Be Asking YOU During Onboarding

    10 Questions Your New IT Provider Should Be Asking YOU During Onboarding

    Much of our content is focused on what you should be asking your existing or future IT provider – from what services they cover, what cyber security protections they offer and how they will deploy their solutions to meet the needs of your specific office environment.

    The flipside of the coin though is the information they need to gather from you to best meet your needs, and if your IT provider hasn’t asked you any of the following questions, we would definitely consider that a red flag. How can their solution be tailored to your needs if they have no idea what those needs are?

    Here are the top 10 questions your IT provider should be asking you during onboarding or in your first year of service with them:

    1. What specialized business software do you use? As an IT provider it’s important we establish a relationship with your existing software vendors (especially for specialized business software) early on to help manage these tools on your behalf.
    2. How many devices does your business have? How many are used outside the office? This is a dual question with one purpose, we need to know about these devices so we’re making sure to cover the basic support items needed to keep them running, including backups and updates. Devices used remotely also need to be counted but the setup for those may involve getting in touch with those employees directly to deploy the solutions we use.
    3. How many servers do you have (including virtual machines)? Again, if we don’t know about it, we cannot support it and we even find in our client assessments they may have servers running that they weren’t even aware of. Any device on your network that’s internet connected and not receiving regular maintenance is a potential threat vector and we can make recommendations to discontinuing devices not in use.
    4. What was something your previous IT vendor provided that you would like us to continue? Regardless of the reasons you may have for switching IT providers (and if you’re thinking about doing so but aren’t sure how to get started, we have a kit available to help) there were probably some aspects of the service they provided that you feel were beneficial. This might include a certain kind of reporting they provided or a preference for how meetings are conducted. It’s good to establish the groundwork for continuing these preferences early on so your new provider can adapt routines to meet these preferences.
    5. What was something your previous IT vendor did that you did not like? Again, it helps us to know what your experiences have been in engaging with IT vendors and how we can best support your business. Maybe you didn’t like how they went about billing you for services or how they handled ticketing, whatever it was its invaluable information for your new provider.
    6. What projects do you have in the works? Whether it’s just an idea or something that was started and never finished, your new IT provider will want to help you meet your project goals.
    7. Do you have any cyber security frameworks or compliance goals your business must meet? Whether it be HIPAA, CMMC or you would just like to beef up your cyber security in 2024, it’s good to discuss this topic individually especially if your organization must meet specific cyber security requirements.
    8. Who provides your telecom and internet services? Networking support and phone maintenance is often included in many technology plans, it is helpful for us to know who provides these services for you. If you’re not happy with the current providers we can also offer recommendations for alternative solutions and we have even helped customers save money on these bills if we find they’re being overcharged.
    9. How often would you like to meet to discuss the services we provide for your company and any upcoming goals? At Valley Techlogic we host what we call a Technology Business Review (TBR) at the minimum annually, but we can also have these more frequently if the client desires.
    10. What minimum service requirements would you like us to adhere to? Whether it be our response time to tickets, how often we provide updates or specific tools you would like us to provide or help your company utilize – ideally your IT vendor will tailor your plan to YOU.

    Which is something Valley Techlogic does for our clients, our IT service plans are tailored to meet our clients’ needs and their specific setups. If you would like to learn more you can get started here.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.

    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

  • Microsoft layoffs and how the economy is affecting the tech sector

    Microsoft layoffs and how the economy is affecting the tech sector

    It was announced this week that Microsoft will be laying off 10,000 employees in a bid to cut costs in response to “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities”.

    They join the likes of Amazon who also recently laid off 18,000 employees and Meta who cut 11,000 jobs last November. With increasing costs and decreasing sales across many industries amid economic uncertainty, we expect more layoffs to occur both in the tech sector and beyond.

    Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, commented in a recent interview that Microsoft is not “immune to the global changes” and that he expects two years of challenges ahead for the tech sector.

    We’re still seeing hardware shortages stemming from the pandemic and the chip shortages we’ve written about recently. Suffice to say it’s been even more difficult for businesses to navigate maintaining the technology in their office or making needed tech related purchases.

    The worst thing that you can do is hold still and put off making needed upgrades or addressing technology challenges in your business. There are risks associated with outdated technology, they are:

    1. Lack of security compliance: It’s been shown that are on the rise, even faster than before due to malware being more accessible for even those who are not particularly “net savvy”. Even if you thought your business was too small to be a target before, with increased desperation any target might do – including you.
    2. More crashes and downtime: Time is money, especially in this economy. Old devices are more prone to crashing or just giving out completely, at which point you’ll still have to pay to replace them but you’ll have the added cost of the waiting you have to do until the replacement comes in.
    3. Decreased productivity: Your employees are probably your biggest payroll item, do you really want to hinder their productivity by making them use a device that’s sluggish or not working properly? The cost of a new laptop or desktop is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of wasted time they may spend navigating around issues.
    4. It could put you at a disadvantage to your competitors: The increase of reliance on digital solutions has not been stymied by the current economic landscape, the extra reliance that was exacerbated by the pandemic conditions is there and continues to grow. If your competitors are keeping up with it and you’re not, that will give them an edge you may not want them to have.
    5. Lack of data and transparency: We’ve mostly focused on hardware here but there are significant risks to not making needed software upgrades as well. Modern software is often leaps and bounds ahead in giving you needed data and reports, and we believe knowledge is power. You can’t be sure you’re making the best choices for your business if you’re doing them blindly.

    Now more than ever you need a partner in navigating the technology landscape, and Valley Techlogic can be that partner. We can help you address your technology challenges in a way that still keeps budgetary constraints in mind. We have been in business since 2004 and have experience weathering challenging times. We can even reduce your technology spending in the following ways:

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    We’re offering your first service call with us free, because we know you need to be certain when making choices for your business. We know after you try us out you will have the confidence to proceed, you can schedule your first service call here.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.

    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.