Blog : IT

What basic security should my business have in place for 2020
Darren

What basic security should my business have in place for 2020

It seems each year technology changes at an unrecognisable rate, and managing the security in your business can seem like a full-time issue (or is neglected all together). There’s serious threats now to businesses and their data with ransomware attacks up 12% year on year for the last 3 years.

This page aims to be an extremely basic guide to what you should have in place in your Business in 2020 at a bare minimum.

Endpoint Security

Endpoint security is a software security package that provides, anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-ransomware firewall, and intrusion detection. It terminates at a central control panel so your I.T. provider can view all alerts across all devices on the network without needing to check each system individually.

Robust Backups

A robust backup solution for your business is imperative for business continuity, this is not only a secured on-site copy of your data with ransomware protection but a secure off-site copy with previous versions and retained deleted files. Simply taking a copy of your data is not enough and it’s only a matter of time before you’re caught out (if you haven’t been already).

Router ports blocked

Many hackers will use known exploits in Windows security to gain access to your devices, blocking this access of your companies Router is essential to ensure that your data does not fall into the wrong hands, you don’t want these people on your network at all, once they are in they can unleash huge damage on your network and data.

 

In summary network security is an absolute requirement for any business these days, if you’d like to discuss the security of your business network and devices please give us a call from the number at the top, or book a meeting using the link on the right or to find out a little bit more about what we do please check the link below.

I.T. Hardware and Infrastructure Support

“What should I look for in Business I.T. support companies?”
Darren

“What should I look for in Business I.T. support companies?”

As I.T. becomes more and more integral to the daily operation of our businesses it’s therefore becoming more and more important to ensure that the I.T. support in our companies is not only fit for purpose but changing as the years go by to keep pace with all the changes in the way the world uses technology to make decisions and spend money.

New ways of communicating with prospects and clients are popping up or improving all the time and the expectations of those we do business with are getting ever higher as technology allows more and more companies to compete. Companies who would previously be left for dust.

So when looking for an I.T. support company to support your business, it’s clients, it’s staff and it’s assets you don’t just need an I.T. company that can cover the technicalities of what you and your team are setting out to achieve but also an I.T. partner that understand where your business is going.

Aurora Tech Support work hard not just to monitor your network and iron out the creases, look for gaps in security and fix, make sure devices are running as efficiently as possible but we also look to see where your company might take you in the next 2 years and what your I.T. should do to assist that growth in your company’s operations.

We look to build relationships with our clients and be as involved in their day to day operations and success as anyone involved in your future. In fact, that’s where we believe we leave other I.T. companies for dust, we pride ourselves on our customer service, conscientious attitude, and communication.

If you’d like to have a chat with a member of staff about the I.T. in your business and how we can help you succeed please give us a call on

01937 586888

How to speed up Office computers
Darren

How to speed up Office computers

One thing we get asked a lot by clients is how to speed up the computers on the office network.

Unfortunatly there’s not one answer for this but I’m going to outline the most common reasons the computers in your business might be running slow.

RAM

In each of the computers in your business you’ll have a set amount of RAM and an amount your computer will support. Typical values for this are 4-8Gb currently and a maximum of 16Gb. A good target if your computer is running slow is to try and double what you currently have, the more the better but really your aim should be to try and ensure you’re not using all of it and you have some capacity left.

CPU

Another reason you might be suffering from slow business machines is the CPU (or processor) in your systems. Unfortunatly this cannot be upgraded the way RAM can above, and really needs to be a major consideration when purchasing PCs for the office in the first place. The best in our experiance is a Intel i3 at a minimum or an Intel i5 or i7 would be ideal.

HDD

A HDD or Hard Disk Drive is the part of your computer that stores all the data, so the letters, spreadsheets, email and Windows and all the applications installed on your system. But there’s a shift to what are called SSD or Solid State Drives. These are storage containers that have no moving parts (like the USB Storage you plug in to a computer) this is not only much quicker than traditional HDDs but more reliable and less prone to faults. Also we can clone your existing HDD to a SSD.

Apps

Over time or even at manufacture a lot of apps and software get installed on your office PCs, and a lot will start with Windows even though you’re not using them, some need to run when the systems start but many don’t. By configuring what needs to be running and what doesn’t you can make significant improvements to the PCs running in your business.

As mentioned at the top there can be hundreds of reasons a PC might be running slow but these are some of the most common, when we take care of a clients business I.T. systems we monitor and look out for these causes so they can be fixed.

If you’d liek to have a chat about Aurora Tech Support maintaining your office infrastructure ether as a part of an ongoing monthly agreeent or ad hoc please give us a call.

01937 586888

How to make rapid efficiency gains in your organisation over the next 12 months
Darren

How to make rapid efficiency gains in your organisation over the next 12 months

The I.T. in your business can help you not only deliver amazing client experiences but really explode your companies growth.

A few of the things you should consider implementing in your organisation if you haven’t already and their benefits to you.

A maintenance agreement not only gives you an I.T. professional to call and ask for I.T. advice whenever you need it but the add-on services attached provide many more tangible benefits. By remotely monitoring and managing devices you can:-

– Reduce downtime
Real-time alerts and allows us your IT provider to remediate IT problems before your users come to you and tell you they can’t work.

– Enforce IT Compliance, reliability and system security
Protect your organization through fully managed patching, antivirus and backups.

– Reporting
Get frequent reports on where improvements can be made and efficiency gains be found.

If you want to speak with someone no obligation please use the below link to send us your details and we’d love to provide a free audit of your systems.

#Growth #Business #ITSupport

Find out how I.T. can catapult your companies growth

What does your business need to go to the next step?
Darren

What does your business need to go to the next step?

Scaling a business is hard, and that’s the main reason 8 out of 10 businesses fail. Of course I make the assumption they are good technically at what they do.

Often the failure to scale a business means that companies can’t manage turbulent times or unforeseen periods of difficulty that sometimes aren’t even created by those in the business. As technology weaves it’s way further into the fabric of our businesses the need to use those I.T. systems to scale and grow becomes greater and greater.

I.T. and the technology available to you is your “get out of jail free” card, often solutions can be implemented at a fraction of the cost of a new employee, to achieve the necessary growth required to hire those new team members you require but don’t have the capital quite yet. For over 15 years we’ve worked with many Yorkshire companies to create efficiency in their offices, increase employee engagement and productivity.

We first sit down with you, understand your business it’s values and challenges and then we look at monitoring the performance of the systems in your company and look to make improvements not just in the systems performance but how the technology in your business is used.

From this we can each month make constant improvements and efficiency gains for your team. This then leads into a huge spike in productivity and employee engagement.

Then scaling your business is easy, as it’s done in a holistic and manageable way, we’re positive that only by building these relationships with you can businesses succeed and thrive. In fact for 15 years we’ve built scaled Aurora Tech Support in this way through our technology. If you’d like to have a chat with us about how we can help you to scale and create a business for your competitors to be jealous of please get in touch.

I.T. Hardware and Infrastructure Support

 

Credibility – We need IT, you need IT
Darren

Credibility – We need IT, you need IT

As business owners we talk endlessly about social media, brand message, standards, communication, how approachable we are, how responsive we are, why we’re better than our competitors. To the point that everyone looks the same.

Businesses know how to play the game, communication is easier than ever, the internet has given a platform to everyone to send out their message, and we do don’t we?

While we might all know what to say the one thing you can’t fake is credibility.

And that’s what we are all seeking at the end of the day, this crusade for post likes, shares, followers of our business pages ultimately leading to sales, we want credibility, because as was ever the case.

Credibility is the real currency of success.

Some businesses are just different, they don’t try and force through how good they are they show it as soon as they have the chance, they aren’t perfect but they’ll make it right if once in a Blue moon they let you down.

These companies not only realise that standards need to be high, they deliver. And the only way they can do this in the modern climate is attention to detail from start to finish.

With themselves, the message they deliver to their team, the message their team deliver to their clients. And I.T. now underpins all of this, our I.T. systems are the tool that allows these performances to be put in. And when that fails everything crashes like a house of cards, and credibility goes through the floor.

Corners cannot be cut if you’re serious about being among the best at what you do, your I.T. partner needs to understand you, and understand that your success is their success.

I.T. Hardware and Infrastructure Support

 

Building for the future
Darren

Building for the future

The secret of any successful business is keeping all the plates spinning while innovating and building for the future.

Measuring what you do well and what gets results for your business. The data we hold in our organisations is fast becoming the key to unlocking growth and profitability. With proper analysis of this data we can find out what works and what doesn’t from our day to day activities. It tells us where our good clients are coming from and where our bad clients come from.

With this information we can build on our current successes and drive our businesses forward for the future. Every business is now an I.T. business because every business needs to use the internet, technology and data to succeed in the future.

Therefore it makes sense for every business to have an I.T. partner that not only keeps their systems operational but keeps their systems efficient and positions the technology in their business to drive results in the future.

The companies we work with receive more than just break / fix I.T. support, they get a business partner, a partner to look at how the company currently uses the I.T. in their day to day operations and look at how that I.T. can drive better results and increase profits.

And all this comes from first understanding your business, spending a bit of time getting to know you, your team and your goals and then secondly understanding your data, finding key indicators of growth, and potential future growth.

Once we have this overview of your business and how you want the future to look we can really start to together make big changes for the future and your results.

If you’d like to discuss how you can use your team and the I.T. in your company to build for the future lets have a chat.

Phone Chat

What is Data Driven Decision Making and why should you be doing it?
Darren

What is Data Driven Decision Making and why should you be doing it?

We are now living in the age of Data, it’s everywhere and every day we collect more of it. That data holds valuable insight into trends and the future growth of our businesses.

Analysis of this data though is not always straight forward however. There can be a lot of misleading information depending on the data source and so it’s best to develop a strategy for reading the data available and using it to develop a robust growth strategy.

The way we work with our clients to offer Data Driven Decision making is a 3 step strategy, firstly we spend time understanding your business operations. We spend time understanding where you want to take the business in the next few years and the current challenges your team are dealing with. Once we have a good understanding of your business and its challenges we can then start to look at the best ways to look for the meaningful data to overcome these challenges and even improve conversion rates from enquiries.

Then we will look at the current strategy for collecting data and where we can possibly collect further meaningful data to aid in better business decisions. Once we have a good database or two to work from we will develop a dashboard for your company to view the data in an easily readable format and each month dissect that data and make recommendations of ways to generate more leads, more orders and provide great delivery to your clients new and old.

The great benefit to a robust data driven decision making strategy is using the information already in your possession to grow revenue and profit margins at a reduced cost compared with modern marketing techniques.

If you’d like to discuss how we can help you and your team use the data in your business to drive better decisions then please book a free consultation now.

Free Consultation

Business Growth and Development
John Tait

Business Growth and Development

I was brought in to Aurora Tech Support predominately help existing clients build and develop their businesses through efficient technology, and bring in new clients too but my main role is to pass the Aurora philosophy of teamwork, leadership and communication through technology to our loyal customers.

I’ve worked with Aurora on and off now for years and have always worked well as we share many of the same principles. We believe in an honest and prompt service, that delivers for both you and your end clients who we haven’t even met, we believe that through this cost savings and better results happen. Removing inefficiency in business creates a snowball effect on everything around you and your business.

So you might now be wondering how we do this? The answer is simple, it’s not rocket science. It’s not reinventing the wheel. It’s implementing proven business practices that have existed since businesses were invented, we just do it better and and with a modern twist. We use technology to deliver fantastic results for clients and prospects and therefore your clients and prospects.

We use leadership techniques pioneered by Dale Carnegie and other leading business professionals. We’ll be delivering a few seminars on the subject later on this year but if you’d like to have a chat about anything in the meantime please give us a call on

01937 586888

Or click below to find out a bit more

I.T. Hardware and Infrastructure Support

Using I.T. to drive your business growth
John Tait

Using I.T. to drive your business growth

Hopefully you’ve got an amazing team at your company, for that team to really produce results for your business they need systems, amazing systems that wow your clients and prospects and allow amazing communication both in and outside the office.

Having a modern I.T. system to run your business is the difference between growth and stagnation. All forward thinking companies are embracing instant messaging, social media and their company website to generate enquiries, produce leads and deliver their services.

Your businesses I.T. should have a strategic model driving it, and you should be constantly discussing in company meetings your I.T. strategy. In fact if you don’t have your I.T. systems and embracing modern technologies on your company meetings agenda then you’re already falling behind the competition.

Aurora Tech Support can help with your I.T. strategy if you need to drive your business productivity forward, we don’t just try and prevent issues with your companies I.T. and fix things when they go wrong but we also look at business strategy for growth, communication and service.

We use proven leadership techniques to create business systems that you can drive through the technology in your company.

If you’d like to discuss please give us a call on

01937 586888

or book a phone appointment now.

Phone Chat