Author: Andrew Hartman

Should You Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2013?

Since its launch in July 2012, there has been a lot of interest about Microsoft 2013. If you are one of the users who have been wondering whether to upgrade to the new platform, then you are in luck. You can use Microsoft Office 2013 on tablets, smartphones or computers where no such software has been installed before. It means you will be able to access your files irrespective of your location or the device you are using. This article will highlight the main benefits of Microsoft 2013. Brought to you by Syndeo Communications, your trusted San Diego IT Services provider.

 

Normally, people have the tendency of working on documents then saving them either on their local hard drives or flash drives for easy access. This works as long as there is no need for accessing these documents from a remote location. Microsoft 2013 operates on the cloud platform which means you can retrieve your documents by logging in to the internet from any computing device. This makes life easier for people who are on the move and need access to their files for meetings and presentations.

 

In case you are wondering what “cloud computing” means, here is an explanation. It refers to technology where data is stored and managed from shared servers. You only need to connect to the internet and use a password in order to access your files. All you need to do is connect to the internet then stream whatever module you want to use. It could be Excel, Word, PowerPoint or any other software. Once logged, you can proceed to work on your documents or create new ones. It is like having your files at your figure tips. You never have to worry about connecting to your office or remote computer or worry about forgetting your flash drives. With Microsoft 2013, your files will always be available as long as you have access to the internet.

 

Microsoft Office 2013 offers easy sharing for presentations

During office presentations or weekly meetings, it is standard procedure to use slides or spreadsheets. Normally, you require a projector in order to share your reports with those in attendance. Microsoft Office 2013 has changed all of this. You can now share your notes and reports on Excel, Word or PowerPoint. Meeting participants only need to come with their laptops or tablets. As the meeting progresses, they will be viewing your slides as you go. That eliminates the need for projectors and screens. This ensures that you are all on the same page.

 

If you are wondering whether to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2013 or not, please feel free to reach out to us. As a trusted San Diego IT Support company, we offer our clients an honest assessment to make the best use of IT Solutions. Call us at 760.650.3300 today.

Learn How to Build a Secure Network for Your Business

Securing your business, whether big or small, is a necessity in this day and age in technology. First and foremost you should secure your internet connection to only internal use and keep outside access to a minimum and to only those who need access to the network.  To achieve this be sure to use strong encryption on your wireless networks and make sure all your passwords include a variety of letters; uppercase or lowercase, numbers, and symbols. It is always good practice to setup your network to not allow unneeded remote connections to your firewalls or routers. It’s critical to have a firewall or security appliance installed to control the flow of your network as well as access levels.  Syndeo specializes in San Diego network security, access and content filtering so we can help.

 

Furthermore it’s highly recommended to have antivirus protection on each computer on your network. This will ensure that malicious programs will be quarantine on-site without it jumping from one computer to the next and infecting an entire network.

 

Lastly, all this security needs to have a good backup plan in place to protect your data.  Many businesses have onsite and offsite backups that run on a regular basis. Having your data transferred and stored in a secure location should be a top priority for business.  Syndeo also specializes in disaster recovery and remote data backup in San Diego to help keep your businesses up and running.

 

To recap, keeping your network secure to only allow access to those who need it, making sure computers are clean of viruses, and ensuring that your backups are safe and secure are all necessary to provide for a secure network for your business. Syndeo Communications, the expert computer consultants, can assist with all of these solutions so give us a call.

How Your Employees Can Avoid Harmful Spyware

If you’ve ever used the Internet, you know that it can be rife with great information and resources covering just about every subject you could think of. Unfortunately, the Internet can also, at times, be a sort of “Wild West” for modern day society. Viruses, spyware, and hackers can lurk behind seemingly friendly websites, and strike unsuspecting or unprepared users with ease. If you think your business has been exposed to a virus or spyware and you need IT network support, click here.

 

Spyware, in particular, can be especially worrisome for businesses that depend on their data being safe. Spyware allows hackers to collect information automatically from infected computers, often without any indication that there is anything wrong. Businesses and their employees can take some simple steps to avoid this hazard.

 

The first defense against spyware is to train your employees on good Internet-use policies. Using the Internet in the workplace should be very different from using it at home. Businesses can enforce policies with firewalls and anti-virus software. These tools allow a business owner to not only control their Internet connection, but to also monitor it for unwelcome traffic.

 

If your business uses social media, assign a “Social Media Manager”. Allowing one or two employees to have access to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp (for business purposes) can greatly cut down the amount of viruses and spyware on your network. Social media is one of the top places to pick up an infection and without the proper IT network security in place, you risk losing valuable data, time and productivity.

 

These are just a few simple steps that can be taken to help your employees avoid harmful spyware and viruses. Call Syndeo Communications, a trusted San Diego computer consulting company, to see if your network is at risk for spyware or viruses, and we will be happy to work with you on securing your network and your business.

Windows 8 Analysis

Windows 8 is the latest and “greatest” from Microsoft to hit the market. How does it hold up to its predecessor and what’s new will all be covered here in this short analysis by Syndeo, a premier San Diego IT Consulting Company.

 

By design Windows 8 was created to be faster and more secure as is expected with each Windows version. With outstanding bootup times and somewhat faster load speeds for applications, it definitely gives Windows 7 a run for its money in terms of speed.

 

The new user interface is pretty and exciting; however, it seems that’s all it has going for it. The design is beautiful but it’s far from being user friendly. The design was clearly made for mobile, touchscreen devices and is too new and unknown for desktop users. Navigation is nigh impossible for new users and takes a lot of practice to remember where to place your cursor for different popup menus. Windows 8 didn’t retain the old look and feel of the control panel and other computer options. Instead, it’s another new and frustrating ride for advanced and power users alike.

 

In terms of security we have a new feature that, while combined with a third-party anti-virus software, can greatly increase your protection against harmful malware. That feature is known as Secure Boot. Secure Boot only allows “signed” software to launch during boot to keep out sophisticated viruses that plague the deep underbelly of our systems. This has proven to be a great leap in operating system security for Microsoft. To read more about our San Diego IT support services, click here.

 

To recap our analysis, in terms of speed and security it seems Windows 8 has our ticket and proves Windows is continuing to give us better performance while securing our devices.  However, whether or not you upgrade will depend on your unique set of circumstances. Please feel free to consult with us on this matter as we are your trusted computer consulting San Diego experts.

What the Great Blackout of 2011 can Teach You about Powering Your Business

The largest power failure in California history took place at approximately 3:38 PM on September 8, 2011. This blackout affected the entire Southwest region of the United States. For local businesses that didn’t have the proper IT support systems in place, the result was millions of dollars of revenue over the 24 hour period immediately following the outage. What lessons can be learned from this blackout to ensure San Diego’s local businesses properly mitigate unexpected losses due to loss of power?

 

A full investigation by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission subsequently found the main cause of the blackout was due to human error. A technician in North Gila, Arizona was performing maintenance on the power grid and accidentally skipped a crucial step that was in place to prevent an outage.

 

Accidents can (and do) happen. As a trusted San Diego Computer Consulting Company, it is our job to mitigate the effect of accidents with insurance. A great insurance policy for local businesses that utilize data systems (point-of-sale systems, email servers, etc.) is to install a battery backup for these systems. Batteries can keep your system running long enough to properly shut down in the case of power failure. Many backup systems will actually take care of the shut down process for you automatically, giving you peace of mind when the next blackout occurs.

 

Don’t let someone else’s accident affect your revenue. Call Syndeo Communications today to ask about having a battery installed at your office. We look forward to working with you on finding the right San Diego IT solution for your business.

Learn How You Can Save Hundreds with Our Computer & Energy Saving Tips

If there is one thing that makes me grumpy, it’s paying bills–particularly the electric bill. I don’t like to give any more money away to the electric company than I have to. As a San Diego computer consulting company, we strive to educate our clients about ways they can save and offer computer tips based on our own experiences. So while you may not realize it, there is a simple way to save money on your electric bill and it can be done in a matter of seconds each day!

 

A simple desktop PC uses between 100 and 120 watts of power.  This might be hard to quantify so it is easier to think of a light bulb.  Most of the lamps at your house have light bulbs that are 75 to 150 watts and most devices have a rating printed on them to tell you how much power they consume, usually in watts.  For example, on the back of my flat screen LCD TV it is rated at 693 watts.

 

Let’s say your business hours are from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday. Out of a 24 hour day, 9 hours are spent working and 15 hours are spent doing other things.  Furthermore, your business has 5 computers so based on our discussion above, we will say that each PC uses 100 watts of power.  Let’s add another 100 watts of power for the computer display which totals 200 watts.

 

Because you are only open 9 hours per day, there are 15 hours each weekday and 24 hours each weekend day that the computer really isn’t needed.  Based on my example that is 123 hours per week the computer isn’t needed.  Simple multiplication tells us that 200 watts used over 123 hours equals 24,600 watts or 24.6 kilowatts

 

The electric company bills by the kilowatt hour which is just a fancy term for how many kilowatts you consume in an hour.  For example, if you had a heater that was rated at 1000 watts and you used it for an entire hour it would equal 1 kilowatt hour.  Rates can vary but for our sake, let’s use 15 cents per kilowatt hour for our calculations.  If you multiply the 24.6 kilowatts from above by the kilowatt hour rate of $0.15 you end up with $3.69.  This is the savings for one week if you turn off the PC during the hours you don’t need it!  Over the course of one year that is almost $200 and if you have 5 computers that is almost $1,000 per year!  You can see how quickly this adds up.

 

At Syndeo Communications, believe in providing valuable information to our clients and are committed to helping you increase your monthly and yearly savings with efficient technology. While computers are a great way to increase productivity, it’s important to stay on top of costs. If you have a computer network or IT project that you need help with, we will be glad to answer any questions. Get in touch with us today and learn how our tailored IT consulting services can help your business grow.

Lifespan of Computers – What You Need to Know about Replacing Your Computers

When it comes to computers there seems to be a couple of schools of thought relating to when to replace them.

 

One school of thought is if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. While this approach maximizes the rate of return on the initial outlay, it exposes you to some additional risk because all computers fail and you don’t necessarily know when.  The risk you bear is that you will experience a failure when you aren’t expecting it and that will mean downtime and a potential loss of data.  Risk can be minimized by using a good, solid backup platform but you will still suffer some loss. This whole scenario is analogous to being stuck on the road with flat tire.  Even though you have a spare tire (your backup) you will still need time to change it and get back on the road.  Not to mention dirty, greasy hands! To learn more about our data disaster recovery plans, click here.

 

The other school of thought is around realizing that computers have a 36 to 45 month lifespan and even though they may not fail exactly in that time frame they will become obsolete due to faster and more modern computers.  However, you take the unknown out of the equation by giving yourself control over when you are replacing the computer versus running around at the last minute for a replacement.

 

Regardless of which school of thought you choose, it is a good idea to keep a spare computer around for the situation that yours does fail.   This becomes even more important if you have a small office of employees.  Without a spare computer, they will lose precious productivity in the job functions that they perform.

 

Syndeo specializes in helping clients manage small and large projects to replace computers and upgrade to newer hardware.  Our remote data backup solution and sophisticated IT tools allow us to move your entire computer desktop and files to another, completely different physical machine, while keeping everything intact.  Imagine getting a new computer without having to reinstall all your favorite programs!  Give us a call at 760.650.3300 and we can figure out a solution to fit your needs.

Online Backups – What Are Your Options?

It has been interesting to watch the backup market evolve over the past several years.  Backup companies have started to take aim directly at the consumer and advertise their products on television just like other companies advertise cereal or other consumer items. They have made it all look very easy and while those products are great for keeping your family photos safe or keeping a copy of your personal information tucked away in the cloud, they aren’t good for protecting and backing up your business data.  Let me explain why.

 

Almost all backup programs, whether or not they are cloud based, perform file-based backups which simply mean that any files you specify will be backed up.  As you can see, this can work perfectly for photos, documents, etc.  What file-based backup systems don’t address is the computer as a whole.

 

Let’s walk through the scenario of something going wrong with your computer such a hard drive failure. In addition to the important files, you have invested a lot of time getting all the programs installed, setup and working on your computer. Once the hard drive fails you don’t have access to any of the information on it including the programs.  With a file based backup system, you have to start over and reinstall the operating system (i.e. Windows) AND all the programs, and get your email reconfigured and setup—just like getting a new computer.

 

However, with more robust backup solutions an image of the hard drive is performed versus just the files being backed up.  More importantly this image can be restored back to another hard drive just like nothing happened!  You don’t have to go through the process of reinstalling programs, windows, reconfiguring printers, setting up email, etc. One of our clients calls it the “magic backup.” What’s even more amazing is that this image can be sent to the cloud for safekeeping so you have the best of both worlds.

 

Syndeo Communications specializes in providing backup solutions to businesses.  Please let us know how we can help you secure your data and keep your computers safe.