The Thurston, Pierce, Lewis, and Mason Counties IT Experts

Begin Preparations Proactively

When you move to a new location, there is definitely some planning involved. You need to take everything into account ahead of time and adapt your strategy as circumstances dictate. You will want to get your finances in order, and acknowledge that you will run into situations you may not have considered before.

Deciding On a Space

Moving to a new location, you will want to select one that fits the needs of your business. Do you need a place that brings with it a lot of foot traffic? Do you need more parking? What amenities will you need? There are a litany of considerations that you need to take into account before choosing your new location. Obviously, your budget will play a major role in where your business ends up. Will you be purchasing your new space, renting, financing, or leasing? Knowing what you need in a new location can make a lot of different uncertainties go away.

Considering Property Rules

If your choice is to rent and lease space, you will need to have a conversation with the managing party to get a clear idea of what your rights are in your new property. Some will be listed on the lease agreement, but some considerations that you need clarification on will have to be discussed with the property manager so as to not cause the relationship to sour. 

Determining The Floor Plan

Once you are ready to move in you will need to determine where to put everything. Do you need your workspace to be laid out a certain way? Do you want a more open workspace that encourages collaboration or a closed plan that allows people their own secluded space? Do you need a dedicated conference room or rooms? Using the floorplan to determine the look and feel of your new space is one of the most satisfying parts of setting up a new office. 

Determining Your ISP

Even though the Internet isn’t actually a utility, it is essential to the success of almost every business. Finding a reliable ISP will go a long way toward having your technology work for you. Make sure to investigate your available service providers and make a thorough comparison to get your business the services, speed, and bandwidth your staff will need. 

Planning Your IT and Office Communication Systems

Once your ISP is on board and has set up your connections the way you would like them, you need to update your technology. That is installing servers, workstations, modems, routers, switches, and more. Furthermore, you will want to simultaneously install the company’s communications infrastructure to ensure that all is ready for your staff to come in and be productive. 

Moving your office is a big undertaking. If you need a professional touch, call our IT experts at 360-491-2227. We can help get you into your office, get you connected, and get you up and running fast. 

What’s So Great About Working From Home?

There are a lot of obvious pros to not having to commute to work in the morning. For many, it’s avoiding the commute. If you live a short 5 minute drive from the office, this might not be a big deal, but many have to deal with a lot more.  In rural areas in the United States, 30 percent of residents travel a half hour one-way to get to work. The average commute to work in NYC is about 43 minutes.

Working from home also incentivises workers to eat from home, as opposed to snacking at work and ordering out. This can reduce costs and improve overall health for some. There are fewer office distractions at home, although depending on the circumstance, there may be other distractions. That said, a two-year Stanford study shows a massive productivity boost across the board.

Plus, companies can save a lot of money on utilities and space if they were to decide to offer permanent telecommunications.

The Downsides of Working From Home

Despite overall trends being positive, not every employee is guaranteed to be a paradigm of productivity while working from home. Business owners know this, and stress over it. If you aren’t the business owner, but an employee, you may need to help employers gain confidence and trust when it comes to working remotely. Again, this isn’t the case everywhere, but from an employer’s standpoint, telecommunication can feel like losing a base-guarantee that at least when people are at their desks, they are being somewhat productive. 

I would posit that if you are a business owner, while it may be hard to loosen the reins on telecommunication, the benefits are well documented and there are countless cases where it works. An employee who is granted the ability to work remotely and slacks off probably wasn’t all that productive while in the office.

The point is, if you are an employee who has just started to work remotely due to the recent pandemic, or if you really enjoy the benefit of working remotely, you may need to ensure that your employer can be confident that telecommunication works for the company. If you are an employer, give it a chance. Both you and your employees have a lot to gain from it if you have the right tools in place.

How Employees Can Work Better From Home

Be in Seat on Time  - Without the commute, your morning should be a little more flexible. It’s still a good idea to wake up at the same time, but enjoy the extra time you have to do things you normally wouldn’t. Take the dog for a longer walk, do some reading, have a better breakfast - just make sure you are logged in and on seat on time.

Focus on Focusing - One of the biggest benefits of not being in an office is the lack of office distractions. Try to focus on your tasks for longer periods of time. You’ll be able to get more done and have more to show for it.

Track Everything - If you weren’t doing this while in the office, you definitely should start, but it is even more important remotely. Track the time it takes to perform certain tasks, track milestones, and communicate often.

Use a Good Headset - For those of us who use the phone and have to attend online meetings, having a good set of headphones with a microphone can make a big difference. Don’t rely on the built in microphone on your laptop or your smartphone’s speakerphone unless you have to. Instead, find a comfortable headset or a sound canceling Bluetooth earpiece that will ensure that you sound clear to those on the other line. 

How Employers Can Improve the Productivity of Remote Workers

Provide a VoIP Solution - Most modern VoIP phone systems have the ability to make and receive calls from virtually any device. Usually an application can be installed on most computers and mobile devices so calls can be made from outside the office without additional hardware.

Provide a Cloud Solution - It is critical that your staff has access to the files they need in order to do their jobs. By moving to the cloud, you can allow your staff to easily and securely access the documents they need. Moving to the cloud isn’t a small task, and there are a lot of options depending on your organization’s specific needs, but PC Technologies can help you with the entire process.

Standardize Processes, Including Documentation, Communications, and Tracking - We mentioned the importance of tracking everything you do above, for employees. It’s really the employer’s responsibility to standardize the tools to do that. Utilizing project management software, CRMs for salespeople, and other applications can help you track the productivity of your employees, as well as encourage more communication and accountability. These applications need to be accessible from anywhere, so they typically need to be cloud-based as well. Tools that allow users to instant message and run remote meetings need to be picked out. Otherwise, your workers may try to figure out solutions on their own, but these solutions won’t be under your control.

Need Help Establishing Remote Access?

There are a lot of considerations that go into providing productive telecommunication benefits to your staff, and a lot of different solutions for different needs. It’s important to review your needs with IT experts like those at PC Technologies to ensure that your data is safe and your team is able to work effectively. 

Need help? Give us a call at 360-491-2227.

Data Lakes Compared to Data Warehouses

Structure

The difference between data lakes and data warehouses is pretty well described by their names. Much like a real-life lake, a data lake is effectively a catch-all mix of the entirety of its contents, while the data warehouse is very much like a real warehouse is (or should be): organized, and only containing what is necessary to store.

Due to these differences, a data lake and a data warehouse hold raw and processed data, respectively.

Who Puts These Storage Options to Use?

The difference in structure that these two storage systems present makes them more useful in much different use cases. Business users, who need specific and organized data with clear and practical utility, benefit from the structure of a data warehouse. A data lake tends to be of the most use to a data scientist, as they can see the big picture and use their skills to draw conclusions from the mess of information present.

What is the Solution For?

Data lakes, as the name would suggest, are very large. As a result, they are ideal for storage. Their unstructured nature also lends itself well to data analytics, as our hypothetical data scientist will attest to. The structure present in the data warehouse makes them the better choice for drawing insights from aggregated data.

Lake, Warehouse, or Both?

In many cases, the most benefit is to be had by leveraging both of these options. The massive amount of unstructured data in the data lake helps with machine learning processes, and data warehouses lend themselves well to business analytics. Your particular industry can also play a role. Industries that produce massive amounts of data with no real structure, like healthcare and education, might see the most benefit from the size of a data lake. Businesses that operate in the financial industry and other industries like it might find the data warehouse better for their needs, with its optimized accessibility lending itself to their processes.

How well are you using your data, and how well are you securing it? PC Technologies can help you ensure that you are protected from data loss and are in the best position to use it. To learn more, give us a call at 360-491-2227.