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

I want you to think back to how your business operated just a few short years ago. How similar was it to the way you currently do things?

Hopefully, not very.

Consider this: in 2013, mobile technology was just starting to become more commonly used for computing than the PC. In 2016, “unified communications” was still a buzzword, and collaborative solutions were experiencing widespread adoption. Today, just a few short years later, these are some of the basic solutions that all organizations should be leveraging.

Many businesses can easily fall into the trap of believing that their past success guarantees more of the same in the future. This comes with a few operational and behavioral warning signs. For example:

• Are any potential changes or growth opportunities avoided or rebuffed through the use of highly selective facts?
• Do conversations amongst your team skirt around topics like new markets, possible competition, or other developing business opportunities?
• Are failures used to postpone new attempts instead of as learning moments?
• Do meetings frequently end in a holding pattern?

These factors all signal that a business has slipped into patterns that are comfortable, rather than habits that are operationally sound. “Okay” becomes the standard, as do shortcuts and cut corners. The question is, do you want your business to be “okay”, or do you want it to be a success?

Fortunately, once you’ve identified it, there are many ways to mitigate complacency. Ask yourself a few more questions about your business, its policies, and its culture:

• Is there any way that your processes could be made more efficient?
• Is your service offering a good fit for your current audience? What needs will they have in the near future?
• Are there any technologies that could soon cause a disruption in your market, or could be used as an invaluable tool?
• How engaged are your employees?

Many of these questions will require a big-picture perspective of both your business and your industry. Macro-views like these can be challenging, especially when one is accustomed to the micro-perspective into a single business. Answering these questions on your own will prove to be challenging as well, and then you still have to resolve any issues that they unearth.

PC Technologies has plenty of experience with managing the technology that businesses rely on to be successful and efficient. While up-to-date technology isn’t the only thing necessary to avoid becoming complacent in business, it is a good start, and one that we can help with. Reach out to us at 360-491-2227 to learn more.

Many organizations have a lot to lose through data leakage, where it makes its way out of your protected infrastructure and into an unprotected environment. To make sure your operations aren’t affected by these complications, you need to ensure that data leakage is something that can’t occur. The first step to making this happen is understanding why and how your data is leaking.

The Three Kinds of Data Leaks

All types of data leakage can be attributed to one of the following categories:

• At Rest: Data that is in storage, waiting to be accessed. If your data is stolen from a database or from a workstation, your data is stolen while at rest.
• In Transit: Data stolen while in transit is intercepted on its way to a particular location. This can happen if sensitive information is left unprotected in an email or in your web traffic.
• In Use: This kind of data leakage happens while the data is being actively used. The way this happens is if an insider threat is able to take screenshots or documents out of the office where they don’t belong.

Securing Your Data Against Leaks

There are several methods of keeping data leakage to a minimum. First, you need to educate your users about the risks associated with data leakage. While you might be aware of the data that should and shouldn’t be shared, this doesn’t mean that your employees know too. It’s your job to make sure that your employees are aware of how they can keep data from leaking into the wild.

You can also implement IT solutions to keep data leaks from influencing operations. Here are a few of them:

• Encryption: Encryption is the biggest way you can keep your data safe. It effectively renders any data stolen from your organization indecipherable without the proper decryption key.
• Content Filters: You can prevent certain threats from even making their way to your infrastructure with the right content filtering solution. These can also alert the administrator of suspicious data transfers.
• Access Control: The fewer people who have access to data, the fewer the chances that they will leak it, either intentionally or on accident. Keeping close watch on data access and permissions is one way you can cut down on unnecessary risk.

Hopefully you can use these tips and tricks to minimize data leakage for your organization. To learn more, reach out to us at 360-491-2227.

Here are some ways you can adapt your office’s printing tendencies to match your goals.

Putting Together a Print Policy

Any policies or procedures you put together for your organization’s printing policy should be documented, in language that is both clear and concise, in a location where it’s readily accessible to your staff. It should include all of the following:

• How many prints each department/user should make in a given period of time.
• Which documents can be printed in color, and which should remain in greyscale.
• Which documents should be produced in hardcopy, and which can remain digital.
• Which pages from a given document actually need to be printed, and which can be omitted from the hardcopy.
• The cases in which double-sided printing is an option.
• Whether or not a document has received an initial proofreading.

These guidelines should be preferable ranges that you can change and adapt rather than those that remain static. You can never know when your business will require that you have hard copies of documents, so don’t be afraid to throw away the printing caps when you need to. That being said, placing a cap on your business’ printing will naturally save you quite a bit of capital through simple awareness of resources.

Using Network Printers with Print Management Software

This kind of organic decrease in printing will only get you so far. It’s more economical to invest in a network-attached printer that the entire office shares. This is great for your organization’s printing policy because it can give you key insights into your organization’s printing habits and provide ways to decrease waste. It also decreases the number of devices that need to be maintained.

PC Technologies can provide your organization with a plethora of ways to take advantage of the latest printing technology. To learn more, reach out to us at 360-491-2227.