Coleman Technologies Blog

Very Small Businesses and Self-Funded Startups

For the very small business—that is the mom-and-pop shop and the sole proprietorship—social media can be the major marketing outlet for your business. In fact, many bootstrapped startups and extremely small businesses will use Facebook as their exclusive hub for marketing outreach. Since these businesses often don’t have the capital to commit to large content-driven marketing initiatives, social media gives them a way to get their brand out there at a modest cost.

For the new entrepreneur looking to build their business from the ground up, Facebook is a very good tool. Not only does it give small businesses the opportunity to get their brand out there, it also provides them with the ability to interact with potential customers and share their culture. Other social media platforms can work for these companies too, but without the strategies and services that larger businesses use, there will always be kind of a soft cap on how effective social media can be for the really small business.

Established Small Businesses and Well-Funded Startups

As a company’s marketing budget swells, so do the possibilities, especially with social media. The established small business typically has the revenue to afford at least a middling marketing strategy and will use it to create a marketing hub, create content, and further press the issue as far as getting their brand out to the world. At this level, many businesses look to purchase the services of a marketing agency. Like managed services, a marketing agency handles a lot of the marketing for your business, so that the people in a business can focus on doing what it does best. 

Startups that are well financed function a bit different but also use agency options. They are typically trying to develop products and services and use the agency right along with the development of their offerings. This strategy, while unsustainable over time, can produce faster results if and when a product or service that will produce acceptable returns is created. 

Both rely on social media in many of the same ways smaller businesses do, but don’t necessarily run their marketing efforts through it. As mentioned previously, these businesses typically have an established web presence (or at least the means to get one quickly), and use Facebook to extend their reach. At this level, tutorial videos, webinars, and other marketing efforts are well established and using Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram to share their experience, their culture, and their testimony from satisfied customers. 

Medium-Sized Businesses

The mid-market business is a large business, make no mistake about it. The accepted size of mid-market businesses is over 500 workers. For those businesses that operate with under five, that seems a million miles away. The mid-market business is typically well-established and their brands are known. They have teams of people (internal or outsourced) that actively use analytics (business intelligence, business analytics, etc.) to develop their advertising, marketing, and public relations strategies; all of which they need. In the mid-market, companies use social media as they feel they need to use it rather than something they must do. Most businesses will have a presence on all the major social media outlets, and many of them use social media to fuel their human resources needs. Since their social media budgets are in the five and six figures, they can take advantage of all the services these social media companies offer for businesses. 

What Social Media Platforms are Out There That Have Services for Businesses?

The easy answer to this is all of them. These are some of the richest and most influential companies on the planet at the moment, and they got to this point because people shop. Whether it’s for simply brand exposure, or whether it’s used for full-on advertising, the following social media outlets work for businesses:

• Facebook - 1.6 billion daily active users - Facebook is the largest social media firm by leaps and bounds, and it also owns Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Facebook is currently used by over 90 percent of marketers today.
• YouTube - 149 million individual daily users - YouTube is a great resource for the growing business. Not only is it the second largest search engine in the world, the video-sharing giant provides access to homespun content that can really take a business’ brand to the next level. 
• WhatsApp - 1 billion daily active users - With so much of the world relying on WhatsApp, it can really be a benefit for those companies looking outside their own borders for business. 
• Instagram - 600 million daily active users - The photo-sharing website, Instagram has been a big player in the marketing scheme for the past couple of years. Many brands look to build a campaign using influencers who direct business to specific companies. 
• Twitter - 134 million “monetizeable” daily active users - Twitter is extremely popular, and can be a great way for individuals inside your business to promote content and deliver their knowledge to others.
• LinkedIn - 303 million monthly active users - LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that many human resources professionals use when recruiting new talent. 

Other social media platforms that are actively used by marketers include: Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Snapchat and more. 

Technology is rapidly changing the world we live in, and it is definitely changing commerce. Does your business use any of these social media platforms? Which ones do you find useful? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and return to our blog regularly for more great technology content. 

The past several years have brought about dramatic increases in internet speeds, further fueling online activity and allowing businesses to innovate in all kinds of ways. Here are five of the best benefits that these increased Internet speeds have brought about for small and medium-sized businesses.

Increased Productivity and Collaboration

Slow Internet connections have historically prevented businesses from operating in ways that would improve productivity, such as communication, data transfer, and cloud-based tools. With faster Internet connections, employees can share large files and collaborate more efficiently. This gives companies a leg up on their competitors and allows remote teams to collaborate in-office or otherwise.

Better Customer Experiences

Anything that improves your company’s ability to interact with and respond to customer needs can help your business grow. Faster Internet speeds can reduce website load times and ensure that online transactions take place without a hitch. Often, the connection speed can make all the difference in making a sale or selling a product.

Advanced Technology Integration

Bandwidth is a vital resource for businesses hoping to use the latest technologies, like the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence (AI). Higher Internet speeds grant your organization access to more of this resource and allow for more efficient and streamlined operations.

Cloud Services and Remote Work

With cloud computing and remote work becoming a considerable force in today’s interconnected world, fast and stable Internet connections are more important than ever. High-speed Internet gives companies the ability to host cloud-based applications and services with minimal downside. This promotes remote work and minimizes latency. 

Lower Costs and Improved Security

With faster Internet speeds, your organization can take advantage of cost savings and greater security measures than before. Businesses will be able to fully use their Internet connections to their greatest potential through advanced cloud services, which are generally more budget-friendly and flexible enough to suit the needs of just about any organization. Furthermore, faster security updates through Internet connections means better security in general.

If you are concerned about your Internet connection, we can offer you opportunities to improve its speeds, quality, and stability. Contact us today at (604) 513-9428 to learn more.

The Pros
There is more than one application and way to use automation. While the uses are more general than specific, they can be applied to several different kinds of goals or processes, whether it’s customer service or data processing. In this sense, automation can be used in a pretty universal way.

Efficiency
It’s obvious that certain processes take a considerable amount of time to complete, but if they are handled by automated systems, they can be completed much more efficiently than before. In other words, since you don’t have to focus on these tasks, you can instead devote the time to something else entirely. This effectively adds more time to the workday by removing routine tasks that can be handled by an automatic process.

Minimizing Repetition
If someone has to do the same task over and over again, they are doomed to lose interest and make mistakes. If these tasks don’t require focus, then the employees will likely let their mind wander, and productivity can suffer. This makes even a quick task more likely to be repeated multiple times, making it less likely to yield a return on the investment. Automation makes it more convenient and less risky to leave monotonous tasks to employees. Trust us when we say employees will thank you for taking these tasks off their plate and freeing up their schedule for others.

Convenience
When someone reaches out to your business, it’s likely they need your help with something, and they need it fast. If you can’t provide it on a convenient time frame, chances are they will take their needs elsewhere. Automation gives them the ability to get help from a chatbot or other similar automated system without the need to staff someone at all times to address immediate needs. This gives you a better chance at being able to respond to their needs when they reach out to your organization.

Potential Cons
Automation might be quite helpful for businesses, but there are some issues that should be addressed in order to ensure it doesn’t become a liability for your business. For example, some processes are simply too complex for a machine to handle in the same way a human brain can. Most automated systems are limited by design, thus ensuring that they will be limited to the task assigned to them. After all, an automated system’s purpose isn’t being fulfilled if you have to provide constant feedback to it. Here are some ways you can make sure the faults of automation sting less:

• Use automation sparingly: Some of the services that could be automated likely don’t need to be. This is particularly true for more complex issues. Consider that many of the people who contact your business have a point of contact within your organization and regular requests, meaning that working with a human might not be such a bad thing if they are available at that time. In this way, automation supplements human contact rather than replaces it.
• Have employees direct the automation: If an automation system can’t perform a task on its own, having employees direct it during more complex tasks can work to mitigate the issue. A complicated request can be made, but still processed and understood with the right direction.
• Ingrate your automation: You don’t want to stop processes midway. As long as your automation is well-designed and thought-out, tasks can be integrated with automation to ensure they are handled in the most complete way possible.

What are some ways your organization can benefit from automation? Let us know in the comments.

Do your employees have a hard time with the technology that you’ve provided them? Are your digitization efforts lagging behind? Are the systems your business is using coming up on their end of support date? Old technology can cause major problems for a business. In this week’s blog, we go through some of the signs that you may need to upgrade your business’ technology.

Your Technology Is Slow

One of the most frustrating things any employee can deal with is a work computer that takes significantly longer than their personal computer to load up and function. The longer a computer is used, the slower it will become. If your computer is approaching the five-year mark and the person using it is constantly complaining that it is a hindrance to their ability to be productive (not to mention run more advanced applications that your business may use), it is probably time to consider an upgrade of that particular machine. 

For more centralized computing, you should keep in mind that we recommend that you start considering your server refresh at the four-year mark. While you can probably continue using that technology for years after that, you need to start considering a server upgrade because it takes some time to pull the trigger on large technology expenses and services. 

Your Company Is Growing Fast

If your company is experiencing a boom in growth, getting technology into your employees’ hands comes with the territory; and, it can start to become an issue. Not only do your employees need different types of technology, as your business grows this will become an even bigger issue, as presumably the array of different job-related tasks will diversify. 

Another issue is that if you’ve found success with older software (often called legacy), you may find it more difficult to purchase new hardware that is compatible with the older software. Of course, there are options to rent server space in the cloud to accommodate this demand, but there are other issues you then have to consider. Most businesses that maintain an upward trajectory find ways for their technology to grow with their business. 

You Have a Remote Workforce

Managing a remote workforce is a lot different than managing people that come to a central location five days a week. It becomes an issue to get everyone on your team the technology they need. In this case, obtaining resources in the cloud makes a lot of sense. Today, you can get nearly any computing your company needs through cloud-hosted offerings. 

Since the average cloud platform cuts computing and support costs by around a third, it creates a situation where an organization that has distributed employees will prioritize cloud computing due to the ease in which they can deploy required resources, the ability for access from nearly anywhere, and the built in management and support that you get when you purchase SaaS applications.

Ultimately, new technology can allow you to do more, build a more efficient and productive business, and do so with whatever workforce you feel comfortable utilizing. At Coleman Technologies, our IT experts can help you procure and integrate your new technologies and help you manage your entire business IT infrastructure. Give us a call today at (604) 513-9428 to learn more.

Before we do that, let’s start you with some terminology that you should know:

• Virtualization - Virtualization is the process where information that is found on physical hardware (or the physical hardware itself) is transferred into a virtual environment. 
• Hypervisor - The process that takes hardware resources and combines them in a way where they can be delivered into a virtual environment. 
• P2V - Short for “physical-to-virtual”, which is the act of migrating resources from a physical server to a virtual one. 
• Snapshot - An image of the state of a virtual machine at any specific point. In a snapshot you can see all of the data, configurations, and programs that are open at the time, in effect saving all the work that has been done on that system.
• Clone - An exact copy of a virtual machine that can be transferred to another VM. 

Host and Guest

When committing to using virtualized resources, you need to understand that your VM is the guest of a host machine. The host machine is typically a high-powered server that you would have normally used to host your computing resources, while each virtual machine, whether it is a virtualized server or a virtualized desktop (or something else), are guests on the hosted machine. By being able to fit several guest machines on one host machine, you can save a substantial amount of money. 

Uses of Virtual Machines

Typically, a virtual machine is used for less-critical processes, but it can handle about any type of computing that you need it to. Virtual machines are often used in resource testing. Some more popular uses include:

• Try out a new operating system (OS) - Running a new OS on a virtual machine can provide technicians and administrators with the perspective needed to determine if the new OS is right for their business.
• Use Desktop as thin client - By running a virtual machine on your typical computer, the new computing construct notably becomes a guest system. 
• Testing software - One of the most prevalent uses is to test new software before installing it on a larger computing infrastructure. 
• Consolidation - These days, virtual machines are being created to do more than ever before. Today virtual server technology can allow organizations to roll out one server and use it to host several. This presents the opportunity for major cost savings.

Has your organization looked into using virtual machines to cut down on your physical IT infrastructure? Call Coleman Technologies’s experts today to discuss your virtualization options at (604) 513-9428.

Most businesses who utilize the cloud report that they have managed to cut costs while still getting the resources they need to perform to spec. Businesses can use the cloud for processing and storing data, as well as application deployment, making it a very dynamic solution to a business’ needs. However, you cannot make decisions based on cost alone. Here are some other factors to consider.

Explaining Cloud Computing

The benefits of cloud computing are many, with the cost of using it being perhaps the most important one. Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, is the most common way people use cloud computing with its global market being worth around $230 billion in 2022—a number that is increasing at this moment. It’s estimated that cloud growth sits at around 12-15 percent year to year, showing just how valuable businesses find these tools and possibilities.

To explain SaaS a little more in-depth, consider the following example. You might have purchased a software license to use a particular application in the past, renewing it year to year for the privilege of its continued use. Now, with cloud computing and SaaS, you pay what’s essentially a subscription fee for access to the latest version of the cloud-based software. You don’t have to outright purchase the solution and maintain it yourself—the provider handles that part for you and hosts it themselves on their own internal hardware.

There are other ways to use the cloud too, and the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

The Benefits of the Cloud Computing Model

There are great benefits to cloud computing, and the cost savings from using it are just the tip of the iceberg. Cloud computing might be more expensive on the surface compared to a single software license, but that cost also includes flexibility that saves you money in the long run. It also saves you from having to manage and maintain the solutions yourself, which can be costly and time-consuming in its own right.

More than 92% of businesses use services that are connected or run through the cloud, establishing it as a crucial part of business operations both now and in the future. Here are some of the other benefits that your company can take advantage of through moving some of its computing tasks into the cloud:

• Potential cost reduction
• Fast scalability
• Promoted collaboration and efficiency
• Provider-side encryption and updates to improve data security

Challenges with Cloud Computing

Now, there are some reasons you should be at least a little wary of the cloud, despite its many benefits. Just like any other technology solution, you need to know what you’re getting into before committing to it. The deployment method itself requires a high-speed Internet connection, and it must be reliable and safe to boot. Most cloud platforms have security features built into them, which is why over 90 percent of businesses have no qualms with using it, but it’s best to be aware of the risk, however small it might be.

Coleman Technologies can help your business with its cloud computing needs. To learn more, call us today at (604) 513-9428.

It’s the cloud.

Specifically, software-as-a-service (SaaS).

What is SaaS?

In order to understand SaaS, you definitely need to have a cursory understanding of the concept of cloud computing. Basically—for you that don’t know—cloud computing is the use of servers hosted in data centers to provide your business (or individuals) the computing they need through the Internet. It’s as simple as that. Companies create data centers where any business can get the processing, the data storage, the services, and the software utilities they need. Software-as-a-service represents the last part of that. Basically, if you need a piece of software, you can now get it in the cloud.

Why Buy Software In the Cloud?

If you are going to buy software, why not buy a physical copy of the software? Well, you obviously still can, but in order to run the software, you will also need the infrastructure in place that can handle the dissemination and computation of data; you need reliable and continuous IT support to ensure that the hardware is maintained, the software is patched, and that any issues that come up are handled, if not proactively, quickly. You also need to ensure that the people using your software are networked together, which can be extremely costly to perfect and secure.

Software-as-a-service comes with all this. Not only does your business get the software it needs, it does so without having to take on the responsibility of maintenance, utility costs, and other detriments to having a centralized computing infrastructure. In most cases with a SaaS offering, the cloud provider will handle all of the hosting and maintenance costs and bake them into the cost of the service.

So How Does SaaS Work?

SaaS platforms are simple to set up and are completely scalable. This means that if you need five licenses for a certain program and 40 for another, you can get them. Better yet, you can add or remove users from any of these platforms for any monthly subscription cycle, allowing you to control your business’ computing costs more accurately than if you are trying to maintain multiple servers.

Users will sign in using a login and a password, and many of these offerings today come with two-factor authentication (2FA) as an additional security option. At Coleman Technologies, we recommend using 2FA on as many online accounts as you can. Once in, they have full access to the software. Users can select the storage they want to use to save and export files created with this software, giving them full control over their work.

Your business uses a lot of software, and if you could avoid paying for software upfront and turn your computing into an operational expense, it might just open up more available capital that you can use to invest in your vision.

If you would like more information about cloud computing or software-as-a-service, or you would like help implementing solutions that will help your business be the best it can be, call us today at (604) 513-9428.

Now, the phones we are reviewing might seem like overkill - and, in fairness, there are many more budget-friendly options that can handle most of what you’re likely to task them with. However, the lure of a new device can be tempting, so we decided to indulge that temptation and go over some of the best smartphones available today.

Samsung Galaxy s10 Plus

If you’re looking for a quality Android device, you’re probably leaning toward the Samsung Galaxy s10 Plus. The newest addition to the line of flagships, the s10 Plus comfortably ranks at the top of many “best phone of the year” reviews.

With an aluminum frame housing the 6.17 oz phone and its Dynamic AMOLED display, the Galaxy s10 Plus is finished in Gorilla Glass 5, and has sharper edges that previous models did, intended to improve the grip of the device.

Looking inside, the phone has some just as appealing specifications. Driven by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and between 8-to-12 gigabytes of RAM, this phone makes improvements to the rest of its features as well. There are five onboard cameras, with wide angle, ultra-wide angle, and telephoto lenses. The onboard fingerprint reader for authentication purposes is now cunningly hidden under the display, and the s10 Plus is likely to be the last flagship phone that Samsung produces with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Galaxy s10 is now the standard for an Android phone to beat (at least until the s11 comes out) and can be purchased in the following colors for somewhere between $599 and $1,200:

• Prism White
• Prism Black
• Prism Green
• Prism Blue
• Canary Yellow
• Flamingo Pink
• Ceramic Black
• Ceramic White
• Cardinal Red
• Smoke Blue

Samsung Galaxy s10 Plus
Body: Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass 6 front, Gorilla Glass/Ceramic back
Display: 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED (~522 ppi)
OS: Android 9.0 with Samsung One UI skin
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Memory: 128 GB/8 GB RAM; 512 GB/8GB RAM; 1 TB/12GB RAM
Expandable Memory: microSD up to 1 TB
Cameras: Three back-facing (12 MP, 26mm wide angle; 12 MP, 52mm telephoto; 16 MP, 12mm ultrawide); Two front-facing (10 MP, 26mm; 8 MP, 22mm)
Sounds: Stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack
Battery (battery endurance rating): 4,100 mAh battery (91 hours)
Security: Ultrasonic, under display fingerprint reader; IP 68 resistant
Miscellaneous: Nano-SIM, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 15W fast charging, wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, NFC, FM Radio
Other versions: Samsung Galaxy s10, Samsung Galaxy s10e

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus

You probably remember the dramatic news a few years ago that the battery’s tendency to explode had led to a million-device-plus recall on their Galaxy Note phones, ultimately costing Samsung more than $5 billion. The issues have long since been resolved, and so the Note 10 Plus might just be the best large-factor phone for the business professional on the market today.

Again, enclosed in an aluminum frame with a coat of Gorilla Glass 6, the Note 10 Plus comes with a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED display and an on-board s-pen stylus. Also featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and up to 12 gigabytes of RAM, it is powered by a fast-charging 4,300 mAh battery. This battery is also QI wireless charging-compatible, and supports reverse-QI charging, which allows you to use it as a wireless charger in a pinch. It has Android 9.0 installed at first, but can now be updated to Android 10 with certain carriers.

Most major carriers stock this phone for between $849 and $1,200, in Aura Glow, Aura White, Aura Black, and Aura Blue.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus
Body: Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass 6 front and back
Display: 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED, 1,440 x 3,040 (~498 ppi)
OS: Android 9.0 with One UI skin
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 
Memory: 256 GB/12 GB RAM; 512 GB/12 GB RAM
Expandable Memory: microSD up to 1 TB
Cameras: Four Back-Facing (12 MP, 27mm wide angle; 12 MP, 52mm telephoto; 16 MP, 12mm ultra wide angle; TOF 3D VGA camera); Front-Facing 10 MP, 26mm wide angle
Sounds: Stereo speakers
Battery (battery life): 4,300 mAh (~107 hours)
Security: Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint, IP68 resistant 
Miscellaneous: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 45W fast charging, wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, NFC, S-Pen functionality
Other versions: Samsung Galaxy Note 10

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max

Apple is surging back into prominence with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which consistently ranks in the top three of phones developed in 2019. A stainless-steel frame holds its 6.5-inch Super Retina OLED display, as well as an advanced neural engine-improved A13 Bionic processor to boost the iPhone’s trademark features - namely, Siri’s performance as well as the functionality of its camera and AI. Along with the A13 chip, the inside holds 64 or 512 gigabytes of onboard storage space and four gigabytes of RAM.

Speaking of the camera, the iPhone 11 Pro Max houses three distinct 12-megapixel cameras, featuring a telephoto lens, a wide-angle lens, and an ultra-wide-angle lens. Most major carriers offer it for about $1,100, and it comes in SpaceGray, Gold, Silver, and Midnight Green.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
Body: Stainless steel frame with glass front/back
Display: 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED; 1,242 x 2,688 (~458 ppi)
OS: iOS 13
Chipset: Apple A13 Bionic
Memory: 64 GB/4 GB RAM; 256 GB/4 GB RAM; 512 GB/4GB RAM
Expandable Memory: None
Cameras: Three back-facing (12 MP, 26mm wide angle; 12 MP, 52mm telephoto; 12 MP, 13mm ultrawide); Two front-facing (12 MP, 23mm; SL 3D camera)
Sounds: Stereo speakers
Battery (battery life): 3,969 mAh (102 hours)
Security: Face ID, IP 68 resistant 
Miscellaneous: Nano-SIM, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 18W fast charging, wireless charging, NFC
Other versions: Apple iPhone 11, Apple iPhone 11 Pro

Google Pixel 4 XL

This phone marks Google’s latest effort to carve out a portion of the smartphone market. Again, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, the Pixel 4 XL really shines where its visual features are concerned. With 537 pixels crammed into every inch, it features a 6.3-inch P-OLED display, as well as one of the best camera setups available today - including a 122 megapixel wide-angle lens and a 16 megapixel telephoto lens with impressive low-light capabilities.

The Google Assistant can be summoned by simply squeezing the Clearly White, Just Black, or Oh So Orange phone.

Most major carriers will sell the Google Pixel 4 XL for between $899 and $999.

Google Pixel 4 XL
Body: Aluminum Frame with Gorilla Glass 5 front/back
Display: 6.3-inch P-OLED, 1,440 x 3,040 (~537 ppi) 
OS: Android 10
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Memory: 64 GB/6 GB RAM; 128 GB/6 GB RAM
Expandable Memory: No
Cameras: Two back-facing (12.2 MP, 28mm wide angle; 16 MP, 45mm telephoto) Two front-facing (8 MP; 22mm)
Sounds: Stereo speakers
Battery (battery life): 3,700 mAh (~73 hours)
Security: Face ID
Miscellaneous: Bluetooth 5.0, 18W fast charging, wireless charging, NFC, Squeeze for Google Assistant
Other versions: Google Pixel 4

OnePlus 7T Pro

Of course, not all of this year’s “flagship-level” devices are necessarily produced by the biggest companies, as dozens of smaller manufacturers are also developing high-performance smartphones. For instance, the OnePlus 7T Pro. This device is all about the speed of the user’s experience, which is why they augmented its flagship-level specifications with a 90 hz refresh rate, making it seem even faster.

The 7T Pro doesn’t exactly underperform in other considerations, either. With a 6.7-inch fluid AMOLED display that houses a fingerprint reader, it actually runs on Qualcomm’s creme de la creme processor, the Snapdragon 855+. With three rear-facing cameras and a front-facing selfie camera that pops out of the chassis when used, the camera notch has been eliminated. Finally, because price is always a consideration to some degree, this phone does the least damage to your bank account of the ones we reviewed here with the 8 gigabyte RAM model totalling around $699.

OnePlus 7T Pro
Body: Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass 5 front/back
Display: 6.67-inch Fluid AMOLED, 1,440 x 3,120 (~516 ppi)
OS: Android 10 with OxygenOS 10.0.4 skin
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+
Memory: 256 GB/8 GB RAM; 256 GB/12 GB RAM
Expandable Memory: No
Cameras: Three back-facing (48 MP wide angle; 8 MP, 78mm telephoto; 16 MP, 13mm ultra wide angle); Motorized pop-up 16 MP, 25mm wide angle
Sounds: Stereo speakers
Battery (battery life): 4,085 mAh (~100 hours)
Security: Optical in-display fingerprint reader, pop-up facial recognition
Miscellaneous: Bluetooth 5.0, 30W “Warp” charge, NFC
Other versions: OnePlus 7T

Finally, there are other phones that, while not included in our list, are definitely ones to consider under the right circumstances. These include the Huawei Mate 30 Pro and P30 Pro, the Sony Xperia 1, the LG v50 ThinQ, and the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

We included the “right circumstances” caveat because there is currently a ban on Huawei devices in the United States. Despite their superior hardware, government sanctions have put the kibosh on Huawei products for the time being.

Other devices are also just starting to rise in popularity, like those featuring foldable displays - including the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the Huawei Mate X, and the nostalgia-pumping Motorola Razr. We’ll likely soon see how these foldable devices are received on a wide scale.

Finally, there is also the advent of 5G to consider. A few cities have started to implement the necessary technology for 5G, and so manufacturers will likely start developing 5G-compatible devices before long. While it will likely take years for 5G to become the standard, if you happen to spend time in one of these cities, it may be to your benefit to upgrade.

What device do you currently use? Do any of these interest you, or did we miss one that you’ve had your eye on? Let us know in the comments!

Planning Stages

Most businesses use some type of management program to streamline things. Whether that be a simple Customer Relationship Management (CRM), a more intuitive Professional Services Automation (PSA), or an end-to-end Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, your company relies on software to get the job done.

Today, there is an opportunity to mix your business' production software--whether it be communication integration, file sync and sharing, another form of back-end integration, or a customer-facing application--with your management platform. Planning an integration like this can have big benefits, especially if you are beginning to use analytics to help you make critical business decisions. After all, the whole point in integrating your various business components is to make data flow better.  

The main hurdle to accomplishing this is, of course, how do you go about getting this done? If your organization doesn’t have on-staff developers, outsourcing your integration project quickly becomes your only recourse. If you are going to pay someone outside your company to connect your proverbial pieces, then you need to have an idea of what you want to accomplish ready when you start the relationship. It is essential that the outsourced developer knows your needs, and that you provide them with tools and access needed to complete, and thoroughly test, the integration. Most simple integrations can be done cheaply, and can provide massive returns on your investment, while larger integrations may not see the immediate return, but over time can provide massive cost-and-time-saving benefits.

Integration Benefits

Speaking of benefits, we’ve already touched on the main benefit of software integration: Unimpeded data flow. Integration can also result in:

• Cost savings
• Increased end-to-end efficiency
• Organizational growth
• Improving business with no downtime
• Enhanced business analysis and intelligence

According to one study, small businesses that build a completely integrated suite can boost sales by upwards of 12 percent, reduce overhead by increasing inventory reporting, and increase revenue-creating situations by almost 50 percent.

If your organization has seemingly tried it all to boost productivity and efficiency, you may be missing out on a great way to improve both, while also providing a way for businesses to better plan for the future. Do you think that integrating your business’ software will help your business? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

5G

The first technology that anyone who's anyone in the technology industry has their eyes on is 5G. If you were to think of a technology that would transform business, 5G might not be on the top of your list, but, rest assured, it will completely alter society, so businesses will be affected. What is 5G? It’s the long-awaited fifth generation of wireless connectivity that is promising ubiquitous gigabit speeds for everyone. While most of the hubbub surrounding 5G has been about sating people’s need for download speeds and autonomous vehicles, the technology will bring big changes for businesses. 

As far as the business goes, 5G will reduce latency to the point where all of the smart devices that have been introduced over the past half-decade can effectively communicate. This presents more dynamic options to use smart technology for business purposes in and out of the office. Since data transmission will see less latency and higher speeds, data and services should be seamless.

At CES, plenty was made of 5G as a mobile-centric technology, but a lot of the technology that was on display at CES shifted past the smartphone and onto devices that are aimed at improving business. Cutting edge computers, apps, networking equipment, and things (a whole lot of things) aimed at impressing CIOs and decision makers with advanced functionality and speed, were on display throughout the event. From supply chain management to transportation to (of course) mobility, the innovators at CES touched on a large cross-section of improvements 5G is going to make for businesses and at home. 

Cloud Analytics, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence

Businesses have been pretty aggressive over the past couple of years implementing tools that claim to have some type of machine learning or artificial intelligence to improve many aspects of their business. The technology has been used liberally to improve customer service, optimize operations and logistics, even to predict customer behavior. Even in its relative infancy, the applications for these technologies seem to be vast.

At CES, visitors got a look at all types of new ways that businesses are going about using these technologies. One of the most impressive uses of these technologies is in new logistics tools. Between the use of autonomous vehicles that speed up businesses and lead to fewer shipping costs, and computer vision that provides transparency in the acquisition and viability of resources, AI is at the center of business-specific applications that will make it to market in 2020. 

Consumerization of IT

At an event called the Consumer Electronics Show, it stands to reason that it would be a treasure trove of new and useful technologies (or in the case of CES 2020, technology-fueled “things”) on display. The consumerization of IT has been ongoing for the past several years, and businesses have reaped the rewards of this. 

At CES, the whole event is dedicated to pushing the consumerization of IT. New solutions to problems, new products incorporating innovative technology, and strategic technology rollouts aimed to take advantage of other innovations were all over CES 2020. New computers, including the first look at some 5G-capable ones, are some of the more noteworthy of the event; and, are definitely aimed to catch the attention of CIOs and other business decision makers. 

With so many prototypes being unveiled at CES, it’s hard to maintain that this technology will even make it to market, let alone be available any time soon. If you want to learn more about CES 2020, visit the event’s website at https://www.ces.tech/. For more great technology-centric articles aimed to help your business, return to our blog soon.

After all, by leveraging the cloud, a company can take advantage of up-to-date and reliable solutions and resources with no added maintenance needs, and the cloud’s flexibility is extremely well-known. Whether your employees are working in the office or from home, the cloud allows them to access and collaborate upon the same documents with the same resources.

Here, we’ll go over the steps you need to take to adopt these capabilities in a hurry, with the help of an MSP like Coleman Technologies.

Planning and Identifying Priorities

Unfortunately, the cloud implementation process typically isn’t known for its speed, as there are many considerations that must go into its planning. If certain processes aren’t followed, steps are missed, and the entire thing can be delayed. Therefore, it is best to have a resource by your side to assist you through the process.

This means that it only becomes more crucial that your implementation is well-thought-out and planned, starting with identifying and prioritizing what is to be moved. Take the time to consider this and make these calls with the help of your technology resource.

Our advice: start with your most important transitions (naturally) and that which will be simplest to migrate, and then focus on the remaining workloads afterwards. Working in phases like this make it more important to lean on a trusted resource for assistance, as it will make it more complicated to do.

There also needs to be a dedicated effort into training a staff to prepare them for the capabilities that cloud solutions deliver and the complications that may arise.

Coleman Technologies can help deliver all of this, and so much more. Talk to us about it by calling (604) 513-9428.

The threats for businesses to get hacked or deal with data breaches of some type are more pressing now than at any other time in the digital age. It’s as if there are thousands of cat burglars on the prowl looking for a way into your business. If one of them is successful, it can bring some severe consequences for your business including financial loss, reputational damage, and even legal issues. In this week’s blog we will go through some of the actions you need to take in the case of a network breach. 

Identify Malicious Code and Quarantine It

The first step in responding to a data breach is to identify and contain the incident. This involves promptly reaching out for help. This means contacting IT experts, legal advisors, and public relations representatives. The team should work together to investigate the breach, determine the scope of the incident, and take immediate action to stop any further unauthorized access.

Secure the Environment

After containing the breach, it is crucial to secure the affected environment to prevent any additional damage. This may involve isolating affected systems, changing passwords, and implementing stronger security measures. Businesses should also ensure that all software and systems are up to date with the latest security patches to minimize vulnerabilities.

Assess the Impact of the Breach

Once the breach is contained and the environment secured, businesses need to assess the impact of the data breach. This involves identifying what types of data were compromised, how many individuals or entities are affected, and evaluating the potential risks associated with the breach. This assessment will help in determining the appropriate steps to take next.

Make Sure to Notify Affected Parties

It may seem like you are shooting yourself in the foot by doing so, but ethically, businesses have a responsibility to inform individuals or entities whose personal or sensitive data may have been compromised. The notification should be clear, concise, and provide relevant details about the breach, including the types of data exposed and any actions that affected parties should take to protect themselves. Consult legal advisors to ensure compliance with applicable data breach notification laws and regulations.

Communicate with Stakeholders

Maintaining open and transparent communication with stakeholders is crucial during a data breach. This includes informing employees, customers, partners, and other relevant stakeholders about the breach, the actions taken to address it, and any ongoing efforts to prevent future incidents. Clear and frequent communication will help rebuild trust and maintain a positive reputation.

Data breaches are a significant threat to businesses, but by following these best practices, organizations can effectively respond to such incidents. By prioritizing data security and implementing robust preventive measures, businesses can protect their sensitive information and maintain the trust of their customers as well as employees and other stakeholders. If you would like help setting up your business’ cybersecurity policy, give the IT professionals at Coleman Technologies a call today at (604) 513-9428.

Small businesses seemingly always need to take a long look at the way they do things because they need to be as efficient as possible to carve out a market share. This often means using technology to make everything work. There are many different types of technologies that can help any SMB build more efficient operations, but the two we will outline in today’s blog, are two technologies that are probably doing the most to help SMBs improve. 

Artificial Intelligence 

AI is all the rage today, but unlike a lot of the IT that businesses try, AI is here to stay. There isn’t a technology that has more promise that is already on the market today, and sure, the effectiveness and costs of the technology are pretty variable, but there are some pretty stark benefits for businesses. Here are three ways AI is being used by businesses:

Customer Service Automation

There are several ways that a business can use AI to make their customer-facing processes more attractive and efficient. One of the most prevalent at the time of this writing is through the use of chatbot technologies. Chatbots are AI-powered systems that can handle routine customer inquiries, provide information, and even assist in the purchasing process. This technology not only enhances customer experience by providing instant responses but also frees up human resources for more complex and revenue-generating tasks.

Data Analysis and Insights

Being able to acquire information that allows for better insights and decision-making is one of the great benefits of the digital age. With AI, these platforms are getting better. AI can analyze historical data to identify patterns and trends, helping businesses make informed predictions about future outcomes. This can be applied to various aspects, such as sales forecasting, inventory management, and identifying market trends.

Process Automation

AI can give businesses the ability to automate repetitive tasks and streamline workflows. This includes automating data entry, invoicing, and other administrative processes, allowing employees to focus on higher-value tasks that require creativity and critical thinking. The more you can automate, the more unburdened your staff is.

Cloud Computing

You probably are already quite familiar with cloud computing. Most businesses utilize some type of cloud resource whether that is tied to its data backup, its email, or some other complementary computing resource. Many organizations don’t, however, truly understand the benefits they could be gaining from using the cloud for their organizational computing needs. Let’s look at three major benefits of cloud computing. 

Cost Efficiency

Cloud offerings feature the pay-as-you-go pricing model, allowing organizations to pay only for the resources they consume. This eliminates the need for large upfront investments in hardware and infrastructure. Cloud providers also operate on a massive scale, which enables them to distribute costs across a large customer base. This results in lower per-unit costs for services, making it more cost-effective for organizations compared to managing their data centers.

Scalability and Flexibility

One of the biggest benefits of cloud computing is the on-demand resources it provides. By providing the ability to scale resources up or down based on demand the cloud can deliver the amount of flexibility and scalability they need. This flexibility allows businesses to respond quickly to changing requirements, ensuring they have the right amount of computing power and storage at any given time.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Finally, one of the most important uses of cloud computing is protecting the integrity of an organization’s IT infrastructure. Business continuity is a big part of ensuring that any would-be operational problem your business could run into, and has actions that remedy those problems enough to continue operations. 

The first way that cloud computing influences data redundancy is through the data backup systems. One of the best practices when rolling out a comprehensive backup system is to have a reliable offsite backup. Backing up your business’ data to the cloud is quite possibly the best way to do it. Another way the cloud helps is through its integrated disaster recovery options. In the event of a natural disaster or other disruption, organizations can quickly recover their data and applications, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity.

Technology is a big part of doing business in today’s digital world. Other technologies such as the Internet of Things and blockchain present new ways to accomplish organizational goals. If you would like some help determining how to deploy innovative technologies for your business, give us a call today at (604) 513-9428.

It had been a rough quarter at Thatcher-Jenkins. Sales were down as two of the company’s largest clients ceased doing business after they found suppliers that would offer the same services for less. In an attempt to stop the figurative bleeding, Parker had initiated a major overhaul to the management system the company would use. Much of the production staff, who is made up of a lot of people that had been working at the company for several years, found the new technology intrusive to production. Then there were problems with deployment which cost the company some time and a fair amount of capital. The IT staff that was in place at the time simply didn’t have the resources to cover a rushed end-to-end software implementation and their typical workload, leading to production interruptions and other inefficiencies.

So, as Parker stood with his hand on the glass of the window in his office, his thoughts weren’t of the impending holiday, his family, or how fortunate he was; they were firmly focused on the latest bought of downtime that took down production for half a day. Who knows how much money it had cost the company?

The phone rang. He walked back over to his desk, tripping over the exposed wire to his new VoIP phone that nobody bothered to hide. He snatched at the phone.

“Hello,” he answered, angered.

On the other end of the phone was his wife. Mrs. Parker was wondering when Parker would be home. After all, it was Christmas Eve.

“I’m just wrapping up here...Love you too.”

He hung up the phone, glanced aimlessly around his office, and slumped down into his desk chair. He sat for a few minutes before he got up, remotely started his car, put his coat on, shut down his computer, turned the lights off, grabbed his bag, and walked out the door.

As he slowly shuffled to his car, the snow was falling lightly, but it might have been just the ice in the air as it was a little too cold for snow. His car was the last car in the parking lot. This made him feel very alone. He got in the car and slowly drove away.

As he drove past all the houses lit up for Christmas, he started to cheer up. He stopped off at the liquor store to get some brandy and as he was walking out of the store he ran into one of his clients.

“Hey there Parker, Merry Christmas,” the stout man in a black pea coat said.

“Oh, hi there Jack, same to you,” Parker answered as he almost dropped the bottle of brandy he had just bought.

“Whatcha got there?” Jack asked inquisitively.

“We do Brandy Alexanders on Christmas Eve. Family Tradition,” Parker answered.

“Well that’s nice. Look, have a Merry Christmas. Give my best to your family. We’ll talk next week,” Jack said before he scurried away inside the liquor store.

Parker walked back to his car, wondering what Jack meant by the “we’ll talk next week” remark. He sat behind the wheel for a minute, before driving away. The uneasy feeling he had in his office was more like panic as he drove down the street toward his house.

Parker started talking to himself in his car, “What did Jack mean? If his company leaves, I’ll have to lay people off,” At this point he had worked himself up. He popped the top of the brandy bottle and started to take intermittent swigs. He drove past his house to the bridge on the outskirts of town. He parked his car on the side of the road and got out of his car and walked up the bridge.

Traffic continued to go by, but there wasn’t much of it to speak of, being Christmas Eve and all. He walked up to the center of the bridge with the bottle of brandy firmly in hand. He stood up and looked at the sliver of moon that poked out behind the passing clouds. He looked at the river. He took a pull of his brandy and put the cap back on. All of a sudden what seemed like a shadow approached him from the far side of the bridge.

“Not the Christmas Eve you planned on having, huh Parker?” the voice said as he came into the light. The man was short and older than Parker. He had a wool cap and jacket on.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” Parker asked.

‘My name is Gary and I know all there is to know about you,” he said, “What are you doing up here?”

Where only moments before had Parker been engulfed in self-pity, now there was only fear. He moved away abruptly, but didn’t say anything.

Gary kept after him.

“Can I have a drink?” he asked.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” Parker demanded as Gary reached for the bottle of brandy. Gary stopped moving toward him.

“Please?” Gary asked.

The three or four drinks that Parker had were now starting to kick in. He extended the bottle and Gary took it, opened it, took a drink, and handed it back in rapid succession.

“So, Parker, what are you doing out here on Christmas eve?” Gary asked rhetorically.

“I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” Parker replied.

“Were you planning on jumping off of the bridge?” Gary asked abruptly.

Suddenly, Parker realized that maybe he had gone up there to do just that.

“I don’t know,” Parker replied, “Sometimes I feel like everyone that depends on me would be better off if I wasn't the one making the decisions.”

“Well...There is a way to find out.” Gary said as he rushed at him. Parker, still clutching the bottle of brandy, sidestepped as Gary dove off the bridge into the river. Shocked, Parker dropped the bottle, took off his coat and ran to the other side of the bridge and jumped in after Gary.

As he hit the nearly frozen water, it sent a shock through his entire system. He grabbed Gary, who was thrashing around in the current and dragged him to the bank of the river.

Both men lay on the frozen bank of the river. Gary begins to laugh. Incredulous at Gary’s levity, Parker started to yell at him.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?!” Parker started, freezing and soaked, “If I didn’t jump in after you, you would have surely died!”

“Don’t be so sure,” Gary said, “I am your guardian angel, you needed to stop feeling sorry for yourself in order to know what it is that I know.”

“Guardian angel? You are touched, man!” Parker yelled as he got up and started making his way back toward the bridge.

‘There are no such thing as guardian angels. You are a crazy old man who just had his life saved by someone who didn’t feel like living ten minutes ago.”

“Parker, many people depend on you, and feeling sorry for yourself will never get you to where you want to go.” Gary said, scrambling after him.

“Look, friend. I’m going home. Tonight is Christmas Eve, and I need to be with my family...Not sopping wet listening to a crazy man.”

Gary stopped following him.

“I may be crazy, but I am here to tell you that you can’t lose hope,” Gary shouted after him, “We will meet again soon.”

Parker made his way back to the bridge, picked up his jacket and his bottle of brandy and started back to his car. He opened the door to his car, but before he got in looked around for Gary. He was nowhere to be found. With mixed emotions Parker got in his car and returned home.

---

When Parker returned home, he found a strange car in the driveway. He walked in the front door, still wet from his time in the river, only to find his IT administrator standing in the foyer of the house waiting for him.

“Where have you been?” the man asked

“What are you doing here?” Parker answered as his wife walked in the room.

“We’ve been hacked,” The IT admin started, ”I’ve got the team at the office now doing everything...wait a minute, why are you wet?”

“Yeah, what happened to you?” Mrs. Parker asked.

“What do you mean we were hacked?! I just left the office an hour ago!” Parker said helplessly.

“Yeah, Harold and Matt are at the office right now and Brett will be there soon. We should go.” The IT admin said.

“Wait a second, mister, you aren’t going anywhere before you tell me why you are sopping wet.” Mrs. Parker said sternly.

“I saved a man from drowning, Jewel, but now I really have to go down there to make sure we aren’t going to lose everything. Pete, let me get changed.”

After getting changed quickly and assuring his wife that everything is going to be okay, he rode to the office with Pete. Pete was the IT administrator for Thatcher-Jenkins. He had been working there for the past seven years and was Parker’s right hand man when it comes to IT. He had hired Pete at 23 to work in his IT department after Pete had been released from jail for hacking.

Pete was the son of one of Parker’s wife’s best friends and agreed to take him on as a favor, but had come to depend on his computer skills.

“What do we know about the hack?” Parker asked as they were driving.

“You know as much as I do right now, but when we couldn’t get a hold of you, I came right to your house. Your wife was worried.” Pete said.

“The craziest thing happened to me tonight. I was on the bridge and some crazy old guy came up to me and jumped in the river. I had to jump in after him so he didn’t drown.” Parker continued, “I had never seen this man before, but…”

“He knew who you were?” Pete said in Gary’s voice. Parker looked over and it was Gary driving the car, not Pete.

“What is going on?!” Parker bellowed with fear.

“Don’t be afraid, Parker. I am your guardian angel and I’m here to show you just how important you are to the people in your life.”

“Stop the car! Stop the car!”

“I’ll do you one better.” Gary said as he swerved off the road and into a building.

---

Parker woke up in his bed, but his wife was nowhere to be found. He jumped out of bed and ran downstairs, but the house was different. It wasn’t decorated for Christmas, it was like you would find in on any other day. He opened the front door and it was snowy and the streetlights had the Christmas ornaments hanging from them. As he stood in the doorway of his house, he noticed a well-dressed man walking down the unkempt sidewalk that ran perpendicular to the road. As the man got closer, he recognized him. It was Gary.

“What the hell have you done?! Where is Jewel?! Where are my kids?!” Parker yelled as Gary, now dressed in a top hat and a flawless waistcoat made his way up the front sidewalk in front of Parker’s house.

“Who are you and what have you done with my family?!” He continued as Gary walked past him into the house.

“I told you that I would show you just how important you are. Get dressed, it’s time for a tour.” Gary replied.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Parker adamantly stated.

“The faster we can get through this, the faster you will be allowed to go back to your old life.” said Gary.

“I hate my old life,” Parker yelled.

That’s when Gary said, “It’s up to you to change it.”

----

Parker got changed and got in the driver’s side of the car.

“Good, you can drive. I’m a terrible driver, “ Gary said sarcastically, “Let’s head over to your office.”

“What am I, Ebenezer Scrooge? Are you a ghost sent here to teach me a lesson?” Parker asked before starting the car.

“Nothing like that,” Gary started, “I’ve told you already, I am your guardian angel and I am here to show you just what life would be like for the people you care about if you weren’t a part of theirs.”

“Do you know how crazy this is?” was Parker’s retort.

“It’s no more crazy than your feelings of loneliness and frustration.” Gary said.

“Things just haven’t been going well at work. We’re trying to put in this new system and its messing with production.” Parker started, “There’s really very little I can do about it, either. We’ve lost two of our biggest accounts and trying to modernize is costing us a fortune. The world isn’t the same now as it was when I started working there. We may not have any choice but to lay off some people. It’s a really bad situation.”

“It could be worse,” Gary said as they took a left onto the industrial park.

Parker’s demeanor changed and immediately got more hostile.

‘What the hell do you mean it could be worse?! People depend on me to make good decisions and I’m letting them down! Don’t you get it?!”

“Oh, I get it,” Gary began, “but I know things could be worse. Just look at that.”

At this moment they came upon the Thatcher-Jenkins offices; or, more like where the Thatcher-Jenkins offices should be. The building, which sat just off the river at the north end of the industrial park was vacant. There were pieces of plywood over several of the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the second-floor facade. The parking lot was unplowed, so when Parker opened the car door and got out, he crunched through the layer of cold-tempered snow.

“What the…” Parker trailed off as he crunched through the snow toward the building.

Gary got out and shouted after him, “I told you things could be worse.”

Parker turned around and glanced at him, “What is happening?”

Gary flashed a smile, “This is what happens if you aren’t the one making the decisions. 56 jobs are gone. The place boarded up and left vacant.”

Parker started back to the car.

“Where am I, then?” he asked sternly.

“Well you’re right here, of course. Get in, and I’ll show you more.” Gary said.

Parker got in the car and they made their way out of the Industrial Park and drove toward downtown. As they drove down Main street Parker noticed his wife, Jewel. She didn’t look like herself, however. Instead of the well-manicured woman, she was wearing a heavy wool coat, a wool hat with matching mittens and standing in the doorway of George’s Hardware ringing a bell. She was taking in donations for the Salvation Army.

“She always loves to help people,” Parker said as he started to roll down the window. They drove on by, causing Parker to watch her in the driver's-side mirror until she was no longer in sight.

“She’s wonderful, but her life is nothing like her life is with you,” Gary said, “Without you, she marries, but has a miscarriage and gets divorced. She never has the family that you two have created. She suffers each day with the loss.”

Parker started to tear up. Gary reached in his topcoat and grabbed a handkerchief and offered it to Parker. Parker took it, and blotted his eyes as the town passed them by.

“Where are you taking me now?” Parker asked helplessly.

“We have a couple more things to see before you make your decision,” Gary responded.

“What decision?” Parker asked several times. Gary gestured him to keep course. They came to a stop in a parking lot in front of Ophelia’s Diner, on the east edge of town near the interstate highway.

“Park the car here.” said Gary.

“Why are we stopping here? I’m not hungry.” Parker inquired with desperation in his voice.

“Good,” Gary said, “because we’re not going in.”

Gary led him around the side of the building to a camper that was set up about 50 feet behind the restaurant.

“What the hell is this?” Parker asked.

“Something you’ll need to see.” Gary responded.

They approached the camper. There was the faint smell of cigarettes and muffled noises coming from inside. Gary walks up and knocks on the door. After some rustling and audible muttering, the door swung open. The man standing in the doorway was Pete. He had a two-day stubble and had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“What do you want?” Pete said, not taking the cigarette out of his mouth.

“Pete?!” Parker asked aloud. Pete looked as if he hadn’t bathed in a couple of days and was wearing a cook’s whites, but no apron. He wasn’t wearing shoes.

“Yeah. Do I know you?” Pete said with a twinge of hostility. The men just stood there and stared at each other for a minute at which time Pete had had enough.

“Well, I’m busy,” Pete slammed the door, leaving the other two men standing in the snow.

“Let’s go,” Gary said as he began to walk back to the car.

“I guess he had a rough time of it.” Parker said trailing after Gary, “Jewel got me to hire him after he got out of jail. I guess without me all his talents would have been put to waste. He’s one hell of an IT guy. He’s been with me for years; I was about to make him CIO.”

The two men reached the car and Gary got in and started it up. Parker looked back at the camper one more time and got in the passenger seat.

“I think I get the point,” Parker said softly when they were driving back toward town.

“Yeah, people depend on you, but I have one more thing to show you,” Gary said.

“Why don’t you just take me back?” Parker demanded.

“That’s not the way it works, Parker,” Gary responded, “Like I told you, you are here. I can’t just take you back. I’m just your guardian angel.”

“I understand why I’m so important now. I have you to thank for it.” Parker admitted.

“You need to see one more thing.” Gary said as he drove.

Parker was silent. As he watched the town drift by, he realized that it was getting late in the afternoon and it was starting to get dark.

“I’ll be able to pick up where I left off, right, Ghost?” Parker asked.

“I’m not a ghost and you are not Ebenezer Scrooge. If any of this helps you, it will be on you to get back to the place where you can make a difference.” Gary said.

“But how do I get back?” Parker asked helplessly.

“You’ll see,” Gary said, “the decision will be yours.”

Just then they arrived at the supermarket. Gary got out of the car and told Parker to follow him. He walked into the store and went to the aisle where you’d find Thatcher-Jenkins best-selling product. Gary pointed at the shelf. There were no products from Thatcher-Jenkins, just twice as many from their biggest competitor Capra Industries. Parker shook his head and smiled.

“Now you are ready,” Gary said with a smile, “Let’s go.”

They returned to the car and drove across town to the bridge in silence. Gary parked the car in the same place where Parker had parked it, what seemingly was a day prior, but that’s not the way this works.

The men walked up to the place on the bridge where they had first met. Gary reached in his coat and offered Parker an unopened bottle of brandy.

“Now go home to your wife.” Gary said.

“Thank you, angel.” Parker said and extended his hand. Gary didn’t shake his hand, he tipped his cap and abruptly walked away.

---

Parker drove home fast, much faster than he normally would have. Once he got home, he jumped out of the car and ran inside. Without taking off his shoes and coat he ran into his family room to find his children sitting on the couch playing on their tablets. His heart was filled with warmth, he made his way to the kitchen where his wife was.

“Oh, Jewel,” is all he said before he wrapped his arms around her.

“Wow, is everything okay?” She asked him.

“Everything is great. I love you so much.” He said to her stepping away and looking her in the eyes. He kissed her.

He placed the bottle of brandy on the counter.

Confused, Jewel asked, “What happened to you?”

“I just had a long day and I’m happy to be home.” he said.

Parker didn’t think about work for the whole next day. It was the longest he had actually relaxed in years. He spent the holiday with the people he loved, happy, and feeling as if anything was possible.

---

When he returned to work on the day after Christmas, he got there extra early. He noticed the Coleman Technologies business card that he left lying on his desk, so he went ahead and called Pete into his office. He was determined to find solutions to his business’ IT overruns.

“You asked for me, Boss?” Pete said as he walked in the open door.

“Yeah, Pete, shut the door.” Parker demanded. Pete walked in nervously and stood behind the chairs that were in front of the Parker’s desk.

“Have a seat,” Parker started, “Pete, over the Christmas holiday I had some harsh truths to face. It’s no secret that we’ve been having some technology problems lately and if they keep up, we’ll likely have to lay some people off.”

“Okay, we’re doing all…” Pete started before Parker interjected.

“I’m not blaming you, Pete. Like I said, I had some harsh truths to face. One of them is that I have to take a step back from the technology end of the business. My demands are some of the main reasons we’re having problems. I called you here to promote you, Pete. You’ve done one hell of a job for us and I was wondering if you would like to join the management team as CIO?”

Pete’s face was filled with surprise and pride, “How would it change the job I have now?”

“Do you want it, Pete?” Parker pressed.

“Yes, sir.” Pete responded.

“Wonderful, you are the right man for the job. The first course of action that you need to focus on is getting the resources in here to get our new system in place and get the people trained up on it. It is essential to the future of our company, and I think you are up to the challenge.”

“Thank you, sir.” Pete said earnestly, “I think the first thing we should look at is getting Coleman Technologies in here to help us cover our regular management while we finish the deployment.”

“Pete, if it’s in the budget, it is your call now. I’ll call a staff meeting later today to announce your promotion.“ Parker answered. “For now, though, I have some things I need to attend to.”

Parker walked around the desk to shake Pete’s hand and walked him out of the office. Once Pete was gone, Parker walked over to the window and put his palm on the glass. He hadn’t felt this proud in some time.

---

I’m glad to announce that Pete’s plan was implemented the very next day. The following week, Coleman Technologies did their first assessment, and soon after took over the management and maintenance of the computing infrastructure and network. For several months, Thatcher-Jenkins’ IT technicians, led by CIO Pete, implemented a system with Coleman Technologies supporting their technology. Now the two companies are full-time collaborators, and Thatcher-Jenkins continues their steady growth.

If you enjoyed this take and think that Coleman Technologies can breathe some new life into your business’ technology strategy, give us a call at (604) 513-9428 and one of our expert consultants can tell you how we can help you. Happy Holidays.

The Cloud
The cloud has risen in popularity over the years, and it’s because the benefits are simply too incredible for businesses not to adopt the cloud. Many of these benefits are a result of the cloud improving productivity. For example, cloud computing’s flexibility makes it great for use on mobile devices. Users are no longer limited to being in the office, and as long as they can access resources in a secure way, they can get just as much work done while out of the office over the Internet as they could if they were in-house.

Outsourced IT Management
Technology is only worth the investment if you have the time and resources available to properly manage it, as if you fail to take proper care of your technology, it could fail much sooner than you expect it to. The problem is that not all businesses can afford to hire a full-fledged in-house IT department to properly maintain their IT infrastructures. Thankfully, businesses like Coleman Technologies provide outsourced IT management to businesses with limited budgets who want to turn IT from a capital expense to an operational expense. Even if you have in-house IT resources, you can supplement them with outsourced IT to save time and make opportunities for other employees to get more value out of their employment with your organization.

Collaboration Solutions
There are many solutions out there that are designed to help your organization be more effective at collaboration. Whether it’s Voice over IP, hosted email, or instant messaging applications, your organization can use them to collaborate and share experiences in a way that facilitates cooperation and productivity.

Does your business want to implement technology to focus on improving productivity? Coleman Technologies can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

Small businesses, like any other organization, need to protect various types of data to ensure the security and privacy of their operations. The specific data that needs protection may vary depending on the nature of the business, industry regulations, and the types of transactions or customer interactions. Today, we thought we would go through some common data types that small businesses typically need to protect.

Customer Information

It’s safe to say that the best way to run afoul of your customers is by playing it fast and loose with their personal information. Data such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of your customers have to be protected. This also goes for payment information, including credit card details.

Employee Data

Employee data includes your employees' personal information, like contact details and Social Security numbers. This data needs to be protected like your customer data needs to be. This includes payroll information, bank account details for salary deposits, and other financial data as well.

Financial Records

Speaking of financial data, information like income statements, balance sheets, and tax records all need to be protected for the security of the organization. In many cases, protecting banking information and transaction records must be prioritized. 

Intellectual Property and Legal Documents

IP is the information on why your products and services are unique and effective. This includes information on trade secrets and proprietary information and any patents or copyrights your business has. Of course you also need to protect any contracts, agreements, and legal documents related to business operations as it has information that, if stolen, could have major negative implications for your business.

Website and Online Presence

This includes data related to the company's website, including customer login information and any data collected through online forms. A lot of data is shared online nowadays and you have to be mindful that any data you take in from the web is at risk for theft. 

Health and Safety Records

Employee health information is very attractive to scammers and hackers. Any records related to employee health and safety have to be secured.

IT Information

The technology your business uses holds a lot of sensitive information, even if you may not know it. Access credentials, network configurations, and other information related to the company's IT infrastructure can be useful to hackers looking to infiltrate your business.

It's crucial for small businesses to implement security measures such as encryption, access controls, regular backups, and employee training to safeguard the sensitive data they handle. Additionally, compliance with relevant data protection laws, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or others depending on the industry, is not just mandatory, it has to be prioritized when setting up a comprehensive data security strategy. Regular security assessments and updates to security protocols are also recommended to address emerging threats and vulnerabilities.

At Coleman Technologies, our knowledgeable consultants and professional technicians can help you with your end-to-end data security strategy and help you support all of the resources needed to make it work. Give us a call at (604) 513-9428 to learn more. 

Uses for the Cloud

No matter what your business needs, there is likely a cloud solution for it. Hosted VoIP and email are great communication tools. Infrastructure and Platform as a Service solutions empower organizations to leverage more flexible computing power. Software as a Service and hosted storage are available for all of your organization’s needs.

In the end, you can get just as much done with cloud infrastructure as you can with onsite hardware.

The cloud allows for functionality and redundancy, no matter what the industry is or the kind of workforce it contains. These services can be utilized as needed and deployed quickly.

The Drawbacks

Cloud computing isn’t perfect. Businesses can create a private cloud system that can create large costs for their bottom line while also maintaining the control, management, and accessibility… but again, a lot of thought needs to be invested into this kind of solution. Environments that are hosted outside of a service provider can be difficult to control, since your organization doesn’t have control over the hardware it’s hosted on.

A major drawback of cloud computing can actually be the cost. Since the IT infrastructure used to run the solutions is managed by the service provider, the price is adjusted accordingly. If your business needs a certain number of cloud licenses, you could see the cost of your solution rise. Plus, if you don’t cancel accounts when employees leave, you could be paying more for services that aren’t being utilized.

Furthermore, imagine if your organization has teams assembled that need to use three or four cloud-based applications to complete a project. Think about all of the money that’s spent just providing access to the appropriate software solutions. If it’s not properly managed, your return on investment could be put in jeopardy.

Coleman Technologies can help you keep track of your cloud-based resources, whether you’re just hitting the cloud environment, or you have an established presence in the cloud. To learn more about how we can help you manage cloud applications, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

Whether you know how it works or not, your business has an internal network that connects all of its computing infrastructure and resources. Today, we want to take a moment to demystify some of the common networking equipment you might have on-premises and what it all does to contribute to your business’ continued success.

Networking Equipment You’ll Likely See for SMBs

Aside from the cables connecting everything together (that’s its own separate blog article), you can expect to see three different types of networking equipment on a business’ premises. Of course, the type of equipment used is going to depend on the size of the business, the connection’s purpose, and the available bandwidth or resources on the network.

Network Hubs

For all intents and purposes, network hubs are largely obsolete due to how accessible and affordable network switches have become. Still, we thought we would mention it here, as it helps to understand more about where the technology was and how it has grown since.

The network hub itself is a device for use on a private network, meaning there is no connection to computers that are off the network (like the Internet, for example). Hubs will distribute data packets to all connected devices. Naturally, the hub only has so much bandwidth, so the more devices connected to it, the less available bandwidth there will be for each computer. The resulting slow speeds are a pain for any modern business, and there are better options out there for your networking needs nowadays.

Network Switches

The network switch operates in a similar way to a network hub, but it’s much more focused. Rather than broadcasting your data packets to all connected devices all at the same time, it sends them to the intended destination directly, meaning that bandwidth is saved in the process. They are the better option of the two for your in-house network.

Network Routers

What does the network router do if the network hub and the network switch route data to local computers? It’s simple; it does the opposite. A router allows your network to interface with other networks via the Internet. You can think of it this way: a network switch is what connects your computers to the local area network, and the router is what connects that local area network and its devices to other networks, such as the Internet. In essence, it’s an add-on that provides your network with more functionality.

Of course, the type of equipment your business needs will depend on how many users you have and the types of access you need (local or wireless). If you want to make the best decisions possible for your company’s network infrastructure, we recommend you contact us at Coleman Technologies. Our trusted technicians can help you realize all of your networking needs. To learn more, call us at (604) 513-9428.

Let’s review some recommended technologies for you to embrace as you reopen your business.

Updated Hardware and Software Solutions

First things first—while businesses resume their operations, the chaos that will predictably ensue is the perfect time for cybercriminals to take their shot. Therefore, you need to make it a priority that all your hardware and software solutions are fully updated or upgraded as improvements are made available. In doing so, you make sure that the tools your team will use are as secure as they can be against the latest threats.

As a bonus, updated solutions commonly come with other improvements and features that add to your potential productivity. This means that your team will be in the position to accomplish as much as they can in the shortest available time without being distracted by security concerns.

Cloud-based Technology

Cloud-based tools have created the opportunity for businesses of all kinds to successfully adopt specialized solutions for their needs. Telework is also made simpler using cloud-based technology solutions, as your solutions are made accessible from wherever your team happens to be working due to its inherent mobility and operational efficiency that your functionality will require.

Monitoring and Maintenance Services

As your team returns to the workplace, there is likely to be a lot of work necessary before your operations are back to 100 percent. One thing is certain: you won’t be able to afford any downtime that could possibly be avoided. 

For this to be the reality inside your office, you will need to ensure your uptime… something that a relationship with a trusted IT professional can do. Using remote monitoring tools to proactively catch burgeoning issues and fix them before they impact your business, a provider like Coleman Technologies can potentially identify and mitigate problems without you ever realizing that you had an issue at all.

Telework and Communication Capabilities

With the ongoing risk that businesses may once again need to close their doors, it only makes sense to have the communication and collaboration tools that would enable true business continuity. The right technology can make the shift to remote work almost seamless, especially if the cloud and its many capabilities are leveraged appropriately. With many capabilities now offered as-a-Service, Voice-over-Internet-Protocol coming to the forefront of communications, and so many other business resources now taking advantage of cloud delivery, your team should be just as capable at home as they are in the office.

A word of warning needs to be shared, however, as remote work can potentially give your team the opportunity to expose your data. If you elect to use the cloud, this makes the next section even more important.

Security and Authentication Measures

For your data to remain protected throughout remote work, you need to have the right solutions and procedures in place for your team to use and follow. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) will enable your team to safely access your business’ data while they are working remotely, and the proper protections on their endpoints will help to minimize their risks.

As far as their access controls are concerned, each team member needs to follow authentication practices that meet a high standard. Their passwords need to meet vigorous security benchmarks, used in conjunction with protections like multi-factor authentication, or MFA. 

Your office also needs to be made impervious to as much downtime as possible to permit your team the most productivity as they work.

For assistance in making any of these preparations, or with any IT challenges you are facing, reach out to Coleman Technologies! Help is only a call to (604) 513-9428 away.

Not anymore.
A concept called managed IT services has taken the business world by storm. Experienced technicians work diligently with some of today’s most powerful monitoring software to proactively manage a business’ network and infrastructure, keeping technology working better longer, and reducing downtime to a point where it isn’t the huge problem it traditionally has been.

Coleman Technologies is a proud managed IT services vendor. With our technicians’ expertise, we are able to offer our clients a massive cache of services that include:

• Remote and onsite support
• Around-the-clock monitoring
• Help desk
• Server, workstation, and mobile device support
• Networking support
• Software patch management
• Stronger cyber and network security
• Data backup and recovery
• Professional technology consulting
• Periodic business reviews
• Vendor management
• And more

It is increasingly rare for many small or medium-sized businesses to hire onsite IT staff. If you don’t have the support your technology needs to function properly, you are looking at variable capital expenses that can, and likely will come to pass at exactly the wrong moment.

Coleman Technologies’s IT services provide your business with access to dedicated and knowledgeable IT technicians that are well positioned with some of the most powerful technology management software on the market; and, does it for a predictable monthly rate.

If you would like to get rid of your IT headaches for good, and kick downtime to the curb, call us today at (604) 513-9428.