The Datamax Thinking Blog

As companies of every size rely on IT to operate, it’s becoming more difficult to find and hire the IT expertise you need. Is there an alternative?

When it comes to IT, many small and medium businesses struggle to find the right balance of reliability, responsiveness, and cost – not to mention technical expertise. In most cases, IT support is usually one of four ways:

• Your niece, nephew, or first born, who is “really technical” and oversees the details for you
• A company a business friend of yours uses that you call when your computers start freezing
• A dedicated, in-house IT department that you keep on your payroll and “does it all”
• A proactively, managed provider who provides a blend of remote monitoring, preventative maintenance, and help desk support when you need it

Understanding the difference between these types of support is critical to protecting your business. Hackers are everywhere, they want your information, and they are just waiting to take advantage of your small business’s network vulnerabilities.

It's no wonder that organizations are more active than ever in pursuing solutions to streamline traditional methods of managing documents. 

Every year, I learn more about copiers, document management, workflow, and, increasingly, managed IT topics than I did they year before.

I do my best to pass on what I learn to you.

Here are the 10 most popular posts in 2017. How to get the best service. Tips for HIPAA compliance. Scanning tips. How to track printing to keep costs down.

Read on for insights into those topics – and more – to get yourself ready for 2018!

Keeping your lease with the partner who delivered your IT solution or designed the structure and layout of your office print fleet is an excellent way to ensure you get the best service possible throughout the length of your contract.

You have multiple choices when it comes to leasing your copiers and other office equipment.

You already know many of the advantages of leasing (more on that below) – predictable budgeting and the ability to rapidly roll-out advanced technology at a fraction of what it would cost to buy that same technology.

While leasing is a great way to take advantage of technology, the wrong leasing partner can turn business nirvana into a nightmare of poor service, unexpected fees, and trapped into using technology that no longer meets your needs because of inflexible lease terms.

We believe that being a trusted partner is good for us and, more importantly, good for our customers.

Employees are a big weakness in any information security plan. These 6 tips will make your security stronger.

The biggest security hole in any business isn't the network or your computer assets or the various programs you operate on.

The biggest security threat to any business is the people that work there.

Because people do stupid things. And when they do stupid things with company information (like leaving a laptop in the backseat of a car with customer information), your company is at risk of a data breach.

That's why when it comes to cybersecurity, paying attention only to the IT side of things isn't good enough (though that's essential, of course).

You need to train your users.

Here are a few tips to help you get started on training employees on information security.

There's a point of diminishing returns when it comes to using old office equipment – like copiers and printers – because they're still working.

Are you a “buy, don't lease, find a trusty mechanic because the car dealer will always rip you off” kind of a buyer? If so, I suspect you might also have a 10 year old copier sitting around that you have no plans to ever replace as long as it’s working. Why replace it until it breaks, right?

Maybe not.

The fact is that just because your trusty old office equipment might still be cranking out pages, you could be missing out on advancements in equipment technology that will not only make you say, “how did I ever live without this before,” but might also save you some money in the process!

Office equipment, like vehicles, can be an expensive investment to make. But the reality is that technology is moving at such a rapid pace that, just like your vehicle that immediately depreciates the second you drive it off the lot, office equipment has a point of diminishing returns.

Every business needs to be secure today. Data backup and disaster recovery are key tools to keep your office safe and in business.

There are two items essential to every business today:

1. a robust, secure data network
2. continued access to vital business information and documents

Without either of those, no business can succeed.

You want to be HIPAA-compliant? You need to perform a risk assessment.

It shouldn't be a surprise to know that security research shows that the healthcare industry is a prime target for hackers and assorted cybercriminals.

From insurance companies to small doctors offices to research facilities to hospitals, all have a treasure-trove of personal information that criminals are itching to get their hands on.

Not involved in the healthcare industry? If you're reading this and are in manufacturing, financial services, government, or transportation; those round out the top five targets.

“Only” a small business and think you're safe?

Stop thinking the small size of your business will protect you from cybercriminals. It won't.

Too many small and medium businesses believe that they aren't a target for hackers and cybercriminals.

If that statement describes your view of security, you're wrong.

Cybercriminals target businesses of every size and in every industry. They're looking for easy pickings. After all, why try to rob Fort Knox when the houses down the street all have their doors unlocked?

Here are eight things every SMB must know about cybersecurity.

Without a data backup strategy, SMBs put their business at risk of failure.

Most SMBs couldn't survive not having access to their information for a few days.

Yet many SMBs ignore the one critical thing they need to do to maintain access to their information – a data backup strategy.

Business owners often simply don't understand how important the issue is – or think that backing up their laptop hard drive or a cloud storage service like Google Drive or Box is a backup strategy.

IT pros know how important data backup is but have enough to worry about - about securing the network perimeter and preventing ransomware and other cyberattacks, troubleshooting copiers and printers, and trying to plan out an IT strategy that balances costs, business needs, and security.

Data backup is (or should be) a part of every businesses IT strategy. Add in the fact, that data backup is a final line of defense against ransomware, and you're crazy if you don't have an online backup strategy.

Cyber attacks on small businesses is BIG BUSINESS for cybercriminals. That’s because they know that you may not have the money (or the muscle) to secure your small business’s network. Even worse is the fact that there is little or no recourse for the small business owner who falls prey to a ransomware attack. Many simply pony up the money just to get their critical information back.