The Datamax Thinking Blog

Educating, collaborating, and sparking ideas for maximizing the technology that matters.


Section 179 & Bonus Depreciation: Act Fast on Potential 2022 Tax Incentives for Office Technology Acquisition

Almost all types of “business equipment” new or used that your company buys or finances will qualify for the Section 179 Deduction and/or Bonus Depreciation.

Need a little additional "incentive" to close out your year with the acquisition of office technology? Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation are two components of the 2017 TCJA (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) that present potential tax savings for your organization if you're in the market for copiers, printers, or other related technology hardware or software.

But you'll need to act fast.  To maximize the current incentive, qualifying equipment must be financed or purchased before January 1, 2023.

Topics: Office Equipment IT Consulting Color Printing LeaseCare Technology Procurement

Essential Layers of Cybersecurity Part 1: What is Multifactor Authentication?

Multifactor authentication simply applies another "layer" to prove that you are who you say you are.

There was a time when password best practices were everything. You remember the drill, right?
 
  • Must use a mix of letters, numbers, and characters,
  • Change your password every 30 days,
  • Use a minimum of eight characters,
  • then 12 characters,
  • enforce a higher password history to prevent reuse
  • etc., etc.
Topics: Network Management IT Consulting Network Security Managed Services Provider Social Engineering Ransomware

Unified Firmware Platform: Simplify Device Security On Canon Copiers

Let's face it. Applying the right security settings and ensuring best practices can get complicated fast, but Canon’s Unified Firmware Platform (UFP) simplifies that for you.

Firewalls, VPNs, anti-virus protection... these are all commonplace in today's tumultuous cyber security landscape. It goes without saying that cybersecurity is a top initiative for organizations aiming to protect sensitive information and their reputation.  What about your copiers and printers, and their inherent need for protection? Perhaps less commonplace. 

Topics: Office Equipment Print Management Security Cybersecurity MFP Security

3 Reasons Your Healthcare Organization Should Consider UCaaS

A fully integrated cloud communications platform helps accommodate a better patient experience and engagement (whether they’re at the doctor’s office or their own bedroom).

If there’s any industry that demands real-time, anytime, anywhere accessibility, it’s healthcare.

In recent years, the uptick in mobile clinics, in-home care specialists, and telehealth providers have extended the workplace of healthcare providers well beyond the examination room. Patient care has evolved (certainly since the pandemic), and patient needs and expectations have evolved with them.

Topics: Cloud Technology VoIP Phone Systems Unified Communications Automation

Print Management 101: What is Your Organization's Print Ability?

How capable are you in controlling both users and devices, i.e. how well do you curb wasteful printing habits?

Printability is a common term in the realm of business. It’s simply the capability of a document to be printed to whatever desired format, style, or quality.

Print Ability? That calls for a deeper discussion. Print Ability is a term we’ve coined here to ask, simply, how smart and capable are you with handling your organization’s print behavior? Call it Print Management 101.

Topics: Print Management Digital Copiers Print Security Cloud Print PaperCut

Does Your Phone System Complement or Compromise Microsoft Teams Usage?

Businesses using Teams for employee collaboration also need to ensure they have the essential business phone functionality to compete in today’s business environment. The trouble is not all business phone services are created equal.

Dell Technologies CTO John Roese, all the way back in 2006, created the Twitter handle ICT optimist. ICT stands for information and communication.

“The reason for that acronym was because I firmly believed that the future was not about information technology and communication technology independently,” he said. “It was about them coming together.”

Topics: VoIP Phone Systems Unified Communications Remote Workforce Planning Work From Home

Find the Secure Print Resolution You Need With These 3 Components

A print security vulnerability could be something as ubiquitous as a user hitting "Print," forgetting, and the job (with sensitive information) ending up in the wrong hands, or as malicious as an intentional data breach. 

All great stories eventually come to end.

Whether that ending is unexpected, shocking, or largely ambiguous, it provides some level of resolution. It’s in our DNA as readers and as humans to expect a beginning, middle, and end to any story. Without this simple, basic narrative structure in place, we’re left feeling anxious, restless, frustrated even.

Topics: Print Management Color Printing Cybersecurity Print Security

Going Deep: 3 Keys to a Relevant Business Technology Needs Assessment

The willingness and ability of a technology vendor to deeply explore a client’s print and workflow is a difference maker. It's the first step in streamling business processes and improving total cost of technology ownership. It also eliminates costly assumptions.

Perhaps spelunking’s greatest allure is exploring everything that's impossible to see on the surface. The thrilling discoveries lie in making the unknown known, of pursuing the depths below because, ultimately, you don't know what's there until you dive deep.

Topics: Office Equipment Document Workflow Technology Support Multifunction Copier Workflow

You've Been Schooled: 5 Types of Phishing Email Attacks You Should Be Educated On

Prepare your team for the next phishing threat by "schooling" them on these 5 types of attacks. 

As most outdoors enthusiasts can tell you, there's a reason it's called fishing, and not catching.

Despite all your preparation and skill, that coveted fish can be hard to catch. The same goes for phishing, a cybercriminal tactic that involves email messages crafted to capture a person or an organization's sensitive data. More and more, these sophisticated attacks are hard to catch.

Topics: Network Management Managed Services IT Consulting Network Security Cybersecurity

Cloud Document Management or On-Premise: Find The Right Path For You

For organizations aware of the power that comes with digitally accessing, tracking, and securing a multitude of documents in one system, the next choice becomes a tougher one: Cloud or on-premise? What's the right path for you? 

It’s been said before that The 3 C’s of life are choices, chances, and changes.

When it comes to document workflow, the chance to improve slow, ineffective, and error-prone manual document workflow processes necessitates change. Changing to a digitized business process via a Document Management System (DMS) can impact productivity and your customer's overall experience. For a growing number of organizations today, DMS is undoubtedly the right path for the road ahead.

Topics: Document Management Document Workflow Cloud Technology