Computerware Blog

Data storage is a major part of running a business, but when it comes to doing so, you have several options. The usual suspect, the hard drive, is what’s most commonly found in both consumer and business environments for a number of reasons. The solid state drive in particular presents unique opportunities for your business that you shouldn’t dismiss.

Sometimes it can be a chore to find certain programs or files on your computer when they aren’t immediately available on the desktop. You might have to dig through countless folders just to get started on an important task. Thankfully, there’s a well-known way of getting around this frustration: Windows’ integrated search application. To get started with this week’s tip, turn your attention to the Start menu.

It’s inevitable that your organization will face some hard decisions, but no choice is as painful as pulling the plug on the one thing that you’ve dumped your heart and soul into; your business. There is a plethora of problems that could cause a business to consider shutting its doors, but often there is a solution. If technology-related costs and downtime are your main problems, managed IT services can help.

Arguably one of the most important parts of running a business is the physical infrastructure of your office environment. This involves ensuring that the cabling of all network assets is properly implemented. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, as no two businesses will utilize the same setup. We’ll walk you through some of the variables that you’ll need to consider during the cabling process, and what you can do to make it easier to handle.

On March 29th, Starship Technologies, a self-driving robotics company, announced a partnership with Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, a franchisor for the Domino’s Pizza brand in Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Japan, and Germany (totaling over 2,000 stores). This new affiliation allows Starship Technologies to build a fleet of autonomous delivery robots, helping Domino’s with its eventual delivery person shortage, based on the company’s growth estimates for the next 5-to-10 years.

Data storage has long been a major pain point for technology development, but a rather large (or small) breakthrough has resulted in data being stored on a single atom. The development comes from researchers at IBM, and it could have a potentially nuclear impact on the way that data storage functions.

Two of the primary developers of tablets--Apple and Samsung--have created two of the most popular devices out there: the iPad Pro and the Galaxy Tab S3. If you’re in need of a tablet, we can help you go over your options so that you choose the one that best suits your needs.

If we told you ten years ago that you would be able to print machine parts out of your printer, would you have believed us? Probably not; yet, that’s just how far technology has progressed in the past decade. All types of industries, particularly manufacturing, have found that 3D printing is a great alternative to traditional manufacturing processes.

Before 3D printing became possible, there was a ton of hype surrounding it. People thought it would be a game-changing innovation. Yet, some skeptics (who we like to call negative Nancys) and falling stock prices may give people the wrong idea about 3D printing. There are plenty of reasons to be excited about 3D printing, especially in the form of successful implementation into finished products. 3D-printed car parts are being used in the manufacturing of vehicles. While 3D printing may have once been viable only as a prototype printer, parts that are being produced in this way are more than capable of being used in end products.

Here are some statistics from a PwC study concerning the implementation speed of 3D printing:

• 31.4 percent of manufacturers are using 3D printing for prototyping, 6.6 are using it for end-product production, and 13.2 percent are using it for both; all three of these figures are considerably higher than they were in 2014.
• 17.4 percent are experimenting with 3D printing - down from 2014, when 28.9 percent claimed to be experimenting with 3D printing.
• 42 percent of manufacturers feel that 3D printing will be used in high-volume production within the next 3-5 years.

Granted, it’s important to take into consideration the repercussions that mass-producing 3D printing machines will have on the manufacturing industry. While the costs of 3D-printed goods are dramatically lower, will this disrupt the status-quo of how traditional supply chains work?

Furthermore, there is some concern over how 3D printing will affect intellectual property. As the demand for 3D printing technology increases, the costs will decrease, and the results of this innovation will become more apparent. Then there’s the problem of meeting the required quality and retaining enough speed to efficiently make use of the 3D printing technology. These uncertainties are why organizations are slowly moving toward implementing 3D printing, rather than jumping the gun and diving right in.

Whether or not 3D printing becomes a major part of the manufacturing environment may be up for debate, but it’s a great example of how innovative technology solutions can directly affect an organization’s bottom line. By efficiently managing your organization's technology solutions, you can achieve the best return on investment for them. However, just like a manufacturer implementing 3D printing, your business needs to carefully consider how implementing new solutions will affect your current operations.

To achieve an understanding of this sensitive topic, feel free to give us a call at (703) 821-8200. Computerware’s technicians will be glad to discuss any new technology that your business wants to take advantage of.

The Internet of Things is quickly becoming a major part of today’s consumer-based industry. One of the best examples of this is the use of smart car technology. A great example of this comes from a company called Zubie, which sells a handy device meant to provide car owners with tracking analytics, access to diagnostic systems, and even the capability to connect to Wi-Fi.

Every consumer-grade PC comes with a basic firewall. Enterprise environments, however, require that the base infrastructure has a stronger security solution that provides greater controls, above and beyond the basic firewall. One solution that provides enhanced firewall capabilities is the Unified Threat Management system.

How can you use automation technology to leverage profitability and efficiency for your business? Whereas in the past, automating your company’s day-to-day processes seemed out of reach for SMBs, today’s automation technologies are easily accessible. To help you get started with automating crucial aspects of your business, we recommend looking into these three technologies.

While many, many people use the Internet daily, for work, leisure, and communication, very few of them actually know how their devices are able to access the Internet in the first place. How does information from miles away make its way to your device? The answer is something called a web server. Let’s take a moment and examine how they do it.

Teaching children a skill can be a difficult job if they’re not having any fun. Therefore, turning kids on to lucrative careers in technology can be challenging, especially since tasks like coding can seem rather dull compared to say, fighting fires and driving racecars. This is why educational apps and tools have been created to make learning about technology fun!

Productivity suites are a common sight, if not being entirely necessary for the modern business. You need the word processing power and the ability to provide an email solution to your organization’s staff so they can communicate internally and externally. We’ll discuss two of the most renown productivity suites--Office 365 and Google’s G Suite--and why your business will need what they offers.

There seems to be a shortage of IT skills in today’s job market. Unfortunately, there has never been a worse time for this to happen, as cyber security threats are more prevalent today than ever before. In response to the demand for highly skilled IT management experience, outsourced IT is a great way to take advantage of the latest security solutions without the burden of hiring an in-house IT department. Here are three ways that outsourced IT is the way to go to resolve the problem of the IT skills shortage.

Think of your business technology like a car. Sure, it’s a great way from getting from one location to another, but if it breaks down, you’re in big trouble financially. Even worse, you’re stuck without a vehicle for a certain amount of time. Can you imagine purchasing new hardware and losing precious productivity due to downtime?

There are remarkably few people on the planet capable of filling an entire workday with 100 percent productivity. The human body simply needs to be refreshed. Fortunately, there are a variety of techniques and technologies that let you do just that!

Like it or not, millennials will make up a large part of your workforce in the near future. In your own business, you may have noticed quite the difference in the way that millennials approach work compared to other members of your staff. One of the biggest differences that you might have noticed is that millennials have no problem job-hopping. According to a recent study, one of the biggest reasons why millennials leave a company is due to outdated technology.

Businesses rely on analytics more every day, with one of the primary reasons being that they’re exceptionally helpful for developing artificially intelligent technology systems that can aid in their missions. One of the qualities of a good AI program is machine learning, which is the ability of a system to look at information to identify and learn from trends. In fact, this practical aspect of AI is one of the reasons why it’s becoming popular in the business setting.

When it comes to making progress on your organization’s future, your IT budget presents your business with a major roadblock. We bet that it would feel great to eliminate the stress associated with your IT budget. Here are three ways that you can plan for your business’s future and keep that IT budget slimmed down.