IDC’s Top Technology Trends of 2015

As we enter 2015, technology analysts and firms worldwide have an eye on top tech trends of the future. Here is what IDC predicts for the next year.  

The year 2014 is about to end and technology predictions for 2015 have already begun to pour in. In such a report by International Data Corporation that was recently issued, the next year is going to be greatly influenced by Amazon’s creativity and popularity!

The following are some major highlights from the IDC webcast:

The Popular Amazon-Like Innovation

Since a significant portion of today’s business world is dominated by Amazon, IDC believes most industries will embrace Amazon-like innovation in 2015. With the same level of innovation, China will join amazon to rule the technology world, with special focus on achieving higher business efficiency at low costs.

Wireless Data will Grow Fast 

The telecom sector will have wireless data as the fastest and biggest growing segment of its overall spending. The new hybrid approach will make a baseline of telecom services accessible for all.

Phablet as the New Face of Mobile Growth

Compared to recent years, the sale of tablets and smartphones will slow down. Phablet brands will grow their sales to 60%. Business mobile apps will dominate the app market. 

5 Unexpected Ways Tech Has Changed Your Life

Technology has practically changed every aspect of our life. Our lives will never be the same again. The world has turned upside down in a very short span of time. Can you imagine your life without the Internet? You cannot! Read on to learn about the 5 unexpected ways technology changed your life.

The technological changes of the last two decades have practically changed the way humans used to live. Some of these changes have silently crept into our lives and become so essential that we can’t do without them now.

Let’s read about 5 such changes!

1. Banking

Not too long ago, banking meant standing in long queue and spending half a day in a simple task like depositing a cheque. Today, most people use online banking facility to pay bills and to perform numerous transactions. So advanced is the technology that a consumer can also apply for a home loan from the comfort of his couch.

2. Level of Communication                     

Who would have thought back in 1999 that there will be a day when we would be able to take pictures, play games, stream movies and also shop from a telephonic device? The landline phones have almost become obsolete and smartphones are offering all the freedom in the world to their customers. Video chatting has become as common as replying to emails while in the tube.

3. Use of Google

The dictionaries and encyclopedias have been given compulsory retirement thanks to Google. So dependent are we on this search engine today that we cannot imagine a world without Gmail, Picassa, Blogger and Drive.

4. Virtual Shopping

And we are just not talking about eBay and Amazon here. The consumer today can buy practically anything under the sky by clicking few buttons on his PC. From planning a trip to buying antivirus software, it is all possible in your pajamas.

5. The Phenomenon of Social Networking

Social networking can be easily called the most titillating phenomenon of this decade. Facebook and twitter have redefined the way people connect with other people. The definition of relationships on line and offline have been redefined.

6 Ways to Make Your Customer Service Better

Regardless of how small or big an organization you are, the key to success and growth is excellent customer service. In fact, smarter businesses have begun to use it as a potent marketing tool today!

Here are top 6 ways to take your customer service to the next level:

1. Listen!

Irrespective of the expertise you have, the key is to develop a habit of listening carefully and patiently to your customers. They want you to listen, and not impose your policies on them. Setting your listening skills and expertise into harmony might work though!

2. Respond Fast

Comes what may, your ultimate purpose should be to deliver best possible level of service. In case immediate service or product delivery is not possible, respond using sensible alternatives. You can, for example, send emails the same day.

3. Hold Customers

While your customers can be irresponsible, you can’t. At times, they will lack information you need in order to deliver assistance. Whatever the case, it is on your part to hold and satisfy your customers.

4. Gain Customer Trust

As a business, you ought to win customer trust to survive and thrive. If it requires you to pamper and have compassion for your customers, do it. Once they begin to trust you, getting into lasting business relationships will become easier.

5. Maintain Quality

Keeping pace with customer requirements never means you can afford to sacrifice quality. It is satisfaction that’ll bind your customers to your company at the ends of the day. Growth is essential, but steadiness is more important.

6. Don’t Compromise Your Values 

Give customer service a significant position in your company’s business policy. After all, your enterprise is all about having and serving customers. Once all your employees and associates have understood the significance of quality customer service, you’ll ensure quick yet lasting growth!  

Carefully Evaluate Access Controls over Data for Greater Security

The most common way of accessing data within organizations is through the applications that build, edit and maintain it.

Today, however, several new methods of data accessibility are evolving and coming into use. Network Operating System, Database and Primary Server are the best examples.

Regardless of what means of data accessibility you are using as a business, it is important to frequently evaluate your access control for betterdata security!

Here is how you can do it:

Be Strict about Access Control Passwords

Logical access controls associated with passwords and other login credentials encompass a variety of data security methods and components. This is the reason why IT veterans emphasize the importance of following and repeating the password standards within enterprises of all types and sizes. Once you begin to follow these guidelines, you can make your passwords and credentials more reliable.

The idea is to:

• Make it as difficult as possible for hackers to guess and break passwords. Keeping the length of a password perfect is one of the ways of achieving it.
• Another useful trick is to increase the complexity of password characters, making it almost impossible to crack them. It is even more important to keep changing password patterns from time to time.
• Last but not least, help your employees and associates to develop a habit of logging out of all the systems before leaving the workstation. This will prevent unauthorized access to critical data and information.

Restrict the Applications

All the read-write (RW) applications allow a user to access the underlying data and information. So, make all such applications that you are using restricted to any users who doesn’t need them. That means not all employees should be able to access all applications. Try to get applications that have unique access controls.

Secure Server and NOS 

These two means of data accessibility are highly prone to multiple security-related risks. The first step towards making them more secure is to follow basic password standards, particularly for a sever. In addition, consider examining all the sharing activities taking place via the server and NOS.

Forbid the sharing of your crucial data, excepting some authorized members or a group of users. For example, there is no need to share a spreadsheet made for financial reporting with all users.

Use Firewall Control

When it comes to allowing or disallowing critical data access to users, firewall is always the best option. It is equally important to frequently test it for flawless access controls, especially for users entering externally. Once you have a firewall up and running, it will force the system to authenticate every external user according to your set access rights. 

Cloud Computing and SaaS for Business

Software as a Service (SaaS) refers to cloud services where end users can access various applications/software on the Internet. This means, no specific hardware or software installation is required at the consumer end.

Besides SaaS, there’re two other components of the cloud computing technology – Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

While Twitter, Google, Facebook etc. are some of the most common examples of free SaaS services used by common users around the world, there’re hundreds of other business concentric SaaS based cloud computing solutions available.

Simple as Well as Advanced SaaS Products Are Available

While there’re simple SaaS based products for invoicing and other such business processes available at nominal costs now, enterprise level software are also available on the cloud.

Enterprise users can use cloud applications for almost all imaginable business processes such as business accounting, sales management, inventory management, client/intra-organization communications & performance monitoring.

Deployment is Very Easy

Since there’re no extra hardware and initial setup costs, just about any business with a modest budget can start making use of SaaS based cloud computing solutions.

As soon as you are done subscribing, you can start using the software!

You don’t have to buy expensive hardware for more processing power or arrange funds for purchasing software licenses.

It’s Software on Demand

SaaS is fundamentally a software-on-demand service.

So, you basically end up paying for what you use.

At any point in time, if you want some additional functionalists, need more storage or processing power, it’s made available in almost no time! That said, you can scale or downsize at any point time without having to wait several days before necessary arrangements can be made.

Compatibility & Upgrades

Most cloud computing companies provide free service upgrades. Such upgrades are generally automated and may at most require you to hit a few buttons on your computer screen.

Also, since these applications can be accessed through a web browser, you need not worry about cross device compatibility at all! Needless to mention, the software can be accessed from any location in the world (unless there’re some restrictions imposed for greater security). 

Data Backup and Restoration Tips for Small Businesses

In today’s data-driven times, one of the major reasons for small businesses to collapse is data loss. In fact, any enterprise will grind to a halt without smooth and consistent data availability.

Despite knowing this, most small company owners let their data safety and backup plans linger on their to-do lists for unusually long. It is exactly in this gap that downtime and outages hamper productivity and overall turnover.

So, it is important that you implement a foolproof data backup strategy before it’s too late.

The following tips will become your practical guidelines as you head out.

Map All Your Backup Needs

Generally, data backup needs vary from business to business. Spend some time assessing your unique backup needs, for your ignorance will make it complicated, if not completely unfeasible, to decide on data backup methods.

Issues such as data type, size of files and frequently used files can create problems while backing up data. Proceed strategically and have patience if it the assessment process takes time.  

Know Where Your Business Data Is Kept

You can expect to protect your data unless you know where it is, and in what form. Talk to your IT support company and try to learn how much data and information you have. Ask them if your data is kept on a backup server or simply in corporate offices. You can also take advice on which new data safety and backup measures can be more helpful.

Choose the Right Data Backup System

Ways to backup important data are numerous, but it remains vital to consult a professional having years of industry experience. Generally, the best way to protect data is using multiple backup methods. This prevents data loss even if one of them fails completely.

The best options to opt for are:

1. Online Backup: Data backup through cloud is the most cost-effective option, regardless of how big or small your business is. Choose a reliable provider of online backup services, preferably the one that uses multiple backup locations in order to keep crucial data completely secure.

2. Server Backup: Small businesses that have servers to run all business activities and tasks should opt for sever backup. Most cloud storage companies offer server backup services to prevent data loss in events of system failure.

2. Disc Backup: You can use CDs and DVDs to backup all your important data and store it in a safe, offsite location later on. Another way is to use an external storage device like a USB flash device or hard drive. Disk imaging is an equally effective method of backing up data or a whole PC operating system. 

Top 5 Best Practices for Small Business IT Support

Businesses, big and small, need tech support. No exceptions.

Without an in-house expert or a dedicated IT support service focusing on a small business’s technology needs, it will soon struggle to keep afloat or just fail to stay competitive in the target market due to increased operational costs, delays etc.

Whether you intend to hire a small team of your own or hire outsource IT support tasks, keep in mind the following pointers:

• Short term solutions like an in-house employee with some tech know-how looking after the health of IT systems don’t always work. A small business must establish IT support as a well perceived need within the organization and list out the tasks that need to be taken up on a routine or emergency basis.
  
• Installing new software or fixing an obnoxious computer bug isn’t everything that a tech support professional can do. Those are just basic tasks. Any small business entity trying to grow and scale should get on board a managed IT support service provider or team of professionals with relevant certifications and hands-on experience.
  
• Customer support of any kind is best delivered by people who can empathize with those who are at the receiving end. Make sure to always choose IT support companies or professionals who can offer the much needed human touch.
  
•  IT support should always be proactive. If tech support guys are visiting your office every week or keeping some employees busy on a daily basis, while trying to fix an ongoing problem, what’s the point of getting managed IT services?
  
• Prepare a monthly, quarterly and half-yearly review plan for IT support whether you've an in-house IT department or have hired another company for the job. The tech support team must be accountable and it is up to you to ensure that the investment actually pays off. 

5 Ways to Protect Your Data on Your Mobile Device

Using phones for shopping and surfing socials sites are making them vulnerable to attacks. We trust our phones more than our best buddies on some occasions, so it’s high time we took some steps to protect them.

The first thing that we all must pledge is to not to go to the aftermarket next time we need APPs. Protection will not cost money at all, but getting out of a mess can be a torrid affair.

Follow these steps and make your phone your friend for life:

1. Keep It Locked

Always feed a code in your phone and don’t share it will all. In case if it is stolen, you will buy time to save your data on the phone, while the swindler tries to break in.

2. It’s A Phone Not a Safety Vault

Just because it sleeps with you, doesn't mean it has to keep all your secrets. Limit confidential information on a phone. It should not be the default location for all sensitive information, especially not data that you cannot lose at any cost. Be smart - use a secure server or a hard drive for that.

3. Beware of an Espresso Attack

Before you plug into an open Wi-Fi in the coffee shop next time, first read about the risks. An unsecured network is a hacker’s playground. In an airport, in a multiplex there are people snooping for passwords and other data all the time. Always use a VPN and open mails in secure options only. But if you really want to out run them avoid important work in the public.

4. Be an Apps guru

Always download your favorite Apps from a trusted source like Google Play or App store only. You can be assured that once you get it from them, it comes with inbuilt safety features and will have guards against malicious attacks. The biggest mistake you can make is to download them form a third party source.

5. Have an Updated Antivirus in The Phone

People who come with the foresight of an antivirus program for the phone stand to benefit in the long run. Besides Apple users, who feel no need for it, other phone users stand to benefit by installing one today. An added layer of defense never hurts anybody.

6. Take a Trip on Remote Protection Apps

Besides taking a backup of your data, installing an anti theft APP can make you sleep peacefully at night. These APPs make it very difficult for any spamster to break into your phone. They also pin point the exact location of the phone and allow you to delete all information remotely.

Online Data Backup - Store All Your Files on the Web!

Gone are the days when people used tapes, DVDs and other such conventional methods to backup important business data. Smart companies now make use of online storage options and the reasons to do so are pretty obvious.

Taking Online Backups is Very Easy

Yes, taking online backups is easier than ever. You need not be an expert to do that.

If you know how to use Facebook, Google and other such websites, you can start using an online backup website in as little as one hour.

Sign up, fill in your personal details, choose your online backup plan and start uploading files with easy to use features including drag-and-drop. Getting started is easier than you think.

Plenty of Free Options Available
If you want to secure all of your business critical files on an online server, you can go for a premium online data backup package. However, if you just need some online storage to store pictures, songs, etc., you can make use of free services.

Many websites provide up to 10 GBs of free online storage.

You Can Automate Backups

If you wish to have all of your important files copied to a remote online server at routine intervals, you can use backup-sync or auto-scheduling features.

 

So the next time you copy a new file to a designated folder on your computer, its duplicate copy would be created automatically on an online backup server.

In case you need to create large backups (100 GBs of data, for example), you can just schedule the task. So when your employees are not in office and you can use all of the bandwidth for data transfer, backups can be created without affecting day to day business operations in any manner.

Access Data Backups from Anywhere, Anytime

Many businesses want to store their data online primarily because they want mobile access. They want their team members in field or employees working at different locations to be able to access data in a hassle-free and secure way.

Online data backup services provide exactly that.

When you backup data on an online data backup service website, it’s stored at a remote location. Multiple copies of data are stored on different servers and therefore, you can be assured of the fact that you will never lose your data in the event of a natural calamity, accident, theft or other such incident.

The Vital importance of Backup System

Although, latest operating systems are being embedded with enhanced features for system resonation and backups, chances are there, you might suffer a system crash or an attack on data costing, which will meet out your business with a tragic lose. 

Therefore, it’s important to understand the significance and benefits of a backup system.

Cloud Based Backup Solutions

This is preferably the most reliable and guaranteed backup solution, which is advocated by experts around the globe. The explanation to its prestige is the protection it offers against different sorts of threats like system crashing, cyber attacks and even natural mishaps. Moreover, the solution offers essential advantages of designing the solution as demanded or required by the business.

Secured Protection

Cloud based backup solutions are probably the most secured. They ensure on time recovery of all the different kinds of data. Moreover, you can customize such solutions to suit your needs.

Effortless Use

With cloud based backup solutions, users can effortlessly learn to work with numerous types of interface and management systems, which are easy to set up and operate. This indeed helps emerging businesses to enhance their services without worrying about the threats of data loss.    

Quick and User Friendly

A crucial aspect of cloud based backup solution is that it is equipped with configuration and setup wizards that ensure development of systems rapidly. Moreover, these solutions are designed to deliver off-premise data storage alternatives and great options for eco-conscious individuals.    

Top Strategies on How to Backup Your Data Successfully

Don’t keep waiting until the disaster strikes! Have you ever imagined how your operations would be affected if few data volumes (documents, multimedia files etc.) are destroyed, stolen away or rendered useless by a malicious program! The importance of hiring a professional IT support company cannot be denied but you on your own need to be aware of top strategies on how to backup data as well. Professionals can help you better if you know what you really need for your business.

Listed below are the top strategies on how to backup files and other data –

Brainstorm and Plan Early

Make it a point to discuss raw ideas for a data backup plan with system administrators and other professionals at your company. Everyone can come up with unique ideas and help in strengthening your company’s data backup strategy. If you’re living in an area where floods or hurricanes are common, make sure backups are never stored in basements. Choose at least the 2^nd or 3^rd floor. If digital data is the lifeline of your business, it’s a good idea to take online backups. Such backups are easily accessible through web interfaces and keep your data safe from all imaginable disasters including break-ins, fire accidents, floods, earthquakes etc.

Have a Rock Solid Backup Routine

Running a business successfully demands all of your focus & energy. In the process, it’s easy to lose track of backups or other such processes that are actually very important for the health of your income stream in the long run. Even if you know how to backup a computer or understand the importance of email backup, you’d still need to have a backup routine in place. Make it a part of the daily task list assigned to a system administrator or network engineer. Never count on each employee in your organization, big or small, to take backups on their own. They might do it for a day or two but eventually, they’ll stop doing it.

Have a Personalized Data Backup Strategy

The best data backup strategy is not exactly like the one recommended by an expert. It’s the ‘modified’ strategy that has been tailored to your business’s exact needs. If data on your company workstations changes every day, you need to backup hard drive on a daily basis, for example. It’s advisable to have full as well as incremental backups. For example, you can take one full backup on every Saturday and incremental (data changes) backups on week days.

Test Your Backup on a Regularly Basis

Don’t rely blindly on backup software whether it’s online or installed on a server on your local network. IT support companies (if you’ve hired one) will do it on its own but it’s important to inquire about data backup testing. Try to recover the data backup to an alternate location on your network at least once in a month to check if the integrity of data has not been lost. Also, make sure you check ‘backup logs’ at least once a week to find out if some backup operations failed.

How to Recover Deleted Files

At times, important files get deleted due to human error, viruses or malfunctioned software programs. In some cases, antivirus programs can also delete important files. The file can be restored directly from the backup, if you’ve any. If there was no backup, you can try using a freeware or proprietary software for restoration. You can also have a look out on this article regarding hidden tips to successfully restore your files.

However, If deleted data is very important, it’s prudent to have a competent IT support services company look into the matter as they’ve expertise, tools and software for data retrieval.