Risk Assessment
Small Business? – Do Your Own IT
Case Study – Dental Office
A dentist came to me a couple of years ago after a seminar I gave. He said “I know security is very important. I have a couple of buddies who have already had ransomware and I’m very worried about it, but my challenge is that every month I have these huge IT bills. Part of it is ongoing glitches, and part of it is what my IT guy calls ‘maintaining the systems’ but from what I can tell there’s not much going on with that. How do I know if my systems are secure, and how do I know if I’m being billed for things that I’m not actually getting?”
For this particular dentist the first thing I did was performed a security risk assessment which uncovered that indeed many of the maintenance items were not being completed properly. On top of that the dentist was suffering weekly disruptions due to fairly simple issues.
Find Your Champion.
We discovered that in his clinic there were two people willing to learn some basic IT techniques. We were able to shift his spending to focus on cybersecurity protection and ongoing maintenance using automation and then provided a simple coaching model to support his staff for day-to-day IT needs.
Over time this office has saved an average of $3321 per year on IT and even installed 3 new computers without an on-site technician during the pandemic.
Problem solved. Money saved. Happy client.
Every Small Business Struggles.
Even before the pandemic started many people struggled to keep their business computers running smoothly. Typically, an outsourced IT person or company is used to keep things up to date and connected. However cyber security is still sadly lacking but we’ll deal with that in a moment.
Especially during COVID-19 many businesses are struggling with many different types of expenses. I thought it might be helpful to put together some basic things you can do yourself.
IT You Can Do Yourself – Save Hundreds Per Year:
- Firstly, when you see the tip that you should reboot your computer, it actually is In fact, up to 90% of your problems can be fixed by simply rebooting or restarting your computer. You always want to do this first. I can’t overstate this. Thousands of dollars are wasted every year when people simply don’t bother to do this and create IT service tickets. This will always be one of my biggest wonders .
- The second thing you’re going to want to do, and again seems quite obvious, would be to check in to make sure that your Internet connection is in place. This is typically the blue wire coming out of the back of your computer. You’d be surprised at how many times that blue wire gets pulled out by the nighttime cleaners and the same goes for power cords.
- Your cursor on your keyboard may go wonky and seem like a computer problem when your batteries are low. Replace those before you call IT.
- So now that we’ve got the super easy stuff out of the way let’s move on to the next. You might be wondering how you can speed up your computer for example . One of the easiest ways to do this is to check and ensure that the proper specs for the type of work you’re doing here’s a link to show you the specs of your computer. You can find out the specs of your PC easily by pressing the windows key + Pause Break as seen below. Check to see that your PC specs meet the requirements of the major applications you use.
New Technologies Make it Possible
There are many things you CAN do yourself, especially if you have great remote support using expanded technologies like Alexio InSight. If you do need to upgrade your ram for example, you simply need the confidence to open up the case. Watch a YouTube video or get support from Alexio’s remote support team for as little as $40.
Here’s a picture showing you what ram is and where it’s located within most computers, laptops are slightly different. We have guided numerous dentists, accountants, lawyers, and office managers through this type of upgrade and it’s one that can make a huge difference to the performance of your computer(s).
Computer Prices Skyrocketing – DIY Upgrades Save Big Bucks
We are in the midst of a huge computer chips shortage driving prices of computers through the roof. (Average rise in the last 12 months is 41%) It’s time to get creative and build confidence and IT resiliency within small businesses.
There are many more examples of DIY tech that can save you big bucks. Technology is at a place in time where you don’t have to have an on-site technician traipsing through your office, or your home.
My recommendation is to find your champion, invest in automation to secure and maintain your systems, and lean on a company like Alexio to support you remotely when you need that extra help.
IT has changed, but not all providers have caught up. We’re paving the way with Alexio Defender. Find out today how we can help you with our award-winning technology.
Learn How Alexio Helps Small Businesses
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In 2020 Anne received a global cyber-defense award “Most Innovative – Women in Cybersecurity’. This year her automated cybersecurity education program was also a winner.
Anne has dedicated her career to helping healthcare practice and small business owners understand technology, how to leverage it, and more importantly, how to do it safely. Over her 20+ years as an educator and tech innovator she has earned global awards for her efforts.
Anne keeps the client as her ‘true north’ in how she creates affordable and effective tools and training for privacy & data security. Anne is on a mission to help everyone understand online threats and be able to defend themselves at home and at work when using technology.
Learn how to get help from Anne here: https://getalexio.com/anne-genge
