BlackCSI Blog

If you’ve spent any amount of time around us, you’ve probably had the importance of data backup and disaster recovery preparation preached to you—probably more than once. However, as closely associated as the two are, they are not the same. Let’s explore the critical differences between these two processes so you can be fully prepared to attend to both.

Collaboration is key in the business world, but it’s not always as easy or as simple as it might seem at first glance. Naturally, when you try to get people to work together, you add even more moving parts to the puzzle, and if you aren’t careful, you can accidentally influence your bottom line, and not in a good way. Here are three helpful tips you can implement for better collaboration strategies.

It’s no shock that business executives are already busy enough, but you need to add “knowing more about your IT infrastructure” to that list if you haven’t already done so. It’s critical that you are on the same page as your IT staff, and this relationship will fuel productive relations with both your technology and the staff utilizing it.

We live in a time where technology management is confusing, and it’s mostly because every business has different strengths, needs, and budgets to work around. What works for one small business won’t work for another, and what works for a large enterprise certainly won’t do the trick for a small business. How do you cut through all the noise and get the technology assistance your business needs? The answer: managed IT services.

Customer relationship management software, or CRM tools, are not just for use by large corporations with a large workforce. They can be used by small businesses, too, and there are several benefits for an SMB to use one. Here are some of the many benefits you can expect to receive from using a CRM for your organization.

As we enter the third quarter of the year, now is as good a time as ever to reevaluate how you are spending your IT budget. According to Gartner, your IT spending might actually be increasing, assuming it’s in line with what your organization wants and needs. Are you being intentional with your IT spending? Where are you investing it? Are you spending it on avenues for continued growth? Gartner’s study might yield some interesting ideas which you can call upon to inform your own spending practices.

Just about everyone has a smartphone these days, but it takes a little know-how and self-awareness to use it in a productive way. Instead of your smartphone turning into a time-wasting device, you can use it to get more work done and reduce your stress levels in the workplace. Here are three helpful tips you can implement to use your smartphone in a better, more productive way.

Technology management is a challenge for small businesses, especially those that have limited resources at their disposal. There are a lot of decision makers that are under the impression that they cannot afford to take proper care of their technology, so they put it off until their technology starts to fail. So, we ask you this question: if not now, when is the appropriate time to take care of your technology?

Worker burnout is more prevalent than ever, and it can lead employees to experience negative effects such as stress, exhaustion, depression, and frustration. Do you see any of these symptoms in your IT workers? Let’s take a closer look at how burnout is impacting the IT industry and your IT talent, as well as some ways you can address it.

Data backup is something that all businesses need in some capacity. The reasoning for this is simple: you can never predict the future, so your business’ life is never guaranteed… unless, of course, you plan for the worst. Today we want to share with you some best practices as they relate to data backup and disaster recovery, practices which we hope will give you the confidence that you can recover from even the worst-case scenarios.

If you are like most businesses, you don’t consider a new IT project until you need to upgrade your current systems. It can be something like adding some new hardware to your network, migrating to the cloud, or adding new applications to your operations. No matter the project, though, there is one thing that is certain: you need professionals on your team to make sure it goes smoothly. This is where co-managed IT comes into play.

How often do your employees find themselves stuck in repetitive task loops that not only kill their productivity, but also their motivation? Depending on the task at hand, it might be more often than you, and especially more often than they, would prefer. Workflow automation solutions provide a remedy to this challenge by taking some of the frustration and repetitiveness out of the equation and relying on technology to ensure things get done without a hitch.

It doesn’t really matter what your stance is on remote work, as it has become quite clear that it is one of the aspects left over from the ongoing pandemic that is unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon. Despite these new developments, however, employers are still demanding that employees return to the office, a prospect which some do not take kindly to. How can you ask your employees to return to the office while also making it worth their while to do so?

Do you have technology problems with your business? If so, you’re not alone; countless small businesses all over struggle with maintaining their technology, and it’s not due to any fault of their own. If anything, it’s a combination of limited resources and limited time. How does working with a managed service provider help to mitigate both of these problems? Well, let’s find out!

There are plenty of companies out there making technology investments, and chances are you are ready to take the plunge yourself by investing in the appropriate business technology solutions to take your company to the next level. However, we want to caution you to only invest in the right technologies, those that push your business forward. Here are some tips you can use to make sure you are keeping this strategy at the top of your mind.

There are numerous industries that, in one way or another, deal with sensitive data on the regular. In order to protect this data, numerous laws, regulations, and other requirements have been put on the books that require businesses to maintain—as well as prove—their compliance to them.

Today, we wanted to focus on how a business would prove their compliance, so we’re going to dive into the subject of compliance reporting.

We all know that there are many nuances to managing and maintaining technology in an effective and efficient way, but who exactly is in charge of these tasks at your organization? Do you have a dedicated IT resource that you can trust to get the work done, or do you rely on your other employees to stay afloat? If it’s the latter, we have some bad news for you, as well as a silver lining to it all.

What are some of the modern challenges that your business struggles with? Maybe it’s technology management or maybe it’s network security. According to the GDPI 2021 survey issued by Dell, certain trends are overwhelmingly dangerous for countless businesses out there. Let’s take a look at the results of the 2021 survey and what they might mean for your business.

It can be a challenge to keep your business technology and solutions in proper working order. This goes doubly for businesses who don’t have time or resources to handle day-to-day management, let alone implementing new solutions that can improve operations. Thankfully, outsourcing gives small businesses like yours the opportunity to better manage their technology, and it’s all thanks to managed services.

Did you happen to miss World Backup Day last week? If so, it’s not the end of the world; March 31st might only come along once a year, but every day can be considered World Backup Day if it means you are focusing on data continuity.