30
Sep, 2022
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Our Experience Means Substantial Benefits for You and Your Business

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Let me ask you a question: if you had a toilet that needed repairing, would you rather trust a plumber with a few decades of experience or a toddler that had just (mostly) learned how to use the toilet?

That’s what we thought… but when it comes to your business’ technology, finding someone with experience can be a bit more challenging. Let’s discuss the way that the right IT management produces improved business outcomes.

Why Modern IT is So Valuable

Regardless of a business’ size, the right technology can drive its performance ahead by leaps and bounds, particularly in terms of productivity and efficiency. However, with so many options available today, determining which of them will actually provide value to your business isn’t always all that simple. This is particularly the case when you consider that the same technology won’t work the same way for every business.

NuTech Services and our team of professional consultants work closely with businesses in Michigan so they have the IT that will help propel their operations forward most effectively. This goes beyond the concept of just getting computers set up. It also entails the process of incorporating the IT that will improve the business’ capabilities through enhanced productivity, process automation, and collaboration.

Provided that a business’ IT is correctly implemented and supported as it needs to be, the value it can provide is practically unlimited. This is what makes it so important to have access to technicians with an appreciation for the fundamentals of technology maintenance and its impact on a business’ operations.

A Technician’s Experience Matters

The more experience that an IT technician has, the better they are able to shape a business’ technology to provide it with the maximum amount of value and utility. Likewise, someone without this experience will likely find it more difficult to identify what is needed to accomplish these goals—particularly in terms of technology investment and procurement. Without having concrete goals outlined and the knowledge of how to go about accomplishing them, a business can find itself stagnating.

Not only this, but since these investments need to be made thoughtfully and diligently, bringing in an experienced perspective can bring back substantial dividends. By creating a productive and consistent working environment, your operations will be in a better position to succeed.

There are many, many considerations that a modern business needs to weigh out in regards to its IT—whether or not remote work is utilized, are certain systems required to have additional security or transparency, is the robust IT infrastructure you need to maintain attainable? Our consultants can help you construct an effective and reliable business environment that helps you create an improved workflow.

What Experience are You Seeking from Support?

Naturally, acquiring the right technology is only part of the equation. It is also important for you to have the means to keep this technology properly maintained, supported, and managed in general. This kind of support is—in short—critical to a quality infrastructure, requiring experienced technicians with the knowledge and skill to keep your IT in operation.

Threats are more prevalent than ever before, and that’s without even taking the odd downtime incident or user error into account. Again, this means that having an experienced resource to turn to has also become more important. Now, you have a few options—hiring IT staff internally, for one, but this can be incredibly expensive. Hiring a managed service provider is often a more cost-effective option for businesses, with the proactive maintenance we offer helping to avoid downtime and maintain your productivity.

Business IT can easily become quite complicated, but we can help simplify it for you. Call us today at 810.230.9455 to talk to us about what we can do for your operations.

28
Sep, 2022
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Will USB-C Eventually Replace HDMI Cables?

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The next time you’re near a desktop, take a peek at the back where the motherboard’s various ports offer the opportunity to connect to different cable types. Many of these cables have overlapping functions—like the capabilities of USB and HDMI. Having said that, however, one of these cables will probably outlast its contemporary.

Let’s examine what differentiates these cables and consider which of them is more likely to last.

What Separates USB from HDMI?

Beyond the visually obvious differences between these cables, there are a few things that set them apart in terms of their functionality.

USB-C

From the very beginning, the Universal Serial Bus cable was meant to be, well, universal…and USB-C is the next step towards this goal. First developed in the 1990s, USB was meant to simplify plugging in assorted hardware. USB-C can be used to transfer data, power, video, and audio signals between devices in either direction. Perhaps most appealingly, USB-C can be plugged in either way, which other USB types quite frustratingly couldn’t be.

HDMI

High-Definition Multimedia Interface cables have a more specific purpose, designed to transmit uncompressed A/V data from one device to another. First becoming available to consumers in the early 2000s, HDMI helped to reduce the cables necessary by sharing both audio and video data. Furthermore, less data quality is lost through the uncompressed HDMI cables.

While Both Work, Chances are That USB-C Will Ultimately Phase Out HDMI

And, at some point after that, the next thing will phase out USB-C (but more on that later).

HDMI has been around for about three decades or so at this point, while USB-C is simply the next step in the progression that USB was designed to follow in creating a universal (hence, universal serial bus) cable to replace every other cable type. This is why USB-C can transfer more data and more power than the USB cables that came before it.

This will take a long time to come to fruition… and that’s assuming that something else doesn’t come about to replace USB-C first.

We’re Here to Help Your Business Make the Most of Its Technology

Regardless of what the future may hold, we’re here to ensure that you have the IT you need to maintain your business’ productive operations. Learn more by giving us a call at 810.230.9455 today.

26
Sep, 2022
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Microprocessor Shortages Hindering the Hardware Market

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When it comes to procuring new technology solutions for your business, what is your preferred method of doing so? If you haven’t thought about it, perhaps you should start. Gartner predicts a major decrease in PC shipments for the remainder of 2022. This has significant implications for any technology user, but this is especially true for business owners who might need to consider hardware refreshes in the near future.

Fewer Devices Available Across the Board

The global PC market is expected to see a decrease in shipping of about 9.5 percent in 2022. The market for smartphones and tablets is also in decline with expected decreases of 7 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

“A perfect storm of geopolitics upheaval, high inflation, currency fluctuations and supply chain disruptions have lowered business and consumer demand for devices across the world and is set to impact the PC market the hardest in 2022,” reports Ranjit Atwal, a senior data analyst at Gartner

It is thought that the collapse of the 5G smartphone market in China is one of the major contributing factors to this problem, as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and inflation across the board. Furthermore, it’s expected that chip makers will likely be influenced by the issues associated with such a decrease in demand for products. This will only serve to make devices more difficult to get ahold of for businesses and individuals that do plan on purchasing them.

These kinds of numbers could have a considerable impact on the way your business acquires technology. If you’re unprepared to handle the changes in the supply chain, you might have difficulty finding the right technology when you need it.

Are You Ready?

Acquiring technology can be challenging for small businesses for a number of reasons, chief among them being the costs associated with acquisition and deployment. If your organization is one which has historically struggled with acquiring technology, we urge you to contact NuTech Services to start a conversation about how we might be of service in your business efforts.

Especially considering the decrease in sales due to anticipated shortages in the supply chain and geopolitics, you must think ahead and plan for the worst. If you don’t know what technology you need a couple of years from now, consider putting together a hardware refresh timeline that outlines when and how you plan to replace aging or failing hardware. We also like to recommend that our clients keep an extra workstation/laptop or two on hand on the off-chance a hardware failure occurs when they least expect it.

In times like these, it’s also incredibly important to maintain the infrastructure you currently have so as not to suffer from unexpected technological hiccups that could derail your business’ operations. We recommend that you take a proactive approach with comprehensive monitoring to keep a lookout for warning signs associated with hardware failure. Really, the big thing is that you want to prevent operational inefficiencies from impeding your workflow whenever possible, so start taking action now before it’s too late.

Whether you need to acquire new hardware, build a refresh timeline, or maintain your existing infrastructure to prolong its lifespan, NuTech Services’s got you covered. To learn more about our services and what we can do for your business, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

23
Sep, 2022
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Hackers Circumvent Traditional Cybersecurity with Phishing

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Business owners often get unsolicited emails from individuals who want to sell them goods, services, or products. Depending on the message, they might even come across as a bit suspicious, prompting you to question the authenticity of the email. If you’re not careful, you might accidentally expose your organization by clicking on the wrong link in the wrong email, thus falling victim to the oldest trick in the book: the phishing attack.

The greatest threat from phishing attacks often comes from the fact that you might not expect a particular type of phishing scam. Phishing attacks are growing increasingly more common, and it’s for a very good reason: they work. Cybersecurity professionals have their work cut out for them, as hackers are frequently trying to overcome the latest security measures out there by utilizing a stagnant part of most companies’ security infrastructures: their employees.

Phishing attacks can come in countless different forms, and they all target the human element of your company’s security infrastructure. Whether it’s an unsolicited email, a phone call asking for sensitive information, a physical mailer asking you to pay a fine or fee, or even text messages asking you to click on links to confirm shipping details for an order you can’t recall placing, they all circumvent your most carefully placed security measures by leveraging your employees.

Furthermore, some phishing messages are so convincing and well thought out that spam filters might not even catch them in the process. If a hacker invests time into researching your business—including the recipient of the email—they could be so personalized that they can circumvent the spam filter entirely. These are very real threats to your organization, and if users don’t know what to look for, they could make a mistake that is hard to walk away from unscathed.

At the end of the day, the best way to combat phishing messages is not to implement the best security solutions on the market (although they do go a long way); it’s to train your employees on how to identify and respond to security threats like phishing messages so they don’t fall for social engineering tactics.

We always encourage businesses to use an enterprise-grade spam filter, but we also want them to train their employees to address threats in a way that minimizes risk. These are preventative measures that address issues before they become significant problems or detriments. They aren’t going to solve all of your problems, but they will prevent most of them from evolving into bigger and more dangerous ones. As per usual, your security is only going to be effective if people are aware of your solutions and policies.

While we cannot guarantee that you’ll never encounter a phishing attack again, acknowledging that these issues will appear from time to time can go a long way toward preparing to handle them effectively. NuTech Services can help your business acquire the IT resources and training needed to take the fight to phishing attacks. To learn more, contact us today at 810.230.9455.

21
Sep, 2022
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Tip of the Week: Alter Your Download Location in Chrome

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Normally when you download a file from the Internet, it can be found in the Downloads folder. There are ways you can adjust this setting, though. You might not mind them going to Downloads for a short while, but there are other locations you might consider sending your files, like where they might actually belong. You can change the default location of your downloaded files to take one small step out of the process. We’ll show you how to do it with your Google Chrome web browser.

Change Your Downloads Location for Google Chrome

The first step is to open your Chrome web browser. Next, you’ll select the three-dot menu up in the top right corner of the screen. You can then select Settings.

The Settings window will open up in a new tab. From the left side of the screen, you should see an option for Advanced settings. Expanding this setting will reveal your Downloads options.

You’ll see some different options to play around with, including the ability to create a new folder to send your downloads to. You can also ask the browser to send new downloads to a preexisting folder, or have your web browser ask you where to send the new download whenever you initiate one. If you select this option, you’ll get the Save As dialog box whenever you start a download.

Once you have figured out where you want to send your downloads, you can open the folder location to see all your downloads as they occur. You can then move them around to wherever they might need to be by dragging and dropping them.

We cover all kinds of technology tips and tricks, so what are some interesting ones you’d like to see us discuss in the future? Make sure your opinion is heard in the comments.

19
Sep, 2022
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Technology Can Fuel a Much More Productive Business

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Would you describe your business as “productive?” Without setting a specific standard for productivity, you can’t answer this question. A basic way to measure productivity for your business is how effectively your employees use the tools at their disposal in conjunction with each individual’s capacity to get work done. Let’s take a look at some technology built specifically for your employees to be more productive throughout the workday.

The Different Levels of Business Technology

The technology solutions your business implements all have various uses that directly tie into its levels of productivity. Here are three notable categories for any kind of digital transformation you implement for your business:

  • Operational – This includes all business management applications, productivity, and communications. 
  • Supply Chain – This technology improves business through data collection based on your business’ procurement, processing, and distribution processes.
  • Digital Platforms – This technology is implemented to promote or sell goods and services and provides a lot of actionable information. 

Let’s examine how each of these contributes to a productive business environment.

Operational Technology

Your workforce will be more productive if they are using effective technology. You’ll likely have to add new technology to your infrastructure in the process, and with careful planning and consideration, you can use it to improve productivity. Solutions like customer relationship management (CRM) software can help you keep track of tasks, time, progress, and customer interactions, while communication tools like VoIP, email, and video conferencing all go a long way to help your team collaborate. Productivity tools like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace can also provide exceptional productivity apps with built-in communication tools. There are even specialized collaboration suites that you can use to give your team all the tools they need in one effective package.

Supply Chain Technology

Your business’ supply chain will undoubtedly remain an important part of its operations and productivity. Whether your organization provides products or components or not, there is no question that your company is at the mercy of the supply chain—even when it comes to procuring new equipment for your own business’ operational needs. Technology brings transparency to the supply chain, whether it’s through inventory management, Internet of Things devices, shipping and management of goods, etc. These interconnected systems give businesses the ability to be more productive and transparent with their resources.

Digital Platform Technology

Doing business involves an online presence in most, if not all circumstances. Most businesses have implemented online applications that allow their team and their customers to do business more efficiently, whether it’s through a CRM, file sharing, digital collaboration platforms, or even something as simple as a webpage or social media presence. All of these digital platforms give businesses the ability to be more productive, provided they are used appropriately.

How does your business handle technology solutions? Could you use a hand with the management and upkeep of your IT systems? Outsourcing this responsibility is one big way you can improve operations and productivity for your organization. To learn more, contact us today at 810.230.9455.

16
Sep, 2022
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Hybrid Work Practices Can Stifle Inclusivity, If You Aren’t Careful

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With plenty of benefits to be had from both in-house and remote operations, many companies have been working to take advantage of a hybrid approach to business. While this approach has proven greatly beneficial to businesses in assorted ways, there are a few drawbacks that need to be addressed. One major one: a lack of inclusivity.

Let’s dig into how this happens, and why it matters.

While Hybrid Work Has Proved Helpful, It Has Also Created Rifts

Don’t get us wrong—there are plenty of ways that hybrid work can and has proven helpful to businesses. Not only can it allow more flexibility in productive work processes, but it should also be able to create more equity in the work environment removing the in-person element that many (unfortunately common) microaggressions rely on.

However, the situation is far from perfect, due to a nasty little phenomenon known as proximity bias. What is proximity bias, you ask? Simply put, it’s the tendency for an employer or manager to show preference or favoritism to those employees who are closer to them physically.

Let’s consider it in a hypothetical situation. Let’s say that a company, we’ll call it “Horror Services, Inc.,” adopted remote operations in order to protect its employees at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of late, some people have come back into the office to work, while some have continued to work remotely.

Now, when CEO Count von Dracula starts to consider whom to promote, give raises to, or otherwise professionally reward, who is he most likely to consider? Is he going to first think of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, or Jekyll/Hyde, who are all present in the office during the workday, or is his mind going to turn to the Invisible Man, doubly unseen as he works from his apartment? Since proximity bias exists, chances are that the Invisible Man will be passed over, even if his quality of work far outpaces the rest of his coworkers’.

There’s also the lack of trust in remote workers that many managers just can’t seem to shake. So, even though the Invisible Man’s results speak for themselves, old Dracula might still feel some doubts that he’s working as diligently as expected.

Now, even though our example has been filled with creepy-crawlies from classic horror, the realities of these rifts are much more sinister in reality.

Certain Groups are Hit Harder by Hybrid Work’s Proximity Bias

When it comes to who is working in-house (and who therefore benefits from proximity bias) and who is working remotely, there are some very telling tendencies that need to be acknowledged.

Generally speaking, recent research has shown that those returning to the office are more likely to be executives or knowledge workers who are white, male, and non-parents, while those who work remotely tend to be more diverse in terms of: 

  • Sex
  • Race
  • Gender
  • Disability

On top of these factors, those who choose to work remotely often do so in order to simplify the balance between their work responsibilities and the demands of child care.

This all leads to a highly imbalanced workplace dynamic…but with the right level of awareness and technology in place, these kinds of issues can be more effectively avoided. This is particularly true of collaborative technologies, ones that your more remote team members can use to maintain a presence in the office without sacrificing the benefits that motivate them to work remotely.

NuTech Services is here to help you acquire and maintain the information technologies that enable productive work to be done, including those to help make your hybrid workplace more successful and equitable through open communication and collaboration. Give us a call at 810.230.9455 to learn more.

14
Sep, 2022
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Burnout Needs to Be Addressed Seriously…4 Essential Steps

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There are struggles that the workplace inherently presents to most people (whether that workplace is in the traditional office space or in the home) that can lead to the too-familiar-to-some feelings of burnout. As these struggles aren’t likely going to go away at any point (never mind anytime soon), it is important that you have strategies to help minimize their impacts.

Let’s go over a few things you can encourage your team members to do so they can accomplish this for themselves.

How to Help Minimize Burnout

There are a few ways that you can reduce the amount of burnout that you and your team experience. For instance:

Take a Moment and Refocus Yourself

Mounting pressure can easily take you off your game, which should be seen as a signal that it is time for a break. However, not all breaks are as beneficial as others. Rather than pulling up your social media feeds and mindlessly scrolling, try taking some slow, deep breaths and clearing your mind for a few minutes until you’re ready to return to full productivity. Properly recovering from these moments will help.

Build Communications Between Teams

You know the old saying, “no man is an island,” that refers to the fact that each and every person relies on the network of people around them? While it’s a pretty safe bet that John Donne wasn’t thinking of the modern workplace when he wrote those words back in the 17th century, the same concept holds true. It is important that your different employees and even departments have the confidence that they can rely on one another as needed, so establishing the precedent of communication is crucial.

Basically, you want to take it upon yourself to encourage your employees to work with one another at every available opportunity. Not only will this help to lighten the workload on the team as a whole, but it will help form bonds between your team members that will help to reduce the likelihood of burnout.

Pick Up a Low-Pressure Hobby

A major contributor to feelings of burnout is the tendency many have to take the pressures associated with work into personal time—after all, if you never get any relief from stress, that stress is going to wear down on you faster.

To resolve that, recommend that your team members pick up personal hobbies or pursue interests—anything that gets their mind off of work, really—as these kinds of hobbies can help you recharge your batteries.

Establish Procedures to Reduce Stress

One of the nice things about workplace processes is that they tend to largely be the same each time you carry them out. This means that these processes can be streamlined and ideally automated, taking pressure off of your team members and simplifying their workflows. Both of these effects can benefit workplace engagement and slow down the “burn” of burnout.

Fighting Burnout is a Prescient Business Need

If you aren’t actively working to keep your team engaged, burnout will almost certainly start to creep in and negatively impact your operations. In addition to the above efforts, the right IT can help to keep your team engaged and effective—and we’ll help you put them in place. Give us a call at 810.230.9455 to learn more about the business solutions we have to offer.

12
Sep, 2022
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Boost Your Business’ Confidence with Iron-Clad IT

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Businesses have a lot of troubles to manage, one of which is their technology breaking down and interrupting their operations. You have options to ensure these circumstances do not influence your operations to the degree they once may have. Let’s discuss some of the ways you can address malfunctioning IT before it impacts your productivity.

Technology Should Work for You, Not Against You

Technology malfunctions are not uncommon in the business world, and one poll goes so far as to suggest that the average United States office worker wastes around 20 minutes a day with some technology issue or another. Much of that time could be associated with social media, the Internet, and phones, while some of it can be attributed to their technology not working correctly.

To make sure your staff isn’t dealing with issues related to their technology, you should work to make sure your IT is managed in a proactive and appropriate way. You’ll need to monitor your systems so you can catch issues and inconsistencies before they become major problems.

Update and Manage Your Software

Your business lives and dies by its software solutions, and if you can’t access it, then you’ll have issues with operations. The problem is that businesses tend to use a lot of different software solutions, between 20 and 800 at a time, and most of them need to be patched and updated to stay effective and secure.

The reason for this is cybersecurity, as hackers and other threats are quick to leverage vulnerabilities to their advantage. If you don’t shore up defenses for your business in an appropriate way, you could be leaving a critical flaw unaddressed on your network. NuTech Services can use software management tools to help you with procurement, managing licenses, updates, patches, and so much more.

Redundancy is the Opposite of Waste (in Business)

Redundancy often has a negative connotation, i.e. doing the same thing over and over again, or having more than what you need. This is a good thing for businesses in most cases, as you want your data infrastructure and backup systems to be redundant. It means you are protected and that you are prepared to handle negative circumstances your organization might be thrust into.

With so many issues that could arise, not limited to cybercrime, component failure, natural disasters, and so much more, you need to be ready to tackle these issues as they occur. With a comprehensive data backup and recovery system in place, you can ensure operations are uninterrupted, or at least interrupted as little as possible, by potential technology issues you might face.

To learn more, contact us at 810.230.9455 today.

9
Sep, 2022
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Your Choice of IT Support Makes a Huge Difference

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Your business’ technology is critical to its productivity, but unfortunately, this technology can (and at some point, likely will) break. So, what do you do if and when it does?

Let’s go over some of the options that you have to consider.

Generally Speaking, Businesses Have Three Options for their IT Support

A business in need of maintenance and support services for its information technology systems can approach this need in three different ways:

An In-House Team

If your business has a team member or a department that works on the technology that your operations rely on, you rely on in-house IT resources. 

A Break/Fix Provider

These IT companies are those that are called upon to resolve existing IT issues and repair needs.

A Managed Service Provider

These IT companies work with businesses on an ongoing basis to assist them with their IT, proactively dealing with potential issues rather than waiting for them to arise.

In terms of these options, a business that utilizes an in-house team isn’t restricted to using just those resources, either. Many businesses supplement their internal resources by outsourcing some of their IT responsibilities to one of the other options. Otherwise, outsourcing all of the IT needs that a business has is a common tactic for businesses (particularly those too small to dedicate an employee to their technology maintenance).

However, the aforementioned options for outsourcing aren’t exactly equal. There are a variety of reasons that working with a managed service provider (MSP for short) is the better call. Now, are we biased in saying that? Slightly—but that doesn’t mean we’re wrong.

Why Working with an MSP is the Better Business Decision for Your Technology

Let’s run through the scenarios surrounding break/fix IT services and the experience to be had working with an MSP when a critical piece of business technology goes on the fritz.

Business A relies on a break/fix provider for its IT needs. One day, a few of the business’ workstations suddenly can’t connect to the server, leaving many of Business A’s employees stranded. To solve the problem, Business A reaches out to its provider. Unfortunately, their IT provider isn’t able to send someone out to their location for a few hours—or potentially, days—and when the technician does arrive, it takes a few additional hours to diagnose and correct the issue. Meanwhile, money goes out the door every hour Business A’s IT is unavailable, both in terms of lost productivity and in payroll. Business A is then on the hook for the repair costs which, depending on how long the issue takes to resolve, could be quite substantial.

Business B, on the other hand, relies on an MSP like NuTech Services for assistance with its technology, paying each month for services scaled to its needs. By utilizing modern remote monitoring and maintenance tools, the MSP is able to remotely keep an eye on Business B’s infrastructure. As a result, issues are caught early or are mitigated proactively through these remote capabilities, before they create the expenses that accompany downtime. Business B can therefore keep their IT in line while still maintaining their budget while helping to ensure their profitability.

Which would you rather be, Business A or B?

Working with us can help ensure that you’re more like the latter. Find out more about our services by giving us a call at 810.230.9455 today.

7
Sep, 2022
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Tip of the Week: Explaining Excel Formulas

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Just under its surface, Microsoft Excel offers a massive variety of functions and features…far more than we could ever realistically cover in this blog. However, there are a few that stand out as relatively essential, particularly to businesses. Let’s go through these functions, starting with how to use them.

How Excel Formulas Work

Once you have a cell selected, you can type one of these formulas into the cell or the formula bar. Keep in mind that all Excel formulas begin with an equals sign, before the type of formula is specified and the appropriate data points are identified. If properly formatted, your spreadsheet can thereby be automated to do a huge variety of tasks based on the data you’ve input.

Here are some common formulas that you could find useful in your business’ operations.

=SUM()

This allows you to total up the value of the cells you’ve selected, making it far simpler to add up long lists of numbers. Let’s say you had a list made up in Column B, beginning at Row 2 and ending with Row 46. To total these numbers, you’d type up =SUM(B2:B46), and that cell would display the total as a result.

=AVERAGE()

In the same vein, =AVERAGE does the same thing, except it produces the average amongst those selected cells. =AVERAGE(X1,Y2,Z3) would give you the average of X1, Y2, and Z3.

=CEILING() and =FLOOR()

These functions allow you to round numbers to the nearest multiple of significance that you’ve established. Dictating =CEILING(F2,5) with F2 being populated with 368 would round up to 370. On the other end of the spectrum, =FLOOR(F2,5) would round down to 365.

=CONCATENATE()

Excel can also track changes in text too, with =CONCATENATE allowing you to tie different text strings together. For instance, if G7 read The 3-2-1 Backup Rule and K12 read helps to ensure your data backup is safe, entering =CONCATENATE(G7,” “,K12) would tie the phrases together and give you The 3-2-1 Backup Rule helps to ensure your data backup is safe. You can also format the formula as =CONCATENATE(G7&” “&K12) for the same results.

=NOW()

This formula will populate a cell with the current date and time, which helps you keep track of when your data was put into the spreadsheet.

=TODAY(), et alia.

There are a number of functions that do a similar thing to =NOW(), such as:

  • =TODAY(), which populates a cell with the current date
  • =DAY(TODAY()), which populates a cell with the current day of the month
  • =MONTH(TODAY()), which populates a cell with the current month, represented as a numerical value between 1 and 12

=TIME(), et alia.

In a similar vein, various functions allow you to track the exact time that data has been added to your spreadsheet.

  • =TIME() inserts a set time, so long as you format it as a serial number with the hours, minutes, and seconds, which will be converted into a standard format. So, =TIME(13,41,28) would produce 1:41 PM.
  • =HOUR(NOW()) populates a cell with the current hour as a value between 0 and 23 (12 AM to 11 PM).
  • =MINUTE(NOW()) does the same with the current minute, between 0 to 59.
  • =SECOND(NOW()) does the same with the current second, again, between 0 to 59.

=VLOOKUP() and =HLOOKUP()

Vertical lookup and horizontal lookup enable you to seek out a specific value in one column or row and produce the data that is associated with it. Let’s say that you have a table that outlines your business’ assorted costs, perhaps giving you the total, how much is invested into different aspects, and such. These Excel functions allow you to select certain data points as a reference so you can ascertain the relationship between different values.

=IF()

Using =IF() gives you a quick and easy reference to check whether a set condition is true or false in reference to your data. Let’s say you’ve calculated out the returns on investment that some of your business initiatives have produced. Using =IF(), you can generate a clear yes or no answer to whether or not an initiative has seen the returns you wanted it to. Maybe you wanted to weed out any initiatives that saw less than 2% ROI, with the ROI of each occupying a cell in Column E. Using =IF(E1>0.02,”Yes”,”No”) and dragging that formula down to match the cells in Column E will give you an at-a-glance reference of whether or not one of your efforts was worth it.

=COUNTIF() and =SUMIF()

The more data you have, the more challenging even simple tasks—like taking a tally or adding up the values—can be. =COUNTIF and =SUMIF simplify this process for you.

  • =COUNTIF() allows you to set conditions by which selected cells will be counted. For instance, if you wanted to count how many months you had sold widgets out of the data present in Column J of the sheet, =COUNTIF(J1:J12, “widget”) would give you that total.
  • =SUMIF() operates in a similar way, although it adds any numbers that match the conditions you’ve set, rather than just counting the instances. So, we could determine the total number of widgets sold during our established timeframe by using =SUMIF(J1:J12, “widget”, K1:K12), provided that Column K was populated with total widget sales for each month.

Excel Can Do a Lot, Lot More Than This

What are some of your go-to Excel functions? Are there any you’ve heard about that you’d like to learn how to use? Let us know in the comments, or give us a call at 810.230.9455!

5
Sep, 2022
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Ransomware Has Gone Mobile

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Smartphones have managed to hold out against ransomware a bit longer than other hardware and operating systems, but those days are coming to an end. It’s important to remember that the average smartphone is not protected with antivirus software and thus remains threatened by your standard ransomware attacks. It is absolutely critical that your business doubles down on its protection against ransomware, especially in the mobile market.

Defining Mobile Ransomware

Ransomware is defined as a malware that gives a hacker the ability to control a computer or network and hold it for a ransom. Users lose access to the controls and data that allows the system to function, and the only reprieve in most cases is to restore a backup of said data. Users have to decide whether they want to lose access to that data, restore the data from a backup, or pay the ransom in hopes that the hacker will honor their word and restore access.

Think about the number of smartphones which exist in the world today and the fact that most computing these days happens from mobile devices. With so much data to steal and devices to tap, it makes total sense for hackers to focus their efforts on mobile devices.

Phishing Plays an Important Part in Ransomware Infections

When it comes to malware dissemination, phishing attacks are hackers’ go-to methods of infection. When you think about how easy it is to slip up and click on the wrong link, you’ll realize that phishing is a very real threat to your organization and your data. Phishing can come in many different forms, too, adding to the stress. Will the hacker call you on the phone, send you an email, text you a link, contact you through social media, or even send you a physical mailer? It can be quite overwhelming.

How Does Mobile Ransomware Work?

Most mobile platforms remain remarkably secure even against the potent threat that is ransomware. Most scams resort to targeting the device’s cloud storage, locking it down, and demanding a ransom in the process. One particular iPhone scam uses the Find My Phone feature that allows the user to remotely lock the device. Scammers only wanted $100 to unlock the device, and with such a low asking price, people are of course going to pay up rather than go through the hassle of involving the authorities or other professionals. Hackers who gain access to an iOS account can even use the information to create new iCloud accounts and move all data into these new accounts until the ransom is paid.

Threats which target Android are similarly problematic, and they all start with phishing. The most dangerous one was called ScarePackage that targeted 900,000 Android smartphones over the course of 30 days. It was deployed through a fake app that could lock down the device and threaten that the FBI was the one responsible for doing so with the only solution being to pay a ransom. The FBI isn’t in the business of extortion, so this is a simple case of coercion and fear manipulation by hackers.

How You Can Protect Your Devices

Let’s examine some things you need to know about mobile phishing schemes.

  1. The first warning sign is that the message will make you do a double-take. Phishing scams can come through a variety of mediums, including email, telephone, social media, and so on, be it for work or personal use. Mobile phishing messages can come through text messages asking you to click on links. These messages will seem random and out of place, so that is the first hint that something is out of the ordinary here.
  2. Look for spelling and grammar errors. Professional correspondence has a certain look and sound to it, like the sender has taken some time to proofread and edit it. If you receive sloppy messages from strange senders, be wary of the message.
  3. The messages might seem a bit aggressive. It’s one thing for a message to come off as frustrated, but another entirely when the person on the other end of the message demands immediate action. This is often a telltale sign of phishing messages; they urge people to make fast, irrational decisions through fear tactics and threats.

NuTech Services knows how to combat the countless types of cyberthreats out there, phishing and ransomware included. We can use our knowledge to implement high-quality technology tools and to educate your team on how to make the best decisions possible with their technology. To learn more about what we can do for your business, call us today at 810.230.9455.

2
Sep, 2022
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Solid State Drives Sport Plenty of Benefits

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The hard drive is an essential component of every computer. When you start looking at new computers you may notice that there are two different types of hard drives available. There are the HDD (hard disk drive) or the SSD (solid state drive). Today, we’ll go through what the difference is and what benefits you may get from outfitting your hardware with solid state drives. 

What is the Difference Between SSD and HDD? 

The HDD, which is the type of hard drive that most of us are familiar with, has been used for quite some time. They have rotating metal platters that spin at high rates of speed, and feature mechanisms for reading and writing data on these disks. Every time something is saved to disk, the computer needs to get these wheels spinning. 

On the other hand, SSDs have no moving parts whatsoever. They use flash memory to store that information. Since they aren’t dependent on fast-moving physical components, they can write and read data at much higher speeds.

When is an SSD Better than an HDD?

You won’t be too surprised to learn that there are plenty of reasons to choose an SSD over an HDD. Here are four:

  • Improved boot times – If you store your operating system on an SSD (and most of us do), it will load faster.
  • Quicker application access – Your applications will load much faster if they are stored on an SSD.
  • They’re quiet – SSDs make much less noise because they don’t have moving parts on the inside, and they are much more efficient.
  • The increased speed is worth the money – SSDs are still much more expensive than your average HDD, but with the increase in speed, you can get more done. The devices tend to pay for themselves pretty quickly. 

Is an SSD the Answer for Your Next Computer?

Solid state drives are a great innovation that any user should consider. If you are looking to refresh your business’ computing infrastructure, or you just want a faster computer, the technicians at NuTech Services can help. Give us a call at 810.230.9455 today for more information.