IT Support Archives - NuTech Services LLC

Nov, 2022

Remember When Apple Recommended Physical Persuasion to Fix a Computer?

Apple has long been a key part of the technology industry, producing quality hardware year after year. Although Apple tends to produce sleek and high-end hardware running its proprietary operating systems, these devices are far from perfect and were especially controversial at certain points in the past.

One Model Had to Be Slammed on the Desk to Work Properly

You can’t make this stuff up. We would normally steer clear of telling you to whack your device on your desk, but one particular Apple device needed a little tough love in order to function properly.

1982 saw Apple experience a massive surge in popularity. Steve Jobs was on the cover of Time magazine, and the company experienced its first ever $1 billion in annual sales. Even though Apple was producing devices that looked marvelous in comparison to the competition, they often came at the cost of functionality. Look to the Apple III for a perfect example of this in action.

To make the Apple III as sexy as possible for the consumer, the unsightly air vents were removed.

Computers produce a lot of heat even under the best of circumstances, so imagine how much these bulky pieces of machinery produced when cooling vents were removed from the equation. When there is no air circulation, you create what is essentially an oven that roasts the insides of the device, rendering it incapable of functioning as intended.

And let’s also remove the fans for good measure, Apple said. Why do you need fans if there are no vents?

In response to the considerable heat, parts would expand within the device and grow dislodged from their connectors, leading to further issues that turn the computer into a $4,240 liability–the equivalent of about $14,270 in modern US currency. When their devices wouldn’t function properly, frustrated business workers would call Apple to complain and ask for support.

One day, in frustration to the issue, an Apple engineer by the name of Daniel Kottke accidentally fixed his device by slamming it onto his desk, snapping the warped parts back to where they were supposed to be. With the parts back in place, the device worked as it was intended to all of a sudden.

So, you can imagine the look of shock and astonishment on people’s faces when they contact Apple for tech support, only to have the technicians tell them to slam it on the desk and give it a smack for good measure.

We Won’t Tell You to Beat Your Technology

Of course, modern technology support has evolved considerably since 1982. We won’t tell you to beat up your device to get it to work the way it’s supposed to; we’ll take care of your technology for you so that you can focus on being productive throughout the workday. To learn more about what we can do for your business, call us today at 810.230.9455.

Oct, 2022

When Talking to an IT Service Provider, Ask These 3 Questions

There is an inherent value associated with outsourcing the management of your technology to a managed service provider, or MSP. With your team taking a more hands-off approach to technology, they can instead focus on being more productive. If you’re still on the fence about this approach to technology and business, then we have some questions you should consider asking if you are thinking about learning more about MSPs and what they do.

What Services Does Your MSP Offer?

It is important to know what services your MSP offers and what they do not offer. This helps you while you are making the decision about who to go with for your support needs. It can also help influence your decision down the road, as your business might grow and evolve over time to encompass goods or services which you might not see at the moment. For example, a growing business will likely want to take advantage of a cloud platform, including hosting and migration.

How Experienced Are Your MSP’s Technicians?

The level of expertise of your MSP’s staff will also factor into your decision-making. You want a team of seasoned and well-practiced technicians on your side, which will affect your company’s ability to resolve problems, streamline processes, and ensure optimal operations. Furthermore, you want MSPs who can take complex problems and distill them into easier-to-understand statements and language that you can share with management or your staff. When everyone can understand the problems and challenges at hand, they are more likely to be patient and resolve them effectively.

What is Your MSP’s Service Level Agreement?

An SLA is essentially what you can expect to receive from your managed service provider for their goods and services in exchange for your payment. It might include information on how much you pay them, what services they offer, and what kind of turnaround time you can expect for requests. It establishes the expectations you have for each other, in the most basic terms possible.

We Can Help You Today!

If you’re unsure if managed services are for you, then let NuTech Services help you make the choice. We can resolve any shortcomings in technology management that your company suffers from with our team of dedicated technicians.

If you do have an internal IT staff, they can benefit from you outsourcing some of their tasks to a managed service provider. This will help them stay on top of their workload and it can improve your operations.

To learn more about what NuTech Services and our managed services can do for your business, call us today at 810.230.9455.

Sep, 2022

Our Experience Means Substantial Benefits for You and Your Business

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.

Sep, 2022

Your Choice of IT Support Makes a Huge Difference

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.

Jul, 2022

Why a Creative IT Team is an Asset to Seek Out

If you work with technology, then you are likely to have a good idea of what innovation is and isn’t. Innovation is born from creativity, and while it’s not often associated with business IT, there is something to be said for how technology professionals solve problems in a creative fashion, solving problems with solutions available either in-house or on the market. Today, we are focusing on how this creativity can be an asset and how you can foster creative thought in your office.

Creative Thinking Can Benefit Your Business

Whether it’s in IT or elsewhere, you can expect a creative team to bring many benefits to the table. All that said, your IT team in particular can benefit from this creative mindset. Let’s examine some of the benefits they can expect from this new way of thinking.

Greater Efficiency

If someone is creative, they might start to think outside the box more often, meaning they will be more apt to consider ways to solve problems, thus leading to greater efficiency in the workplace. If you want to accomplish goals faster, a creative thinker will help you get there.

Results-Driven Problem Solving

Creative thought lends itself well to results-driven problem solving. Your creative team will be more apt to complete their objectives, and they will be more empowered to focus on not just the payout, but the process as well. Even if their processes don’t work, a creative team will be sure to find alternative ways to solve their problems.

Improved Thought Processes

People will have more productive thought processes if you encourage them to be creative. Creativity breeds innovation, and these improved thought processes will allow your team to think about problems from different perspectives.

Leadership Development

Creative people tend to take leadership and own their work, as well as its challenges and struggles. If you give your team time to develop these leadership skills, even in a smaller or less-complex context, you might find that your internal processes can be significantly improved.

Building a More Creative Team

Next, let’s take a look at some questions you might consider when trying to create this creative team for your business.

How Can You Encourage Collaboration?

Despite the way it might seem, IT is by default not a very collaborative part of your business. That doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about this, though. You can try to break your team up into groups with the goal of finding the solution to a specific problem. This gives your team the ability to focus down on various challenges in a low-stakes environment while also giving them opportunities to learn from each other.

What Do Customers Want?

Another opportunity to foster creative thought is to challenge your team members to think about how they have made a difference for your customers and clients. By limiting it to your customers and clients, you’re forcing them to think in a more creative way, as well as in a context that they might not necessarily have considered in the past.

How Can You Foster All Ideas?

Not all ideas can be successfully implemented, but this doesn’t mean to discredit ideas that you don’t deem feasible. It can sometimes be a good thing to encourage thinking or dreaming big about the future, and who knows? Maybe some of these ideas can be implemented in the near future, even if they cannot be pulled off at the moment.

Let Us Help Your Team Build Their Creativity

The greatest barrier to your team’s creative endeavors is time. If your schedules are full of tasks that get in the way of innovation, like management, maintenance, and supporting the rest of your employees, then naturally they will find themselves with less time to focus on other creative tasks.

NuTech Services can give you back this time by taking over some of the more menial tasks your IT department might traditionally have handled. To learn more about how we can help your business be more innovative, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Jul, 2022

Know How Much is Needed to Ensure Your Business’ IT

It’s fair to say that, across the board, times have been particularly tough as of late for businesses. On top of businesses having to fight through the socioeconomic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain issues, they also have to juggle more data than ever.

In short, businesses need reliable and cost-effective ways to manage their critical technologies.

Managed Services Can Provide Modern Businesses with a Reprieve

Pardon me for asking about your financial situation, but how are you currently paying for your IT services? Is your current strategy sustainable over time? If yours is one of the many businesses who answer the first question with “on a case-by-case basis,” the answer to the second is almost certainly a resounding “no.”

The issue with pay-as-you-go IT services is that there’s no motivation for the provider to solve issues in the long term.

Think about it—when a company’s bottom line relies on your IT having issues every now and again, it goes against their best interests to prevent them. After all, if you don’t need them on a fairly regular basis, their business model collapses.

Managed services, on the other hand, are designed to take the opposite tack. Rather than charging on a per-case basis for each issue you encounter, the all-inclusive nature of managed services ensures that your business is covered by a comprehensive agreement. So long as it falls under this agreement—and most things do—we’ll take care of it on your behalf.

This Predictability is Something that Today’s Businesses Need

As we’ve established, today’s times are uncertain—for many of us, in a way that is unprecedented in our memories. With this uncertainty, business can become far more challenging to maintain.

However, the predictability that our managed services can provide to what is commonly the most volatile part of a business’ budget makes it far easier to keep your business in the black. By eliminating the potential of a lot of the issues that would otherwise incur severe costs, managed services put your business in the position to succeed.

Reach out to us today to learn more about our managed services, and what it takes to implement them. Give us a call at 810.230.9455.

Jun, 2022

Computers Don’t Like Physical Persuasion

Sometimes it might be tempting to just smack your computer to make it work appropriately, and while it’s often a joke that this can fix the problem, it’s not something that we would recommend you get used to doing. Let’s discuss why it might not be a good idea to abuse your computer.

Repair-via-Violence is Sometimes Referred to as Percussive Maintenance

Yes, there is an actual term for hitting your technology to make it work. According to Techopedia, the definition is as follows:

“In IT, percussive maintenance is the art of shaking, banging or pounding on something, in order to make it work. Experts generally define percussive maintenance as the use of rough impact on physical hardware to solve some type of malfunction.”

It might work for you in your own life, particularly with technology like radios or televisions, but why shouldn’t you do this with your office technology?

Because It Can Break Your Business’ Technology, That’s Why

The reason why percussive maintenance might work sometimes is that issues can come about due to loose connections, and the impact could actually reposition the internal components. However, the opposite could happen, and you could damage your computer even more.

Comparatively speaking, the odds of making a problem worse through percussive maintenance are just as high as you resolving the problem. It’s not a risk that you want to take with something as expensive and important as your office technology. It’s like dropping your phone; your heart drops as you fumble with it, knowing full well that it will cause more harm than good if it hits the ground.

Even though percussive maintenance has been known to work on occasion, it’s not something that we ever recommend. You should leave your computer problems to us so that you don’t have to beat your technology to make it work.

With Managed Services, You’ll Have a Better Option than Just Hitting Your Device

NuTech Services can help you identify the causes of your technology problems and take the appropriate steps to resolve them. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Mar, 2022

How Proactive IT Management Works Better

How does your company manage its technology? Does it struggle with the idea of managing multiple workstations, server units, networking components, mobile devices, and more? If so, then read on—we have some tips to help you better manage the many different technological parts of your organization.

Keep in mind that this is general advice that can be applied to just about any company. If you want specific advice, we are happy to have a discussion with you with a network consultation!

Less Is More

The more complex an IT infrastructure gets, the more difficult it gets to manage. Therefore, in order to keep your infrastructure as easy to manage as possible, we recommend keeping things simple, or as simple as is appropriate for your business practices. The reason for this is that IT infrastructures with large amounts of varied software and hardware can be difficult to keep centralized and monitored without a dedicated technician to keep tabs on it.

Proactive is Better

If we asked you whether it is better to deal with problems that have derailed your productivity or to prevent them entirely and dodge that bullet, what would you say? Proactive maintenance is one of the most important parts of running any IT infrastructure. If problems persist and grow to be so bad that they cause downtime, then you are leaving money on the table and putting your business at risk. It’s better to just keep the issues from growing to become this bad in the first place.

Outsource When Necessary

We know that not all companies have access to the same talented group of IT technicians, and this lack of talent can often lead to businesses foregoing IT maintenance altogether or relying on existing resources that are not adequately trained or prepared to handle this responsibility. In situations like this, you can rely on outsourcing to an appropriate third party. Even if you have an in-house IT department, outsourcing can be a valuable investment to save your business

If you want to take the guesswork out of IT management, NuTech Services can help with that, too. Our trained technicians can provide all of the support you need to ensure maximum productivity and efficiency with your network and IT resources. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Jan, 2022

Here are Some of the Most Popular Technology Resolutions for 2022

With every new year comes new resolutions designed to help you defeat bad habits and bring better ones into your organization. Here are a couple of resolutions you can adopt for your business, particularly in terms of technology management and IT.

“I Resolve to Put Security First.”

Cybersecurity is one of the most important parts of running a business, especially as more and more operations shift to an online environment. Today’s threats range from minor inconveniences to major security breaches that threaten a business’ continuity. That being said, you need to take it seriously now by implementing cybersecurity awareness and preventative measures long before you suffer from a breach.

There are several simple ways you can improve your business’ security. First, you must implement and maintain basic cybersecurity protections like a firewall and antivirus. Second, your team must also understand how to respond to threats directed at them and what needs to be done to mitigate them. Phishing attacks are still quite common, so they must be prepared. Finally, your team needs to know which behaviors they exhibit make your business vulnerable. Proper training on best practices can go a long way toward mitigating these challenges.

“I Resolve to Make the Most of My Technology.”

In simple terms, your team relies on two sets of technology: the one you currently use and the one you will implement in the future. You can adopt a mindset that allows your business to prioritize both of these. Your current solutions, for example, require your team to have knowledge of how to maximize the value they get out of them—a process which will likely require extensive training. If you can identify the core software and applications your business uses and commit time to training each of your users on them, you can more effectively utilize them in the present and the future.

As for looking forward, it’s always helpful to keep an eye out for new innovations and up-and-coming technologies that you could implement later on. If you can embrace new technologies and approaches that mesh well with your business model, you’ll get the most out of your solutions and the resources using them.

“I Resolve to Encourage My Team’s Collaboration.”

Collaboration is a priority for many organizations, but bringing a team together to make sure that it is done appropriately and efficiently is an excellent resolution to consider in the new year. Many modern applications have built-in collaboration tools which make it easier than ever to provide effective means of collaboration for your team. You just have to make sure that the people on the team are aware of the features and actively use them.

Wherever your priorities lie this year, we are confident that we can help you achieve them. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Dec, 2021

Give Your Organization the Gift of Technology

Each year we try to come up with a creative Christmas article that ties IT into one of the many holiday fables, but this year we thought we would just forgo the pageantry and talk a little bit about how important our client’s are and what we can do to help take them where they want to go.

Anyone who runs a small business has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ebbs and flows in business that have resulted from it, and the overall uncertain feeling of “what next?” Many businesses haven’t made it and others are on the brink, even as people have begun to normalize their routines. Our dedication to helping all of our Michigan partners handle this difficult period in stride coming out more prosperous on the other end, is the plan. How do we accomplish this? Let’s take a look:

Keeping a Business Running

The most important part about running a business is that the business is available to sell the product or service, and that in the course of doing so, you don’t often pay for nothing. When your organization’s technology falters, you typically need to figure out how to fix it. If this happens quite a bit, you are looking at significant downtime, potential data loss, and the financial issues both create.

It’s not a good situation.

Our services provide a solution to those problems. First, we assess your network to let decision makers know what systems are mission critical and which ones are less so. Then we remotely monitor critical systems around the clock to ensure that network-connected devices are working as intended. If there are signs of inconsistency, our staff of certified technicians can typically fix the issues before they cause downtime.

What’s more, we provide your staff access to a comprehensive help desk that can help them solve any number of computer-related problems quickly and efficiently. This keeps your team productive, your technology running smoothly, and downtime to a minimum.

There will be times when a network-attached device is not repairable remotely and it will require technical support or replacement. Since our technicians will know before the component fails, we can ensure that you get the repairs/replacements needed before having to deal with large swaths of downtime.

Finally, in order to ensure that a business’ data is secured, we deploy a data backup and disaster recovery service that incrementally copies your data so that you don’t lose much if you need to use it. There are dozens of different reasons that an organization would have to use their backup, so with our BDR service, you get data redundancy onsite, as well as in the cloud, to ensure that any situation in which you may need to restore or migrate data is covered.

Promoting Security

During the pandemic the threat landscape became more dangerous due to the opportunities presented by the many relief programs that have been rolled out. Add this to the increase in ransomware and phishing attacks that were expected, it makes it a constant struggle for most businesses to keep up.

At NuTech Services, we don’t just keep up, we use all of our resources and accrued knowledge to keep our client’s as safe as possible. We can outfit businesses with a myriad of security tools including firewalls, content filters, virtual private networks, spam blockers, and many more.

That’s just the beginning of what we can do to keep your business’ IT secure.

We ensure all of your software is patched and updated regularly to reduce the exploitation of potential vulnerabilities (and to ensure that you have all the new features that software updates provide). Since software is the lifeblood of most businesses, securing that crucial avenue of potential attack can stop a lot of issues, but it won’t stop them all. It’s for this reason that we also work with you to help put in policies, procedures, and training platforms that can substantially reduce your organization’s exposure to today’s worst threats.

Cybersecurity is one of the most critical components of the modern business’ IT strategy, and with the experts we have on staff in your organization’s corner, you will be able to be more effective, more efficient, and see many fewer issues.

Using Innovation

One aspect of our jobs that we find absolutely critical—and our clients find indispensable—is our commitment to knowing how to deploy technology in such a way that it basically pays for itself. Any business owner knows that technology isn’t cheap, but if it is deployed the right way, the return on your IT investments can be massive.

We like to keep our finger on the pulse of technology to find innovative new tools that can really push the needle for your business’ ability to operate effectively. From deploying and managing Internet of Things (IoT) devices, to outfitting your business with high-end tools like document management, to a comprehensive list of communications and collaboration tools that can allow your business to quicken the pace; NuTech Services has access to the knowledge and expertise needed to help integrate it for your business.

You can do a lot with technology, and we can do a lot with clients willing to trust us to do what’s best for their company. We would like to thank all of you for another great year, even if it was one of the most turbulent we can remember. We hope you all have a Merry Christmas tomorrow and a pleasant holiday season.

Dec, 2021

IT Management’s Biggest Challenge can be Settled with Managed Services

How does your business manage its IT resources? Do you have a chief information officer, or CIO, in-house who manages everything related to your technology? If not, who is the one responsible for managing and maintaining your systems? If you don’t know the answer to this question, we have a reality check for you: you need to.

First, let’s establish a baseline for how businesses have traditionally handled technology management. Then we will transition into how managed service providers change the name of the game and what benefits they offer to small businesses in particular.

Traditional Technology Management in the Office

Depending on the size of the business, this might look a bit differently. Some companies have a CIO who is responsible for making all major technology decisions for the organization. Others have network administrators who handle this responsibility. Some businesses do not have any dedicated IT resources, instead choosing to have their employees handle any basic technology management or maintenance as needed, regardless of their current responsibilities and duties. Trust us when we say that you do not want to fall into the trap of relying on employees who have no business managing technology doing so; it helps no one to have unqualified employees responsible for something as important as your IT infrastructure.

Thankfully, small businesses have an alternative: outsourcing this responsibility to a managed service provider, or MSP.

Managed Service Providers

Companies that don’t have internal IT resources still have an opportunity to keep their technology in proper working order, and it starts with the idea of outsourcing the requirement to a managed service provider, or MSP. Basically, MSPs are businesses that provide comprehensive technology management services. Their entire business model centers around this concept of making technology management as affordable and accessible as possible. It’s basically like having an entire IT department without having multiple salaries in your budget or going through the hiring process for each of them.

The Benefits of MSP Offerings

There are so many benefits to working with a managed service provider that it is impossible to list them all here, but know that many of them involve the following: hands-off IT management on your business’ part, more manageable monthly payments that effectively transform capital expenses into operational costs, and peace of mind knowing that your organization not only receives routine maintenance for your IT infrastructure, but also has access to trusted IT resources at a moment’s notice.

Notice how each of these benefits has to do with making IT management easy for your company. This is intentional on our end; we want you to see that not just large enterprises have the resources to stay competitive in today’s technology-centric business environment.

Get Started Today!

Don’t let technology be a pain point for your business. Let the professionals at NuTech Services help you manage and maintain your IT infrastructure so you can focus on what you do best: running your business. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Dec, 2021

WARNING: Widespread Log4j Vulnerability is a Massive Danger to Businesses

Before this week, you probably never heard about Log4j. Right now, though, it’s the biggest topic in cybersecurity due to a massive vulnerability that is estimated to affect millions of devices. Your business needs to take this seriously.

What is Log4j?

Without getting too deep into the roots, when developers create software and applications, they rely on different programming languages. For instance, Java has been a common programming language since the early 90s. Java contains libraries that developers can utilize, and one of these libraries, known as Log4j, was recently discovered to have a major vulnerability in it. This vulnerability has been around for years, but now that it is out in the open, cybercriminals are likely to take advantage of it to steal data and infiltrate networks.

The scope of this is huge. The vulnerability impacts some common names in the technology world, such as:

Amazon
Apple
Cisco
Fortinet
Google
IBM
Microsoft
SonicWall
Sophos
VMware

…as well as others, large and small. Even the United States’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is affected.

Does Log4j Affect My Business?

It’s pretty likely. Not to sound repetitive, but this is a major, major issue, and anyone using software or running a system with this vulnerability is putting themselves, their data, and their business at risk. It doesn’t just affect Microsoft and Apple, it affects all of us, because we all use Microsoft and Apple services.

How to Protect Yourself from the Log4j Vulnerability

For the most part, you need to rely on the security patches and updates your vendors provide for your software. Unless you develop your own applications, in which case then the onus is on you, you are at the mercy of your vendors.

Fortunately, most of the major vendors are scrambling to get security patches out. That said, it’s up to you to apply them. If you have software that is no longer receiving updates (such as older applications that have reached end-of-life, or have surpassed your license agreement), you’ll need to have someone determine if they utilize Log4j and come up with a game plan from there. Cases like this are going to get pretty hairy, so we suggest acting quickly.

Technology and the Internet are a Little Less Safe, so It’s Up to You to Protect Yourself

Since this vulnerability has such a wide impact, it really is up to you as an individual to make sure you are practicing good cybersecurity hygiene. Utilizing weak passwords like “123password” or using the same password across multiple accounts is a terrible, dangerous habit. You need to be using strong password best practices, such as:

Using a unique password for each account and website
Using a mix of alphanumeric characters and symbols
Using a sufficiently complex passcode to help with memorability without shorting your security
Keeping passwords to yourself

Let’s Audit your Technology ASAP

Don’t put your business at risk by ignoring the dangers of this vulnerability. You should have your network audited to ensure that everything on your network is thoroughly patched and determine if any systems are utilizing Log4j. It’s just a matter of time before we start seeing widespread exploitation of this vulnerability, so time is of the essence.

Give NuTech Services a call at 810.230.9455 to schedule an appointment, even if you aren’t a client. This is very serious, and we don’t want to see local businesses struggle from this.

Nov, 2021

Our Technicians Can Deliver A Lot of Value

If you don’t properly maintain your technology, then it’s simply not going to be one of your company’s strengths. It’s a simple statement, but it’s one that many modern businesses fail to act upon. A managed service provider can make it much easier to get the technology maintenance your business needs to succeed. Let’s take a closer look at the people who deliver these services to your organization.

The Modern IT Technician

The accepted norm for years was that the computer technician’s job was to fix individual PCs. Unfortunately, as technology grew ever-more-complex, so too did the responsibilities of these positions. It’s not enough to have technical assistance these days; technicians must have knowledge which encompasses all facets of business technology.

Today’s technician must be hired outright or as a part of an expert team like those at NuTech Services, and to make matters more complicated, they must know all kinds of things about technology of varying complexities. They need to know how to fix a computer, as well as how to do it remotely, including how to manage and install networks, identify and mitigate threats, how to structure a business’ IT around their goals, and most important of all, how to do all of the above in a fast-paced environment.

Ultimately, a competent IT technician needs to be an effective problem solver and knowledgeable about a plethora of best practices. They may also need to pick up certifications in various skills and softwares. These certifications are not easy to achieve, either; they require a certain level of knowledge and expertise, to be sure. Here are some of the certifications you might expect from technicians:

CompTIA A+: Perhaps one of the most well-recognized certifications out there, CompTIA A+ certification means that the holder is competent across hardware, software, and problem solving in a variety of computing platforms. There is also a specific security certification (CompTIA Security+) for those who are competent in basic security practices and troubleshooting.
Microsoft Certified Professional: Microsoft is perhaps the most established software vendor for businesses, so holding certifications in these softwares is extremely valuable. Some of the certifications include Office Specialist, Certified Solution Developer, and more. A technician holding these credentials is a serious boon for any business that uses Microsoft products.
CISSP: Certified Information System Security Professional is one of the most recognized security-specific certifications a technician can earn.
Oracle or Microsoft SQL Certifications: Databases are not the easiest thing to manage, but they are important for any business. These certifications are perfect for technicians proficient in SQL management.
ITIL: Help desk technicians should have the Information Technology Infrastructure Library certification to show that they have a clear understanding of industry standard best practices.

If your technicians are certified, you’ll know that they have the skills necessary to help your business succeed. If you want more information on how our technicians can help your organization, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank our great techs at NuTech Services for their hard work and dedication!

Nov, 2021

You Can Tell a Lot About Your Business by Monitoring Your Network

Network security is one aspect of your business that absolutely should not be underestimated. In fact, many companies fail to adequately monitor their networks, and it can lead to many complications down the road. Why is it so critical to monitor your network, and how can you make sure that your business is actually doing it?

Let’s say that your day-to-day operations are proceeding without a hitch. Over time, however, small things start to go wrong. Files start to go missing or settings are slightly tweaked. You might also see some network slowdown. In any case, these issues can compound and you might not notice that they are issues until something seriously odd happens.

By the time you choose to investigate, things are getting seriously bad. It turns out that one of your users has been accessing your network and making these odd changes, but the strange thing is that you know this user personally. They would never do anything like this, and they deny that they have been making any changes to your network. So, who do you believe?

Further investigation shows that the user has been accessing their account from an unknown IP address and from a different country, something which confirms your worst nightmare. Your network has been breached thanks to a compromised account, and since you were not looking for this from the start, who knows how much damage has been done?

Situations like the one outlined above are exactly why you need to keep a close watch on your network. Otherwise, how can you know when inconsistencies like these are a legitimate problem? If you don’t think to look where problems exist, you won’t discover any. While knowing the truth might be scary, the consequences are even more terrifying.

You don’t have time to monitor your network like this and keep operations moving, which is why we at NuTech Services offer comprehensive remote monitoring and network security services. We can keep a close watch on your network for these types of issues to make sure that threats don’t fly under the radar on your network.

With solutions like our unified threat management tool and multi-factor authentication, alongside access controls and password management, you can know for sure that your organization has done all it can to keep itself safe from threats. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Nov, 2021

A 5-Step Guide to Troubleshooting Technology Problems

When something goes wrong, it makes sense that you have a process in place to go over the issue and find a solution. This process, also known as troubleshooting, will have several variables that must be accounted for, but the general process itself remains unchanged. Here are the five steps to troubleshooting any problem, as well as ensuring that the issue does not become more problematic in the future.

Collect Information

The first part of the troubleshooting process is to collect as much information as possible about the problem. What is the issue you are experiencing? What is the scope of the problem? Is it localized to your computer or is it a network-wide issue? Either way, you will need to collect as much information as possible so that you can make the best decision regarding how to approach the issue. It helps to try replicating the issue and documenting how you came about it.

Analyze Your Approach

Once you have collected enough information, it’s time to put that information to use and determine the appropriate path forward. Go through the information with a fine-toothed comb and examine which information is relevant to resolving the problem. You will likely change up your strategy for resolving the issue depending on what you discover and the amount of information you have collected, if enough is available at all. Use this information to build out a detailed plan to tackle the issue at hand.

Implement Your Solution

With a solid plan of action, you can take steps toward implementing a solution that addresses the issue at hand. Again, we want to emphasize that you should only act if you are confident that your fix actually addresses the problem you are experiencing. If you are not confident that you can solve the problem, then it is critical that you do more research, as implementing a solution incorrectly or under the wrong circumstances could simply make the problem worse.

Assess the Solution

Following the implementation of your solution, it should become clear whether or not the solution actually worked or not. Of course, sometimes solutions are little more than stop-gaps, or short-term fixes that resolve the problem now while you figure out a better one. It’s important that you know the difference between the two and to have realistic expectations about whether or not your solution will stand the test of time.

Document the Process

Once the solution has been implemented and it has been deemed an appropriate fix, you should update your internal documents with information on the fix so that you can prevent the issue from becoming quite so bad in the future. Be sure to detail what the resolution process was, from start to finish, in the most clear terms possible. Write up the documentation so that anyone who needs to consult it in the future can do so without feeling like they are in over their head.

If all of this sounds like a bit much to handle, don’t worry! Need a hand with troubleshooting technology issues with your business? NuTech Services can help your organization overcome any and all technology troubles you might encounter during your day-to-day operations. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Aug, 2021

Outsource Your Cybersecurity Needs to Ensure You Get the Best Talent

To be adept at a task is to say that the one doing the task is a professional, or someone with substantial knowledge that can be used to effectively complete the task. Cybersecurity is one such area where having a considerable amount of knowledge is of particular importance to help navigate the complex environment surrounding it. How can your organization achieve this level of mindfulness and expertise?

First, we need to establish the many challenges that small businesses must overcome regarding cybersecurity. Then, we will explain how you too can achieve the same level of cybersecurity success as security professionals.

The Challenges of Security for SMBs

Security is a major pain point for small businesses, and those that do not take it seriously might think themselves immune to the dangers. It does not matter what industry you are in, the size of your organization, or the data you store; hackers can and will take advantage of any opportunities to cause trouble for you, and they will find value in whatever data they can get. That said, many small businesses do want to be more mindful of security, but they do not know how to approach it. Oftentimes they might find they lack funding to hire internal talent, like a cybersecurity professional, something that holds them back from properly securing their organization.

What Does It Mean to Be a Cybersecurity Professional?

But what is a cybersecurity professional, anyway? What kind of skills and character traits should you look for in a cybersecurity professional? Here are some that you should consider when looking for the key to your cybersecurity talent:

A focus on proactive, preventative defenses rather than a reactive approach
A divorce from security biases that prevent one from making objective decisions
The technical knowledge and expertise necessary to understand cyberthreats
An understanding that security also requires training of staff and higher level executives
The flexibility to adapt to new threats and learn from them

The one steering your organization’s cybersecurity strategy will ultimately need to have all of the above. If they do not, chances are your organization will be placed at risk, perhaps not necessarily immediately, but certainly in the future.

How to Become a Cybersecurity Adept Yourself

Look, we understand that the human mind is capable of learning and absorbing countless bits of information, but cybersecurity is one aspect that is so complex that it can take years to learn everything you need to know to keep your business safe. The only way you are going to overcome the challenges of the cybersecurity landscape is with a trained and experienced professional on your side. It’s not easy to accrue this knowledge in the short term, which is why so many organizations choose to outsource this responsibility or hire a dedicated in-house cybersecurity professional to address these needs.

There is something to be said for when you can admit you’re in over your head, and with cybersecurity, there is no more dangerous position to be in. You can make the experience much less stressful by outsourcing your company’s cybersecurity to professionals who have invested countless hours, days, and years into learning the complexities of the industry. With NuTech Services on your side, you can know that your organization is devoting the time and effort necessary to securing its infrastructure. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Apr, 2021

The SMB’s Checklist for Necessary IT Services

Managed IT services have grown from a niche offering to a well-known concept in recent years, with many businesses already relying on outsourced IT services to some degree. In many ways, this only makes sense, as it allows businesses to enjoy access to services that would otherwise cost too much for them to independently adopt and support.

Of course, your choice of managed service provider will make a difference. Here, we’ve compiled a few key variables to keep in mind as you select a managed service provider.

Speed and Efficiency

Let’s face facts: enlisting an external provider is only going to do your business so much good if that provider can’t provide their services more expeditiously than an internal IT pro could. That’s why we’re very proud of the proactive nature that our services possess. Rather than waiting for our clients to report to us with a problem to be solved, our advanced monitoring and management software enables us to keep your network and essential hardware running effectively, proactively identifying and patching roadblocks as they are identified—not after they’ve already created delays.

With the importance that a business’ IT solutions have to its productivity, an IT service provider has a critical role to fill as they work to keep everything operational as consistently as possible. Don’t settle for a provider who promises anything less than that.

Disaster Recovery

With the prevalence of potential disasters looming, the capability to weather them is an incredibly crucial consideration for any business to take on. With the IT services provided by NuTech Services, this prospect becomes much simpler to handle through the implementation of a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery system. Not only will your data be protected, but you will also have access to the professional experience of our technicians, prepared to help get your business back on its feet after being struck by some misfortune at any scale.

Readily Available Support

When it comes to your business’ technology, Murphy’s Law is very much a factor—what can go wrong, likely will. Passwords will likely be forgotten, computers will have issues, and software will crash. Working with NuTech Services gives you access to a comprehensive help desk that your staff can access for assistance with such matters. A direct line to our certified team will give your employees the lifeline they’ll need should (and when) something goes wrong.

Smart and Realistic IT Budgeting

Finally, it is important to mention that we understand that your business most likely doesn’t have a bottomless budget for its IT, making it especially important to plan to get the most value out of the investments you can make. Between supporting your team members, maintaining the technology that your processes are based on, and dealing with your assorted vendors and service providers, a controlled and comprehensive strategy becomes a crucial facet to see to. This is another task that our team is well-suited for, working with you to maximize the return you see for your investments without necessarily maximizing these investments themselves.

Enjoy the Peace of Mind that Managed IT Can Bring

Whether you already have a managed service agreement and are looking for a more providing provider, or you’re still managing your modern technology through antiquated methods, we encourage you to reach out to learn more about our services. We’re committed to improving your business’ operations by helping to care for the technology that enables them.

Learn more about what we offer by calling us at 810.230.9455 today.

Jan, 2021

2021 is Poised to Hold Some Big IT Challenges to Overcome

Considering that 2020 was… less than great for many businesses, it should come as no surprise that there will likely be difficulties that carry on for some time into 2021. Naturally, these difficulties will require some new ideas and fresh thinking to properly resolve, as well as an openness to adopting innovative technologies. Let’s look ahead to some of the IT challenges we anticipate that 2021 will hold for businesses.

Reconsidering Where Work is Done

Before the events of 2020, the approach that businesses took to remote work (if any) effectively boiled down to enable 20 percent or so of their workforce being capable of working out-of-office while the remaining 80 percent stayed in the office. Once the various issues and events of 2020 came about, however, these trends effectively flipped for many—if not transitioning to remote entirely.

As a result, companies have needed to make various changes to not only enable their team members to work productively from home, but also to do so safely… a need that will not go away throughout 2021.

Depending on the device that a user is working on—and more specifically, who owns the device in question—different security protocols and processes need to be put in place. Remote monitoring and management will be crucial to continue, especially if remote work of any scale remains once the pressing need to work remotely passes.

Ensuring Uptime and Resisting Burnout

Taking the surge in remote work strategies into consideration, the matter of preserving productivity becomes another particularly pertinent topic to discuss. Uptime becomes the key word, as anything less than 100 percent is seen as a shortcoming… after all, if a business can’t provide that for its clients and customers, the trust that they’ve built up is going to diminish considerably. By maintaining their uptime, the business can instead take advantage of that trust in different ways that advance its operations.

With such an uncertain year just behind us, businesses will need to ensure that these clients can trust in their services.

Furthermore, to accomplish this fully, a business also must ensure that its team members are prepared to deliver these services as needed. This makes work fatigue and burnout a serious threat. To help minimize the potential for this outcome as employees are working from home, the solutions that they’re using must be reliable enough to avoid the chance of exacerbating employee frustration.

Reexamining Budget Allocation

Finally, with business finances in flux after the last year, the investments that businesses make into their tools will need to be reconsidered and adjusted to optimize them. This will require an examination of each solution’s return on investment and how well it serves its intended purpose.

This means that 2021 will likely see some shifts in how businesses invest in cloud-based services as compared to locally hosted solutions, and what level of priority is given to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and other similar solutions.

From where we stand now, 2021 stands to be a year of shifts and shakeups—make sure that your business has the support it needs to make it through. NuTech Services can help. Find out what we can do to assist your operations by calling 810.230.9455.

Dec, 2020

Where MSP Services Come From

For most people, the term tech support is pretty self-explanatory. The terms managed services and MSP… not so much. Let’s go over what makes managed services and what we do as a managed service provider so different from the IT support you may be used to. To start, we’ll review where the idea of an MSP came from, and end with what one like us can do for you.

Defining Managed Services

On a very fundamental level, managed services and tech support are very different due to the way they operate.

Traditional tech support, also referred to as break-fix IT, are those that most people think of. Whenever a piece of technology breaks down or has some other issue, an IT technician is called to fix it. This was the predominant—and really, the only—option to receive any level of IT support for some time, despite the expensive repeat visits and prolonged operational interruptions that came with it. For larger enterprises, hiring full-time IT staff solved this problem. It’s still costly, and often too costly for small businesses, but it does lead to faster turnaround times and ongoing support.

On the other hand, managed services are specifically designed with the small-to-medium-sized business in mind. Instead of waiting around for a company to call with an IT issue, a managed service provider will instead proactively monitor a company’s solutions to ensure nothing goes wrong in the first place. We’ll go a little deeper into how this is particularly beneficial later on, after we review how managed services came to be.

The Development of IT Support Services

Back when computers were first made available to businesses, small regional providers known as system builders that would construct generic computers for companies to use began to pop up. Large companies soon followed suit, and as a result, the high price of personal computers was reduced significantly.

In response to this change, system builders shifted away from the labor-intensive creation of computers to simply reselling those that the larger companies made. This gave them the title of systems reseller and proved to be a lucrative approach… especially without the Internet to facilitate direct-to-consumer computer sales.

Despite this, resellers discovered that they could generate higher profits by adding to what the manufacturers were providing. This led to the development of value-added resellers, or VARs. These VARs would sell the machines to consumers, as well as help install them and add them to existing computer networks. These networks and their needed infrastructure grew in importance as the Internet became a viable tool for businesses to use in the 1990s.

It was then that the VARs became systems integrators, and commonly provided break-fix repair services.

As the 1990s approached the 2000s, IT services were common enough for providers to start to act as advisors to their clients, recommending tools and introducing best practices into the clients’ networks. It was then that the term IT consultant was used.

Finally, with businesses relying on their technology more than ever before, it was no longer sustainable to solve problems after they happened. This helped drive the idea of proactive monitoring, remote maintenance, and online service delivery forward. At this point, the managed service provider was a reality, with the security of proactive support delivered in return for a set monthly fee.

What Can an MSP Do for My Business?

Today, managed services are the right choice for a business that wants to improve its operations while managing their time and budget more effectively. With a single provider taking care of all its IT management and maintenance needs, a business subscribed to these services gets to enjoy clear operational benefits with the confidence that their technology is reliable.

NuTech Services is proud to be known as an MSP, delivering top-notch solutions and services to businesses in a sustainable and beneficial way. To learn more about how we can assist you in your operations, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

Dec, 2020

How Managed Services Developed into What They Are

When you see that we offer tech support, you almost certainly have an idea of what that means. However, upon hearing about our typical service delivery for the first time, many people are really surprised by how different our services—as a managed service provider—are. These differences are not an accident. Let’s go back in time a little while to explore how managed services came about, and what difference they could make for you.

What are Managed Services?

Let’s start off with a very basic description of what “managed services” are, as compared to the common impression of “tech support.” Whenever one thinks about “tech support” or “IT,” they’re likely thinking of the break-fix version: some piece of information technology breaks or malfunctions, so IT is called in to fix it. While this proved effective enough, it also led to a lot of repeat visits… oftentimes for things that were relatively simple to fix.

Managed services are a different approach, tailored particularly for small to medium-sized businesses. Instead of waiting for something to go wrong, a company will enlist a managed service provider—or MSP—to proactively monitor their IT to help prevent issues from impacting it. This brings a variety of benefits that we’ll touch upon later. Right now, we wanted to look back and consider how this approach was first devised and deployed.

The History of Computer Support and Services

As computers were first introduced into the business landscape, so-called system builders—small regional businesses that offered “white box”, or generic computers—would offer other businesses their services. Large companies soon joined in, and this resulted in the prices of personal computers plummeting.

To adapt, system builders quickly shifted from constructing labor-intensive computer systems to reselling what the large companies would offer, making the systems reseller a lucrative thing to be. After all, before the Internet helped link the manufacturer to the end user, these manufacturers needed a go-between to get these devices into a customer’s hands. However, as time passed, these resellers realized that they needed to do more. As a result, systems resellers phased into “VARs”, or value-added resellers.

Basically, VARs were computer resellers who would not only sell the machines but would also assist with the installation and networking of these systems. As the Internet became more applicable to business needs and challenges in the early 1990s, this networking (and the additional equipment needed to support it) only became more crucial.

At this point, the VARs became known as the systems integrators, as this more accurately described their function. This point in time was also the high point for break/fix IT repair services.

As the late ‘90s rolled around, IT services were commonplace enough that providers were frequently stepping into advisory roles for their clients, making recommendations and implementing best practices. With this shift, systems integrators adopted the title of IT consultants.

Of course, as the technology used by businesses became more advanced and capable, repairing issues as they arose became less feasible. This, paired with the remote capabilities that the Internet was able to support, made the idea of proactive maintenance and online solution delivery a workable possibility.

Thus, managed services were born, with service providers delivering up-to-date and optimized solutions in exchange for a set monthly rate.

What Do Managed Services Entail?

Nowadays, managed services have risen to become the preferred choice for businesses in the know, thanks to the improvements that these businesses see to their productivity and operations. With a single provider attending to all a business’ IT-related needs, working with a managed service provider has shown to have clear operational benefits.

At NuTech Services, our team of professionals is proud to provide the best managed services that businesses could ask for at a reasonable, all-inclusive rate. Interested in learning more about our services? Reach out to our team by calling 810.230.9455 today.