Disaster can strike at anytime and in most cases with little or no warning. While we may be able to predict certain weather systems or anticipate general problems such as power outages, for the most part it is almost impossible to know when a disaster will strike. To protect your clients and your business in the event of an emergency you must cover all the basics before disaster strikes. Both managed service providers and the companies they support should have a business continuity plan (BCP) as

There is a growing need these days for companies to be flexible in allowing employees the ability to work from home if the pandemic continues to worsen. Available technologies such as remote access secured by VPN (Virtual Private Networking) provide the capability to offer this to remote workers.

Many major corporations already have remote access services in place to help their field service personnel access company resources. So the first thing to do is to contact your IT department or IT provid

Every dollar a small business spends needs to have an immediate and quantifiable return. This is especially true for critical services such as I.T. support. If you are one of the millions of small businesses that depend upon your technology to keep your business running, proactive Managed Services will save you money, improve your efficiencies and reduce your downtime.

The Solution

With the advent of new monitoring tools and the ability to remotely deliver help desk services to small businesses al

Social media provides a way for businesses to increase their "word of mouth" advertising. Word of mouth has always been a powerful method of promoting products and services. Think about it - when you need a new mechanic for your car, do you trust the advertisements in the newspaper or your friend who tells you how great their mechanic is?

Social networking makes it possible to establish relationships and build trust online, which allows businesses to indirectly market their products and services

We maintain our computers similarly to how we maintain our own health - rarely do we take the time to learn about preventing health complications, and instead work to repair our health once we've become ill! We take care of our computers the same way, in that we rarely think about the safety or well-being of our data until something happens that leads to data loss or corruption.

Have you ever taken a moment to imagine what would happen if you lost some or all of your computer files at work?  Thin

Macs are becoming more and more commonplace in business.  The first thing every business owner and Mac user needs to know now is that Macs are not immune to malware.  Here are some things to keep in mind if you use (or are thinking of using) Mac computers in your workplace:

The Problem:

1) Mac viruses have been around since 1982 and they only get more common as Apple's platform becomes more popular.  Early viruses were transmitted via floppy disks, starting with worms like LEAP and LAMZEV.  As the

The economy is showing signs of recovery; however, many businesses are still reeling from the effects of the recession. From start-ups to multi-billion dollar businesses, everyone is looking for ways to cut costs while turning a profit. In fact, many companies are just trying to keep things in the black, however that does not eliminate the need for practices that will improve and grow these businesses. Since few people have the expertise to manage much of today's technology, a certain percentage

Some businesses have jumped on the iPad wagon and are finding creative ways to use the iPad. For example, the Global Mundo Tapas restaurant in Sydney, Australia uses the iPad as an interactive menu. There's a budget airline, Jetstar Airways, using the iPad for in-flight entertainment, rented for $10 a flight. A luxury sedan by Hyundai comes with an iPad instead of a user manual. Other than these extreme cases, how can an iPad be used to increase productivity or convenience by the average busines

Our September newsletter is available now.  Check out what we had to say about our new cloud85 offering!

Read the newsletter

In today’s tough economic environment, with job cuts and pay decreases, it can be a challenge to keep your employees focused on their job and motivated. While many employers are struggling and can’t offer pay raises, bonuses and other cash benefits to their employees, there are a variety of other creative ways to keep them happy and on the job. In fact, statistics show that people do not necessarily need praise in the form of money to stay motivated. Most actually prefer some other form of recog

If there is one thing most small businesses can agree on is that time equals money. Small business owners are in a position where they have to be a jack-of-all-trades, often spending most of their day wearing different hats. This is the nature of the small business and while expected is not always the best way use of time. In order for a small business to be successful and remain competitive in an industry, there must be designated time for the owner to focus on growing and building the business

Three final points really hit home the advantages of Microsoft Exchange Server Services:

PCnet hit a big milestone yesterday when we finished up the last of our certifications to become a Premier Partner with Cisco.  This comes with many benefits to you as we now have access to more products, new Cisco services (like Cisco's Smart Care), notwithstanding the added knowledge that comes from many, many hours of studying that is required of all Cisco Premier partners.

A special thanks to the following PCnet employees that recently got us to our brand new status:

CCNA – Certified Cisco Ne

There is a growing need these days for companies to be flexible in allowing employees the ability to work from home if the pandemic continues to worsen. Available technologies such as remote access secured by VPN (Virtual Private Networking) provide the capability to offer this to remote workers.

Many major corporations already have remote access services in place to help their field service personnel access company resources. So the first thing to do is to contact your IT department or IT provid

The worst thing you can do with your passwords is to place them in a text document which can be accessed on the hard drive of your computer. Your files are vulnerable - even if you think they are not. If someone is intent on finding them, they can. Even if you place them into a password protected document, those can be cracked, too.

Writing them down has its own vulnerabilities, too, and there are varying opinions on this practice. If you do write them down on a piece of paper, put the document i

Individuals become more frugal as the economy dips into a recessionary period. Businesses who learn how to reduce their operating expenses are far more likely to survive a recession than those who continue to operate "business as usual". For many business owners, information technology costs are expensive; here are some tips for saving on IT costs during a recession:

Switch to VOIP Phone Lines: Are you still paying high phone bills to make sales calls, handle customer service, or hold teleconfere

One of the really great features of a Microsoft Exchange Server especially considering the way increasing numbers of people are working today is the mobile compatibility.

The Microsoft Exchange Server's complete mobile access allows you to:

Work anytime, anywhere

Get full access to all your email folders, contacts, calendar and files from any Mircosoft Outlook or browser.

Keep up-to-date

Changes made to your email, contacts, calendar and files are automatically updated when accessed via any other med

We've spent a little time with Office 2013 Preview and we're excited about what we've seen so far.  Though this isn't a gigantic leap forward (like 2003-2007 Office), it clearly iterates on Office 2010 and adds some new features while streamlining processes that you likely undergo every day.

It's obvious that the big update with the new version of Office will be its compatability with tablets.  The upcoming Microsoft Surface Pro will be a great platform for a lot of businesses that are mobile, an

Here's the first of a three-part blog featuring Microsoft Exchange Hosting.

At PCnet, we're always seeking services and tools that are both super-functional and super-powerful. Microsoft Exchange Hosting fits into that category. It's a very empowering solution to email, contacts, calendars, folder sharing, and more. Here are some details:

Freedom

For just a few dollars a day, you can seamlessly access and synchronize all your mailbox data, including contacts and calendar, across a variety of platfo

The days of keeping confidential business information locked in a metal filing cabinet are gone. Most businesses have most everything, from personnel files to client information and financial information, stored on their personal computers or computer network. What happens when your company runs out of storage space? Or, worse yet, what if your computer information is attacked by a virus, stolen, or damaged by a flood? Would you be able to quickly recover all of your important information and ke

Let's face it: when it comes to IT, your business is going to be good at some things and bad at others. So what are some of the most glaring gaps in IT for businesses like yours? Take a look at this list and see how you stack up.

1) Backup and Disaster RecoveryJoshua Liberman, president of a systems integrator in Albuquerque tells a story of a $10 million company who had a server crash and they lost everything. Their goal was to save on the $150/month backup contract that they were running and, s

If you own and operate a small business, lowering costs is an important part of keeping your company in the black. Cutting costs on your IT budget could inadvertently compromise your company’s security. Even though small businesses may not have all of the resources that large corporations do, they are still just as vulnerable to the same security threats. Here are ways to help secure your small business:

Purchase Anti-virus Software

Every computer is vulnerable to the wide variety of viruses, troj

iPads are by far the most common tablet on the market today, but they don’t really reach the enterprise market very well.  They can be difficult to type on, especially for long periods of time, and the content creation apps (Microsoft Office, Quickbooks … insert your mission critical program here), though becoming more common all the time, are still lacking on the App Store.

Enter the Microsoft Surface Pro.  It isn’t compatible with Windows, it is Windows – Windows 8 Professional to be exact.  It

It's a new day in the workforce.  Next generation employees have higher expectations of the IT in their workplace than the previous generations and it shows, according to a recent Cisco poll of 1,400 employees aged 30 and younger.   

A vast majority say that 80% of their time is spent on day-to-day operations with only 20% left to innovate and provide strategic services.  Is this your business?  Why not take some of that load off your employees and put it on us?

PCnet is in the process of expanding our office. When all is said and done, we'll have about twice the space that we've been using and everything will be updated and improved. You'll love the look of our new office!

Thanks to Williams Construction, American Glass and Pinnacle Sign for helping us with our major facelift!

Private cloud adoption is growing rapidly. According to a 2011 IBM CIO Study, 60% of IT leaders plan to use cloud, up from 33% two years prior; and 55% of business executives now believe cloud enables business transformation and leaner, faster, more agile processes.

Have you talked to us yet about how cloud85 can make your business better?

Download, Explore and Get Rewarded with Microsoft's Private Cloud

We spotted this website today where you can win a Lenovo laptop and thought you might be interested.  Furthermore, 85Under will offer a cloud architectural review to any company that has 15 developers / system admins who complete a contest entry.  Just forward your confirmation message to us to notify us of your submission.

Here's the link: http://www.microsoft.com/business/en-us/microsoftprivatecloudoffer

"A Microsoft Private Cloud

A big-time thank you to everyone who was able to spend time with us at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Rogerst last Thursday!  We had right around 40 in attendance (including PCnet and Barracuda personnel).

Some of the topics we covered included social media threats affecting organizations’ security, proven strategies through Barracuda Networks for securing networks, data loss prevention strategies, and mitigating risks.  Other topics covered were how to manage employee Web and internet bandwidth usag

"Microsoft released six bulletins on Tuesday to fix a total of 11 vulnerabilities, one of which has become the target of active attacks against unpatched applications.

One of the four critical patches in the batch – MS12-027 – addresses an Active X issue that impacts numerous applicationa and creates a mechanism to drop malware onto vulnerable Windows systems."

-> Quote from packetstormsecurity.org

Is someone in your company designated as the one who is going to keep all the systems on your networ

We will be having a free network security seminar at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Rogers on April 26th.  Lunch is on us!  If you're going to be in the area and would like to attend, register here!  We would love to see you there. 

We'll be partnering with Barracuda Networks to talk about how your business can benefit from some of their products, including the Web Filter, Spam & Virus Firewalland the Message Archiver.  If you can't make it to the event but still would like to learn more and see if t

We're having a mixer tonight at PCnet/85Under.  If you're a Springfield's Best member, we want you to come on over and party with us!  Food, drinks (beer, wine, etc) and fun are provided complimentary. Here are the details!

WHEN:            TODAY

TIME:               5:30pm - 7:30pm

WHERE:           PCnet / 85Under

     2026 E. Phelps      Springfield, MO 65802      Map it!

Did you know that Mar. 31, 2012 (this Saturday) is World Backup Day?

It's a day set aside to remind everyone – not just business leaders – of the importance of backing up information stored on desktops, servers and portable devices. To ensure the security of your important information, you should have more than one backup (local and offsite).

It's nice to have a local backup - we recommend you store your backup drives in a fireproof lock box if you do - but an offsite backup is also crucial to an

PCnet is Barracuda Networks' latest Diamond Partner!  This is the highest level of partnership that you can receive with Barracuda - a great honor for us and a great benefit for your business.  We use their products ourselves and love them - we think you will too.

If you're in the market for any of the following items, let us know - we are going to be the best ones to help you if you're in the Southwest Missouri / Northwest Arkansas region.

Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall

Barracuda Web Filter

Barrac

Greg Clift, president of PCnet, was recently interviewed by KSPR News in Springfield, MO.  The City of Springfield was recently hacked by well-known hacker group Anonymous.  Greg spoke on the topic and encourages business owners to get the protection they need to keep their customers' and their own information as safe as possible.  Online police reports and information from nearly 16,000 warrant entries were posted online by Anonymous in the attack.

Information Technology services are essential to the success of every organization, large or small. With increasingly competitive business environments, CEOs and small business owners are under great pressure to maintain a highly qualified staff and to make sure their technology is obtaining a better ROI than their competitors'.

These goals are not easily achieved, particularly for young or small businesses with less financial resources and time available. Having your own successful information t

Small business owners who are not already on board the "cloud" may be missing out on a great opportunity to improve their business operations as well as profitability. Cloud computing has changed the landscape of business dramatically in the past few years. In order to reap the most rewards from technological advances, it is important first for business owners to understand what they are dealing with and how new technologies can improve the functionality of their business.

What is cloud computing

What Elements Should Your Internet Usage Policy Contain?

When planning your Internet use policy, it should contain certain key elements such as:

• The company Internet is for company business only and to be used only during company business hours
• All work done on company computers during business hours, including all emails, is company property and can be accessed by the employer at any time.
• Establish what type of computer use is unacceptable such as accessing personal social media accounts, persona

With computers and Internet access such an integral part of every business, and the Internet filled with everything from gambling to x-rated websites, it is critical that every business has an Internet use policy in place. This policy can help prevent your employees from accidentally or intentionally causing harm to your company or your company’s reputation. While you don’t want to give your employees the idea that they are living in George Orwell’s 1984, you want them to have a clear understand

Click here to read

If you've been to 85Under's website before, you've already noticed the new look for the site! One thing we'd like to call your attention to is the new "Partners" page.

85Under is already working with some partners to get them discounted services that they can then resell to their clients. We love being able to offer a high quality hosting solution from our underground datacenter through resellers to clients all over the the nation. If you're interested in becoming an 85Under partner, contact usto

How many times have you purchased new software or hardware, and avoided the help menu or user manual? Experts reason that about 90 percent of all features included with software go unused! Much of this comes down to lack of training for individuals using the technology - they use what they know and need most, and avoid anything that would require study or practice to implement. It's human nature to take the path of least resistance, but with a little motivation you could better benefit from the

This data taken from Trend Micro's latest assessment.  See all 12 predictions.

Ready for some predictions on security threats in 2012?  Here are a few from the list of top threats coming our way this year, according to Trend Micro:

1) The consumerization of IT - more and more devices in the workplace are customer owned.  The likelihood of data loss increases with every device that comes onto the network that is improperly secured.

2) Increasing complexities of securing physical, virtual and cloud-

The U.S. Office of Homeland Security recently put out a brochure with some basic security guidelines on how to protect your workplace environment.  Here are some quick tips for IT managers that they included in that document:

1) Implement Defense-in-Depth: a layered defense strategy that includes technical, organizational, and operational controls.

2) Establish clear policies and procedures for employee use of your organization’s information technologies.

3) Implement Technical Defenses: firewalls,

This is part two in this series for troubleshooting your network connectivity. Confirming the connectivity with the Internet was the focus of the first three steps in our process. We now continue with the remaining steps to help you discover what the problem with your Internet connection might be.

1. Check functionality. Once the network cable has been confirmed to be working correctly, we need to see if the router is working correctly. Since you have already unplugged and re-plugged the router i

To most computer support persons, having problems connecting to the Internet via a home router and a high-speed connection is not a major issue. However, for those who do not understand some basic technology concepts, solving connectivity problems will be a struggle. The following will give you some tips of where to look for network connectivity problems and how to perform some basic trouble-shooting tasks.

Most of the initial steps of this process are common-sense and incredibly basic, but you w

Whether you are launching a start-up, or several years into operating your business, you need to continue to maintain an innovative mindset that will allow you to grow your business creatively. This means exercising your creative thinking skills in order to develop and explore new ideas, opening the doors to new and better opportunities. In order to foster a creative mindset, here are some tips to help you stay on the cutting edge of thought innovation:

Ask Yourself More Questions

When you first s

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) do not consider themselves targets of cyberattacks, and thus are not implementing safeguards to protect their information, a Symantec survey concludes.  The survey of 1,900 firms found that half of SMBs think that because they are a small company, they are not in danger from cyberattacks.

“Most SMBs don’t believe they would be targets of attacks, that it is something that would happen to large enterprises”, said Kevin Haley with Symantec Security Response.

We just wanted to write a quick blog entry today to let everyone know how much it meant to us to have such a great turnout at our open house last week. In all, we had over 100 people show up, including the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, to whom we are extremely grateful for the wonderful ribbon cutting ceremony. We were truly honored and overwhelmed by everyone's attendance.

If you were able to come to our event, you know that cloud85 is coming very soon. It's been in the works for some ti

Let's face it: when it comes to IT, your business is going to be good at some things and bad at others. So what are some of the most glaring gaps in IT for businesses like yours? Take a look at this list and see how you stack up.

1) Backup and Disaster RecoveryJoshua Liberman, president of a systems integrator in Albuquerque tells a story of a $10 million company who had a server crash and they lost everything. Their goal was to save on the $150/month backup contract that they were running and, s

People by nature are inclined to trust others, and criminals use this to their advantage again and again. Take the case of the fake social networking profiles established earlier this year for “Robin Sage,” supposedly a young, attractive woman working in the national security arena. A security expert created the fake profiles as a test to see how many security professionals might be fooled by Sage’s persona and share information with her. About 300 people within the United States military and go

PCnet is in the process of expanding our office. When all is said and done, we'll have about twice the space that we've been using and everything will be updated and improved. You'll love the look of our new office!

Thanks to Williams Construction, American Glass and Pinnacle Sign for helping us with our major facelift!

We just put out a new edition of our PCnet newsletter.

In it, you'll learn how we've been bowling for kids' sake, attending conferences to get ready for our new Cloud85 offering and getting excited about products like the Barracuda Web Filter. Also, meet some of our new staff and learn how one of our own is in the running for a NASA competition!

Take a look at it!

Every dollar a small business spends needs to have an immediate and quantifiable return. This is especially true for critical services such as I.T. support. If you are one of the millions of small businesses that depend upon your technology to keep your business running, proactive Managed Services will save you money, improve your efficiencies and reduce your downtime.

The Solution

With the advent of new monitoring tools and the ability to remotely deliver help desk services to small businesses al

When corporate America realized that they could save money by having their sales force work from home rather than occupy expensive office space, the world changed for sales across the country. If you are on the road a great deal for your company, Ford will soon make your job a little easier. In December 2009, Ford announced that they will be turning some select Ford Vehicles into “WiFi hotspots.” If you have ever been on the road and needed to send off a quick email to your boss or client, findi

There are several stories circulating on the Internet regarding bandwidth (the speed at which you access the Internet) and how it is going to begin to reach capacity very soon unless something is done. This will render the Internet almost completely useless for everything but the simplest and slimmest of applications.

The reason given is because the demand for high-speed Internet access is growing at a rate of 60% each year. Estimates tell us that by as early as 2010, we could begin to see excess

Most business entrepreneurs have great talent and the means to run a very successful business. The snag they most often run into is the belief that they can do it all. This mindset can be detrimental to the overall success of their business. Trying to do it all can lead to hindered growth, lower profit margins and in some cases failure.

In order to create a business that is structurally sound, expandable and profitable, business owners should focus the majority of their time and energy on their p

During times of economic struggle, most small businesses end up making cuts and changes to keep their businesses in the green. From laying off staff to decreasing business travel, reducing marketing efforts and ending bonuses and raises temporarily - there are a variety of ways small businesses look to cut their expenses. At the same time, they look for ways to increase profitability - especially when operating with reduced staff. Technology becomes even more useful as small businesses strive to

When it comes to anti-virus applications and protection from other web-based threats, it really only makes sense to use the absolutely very best platform available; after all, the information stored on your business's networks is some pretty crucial, sensitive stuff.

Fortunately, Trend Micro AV protection leads the pack. This is great news for PCnet, 85under and Pulse customers. Why? Trend Micro is the only AV product we use.

Why mess with anything else?

Read more about the recent real-world online

When it comes time to cowboy-up and just outright ASK people for money, look no further than our fearless leader, Greg Clift...especially when it's for the kids. Really.

Greg is participating in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters "Bowl for Kids' Sake." He needs a good team, and a lot of help. Trust us.

Regardless of your bowling prowess level (or sub-level), please visit Greg's donation pageand do what you can to help.

Big Brothers, Big Sistersis one of those organizations actively shaping the future. I

Three final points really hit home the advantages of Microsoft Exchange Server Services:

One of the really great features of a Microsoft Exchange Server--especially considering the way increasing numbers of people are working today--is the mobile compatibility.

The Microsoft Exchange Server's complete mobile access allows you to:

Work anytime, anywhere

Get full access to all your email folders, contacts, calendar and files from any Mircosoft Outlook or browser.

Keep up-to-date

Changes made to your email, contacts, calendar and files are automatically updated when accessed via any other m

Here's the first of a three-part blog featuring Microsoft Exchange Hosting.

At PCnet, we're always seeking services and tools that are both super-functional and super-powerful. Microsoft Exchange Hostingfits into that category. It's a very empowering solution to email, contacts, calendars, folder sharing, and more. Here are some details:

Freedom

For just a few dollars a day, you can seamlessly access and synchronize all your mailbox data, including contacts and calendar, across a variety of platfor