Go Paperless – Save Money and Help the Environment

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It’s difficult to remember the days when all correspondence was either done through the mail or perhaps with a phone call. Of course, now it’s easy to send an unwanted message to the trash bin along with saving the important ones in a file folder, but that was not always the case. Although there have been significant increases in the use of electronic documentation rather than using paper, there is still room for improvement in many instances. Many organizations are capable of moving to the next level and going paperless in the office even more.

Paperless Offers Access On-The-Go

If some of your employees are still printing out documents so they can have them when they are on the go, it’s definitely time to consider using technologies such as Microsoft’s OneDrive or Google Drive so they can have access to important information anytime, anywhere.

Double-Side as Default

Sometimes documents do need to be printed, however, in many (most?) cases, it’s perfectly fine to have the documents printed on both sides of the paper. By setting all office printers to double-sided printing as the default, companies can likely decrease their paper usage by close to 50%.

Promote Paperless Awareness

Send an email to all your employees letting them know about the company-wide goal of reducing paper use. In addition, post a sign above the community printers asking employees to consider whether they truly need to print that email, or print all 10 copies of a document when 9 copies would suffice.

Make Recycling Easy

Invest in a paper shredder and encourage employees to use it. Shredding confidential documents as soon as possible reduces the chance of wandering eyes seeing information they shouldn’t, while quickly removing other excess paper makes it easier to keep office spaces clean and organized. When it comes time to remove the bags of shredded paper, most cleaning and garbage removal companies easily accommodate shredded paper designated for recycling.

Ask Your Paper Supplier

Ask your current office supply vendor if they offer recycled paper for office use. If they don’t, shop around until you find one that sells recycled paper at a reasonable cost.

If you would like more helpful tips on how to reduce paper waste in your organization, please contact us.

5 Ways to Maximize Your IT Budget

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Savvy companies understand that leveraging the latest technologies can keep them one, perhaps even several steps, ahead of the competition. The key is to select those technologies that are proven to provide the best return for one’s investment. In this post, we will outline 5 concepts every company will want to consider as they create a comprehensive IT budget that works best for them.

Hire the Experts

The old adage “a company is only as good as its people”, is certainly true when it comes to selecting the right IT professionals to work for a company. Whether an organization decides to hire IT staff that will work in-house, or whether they decide to outsource their IT department, investing in knowledgeable IT staff is a must.

Ensuring Proper Security

One of the ways in which companies can ensure they are hiring the right IT personnel is to determine whether or not these prospective professionals understand just how vital data security is to every single organization. Any prospective IT employee or organization should be the first to initiate a conversation about data security because yes, it’s that important.

IoT 

Companies will also want to consider employing some of the many “Internet of Things” technologies that could be a smart addition to their budget. Some companies may have a greater need for IoT than others, but at minimum, every company that operates out of a physical building may want to take advantage of technologies such as:

  • Security sensors
  • Smart doors
  • Smart HVAC control sensors

Moving to the Cloud

Many companies find that moving their IT operations to the cloud is both cost-effective and provides greater flexibility to their employees, as the only thing they need to plug into corporate software is an internet connection. Companies can also easily scale up or scale down their cloud use to better match both their busy and slow seasons. This means paying only for what a company truly needs in terms of IT services.

Leverage Big Data

Being able to analyze and create an overall corporate picture from disparate bits of data can help companies see where they are doing well, and where they need to focus their attention in order to improve. Big data concepts can help organizations accomplish precisely this.

If you would like to know how to select the right technologies in order to maximize your IT budget for the year, please contact us.

5G is About to Change How We Do Business…Maybe

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Technology is always moving forward, of course, but the roll-out of 5G mobile and data communication promises to introduce an exponential shift in how people live their lives, as well as how companies will operate their organizations.

Although in 2019 the roll-outs will be limited to some select larger cities, a more comprehensive roll-out is expected for 2020. Now is the ideal time for companies to learn more about this potentially exciting technology and consider how they might want to prepare for its eventual complete distribution.

Intranet Planning

5G technology promises to at least double the speed currently found in intranet communication. Rather than relying on large, distant cell towers for communication, 5G technology employs router-like nodes spread throughout an area. For large buildings, this means nodes strategically placed on all floors, transmitting high-frequency signals simply from floor to floor, thus greatly enhancing the rate of communication speeds within connected areas. 5G is also incredibly fast on its own. With its simultaneous upload and download capabilities, data movement goes far beyond old megabyte speeds, to ultrafast gigabyte speeds.

The Internet of Things

Interconnected devices and sensors will also be able to make good use of faster 5G speeds, potentially speeding up countless automated processes. For example, air travel will become safer and less prone to glitches that annoy passengers, as every system within the airframe will continually report its status, second by second.

Later Down the 5g Road

Delivery of goods that businesses use to make their own products will become more timely, as more and more traffic control and driving features are automated. 5G nodes will enhance your ability to route traffic more efficiently by quickly reporting on:

  • Traffic jams
  • Accidents
  • Weather Conditions
  • Traffic Signal Outages

Essentially all the unforeseen things slow down the movement of both products and people.

We Know The Secret To Hiring Great Employees

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At Bluwater Technologies, we understand employees are one of the most important assets of a company, especially when a company provides services that require a high level of commitment to corporate clients. We are dedicated to hiring employees who possess not only a high degree of technical skills and knowledge but who are effective problem solvers as well. By following a well-rounded evaluation assessment plan for each prospective employee, we are able to have an “extra edge” when it comes to hiring only those who are able to meet, as well as exceed customer expectations.

Beyond Skills

Of course, we recognize it is vitally important for any prospective employee to possess a high level of technical knowledge and skills in order to provide outstanding service to our clients. However, we go the extra mile by developing a profile of each prospective candidate in order to assess traits such as:

  • Their ability to work with a wide variety of client styles, 
  • Leadership skills, 
  • Communication skills within a team,
  • Problem-solving skills, 
  • and their ability to effectively manage stress and resolve conflicts.

By taking this holistic approach to the overall hiring process, we are able to find the team members best suited to work with our clients.

Successful Onboarding

Once we select a new hire, we know the hiring process doesn’t stop on the first day of employment. In order for new employees to succeed in meeting the needs of our clients, we need to continue investing in our employees. This process starts right away by following an onboarding plan for each new hire. We encourage open communication with our employees and actively engage with new hires early on, encouraging them to feel part of the team as quickly as possible. We convey our corporate mission to new hires, as well as our goals and expectations. As we increase our own levels of productivity more effectively through the process of active onboarding, it enables us to increase our level of service to clients. 

If you would like to know more about Bluwater Technologies and our great team members, please contact us.

5 Cybersecurity Questions to Ask Your Team

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The more that technology advances, the more cyber attacks are committed against businesses of all sizes and in all fields of work. Your business is no exception. As you rely more on the internet and on machines to store data, information, and other sensitive material, you need to be aware of the cybersecurity threats that exist to your company.

While this threat may seem overwhelming and daunting, the risks to your company are indeed manageable ones. When talking to your IT team, whether they are workers your company hired or from outside IT firms, the following are 5 questions that you should be asking these professionals to understand your business’s risk and cybersecurity situation:

1. How is our company’s top leadership informed about cyber risks? 

Your IT department must communicate with the rest of the company about the risks of being the victim of a cyber attack. Understanding the current risks and what the IT department is doing to mitigate those risks is vital to keeping your company’s information safe. Ultimately, the CEO is the one responsible for any “risks” that are present for his or her company. They must be informed in order to make smart decisions about how the company’s information can be best protected.

2. What is the current business impact of cybersecurity risks on our company and how do we plan to address these risks? 

CEOs and other top company executives must understand the cybersecurity risks that their company faces. They should also be informed of what the IT professionals that work for the company are doing to mitigate these risks and keep the company information safe. Knowing this information and constantly communicating updates can keep anyone from making poor decisions. That is if panic ever does strike.

3. Does our cybersecurity program implement the best and latest practices that keep up with industry standards? 

CEOs and other top company executives should be kept up-to-date on industry standards in cybersecurity. Additionally, how their company’s practices stack up against those standards. If the company is not up-to-date on the industry standards, then they must know what the plan is from the IT department to get the company there. Being up-to-date on industry standards for cybersecurity is vital to keeping your company’s information as safe as possible from people who would do you harm if they got ahold of that information.

4. What cybersecurity threats does your IT department identify each week? 

CEOs and other top company officials should be kept up to date on the latest cybersecurity threats facing their company. Ideally, these updates are given on at least a weekly basis. Updates should include recent threats and what has been done to limit those threats. Additionally, what new threats have popped up (if any), and what is being done to handle those threats?

5. How far-reaching is our cyber incident response plan? How often do we test it?

Despite your IT department’s best attempts to keep your company’s information safe, if something such as a data breach were to happen, what would the response be? It’s important for the CEO and higher-ups to understand what will be done if such a security breach happens. First, the plan is explained to the higher-ups. Then, they should be informed of how often the plan is tested to ensure that it is thorough and effective.

These are 5 questions that you should be asking your IT company. Thus, ensure that your business is as safe from cybersecurity threats as possible. Actively having a plan in place to protect your company’s information is key. It will keep your business from being a target of any sort of cybersecurity threat. Moreover, having a plan in case your company is the target of an attack is also vital. Despite your best intentions, cybersecurity breaches can happen. How you react can help control the extent of how much more severe you make the problem. Performing rash actions in the event of a cyber attack is never a good idea.

For more information on questions you should be asking your IT team, please feel free to contact us at Blutwater Technologies for further assistance.