IT Support in West Palm Beach Offers Protection From Severe Weather

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it support in west palm beach

 

South Florida is well-known for its violent and severe weather phenomena. Soaring temperatures, hurricanes, tropical storms, hail, and thunderstorms are all recurrent problems. IT support for companies in West Palm Beach must involve protections against the possible effects of severe weather. Power outages, floods, overheated facilities, and storm damage pose a serious threat to your company’s computer systems. Without the appropriate measures, a company may sustain staggering data loss and prolonged interruptions in business operations.

What are some of the ways that IT support professionals in West Palm Beach can help your company survive severe weather?

  • Backing up your data regularly and reliably prevents permanent data loss and provides your company with up-to-date copies of data in the aftermath of an IT disaster.
  • Maintaining different lines of communication that your company can rely on during violent weather and when employees are stuck at home or stranded at various locations.
  • Checking that the temperatures and humidity levels at your offices and facilities aren’t harmful to your computers, servers, and other technology.
  • Helping you repair or securely discard damaged devices in the aftermath of a weather-related disaster.
  • Ensuring that your devices benefit from reliable power protection. Thus, guarding against the effects of power surges and outages.
  • Making cable installation decisions that minimize the potential effects of extreme temperatures and violent weather.
  • Helping you develop a disaster recovery and business continuity plan. This gives you an effective and organized way to respond to disasters.

The costs of severe or extreme weather are potentially staggering. A key way to mitigate the effects of harsh weather is to protect your company’s computer systems and devices. Doing so will minimize downtime, shorten interruptions in business operations, and spare you some of the steep costs of lost data and damaged devices. Don’t hesitate to contact us for further advice and assistance regarding IT support in West Palm Beach.

IT Consulting Support Services in Fort Lauderdale

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If you’re like most small businesses in Fort Lauderdale, you have very little time for anything other than running your business. So, the thought of developing an information technology (IT) infrastructure equipped with a fully functioning network may seem like a daunting task.

At Bluwater Technologies, we offer innovative, IT solutions for your business to streamline IT processes and increase business efficiencies.

Specifically, Bluwater Technologies of  Fort Lauderdale can provide IT support services to address this problem by analyzing your company’s business plan and assessing current IT systems to ensure the proper integration of all IT systems.  Bluwater IT solutions are proven and designed to enhance current data processing plans to ensure effective workflow and simplify data management systems.

Bluwater can offer the following IT consulting support services to transform your business and streamline IT processes:

IT Analysis

We can remove IT barriers or flaws from your current IT systems or from emerging cloud and digital technologies. Then, identify tools and solutions to integrate new technology.

IT Installation

We align installation IT plans to offer businesses with the ability to leverage cloud and digital technologies using vendor partnerships and strategic planning.

Technology Direction

Bluwater offers IT expertise related to network consulting, technical support services,  IT outsourcing, computer security, trusted vendor partnerships, and strategic planning.

At Bluwater, we diligently work with our customers to provide custom, high-quality, IT consulting services to develop a business strategy specific to your industry and business.

Contact us today to schedule an IT consultation with a Bluwater expert in Fort Lauderdale!

 

Computer Tip of the Day: Hard Drive Defragmentation

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Defragmenting your hard drive is a bit like changing the oil in your car. It’s not something you do everyday but it keeps your system running smoothly and efficiently. It also takes time and is an annoying part of maintaining a well optimized PC.

When files are stored on your traditional mechanical hard drive (HHD), the file data is written on spinning platters of silicon in a near linear fashion.

This means that as you download and install programs on your drive those programs are stored sequentially on the drive.

However, if you delete a file or uninstall a program, that space is now free to be written to and your operating system will break new files up and write them in whatever free space is available. This is called file fragmentation.

Since your hard drive has to physically spin to each sector to read the fragmented file, this causes huge performance issues, causing programs to start slowly and sometimes resulting in freezing and crashing.

Defragmenting your HDD effectively combines fragmented files and programs into one continuous block. Then, combines all the free space on the drive to one area.

If you have a newer laptop or high-end PC, you may have an SSD instead of an HHD. Solid state drives do not have spinning platters and therefore do not benefit from defragmentation. Attempting to defragment an SSD can actually harm the drive. This is because SSD cells can only be written to a limited number of times.

Contact us to learn how we can manage your IT infrastructure.

Value from Managed Services

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Giving responsibility for your IT operations to a managed services provider is a big step, and you want to get the most value out of it. If you make the right choices when setting up management and in the ongoing relationship, you can get the most effective use of your equipment and software, whether you keep them on site or use remote systems.

Step 1

The first step is to choose a provider that understands your technology. Select one with a proven record of reliability, one whose expertise includes the machines, operating systems, and software that you use. Whatever your application is, it’s vital to have an MSP that understands security issues and doesn’t neglect them for the sake of convenience.

Make sure to understand the scope of your agreement. How much is the provider promising to do? Are you getting 24-hour support? Is there a guaranteed turnaround time for getting systems back up? Whether you need the highest support level or a more economical option, you need to know what to expect.

Step 2

Once the arrangement is in place, ongoing communication is important. Let the provider know when your needs change. If you learn about new tech that might help your business, ask what they think about it and whether they can support it. You’ll learn something about it, even if you end up choosing a different option.

Even when you use an MSP, you’ve probably got employees whose expertise and responsibilities include IT. As a senior manager, you need to know what the MSP is doing, but you shouldn’t let your in-house people feel they’re in an adversarial position. Let them communicate freely with the provider so that they’re on top of all the issues and can make useful recommendations to you.

At Bluwater Technologies, we can provide managed IT services that will meet all your business’s goals. Please contact us for more information.

How To Optimize Your WiFi

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These days portability is king. WiFi has allowed devices to be truly mobile while connected to the internet. It also brings several headaches when it doesn’t work or when the signal strength is weak. Luckily, there is something you can do to make that spotty WiFi connection stronger without spending a penny.

Router Placement

Your router broadcasts WiFi signals in a spherical range. To get the most coverage place your router closest to the center of the area. Avoid direct signal passage through walls and floors as this will weaken signal. Thick layers of concrete, metal, or stone will block WiFi signals in their tracks.

Update Drivers and Firmware

Download and install firmware for your routers from the router manufacturer’s website or through the control panel for your router. This will ensure that your router has all the latest software and is free of all known bugs and performance issues. Likewise, be sure your wireless card drivers are up to date.

Choose the Right Channels

Other networks communicating on the same channel can slow down WiFi. Your computer “hears” noise from all networks on the same channel and has to filter for the one it’s connected to. Most WiFi operates on a 2.4GHz band. Within this frequency, there are three available channels to operate on (1, 6, 11). You’ll want to choose the band with the least amount of traffic from other networks. You can use an app like WiFi Analyzer for Android to scan networks and determine what channel they are operating on.

Performing these steps will ensure that you have the best possible WiFi with your current setup. Upgrading your network infrastructure can be as simple as adding a single range extender, and you will soon see performance increases that are leaps and bounds ahead of what you are used to.

Contact us today to see how we make your WiFi perform it’s best.