Warning Flags – Does Your Organization Need Better IT Support?

three red flags with the words stop on them

As the field of technology continues to grow exponentially, the tools and services it offers to organizations to help grow their own business are increasing exponentially as well.  More and more, organizations are finding creative ways to use technology to reach more customers, expand their production capabilities and provide better service to their own clientele. So when the company they rely on for IT support is not performing as well as expected, there are often significant repercussions to their own bottom line.  In this post, we will discuss 3 warning flags that often signal it’s time to find a new IT support team.

Poor Communication Channels

You have a problem or a question so you attempt to contact your IT support company by phone or email.  You either experience lengthy waits while on hold, or they do allow you to leave a message, but they never respond back to you.  Email isn’t any better.  They either send an automated email acknowledging you right away and promise to get in touch with you, or they do eventually respond to your request, but their response time was very slow.

More Inactive than Proactive

You find yourself contacting your IT support company with information about your latest security concerns, or perhaps a new technology trend that sounds as if it could be useful for your company, rather than the other way around.  In other words, your organization seems more on top of the latest technology threats and trends than the company you rely on for your IT support.

Increasing Downtime

Perhaps initially you were satisfied with the level of downtime your company experienced, but lately, it seems you are experiencing more and more IT issues, which is affecting your ability to do business.  Perhaps your IT support company has taken on too many clients or they are experiencing personnel issues.  In any case, a support company that doesn’t respond promptly to their own issues, probably can’t respond quickly to your organization’s IT issues either.

Here at Bluwater Technologies, we understand the importance of providing prompt, proactive, and effective IT support to our clients in order to provide the essential underlying support required to grow their businesses.  Please contact us today to learn more about our commitment to supporting excellence.

How IT Slips Through the Cracks in Most Small Businesses

a laptop computer sitting on top of a desk next to a monitor

Large corporations often have entire departments dedicated to IT, network security, and compliance, but small businesses can’t afford that luxury. But if you don’t have a dedicated IT staff or support through another company, some IT concerns can slip through the cracks and end up causing your small business time and money later on. Here are some of the top concerns a small business can face without an IT plan in place:

Small Businesses

Poor network security.

When you have your customers’ and your employees’ personal information on your computer, malware is your biggest threat. Whether it’s through an everyday virus, a dedicated attack, or even just a systemic bug that comes in through your business software, you need more than just an anti-virus program in order to secure your data.

Cyclical problems.

If you own a personal computer, you’ve probably noticed an occasional blue screen and a message that your computer has to reboot, and most of us just let that happen instead of rooting out the underlying cause. But when it comes to your business hardware, signs of some technological slowdowns and forced reboots are now signs of a coming crash later. Without an IT support team, those and even less visible errors could lead to slower processing, an occasional day or two with the system down, or, worst of all, a complete loss of information.

Having small businesses lets you innovate and change courses faster than with a larger corporation, but a small staff means IT can slip through the cracks. If you’re looking for an affordable solution, try an IT support team that can find those bugs and systemic errors before they block up your business. If you want to learn more about different types of IT services to see what best fits your business and what Bluwater Technologies can do for your company, browse our site here.

Computer Tip of the Day: How to Update Drivers

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Has your Windows computer ever restarted itself due to an error? As Windows updates continuously change your system, incompatible drivers are a primary source of blue screen errors. There are many ways to update drivers, some of which are better than others.

Update Drivers

What not to do: Software to update all of your drivers

While many sites advertise software that automatically updates your drivers, usually this quick-fix software does not work as advertised. In fact, it often comes with malware. If you cannot fix your drivers through other methods described below, a better option is to contact someone for support with the process. However, there are many ways you can work on updating drivers yourself.

Device Manager

A built-in program in Windows lets you see all the hardware in and attached to your computer. From there, you can see the driver for each device. To open Device Manager in Windows 10, press Windows-X and choose it from the menu that appears. If you have determined what driver is causing the crash, you can check if Windows can find an update for it. Unfortunately, this often does not work, as Windows does not have a detailed database of all the latest drivers due to how frequently some companies update drivers.

Check the manufacturer’s website

Most computer manufacturers have a webpage where you can download drivers for your computer. To find this page, search for the manufacturer’s name along with your machine’s model and the word “drivers.” Another option is to go straight to the manufacturer’s website and navigate to the driver page from the general help section. Sometimes, you can find updated drivers on this page. However, for certain devices in your computer, such as video cards and network adapters, the manufacturer might not release the latest version in time to fix your problem.

Get drivers from the maker of the component

Most computers consist of components made by many companies. For example, you could have an Intel network adapter and a NVIDIA display adapter. Going to the company’s website and downloading the latest driver or a tool to keep the driver updated is an effective way to make sure your drivers stay up to date.

Updating your drivers can fix many problems with crashing in Windows. It may take a few tries to find the right way to update them, but once you do, the benefits are significant. For more useful tips on computers, please contact us.

Do You Need Healthcare IT Support In West Palm Beach?

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Innovative technology in the healthcare industry is designed to approve the lives of people by giving them the opportunity to effectively manage their own care. When patients are self-managing their health and wellness, there will be a need for the providers to be alerted on the progress. Do you need healthcare IT support in West Palm Beach?

Healthcare IT Support In West Palm Beach

Innovative technology in the healthcare industry provides this opportunity. When there are changes in a patient’s situation, the healthcare professionals will be notified. Once the providers are notified, they will be able to make the correct decision on what steps should be taken to get the patient on the right track.

Digital technology is improving at a fast rate. As digital technology advances, the cost is declining. There is also an increased demand for healthcare, but the cost of healthcare is constantly rising. This poses a great challenge to the healthcare industry across the world.

It seems very obvious that healthcare providers need to adopt technology in order to meet the challenges they face on an everyday basis, but healthcare seems to always fall behind other industries when it comes to using technology.

Mobile technology can give patients the power they need to grab hold of their health care. Not everyone wants to be heavily dependent on their healthcare providers. Mobile technology will give patients a sense of freedom and independence. Even when they are battling illnesses and going through treatments.

Digital technology can be used to research any medical-related issue, show support for others, and find the proper treatment options for an illness. Digital technology has become a powerful tool for patients and providers.

What approach are you taking when it comes to digital technology? Do you have the appropriate IT support in place to ensure your patients receive the best healthcare results? Contact us today for more information.

IT Support In Fort Lauderdale Could Be Helpful To You

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IT Support In Fort Lauderdale

There’s really little doubt in our minds that IT support in Fort Lauderdale could be helpful to you. You should create a plan on how to recover data in case there is a power outage.

Why does a small business need a backup plan to store files?

Is making a profit each day important, regardless of the weather or a power failure? Consumers expect a business to open at a certain time each day. Well, if an outage happens, and you did not create a backup plan, what would you do?

What is your plan?

We already know that your business needs to be up and running when a natural disaster happens. Of course, you store all the information on the premises. Keep in mind what happens to your information when bad weather occurs – like a flood. You should consider a second backup to store all the data in a cloud. You can easily recover the information due to the loss of an internet connection or any disaster.

By getting IT support in Fort Lauderdale, you’ll retain backups not only on the premises but also the information stored in the cloud.

What information should be in a business backup?

Every single document. The purpose of creating a disaster recovery plan is for you to have the ability to get back all the information. You should copy the entire computer system and place the data in a virtual environment.

To discuss this further or anything else, please Contact Us.