Corporate Technology Group Blog

The purpose of setting up a computer network is to allow multiple users the ability to access the same files and programs. With all the different people accessing the same information on your server, it can make for some pretty gnarly network traffic. Giving people up-to-date permissions with different levels of access is the job of the Active Directory.

In 2012, The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), sponsored by Wells Fargo conducted a survey of small business owners to decipher what the most evident issues of contention were in regards to owning and maintaining a successful enterprise. Not surprisingly one of the most popular answers was the ability to manage costs.

Voice over Internet Protocol is proving to be a popular alternative to traditional phone systems. Many businesses making the switch and discovering major savings compared to their long distance phone bills. We are seeing many businesses switching to VoIP and experiencing saving while discovering new communication features that will enhance their professional image.

It seems like everybody owns a cellphone. This might actually be the case; 175 million cellphones were sold last year in the U.S. alone. With the proliferation of cellphones in pockets, comes more cellphones being picked from pockets. Cellphone theft is on the rise, accounting for 1/3 of all thefts in the US. What's being done to stop cellphone theft?

It is vital that you have a firewall in place to protect your network. Unlike the name suggests, a firewall will not protect your PC from an actual fire, but rather, a firewall will protect your computers from cyber-threats. Network firewalls are a little more complex than brick and mortar; here is a basic explanation on how firewalls work.

If you are a user of the popular Google Reader, then you have by now received the memo from Google about their plans to discontinue this service on July 1, 2013. Google’s reasoning for jettisoning their reader is so they can focus on fewer products. What’s a Google Reader user to do? Feedly is a great alternative that’s worth checking out.

Are you up for a Star Wars movie marathon? May 4th is the perfect day to watch all 6 movies seeing as it is Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you). IT professionals all over the galaxy have a fondness in their hearts for Star Wars, primarily because of all the cool technology involved; and the coolest tech by far is the Death Star!

You may think that just because you are a small and local company that hackers won’t want to waste their time on you. Wouldn’t a hacker prefer to go after a large corporation? If your business has poor network security, then your company is more appealing to hackers then even the biggest banks.

Do you have a Microsoft Word document that is so long you need a GPS just to find your place? Macros are a great tool that you can utilize as a document bookmark. With this PC productivity tip, we will show you how to make a macro that you can use to quickly find where you last left off.

Commuting to work can be a rather draining experience, and not just on your budget. Research from Umeå University in Sweden has shown that computing can also be draining to your health. Commuters have been found to die younger than people who live close to their job. Telecommuting provides a great solution that can extend the lives of your employees.

If you conducted a survey of all the small business owners that you know on what their biggest problems are with their business, it wouldn't be all that difficult to guess what the most popular answer would be. A survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), sponsored by Wells Fargo, asked this very question. The most popular answer among the surveyed business owners was managing costs.

While it is unlikely that you were able to take off work this Earth Day as a paid holiday, you can still celebrate at work by taking steps to make your office a greener place. New technologies are designed to be eco-friendly; by upgrading your office with these three techs, you can help the environment by saving trees and energy.

A lot of businesses are migrating their computing needs over to the cloud, and even more are planning on it. Gartner research found that 60% of businesses plan on increasing their budget for cloud services through 2014. The market for cloud services is also expected to grow 18.5% this year. Before you sign up for the cloud, you will want to know what you are getting into.

The Internet has often been compared to its own country. Social media websites and online games make up cyber-communities that are bigger than some of the most populated nations. Taking us one step closer to the New World Order, the Internet now has its own currency called Bitcoins. While Bitcoins may not be right for your business, it does make for a unique investment opportunity.

Personal items that you use every day are hopefully cleaned on a regular basis. After one day of wearing a shirt, you throw it in the wash. Dishes are cleaned after one meal. What about your computer? You may use it everyday and never clean it. When it comes down to it, a neglected computer might be one of the grossest items in your home!

When a computer goes down, there are many different ways to get it up and running again. The challenge is finding the most efficient and cost-effective route to repair your PC. We have researched every PC repair method and have developed a four-step computer repair procedure that we believe is the best way to get the job done.

There is a reason why we turn down the music in our cars when approaching a tricky traffic situation: music can distracting. For many people, listening to music at work can be equally distracting when it comes to staying productive. Unless you add even more noise to the mix, then it can actually enhance creativity; so says the designers of Coffivity.

If your business is still using a traditional phone system, then you are paying more every month than you have to. By switching over your phone system to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), you can slash your phone bill by as much as 50-70%. To sweeten the deal, VoIP even has more features than a traditional phone plan!

Microsoft is turning blue for their next big release, Windows Blue. Official details on Blue have yet to be released. Microsoft is saving the big Blue reveal for the Build conference this June. Many tech experts are predicting how Blue will be a game changer for Microsoft. While it is still too early to tell if this is the case, we can accurately report that Blue will be Microsoft's next big thing.

The electricity bill is one operating expense that comes with a bitter taste. This is because you know that with a few tweaks to your operations your bill would be lessened; but where do you start? Turning off the lights and monitors at the end of the day will put a dent in your bill, but to see big savings, we recommend virtualizing your servers.