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In today's business landscape, decentralized and fully remote companies have become the norm. With teams scattered across different locations, the need for tailored IT support that addresses the unique challenges of these organizations has never been greater. At Runbiz, we believe in the importance of having a virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) and a Technical Alignment Engineer as integral parts of our approach to Managed IT Services. In this article, we will delve into the significance of these roles and how they contribute to our comprehensive IT solutions for organizations that are fully remote.

The Rise of Decentralized Companies

Remote companies have experienced a rapid rise in popularity due to their numerous benefits, including cost savings, access to global talent, and improved work-life balance. However, managing and securing a remote workforce's IT infrastructure poses unique challenges. 

The Role of a vCIO

A virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) plays a crucial role in addressing these challenges. A vCIO is an experienced IT professional who brings strategic vision and expertise to guide your company's IT decisions. A vCIO will engage regularly with your leadership team to understand and align IT strategies with your business goals, creating an IT roadmap. Your roadmap is designed to produce the results that matter most while supporting scalability, efficiency, and security. A vCIO will identify potential risks, recommend appropriate solutions, and help you make informed decisions about technology investments.

Additionally, a vCIO acts as a strategic advisor, providing valuable insights into emerging technologies and industry trends. They keep your company abreast of the latest advancements, enabling you to stay ahead of the competition. Moreover, a vCIO is well-versed in compliance regulations, ensuring your remote workforce adheres to the necessary data security and privacy standards.

The Role of a Technical Alignment Engineer

In addition to a vCIO, a Technical Alignment Engineer plays a vital role in supporting fully remote companies. This technical expert focuses on aligning your technology stack and infrastructure with your business objectives. They possess a deep understanding of various IT systems and tools and work closely with the vCIO to implement solutions that enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and optimize remote collaboration.

Collaboration between vCIO and Technical Alignment Engineer

The collaboration between a vCIO and a Technical Alignment Engineer is a powerful synergy that drives tangible results. The vCIO provides the strategic vision, guiding your IT decisions based on your business goals, while the Technical Alignment Engineer brings the technical expertise to implement and manage the chosen solutions. This cohesive partnership ensures a comprehensive and seamless approach to IT management in decentralized organizations.

Take the First Step with Runbiz

Are you ready to leverage the power of these roles to revolutionize your IT infrastructure? Contact Runbiz today at 806-322-2150 or visit www.run.biz/contact-us to start a conversation. Our team is eager to understand your unique needs and provide you with tailored Managed IT Services that will drive your company forward.

For decentralized / fully remote companies, partnering with an IT provider that understands their unique challenges is crucial. At Runbiz, our approach to Managed IT Services integrates the expertise of vCIOs and Technical Alignment Engineers to deliver comprehensive solutions aligned with your business goals. By leveraging our tailored IT support, you can optimize remote collaboration, enhance security, and achieve greater efficiency and scalability. Contact Runbiz today to embark on a transformative IT journey that will empower your decentralized, fully remote company to thrive in the digital age.

In today's threat landscape, adopting a zero-trust security model is a smart move for businesses. Zero trust operates on the principle that everything—humans, machines, or applications—poses a potential risk to your network. By requiring verification and authentication at every step, zero trust makes it challenging for hackers to exploit compromised accounts or devices.

However, with the growing popularity of the zero-trust framework, misinformation has emerged, often fueled by security vendors promoting their products. In this blog, we dispel the top zero trust myths and explore how partnering with an IT service provider can facilitate a seamless transition to zero trust security.

Busting Top Zero Trust Myths

Discover the truth behind these common misconceptions surrounding zero trust:

Myth #1: A zero-trust product alone can achieve complete security for my business.

Fact: There are no magical solutions. Zero trust is a security strategy that requires systematic implementation. While you can utilize tools and solutions to support the framework, consider enlisting the expertise of an IT security provider to identify the best-suited solutions for your business.

Myth #2: Implementing zero trust is too complex for my organization.

Fact: Achieving a zero-trust security framework can be challenging, particularly for businesses with limited knowledge or resources. Partnering with a trusted IT service provider can help assess your risk profile and develop a realistic roadmap for implementing a comprehensive and effective zero-trust strategy.

Myth #3: Zero trust hinders employee productivity and morale.

Fact: Zero trust enhances user experience and fosters collaboration. While additional security layers may introduce some friction and reduced efficiency, an IT service provider can recommend user-friendly policies and convenient solutions that strike a balance between security and productivity.

Myth #4: Implementing zero-trust is prohibitively expensive.

Fact: While there are costs associated with implementing zero trust, they pale in comparison to the potential financial consequences of a major cybersecurity incident. With the guidance of an IT service provider, you can manage expenses and increase efficiency by deploying appropriate resources and tools.

Act Now for a Secure Future

It's evident that zero trust is an effective security framework for safeguarding your business and ensuring continuity in the face of breaches. However, implementing zero trust alone can be daunting. That's where partnering with specialists like us becomes invaluable. Reach out to leverage our expertise and effortlessly implement an efficient zero-trust model for your business.

Take action now and embark on the journey to a more secure future for your business. Download our comprehensive checklist, "How to Achieve Zero Trust Security," to delve deeper into the concept. This valuable resource will provide you with the necessary guidance to seamlessly initiate your zero-trust security implementation.

Zero trust is based on the principle that no user or application should be automatically trusted. It emphasizes the importance of verifying every access request, treating each user or application as a potential threat. Zero trust provides an ideal foundation for businesses aiming to establish formidable cybersecurity measures. Not only does it adapt to the complexities of the modern work environment, including hybrid workplaces, but it also protects people, devices, applications, and data, regardless of their location.

However, it's essential to understand that zero trust is not a one-click solution or a ready-made platform, despite how security vendors may market it to you. Zero trust is a strategy, a framework that needs to be systematically applied.

Implementing zero trust: Three Key Principles to Remember

As you embark on your journey to implement a zero-trust framework and fortify your IT security, keep these three core principles in mind:

1. Continually verify Adopt a "never trust, always verify" approach to security, continuously confirming the identity and access privileges of users, devices, and applications. Implement robust identity and access management (IAM) controls to define roles and access privileges, ensuring that only authorized users can access specific information.

2. Limit access The misuse of privileged access is a common cause of cyberattacks. By limiting access, you ensure that users are granted only the necessary permissions required for their day-to-day activities. Consider implementing the following security practices to restrict access effectively:

   • Just-in-time access (JIT): Grant users, devices, or applications access only for a predetermined period, limiting the time they have access to critical systems.
   • Principle of least privilege (PoLP): Provide users, devices, or applications with the minimum access or permissions necessary to perform their job functions.
   • Segmented application access (SAA): Restrict users to accessing authorized applications, preventing malicious individuals from infiltrating the network.

3. Assume breach and minimize impact Instead of waiting for a breach to occur, proactively assume the risk by treating applications, services, identities, and both internal and external networks as potentially compromised. This approach improves your ability to respond swiftly to a breach, minimizes damage, enhances overall security, and ultimately protects your business.

We're Here to Help

Implementing zero trust compliance on your own may seem daunting. However, partnering with an IT service provider like us can alleviate the burden. Leverage our advanced technologies and expertise to implement zero trust within your business without the need to hire additional talent or acquire additional tools.

To learn actionable steps you can take today to establish a robust zero trust security framework, download our infographic, "Why Now Is the Time to Embrace Zero Trust." Contact us for a no-obligation consultation, and let us guide you on your journey towards enhanced cybersecurity.

As the world becomes increasingly digital, local and county governments are relying more heavily on technology to streamline processes and better serve their constituents. However, with this increased reliance comes the need for dependable IT support. Choosing the right IT support provider can be a daunting task, but there are several key considerations that can help guide the decision-making process.

1. Experience: When looking for an IT support provider, it's important to consider their experience. The provider should have a proven track record of working with government entities and be knowledgeable about the unique challenges and requirements that come with serving the public sector.
2. Security: Data security is a critical concern for government entities. IT support providers should be able to demonstrate their expertise in safeguarding sensitive information and maintaining compliance with relevant regulations.
3. Responsiveness: In the event of a technological issue or outage, a prompt response time is crucial to ensure that operations can continue without major disruption. Look for an IT support provider that guarantees a fast response time and has a support team available 24/7.
4. Customization: Every government entity has different needs and requirements when it comes to technology. Look for an IT support provider that is willing to work with you to customize their services to meet your specific needs and budget.
5. Proactive Approach: The best IT support providers take a proactive approach to managing technology. This means regularly monitoring systems and networks for potential issues and taking steps to prevent problems before they occur.

At runbiz™, we have a unique approach to technology that focuses on maximizing your return on investment. We believe that technology should be an asset, not a liability, and that it should be tailored to the specific needs of your organization. Our team has extensive experience working with government entities and is committed to providing fast, reliable, and customized IT support.

If you're a local or county government in need of IT support, we encourage you to reach out to us at 806-322-2150 or through our contact form to start a conversation about how we can help. We look forward to hearing from you!

Credit unions in Texas play a critical role in the state's financial ecosystem, offering a range of financial services to individuals and businesses. However, as technology continues to evolve rapidly, credit unions are facing increasing challenges in managing their IT infrastructure and complying with regulatory requirements. This is why credit unions in Texas should consider managed IT or co-managed IT services, particularly when it comes to compliance and regulatory concerns.

Fully managed IT services involve outsourcing all IT operations and support to an external provider, while co-managed IT services involve a partnership between a credit union's internal IT resource or team and an external provider, with both parties sharing responsibility for IT operations and support. Here are some reasons why credit unions in Texas should consider these services, with a focus on compliance and regulatory requirements:

1. Compliance expertise: Credit unions are subject to a range of regulations and requirements related to data security, privacy, and fraud prevention. Managed IT service providers (MSPs) have the expertise and experience to help credit unions navigate these requirements and ensure that they remain compliant with all applicable laws and regulations.
2. Risk mitigation: Credit unions face a range of risks related to their IT infrastructure, including cyber threats and data breaches. Managed IT and co-managed IT services can help credit unions mitigate these risks by providing proactive monitoring, threat detection, and incident response capabilities.
3. Cost savings: Managed IT and co-managed IT services can help credit unions save money by eliminating the need to hire and train additional IT staff or invest in expensive technology. Instead, credit unions can rely on the expertise, resources, and existing toolset of a trusted partner to manage their IT infrastructure more efficiently and cost-effectively.
4. Improved efficiency: Outsourcing IT operations and support to an MSP can help credit unions improve their efficiency by streamlining processes and reducing the time and resources needed to manage IT in-house.
5. Scalability: Managed IT and co-managed IT services can help credit unions scale their IT infrastructure more effectively. For example, if a credit union experiences a sudden increase in demand, a managed IT service provider can quickly provide additional resources and support to help meet that demand.

In conclusion, credit unions in Texas face a range of compliance and regulatory challenges related to their IT infrastructure. Managed IT and co-managed IT services can help credit unions navigate these challenges by providing compliance expertise, risk mitigation capabilities, cost savings, improved efficiency, and scalability. By partnering with a trusted IT service provider like runbiz™, credit unions can better serve their members while staying ahead of the regulatory curve. Get in touch with us today.

As a business owner, you may have heard about co-managed IT services and wondered if it's right for your business. Co-managed IT involves partnering with a managed IT services provider to supplement your existing IT team. Despite the many benefits of co-managed IT, there are still some common myths and misconceptions about this approach. In this post, we'll debunk the top four co-managed IT myths.

Myth #1: Co-Managed IT is Only for Large Companies

One of the most common myths about co-managed IT is that it's only suitable for large companies. The truth is that co-managed IT can be beneficial for businesses of all sizes, including small and medium-sized businesses. Regardless of the size of your business, co-managed IT can provide access to a broader range of IT expertise and help you scale up or down your IT resources as needed.

Myth #2: Co-Managed IT is Expensive

Another common myth about co-managed IT is that it's expensive. However, co-managed IT can actually be a cost-effective solution for many businesses. By partnering with a managed IT services provider, you can supplement your existing IT team without the expense of hiring new employees or investing in new equipment. Additionally, outsourcing routine tasks and maintenance can reduce the risk of costly downtime and help prevent IT issues from becoming more significant problems that require more extensive and costly repairs.

Myth #3: Co-Managed IT is Invasive

Some business owners are concerned that co-managed IT services will be invasive and disrupt their existing IT operations. However, co-managed IT is designed to work seamlessly with your existing IT team. The goal is to supplement your internal resources and provide additional support and expertise. This means that co-managed IT is not invasive, but rather a collaborative approach to IT management.

Myth #4: Co-Managed IT is Unnecessary

Finally, some business owners may believe that co-managed IT is unnecessary if they already have an internal IT team in place. However, co-managed IT can be beneficial even if you have an internal IT team. By partnering with a managed IT services provider, you can access additional IT expertise and increase scalability. This means that your internal IT team can focus on high-level initiatives and critical projects that drive business growth.

In conclusion, co-managed IT can be a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. Despite the common myths and misconceptions about co-managed IT, it can provide access to a broader range of IT expertise, increase scalability, and help you save money. If you're interested in learning more about co-managed IT, contact our Amarillo-based team of experts at runbiz™ to schedule a consultation.

Don’t forget to download our checklist, “How to Choose the Best Co-managed IT Partner for Your Business,“ to help you make an informed decision.

As a business owner, you're likely always looking for ways to improve your operations and increase efficiency. One way to do this is by implementing a co-managed IT model. Co-managed IT involves partnering with a managed IT services provider to supplement your existing IT team. In this post, we'll explore the benefits of co-managed IT and how it can help your business.

Improved IT Expertise

By partnering with a managed IT services provider, you can tap into a pool of experienced IT professionals. This means you can benefit from the knowledge and skills of a team of experts without having to hire and train new employees. With co-managed IT, you'll have access to a broader range of IT expertise, including areas such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, and network infrastructure.

Increased Scalability

Co-managed IT also provides your business with increased scalability. As your business grows, your IT needs will also grow, and it can be challenging to keep up with the demand. By partnering with a managed IT services provider, you can quickly scale up or down your IT resources as needed. This means you can meet the demands of your business without having to worry about hiring new employees or investing in new equipment.

Enhanced Productivity

With co-managed IT, your internal IT team can focus on the projects and tasks that are most critical to your business. By outsourcing routine tasks and maintenance to a managed IT services provider, your internal team can focus on higher-level initiatives that drive business growth. This means you can improve productivity, reduce downtime, and increase the overall efficiency of your IT operations.

Cost Savings

Partnering with a managed IT services provider can also help your business save money. Co-managed IT allows you to supplement your existing IT team without the expense of hiring new employees or investing in new equipment. Additionally, outsourcing routine tasks and maintenance can reduce the risk of costly downtime and help prevent IT issues from becoming more significant problems that require more extensive and costly repairs.

How We Can Help

At runbiz™, we offer co-managed IT solutions that can help your business thrive from our centralized team of experts in Amarillo, TX. We can work with your existing IT department to provide additional support and expertise, allowing your team to focus on high-level initiatives.

In conclusion, co-managed IT can be a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. By partnering with a managed IT services provider, you can access additional IT expertise, increase scalability, enhance productivity, and save money. If you're interested in learning more about co-managed IT, contact us today to schedule a consultation or download our infographic, “What You Need to Know About Co-Managed IT Services”.

In today's interconnected world, companies rely on a vast array of vendors and suppliers to support their business operations. While this supply chain is critical to business success, it also presents an inherent risk. Cybersecurity threats are increasingly prevalent and sophisticated, and vendors can provide an entry point for attackers to compromise a company's sensitive information.

To minimize these risks, companies must pay close attention to vendor selection and management. In this blog, we will discuss the steps that organizations can take to effectively manage vendor risk and protect their clients' data, and how an IT partner like runbiz™ can help you make this a reality.

1. Conduct Due Diligence

Before engaging a vendor, it is critical to conduct due diligence to evaluate their cybersecurity practices. This includes reviewing their security policies and procedures, assessing their risk management processes, and verifying their compliance with applicable regulations and standards. Companies should also investigate the vendor's security incident history, such as any previous data breaches or cyber attacks.

2. Establish Security Requirements

Once a vendor has been selected, companies should establish security requirements and expectations in the contract. These requirements should outline specific security measures that the vendor must implement, such as regular security assessments, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and employee training on cybersecurity best practices.

3. Monitor Vendor Performance

Companies must also regularly monitor their vendors' performance to ensure that they are meeting security requirements and adequately protecting sensitive data. This can include conducting security audits and assessments, reviewing security incident reports, and assessing the vendor's overall security posture.

4. Develop Incident Response Plans

Despite best efforts to prevent cyber attacks, incidents may still occur. IT services providers must work with their clients and vendors to develop a comprehensive incident response plan that outlines the steps to take in the event of a security breach. This includes identifying the point of contact, outlining response procedures, and documenting communication protocols.

5. Implement Cybersecurity Best Practices

Finally, companies must implement cybersecurity best practices across their entire organization to minimize risk. This includes training employees on safe browsing habits, implementing multi-factor authentication, and regularly backing up data to prevent data loss.

In conclusion, effective vendor selection is critical to minimizing cyber supply chain risks. Your team must conduct due diligence, establish security requirements, monitor vendor performance, develop incident response plans, and implement cybersecurity best practices to ensure that their clients' sensitive data is adequately protected. By taking these steps, companies can help mitigate the risks associated with their supply chain and safeguard their business operations. If you need help from a team who has experience managing these risks and implementing best practices, contact us today. 

You can also download our checklist titled "Manage Supply Chain Risks With These Strategies" to start implementing effective strategies right away. 

Supply chain risk management is critical for businesses of all sizes, and yet, many organizations still hold misconceptions about what it entails. These misconceptions can lead to inadequate preparation, leaving businesses vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and financial losses. In this blog post, we'll discuss the top three supply chain risk misconceptions that organizations need to be aware of.

1. Supply Chain Risk Only Affects Large Companies

Many small and medium-sized businesses believe that they are not at risk of supply chain disruptions because they lack the size and complexity of larger organizations. However, supply chain risks can impact businesses of any size, and smaller companies may be even more vulnerable to disruptions because they lack the resources to quickly recover from an incident.

Your IT services provider must work with you to identify and address potential supply chain risks, regardless of the size of your business. This can include conducting risk assessments, developing contingency plans, and regularly monitoring vendors and suppliers.

2. Supply Chain Risk Management Is Only Necessary for Manufacturing Companies

Another common misconception is that supply chain risk management only applies to manufacturing companies. However, every organization, regardless of industry or sector, relies on a complex network of suppliers and vendors to support their operations. Any disruption in this network can have significant consequences, including financial losses and reputational damage.

Your IT team should help you understand that supply chain risk management is critical for all businesses. This includes identifying potential risks and developing contingency plans to minimize the impact of disruptions.

3. Supply Chain Risk Management Is Too Expensive

Many businesses believe that supply chain risk management is too expensive and time-consuming, and therefore not worth the investment. However, the cost of not addressing supply chain risks can far outweigh the cost of implementing risk management strategies.

Managed IT services providers like runbiz™ will work with you to identify cost-effective solutions to manage supply chain risks. This can include implementing supply chain visibility tools, developing contingency plans, and regularly monitoring vendors and suppliers.

In conclusion, supply chain risk management is critical for all businesses, regardless of size or industry. Managed IT services providers in Amarillo, TX, must help their clients understand the misconceptions surrounding supply chain risks and develop effective risk management strategies. By addressing potential risks and developing contingency plans, businesses can protect themselves from supply chain disruptions and minimize the impact of any incidents that occur.

To learn more about achieving supply chain risk management and compliance, be sure to download our infographic titled "How to Achieve Supply Chain Risk Management and Compliance." You can also get in touch with someone on our team today by submitting a form here on our website or giving us a call at 806-322-2150. 

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, managing supply chain risks has become an essential aspect of running a successful business. Supply chain disruptions can be costly and damaging to your business, leading to lost revenue, delays, and customer dissatisfaction. In this blog post, we'll provide some tips on how to effectively manage supply chain risks.

1. Identify potential risks

The first step in managing supply chain risks is to identify potential risks. This involves looking at all aspects of your supply chain, from suppliers to logistics providers, and understanding the potential risks associated with each. This could include natural disasters, transportation disruptions, supplier bankruptcy, or regulatory changes.

2. Assess the impact

Once you've identified potential risks, the next step is to assess the impact that each risk could have on your business. This involves understanding how each risk could impact your supply chain, from delays to product quality issues to increased costs. By assessing the impact of each risk, you'll be better equipped to prioritize your risk management efforts.

3. Develop a risk management plan

Based on your assessment, you can develop a risk management plan. This plan should outline the steps you will take to mitigate each risk, as well as who will be responsible for implementing those steps. Your plan should also include contingency plans in case a risk does materialize, such as alternative suppliers or backup logistics providers.

4. Monitor your supply chain

Managing supply chain risks is an ongoing process, and it's essential to monitor your supply chain regularly. This involves keeping an eye on potential risks and assessing how well your risk management plan is working. You should also be in regular communication with your suppliers and logistics providers to stay informed about any potential issues.

5. Leverage technology

Technology can be a powerful tool in managing supply chain risks. By leveraging tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, you can analyze data from across your supply chain to identify potential risks and make better decisions. You can also use technology to improve communication with suppliers and logistics providers, making it easier to coordinate efforts and respond to disruptions.

In conclusion, managing supply chain risks is a critical aspect of running a successful business. By identifying potential risks, assessing their impact, developing a risk management plan, monitoring your supply chain, and leveraging technology, you can effectively manage your supply chain risks and minimize the impact of disruptions on your business. As a Managed IT Services provider in Amarillo, TX, runbiz™ is equipped with the latest technology and expertise to help businesses manage their supply chain risks effectively. Contact us today to learn more about our services and download our infographic titled "How to Achieve Supply Chain Risk Management and Compliance" to learn more.

Cyber attacks are a growing concern for businesses of all sizes, and Amarillo, TX is no exception. These attacks can come in many forms, including malware, ransomware, and phishing scams, and can have serious consequences for businesses that are unprepared to defend against them.

One of the biggest concerns for businesses in Amarillo is the financial impact of cyber attacks. A successful attack can result in lost revenue, increased expenses, and damage to a company's reputation. In addition, many businesses in Amarillo are required by law to report data breaches, which can lead to significant fines and penalties.

Another concern for businesses in Amarillo is the risk of data loss. Cybercriminals often target sensitive information such as customer data, financial records, and intellectual property. If this information is stolen or destroyed, it can be difficult or impossible for a business to recover.

One of the best ways for businesses in Amarillo to protect themselves against cyber attacks is to invest in managed IT services. These services provide businesses with a team of experts who can help them to identify and mitigate cyber threats, as well as provide ongoing support and maintenance to help prevent future attacks.

Managed IT services can also help businesses in Amarillo to comply with regulations and industry standards. Businesses that handle sensitive data are required to comply with laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Managed IT services can help businesses in Amarillo to comply with these regulations by providing them with the necessary tools and processes.

In conclusion, cyber-attacks are a serious threat to businesses in Amarillo, TX, and can have significant financial and operational consequences. Managed IT services can help businesses in Amarillo to protect themselves against cyber threats by providing them with the necessary tools and expertise to identify and mitigate cyber threats, while also helping them to comply with regulations and industry standards.

A managed service provider (MSP) can give organizations in Amarillo, TX peace of mind by providing a wide range of services that help to keep their IT systems and data secure and running smoothly.

Maintenance

One of the primary ways an MSP can give organizations peace of mind is by taking on the responsibilities of maintaining and managing their IT infrastructure. This includes tasks such as software updates, backups, and network monitoring, which can be time-consuming and complex for organizations to handle on their own. With an MSP handling these tasks, organizations can focus on their core business operations without having to worry about the technical details of their IT systems.

Stopping Issues Before You Know They Exist
Another way an MSP can give organizations peace of mind is by providing proactive IT support. MSPs typically have teams of IT experts who can identify and address potential issues before they become major problems. This can help to minimize downtime and ensure that organizations' IT systems are always running at peak performance.

Technical Alignment

An MSP can also give organizations peace of mind by providing access to the latest technologies and best practices. As technology evolves, it can be difficult for organizations to keep up with the latest trends and innovations. An MSP can help organizations to stay current by providing access to the latest tools and software, as well as expert guidance on how to use them effectively.

Disaster Recovery

MSPs can also provide disaster recovery solutions, which can give organizations peace of mind by ensuring that they can quickly and effectively restore their IT systems in the event of a disaster. This can help organizations minimize damage and minimize downtime, allowing them to get back to business as soon as possible.

Compliance

Finally, MSPs can give organizations peace of mind by providing compliance assistance. Organizations in Amarillo, TX may be subject to specific regulations, such as HIPAA, that require them to take specific steps to protect sensitive information. An MSP can help organizations to understand and comply with these regulations, ensuring that they are in compliance and minimizing the risk of costly fines.

In conclusion, managed service providers can give organizations in Amarillo, TX peace of mind by providing a wide range of services that help to keep their IT systems and data secure and running smoothly, providing proactive IT support, providing access to the latest technologies, providing disaster recovery solutions and providing compliance assistance. This allows organizations to focus on their core business operations, while their IT systems and data are being taken care of by the MSP.

At runbiz™, we're passionate about empowering people to do what they do well through technology. If you want more information on how a managed or co-managed IT strategy can help your organization, get in touch with us today. 

As technology continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, it's more important than ever to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments. However, with so many different devices and services available, it can be difficult to know when it's time to upgrade or replace your existing technology. In this blog post, we'll debunk three common myths about end-of-service technology and help you make informed decisions about your IT infrastructure.

Myth #1: End-of-Service Means End-of-Use

One of the most persistent myths about technology end-of-service is that once a device or service reaches its end-of-life date, it's no longer usable. In reality, end-of-service simply means that the manufacturer or vendor will no longer provide support, updates, or patches for the product. While this may make the product less secure or reliable over time, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's completely unusable. In fact, many businesses and individuals continue to use end-of-service technology for years after the official support period has ended. However, it's important to be aware of the risks and limitations of using unsupported technology, and to have a plan in place for upgrading or replacing it when necessary.

Myth #2: Upgrading Always Means Buying New

Another common misconception is that upgrading your technology always requires purchasing new hardware or software. While this may be true in some cases, there are many instances where upgrading can be accomplished through software updates, hardware upgrades, or other modifications. For example, you may be able to extend the lifespan of an older computer by upgrading the RAM or replacing the hard drive, rather than purchasing a brand new machine. Similarly, software updates can often provide new features or performance improvements without requiring a complete overhaul of your existing technology stack. By exploring all of your options for upgrading or improving your technology, you can save money and extend the lifespan of your existing investments.

Myth #3: End-of-Service Only Affects Large Organizations

Finally, many individuals and small businesses assume that end-of-service technology only affects large organizations with complex IT infrastructures. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. End-of-service technology can impact anyone who relies on technology to perform their job or personal tasks, regardless of the size of their organization. In fact, smaller businesses and individuals may be even more vulnerable to the risks of using unsupported technology, as they may not have the same resources or expertise as larger organizations. By staying informed about end-of-service technology and making informed decisions about your IT infrastructure, you can protect your data and ensure that your technology continues to support your needs.

In conclusion, there are many myths and misconceptions surrounding technology end-of-service. By understanding the facts and staying informed about the latest trends and developments, you can make informed decisions about your IT infrastructure and ensure that you're getting the most out of your technology investments. If you need help navigating the complex world of technology end-of-service, don't hesitate to reach out to us here at Runbiz, your local IT experts in Amarillo, TX.

You can also download our checklist, "How Technology Reaching End of Service Can Impact Your Business".

Running outdated software can be tempting, especially if it still seems to be functioning properly. However, this decision can put your business at significant risk. As a managed IT services provider in Amarillo, TX, we've seen firsthand the dangers of running outdated software. In this post, we'll explain why it's time to upgrade and how we can help.

Security Risks

One of the most significant dangers of running outdated software is security risks. Software vendors regularly release security patches to address vulnerabilities and protect against cyber attacks. However, if you're running outdated software, you're missing out on these critical updates, leaving your business vulnerable to security breaches. Hackers actively seek out outdated software as it provides a way for them to exploit known vulnerabilities and gain access to your systems.

Compatibility Issues

Outdated software can also cause compatibility issues. As technology continues to evolve, software vendors will eventually stop supporting older versions of their products. This means that if you continue to run outdated software, it may no longer work with other systems or software, leading to costly downtime and decreased productivity. Additionally, newer software may require more processing power or memory, which outdated hardware may not be able to handle.

Compliance Concerns

Many industries are subject to regulatory requirements that require businesses to run up-to-date software. For example, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requires businesses that process credit card payments to use supported versions of software. Failing to comply with these regulations can result in significant fines and damage to your business's reputation.

The Solution: Upgrade Your Software

The solution to these dangers is simple: upgrade your software. Upgrading your software ensures that you're running the latest version, complete with security patches, compatibility updates, and improved functionality. It's important to note that upgrading software is not a one-time event. Software vendors release updates regularly, so it's essential to stay current to ensure that your business remains protected.

How We Can Help

As a managed IT services provider, we can help you upgrade your software smoothly and efficiently. We can assess your current software and identify which applications need to be updated. We'll then create a plan to upgrade your software with minimal disruption to your business operations. We can also provide ongoing support and maintenance to ensure that your software remains up-to-date and functioning properly.

In conclusion, running outdated software can put your business at significant risk. If you're running outdated software, it's time to upgrade. runbiz™ can help you stay up-to-date and protected. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.

You can learn more by downloading our infographic "What Does End of Support Mean for Your Business?".

As businesses in Amarillo, TX, and beyond rely more heavily on technology, it's essential to remember that hardware and software are not immune to the passage of time. Just like anything else, they have a limited lifespan and will eventually need to be replaced or upgraded. Managed IT services providers can help businesses plan for these necessary changes to ensure that their technology is always up-to-date and working correctly.

When Hardware Goes Bad

Hardware components are the physical parts of a computer, such as the motherboard, CPU, memory, and storage devices. Over time, these components can fail or become outdated. For example, a hard drive may fail due to wear and tear, or it may not have enough storage space to meet a business's growing needs. In some cases, hardware components may simply become obsolete, as newer, faster, and more powerful components are released.

Managed IT services providers can help businesses avoid these problems by regularly assessing their hardware needs and making recommendations for upgrades or replacements. This can help prevent costly downtime and ensure that employees have the tools they need to do their jobs effectively.

When Software Expires

Software is the set of instructions that tell a computer what to do. Just like hardware, software can also expire over time. Software may become obsolete if it is no longer supported by its manufacturer. For example, Microsoft is ending support for Office 2013 in January 2023. After this date, users of Office 2013 will no longer receive updates, bug fixes, or technical support.

Outdated software can be a security risk as well. Hackers often target older software because they know that many businesses don't keep their software up-to-date. Managed IT services providers like runbiz™ can help businesses manage their software needs by ensuring that they are using the latest versions of software and that they are applying updates and patches regularly.

In conclusion, hardware and software expire just like milk, and it's essential to plan for these changes to ensure that your business technology remains up-to-date and secure. Partnering with Runbiz or another managed IT services provider can help you stay ahead of these changes and ensure that your technology is always working at its best. As the end-of-support for Office 2013 is happening in January 2023, now is the perfect time to start planning for this necessary upgrade. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you keep your technology up-to-date and running smoothly. You can also download our infographic, "What Does End of Support Mean for Your Business?".

As a managed IT services provider in Amarillo, TX, we know that hardware and software don't last forever. While it's tempting to hang on to old technology as long as possible to save money, outdated hardware and software can lead to decreased productivity, security risks, and costly downtime. Here are four steps you can take to ensure a smooth transition when your technology reaches the end of its useful life.

1. Assess Your Needs

The first step in replacing hardware and software is to assess your needs. Take the time to review your current technology and identify what needs to be replaced or upgraded. Are there any software applications that are no longer supported by the vendor? Are there any hardware components that are failing or causing slowdowns? Consider the needs of your business and employees to determine the best course of action.

2. Create a Budget

Once you've identified what needs to be replaced or upgraded, it's time to create a budget. Take into account the cost of new hardware and software, as well as any associated costs, such as installation or training. Don't forget to factor in the cost of downtime, which can be significant if your technology fails unexpectedly. Creating a budget upfront will help you avoid surprises and ensure that you can afford to replace your technology when the time comes.

3. Plan Your Migration

Migrating to new hardware or software can be a complex process, especially if you have a large number of users or mission-critical applications. Plan your migration carefully to avoid disruptions to your business operations. Consider scheduling the migration outside of business hours or over a weekend to minimize downtime. Be sure to communicate the migration plan to employees and provide training as needed to ensure a smooth transition.

4. Partner with a Managed IT Services Provider

Replacing hardware and software can be time-consuming and overwhelming, especially if you don't have an IT department dedicated to managing technology. Partnering with a managed IT services provider can make the process much easier. We can assess your needs, help you create a budget, plan your migration, and provide ongoing support after the migration is complete. This can help ensure that your technology is always up-to-date and running smoothly, without taking valuable time away from your core business activities.

In conclusion, replacing hardware and software is an inevitable part of managing technology. By taking these four steps, you can ensure a smooth transition that minimizes downtime and maximizes productivity. If you need help with any aspect of replacing your technology, contact us today to learn how we can help. 

You can also go through our infographic, "What Does End of Support Mean for Your Business?".

When you think Zoom, you think video calls. For millions around the world, it’s a tool they rely on at work every day.

But for productivity, collaboration and workplace integration (as well as video calls), it’s Microsoft Teams that’s leading the way. Its tight integration with other Microsoft 365 services makes it so easy.

Now Zoom is looking for a piece of that action with the launch of a whole suite of features and services. They’re clearly designed to take on Teams and Slack head-to-head.

These will include email, a calendar app, and a virtual co-working space called Zoom Spots. Meanwhile a bunch of upgrades to the Zoom One platform are aiming to improve collaboration, keep chats flowing, and keep projects moving.

While it feels like a logical step for the video conferencing giant, it remains to be seen how widely adopted the new services will be. And before we recommend it to our clients, we’ll want to know that the levels of support, reliability and security are all bulletproof.

Many businesses are already committed to Microsoft Teams, which releases its own improvements almost on a weekly basis. But this is an interesting new development and we’ll be watching what happens carefully.

If you want to know more about the best tools to keep your team working smoothly together, just get in touch.

We go to a lot of effort working to protect our clients from online security threats. These could come in the form of key loggers that record you as you enter your login information, or DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, which overwhelm a service with fake traffic, causing it to crash.

As part of our service, we always advise our clients to install software updates as soon as they become available, and support them through the process where they need help.

But if you visit a website that asks you to install an Adobe Flash update… STOP!

Flash itself was actually discontinued in 2020 and is no longer supported, so you should assume that any Flash update messages will be a security threat.

Currently, fake Flash messages are being used as a cover for a new ‘botnet’ campaign that installs a malicious browser extension, called Cloud9. If you use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge you could be a target.

A botnet forms a group of infected devices that are controlled as one, without the owners’ knowledge, stealing sensitive data, sending spam, or performing DDoS attacks.

Worse still, the Cloud9 botnet will attempt to install additional malware to your device or network if it’s not stopped in time.

This type of attack is hard to spot because it looks like a genuine request, and just about anyone can become a target.

But there are things you can do to protect your business.

First, make everyone aware of the threat. If your people know what to look out for it’s less likely they’ll install the update in the first place.

Next, make sure everyone’s running the latest version of their browser and that security software is up to date.

Finally, enable Enhanced Protection in your browser’s Privacy and Security settings. This will give you a warning if you stumble upon a risky website or download.

We can help you keep your business protected from cyber criminals. Just get in touch.

You could be losing a full-time working week for every member of your team, thanks to the hassle of setting up video calls.

Video conferencing has revolutionized team meetings, and saves a huge amount of travel time. But we’re still not getting the full benefit from the new technology, according to new research.

Employees aged between 18 and 24 take up to 10 minutes to get set up for each remote meeting.

Times that by a typical five meetings a week, and it’s suddenly lost you 40 hours every year. That’s a whole working week of wasted time – a figure that gets even higher when you look at older age brackets.

It isn’t necessarily a result of differing technological know-how. The research shows that employees blame the tech itself for the loss of productivity.

Almost a third of people said they didn’t have the right tools for the job, and 23% even said they felt excluded from remote meetings thanks to inadequate tech.

Employees often feel that the audio-visual (AV) technology they’re provided for remote and hybrid working simply isn’t up to the job. That means poor microphones that don’t play ball, jittery webcams that interfere with communication, or the wrong choice of video calling software. All that makes meetings harder to set up and causes them to take longer than they should.

Despite this, businesses that offer remote and hybrid working are reaping the rewards in many other areas, including staff engagement and performance.

But there is a solution.

Assess your employees’ AV technology to make sure their tools are not slowing them down – new webcams and microphones could be a cheap and simple fix.

It’s also a good idea to ask your employees to find out where they see that problems are occurring. If they are finding your existing system difficult to use, or slow to log in to, you should consider alternative options or better training.

If this is something that’s slowing you down, we can help – just get in touch.

Are you using Teams to share sensitive data?

Microsoft Teams has fast become one of THE most useful business tools for the way we work today.

No matter where your people work from, they can communicate and collaborate quickly and reliably.

But this remote way of working can also open the door to some MAJOR security issues.

New research shows that nearly HALF of employees frequently share confidential and sensitive files via Teams.

That can be a big problem if employees are using personal equipment rather than company issued kit… it's simply not as secure as work devices.

More than half of people surveyed say they’ve shared ‘business critical’ information using personal devices. Worse still, 48% admitted they’ve accidentally sent files they shouldn’t have – possibly to the wrong person!

So how can you be sure that your people are using Teams in the safest, most secure way?

The solution lies with regular training and cyber security awareness for employees at all levels of your business – from trainee to CEO.

And you need to make sure you have all the right safeguards in place to protect your sensitive business data. Because if it fell into the wrong hands, the results could be an expensive nightmare, potentially with legal consequences. Just imagine if sensitive employee information got shared outside of the business…

Remember, even a trusted app like Teams is only as safe as the people who use it and the devices it’s installed on.

If you need help with cyber security training, or putting the right protections in place, get in touch.

Are you really downloading Zoom… or is it malware?

When you think about tools for remote working and chatting online, one of the first names in your mind is Zoom.

But its popularity has opened the door for cyber criminals. They’re using its name to steal sensitive data.

Researchers have discovered at least six convincing-looking download sites. They’re not the real thing. They’re designed to tempt you into downloading FAKE Zoom software, containing ‘info stealers’ and other forms of malware (malicious software).

Accidentally use one of these sites thinking that you’re downloading a Zoom update… and you risk having sensitive data stolen. Possibly your banking info, passwords, or browser history.

Some can even steal your multi-factor authentication details. That could give cyber criminals access to your most sensitive data.

The research also found these ‘stealer logs’ for sale on the dark web, where criminals can buy this information and use it to gain access to business networks.

Once a cyber criminal has access to your network, every piece of data you have stored becomes a target. In extreme cases, this can leave you vulnerable to ransomware attacks, or data theft.

While these fake sites can be incredibly convincing, take these simple steps to avoid being fooled.

• Before you download the Zoom application (or any application), double check the address of the website you’re on. Is it what you’re expecting? If you clicked an email to get to that site, are you 100% sure it’s from the real company?

• Study the rest of the web page too, looking for anything that doesn’t ring true, such as spelling mistakes or a clunky layout.

• Make sure your security software is up to date and is actively scanning for malware and suspicious downloads.

• Have a plan to roll out this advice across your business.

If you need any help or advice to keep your business protected from malware and other security threats, get in touch.

Using a cloud server to drive your business’s technology is a smart idea.

The benefits are huge.

You can use as little or as much storage as you need, without having to worry about limitations or huge bills. Perfect for growing businesses.

Your team can access any data anywhere. Cloud servers were made for the hybrid work world we have today.

And you don’t need to use lots of your office space to house big servers and other equipment.

But when you’re using a cloud server, you must make sure it’s properly secured.

A recent report has revealed cloud servers are increasingly being used as an entry point for cyber criminals to launch attacks.

A huge 41% of businesses that have been hacked revealed their cloud server was how cyber criminals got in.

Scarily, this figure is rising 10% year on year.

Why? Often, it’s because companies don’t invest as much into the security of their cloud servers as they should.

In technology as in life, you really do get what you pay for. Many of the free cloud servers available don’t provide the same level of security and encryption that paid-for services do. Often, they are less reliable as well.

It’s vital that your business does full research when choosing a cloud server to make sure it meets all your requirements and is as safe as possible.

Better still, ask an expert to do this research for you (we can help).

We also recommend a few standard security measures are always followed.

Give all of your team a password manager to encourage them to generate separate long random passwords for every login they have.

The beauty of password managers is they’ll remember these passwords and even autofill the login boxes. That means better security and greater convenience in one package.

You should also provide regular cyber security training for everyone in your business. Business emails are the second most likely place an attack will start.

The first line of defense should always be a human asking themselves “wait, does this look right?”

It’s never possible to prevent 100% of attacks. But if you take all the right steps to keep your business safe your chances of suffering a successful attack, go down dramatically.

If you’d like help choosing the right cloud server for your business, we can advise you – get in touch.

We all use our phones for a lot more than sending messages and making the occasional call.

And that means most of your staff are probably using their personal mobile for work now and then. Everyone does it.

The downside of this is it puts your business data at risk. If it can be accessed on a personal mobile and that device gets breached, that’s a risk.

That’s why the upcoming Android 13 is big news for businesses.

Google’s released more information about the new features on its latest operating system for mobile devices.

There are many features aimed at keeping business data safe and secure, while also helping your people maintain a good work/life balance.

We’re already able to create separate work and personal profiles on our Android devices. This new update makes managing these profiles even easier.

For example, your team can choose which profile they open their apps in.

Let’s say they had to watch a training video for work. They can set their phone to open it in the browser rather than the YouTube app, so it doesn’t affect their personal viewing history (and therefore suggested videos).

IT admins will benefit from more control over how business devices are used. They’ll also be able to monitor security logs for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and passwords. And install security patches faster.

But it’s not all about the control that admins have over work-issued devices. Your employees will benefit from having their data encrypted while using their personal profile.

There will also be separate photo galleries for business and personal photos; an improved Lost Mode to lock and locate lost devices; and end-to-end encryption when using the new ChromeOS integration feature.

If you have a Google device, you should already have access to Android 13. Other Android devices can expect to receive the update in the coming weeks.

If you want to talk through the best way to manage mobile devices for your business, get in touch.

We’re all familiar with USB. After all we’ve been using it with our computers since 1996, and now with mobile devices too.

Yes… it’s really been that long.

Without USB it would be harder to connect different types of devices, charge them, and transfer data.

Of course, USB has changed and improved over the years. And there’s another new improvement due in the next few months.

What makes this one fun is that you won’t need to buy any new USB accessories or cables.

The USB Promoter Group, which is the industry body that drives USB improvements, recently announced the planned release of USB 4 2.0.

What’s exciting about that, you ask?

This will actually allow you to double the speeds of data transfer on cables you already own – so long as they’re no more than a couple of years old.

This new standard will see a maximum data transfer performance of up to 80GBps. That’s gigabytes per second.

It means displays will perform better and data will transfer faster. Great news to improve productivity in your business.

The USB Promoter Group is made up of tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, HP, and Intel.

Its primary job is to develop USB capabilities to meet the demand of the current market and to extend support for more platform types.

We expect to have an update on USB 4 2.0 in around November.

If you want improved productivity and performance in your business before the end of the year, contact us. There are always ways to make things faster in every business.

None of your team would fall for this trick… would they?

Cyber criminals have a reputation for constantly coming up with new ways to scam us into handing over login details or sensitive data.

And while you might think your team would spot an attempted attack, you could be surprised. We’ve seen a lot of intelligent people – including many business leaders – caught out over the years.

One of the latest scams is very retro… and that seems to be why people are falling for it.

Cyber criminals have gone back to basics. They’re sending USB drives in the post.

The packaging and branding on the drives suggests they’re from Microsoft (they are not).

The story is there’s an updated version of Microsoft Office Professional Plus on the drive and it needs to be installed straightaway.

Of course, this is a complete lie. Microsoft has confirmed that these packages aren’t genuine. It’s warning people it would never send out unsolicited packages.

If you plug the drive into your computer, it will detect a “virus” and ask you to call a support line.

The scammers at the other end will pretend to remove the virus, gaining your trust. And then they’ll ask for payment details to help complete your subscription setup.

It’s old fashioned, but we can see how the mixture of the physical USB, the belief it’s from Microsoft and the fake support line would be compelling for someone who’s busy and just wants to get back to work.

We’re expecting elaborate, clever attacks through our email. Our guard is down with this mix of events.

Play it safe and warn everyone in your business about this scam.

This is also a good time to review the software and staff training you use to protect your business.

You need the right combination of the two… we can help with that. Get in touch.

Are you using a malicious browser extension without realizing?

There are hundreds of thousands of browser extensions designed to help us to save time, be more productive, and personalize our online experience.

And while the majority of them do what they’re supposed to, some are not designed to help you at all…

If you’re unfortunate enough to download a malicious browser extension without realizing, it could harm your productivity and even flood your work with unwanted advertising.

This is known as adware. It’s a form of malware (malicious software) that’s designed to bombard you with unwanted adverts.

It can also change your search engine and send you to affiliate pages when you’re making purchases. These activities generate revenue for the extension’s creators.

In a recent report from a cyber security company, it revealed more than 4 million of its customers have been attacked by adware hiding in browser extensions over the last couple of years.

And often people didn’t realize they were under attack.

There’s a darker scenario where these malicious extensions are hiding actual malware which can infect your computer.

This can lead to sensitive data such as your logins or even payment details being stolen. And of course, malware can spread across an entire network.

To keep your business and its data safe from the risk of malicious browser extensions, it’s important you only ever download them from reliable and trusted sources.

Read reviews and look at ratings. If a browser seems too good to be true it probably is.

As the business owner, you might also look into controlling which extensions can be installed by your team.

We can help with this, as well as looking at up-to-date software protection and (fun) security training for your team.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

There’s no denying that Windows 11 has a lot of really cool new features.

If you haven’t made the move from Windows 10 yet, you’re missing out.

But there’s good news. To make the (eventual) move from Windows 10 to 11 a little easier, Microsoft is sharing a couple of 11’s most useful features.

The first should make printing a little easier. We can hear your cheers from here! Anything that makes printing easier is OK in our book too. Printers don’t have a terrible reputation for nothing…

This feature makes printing PIN-protected. That means when you want to print a document, you’ll send it off to the printer – but it’ll only print when you’ve reached the printer and entered your PIN.

This removes the risk of you printing something confidential and leaving it on the printer for everyone to see.

Or accidentally printing several copies of the same document. Yes, this will reduce paper waste.

And that’s not all…

There’s a second really useful feature coming over to Windows 10. It’s called Focus Assist and works alongside do not disturb.

Switching on do not disturb is great when you want a little uninterrupted time to finish a task or do some research. But if you use it a lot, you might miss a notification that you really needed to see.

Focus Assist stops that from happening. You use it alongside do not disturb and it still allows important and time-sensitive notifications and messages to reach you.

These features have been in testing since June this year. There’s still no date for when they’ll be released to everyone with Windows 10. But they’re on their way.

If you can’t wait to try more of the time saving and productivity boosting features that Windows 11 has to offer, give us a call to see how we can help you make the switch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

For over two years now, remote and hybrid working has been a reality for a large percentage of the workforce. But recently, a survey found that many businesses have still failed to implement proper cybersecurity measures for remote staff.

Originally, the survey was meant to uncover plans for IT spending into 2023. However, the results shined a light on just how many businesses are overlooking this security risk.

Since early 2020, malware, ransomware, data breaches, and other cybersecurity incidents have risen dramatically. Attacks are also becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Globally, it’s costing businesses billions of dollars and excessive amounts of downtime. 

Around two thirds of the companies surveyed have web security tools like malware filters in place, but only half of businesses have implemented cloud-based cybersecurity systems. Cloud security provides multiple layers of protection to keep data safe from breaches or attacks. On top of being a good defense, it can also identify potential threats before they become problematic.

The survey results also indicated that 10% of organizations plan on implementing access management to ensure that only people who need access to certain systems have it. 

And finally, 9% of businesses plan to prioritize VPNs to provide secure access to company networks for remote workers.

We highly recommend that all of these security measures be put into place, especially if you have remote team members.

If your organization needs help, give us a call at 806-322-2150 or start a chat here on our website.

Since 2020, the world of technology has been experiencing a massive chip shortage. But the effects of this problem extend well past the tech industry. These chips aren’t just used for our laptop or desktop, they are found in many household appliances (coffee makers, refrigerators, etc.) and even our cars.

Knowing this, it’s clear to see how this shortage can potentially affect many different parts of our daily lives.

The shortage began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as production fell while demand skyrocketed. Since then, events such as the war in Ukraine, severe weather, and a factory fire have caused direct hits to chip production. But what does this mean for your business?

It means planning ahead is more important than ever.

Some of the key pieces of technology that your company needs to operate may be in short supply. Ordering one or two laptops may not be an issue, but a large order might be a bit more difficult.

Then there are essential pieces of hardware that you might not regularly think about such as network switches, which are currently taking much longer to get.

Most industry experts predict that the shortage will continue well into 2023.

Do you have someone accountable for making sure your technology is fit to empower your businesses key objectives and growth? We specialize in coming alongside companies to provide CIO level guidance and support.

If you need help, give us a call at 806-322-2150 or start a chat here on our website.

Ransomware has earned its reputation as the fastest growing cyber-crime, taking aim at 37% of businesses last year. If you’re unaware, a ransomware attack consists of someone infiltrating your computer or network to encrypt your data. They hold it hostage and ask for a ransom in order to unlock it with an encryption key.

The cyber-criminal will threaten to delete all your data should you fail to pay the ransom. The ransom is typically somewhere in the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

While that is already a hefty price to pay, you must also consider the downtime, damage to reputation, and stress that accompanies these attacks. Last year, the average downtime for a ransomware attack was 22 days.

Although most experts would advise that you not pay the ransom, a new survey shows that 97% of businesses who have been the victim of ransomware say they would pay the ransom if attacked again. A third of them say they would pay instantly.

These numbers say a lot about the severity of these attacks and the stress they put businesses under, but even paying the ransom is a gamble. It’s not guaranteed that you will get your data back. On average, only 65% of data is returned after the ransom is paid.

So, what is the best approach to handling it?

It starts with having the right stack of security measures in place to prevent these attacks on the front end. This will look like:

• Educating your staff on cybersecurity best practices
• Using multi-factor authentication on all apps and devices
• Using password managers to create and manage strong passwords that are hard to crack
• Keeping all software up to date
• Having a backup solution in place
• Creating a response and recovery plan

Taking these proactive measures will help your business respond faster, reducing the amount of downtime (and stress) you experience.

Helping our customers reduce their risk of falling victim to cyber-crime is an important part of what we do here at runbiz™. If your business needs help, give us a call at 806-322-2150.

Do you ever feel like you’re constantly being flooded with unnecessary notifications when you’re browsing the web? Most websites these days will ask for your permission to send you notifications, and that highlighted “allow” button is just begging to be clicked. So many of us do. And although the notifications are usually harmless (breaking news, latest releases, etc.), sometimes it’s flat-out spam.

It can be a distracting, annoying experience that sends us down unnecessary rabbit holes and kills productivity.

This is called “notification spam” and it’s turning into a problem. So much so that Google has reported it as one of the top complaints from users of the Chrome browser. Know this, Google has decided to take action.

They took their first step towards addressing the issue in October 2020 by exposing websites that manipulated users into allowing permissions. They would use prompts to warn people that the site may be malicious.

Google is now planning on taking things a step further by removing a malicious site’s permission to send notifications in the first place.

It’s still unclear how Google will determine which sites get marked as ‘abusive’ or ‘disruptive’, but they seem to be making good progress towards a spam-free browser experience.

The new feature works to strengthen Google’s ‘Developer Terms of Service’ which pledges not use their API to send spam of any kind.

Development on Chrome’s new notification spam blocker is in the early stages, so we don’t yet have an expected release date.

If your organization needs advice on protecting your team from any form of spam, get in touch.

Nobody likes spam. I’m not talking about the salty canned meat. I’m talking about the clutter in your inbox.

It goes beyond the annoyance of having to clear it out. Having to take the time to sort through spam is a real productivity killer.

A new report shows that your employees could be wasting up to 80 hours per year filtering through and deleting useless emails. That’s a lot of time.

On any given day, between 45% and 85% of emails are spam. That also accounts for malicious emails that are hoping to infect your system. And even though we don’t all receive the same amount of email, the hours lost to sorting the important from the junk add up for all of us.

If you add up all this lost time across your organization, the cost of the wasted time could be shocking.

Beyond that, with a portion of these emails being malicious phishing attempts, you’re looking at a sizable security risk as well.

There are several things you can do to reduce the time spent dealing with spam.

The first thing we recommend is making use of the spam and junk filtering included in your email service.

We believe it’s also important to utilized dedicated anti-spam and anti-phishing tools.

The last and arguably most important thing I’ll recommend, is user training. Make your staff aware of the risks that come with spam, how to spot phishing emails, and the best way to deal with them to save time and reduce the chances of opening the door to malware or a data breach.

If you’d like help making sure your company has the right tools, processes, and training in place, we’d be happy to talk to you.

We’ve all felt it. Our applications seem to be a little too interested in what we’re doing.

Maybe you’ve been talking to your friends about a new pair of shoes you want, then the next time you open social media, you’re flooded with advertisements from Nike, Adidas, and Reebok.

Surely this isn’t a coincidence… Is it?

Some find this helpful, while others find this creepy. Luckily, we’re starting to gain more control over the type of information being gathered by our apps. iOS and Android have both taken steps to give the end user more power when it comes to online privacy. They’ve allowed us to choose which apps have access to things like our camera, microphone, location, etc.

Many would assume that this is only an issue with phones, but laptops present the same situation.

For those of you who like to keep your privacy tight, we have good news. Microsoft is in the testing phase of a new feature called Privacy Auditing that puts the power back in your hands. Privacy Auditing will provide transparency around which applications are using your webcam, microphone, screenshots, messages, contacts, and location. There will be a log of when each of your apps accessed any of this data or hardware.

Once the feature is released, you’ll be able to find it in your Privacy & Security settings under App Permissions.

If you need help with data permissions on your business’s devices, get in touch. We’d love to help.

The 2022 Cybersecurity Almanac predicts the cost of cybercrime will reach a record high of $10.5 trillion by 2025, but there are still a handful of businesses that are not taking measures to protect themselves.

In cyber-attacks, your business loses more than data. You must factor in the cost of mitigation and remediation, which can often run up into tens of thousands of dollars. Additionally, businesses suffer 21 days of downtime on average, following an attack. The cost of that downtime will differ from business to business. Not to mention any damage this could cause to your reputation.

The best defence is taking a multi-layered approach to your company’s security, meaning several solutions are working alongside each other to close the gaps in your vulnerabilities and give your business an appropriate level of protection. This will reduce your risk of something slipping through the cracks but will also make recovery efforts easier should something happen.

It’s important to point out that there is no combination of tools that will keep your business 100% immune to cyber-attacks. At least not without locking your systems down to the point where doing business is nearly impossible.

The real key is finding the right balance between usability and protection, which will again, vary by industry and business.

Today we want to explain three of the most hazardous mistakes businesses frequently make.

1. Not properly managing employee access

Different roles in your organization will have different needs when it comes to application or documents. Treat it like so. Giving everyone an “all-access pass” increases the odds that a criminal will find an open door to your entire network.

Remember to update privileges whenever someone changes positions or leaves the company.

2. Allowing lateral movement

If a bad actor gains access to a device used by someone on your admin team, it might not be the end of the world. But what happens if they find a way to move from your admin system to your billing system… Then to your CRM... Then into someone’s email account.

This is called lateral movement. The bad actor crawls their way from one system to more critical systems.

If they can access the email of someone with admin rights to other systems or accounts, they can start wreaking havoc and locking other people out by resetting passwords.

Sometimes, the most effective strategy against this is “air gapping”, meaning there is no direct access from one area of your network to another.

3. Neglecting to plan and protect

Companies who work closely with their IT team to set strategies into place have lower odds of being attacked.

Having an updated plan in place that outlines what to do in these situations is a must.

This will give you back valuable time in your recovery efforts and limit the amount of data you lose.

If any or all of these three things are going unaddressed at your organization, we can help. Call us at 806-322-2150.

Today we are going to try to answer the top 5 things that could be hurting your SEO, so let’s dive in.

#5 Your On-Page SEO is not setup correctly

We have talked about On Page SEO before, but as a reminder, on Page SEO is SEO that best practices that have to do with your pages. There is a long list of things that you want to make sure that you are doing correctly when setting up a page, and missing some of the key checklists can cost you when it comes to your rankings.

#4 Toxic Backlinks

We have talked about backlinks in a previous episode as well, so be sure to go back and check that episode out for more detail. A Toxic backlink is a site that google thinks is unsafe, but it has a link on its website back to yours. As a refresher, SEO doesn’t just have to do with your site, but with everyone else who might also reference your site. This can be fixed my getting your SEO professional to take an audit of the backlinks to your site.

#3 Page Speed

Page speed is an SEO killer. Here is a stat for you. 81% of other marketers agree the slow page speed can influence their conversions. I mean, who wants to sit and wait for a website to load all it’s cool images and content to load. This can be tricky to fix and will most likely need the help of an SEO professional to understand what a Page speed test is returning.

#2 Keyword Duplication

As a reminder, keywords are the words that people are searching are searching and what you are trying to target to rank with your SEO campaign. Keyword duplication is where you have the same keywords on multiple pages. This can throw off Google and not know which page to rank so it doesn’t rank either of them. You can fix this by making sure that each page has unique content and descriptions

#1 Keyword Stuffing.

Keyword stuffing can be done intentionally or unintentionally. Bad news is that google can’t tell if it’s by accident. Keyword stuffing can happen when you use your target keyword multiple times in a description. An example is “Well sell yellow umbrellas. Our yellow umbrellas are awesome and if think you want a yellow umbrella, contact our yellow umbrella specialist and yellow.umbrella@yellowumbrella.com. Google can see right through that and is like, “Nope, sorry”. You can fix this by creating a unique sentence highlighting other keywords as well.

That’s our top 5 things that can hurt your SEO. If you need help in this area, we would love to talk to you more about how runbiz can help you with SEO.

Let’s be honest. Passwords are a pain.

Coming up with one, not forgetting it, and typing it in.

It can be a real distraction when one of your apps logs you out and forces you to log back in.

It’s irritating to all of us. However, there may be an end in sight.

Microsoft, Google, and Apple are working together to end passwords for good.

In the next 12 months, there are plans to introduce no-password logins across all of their respective platforms, abiding by standards outlined by the FIDO Alliance, which is an organization that exists to develop and promote authentication standards that “help reduce the world’s over-reliance on passwords”.

The alternative to passwords is typically referred to as a passkey.

The passkey is like multi-factor authentication in that it requires a second device to prove it’s you, but with less effort.

Instead of having you click approve or copy a code on your device, your computer will use Bluetooth to detect your phone nearby.

If your phone is detected nearby, you will receive a verification message. Then unlock your phone the usual way (face ID, fingerprint, or PIN), then you’re in.

When you sign up on a new website or app, a key pair is made between your phone and the website. This is referred to as public key cryptography.

If losing your phone is a safety concern, you can rest knowing that someone would need to be able to unlock your device, not just have possession of it. This is a good reason to opt for using FaceID to secure your mobile device.

When you get a new phone, you can simply transfer over your information because passkeys will be backed up in the cloud. 

Not only will the passkeys make accessing your accounts simpler, but they should also keep your data safer.

This system seems to be a big step forward in the world of authentication, and hopefully one that we all benefit from soon.

Microsoft Teams has gained a tremendous amount of popularity in the last several years and is now serving 270 million users each month.

Timing played a big role in its initial success with the shift to working from home at the beginning of the pandemic.

But the growth of Teams has remained steady, even as many have returned to the office.

It has become a vital part of the way employees collaborate, and businesses can’t imagine going back to a Teams-less reality.

One thing that makes the platform special is Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to adding improved functionality and features.

Recently we’ve received new features such as a virtual whiteboard for brainstorming during a video call.

We’ve also seen improvement in chat, with the added ability to pin chats with certain colleagues to the top for easy access. You can even customize your view to focus on just one task at a time.

But today we are focusing on three new features that are coming soon.

The first is one we believe should’ve been there from the very beginning. Any time you rename a Teams channel, the name of the corresponding SharePoint folder will now automatically update to match. We can expect to see this by the end of May.

Next month, a Chat-With-Self feature will arrive. This may seem strange, but it will give you the ability to send yourself notes, files, messages, or images. This is one of those things you don’t think you need... until you do. I’ve been there.

And lastly, there are improvements coming to the calling experience from your browser. Until now, the experience calling out of the app has been better all around, but this will bring the browser functionality up to speed.

As always, there are many updates still to come throughout the remainder of the year. We look forward to keeping you posted as they roll in.

Today we're going to answer the top five questions that we get from people about SEO.

Question #1: How does SEO work?

We've mentioned this before, but Google has over 200 ranking factors for how they determine how they position websites in their rankings. Search engines crawl or scan your website to try to understand what it's actually about. The best SEO practices make sure it's very easy for those bots to scan your website and try to figure out what your site is all about.

Question #2: How long does SEO take?

Too long. In the olden days, you could launch a website and probably start to rank quickly because of how limited the ranking factors work. Now it takes time for Google to index your site. If you're a brand-new website, you're going to struggle very early on with ranking where you want to. Most SEO experts estimate four to six months before you start seeing results.

Question #3: Does blogging help SEO?

Yes, blogging is an easy way to get fresh and new content on your website, which is also something that Google is looking for when searching your site. Plus, blogs are usually trying to answer a popular question, and that's what you're doing when you're searching the Internet, right? You're looking for an answer.

Question #4: Can I do SEO myself without hiring an SEO professional?

Yes and no. Yes, you can try to do SEO yourself. You can implement a very basic SEO strategy on your site, but it is very time consuming. Not only is it time consuming, but the landscape of SEO is ever evolving and ever changing.

Question #5. What is the most important part of SEO?

While all aspects of SEO are important, your online reputation holds the most weight. And remember, your online reputation can consist of backlinks, brand mentions on the internet from new stories or blogs, social media mentions, etc. Your online reputation doesn’t have much to do with your current website. You could have a great, beautifully designed site, but you're only truly being successful at 50% of SEO.

As a business owner or manager, you know how important good IT is. Your business couldn’t function without it.

Your IT isn’t just about computers and data. It’s everything from your phone system to your printers, to where you access your documents.

And that’s without going into the measures you must take to keep your data and infrastructure safe and secure from cyber criminals.

So, we weren’t surprised by a new forecast from IT research and consultancy firm, Gartner, which predicts businesses will spend more on technology this year.

In fact, the global IT spend could reach an enormous $4.4 trillion. That’s despite rising inflation, the Russian invasion, and shortages in both chips and IT talent.

We believe there’s been a fundamental shift in the way businesses view their technology.

Two years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, companies were forced to take unexpected urgent action to help employees work from home. In many cases that meant a large investment in devices, rapid changes to systems, and the adoption of new technology.

And it’s worked out well for most. Businesses have adapted quickly, and many have embraced the changes on a more permanent basis.

But it’s also made business leaders realize they need to be better prepared to respond to future potential disruption.

This is the difference between a flexible and agile business… and one that stumbles at the first hurdle.

Many businesses no longer see IT as a cost. They embrace it as an investment. They can see the direct correlation between creating robust, safe, and flexible systems – and their teams’ abilities to achieve more.

Owners and managers are also placing more value on excellent, proactive technology support from a trusted partner.

To not only plan and execute big development projects. But also, to help reduce downtime and ensure systems are secure and running as they should be.

If you’re reviewing your spend on technology and support, we can help. Get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

We all have different ways of working. Some of us prefer to have a minimal number of things displayed on our screens. Others thrive when everything is open and in sight.

But we can all agree that having 20 tabs open in your browser at any one time has a negative effect on productivity.

Just because it takes so much more time to find the web pages and services you need when you’re looking for them.

This might not be a problem for much longer.

If you’re a fan of Microsoft browser Edge, you’ll be interested in a new feature that’s going to debut soon.

Workspaces was originally revealed a year ago, back in April 2021. But since then, Microsoft has gone quiet about it. We assumed it was dead in the water.

But a preview build of Edge that’s just come out for developers includes an option to create new Workspaces. So, it looks like we could all be seeing the feature rolled out in the months ahead.

Workspaces allows you to group together browser tabs, and open or close groups with a click.

There are a number of ways you might use this. Perhaps to keep work-related and personal information separate. Or even grouping together information relating to different projects.

These groups can be named and color coded, so it’s easy to find the right information at the right time.

And unless you delete a Workspace, when you close and reopen Edge all your tabs will be there waiting for you.

There’s no release date for this yet. But if you can’t wait to get stuck in, more good news – Google’s Chrome browser already offers a similar feature called tab groups.

A simple right-click lets you group together tabs, label them and color code them too. You can even reorder them on your tab strip to organise them further.

Need more productivity boosting tools for your business? We’d love to help, just get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

A new report has discovered that 67% of remote workers are using faulty tech when they work remotely.

And often that’s because they’ve accidentally damaged the tech themselves… they don’t want to admit it to their boss in case they get into trouble.

A company that sells refurbished technology surveyed 2,500 employees.

It found that laptops were most likely to be broken, followed by keyboards, monitors, and PCs.

Most of the time the damage was done by spilled food and drink. Other causes of damage included other people in the house – such as a partner or housemates – and of course, pets.

We’ve all watched in horror as a cat brushes up against a full glass of water next to a laptop…

While more than half of people try to fix the damage, and 81% of people continue to use their faulty device with limited features, a third of workers switch to their personal devices instead.

As well as this causing a loss of productivity, it could also be a huge data security risk for your business.

Because it’s possible their personal laptop doesn’t have as much security protection as their work laptop does, such as:

• Security software
• Data encryption
• Enhanced password protection such as multi-factor authentication

Their personal devices also aren’t being monitored by your IT support partner.

When an attacker gains access to an unmanaged device, if it’s connected to your network, it’s possible they can get access to the wider network, and all of your business’s data.

This can result in your data being stolen and sold. Or worse, your data being encrypted so it’s useless to you – and you must pay for its return. This is called a ransomware attack and it’s the greatest cyber security threat to your business right now.

It’s not just access to your data that’s the problem. After a ransomware attack, there is a huge time and financial cost involved in making sure your network is clean, protected and secured.

Our advice is to make sure that everyone in your business understands the risks involved with using personal devices for work purposes, whether they work remotely or not.

You might want to make a golden rule that all work must only be done on business devices.

You could also create a culture where it’s OK if a device gets damaged, so long as it’s reported quickly.

If you need any help choosing the right technology or cyber security approach for your team, or creating new policies to help your staff choose to do the right thing, give us a call.

Hey everyone, welcome to Web Tip Wednesday: Website Edition – Episode 3.

Last time we talked, we went over the topic of how to rank on google. This gave us some good insight into on-page and off-page SEO.

Today we are going to expand on an off-page SEO strategy and talk backlinks. Backlinks are an important part of your SEO strategy, but tragically, they are often forgotten.

We hope to answer 3 main questions about backlinks, which will in turn, help you drive traffic to your website.

So, let’s start with the obvious, what are backlinks?

Last time I told you that off-page SEO can be boiled down to one thing, “reputation”. Backlinks are one of the most effective ways to build your reputation online, because a major hint to what they are is in the name. Back links. This is just an easier way to say, “links back to your website”. And they are just that. Other websites that link to your own website.

If reputation matters when it comes to SEO, then it really matters which websites are linking back to your website. When browsers start crawling the internet for websites, they are logging how safe they think a given website is. The safer and better the website is that is linking back to your website, the more that can help your rankings. The more “toxic” sites that link back to your website, the more that can hurt your rankings.

For example, if you are looking to go eat at restaurant and someone you know gives you a recommendation, you might believe them or you might not. But what if someone else that you know also recommends that same restaurant? The more people that start recommending that restaurant, the more you will believe that it’s a good place. It’s the same with google. The more sites that Google trusts who recommend or link to your site, the more Google likes you.

So, here’s the real question. How can I get backlinks?

Well, like most things in SEO, it takes time and work. Backlinks can come from all sorts of sources. The best place to start is with social media. You probably post to your Facebook account already, so why not add in links to your website? You could also get links from your local news outlets by issuing press releases and advertisements. But make sure they are a reputable source because that is the most important part of backlinks.

If you need help with your SEO strategy, reach out to us and we’ll help you get started.

We’ve spent a good amount of time talking about cyber attacks and scams lately, and this is not to pedal fear or worry, but to do our part in making our customers and anyone who comes across our content safer. With that said, there is another trend making the rounds that we have seen increasing in popularity.

Cyber criminals are oftentimes smarter than they are given credit for. They are constantly evolving to find new ways to access your data. Luckily, the tools we use to defend against these attacks are also getting stronger and more sophisticated. Some email security tools are particularly effective at identifying this type of malicious behavior. Because of this, cybercriminals are trying to get in through contact form submissions on business websites.

They act as if they are a new potential customer interested in your products or services, then ask you to provide a quote. When you respond, they send over something called an ISO file, claiming it’s relevant to the quote they are requesting.

It’s important to note that they will not attach this file in the email. Instead, they will use some sort of file service, such as WeTransfer or Dropbox. This is meant to skirt your email security systems.

Typically, whoever is managing this conversation at your business is going to be excited and more willing to continue down this road because of the possibility of bringing in new business (watch out sales teams).

If you do open the file, it will give the attacker remote access to your computer. This is their doorway into your network where they will likely launch a ransomware or malware attack.

Ransomware is no joke, and you want to do whatever you can to prevent this situation from happening at your company. The attacker will encrypt your data, then ask for a hefty fee to return it. There is no guarantee the payment will work.

We can’t stress enough the importance of checking and researching the companies who claim to be in the market for your services before opening any sort of attachments or following any unsolicited links.

Protect your business from these common financial phishing scams

The average office worker sends and receives around 121 emails every day.

And while that sounds like a lot, what’s more shocking is that 3 billion phishing emails are sent each day. They account for 1% of all email traffic.

What’s a phishing email? It’s an email sent by cyber criminals that pretends to be from a trusted source, such as your bank, Amazon, or a delivery company.

They’re trying to get you to click on a bad link. Maybe so they can install malware (malicious software) on your computer. Or to fool you into trying to log into a fake website; accidentally giving away your login details.

Your team will probably each receive several phishing emails every week. So, it’s really important they know the warning signs to look out for.

New research has revealed that PayPal was the most spoofed business in all financial phishing emails in 2021, accounting for 37.8% of attacks. Mastercard and American Express followed behind, with 12.2% and 10% share of attacks.

It’s because PayPal is so widely used – it has 392 million active accounts right now – that criminals pretend to be the online payments giant.

With a quick look, a typical phishing email really looks like it has come from the real business.

It will ask the recipient to update their details, or check for unauthorized activity. The worry that someone may have breached their account can cause people to let hackers in. Ironic, isn’t it?

Phishing is bad for anyone personally. But if hackers get into any business account, the resulting data breach can be devastating.

It’s absolutely vital that you educate all your people on the warning signs to look out for.

First, always check the link you’re being asked to click. Hover your mouse over the link and look at the URL. Does it look suspicious? Is the business name spelt correctly?

Check the address the email has been sent from. Does it look like a standard email address from the business? Or does it seem a little strange?

Look closely at the content of the email too. Emails from scammers will likely contain grammatical mistakes. They might not address you by name, and the layout may look slightly different to a genuine email from that company.

Trust your gut feel. You might feel it’s not quite right but be unable to say why. Don’t ignore that nagging feeling.

If you’re ever unsure, go to your browser and type in the real website address, then log into your account that way.

How protected do you think your business is? Are you certain all members of your team would spot a scam before clicking a link?

We’d love to help you review your data security and cyber-crime awareness training. Get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Today, we are going to going to talk about the different types of SEO and answer the most asked question when it comes to SEO, “How do I get my website to rank on Search Engines”. It’s a big question and is ultimately the sign of good SEO. But, to a lot of people’s surprise, it takes a lot more work that most people realize.

So, let’s the break this down.

SEO can be categorized into 2 types.

On Page SEO and Off Page SEO. You need both to reach your goals. Both take work, and both are important.

Let’s look at On Page SEO. On Page SEO all boils down to SEO that you can control, and it has everything to do with what you can do on your webpage itself to improve rankings. This can cover everything from Web page speed, to security, to Meta Data. It basically covers all the best practice things that you need to adhere to, so that when search engines crawl your website, they can easily tell what your website and web pages are about and make sure they rank for the correct things. Most people stop here when it comes to SEO and there is a common misconception that all you need to rank in search engines is On Page SEO.

While On page SEO is good place to start, you are actually missing out on a bigger and just as important piece what it takes.

With that, let’s talk about Off Page SEO.

Off Page SEO can be boiled down to one thing. Reputation. Reputation is a major part of what Search Engines are looking for when deciding who to rank where.

Think about it like this. If On Page SEO gets you a seat at the table. Off Page SEO is what get’s you a closer seat to the Buffett, and not stuck next to the bathrooms.

Off Page SEO covers everything from backlinks to Social Media Presence, to Business Listings. Search Engines are now not just indexing your site for search engines, but they are searching all of the internet looking for any mention of your business and your website. That’s why your online reputation is so important. It can make or break you reaching your goals.

….And Reaching your goals is what we are all about here at runbiz. SEO can be a vast and complicated thing, but we at runbiz are here to help.

So, how do you get your website ranking on google? It’s simple. On Page And Off Page SEO.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Instant voice communication with your whole team at the push of a button: Walkie talkie comes to Teams

If you like looking at all the new features in your Microsoft Teams application, you might have noticed the walkie talkie feature in preview.

Maybe you’ve even tried it out on an Android device?

It seemed like a fun gimmick. Now Microsoft has rolled it out to iOS devices as well, meaning it can be used by every member of your team, and we believe it has the potential to become a powerful communication tool.

Let’s look at what it is before we explore how you’d use it.

If you were alive back in the 1980s, you’ll remember real walkie talkies. They were the coolest way to talk to your friends on the move – long before we had cell phones, of course.

If you’re too young to remember the 80s, then go watch a few episodes of Stranger Things and you’ll get the idea.

With a walkie talkie you press a button to talk, and everyone who has a device on the same frequency as yours can hear you speak.

They can only reply when you let go of the button, and only one person can speak at a time.

What that gives you is ordered real time voice conversation between a group of people.

This new Teams feature works in exactly the same way.

There’s no need to call anyone. Like a real walkie talkie, you just push a button on your phone to speak, and everyone in your Teams channel can hear you.

It works on both Android and iOS devices, so long as they’re connected to the internet. It even works if your phone is locked.

Walkie talkie was originally created with front-line workers in mind.

The idea is that when you’re away from your workplace you can quickly and securely communicate without additional devices or being slowed down by the hassle of a phone call (which can mean going through a voice-automated system, or waiting for an answer).

We can see this being useful for remote workers too. It doesn’t matter whether your team is in the office or working from home – they can have a voice conversation in real time, just like the old days when everyone worked in the same space.

Before you can use walkie talkie in Teams, you’ll need to make sure it’s enabled. Your administrator will need to do this in the Teams admin center.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft is increasing its subscription prices for Microsoft 365 in March.

It’s the first big price rise in a decade, and you can expect to pay around 20 to 40 per cent more.

In fact, it’s not just a price increase. Microsoft is also changing the way it sells 365. It’s a complicated situation and there’s bound to be some short-term pain as we all get used to it.

Here are the basic details. You should talk to your IT support partner over the next few weeks to see exactly how it’s going to affect your business.

From March you’ll have a choice of sticking with the rolling month by month contract and swallowing the price increase. Or you can commit to a 12 month agreement.

The big benefit of an agreement is that it’ll lock your current pricing for a year. But there’s a downside – you’ll lose flexibility.

During your contract you can increase the number of licenses you use… but you can’t decrease them.

In real terms, that means if you take on more staff, it won’t be a problem to give them access to the essential business tools they need.

But if your headcount goes down for any reason, you’ll have to pay for the 365 licenses you no longer need.

You also won’t be able to move your Microsoft licensing to another IT support company during that contract.

The other option then, is to have a monthly rolling contract. You can add or remove licenses as needed, but overall, the price will be higher. For some businesses, that flexibility will be worth paying extra for, and better value long-term.

It’s worth thinking through your plans for the next 15 months before deciding.

If you want to talk through which option’s going to be best for you, do give us a call.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

Today we are going to be introducing a new segment to our series called Web Tip Wednesday: Website Edition. 

In these segments we are going to take a deeper look at all things websites. What makes them great? How can they be successful? How can I make them more visible? And hopefully in turn, we can make the internet a safer and better place. 

Today we are going to begin our segment talking about the one thing that everyone wants on their website, but no one knows what it is.

That’s right, we are going to be talking about SEO.

We get this question a lot from our customers because it seems like once a week, someone is trying to sell them on SEO. You might get those crazy emails that tell you that no one can find you on the internet and that your website is terrible. They might claim to have the power to make your website #1 on google and to make all your dreams come true. All you have to do is pay them some amount of money and with their magic SEO powers, they’ll waive their wand and voila.. you are at the top of google.

We also get the same question about SEO, and it’s always, “How can I become #1 on Google?”

Before we can answer this question, we need to first understand what SEO is and why it is important.

I am going to try to answer four simple questions about SEO that will hopefully help you understand the basics about SEO and how it can help your business.

Let’s start at the beginning.

WHAT IS SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and can simply be defined as the practice of increasing the QUANTITY and QUALITY of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. As an example, if you are an apple farmer and the only people coming to your website are trying to buy computer products, you have a problem with the quality of your traffic.

SEO helps you increase traffic to your site, but it also makes sure that the people going to your website want what you are selling.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Statistics show that 64 percent of customers search for local businesses online without any specific business in mind.

That means most people are looking for an answer to a question and they don’t care who gives them the answer if it helps them. This can be a problem if no one can find you online. That might drive them to a competitor to find that information and ultimately give your customers their business.

HOW CAN SEO HELP MY BUSINESS?

Not only is SEO measurable, but it produces a higher ROI by sending more leads to your website. Without SEO, your website will be seen by fewer people, reducing your chances of converting prospects into customers. SEO is about making sure that when someone needs to find you, they can.

WHAT IS SEO NOT?

Most people think SEO is something that is done once. SEO is NOT a set-it-and-forget type of process.

via GIPHY

Did you know that google has over 200 ranking factors to determine how to rank websites in their search engine? Whatever you were doing with SEO 5 years ago, is already obsolete. With the ever-evolving ranking criteria and constant algorithm updates, your SEO plan takes constant analyzing and adjusting.

We are just touching the surface of what SEO is and I hope you will continue to come back and learn more about one of the most important pieces to your website.

Stories surfaced at the end of 2021 about the password manager, LastPass, having some of its customers’ master passwords compromised.

The Vice President of Product Management at LastPass, went on to state that the alerts were “likely triggered in error” due to an issue in the LastPass alerting system that has now been fixed, but this whole situation has caused some hesitation around the use of password managers. 

DO YOU USE A PASSWORD MANAGER IN YOUR BUSINESS?

At Runbiz, we recommend it. We believe that the advantages of password managers far outweigh any risk, especially when you secure your account with multi-factor authentication.

Let’s start by telling you what a password manager is and how it works.

Most people have dozens of online accounts and services they currently subscribe to or have used in the past. This number is typically much larger for business owners and managers.

To login to each of these, you need your email address and a password. These details – along with something called multi-factor authentication, where you enter a code from another device to prove it’s really you – are the main weapons stopping cyber criminals from accessing your accounts.

These services all require you to sign in with an email address, a password, a sometimes a second device for multi-factor authentication to ensure that it’s you and not a bad actor. These are all of the factors that stand in the way of unauthorized users getting into your accounts.

For years now, scammers have found it easy to get email addresses, with them being widely available across the internet, but recently they have become very smart about guessing password. Most use automation tools to help their efforts along.

There are several common ways that someone would land on your password. The first being a common word attack. This is where they will try out thousands of common words as the password. It tends to work well against people who use their kid’s name, pet’s name or even their favorite football team’s mascot.

Another approach would be what is known as a brute force attack. This combines millions of combinations of random characters.

The most effective way for someone to access a wealth of information, is to discover a password you use on one account, then try it on all of your other accounts. If you are one of the many folks that reuse passwords on a regular basis, one account breach could lead to major trouble for you.

There are some simple best practices for creating passwords that prove to be very effective:

• Use lengthy, random passwords or full-on sentences (such as “$unshine@Th3BeachisN1ce.”)
• Don’t write out your passwords or store them anywhere that is not encrypted
• Avoid using the same password on multiple accounts

It’s easy to be aware of best practices but putting them into action is a challenge. Keeping up with multiple passwords and remembering which account they belong to is probably not going to happen. And we all know that resetting your password every time you try to log in is flat out annoying.

So, to make life a little easier, people compromise on these best practices and simplify.

Some of your employees will probably use weak password. Others might use the same one for everything. Or worst-case scenario, Bill from accounting leaves his password on a sticky note plastered to his monitor. 

This is where a password manager comes in and makes the burden of these best practices more realistic and convenient.

When you create an account or it’s time for a new password, it will randomly generate a very long password (ideally at least 16 characters), that is tough for the human eye to even read. It also scatters in special characters such as %, $, and @.

Best of all, it remembers the password, and when it comes time to log in, you don’t have to type a single letter. It will autofill the password for you.

WHAT ARE THE CONS OF USING A PASSWORD MANAGER?

Most hesitation revolves around storing all your passwords in a single place. In theory, if someone were to hack your master password, they would have everything at their fingertips. But there are several layers of protection that we always recommend using. This starts with creating a very strong master password that uses the best practices we covered above. This is the only password you will have to remember, so you might as well go above and beyond. Second, enable Multi-Factor Authentication on all your accounts. Finally, when it’s available, turn on Face ID.

Can you eliminate every ounce of risk that comes with using a password manager? No. There is no 100% full-proof method with anything cyber-security related. Is using a password manager safer than not using one? We believe so, which is why we recommend them organizations that we serve.

Password managers make good cyber-hygiene realistic and attainable for busy people.

If you want our recommendation of which password managers to investigate, reach out to us here on our website and we will point you in the right direction.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

WOULD ANY OF YOUR STAFF ACTUALLY CLICK THAT LINK?

Phishing is one of the biggest threats to your business’s cyber security. It’s where criminals send an email pretending to be someone else, such as an important vendor, your bank, or someone else you might trust. They’re trying to get someone to click a bad link, which can open the door to install malicious software. Or worse, let them into your network to prepare a ransomware attack, where your data is encrypted until you pay for its return.

3.4 billion phishing emails are sent every day. And 75% of businesses across the globe have experienced a phishing attack. 

Today we will look at some phishing trends going into 2022, but before we do, let’s quickly run through a few basic red flags to look for in a phishing email:

• Phishing emails will generally have a sense of urgency and/or be highly emotional.
• They are likely to contain grammar and spelling mistakes.
• They might contain suspicious attachments or links.
• The domain name in the email address might be misspelled containing extra letters or numbers.

Now that we know what to look for, let’s dive into trends that are becoming increasingly popular in 2022.

EMAIL ACCOUNT COMPROMISE

Whenever a bad actor successfully compromises an email account, phishing becomes much easier and more effective. Especially when the person that has been compromised is in higher up in the company.

This is particularly dangerous because employees will recognize the person and the email address will be accurate, making it easy to believe that whatever is in the email came from inside the organization. A good rule of thumb, is to reach out to the person that has sent you the email if it contains anything that you wouldn’t normally expect to get from the individual.

SMISHING (SMS PHISHING)

Text messages are being used for phishing now more than ever. This is because texting has become such a standard way to receive things such as shipping notifications, order confirmations, etc. Many employees are trained to be on their toes with emails, but smishing is a lesser-known threat, and you should apply the same phishing logic to smishing.

TARGETED PHISHING AIMED AT SMALLER COMPANIES

Targeted phishing attacks, or “Spear Phishing”, uses a more personalized approach than a general phishing attack.

This type of attack used to be more common in larger companies, but now there are more tools at the attacker’s disposal with AI and automation to make it easier to gather the information needed to pull off a spear-phishing attack. This means they can justify spending this effort to target both small and large companies.

As we move into the new year, keep your guard up and remember that if something seems off, there’s a good chance it is.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Your house might not be a coffee shop, but during the holidays, many people are having larger gatherings in their homes, and those guests want to connect to your WiFi. So rather than trying to find that old sticky note with the long random password you can never remember, setup a guest network on your router. And although your guests probably don’t have bad intentions, this also prevents you from exposing your network to whatever viruses may or may not be on their devices.

To set this up, you’ll log in to your router’s management interface. This is usually done on your phone with an app, but if that is not an option, you can login on the web. It’s as easy as typing your router’s IP address into the address box on your browser. Your router’s IP address can usually be found in your WiFi settings on your computer. Your IP address will contain numbers separated by periods and will usually look something like this: “XXX.XXX.X.X”. 

You can then choose to setup an easy password to share with your guests. They will now have internet access but won’t be able to access things such as shared folders, printers, or Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

In today’s WebTip video at the top of the page, we show you just one of several ways that you can go about sending an encrypted message through Mimecast Secure Messaging. But let’s zoom out and take a broader look at Mimecast Secure Messaging.

Mimecast Secure Messaging ensures that any sensitive data you need to send outside of your organization stays protected. It makes sending and receiving encrypted messages easy and user friendly for both the sender and the recipient. Administrator policies and employee selection are both ways for Secure Messaging to be triggered.

When employees need to send an encrypted email, they simply create a new email in Outlook and select a Send Secure checkbox on the Mimecast for Outlook tab, or type “secure:” in the subject line. Secure messaging can also be automatically triggered by content or the attachments inside the message meet certain policy criteria set by your administrators. Once the message is sent, the email and attachments are securely uploaded to an email server on the Mimecast cloud, and are scanned for several things, including:

• malware
• email privacy content
• data leak prevention (DLP) policies

Finally, the message is stored in a secure, encrypted archive.

The recipient of your email will then be notified and directed to the Secure Messaging Portal to read, reply, or compose new messages to the sender. 

If you are a Runbiz customer or perspective Runbiz customer and are interested in learning more about Mimecast Secure Messaging, give us a call at 806-322-2150.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Whether you have a strict set of company brand guidelines to go by, or you just have a unique formatting style that you love, there’s no need to spend ages recreating text styles throughout your documents. In this WebTip, we’ll teach you how to create your own style formats that you can use quickly and easily.

HOW TO CREATE CUSTOM TEXT STYLES IN WORD:

1. Highlight the text that you want to create a style out of.
2. Navigate to the “Styles” section at the top of your document.
3. From the drop-down menu, select “Create a Style”
4. Name your Style
5. Select OK 

Now your custom styles will be available in your styles pane, and recreating the look and feel of your documents will be a breeze.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

If you need to display data from an Excel sheet in your Word document, don’t waste time trying to recreate it. We’ll show you how to use live Excel data in your Word document in just a few clicks.

Put a graph from Excel into your Word document:

1. Open a table of data in your Excel file
2. Select your data then go to Insert
3. Click Recommended Charts for suggestions on how to best display your data
4. Select a new chart style and adjust the formatting as you wish
5. Right-click the chart and select Copy
6. Open Word and past the chart in the desired spot in your document

You can now make edits to the chart’s data in either the Word document, or the excel file, and you will see them both update in real time.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

What your business can expect with the latest version of Windows

Back in June, Microsoft made a surprise announcement that a new version of Windows was on its way. Mostexperts had assumed that Windows 10, which was released in 2015, had a few more years of life left in it, but now we know the future is Windows 11. There is good reason to be excited about this. We’ve pulled together this guide to tell you more about Windows 11 and the benefits that make it worth considering an upgrade. 

Windows 11 has 3 major benefits:

• It’s much more secure
• It has better functionality and greater possibilities
• It looks stunning

Much like every other Microsoft launch, you can’t just press a button and upgrade to Windows 11 today. In fact, it’s not yet available for all existing PCs.

Let’s look at minimum requirements:

Windows 11 has a long roll out process, starting with new machines and working

its way to older machines. Some existing PCs will be entitled to a free upgrade, which is likely to happen inthe first half of next year, but even then, there are strict hardware requirements. Microsoft is insisting their latest OS will only run on machines that can handle it, and where it will be secure.

Yes, that does mean some of your existing machines may never be able to run the new operating system. Here is a list of hardware requirements for Windows 11:

Processor: 1GHz or faster, with at least two cores on a compatible 64bit processor

RAM: 4GB

Storage: 64GB

System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot compatible

Trusted Platform Module (TPM): 2.0

Graphics card: DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 drive

Display: 720p, 8bit per color channel, at least 9” diagonal 

A quick note on security and update frequency:

Windows 11 will be Microsoft’s most secure release to date. Updates will be 40% smaller, and there will onlybe one major update a year, as opposed to the usual two per year. This cadence is more in line with Apple’s update rhythm for Macs and MacBooks. There will also be small monthly updates for bug fixes and securityupdates. Overall, fewer updates mean less downtime for you and your team. Even when the updates are runat night, this is much more suitable for the way people do business today.

Now for the fun part. New Features:

First let’s talk about the taskbar, which sits at the bottom of the screen in Windows 10. In Windows 11, this isnow called the Dock, and it’s optimized for touch as well as a mouse.

Microsoft has made improvements to the way Windows works on tablets, which has previously been a weak point. Touch targets will now be larger, and it will be easier to move windows around the screen. They’re alsobringing Gestures (just like you’d use on a touchpad).

Your pinned items, as well as your widgets are now accessible via the Dock, and will now have AI-powereddynamic features. This will allow them to change or rotate, depending on the time of day or which appsyou’re using at the time.

The Start Menu is now in the center of the screen, and this new cloud-powered button will also changedynamically, like your widgets, based on what you are currently working on.

Widgets will be available from third parties. When you’re using Windows 11, you’ll have as many to choosefrom as you would on Apple’s iOS and iPad OS.

There are a good deal of features designed to help you multi-task. Snap Layouts is a big one, which lets youarrange multiple windows across your screen in columns or sections, rather than just side-by-side. And SnapGroups makes it simpler to change between apps without having to go back to the previous view.

Another intuitive feature comes into play when you connect to an external monitor. Windows 11 willremember the positions your windows were in last time you used the monitor and automatically go back tothat view for you. This saves you loads of time and frustration.

Now to the Apps

The Microsoft Store has undergone a makeover. The content curation got an upgrade, it’s easier to manageyour purchases, and you now have the option to mirror your apps to your TV.

Apps like Disney , Adobe Creative, and Pinterest have already been added to the store, and many more are set to follow. Android Apps are also available for download, accessed via the Amazon App Store. It’s possible that at some point we’ll see some Apple apps available, such as iMessage.

Teams is now integrated into the Dock, making it easier for you to join meetings and calls. However, Skype istaking a back seat in Windows 11 and isn’t automatically available, though you can still download it. It’s beensuggested that it may eventually disappear from Windows altogether.

Once you’re using Windows 11, the Health Check App can help you to refine your settings. It makessuggestions on things like brightness, power saving, and storage.

Overall, there is a lot to look forward to with Windows 11. From its modern look and feel, aptly named “Fluent Design”, to its improved security and intelligence. It’s always exciting getting latest version of something, especially when it’s been improved as much as Windows 11.

Pinning down a good time to talk to people can be a challenge, especially when we’re all so busy. What’s worse is the amount of resource you can waste trying to find a time that works for you both. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could just send people your calendar link and they can tell you a time that works for you both, and then book themselves in?

Microsoft Bookings allows you to do just that. This is a hidden gem in Microsoft 365 that is incredibly useful. It’s the ultimate appointment booking tool, helping you to work smarter while keeping your calendar more flexible and organized.

Another difficult thing about appointments is people forgetting them. “Sorry, I forgot we had a meeting”. How many times have you heard this? To help prevent this, Bookings seamlessly integrates with your Outlook account, allowing you to fire off customizable reminders to everyone you have an appointment booked with. With Bookings, sharing your calendar with people couldn’t be easier. Simply embed your calendar link on your website or share it via emails and social media. Whatever works best for you.

Follow this link to learn more about Bookings in Microsoft 365.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

When you need to compare documents, you don’t need to keep flicking back and forth between windows. We’ll show you how you open these documents side by side for easy comparison.

1. Open both Word documents
2. Under the view tab, select Side By Side

If you would like to scroll and zoom in both documents at the same time, make sure to select Synchronous Scrolling.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Have you ever needed to make a PowerPoint presentation based on a Word doc? Don’t waste time cutting and pasting. Instead, we’ll show you how to automatically turn your Word document into a presentation.

How to convert your Word Document to a PowerPoint:

1. Highlight the portion of your Word document that will become the slide title.
2. Go to Styles and select Heading 1
3. Highlight the section that will become the notes of the slide
4. Go to Styles and select Heading 2
5. Repeat for all Titles and Notes
6. Go to PowerPoint and select New Slide
7. Select Slides from Outline
8. Select your Word document

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Excel is great for calculations with formulas. But if you find your head spinning trying to remember how they work, we have a great Excel hack for you. This video shows you how to do super-fast sums without formulas. 

1. Select the cells you want to calculate
2. Look at the status bar
3. Excel displays an automatic total sum
4. Right click for other options such as average, count, numerical count, minimum and maximum.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Messaging in Teams is great, but navigating to the chat window and looking for the person you’d like to message can interrupt your flow if you’re actively working in another channel. Luckily, there is a way to message anyone on your team without leaving the screen you are currently on. 

HOW TO SEND A MESSAGE FROM ANY SCREEN IN TEAMS:

1. Navigate to the search bar at the top of you Teams window
2. Type the first letters of the person’s name
3. Select their name
4. In the field to the right of their name, type your message
5. Press Send

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Excel is great for reviewing data, but when you can’t see the column or row headers, it can be frustrating to scroll back and forth to check what the data means. Did you know there’s a great time saver which can lock the headers in place? Here’s how to do it.

How to freeze a header in Excel:

1. Select View

2. In the Window section, click the Freeze Panes drop down menu

3. Choose between freezing the top row, first column, or both 

That’s all there is to it. Now you can say goodbye to scrolling back and forth and second-guessing which row or column you’re looking at.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

We’ve all been here, right? You’ve created the perfect PowerPoint presentation… only for it to look terrible when it’s opened on a different computer or by someone who doesn’t have the same fonts. This can be very frustrating, particularly for those with strict brand guidelines to use on presentations, or if you’ve spent the time to make it look just right.

The good news is, there is a way to send fonts in your PowerPoint presentation which will ensure that any computer that opens the file will display it just as you’ve designed it.

Here are 3 steps for sending fonts from you PowerPoint Presentation:

1. Under File, select Options
2. Select Save
3. Under “Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation:” check the box next to “Embed fonts in the file"

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best. 

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our website services for more information.

To speak to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Got a video call but your room isn’t appropriate for work? Did you know you can blur your background or change it entirely in Teams? Here’s how to make your backdrop look professional, without having to do any tidying.

How to blur your background in Teams

1. Join your Teams meeting

2. Select More Actions (three dots)

3. Click Apply Background Effects

4. Choose Blur (or any of the background options)

5. Click Apply

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Shortcuts can be a great way to navigate Microsoft Teams more efficiently. Today we will show you how to find all the shortcuts in Teams in just one place. (Not including this article) 

The key is to remember just one simple shortcut that will give you access to all the rest:

Ctrl . - This will take you to the full menu of shortcuts inside of teams. That way you won’t have to come back to this article every time you want to find a shortcut.

Mac Users: You will simply use command in place of Ctrl, option in place of Alt, and return in place of Enter.

HERE IS THE COMPLETE LIST OF TEAMS SHORTCUTS:

General

Show keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl .

Show commands: Ctrl /

Goto: Ctrl G

Start new chat: Ctrl N

Open Help: F1

Zoom in: Ctrl =

Zoom out: Ctrl -

Reset zoom level: Ctrl 0

Go to Search: Ctrl E

Open Filter: Ctrl Shift F

Open apps flyout: Ctrl ‘

Open Settings: Ctrl ,

Close: Escape

Messaging

Go to compose box: Alt Shift C

Expand compose box: Ctrl Shift X

Attach file: Ctrl O

Search current Chat/Channel messages: Ctrl F

Reply to thread: Alt Shift R

Send (expanded compose box): Ctrl Enter

Start new line: Shift Enter

Meetings, Calls, and Calendar

Accept video call: Ctrl Shift A

Decline call: Ctrl Shift D

Start video call: Ctrl Shift U

Announce raised hands: Ctrl Shift L

Start screen share session: Ctrl Shift E

Go to sharing toolbar: Ctrl Shift Space

Accept screen share: Ctrl Shift A

Toggle background blur: Ctrl Shift P

Go to current time: Alt .

Go to next day/week: Ctrl Alt ➡️

View workweek: Ctrl Alt 2

Save/send meeting request: Ctrl S

Go to suggested time: Alt Shift S

Accept audio call: Ctrl Shift S

Start audio call: Ctrl Shift C

Toggle mute: Ctrl Shift M

Raise or lower your hand: Ctrl Shift K

Toggle video: Ctrl Shift O

Decline screen share: Ctrl Shift D

Admit people from lobby notification: Ctrl Shift Y

Schedule a meeting: Alt Shift N

Go to previous day/week: Ctrl Alt ⬅️

View day: Ctrl Alt 1

View week: Ctrl Alt 3

Join from meeting details: Alt Shift J

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Setting aside time in your day to tune out distractions and quiet the noise of constant notifications can be a great way to boost productivity. However, if your boss needs to get a hold of you in these moments of zen, you can find yourself in a bad spot. Fortunately, Teams has a great solution for this. Even when you set your status to Do Not Disturb, you are able to make a list of people who can always ring your notification bell when needed.

How to set Priority Access list in Microsoft Teams:

1. Go to Settings
2. Select Privacy
3. Click Manage priority access
4. Add the desired list of priority users

If you are wondering how to set your Microsoft Teams status to Do Not Disturb, you can find instructions here.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Did you know you can send mass personal emails from within Microsoft Word? Many people CRM software for this function, but if mass communication is not a regular part of your job, Mail Merge inside of Word is a great option. Here is how to make multiple emails look personal to every recipient, without having to leave your document.

How to send mass email in Microsoft Word

1. In Word, type or paste your email
2. Select Mailings from the toolbar
3. Select Start Mail Merge (drop-down menu)
4. Click Email Messages from the drop-down menu
5. Click Select Recipients to either upload your contacts or manually type in recipients
6. Select Insert Merge Field and choose First Name or desired option
7. Select Preview Results
8. Select Finish & Merge then Send Email Messages
9. Type a Subject Line
10. Click OK to send via Outlook
    
    

Whether you are sending your message to a large list of people or just a handful of colleagues, it is always a good idea to make sure your grammar and spelling are on point. Microsoft 365 has a tool built into Word called Editor that will be your best friend in these situations. To learn more about Editor and how to set it up, see our previous WebTip here.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Microsoft Word, like most Microsoft 356 apps, is more powerful than the average user often realizes or gives it credit for. Word is full of tools like Researcher to assist with case studies or essays, Accessibility Checker to make your documents accessible for people with disabilities, or Compare and Combine to compare two different versions of documents. Oftentimes these tools can just be tucked away in hard-to-find places within the app.

If you spend a lot of time searching through menus and tools in Word to find features that you use on a regular basis, we have a tip that should your life a little easier. Here’s how to create your own Quick Access Toolbar, so you can get to the tools and settings you use most often with just one click.

Add buttons to Quick Access Toolbar:

1. Select the drop-down menu on Quick Access Toolbar

2. Select More Commands

3. Open the Choose commands from drop-down menu

4. Locate and select the tab your button is found on

5. Find your button and select Add

6. Click OK

Now you have your most-used features one-click away at all times.

It should be noted that the Quick Access Toolbar can only be used for commands and not text styling options such as spacing values, indentions, or individual styles.

Remove button from Quick Access Toolbar

1. Right-click button you wish to remove

2. Select Remove from Quick Access Toolbar

Change location of Quick Access Toolbar

1. Select Customize Quick Access Toolbar

2. Choose between showing QAT above or below the ribbon

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

If you own Amazon products such as Echo devices, Ring Video Doorbells, Tile Trackers, or certain Alexa enabled lights and motion sensors, starting June 8^th, 2021, Amazon is automatically opting you in to share part of your internet bandwidth with your neighbors. This is part of Amazon Sidewalk – An initiative to link all Amazon devices across the US, to allegedly help your devices work better inside and outside of your home, and help you locate lost items or pets. 

In a statement from Amazon, they describe the benefits of this service as follows,

“Amazon Sidewalk creates a low-bandwidth network with the help of Sidewalk Bridge devices including select Echo and Ring devices. These Bridge devices share a small portion of your internet bandwidth which is pooled together to provide these services to you and your neighbors. And when more neighbors participate, the network becomes even stronger.” 

To make this work as intended, Amazon needs as many people as possible to participate. You could reasonably speculate that this is why they are choosing to make people opt out of Sidewalk, rather than opt-in. This obviously raises some questions about security and privacy. Sidewalk connects to your home wifi and uses a very small fraction of your bandwidth for this service, so does this leave your home network more vulnerable?

Amazon has said that these networks are protected by multiple layers of security and encryption and that you won’t have access to your neighbor’s information, however, this information is vague and you wouldn’t be wrong for having some hesitations or concerns. Fortunately, it is easy to opt-out of Sidewalk from your Android or iPhone: 

How To Opt-Out:

1. Open the Alexa app

2. Open More and select Settings

3. Select Account Settings

4. Select Amazon Sidewalk

5. Turn Amazon Sidewalk Off

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Microsoft Teams has recently released a feature that allows meeting organizers or presenters to create polls prior to the meeting and launch them at any point. This can be before, during, or after your Teams meeting. When you send a poll, attendees receive a notification on their meeting screen, as well as in their chat window. 

Instructions for creating a poll:

1. Open your calendar inside of Teams

2. Select your meeting

3. Open Chat with participants.

4. Click (Add a tab) -  Forms - Add.

5. Select Save. A new Polls tab will be added to your meeting.

6. Click Create New Poll

7. Insert your question(s) and options for answers.

8. You can choose to either Share results automatically after voting and/or Keep responses anonymous.

9. Finally, click Save to keep your draft until meeting time. 

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Has Microsoft Teams become a distraction?

You’re in the zone, knocking out a big project you need to finish, and… *ping*… that little red notification pops up on your screen. Of course, you’ll check it. One thing leads to another and suddenly you’re completely caught up on all the latest office activity whether it concerns you or not.

Today we are discussing how a critical tool can become a big distraction, and what you can do to change it. And no, I’m not talking about social media. I mean Microsoft Teams.

There’s a good chance you’re already using it, and we genuinely think you should be! When 90% of the top 100 companies in the world are using such an easily accessible tool, it’s at least worth a try. But while Teams is great for boosting productivity – especially when so many of us are working from home – it can also be a BIG distraction.

Luckily, there is an easy way to make sure your focus time is… well… focus time. Use the Do Not Disturb feature whenever you’re ready to block out the noise. 

Just click on your name and change your ‘available’ status to ‘do not disturb’.

There’s also a large library of productivity-boosting applications that work alongside Teams to give you a helping hand. To explore these, simply click the three dots on the left side of your screen to browse the apps that integrate with Teams and could make your life a little easier.

Remember, Teams is there to help you and your team be more productive. If it’s becoming a distraction, it’s time to take a different approach to using it. Only a few small tweaks can get you refocused and back on track. 

If you’d like assistance implementing Teams at your organization, reach out to us here.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

If you find yourself spending lots of time in spreadsheets, Excel is probably your ‘go to’ application. There’s not much you can’t do with Excel, but with such a long list of powerful features, it can be difficult to keep track of all of them. 

One feature that can be particularly useful, is called Smart Lookup. If you need to research something in a particular cell, simply right click and select Smart Lookup. 

Excel will then launch a search engine powered by Bing right there in the app, allowing you to search the web for what’s in the cell. You can look up virtually anything, from definitions and Wikipedia entries, to financial data and statistics. 

Smart Lookup is constantly updating and improving via AI, improving its ability to give you the most relevant information over time.

To learn more about other unique tools that are included in Microsoft 365, contact us today.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

We were able to to work with a Certified Ethical Hacker to give you a behind the scenes look at a real email ransomware attack from the perspective of both the victim and the criminal. At Runbiz, we know just how real of a threat ransomware is to our community and we believe in the importance of educating people, both inside and outside of our customer base. Best-in-class cybersecurity tools are absolutely essential, but they aren't nearly as effective if user education is neglected.

To learn more about what a Managed IT Services partner can do to make sure you are protected from these attacks, contact us. 

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Cybercrime is by far the biggest threat to US businesses at the moment, with thousands of successful hacks taking place every day. While there is no way to guarantee complete protections, this security method has been shown to be 99% effective. 

According to Microsoft, multi-factor authentication (MFA) is able to block 99% of hacking attempts. 

You might have seen multi-factor authentication when logging into any of your online accounts, whether it’s your bank or your social media. It asks you to confirm your identity with an extra step, such as generating a code on your mobile.

Using MFA is only a minor inconvenience, compared to the major hassle and  cost of a data breach.

To learn more about this or to discuss what other options are available, please get in touch with us today.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Email is an essential part of our day-to-day lives, but it can also be one of the biggest threats to our organizations. 

Cybercriminals use email as a way into your systems, and they are getting smarter by the day.

Cybercrime is the number one threat to US businesses, and bad actors WILL take advantage of every mistake you make. 

The best way to describe the threat is with something called the one-one-one rule. It only takes one person to click one bad link on one occasion, and your entire business can be compromised.

Your staff send and receive hundreds, if not thousands of emails every week. So, it’s important to teach them to spot the common signs of fraudulent emails.

If you haven’t already, get in touch with us to find out how we can help your staff be more aware of email security.

Click here for our most recent #WebTipWednesday on How To Spot Phishing.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Technology never stops moving, and it can feel nearly impossible to keep up. While you shouldn’t feel pressure to always have the latest, greatest devices at your disposal, you should be leery of letting your equipment become obsolete. If you are a small to medium-sized business, you have a target on your back for cybercrime and you’ll find that your old computers might be causing more than the occasional speed issue. While we all wish our computer systems could age like fine wine, that is simply not the case. Older systems are much less secure and pose a real threat to your organization. In this post, we’ll provide 3 examples of how outdated devices could be putting you at risk, and we will show you what you can do to stay ahead of the game.

Why are old computers putting you at risk? 

Old machines may not be capable of running the latest security software, operating systems, and/or line of business applications. The inability to access the latest updates of these systems and applications will leave you vulnerable to malware and other malicious activity. 

1. Unpatched security issues 

Software developers are always working to uncover any vulnerabilities in the current version of an application or operating system. That is why software companies are constantly releasing new versions with a seemingly excessive amounts of numbers (“v. 11.7.2.32.2”). At the same time, cybercriminals are constantly working to discover those same vulnerabilities and exploit them. 

Unpatched systems continue to be one of the leading causes of unwelcome intrusions on organizations in the Texas panhandle and across the country. This is why patch management is a critical piece of the puzzle that your Managed IT provider should be uncompromising about.

2. Old software leaves data vulnerable

Most people have loads of documents and PII (Personally Identifiable Information) on their computers. This is like a gold mine to cybercriminals, allowing them to act under your name while conducting malicious activity, or even sell your information at a premium. 

In another scenario, bad actors might encrypt your data and charge a ransom. In these ransomware attacks, there is no guarantee that paying the ransom will get your data back. 

Keeping your software up-to-date helps minimize the likelihood of these unfortunate situations.

3. Cyber attacks are EXPENSIVE

Cybercrime is expected to cause $6 Trillion in damages in 2021 and climb to 10.5 Trillion by 2025. But when you consider what it means to have your data locked, the cost extends well beyond the ransom. According to this 2020 Ransomware Report, the costs of downtime are nearly 50x greater than the ransom requested. 

If your organization is subject to HIPAA compliance, there are also fines associated with not following patch management requirements. According to StorageCraft, nonprofit organization Anchorage Community Mental Health Services was recently hit with a fine of $150,000 by the Office for Civil Rights, for the nonprofit’s failure to apply software patches, resulting in a security breach. 

Sure.. New equipment costs money. But when you factor in the risks associated with not upgrading, the cost quickly becomes easy to justify. 

To keep your hardware and software evergreen, your IT provider must be aligned with your long-term goals, and capable of researching solutions, their impact on your business, and the time needed to complete the implementation. 

If you are looking to get more out of your IT investment, click here get in touch with us. 

It’s no secret that 2020 was a wild year for cybersecurity. Many companies were forced to move to remote working situations abruptly, and navigating the threats this presented was no easy task. One of the most basic and core components of a solid cybersecurity strategy is having a good password policy. This applies to every industry and every size of organization, but especially small-to-medium sized businesses who have a giant target on their back. SMBs are an attractive victim for cybercriminals because they typically have less resources dedicated to security. 

Today we will remind you about 3 key components to include in any strong password, but first I want to touch on an authentication trend we are seeing as we move further into 2021.

There is talk of Microsoft aiming to eliminate passwords all together in 2021, and according to the following statistics sited in Microsoft’s blog, they have good reasoning for this bold ambition:

• On average, 1 in 250 corporate accounts are compromised each month.
• Roughly 4 out of 5 cyberattacks are aimed directly at passwords.
• Gartner Group research shows that 20-50% of help desk calls are for password resets.

So, it’s easy to conclude that passwords are in fact a major threat, not to mention a hassle. Microsoft has made some big strides in reaching their goal, with hundreds of millions of users already using their passwordless technology that authenticates with biometric information from fingerprint or facial ID scanning, much like we’ve been doing with our smart phones for quite some time. 

The thought of moving to a passwordless reality is exciting to many of us, but while most of us are still using these things every day, let’s make sure they’re as effective as possible.

Here are 3 key components to forming a strong password:

1. Length: We recommend that your password be at least 10 characters long. This should be comprised of upper and lower-case letters, as well as special characters. An easy way to generate long passwords that are memorable, is using phrases (“humble, hungry, and smart”) or song lyrics (“Here Comes the Sun!”).

via GIPHY

2. No Personal Information: This means avoiding things like birthdays, middle names, your kid’s name, etc.)

3. Avoid repetitive characters (“rrrrr”) or sequential numbers (“12345”).

Protecting Your Password

Now that you have a good idea of how to create a password, be sure to protect it by using the following best practices:

• Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for login.

• Don't hand out your password—not even to trusted family members or computer support staff.

via GIPHY

• Use a different password for each online account. That way, if one password is compromised, your other accounts are not at risk. It is especially important that you refrain from using your work password for personal services.

• Use only secure programs when connecting to your work environment—programs that protect your password and your data.

• If you must write down your password to help you remember it, it is better to write down a clue to jog your memory rather than the actual password. Keep it in a safe, secure place, where others cannot see it.

And possibly the most important tip…

• Use a Password Manager. Create a ridiculously strong password for your password manager, then allow your password manager to create and store your passwords for all other accounts. Devices you use daily will store the log in credentials. Logging in on a device you have never used before will require you to look the password up in the manager.
  
  

As we all collectively wait for the day when passwords are no longer, let’s all do our part in keeping ourselves and our organizations safe. You can find more security tips like How To Spot Phishing in 2021 and How to Stay Safe on Public WiFi here on our blog.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Today we will look at how to spot phishing in 2021, unpacking some of what makes this year unique. 

In the year ahead, we are expecting to see a significant increase in a specific type of phishing, called Spear Phishing. They call it spear phishing because these attacks are highly targeted, and typically include wildly specific information or details about different individuals in an organization. 

The reason this is such a threat this year is because of advancements in the ability to automate these kinds of attacks. In the past, it took a lot of time and effort on the hackers’ part to pull something like this off, but now they have programs that can scan social media and company websites to pull together the information they need to be convincing. 

Side note: It is best practice to keep the amount of public information about your staff to a minimum on social media and websites. Do not publish email addresses, and also evaluate how necessary it is to publish staff photos and job titles.This may vary by organization.

While the ability to automate spear phishing campaigns will cause a large rise in the number of attacks that will be circulating, it does come with one unexpected upside.The attackers are sacrificing some degree of quality for the sake of quantity. This means they should be easier to spot, despite how much they might know about your boss’s dog. 

So, let us review 3 of the most important things to look for to detect a phishing email:

1. Check out the email domain name. Even if the name appears to be from someone familiar, go a step further and check the actual email address the message came from to make sure it checks out. Often there will be clues in the form of subtle misspellings or extra letters and numbers. 

2. Sense of urgency: Phishing emails bait the hook with our emotions to get in the way of our common sense. Be leery of anything that targets a fear/panic response (like warnings of stolen information), tickles your curiosity, or sounds a little too exciting.

3. Suspicious attachments or links: Phishing emails will always try to get you to go somewhere or do something. That might look like a page asking for login information, or a malicious attachment they want you to download. Always check the URL of any website asking for your credentials. It might appear to be a Microsoft 365 login page, but the domain name might show something entirely different. Also avoid downloading anything you are not already expecting to receive from someone. If there is any doubt, call the person it appears to be from to ensure that it truly is from them.

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Today  we are looking at the recording feature in Microsoft Teams that allows us to record any Teams meeting or call. We can capture audio, video, and screen sharing activity in the cloud and easily share it with anyone in our organization. This is great if somebody is out of the office on the day of the big meeting, or if you want to go back and capture details from a call.  

Once you have joined your meeting or call, follow these instructions:

1.     To start recording, go to the meeting controls and select More options > Start recording.

a.     At this point, attendees are notified that you are recording with a banner across the screen, as well as a chat notification. 

2.     To stop recording, go to the meeting controls and select More options > Stop recording.

a.     The recording is then processed andwill appear inSharePoint or OneDrive depending on how the meeting was setup.Channel meetingssave toSharePoint, and all others save to OneDrive.

b.     You will also have access to the recordinginthe chat (and in some cases the channel) for up to seven days.  

WHO IS RUNBIZ?

Run Business Solutions is an IT managed services and website services provider based in Amarillo, TX. We support small to mid-sized businesses both regionally and throughout the country. We pride ourselves on helping businesses leverage technology, not just tolerate it. Runbiz is focused on enthusiastically providing excellent technical strategy, services, and solutions that drive our customers' businesses forward. We are passionate about our mission to empower you to do what you do best.

To learn more about our approach to IT, visit our Managed IT or Co-Managed IT pages. If you are looking to revamp your website to look and perform better, visit our Website Services page for more information.

To speak directly to a member of our team, fill out the consultation form! We would love to learn more about your company, your technology needs, and how we can address the unique challenges you face.

Today we are looking at how to create 3D models inside of your PowerPoint presentations with Office365. I think we all know that keeping people engaged during a PowerPoint can be challenging, so this is a great way to up your presentation value and hold your audience’s attention. Let's go ahead and open PowerPoint. 

To place a new model, click on the insert tab at the top, and select 3D models. 

You’ll see that there is a pretty extensive list of categories you can choose from. 

Once you insert your model of choice, it’s easy to resize and adjust. But in order to really add presentation value, you can add animation. To do so, simply select the animations tab, then under Emphasis Effects you can choose the type of animation you’d like to add to your model. 

It’s also worth noting that you can go to effect options to easily adjust settings such as the direction or intensity of your 3D animations. Click the dropdown to see what’s available. 

Today we're looking at another feature inside some of the apps in Office 365, called Dictate. Dictate gives you the ability to capture anyone’s speaking voice while converting it to text inside of a document. Whether you think better out loud and need to quickly put your thoughts down on paper during a brainstorming session, or you want to capture someone's dialogue in a meeting or a presentation, this is a great feature that can save you time and effort. It's also incredibly simple to use. 

When looking at your screen inside of Word, you will see a microphone icon on the toolbar that says “Dictate”. Simply click on the icon, and if you've never used Dictate, a popup will appear asking you to give Microsoft Word access to your microphone. Simply click “OK”. Now you can begin talking or recording whoever's voice you need to capture and watch it become text. 

Pro Tip: It helps to speak your punctuation out loud. For example, if you need a comma, say comma. If you need a period, say period. That's really the only part of this feature that remains a bit clunky.

While Dictate isn’t a shortcut to a fully polished document, I’ve found it to be a useful way to stay engaged in meeting conversations without scrambling to capture information you’ll need later.  

Today we will be comparing two of the most popular web browsers to see which one wins in the area of privacy. As you may know, privacy is a hot topic right now, which has been fueled by the popularity of documentaries like the Social Dilemma and the Great Hack, which bring up some valid points about data privacy and knowing how your data is being used. There are a variety of reasons to care about how cookies and trackers are keeping tabs on your web activity. One of the most compelling reasons for me personally, came from learning how different platforms were using my data to keep me in front of my screen on their apps.  

Whether you are making an effort to lower your screen time and fight social media addiction, or you are just genuinely creeped out by knowing that everything you do online is being tracked, being savvy about data-privacy will serve you well.

Before I get started, it’s important to note that cookies are not inherently bad. Sometimes they make our user experience very convenient (like they were designed to do). So don’t hear me saying that you need to set your browsers to total lockdown mode and block everything, because that might not be what you actually want! This is a personal, subjective decision for you to make, based on what you value. But back to the task at hand.

Today we are comparing privacy features in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Both of these browsers are secure, and do a great job of warning you if you attempt to a navigate towards dangerous websites or download bad files. Also, they both include a thing called “sandboxing”, which keeps other parts of your computer safe if you do happen to go to a bad site. But once we get into privacy, one starts to outweigh the other.  So here are a couple of features to consider:

Private Browsing: Both browsers include private browsing options, which will ensure that any search records, cookies, and browsing history will not be retained or available to other users of the device. Google Chrome call this “Incognito”, while Firefox just refers to it as private browsing. Firefox also has a separate app for your phone called Firefox Focus, which is a browser that is permanently set to this private browsing mode. 

But this next feature is what sets Firefox apart in the area of privacy.

Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP): This is a relatively new feature that was released as a default setting for all Firefox users across the globe. ETP blocks thousands of trackers from major social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook among other types of trackers.

That being said, by default, Firefox is a great browser for those concerned with privacy. And this without going in and adjusting any settings in the browser. That in itself points to the high value Mozilla places on privacy.

Google Chrome’s argument for the larger amount of data they collet is that they are doing this to enhance the user experience and improve their services. And this is true. They really do create a seamless and convenient web browsing experience for consumers.

If that convenience outweighs your data privacy concerns, then Chrome is a great way to go. However, if you are looking for more control over how your data is tracked and used, Firefox might be for you.

In this week’s Web Tip Wednesday, we are exploring Ironscales’ free URL Scanner that will tell you whether or not a webpage is safe. Ironscales is a company that we partner with to deliver best-in-class anti-phishing software. Ironscales has done an incredible job of keeping our customers safe from countless malicious emails, and the lost time and money that accompany these attacks. That being said, we are excited that they are offering this free tool that anyone can use.

The scanner is simple. Anytime you are on the fence about whether or not a link you received in an email is safe, simply copy and paste the link into the tool to find out. The results are usually instantaneous. This is something you can use for both your business and personal email. You are able to conduct 10 free scans each day.

Bad actors who conduct these phishing campaigns will typically include links that send you to a fake webpage that is intended to replicate a site that you would normally trust. The end goal is to get you to enter important information like log-in credentials, banking information, or a social security number. These spoofed webpages can often be convincing if you don’t know what to look for. This free URL scanner removes any doubt. Ironscales uses a combination of data they have on thousands of fake websites, as well as image processing and deep learning to determine whether or not the site is genuine.  If Ironscales can’t determine the validity of the link upon the first quick scan, they will conduct a deeper evaluation on the webpage and respond with the results via email.

Try it out here.

Today I want to address something that has been going around for a long time now, and that being Tech Support Scams that are built by bad actors trying to impersonate Microsoft or Apple. A lot of times a user will click a bad link, and their browser will redirect them to a page that tells them their computer has been infected with some sort of virus. This warning appears to be from Microsoft or Apple, and will tell you that to get rid of the virus, you must call their tech support line immediately. This is all a ploy scare you into paying money for fake tech support.

When this scam appears, here are 5 common things you might see: 

• Microsoft or Apple branding to make it appear legitimate
• A Toll-Free telephone number
• An error message
• A message saying that things such as your Facebook login, credit card details email account logins, photos and documents are currently being stolen
• "Security Warning" Pop-Up

While closing out your browser is a sufficient fix in most cases, we do recommend that you call us to run a diagnostic test on your machine to ensure that there is no malware. 

Set Your Web Browser for Security & Privacy

We can’t have National Cyber Security Awareness Month in 2020 without talking about new threats brought on by Covid-19. One of the main things that cybercriminals are doing to take advantage of this pandemic is impersonating health officials at the CDC, WHO, or a local health department. One of the main footholds they’ve found to take advantage of is contact tracing. They can conduct these scams over the phone, by email, or by text. It’s important to know that the chances of you getting a legitimate contact tracing call are high, and they serve a good purpose, so we don’t want to scare you off from complying with legitimate health officials. That being said, we want to inform you on what you should and shouldn’t expect from contact tracing efforts.

Here are 5 red flags that point to a scam:

1.     Asking for your Social Security Number

2.     Asking for money

3.     Asking for bank or credit card information

4.     Inquiring about citizenship/immigration status

5.     Sending a link via text or email. The only texts or emails you should be getting will simply be informing you that they will be calling.

However, you CAN expect them to ask for your name, address, or phone number. A real tracing call will focus on your symptoms and who you have been around. It’s also typical that real health officials will attempt to contact you three times.

The approach that cybercriminals are taking continues to evolve, so we are evolving with them. We’ve done a good job putting up multiple layers of defense to keep threats out, but no gate is perfect. That’s why there is a need to go on the offensive and hunt down potential malicious footholds that could already exist within your system. Huntress Labs provides that solution.  The Founder of Huntress formerly worked for the US Intelligence Committee in Cyber Operations where he noticed a need for this type of solution and has since branched out to fill the gap. We consider Huntress Labs to be an essential piece of the puzzle.

How it works:

1.     An agent is installed on workstations and servers to collect and send information about malicious mechanisms to the Huntress cloud.

2.     Data is analyzed by automated engines to highlight new or unknown threats.

3.     The Huntress team hunts through new and unseen threat mechanisms to investigate and confirm the presence of malicious footholds. The Huntress team is a live group of cybersecurity experts who help make these determinations.

4.     Once a threat is discovered, actions are performed to mitigate the threat, including removing the foothold and related artifacts.

This week we are looking at a Microsoft 365 extension called Editor. If you are familiar with the popular grammar checking tool, Grammarly, then Editor will look and feel remarkably familiar to you. However, if you are a runbiz™ customer, that means it is highly likely that you have a Microsoft 365 account that will give you access to premium features that you would have to otherwise pay to access in Grammarly.  

In addition to spelling and grammar, Editor is evaluating our text for the following:

-        Acronyms 

-        Clarity

-        Conciseness

-        Formality