Great Lakes Computer Corporation

Managed Service Provider

You are here: Home / Great Lakes Blog

Great Lakes Blog

By

IT Support Question: Can Managed Network Services Help Your Business?

Managed service checklistSo today, we’re going to take a broader look at managed IT services and what they can do for your business. First of all, what is meant by managed network services?  Basically, Managed Network Services involve outsourcing various IT processes that you routinely engage in, and the benefit is that you have someone with experience handling your services, while also cutting your expenses.

Types of services that you might outsource to a third party include:

    • Equipment moves
    • Server monitoring
    • Repair and maintenance of various technological equipment – servers, laptops, PCs, printers, plotters, and POS equipment
    • Disaster preparation and recovery

The Primary Benefit:  You Can Focus on Growing Your Business

If you handle all of these operations within your business, that presents a number of challenges:

    • You have to hire, train, and manage the proper personnel
    • Your company has to pay for their salaries and benefits
    • You have to develop the appropriate procedures and policies for performing the services in-house

During stages of rapid growth, the challenge lies in deciding whether this is something you want to handle yourself – or outsource to someone else.

4 Questions to ask yourself when deciding to outsource

What services should you look to outsource? It’s different for every business, but if you consider some of these questions, you’ll arrive at the best solution for yours:

    1. How much experience does the service provider you’re considering have?
    2. What is their pricing structure?  Is it easy to understand or very confusing?
    3. Do they have an extensive list of client references?
    4. Can they offer concrete case studies that show the results of their services?

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

By

New Study Identifies Top 4 Reasons for IT Outsourcing

Managed Services monitor your IT with an expert eye

Four reasons for MSPIT staff regularly find that a lack of time or financial resources are the biggest barriers to productivity that they face.  This is according to a new survey carried out by JDL Technologies; the study found that in response to these issues, 36% of those asked have employed the skills of a Managed Service Provider (MSP), and it appears that during 2014, that number will to continue to rise, eventually reaching the 40% mark.

So why are more and more businesses deciding to explore the possibilities of outsourcing their IT?  Here are the top 4 reasons:

    1. LOWER TCO: Most sited reason was the reduction in downtime, coupled with the ability to reduce their IT costs.
    2. STAFFING: Of those asked by JDL, 73% reported a drop in the need for extra IT workers when an MSP steps in.  This was mentioned as the overriding gain.
    3. PRODUCTIVITY: 68% also explained that the MSP allowed their permanent IT staff to become more active, freeing them up from day-to-day computer maintenance and housekeeping chores.
    4. INNOVATION: A further 61% said that MSPs brought the promise of advanced technological solutions, enabling their businesses to make use of more specialist knowledge than they could have hoped for previously.

Choosing the right MSP

When it comes to choosing the right MSP for their organization, companies were fairly unified in their response: An overwhelming 86% claimed that the reputation, as well as the price, of a provider was top of their list.  They also carefully considered the references given by previous clients, the service level agreement terms, and how reliable the MSP was.

The MSP Alliance, an international body that represents the sector, explains the importance of their members as: “The operative distinction that sets apart a Managed Services Provider is the proactive delivery of service, as compared to reactive IT services, which have been around for decades.”

By

10 Dead-Simple Printer, POS, and Plotter Repair Tips

Printer, Plotter and POS Troubleshooting Tips

POS RepairAlright, so maybe not everyone can do printer, POS, and plotter repair, but hopefully these tips will make your life easier if you absolutely have to.

Check out these tips, and hopefully they help you when you’re in a pinch:

    1. Printer problems – printing goes way too slow.  If you don’t need high print quality for your documents, reduce it.  To do this, in just about any piece of software, go to “Print,” “Properties,” and then you should see a quality setting somewhere.
    2. Ink costs way too much.  The printer isn’t the real expense – ink and toner are where companies make their money.  Consider purchasing third-party filled cartridges.  Plus, if you have to print a lot, the best solution is to buy cartridges with higher capacities.
    3. Your printing is light, spotty, or has horizontal lines.  Usually this indicates the print head is clogged.  You can usually have the ink cleaned out by choosing a command on the printer itself, or by going to its administrative software.  You can usually find it by going to the Control Panel in Windows.
    4. Wireless printing is too slow.  Wi-Fi is convenient, when it works.  If possible, make sure everyone at your business has a wired connection to your printer.  If not, have your printer situated as closely to your router as possible to speed up communication.
    5. Problems with your POS/receipt printer?  Turn it off, and disconnect it from all electronic devices.  Turn it back on in a couple minutes, and see if the problems aren’t corrected. Still having POS repair problems?  Update the driver.  Simply go to the manufacturer’s website and find the model of your receipt printer.
    6. Has the quality of your plotter’s printing declined?  Don’t try to save money on ink with plotters – this can result in more printing problems later on down the line.
    7. If the ink is bleeding…Your plotter may be located in a space with too much humidity.  Or the grade of paper could be too low.  Address each issue and see if that doesn’t correct the problem.
    8. What if only part of your image is printing?  Your plotter may not have enough memory.  File sizes have gotten much larger, so older plotters may need a memory upgrade.
    9. Your plotter doesn’t print at the right speed…Your computer’s settings override those of the plotter (usually).  Set the desired speed on your PC.
    10. Have a Good Printer Repair Service on Hand… Not all problems can be easily fixed, and often times, when you need the printer the most you don’t have time to repair it yourself.  Having a reliable printer, plotter and POS repair service on hand, one that preferably has local parts delivery and time and material contracts.

Those are just some of the most common POS, plotter, and printer repair problems you’ll encounter.  Hopefully these tips help you take care of them so you can get back to growing your business.

Click Here for a FREE Hour of Printer Repair!

By

Why You Need Remote Monitoring for Less than $1 a Day

Give your business the edge with remote monitoring support

remote monitoringIf your business relies on its information technology to function, and most do, downtime can be a major cause for concern.  Hardware failures that occur repeatedly will impact on the image of your brand, create problems for clients and drive down productivity.  SMBs tend to be hit harder than larger firms, because most do not have an in-house team of IT experts who can be called upon to fix any issues promptly.  However, when you use remote hardware monitoring, your company can bypass computing headaches altogether.

If you do experience a software or hardware problem, you can relax, knowing it will be dealt with; an application installed specifically for this purpose will alert the remote monitoring team and they will address the issue.  The team will contact any relevant third party for assistance, diagnose the fault on your server and liaise with a representative at your company to keep you posted on the situation.  As most irregularities are spotted early, the corrective procedures may already be in place before you are even aware something has gone wrong.

The service provider will check on the health of your IT system on a regular basis, so you are free to divert staff and resources elsewhere.  This is especially relevant in today’s recruitment market, where skilled IT professionals can be in short supply.

Furthermore, there is no need for a business to compile lengthy and complex lists of the IT assets they hold.  Each work station is visible from a central hub, ensuring the task can be completed within a few minutes and the inventory information is processed in real-time.

Although no service could claim to provide completely disruption free computing, when firms choose a remote management vendor, they are prepared for every eventuality, ensuring that their security, maintenance and support, is firmly in place.

Remote Monitoring for less than $1/day!

Server monitoring allows your organization to obtain real-time internal statistics from your servers by automatically scanning them for irregularities and/or failures.

What’s Included in a Server Monitoring Package:

    • Monitoring of your server for faults, errors and warnings – 24 hours a day – 7 days a week – 365 days per year.
    • Automated program scripts that remotely fix common problems and errors immediately
    • Instant notification of problems or changes such as low disk space, processor spikes and memory issues.
    • After-hours e-mail and cell phone problem notification.
    • Keep servers up-to-date with the latest important security patches and updates.
    • Monthly and ad-hoc reporting

More information on Remote Monitoring for less than$1/day!

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

By

6 Amazing Computer Repair Tips for Struggling Small Businesses

Desktop Computer Repair Tips for Every SMB

Computer Repair ClevelandRecent research conducted by Intel found the average small business employee loses approximately one work week per year because they work on an out-of-date PC.

Additionally, the study also noted:

    • Repairing a PC older than 4 years costs 1.3 times more than repairing PCs younger than 4 years
    • Employees lose 21 more hours per year due to maintenance and security issues when they use PCs older than 4 years
    • 8% of small businesses in the US (the largest percentage of all countries surveyed) use PCs older than 5 years – compared to just 5% worldwide and 1% in India

So yeah, maintenance is clearly a problem.  But, it’s not always easily solved.  Your business may already have a tight profit margin, struggling just to survive.

What to do about this computer hardware repair dilemma

Here are some ideas:

    1. Keep your PCs under 4 years old – So, let’s start with the obvious one.  If your budget allows for it, replace all PCs 4 years old and older.  You spend a little money now, but save more over time.
    2. Keep those PCs humming along longer – You’re used to pushing everything in your small business to its limit, so do the same with your PCs.  If they have a couple years of age under their belt, and they’re slowing down a little, buy 2-4 GB of memory.  You’re not paying much in return for the performance boost you get, and you’ll get more out of them until they turn 4.
    3. Use virtualization as much as possible – As your PCs age, you can squeeze more efficient use out of them by running images out to the desktops until they get to the 4-year mark.  That saves you from performing some computer repair in the meantime because you’re not relying on the PC’s resources exclusively.
    4. Use a PC configuration management tool – You’ll have to decide which one will work best for your business, but Gartner claims these tools reduce costs by $87 per year per user.
    5. Get as much done automatically as possible – Rather than having someone visit your business and performing the repair on-site, or having your own staff do the repair manually, have as much computer hardware repair as possible performed dynamically.  If patches or new drivers are updated, have them run remotely or after business hours.
    6. Monitor pro-actively – Monitoring tools, when you have someone experienced using them, catch problems before they happen.  Instead of waiting for a server hard drive to crash and then dealing with all the resulting issues, test each hard drive (and your other hardware) and quietly replace faulty hardware before it fails.

It’s not easy being a small business, but if you follow these tips, you’ll minimize your costs, and hopefully get your company to a healthier, more stable place.

Time & Material Repair

Great Lakes Computer offers on-site repair on a per incident basis, which is great for small business owners. The same team of experienced service engineers that provide full service to our contracted customers, also perform time and material services. Labor rates are competitively priced and the labor “meter” begins only upon technicians arrival at your site.

Learn More about our Service Options

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

By

Microsoft Making a Statement by Extending Antivirus Protection

20-30% of Internet Users Still Use XP

XP MigrationIt’s pretty well publicized and known now that Microsoft will be ending support for Windows XP on 4/8/14.  However, an article by Tom’s Guide / Elizabeth Palermo found here yesterday on Yahoo News reports that Microsoft will end support for their Windows XP Anti-virus application as well on April 8th. 

Initially, this was received with shock, as this means that anyone continuing to use XP and this free AV software would be completely vulnerable to attacks.  And with 20-30% of internet users using XP, and 50% of user in China still on XP, this could cause some serious fun-time for hackers:

The end is near for Microsoft’s widely used operating system, Windows XP. April 8 — the long–awaited end-of-support date for the 12-year-old OS — shouldn’t take most users by surprise.

However, another Microsoft decision regarding XP may startle those die-hard XP users who refuse to upgrade. This week, the company announced that on April 8, it will also end support for the Windows XP version of Microsoft Security Essentials, the company’s free security and anti-virus application.

Not only will users of Windows XP receive no more security patches after April 8, but their installations of Microsoft Security Essentials will get no more virus updates, leaving their machines doubly unprotected.

Between 20 and 30 percent of Internet users worldwide still use Windows XP, according to recent data, including more than 50 percent of users in China. Businesses are scrambling to avoid the coming “XPocalypse,” but millions of individuals will also need to update their systems to avoid unrestricted malware attacks.”

Read the full article

Microsoft to the Rescue – AV Updates Extended

In a separate release from Microsoft in the same week, however, they have heard the rumblings and have agreed to extend the deadline for end-of-life on the data security product.  According to slashdot.org:

“Microsoft today announced it will continue to provide updates to its security products for Windows XP users through July 14, 2015. Previously, the company said it would halt all updates on the end of support date for Windows XP: April 8, 2014. For consumers, this means Microsoft Security Essentials will continue to get updates after support ends for Windows XP. For enterprise customers, the same goes for System Center Endpoint Protection, Forefront Client Security, Forefront Endpoint Protection, and Windows Intune running on Windows XP.”

Extension or Not – It’s Time to Migrate

Experts agree, that extensions withstanding, it is time for enterprises and individual users to begin, or at least plan to begin, the migration off of Windows XP.  No simple task for SMB’s with older laptops and employees (and applications) used to the platform.  Great Lakes Computer is here to help.  Contact us today to set up a consultation with one of our IT Support experts, who are ready to assist with consultation and migration.

Contact Us Today!


Learn more about the author Bob Martin

Contact Us