Monthly Archives: June 2019

it managed services providers

9 Qualities to Look for Before Hiring IT Managed Services Providers

If you are tired of spending your time on things other than your core business objectives, it may be time to hire IT managed services providers.

Decreasing focus is only one of the many reasons you might be considering bringing on help for your IT needs. Even a small amount of downtime can cost big bucks which means — you can’t afford downtime.

Hiring and managing IT staff isn’t likely what you had in mind when you started your company so outsourcing to managed IT services makes sense. While outsourcing might make sense, you do need to be careful who you hire.

The safety of your company’s data and other information is in their hands. Continue reading this article to learn what you need to look for in the company you choose to hire.

Choosing the Best IT Managed Services Providers

The following qualities are a must when you are choosing an IT company to work with. Security breaches and other IT problems can cost your company so you want to have reliable professionals on your side.

1. Strong Technical Expertise

Not all companies are staffed equally. You want to make sure that you know what you’re getting when you hire a company.

How much experience does each of the staff have? Will they know how to deal with major challenges if they arise? 

2. Wide Range of Skills

Your IT needs may change as your company grows. Choosing managed IT services with a wide range of services gives you access to a variety of skilled professionals that you might not need right now but may need them in the future.

As your business grows, your IT needs will grow. Knowing the company you are with has the ability to scale continue serving you will keep you from having to change companies.

3. Experience in Your Industry

Does your IT services provider know your industry? The basics of IT management can apply to all industries. But your specific IT needs are different than companies in other industries.

Having someone with experience in your industry can allow your mind to rest at ease knowing that they’ve dealt with the common challenges that arise.

4. Extended Availability

You may clock out at 5, but you don’t want your IT managed services provider to stop working. Your computer network stays online 24/7 and so should your service provider.

You never know when someone could try to hack your system or there is a fire or power outage. You need someone that is paying close attention to your systems so they can take care of any problems right as they arise.

5. Service Customization

You don’t want a one size fits all IT solution. You need to ask for customization so that you can get what you need for your company — no more and no less. You don’t want to pay for services you don’t need but you definitely don’t want to under serve your IT needs.

6. Response Time

Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you know what kind of response time you can expect from them.

Do you have a dedicated customer support professional that is going to help you if something comes up and you have questions? Or are you going to be dealing with a new customer support person each time that you call?

Understanding how long it is going to take for them to answer questions is important but you also need to ask how long it will take for them to start fixing a problem.

You don’t want to find out you have a major problem but everyone is too busy working on other things to get around to your challenge. Check the contract to see if it states the maximum amount of time they have to start working on your project.

7. IT Security and Maintenance

Keeping your servers secured and maintained is a top priority. Find out what they do to secure and maintain your systems. Even if you don’t understand all of it, you need to know what the processes are so you’re sure they are being taken care of.

8. Established Processes

Don’t choose IT companies that don’t have established processes. They should know what they are doing and how they go about doing it. Having systems in place will allow for less human error and better results for you and your company.

Ask them to walk you through some of their processes so you can get a sense of how prepared they are for day-to-day tasks as well as any technical emergencies that might take place.

9. Reliable Reputation

With customer reviews available online, it is hard to hide if your company isn’t a good one. Look at all of the popular review sites to see what people are saying about the company you’re considering.

You may also ask them to speak with one of their clients to ask how they are at servicing their needs. Companies understand if you want them to provide references and usually have a few people that are more than happy to talk to you for a few minutes to put your mind at ease.

Using the Best IT Managed Services Providers

If using the best IT managed services providers is a must for you, we can help. We provide not only basic support but we can also help with major projects like complex full deployments.

Contact us today to see how we can make your life easier while making your business better.

website based database

An In-Depth Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Website Based Databases

Statistics have shown that CRM databases will reach more than $81.9 billion in revenue by 2025. A database is a handy way to keep an organization’s information in safe storage. With this collection, multiple users have an opportunity to access all the collected data with optimal speed.

Unlike when you keep physical files of the company’s progress, with a database, essential information can be shelved safely from unauthorized users.

Due to the love of technology, humans find themselves in the need for better storage all the time. However, it is not enough to talk about a database without the mention of a website based database.

This blog will share in-depth details to ensure that you understand what web database is. You will also understand its significance in your organization.

What Is a Website Based Database?

A web database is an application designed to be accessed and managed through the internet. It allows operators to manage data collection and present analytical results, even without access to physical data.

Web databases were first introduced to the market in the 1990s and it has been a must-have asset for growing businesses since then.

With a web database, you will not be worried about losing data even when your server is corrupted. The data collection storage is, however, hosted on a website and can be comfortably accessed through a web browser.

Applicable Uses

Both large and small business use web database to create feedback forms, website polls, inventory lists, and client data. Additionally, a personal web database is ideal for storing personal email accounts and personal website analytics.

Data Organization

With web database, collecting and categorizing information into various parameters is quite easy. It does not require any advanced computing skills or database programs to classify products or services into one group. Additionally, you don’t require any coding skills to organize your website.

It allows you to fill and save each record separately, hence making it easy for other users to access anything they want at ease. Whatever means you find appropriate to save your data can be used here.

After saving your data, users are able to access whatever they want without having to go through the entire website search. For instance, a customer is able to find the product they are interested in your store without going through all other products in the store.

MySQL

MySQL is the structured query language and it’s often used in the world of web databases. It is a relational database management system, which makes managing different web databases possible. MySQL is an open resource project that operates as a server.

It is often used with web hosting for small businesses or personal website database management. However, using MySQL is a little challenging as it has a difficult programming language.

Benefits of Web Database

Using web database storage gives you the assurance that your data is safe and accessible regardless of the server you use. Cloud storage technique guarantees that any information about an organization is not trapped in a particular computer.

Therefore, if you have access to the stored information, you don’t need to get to the initial computer that was used to develop the information.

Another advantage of using web database is the program usually comes with its technical support team. Therefore, your IT team will have an opportunity to concentrate on other essential matters to build your organization.

It also allows you to update information, hence making it highly convenient. Therefore, whatever techniques were instrumental for building your business can be updated to push it to the next level.

Depending on your business expectations, using web database application gives you the freedom to pay for subscriptions based on your uses. Therefore, if your business shrinks or expands, you are able to use the same server space to accommodate your interests.

Additionally, you don’t have to invest in installing the entire program to enjoy its uses.

Why It’s Important

Using web database software is highly profitable for both personal and business websites. It makes it easy for you to track your progress and monitor all your steps.

With a small business database software, keeping your business development up-to-date with technology will not be tough.

Additionally, it gives you an Intel on how your web page is connected to the database too. Therefore, optimizing its performance with a new webpage will not be a challenge.

Examples of Database Driven Websites

As a developer, it is essential to have an idea of the type of website you are building. When you know what you are developing, it will be easy for you to determine what practice will best suit your clients. Common website based databases include:

Blogs

Blogs and other online forums enter the database driven websites category due to users regular updates. Once the target audience gets access to your blog and like or leave a comment, it experiences an increase in usage.

E-Commerce Platforms

If you are starting a business website where you sell products or services, there will be changes in price and services more regularly. Therefore, your customers expect to find updated information any time they visit your store.

CMS (Content Management System)

If your website will use CMS, then it automatically qualifies to the category of database driven. With CMS, you don’t require to have particular programming skills to update your content.

Some of the most common CMS sites include Joomla and WordPress. They have an easy-to-use editor that makes editing, deleting, or publishing content easy.

Getting Started

A website based database is a convenient way of ensuring that your business operations are smooth all through. It also guarantees that you will have every information necessary to grow your organization to the next level.

With a secure database, the fear of losing track of your business due to theft or other disasters will not be an issue for you. This is because such information can only be retrieved by persons with authorized access to the file.

Additionally, it enhances your organization’s performance online and helps drive your expectations. However, if you are not sure how to develop your website into a database driven category, you can always contact us through our page for development assistance.