Guides & Articles on IT Services
Monitoring Your Web Site Activity
Knowing who's visiting and targeting them can help increase your sales
By Chris Maxcer
Web sites and the computers that visit them generate an electronic "trail" of sorts that can deliver a bevy of useful information to anyone wanting to improve their business' online performance. Here are some ways to monitor traffic and tips on what traffic analysis tools can do for you: Count the number of visitors you have each hour, day, week and month Track the n...
Solving Business Computer Problems
Do-it-yourself solutions to keep your computers humming
By John Henshell
When your computers go on the blink, business suffers. Fortunately, most problems can be solved without having to haul your system in for service. Most computer woes – even those that appear to be hardware problems – are caused by operating system changes and conflicts or by something called malware (malicious software). Outdated software and good old operator error can...
Recovering Data from a Damaged Computer
When faced with a computer crisis, take action to recover your data
By John Henshell
If you ever experience a computer crash or serious malfunction, your information isn't necessarily lost. In fact, there are several methods you can use to attempt to recover your data. There are no guarantees, and the amount of data that can be recovered depends on the extent of the computer damage. But many data salvage operations are highly successful. And even if the first...
Using a Web-based Customer Help Desk
How to best utilize Internet-based customer help desks for your Web site
By LaRita Heet
Do you have a customer help desk for your Web site? And if so, are you using it to your fullest advantage? Does it handle your customers' online queries and problems while you're out of the office? Does it help your employees in serving your customers? Here are the top three ways to best utilize Web-based customer help desks: Track help desk tickets for quick response. Off...
Tech Support Services for Small Business
How to make sure you have the computer support you need, when you need it
By Daniel Kehrer
When you run a small business and don't have your own in-house "techie," finding good tech support can be frustrating. Just locating a phone number is a challenge. Tech companies actively discourage support calls (costly to them). And if your problem involves multiple software, hardware or service brands, the support person you get on the phone may point a finger else...
Selling Service Contracts to Your Customers
Service, rather than product, is the key to long-term profit
By Lauren Gibbons Paul
In many types of business, service is the key that unlocks profit. Depending on the type of product you sell, offering a service contract extends the value you offer your customers. And profit margins for service are often much higher than are those for product sales. A few things to remember when selling service contracts: Sell them as job security for your customers. If you're...
Backing up Your Computer Files
You know it's vital, so here's how to get it done
By Daniel Kehrer
Everyone knows that backing up computer files is important. But a lack of information or belief that backups are too costly or time consuming often causes business owners to put it off. And that can be disastrous. Lost computer files have cost many businesses weeks, months or even years of work. Critical files include banking and other financial records, inventory lists, electronic...
Choosing a Company to Build Your Software
Learn how to find and evaluate software development firms and freelancers
By Rob Walling
Building custom software for your business is a daunting task. If you don't possess the necessary skills and lack time to learn them, then hiring an expert in the field is your best approach.Building software is a complex process, and hiring your 17-year old brother in law to build an interface to your accounting package is like handing a hammer to a 3-year old - they...
Security and Safety for Small Businesses IT
Small businesses rely on their computers, but do not have the backing of a huge IT department to keep their computers secure and safe.
By Ryan Johnson
Can you put a value on the data on your computer? For a small business, things like their intellectual property, customer or product information are most likely all stored on here.IT such as laptop computers and desktop PC's holds the key to many small businesses, but have you taken steps to ensure that your computer and the data contained within it is safe?There are simple ste...
Outsourcing CD and DVD duplication
How to save yourself hassle and get it done right.
By Tara Roitman
You have created your master disc and now it's time to get some copies done. You don't have the time to fiddle around with equipment or you need too many copies to handle yourself. There are several companies that can help but there is a learning curve. In order to get the best value for your money and avoid delays, you need to choose the correct production process, find a suitable...
IT Audits
Keep your IT system and your company safe with IT audits
By Judy Artunian
When you commission an IT audit, you bring in an IT auditor to conduct a risk assessment. Your auditor will evaluate how well your organization’s information technology controls are minimizing the risk that your IT system will malfunction. IT audits will also alert you if aspects of the system aren’t complying with certain laws and regulations. Depending on your audit&r...
Data Warehousing
Realize the full value of your company's history with data warehousing
By Marianne Cotter
Data warehousing is the comprehensive organization and storage of your company’s digital data, be it financial, customer information, or sales. With data storage services, you have access to this repository, which is available for analysis and reporting to further business growth. As a window into your enterprise, data warehousing becomes the basis for forecasting and strateg...
Computer Programming Languages
Give your tech career a boost with computer programming language training
By Marianne Cotter
A computer programming language is a set of instructions that tells a computer how to behave. Countless computer programming languages have been created, thousands are in use, and new ones are written every day. Computer programming language courses that offer certification for programming in one of the more commonly used languages — HTML, Java, C++, Visual Basic, Perl, SQL, ...
Data Mining Services
Glean important business intelligence by data analysis
By Jeff Copeland
Your data is trying to tell you something – data mining services help you listen to messages hidden in piles of reports on sales, service, production and billing, little cries of actionable information too scattered to be noticed. Data mining services might show you how to better segment your customers or pick a new location for a branch or get early warning on a defect...
Extranet Services
Extranet services let you share info securely with customers and business partners
By Judy Artunian
Extranet — it’s a term used to describe a private website where extranet services let you conduct online meetings, collaborate on reports, share information and even share software applications. When you build an extranet, you can make this secured website available to customers, suppliers, vendors or other business partners. Extranet development allows you and these as...
Healthcare IT Consulting
Let a healthcare IT consultant help you achieve a paperless practice
By Marianne Cotter
Healthcare IT consultants can help your practice take advantage of technology that’s quickly becoming the industry standard. The entire healthcare industry is in the process of transforming from a paper environment to an electronic one. All processes and information, including health records, prescriptions, lab results, medical transcriptions, imaging, staff and patient commu...
GIS Data
How to get GIS technology for best management practices
By J. Stoltzfus
The new technology known as GIS or Geographic Information Systems is similar in some conceptual ways to GPS (Global Positioning Systems) but it's also inherently different. GIS works to "tag" items for spatial and numeric inventory. Large business and government structures use GIS to keep track of both mobile and static assets. Take a look at what business GIS data t...
Information Systems Analysis Services
How to acquire or promote information systems services for your small business
By Emmet McMahan
An information systems analyst seeks ways to develop, manage and use the system of activities, people and data that processes information for an organization. An analysis of information systems has become increasingly more important as businesses shift their focus from product to process. Today, a company's most valuable asset is the information it possesses in the form of peop...
Computer Programming Services
How to find computer programming companies for your small business
By Emmet McMahan
A computer programmer writes, tests and maintains the source code for a computer program. The purpose of a program for the business owner is to provide a computerized solution to a business problem. Businesses usually have considerable expertise in their particular field but frequently don’t keep programmers on staff. Therefore, they commonly contract out computer progra...
Java Programming Services
How to create applications in the Java programming language for your small business
By Emmet McMahan
The Java programming language is syntactically similar to C and C++. Unlike those languages, however, programming in Java is object-oriented instead of having this feature added on. The primary advantage of programming Java is that it can run on any computer that has Java installed. The biggest disadvantage of Java has traditionally been its performance, although this has improved ...
Database Analysis
How to perform data analysis for your small business.
By Emmet McMahan
Database analysis is the process of extracting data from a database, cleaning it, associating it to other data and drawing conclusions based on these relationships. Data analysis requires a wide range of skills including specific knowledge of the business, statistical analysis and data-mining tools. Businesses most commonly perform database analysis and manageme...
Data Management Services
Would outsourcing to a data management service improve the efficiency of your operation?
By Jeanne Dininni
The amount of data our companies deal with on a regular basis seems to increase almost daily, until we soon begin to wonder how we'll ever manage it all. This is where database management services can prove invaluable to our businesses.An online data management service can provide the following benefits to your organization:1. Simple, secure storage of even large quantities of ...
Technical Writing
Make your next client-facing document pop by using a technical writing company
By A.S. White
Documentation is tedious, to say the least. Whether it’s your latest proposal, the user guide for a new product, or even just your in-house training manual, it can seem overwhelming when faced with a new writing project. And when your technical writing project is client-facing, it can be even more impossible. A full-time, on-staff technical writer can be quite expensive, part...
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Use GIS to successfully market your products and services
By Angela King
A well-executed advertising campaign can promote brand recognition and increase sales. Knowing who to market your products to and where to market them is crucial to reach a targeted consumer base.Geographic information systems use a collaboration of hardware, software and other devices to combine data in order to create a demographic for your business. Use GIS software to:1. Locate...
Log Analysis
Learn more about your website through log file analysis and reporting
By A.S. White
As you work through your log analysis, it's important to know what's important and what's garbage. Because log analysis software is designed to optimize universal log file analysis, they make report formation much less of a chore. You can find out if your ads are working, if there's a security issue you need to handle or if your pages are working well for your busin...
