Spring is Around the Corner

Looks like the groundhog was finally right for once. While we have had some spring-like days this winter, we are back into winter mode full swing. Did you know, Punxsutawney Phil has only been 39% accurate? He predicted a longer winter, and that is exactly what we are getting! That being said, Spring is right around the corner. It is time for our annual “Spring Cleaning” email. This particular email we send out yearly to remind our clients of the importance of IT maintenance and a yearly review of your network to ensure that it is safe and working properly. Little things that you do, can improve the speed and security of your network.

Here Are Some IT Spring Cleaning Items

1) Encourage Employees to Eliminate Old Data

Leaving old data on your network can cause security issues and take up a lot of space. We often get calls from clients that want new servers. When in reality, they just need to eliminate old data. For example, picture and video files take up a lot of room. The best practice for this is to buy a back up hard drive to save these files offline. Also encourage them to clear out old emails to make sure that any potential corruptible file is eliminated from the network.

2) Merge Together Hosting Services:

If you have your domains hosted in one place, or with a former webmaster, and the site hosted somewhere else, and SSL certificates hosted in another spot it is easy to have oversight. We have e-commerce clients that have had their websites go down because they did not pay their bill during renewal. Come to find out, they had their hosted services completely spread out and did not have a full grasp of what products were coming up for renewal. We were also able to help them save money by eliminating services they did not need.

3) Make Sure Your Server Room is Cleaned Up:

If your server room and wiring is messy and unorganized, it can cause major problems long term when there is an issue and one of our technicians need to check connections. By taking the time now to clean up and organize your server room, you will save valuable time if a problem arises.

4) Update or Get New Antivirus Software

This is something incredibly easy and extremely important. If you can’t remember the last time you updated your anti-virus… CALL US IMMEDIATELY! We can either help to update the current anti-virus or upgrade (take out “you”) to a better package

Some other areas to consider: implementing a more efficient use of Microsoft office, updating hardware, ensuring that vent points on hardware are dusted, and using surge protectors at work stations. We hope you take some time to perform a ‘spring cleaning” of your own. If you have any questions or need help coming up with a starting point, contact us today for a consultation.