Directive Blogs

As the backbone of modern business, an effective technology department is less of a cost center and more of an essential investment. But what exactly makes up those line items in your IT budget?

Understanding the different categories of IT expenses is crucial for strategic planning, controlling costs, and demonstrating the true value of IT to the rest of the organization. Let's break down the major types of expenses that form a comprehensive IT budget.

Do you know what one of the most frustrating budgetary issues you run into is? One I’ve heard about quite a bit is the rush to spend every allocated cent in the IT budget before these funds are redistributed to other departments.

While the instinct is understandable, we want to reinforce that you should never make IT purchases solely to meet a spending benchmark. Instead, all invested funds should be directed so that you see returns.

You invested in technology to support your business, spending time and money to acquire and implement it. What happens if that technology turns out to be a lemon… a high-priced item that’s ultimately a dud, or at the very least doesn’t mesh with your future plans?

This is often the result when tech is purchased to fix a short-term issue without a long-term strategy, and ultimately means that the purchaser loses money and productivity due to incompatibility issues. Alternatively, planning a strategic roadmap for your IT to follow helps ensure your investments actually advance your business’ future.

It's the ultimate workplace paradox: the very tools designed to make our jobs easier, faster, and more flexible often feel like the source of our deepest stress. From the endless barrage of email notifications to the pressure of being always available, modern work technology is a true double-edged sword.

So, does technology create stress or remove stress in the workplace? The answer, like most things in the digital age, is both.

We’re sure at some point you’ve used the idiom, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” particularly in regards to your IT. While it might feel responsible and safe to stick to this motto as much as possible, there will come a time when it becomes dangerous to hold fast to it. In fact, business technology professionals might even call this motto irresponsible. Here’s why.

How much control do you really have over your IT assets? Oftentimes, businesses will consider other priorities, like sales, operations, and customer service, before they focus on IT systems and resources. The problem with this is that it creates a significant burden for your business, both in terms of the hidden financial drains and serious security vulnerabilities that undermine your business’ stability.

Technology works wonders for business, but it also enables other organizations, like law enforcement. We aren’t here to argue ethics, but we would like to touch on some of the technology that certain agencies are using in the execution of their jobs. Specifically, we want to highlight the issues involving the very sophisticated AI and data-mining platforms, such as those developed by Palantir.

Adopting smart office technology—from connected lighting and thermostats to sophisticated monitoring sensors—can transform your workspace, offering efficiency and a modern aesthetic. Yet, as IT experts, we must guide you past the shiny facade to confront a critical reality: every new smart device is a potential gateway for cyber threats.

You should not have to sacrifice security for the sake of being "high-tech." However, implementing these solutions without a robust security strategy is a risky gamble.

Here's a horrifying thought: Imagine your beautiful office has 50 hardworking employees... but only one tiny, single-stall bathroom. It's chaos. There's a line down the hall, all day. Productivity grinds to a halt. It's a classic bottleneck, and it’s completely unnecessary.

Here's the hard truth: This is exactly what’s happening to your business’ data right now. You’re paying your ISP for a super-fast Internet connection, but you’re forcing all that crucial business data through a flimsy, $50 consumer-grade router; you’re going to find out it’s not up for the job.

Technology doesn’t last forever, so what would you do if your keyboard or computer monitor bit the dust tomorrow? Some might just throw the technology in the trash and not think twice about it, but that’s the exact opposite of what you should do. Instead, we urge you to go through the proper channels to properly dispose of your old electronics—if not for the environment’s sake, then for your business’.

Have you ever considered investing in smart technology for your office? We’re talking, of course, about the smart appliances, lights, thermostats, and so on, all of which make your office feel like you stepped into a sci-fi movie. As IT experts, it would be wrong for us to let you implement all these shiny new solutions without considering the security implications.

Our question to you is this: are you willing to leave glaring security weaknesses in your infrastructure for the sake of being considered “high-tech?” We hope the answer is an emphatic “no.”

Cryptocurrency has brought about innovative new technology for use in the business world, but it’s also created more headaches, primarily due to ransomware. With ransomware, a malicious entity can lock down your computer files and demand a cryptocurrency ransom in exchange for your data’s safe return. So, why is cryptocurrency the chosen currency for these kinds of transactions?

An old fable says that a frog placed in a pot of boiling water will jump out immediately, but if the water is warmed to boiling with the frog already in it, the frog won’t notice until it is already too late. Many businesses today act like that frog, overlooking minor tech issues that signal a growing problem until the damage is done.

Let’s see if we can identify some of these issues to help keep you out of hot water.

Let me ask you something: how well does your current IT support function?

If your first instinct is to say something vaguely positive, like “good” or “fine,” you’re probably missing out on significant benefits that could come from a more immersive and fleshed-out service delivery, rather than a stopgap meant to preserve the status quo. If your provider has never asked you about the future and your goals for it, it may be time to seek what else is out there.

Artificial intelligence is all the rage these days. In fact, most businesses are using it for a multitude of things. With everyone all-aboard the AI train, it’s easy to confuse the computational power and speed AI offers to be infallible. Unfortunately, AI can get things going sideways if you aren’t careful. When it does go wrong, the consequences can be more than just an inconvenience.

Here's a look at some of the most critical ways AI can go wrong:

When was the last time you gave the time of day to your business’ phone system? The Internet has largely made traditional telephone solutions obsolete, yet countless businesses still cling to them for dear life. Still, dismissing the importance of the telephone as a way to connect with your customers would be foolish, so our focus today is how businesses like yours can implement phone solutions that leverage the good while eliminating the bad.

What goes through your head when you hear the words “IT audit?” Are you worried about your business’ deepest and most shameful technology secrets being exposed, or are you excited about the opportunity to resolve issues that you might not even know exist? We hope you have the latter mentality, as it’s the appropriate one—especially if you want to build a business that stands the test of time.

It’s happening in your office right now. An employee, trying to boost productivity, pastes a chunk of your confidential client list into a public AI tool to draft a marketing email. They see it as a clever shortcut. You should see it as a massive data breach waiting to happen. The explosion of AI tools like ChatGPT is a game-changer, but for unprepared businesses in Oneonta and beyond, it's a dangerous new frontier.

A significant and growing number of small businesses are either actively using AI tools or exploring their potential, motivated by the promise of increased efficiency, cost savings, and gaining a competitive edge.

It's an exciting movement, proving that AI isn't just for huge mega corporations. Small businesses are using AI for everything from generating marketing content and handling customer service inquiries with chatbots to analyzing customer data and automating back-office tasks. The goal is to compete faster and smarter.

How does your business use virtualization? We guarantee you that at least part of your infrastructure is virtualized to some degree, even if you don’t realize it. From hardware infrastructure to your desktop infrastructure, there are plenty of options for how your business can leverage virtualization for considerable impact.