Professional IT Services that Andromeda Provides for Hoffman Estates, IL Businesses:

Managed IT Services
Hoffman Estates,IL

Andromeda offers a range of IT support plans—anything from month-to-month "time & materials"-based assistance to fixed IT service contracts that permit "no-brainer" conformance to an annual budget. Beyond the functions you would expect from a full-service MSP, you'll have a dedicated C‑CATs team that includes an Account Coordinator directing the same field and remote technicians day-to-day, month-to-month, and even year-to-year to manage your IT network needs.
This isn't simply a glorified Virtual CIO offering. Imagine the cost of hiring your own CIO AND tech team for this same level of customized service and knowledge of your particular (and evolving) network setup!

Cloud Services & Migrations

Typically, the biggest issue you'll face when initiating Cloud IT services is not the services themselves, but rather the proper migration of your existing IT services to the Cloud without loss of functionality, downtime, and scores of other details that could undermine the whole process. Andromeda has a long history of expertise in physical on-premises systems. Don't make the mistake of turning all your current systems over to a "Cloud expert"; we'll save you from a lot of heartache and pain with a virtually seamless Cloud migration from your current setup— whatever it is.

Data Backup & Recovery
Hoffman Estates,IL

It's a crazy world. Literally thousands of people you don't even know attempt to break or steal from systems like yours every day. Good 24/7 monitoring is a first line of defense, of course. But no matter how great and state-of-the-art your defenses are, you'll almost certainly succomb to a successful attack in time. That's why advanced data backup and data recovery need to be tools that you and your IT partner have at the ready from Day 1. Don't be tempted to "shortcut" this element of your network in the name of expediency or to save a few dollars. Ultimately, you'll lose out on both counts with that thinking. You need a complete and integrated solution that addresses every contingency as well as IT professionals who know how to make that happen.

Cyber Security

Not only do we provide multi-tier approaches to your network security, but Andromeda also provides built-for-you solutions for disaster recovery and business continuity devices. We provide, manage and monitor a variety of devices including physical hardware, Cloud-based and hybrid options. Our team actively monitors over 403 servers and 101 physical backup devices in the field. All with 100% local engineers and technicians.

Onsite/Remote Support
Hoffman Estates,IL

Andromeda's team is completely staffed by local technicians near Hoffman Estates,IL. No matter the hour, your issue is resolved quickly and professionally. In fact, 68% of incoming calls are connected to a live technician for immediate response. When a technician isn't available, our average response time is less than 30 minutes. And if that isn't impressive enough, emergency after-hours support response times average less than 10 minutes!

IT Network Management

IT networks are our bread-and-butter. We have provided these services to clients since 1994. Some have continued to rely on us for their evolving network needs since the very beginning. We stand behind our work day to day and year to year because we foster relationships with our client-partners that absolutely demand that of us. It's in our DNA and how we prefer to do business.

AndroPedia Tech Library

As part of our service, it is important to keep our client-partners well informed on IT developments, news, and best practices. Here is just a sampling of typical items from our AndroPedia^SM library archive:

For many businesses, the flexibility to work-from-home (WFH) is a great perk for employees. Studies even show that employees that have the option to work remote show higher productivity and job satisfaction.  

There are many benefits to remote workforce but there can also be struggles/challenges for leaders and managers trying to maintain culture, productivity and a team environment.  

We’ve put together a list of our favorite tools to help us get the job done in house or from home. 
 

Our favorite 7 Collaboration Tools to Help Your Remote Team Stay Engaged, Productive and Motivated from Anywhere

1 Microsoft Office 365 for Business

This stack of Software as a Service (SaaS) products allows your team to utilize classic programs like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more in new ways.  

Office 365 also opens the doors for your team to utilize cloud storage/collab tools like OneDrive and SharePoint. Files saved to this software can be accessed at home, on the go, in the office or anywhere with an internet connection.

2 Microsoft Teams

This product is included with Office 365 but deserves its own section because of all the different things it sets your team up to do including:

• Individual and team-based IMs  
• Live collaboration with Microsoft documents inside of the Teams tool  
• Audio & Video calls  
• Screen share  
• Add on apps for even more productivity boosts  

3 Zoom Video & Web Conferencing

Zoom is one of the leading web/video conferencing tools on the market. With free and multiple paid options, it is likely you can find a solution to fit the needs of your organization and your business.  

Some of our favorite features in Zoom include:  

• Personal meeting room to start a meeting any time  
• Outlook integrations for easy schedule  
• Webinar capabilities with panel, hosts, Q&A, chat etc.  
• Video and/or Audio calls  
• Mobile App 
   

4 Slack

Slack is one of the leading direct communication tools for business. You can message teammates directly; create group chats and you can also communicate in channels. With seemingly endless add-ons and extensions, Slack is a leader when it comes to connecting teams.  

Andromeda Technology Solutions recently transitioned from Slack to Microsoft Teams for our own internal communications but some of the features we loved in Slack include:  

• Direct messaging 
• Audio/Video calling  
• Channels for group needs
• Easy integration of apps  
• Custom emojis for fun  

5 Trello

Trello is a neat tool that helps with project management and tracking. You can use it for personal projects or teams to manage workflows, status and many things in between. This is also another tool you can use with a free version to test out and see what works for your team.  

Our favorite Trello features:  

• Easy to user interface with drag & drop ‘cards’ 
• Easy upload multiple types of media – docs, links, photos etc.  
• Individual/Group task assignment  
• Mobile application  
• Labels and tags for organization
   

6 Basecamp

Basecamp is a project and team management tool used by all kinds of organizations and teams globally. This one tool can help you organize, communicate and collaborate on multiple projects while keeping all the info you need in one space. You can even give clients access to Basecamp so that they can communicate and keep up to date on status of your team.  

Our Web Design team uses Basecamp daily to move projects along.  

Some of their favorite features include:  

• To-do Lists 
• Message Boards 
• Scheduling tool  
• Document & File storage  
• Group chat  

7 Zapier

Zapier is one of the industry leaders in connecting web apps for automation. And since you’re team is getting tons done on-the-go, you’ll want to check out all the ways this tool can simplify your workflows and help your team work more efficiently. Zapier connects the apps you use every day and helps cut down busy work.  

Additionally, Zapier knows what it means to work remote, they boast a 100% remote workforce with over 200 teammates working all over the globe.  

A connection from one software to another via Zapier is called a Zap. You can check out 2000+ zaps and the tool here
 

Finding the right mix of tools is as individualized as the job. We hope these suggestions help you to create an environment that is productive and satisfying. If you would like to discuss your unique situation, give us a call at (815) 836-0030 or email our team.

The post Our favorite 7 Collaboration Tools to Help Your Remote Team Stay Engaged, Productive and Motivated from Anywhere appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

With the average American adult maintaining over 130 different accounts online, the risk of a data breach or data being stolen continues to grow. Between social media, financials, productivity applications, email, business applications, online shopping and countless other accounts online, your “online life” becomes more and more a part of your day to day physical life as time passes.

As more of our lives and data are shared online, criminals are focused on breaking into these databases to steal the valuable info they hold:

• Personal Info such as name, address, dates of birth, social security numbers etc.
• Financial information such as bank info, credit cards etc.
• Social Information on social media accounts

This is a real problem facing consumers globally but the impacts span beyond individual damages and stolen identities (though, those damages are bad enough).

When a criminal steals your password, or the password of a coworker, chances are – they’ve gained access to many pieces of your “online life”.

Here’s an example to illustrate how a third party data breach can lead a criminal back to your business.

Your HR manager helps book travel for employees at the business. He set up a business account at a national hotel chain to book rooms for whatever the business travel needs are. The hotel chain’s database suffers a breach and cybercriminals steal thousands of email/password combos including your HR manager’s credentials.

Your HR manager used the same password he uses for all kinds of sites online when he created the login at the hotel company site. This means that the criminals who have this breached data, now have access to your payroll software, servers and all the other things your HR manager interacts with.

The criminals either use this data themselves or take it to the Dark Web to sell for a few dollars (password/email combinations go for $3-$5 on average on the Dark Web).

Breaches like these happen daily and criminals use the information they steal to do as much damage as they can.

This creates a unique problem for business owners and managers because what can you possibly do to protect yourself from a data breach happening at a hotel chain or some other account online?

Things get even trickier when the average span of time between a data breach and disclosure to the public reaches 15 months. Meaning, criminals have a 15-month head start to get to your business and do damage before your are notified on the 5 o’clock news or your social media feed.

So, how can you defend against this kind of thing?

First, implement a password policy at your business:

1. Strong Passwords Required
2. Change Passwords Regularly (90 days minimum)
3. Dual Authentication
4. Lockout Procedures

Second, roll out a password management tool across your organization.

As mentioned earlier, the average adult in America manages over 130 accounts online. It is no wonder that we have a hard time creating strong and unique passwords for each of those accounts. It would be nearly impossible to remember all of that without writing things down – which isn’t secure.

To bridge the gap between security and memory, implement a password management tool. Look for something that is encrypted, secure and be sure to consider mobile capabilities. We recommend LastPass as a great option to start.

Third, invest in Dark Web Monitoring

Dark Web Monitoring is still a newer service offered to businesses and professionals. This is a monitoring solution designed to scrub different areas of the Dark Web (chatrooms, discussion boards etc.) for data connected to your domain.

If we apply Dark Web Monitoring to the example above with the HR Manager for instance – when the criminals stole data from the hotel chain and went to sell/share it on the Dark Web, the monitoring tool would identify your IT company to have the HR manager change passwords. That way, the criminals have useless data and you are protected well before you learn about the breach 15 months later.

The post How A Third-Party Data Breach Impacts Cybersecurity At Your Business appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

Word has recently leaked out about an interesting project that's ongoing at Intel's research labs. The company has apparently built an algorithm that mirrors the brain's activity to detect and identify smells. The company developed a computer chip for the project. Called a "neuromorphic" chip, it was designed to allow a computer to process information the same way that a biological brain does.

The project is being pursued in partnership with researchers at Cornell University. It began when the Intel research team began investigating what happens inside the brain of mammals when they smell something.

As you might expect, there's actually a lot that goes on inside a mammalian brain when a scent is detected. In fact, there are more than 450 different kinds of olfactory receptors in our noses that send signals to the brain. From there, electrical impulses within a group of neurons generate the sense of particular odors.

Then, of course, there's the fact that our brains act as biological databases. They're capable of storing not only memories of previous scents, but can cross-reference known scents and accept new information that allows us to track and differentiate hundreds of thousands of different scents.

Intel's current goals are significantly more modest than developing a chip that can differentiate that many different smells. They're starting with a goal of ten. They've recorded the responses of a total of 72 different chemical sensors sitting in a wind tunnel as a small number of different scents (including acetone, ammonia and methane) were circulated.

The data gleaned from the sensors was then fed into the Neuromorphic chip, which was able to draw neural representations of each smell.

Ultimately, the point behind the research is to better understand how the brain's neural circuitry solves complex problems and use that understanding to design the next generation of machine intelligence. The future just got another step closer.

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