Professional IT Services that Andromeda Provides for Saint Charles, IL Businesses:

Managed IT Services
Saint Charles,IL

Andromeda offers a range of service plans—anything from month-to-month "time & materials"-based assistance to fixed 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 a Service 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 services is not the services themselves, but rather the proper migration of your existing 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
Saint Charles,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
Saint Charles,IL

Andromeda's team is completely staffed by local technicians near Saint Charles,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:

In our business and personal lives, we’re all racing to fit 26 hours into a 24 hour day.

Any tip or trick that shaves off time and saves a few seconds can pay off big time in the long run.

We recently did a poll around the Andromeda office to grab some of our favorite tricks and tips that save time, keep us organized and help with overall productivity.

We kept this list specific to Windows 10 but many of these tricks and features will work on older versions of Windows as well.

So – without further ado –

Andromeda’s Top Windows 10 Tips & Tricks for Increased Productivity and Ease of Use:

Snip Tool

The snip tool is very useful when you want to grab a photo or screen shot of a specific element on your screen but don’t want to capture your entire screen.

This is a pre-installed app you can find in your start menu.

For more information on exactly how to use this function check out this helpful article.

Built In Search with Windows Key

There are a lot of different commands that begin with the ‘Windows Key’ (See above for photo example). We will dive into a few of those later but our staff thought that the built in search tool deserved its own mention.

Simply hit the Windows Key and start typing out what you are looking for. This helps avoid searching and clicking around through files.

For example hit your Windows Key and start typing any program you have installed. For our example, type in iTunes then press the Enter key.

iTunes will start automatically.

Mark Up Feature in Windows Edge

There are many different web browsers out there and most people have their favorite. Windows 10 has their own web browser called Windows Edge (an update to the classic Internet Explorer).

Once you open up a web browser with Windows Edge, locate the Mark Up Feature in the top right hand corner (highlighted below):

Once you click this feature you will notice a purple navigation bar at the top of your screen. You can now markup web pages for whatever purposes you like on any tablet or device with writing capabilities.

Pin Popular Apps to Taskbar

Windows 10 tries to make it as easy as possible to access your favorite applications and software. You can create desktop shortcuts but another accessibility option is pinning commonly used apps to your Taskbar.

Simply locate the app you are looking for and right click on it. You’ll see an option for “Add to Taskbar”. Select that and you are good to go.

This is a great way to make that Snip Tool we mentioned above more accessible.

Start Menu Organization

Some users dislike the Windows 10 start menu – but it has some great organization capabilities.

Similar to pinning apps to your Taskbar as described above, you can pin programs to your start menu. Additionally, you can group applications and software together for quick navigation.

This is all done via drag and drop. Simply click on the program you want, drag it to the right and drop it where you want.

Night Light

For heavy computer users, brightness settings can cause eye strain and can even contribute to difficulty falling asleep at night.

This is because our computer screens (tablets and smartphones included) emit ‘blue light’. This blue light can be harsh on the eyes over time and messes with your natural sleep rhythms in some cases.

If you’re interested in turning on the Night Light function you can find it in the display settings menu.

Hot Keys

“Hot Keys” are just another form of shortcut you can use to perform different functions quickly with only your keyboard.

Depending on your job and needs, you may use some, many, none or all of them (there are a ton).

Here are a few of our favorites for you to try.

Windows + L – Lock your screen

Windows + D – Show Desktop

Windows + Tab – Open Windows between Virtual Desktops

Alt + Tab – Cycle through open apps/windows

Ctrl + Z – Undo

Ctrl + X – Cut

Ctrl + V – Paste

Ctrl + C – Copy

Ctrl + A – Select All

For a more extensive list of Hot Keys check out this article from Windows Central.

We hope you found this article helpful and if you have a favorite shortcut that wasn’t listed, please let us know!

The post Andromeda’s Top Windows 10 Tips & Tricks for Increased Productivity and Ease of Use appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

Sometimes it sounds like the news and cyber experts are on loop or a broken record. Every day there is a new report about cyber security, threats and the like. But while these stories and warnings may start to seem like white noise in the background, the threats are still here and they are very real.

The upside of all of this coverage and conversation is that business owners are wising up and with the topic of cyber security taking center stage, users and business owners alike are being more proactive when it comes to protecting and educating themselves.

In the spirit of education we’d like to dive a little deeper into 5 features/protocols you can set up at your office to beef up your IT Security.

Top 5 Cyber Security Features/Protocols

Multi Factor Authentication

This feature is nothing new but it is becoming more and more common across all kinds of accounts. Financial services, email, social media and other applications/accounts are making use of multi or dual factor authentication. Essentially you have a password and second form of identification to prove your identity. Sometimes this is a randomly generated code – think Facebook’s code generator.

Another type of multi or dual factor authentication uses biometric data for identity verification. Things like a fingerprint or a retina scan are examples of this type of security measure. In fact, last month we took a look at biometrics, integrated security and banking applications – read more about that here.

An Employee Training Program

Statistically over 80% of all breaches and intrusions occur after an employee error. Clicking a link in an email, downloading a malicious file, visiting an infected website . . . there are so many ways this can happen and most of the time it isn’t intentional either. The best way to prevent this from happening is an ongoing security program for yourself and employees. A good program will have a varied focus: compliance standards for personal and customer info (commonly known as pii or personally identifiable information), strategies for recognizing and avoiding email scams, proper security protocols for best practices at the office and more. In 2017 Andromeda recognized this need and released our PII Protection/Cyber Security Training Program. See full details here.

Business Grade Firewall

A good firewall is your first defense against intrusion. With proper intrusion detection and intrusion prevention settings you arm yourself against cyber criminals and hackers. On top of that, a business grade firewall solution is an important piece of hardware when you want to set up public and private networks. You definitely don’t want guests at your building or passersby accessing company documents or networks because of low cyber security protocols.

Regularly Scheduled Updates/Patching

New viruses and threats hit the market every day. On top of that, hackers and criminals discover new vulnerabilities almost as fast as developers can protect against them. This is why keeping up to date and on top of patching and updates is so important. For instance, the WannaCry virus everyone heard so much about this year took advantage of a vulnerability that had already been addressed by a Windows patch. If companies had proactively updated and maintained their updates/patches, they wouldn’t have been as vulnerable to an attack.

Spam Filters

This ties into both firewall protocols and employee training but of course, the fewer random emails that make it into your employee inboxes, the fewer links and files you need to worry about employee’s (or even yourself) clicking on. A professional spam tool can be configured to your liking and can do a whole lot to prevent content from making it to those that might accidentally infect your network. See the photos below for a few examples of emails we protect customers from on a daily basis.

As always, Andromeda is here to help you protect yourself and your business from these ongoing threats. Take the first step today and sign up for a cyber security audit with our team of experts.

www.WeNetwork.com/CyberAudit

The post 5 Cyber Security Features/Protocols Your Business Needs To Protect Against Scammers, Hackers & Cyber Criminals appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

The Radisson Hotel Group joins the ranks of globally-recognized brands to be on the receiving end of a successful hack.� According to the company, a small percentage of their loyalty club members had some of their personal information accessed by an unauthorized and as yet unknown third party. The company reports that no credit or debit card information was stolen.

The data breached was limited to:

• Customer name
• Customer address
• Email address
• Company name (in some cases)
• Phone numbers associated with the account
• The user's Loyalty Club member number

Although this breach impacted a relatively small number of users, all of them are high net worth individuals.� This at least hints at the hacker's motivations.� Massive data breaches seek to expose millions, or even tens of millions of user accounts so they can be sold in bulk on the Dark Web. A more targeted attack like this one, however, is clearly designed to target influential individuals with deep and widespread connections.� Potentially, the damage caused by targeting such individuals could be much more far-reaching.

The Radisson Group responded quickly, first by revoking the access of the unauthorized individual as soon as it was detected, and second by flagging and monitoring all user accounts impacted by the breach.� The company is taking an active role in monitoring impacted accounts for the foreseeable future, and individuals who had their personal information compromised have been notified.

If you're a member of the Radisson Rewards Club and haven't yet received a notification, then there's nothing to be done or to worry about.� If you have received a notification, simply follow the instructions you received and you're all set.

While unfortunate, Radisson's handling of the incident has been exemplary, and serves as an excellent case study for other companies on how to respond to events like these.

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