5 Tips to Keep Your Technology Costs Down and WORKING for You

In the day to day demands of managing your company’s network there can be challenges in keeping servers and workstations operating flawlessly and controlling ongoing costs. These challenges are complicated by the demands from the business to support more devices, more crossover technologies and to keep costs down. So we’ve compiled a list of tips that can help to keep your technology costs down and WORKING for you:

1.       Lease new equipment. This can give you the advantage of no upfront costs and a fixed monthly fee.

2.       Make the move to cloud services. Cloud services allow you to create a budget with fixed monthly costs without the worries of network maintenance. Read more about Northern Computer’s cloud services here.

3.       Have an emergency backup plan. Being unprepared for hardware failure can result in unforeseen costs and downtime and possibly even data loss. An IT consultant can help with disaster planning.

4.       Consider outsourcing or signing up for managed services that offer a fixed monthly cost.For those companies that don’t have the budget for an dedicated IT person, this allows you to have a part time IT professional to monitor your critical servers or systems, provide priority based break-fix and support, and provide scheduled maintenance. Read more about managed services here.

5.       Keep your virus and malware protection up to date. Each time a workstation or server has problems IT resources must be redirected to fix those problems, you incur additional costs and workers are robbed of productivity. Your company’s information security can even be jeopardized.

If you plan to purchase new systems or services to replace or add to current assets and are looking for options, but don't know exactly what kind of technology you require to grow your business, or aren't sure how much it will cost, talking to a trusted IT consultant can be your biggest ally. If they know your business, they can often pinpoint what you need or recommend a variety of solutions to choose from.


Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca  or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Web Filtering

How are your employees using their time at work? Are you concerned that employees may be using the Internet for non-work-related surfing that can pose security threats, such as viruses, to your company network and reduce productivity?

What is web filtering?

Web filtering is a security solution that allows you to control Internet traffic that flows through your network. It encompasses non work related surfing, virus and malware protection. The program screens an incoming web page and determines whether some or all of it should be displayed to a user. It checks the content against a set of rules that is put in place by an administrator. Web pages are also checked for malicious content. It enforces Internet usage policies by blocking access to Web sites and Internet applications that are not related to business, and it eliminates spyware and other forms of malware from your organization. No more productivity loss trying to repair computers or make computers usable again after they have been infected with malware or viruses.

How does it Work?

Policies and rules are setup through a web based interface. Four types of rules can be applied that are able to block, allow, warn (display company policies) or monitor users. When a user tries to enter a restricted site or use a restricted application, an access denied screen will pop up and deny the user from entering the site. Below is an overview of how web filtering restrictions can be set up:

1.       Choose the restrictions for web filtering and application usage:

·         There are over 50 categories of websites that can be chosen

·         Applications (iTunes, messaging, Skype) can be allowed or blocked

·         Specific sites can be blocked or allowed

·         Specific types of content can be blocked, such as flash files

·         Create custom categories

2.       Choose Who to Apply the Rules to:

·         Rules can be set as global policies (your entire organization), to specific users or groups or machines, or to guest users. Exceptions can also be set up for certain users or restricting access for certain times of the day.

3.       Generate Reports:

·         The reporting feature is capable of generating over 50 types of reports. Reports can be generated to monitor specific users, attempted entry to blocked sites, amount of time spent on the Internet and much more. These reports can be automatically scheduled to be emailed as well.

What does it cost?

The average employee is reported to spend up to 2 hours a day surfing the Internet on non -work related activities. Web filtering is an investment in increased productivity, security and business continuity.  Filtering is paid on a monthly basis for each user or device that filtering is setup for. Northern Computer’s monthly filtering fee is less than $5.00 per user or device. A one-time setup fee may apply.

For more information please contact our sales team at sales@northerncomputer.ca or call us at 250-762-7753 Ext 3.


Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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