May 16th, 2012
If you are a Life Long Learner, this article from the NYT and the info it contains are going to make your day! http://nyti.ms/Kgadg1
Blog
April 6th, 2012
March 31st, 2012
Today in the New York Times there was an excellent article on Internet attacks and it is worth a read. The implications are for any business that is using cloud services for any transaction based application (app). http://nyti.ms/HaUsKC
April 25th, 2011
Today the WSJ has a special section dedicated to IT in business. Most examples are Mid to Large sized companies, but the same discussion can be applied to small business http://on.wsj.com/hnmYmT
April 21st, 2011
11 years ago this month we founded StrategicFusion for IT Support.
We believed at the time, that we could deliver superior technology solutions to small and medium sized businesses in Atlanta and that dream is being realized every day!
Heartfelt thanks go out to our clients who have trusted us, our team who has delivered for us and to our partners who have supported us. Thanks to all who helped make StrategicFusion a truly different kind of IT Support provider!
Sincerely,
Mike Gonsalves
President
StrategicFusion, Inc.
http://www.SF-IT.com
Mikego@sf-it.com
April 19th, 2011
This is worth checking out. Microsoft has put Office in the cloud via its public BETA of Office365. This is in addition to Exchange email and SharePoint file sharing that are currently available! (Remember, BETA’s are fun to play with but please don’t use them to run your business!) Check out the public BETA of Office365 here: http://bit.ly/hJFyyE
February 16th, 2010
With this month’s newsletter, we usher in a new era; we are now using a new format for our monthly newsletter that more closely ties our website content and our enewsletter content. All small business owners, whether Professionals, B2B or B2C need to think really hard about how the web and new media (think social networking) are going to drive their business in the future. Fading fast are old ideas about print media. (Have you noticed the size of your favorite newspapers and magazines?)
In January 2010 when we look at search engine market share, we see Google at ~65% , BING! continues to gain share at ~11% and yahoo slips to ~17%, ASK and AOL make up another ~7% (for more details see http://bit.ly/acNZF7 ). For a more jaw dropping impact, Google had ~2.7 Billion searches per month in the US in March 2006 and ~6.8 Billion in January 2010. Total searches in the U.S. alone, in January 2010 were over 10 Billion (see it here: http://bit.ly/as8xYq ) that is about 33 queries per month for every man women and child in the US.
What this tells us is that more and more people are using the web (search engines) to find things. Flights, Painters, Lawyers, Doctors, you name it; people use the web, search engines, to find it. It was once said that you couldn’t eat anything produced on the web, but you can bet that many people are looking at a restaurant’s menu online, and deciding on dinner before leaving the house. Decisions are being made based on your website and how well you present yourself. And it’s not just about looking good to the human eye; you need to look good to the Search Engines as well.
You may have heard the term Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Search Engine Optimization (SEO), these are terms that relate to how your website ranks for organic search. Organic search results are what appear in the body of the page. Organic results are considered much better than paid advertisements as they carry more weight. Pay Per Click (PPC), think Adwords by Google, is used to increase your rankings in Paid search, or advertisements. These usually show up to the right of the body, sometimes on top and/or on the bottom of the page. These are not prized as highly as organic search results. It is said if you are not in the top 4 or 5 organic results or paid results you might as well throw in the towel as no one will see you.
The question every small business owner needs to be asking him or herself is “am I mapping out our plan to for the company’s future on the web”? You can bet your competitors are. The flip side to that coin, might be “can I get to the internet when I need to”? We can help on either issue.
For more information go to our website http://www.sf-it.com or call us at 678-353-3222, x105.
Thank You,
Mike
Mike Gonsalves
President
StrategicFusion, Inc.
Your Dedicated IT Department
Support: 678-353-3222 Option 1
Direct: 678-990-8595
Mobile: 678-644-4453
Email: Mikego@SF-IT.com
Web: www.SF-IT.com
Computer issues? Please send email to: HELP@sf-it.com
January 27th, 2010
Top 10 Tips every Small Business Owner needs to know about their business computers for 2010!
1) Back up your data. You hard drive will fail, I guarantee it, it’s just a function of time and luck (or a lack thereof).
2) If your Hard Drive dies, 95% of the time, we can recover it, sometimes it takes less than an hour, sometimes it can take much longer and cost hundreds of dollars, just back it up… NOW.
3) Patches are sent to your computer by software publishers to plug the holes they have found in their computer code in the programs on your computer. Stop the patches and you will open yourself up to infection from a computer virus, again, I feel very safe in saying that I can guarantee it!
4) Having more than 2GB of data in Outlook is not a good idea. Outlook starts slowing down the more email you keep in it. Additionally, the larger the Outlook file is, the harder and longer it takes to recover it if corruption happens. The simple solution is to regularly Archive your email and copy your Archive.PST to your server or another computer.
5) A computer virus is just like a real Virus, they tend to spread among congregated groups, the congregating is usually somewhere on the internet or in an email you open. Live in the woods and you are safe (and lonely), live in the city and you need to get a vaccine.
6) Antivirus software is like a Flu shot, it helps prevent you from getting the FLU but doesn’t guarantee it. Going to the wrong websites opens you up to infection, opening email chain letters does too.
7) Cheap online backup is great if you never have to get the data back down, this can take days.
Don’t let your kids use your computer, especially not your work computer. Get them their own.
9) Patches for some programs can be sent at any time. It is not unusual for a patch to make all or part of your system stop working, the fix isn’t hard, if we can get to it quickly.
10) To password protect an Excel or Word file, click on File > Save As > you’ll notice a button called Tools to the left of the save button, click the down arrow, click General Options, enter a password. A word of caution, DO NOT LOSE THIS PASSWORD, as the file will not open without it.
Have an awesome 2010 and call us if you need us!
Thank You,
Mike
Mike Gonsalves
President
StrategicFusion, Inc.
Your Dedicated IT Department
Support: 678-353-3222 Option 1
January 12th, 2010
If you ever think you will need more than 4GB of RAM (The answer for most small business people is “yes”), then upgrade to the 64 bit version, otherwise the 32 bit version should do fine.
January 12th, 2010
Vista to System 7 Limited Time Offer $99.00
1. Run Microsoft Upgrade advisor
2. Run Scan Disk
3. Defragment disk if necessary
4. Migrate all Applications (e.g. Office, QuickBooks, ACT!, etc.), Internet Explorer Favorites, My Documents Files, Desktop & Printers
5. We will check to ensure Internet access, file access, email send and receive.
XP to System 7 Limited Time Offer $349.00
1. Run Microsoft Upgrade advisor
2. Back up “Image” of Computer
3. Migrate Favorites, My Documents Files, Desktop & Printers
4. Reinstall Microsoft Office, Antivirus, Antispyware and up to 2 applications, (e.g. QuickBooks, ACT!, etc.)
5. We will check to ensure internet access, file access, email send and receive.
We highly recommend that users have at least 2GB of RAM and at least 50GB free on your hard drive. Your video card should have at least 256MB of memory. For optimum performance 4GB+ of RAM is recommended and 512MB+ Video
User must supply Disks and Keys for all applications including System 7
Please make an appointment (678-353-3222 Option 1) to drop your computer off with us for 24 hours
This offer is good through 3/1/2010
Thank You,
Mike
Mike Gonsalves
President
StrategicFusion, Inc.
Your Dedicated IT Department
Support: 678-353-3222 Option 1
Mikego@sf-it.com
