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Oftentimes, IT-focused individuals, including those of us at Systems Engineering, will make the mistake of assuming all end users have an idea of how technology works. How your organizations' networks operate is an example of this. So, let's start from the beginning.

If you haven’t heard the term “SD-WAN” (software-defined wide area network) by now, you’re either awakening from a two-year coma, or you haven’t been paying close attention to the onslaught of demonstrative offers, vendor emails, and introductory phone calls likely thrown in your direction.

The topic of SD-WAN has become the moniker for “building your company’s next WAN design." Needless to say, the term is out there as a hot topic, information is readily available, and most people feel that SD-WAN will be a positive disruption over the next three to five years. Due to the fact that clients want to build a better WAN experience with the benefit of lower costs, this makes perfect sense. Let's explore. 

Have you ever been responsible for moving your organization from one office space to another? If so, you know the burden of everything that needs to be thought of; from decor, to furniture, to kitchen space and, most importantly, technology. After all, technology is what keeps the business running, whether it's corresponding with your clients, maintaining your core business applications, or just ensuring monitors turn on the first morning after the big move.

Microsoft has once again added Systems Engineering (SE) to the FY17 Small Business (SMB) Managed Partner List (MPL). According to Microsoft, SE has demonstrated a continued focus on cloud solutions and modernizing today's SMB business environments. 

The world of hyperconvergence is relatively new, bringing forth a new approach to technology that should not be ignored. As Information Technology (IT) is ever-changing and continuously becoming more streamlined and sophisticated, it's important for businesses to stay "in the know" on the latest and greatest and to understand if it's the right 'next step' to take. To fully meet the needs of the ever-evolving and more tech-savvy clients businesses serve, it's a 'must' to have what IT takes to keep them satisfied. So, what is hyperconvergence and what does IT do?

Although data breaches are common enough to show up in news headlines on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, it's something none of us want our businesses to experience. In fact, an organization's IT staff is regularly putting practices and securities in place to try and prevent network compromises from occurring. However, it's not only employees who make mistakes that compromise network security. Listed below are five risks and their matching solutions to keep networks healthy and cybercriminals at bay. 

We all receive information and education about what not to click on in terms of attachments, suspicious files, messages, and website advertisements. With today's sophisticated social engineering attacks, it's difficult to discern what's trustworthy versus what is not. Here's a first-person account of what can happen when you do click on an electronic "something" that is ill-intentioned.

Moving to the Cloud means different things to different organizations. Similarly, offering a cloud solution means different things to different vendors. At this point, you probably have some portion of your business running ‘in the Cloud.' The most common place we see organizations adopting the Cloud is with Software as a Service (SaaS), which includes Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce.com, and any number of line-of-business applications hosted by a provider in the Cloud.

It’s no revelation that the age of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) computing is here and has been for some time. Whether it's with a smart phone, tablet, or smart watch, BYOD is a convenient way for today's workforce to stay connected. Recent surveys show that BYOD adoption, as a business tool, presents a company as more attractive and a "must-have" for millennial-generation job applicants.  

In much the same way that a person hires a financial planner to reach his or her short-term and long-term life goals on schedule, our Systems Engineering IT Project Managers serve as the liaison, internally and externally, to ensure our clients receive what they requested from the beginning of our relationship with them.