CELEBRATING OUR
10TH ANNIVERARY!
FlexITechs is now in its 10th year of serving Sussex County residents and businesses!
After two years as the computer services arm of our sister company, Sussex County Online, FlexITechs was formed to better define the computer services offered by owner Eric Magill.
We thank all of our customers who have made it possible for us reach our 10th anniversary! |
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FREE Security Audit for your Business!
Dear (Contact First Name),
Thank you for your continued interest in FlexITechs. If you'd prefer not to receive our occasional email newsletters, use the "Unsubscribe" link above.
Also, be sure to:
Sincerely, Eric Magill, FlexITechs |
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Holiday Tech Shopping
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday approaching (I've even seen Black November on some sites this year), this seems like a good time to go over what to look for this holiday season.
Good Ol' Computers
Remember computers? You know, laptops and (gasp) desktops? They're still around, even though you might not know it from the proliferation of SmartPhones and Tablets.
The most important thing to know about these tried but true computers is Windows 8. If you're searching for a laptop, you will get Windows 8, probably Windows 8.1.
This creates a couple of issues:
- Because Windows 8 is designed for touch screens, which most people won't opt for due to the cost, it creates headaches when you use a laptop or desktop as a traditional point-and-click computer. You can make Windows 8 work more like Windows 7, but it takes some configuring.
- Windows 8 hides much of the traditional Windows interface we've become accustomed to, like the Start button. It's no longer there. Suffice it to say there will be a learning curve when you start using Windows 8.
As for desktops, you should still be able to find Windows 7 until the end of the year. While it's a generation older than Windows 8, it will seem more familiar to you and support won't end for it until 2020.
You'll want to meet these minimum specifications for your new computer:
- Laptops -- 4GB of Ram (memory), dual core CPU (processor) of at least 2.0ghz, a DVD drive (some of the slimmer ones don't have this).
- Desktops -- 4GB of Ram, dual core CPU of at least 3.0 ghz
Pricing should be in the $400 to $600 range depending on the sales and the other options chosen.
Tablets
Tablets basically come down to Apple's iPad line and all the Android devices out there. Yeah, I know Microsoft has the Surface tablet, but it doesn't have the breadth of apps that the iPad and Androids have.
Apple pioneered this field and has many devotees who won't consider an Android, just like Mac users won't consider Windows computers.
But Android tablets cost less despite recent price reductions for the iPad and offer many of the same features. Unless you need a specific feature from the iPad, you should consider lower priced Android tablets.
Androids come from a variety of manufacturers, with Samsung and Google the most prominent. If you love books, you might be interested in the Kindle from Amazon and the Nook from Barnes & Noble.
We got my son a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 for his birthday two months ago and it has stood up to his rough 9-year-old usage and his resource-hungry games. It's a 7-inch tablet that currently runs for $159.99 at Staples. Here's a link to it on the Staples web site with user reviews.
If you have a Verizon Wireless account, Verizon is currently advertising tablets for $100 off. Those will come with Verizon Wireless's Internet service so you can get Internet anywhere you have cell phone service.
SmartPhones
You will always see deals on SmartPhones at big box stores and your cell phone carrier if you're in a position to upgrade your current phone.
If you're not at your upgrade date, be prepared to pay full price for the phone.
However, you can now be billed monthly for cell phone upgrades by vendors such as Verizon. On the Verizon Edge plan, you can pay $20-$30 a month for a SmartPhone that might cost $400 to $700 purchased outright. Other carriers have similar programs.
You might also look at certified pre-owned phones from your cell phone carrier if having the latest and greatest technology isn't a necessity.
There are so many SmartPhones and cell phones on the market that it would be impossible to go into all of them here.
Where to Shop ...
Depending on what you're looking for, you can go to big box stores like Staples, Radio Shack and Best Buy, online retailers like newegg.com, Dell and Amazon, or technology services like your cell phone company.
Computers will be available at the big boxes and online. SmartPhones will be available from your cell phone carrier and the big boxes. And tablets will be available from all of the above including online retailers.
For computers, good holiday prices for the specifications I cited above would be in the $400-$500 range (for desktops, that would be for the tower only). Good deals on tablets would be in the sub-$300 range.
Look now for pre-Black Friday deals, too. Staples, for instance, has a Sunday-Tuesday deal offering 20% off everything you can fit into a Staples shopping bag. It has also provided a Black Friday sneak preview for those who get their email offers. One is of particular interest -- a Lenovo G500s laptop for $479.99 that has 8GB of Ram and a fast CPU. |
Thanksgiving Hours
FlexITechs will be open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, then open again on Friday, Nov. 29.
We will maintain hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the days we are open.
If you've been putting off an issue until after the holiday, know that we are less busy the week of Thanksgiving than the weeks after.
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BizTech -- Know Your Risks
In a study of more than 2,000 business executives responsible for security in their organizations in the U.S. and several European and Asian countries, the most alarming finding was that many of those executives don't know what cyber security risks their companies face.
The study, The Risks of an Uncertain Security Strategy, revealed that one-third of the respondents didn't know if they had been the victim of a cyber attack in the past 12 months. The study queried executives of companies with less than 100 employees to 5,000.
Worse:
- 58 percent don't see cyber attacks as a significant threat even though nearly 50% admit they've suffered more than $100,000 to $10 million in financial losses to cyber attacks in the past 12 months;
- 44% of the executives said security wasn't a priority;
- 42% cited an insufficient security budget as an impediment to effective mitigation;
- 33% said a lack of in-house security expertise prevented their companies from being as secure as they should be.
What I think this study really reveals is the frustration of businesses in dealing with security issues and the ongoing costs to mitigate them, to the point that they've falsely convinced themselves they won't likely be a target anyway.
Don't fall into this trap. Security is an ongoing process and always will be. You're armed with nothing more than your firewalls and anti-virus software against highly skilled attackers. And you don't have armies of soldiers and police protecting you. It's you against the hackers.
From the loss of intellectual property to illicit funds transfers, businesses have been devastated by security breaches. The company, employees, vendors and customers are all at risk during a breach.
To get a better sense of the risks your company faces and sensible mitigation methods, perform a Risk Assessment. This will determine the value of your digital assets, the threats to those assets, and the likelihood of an attack on those assets. That exercise will determine a justifiable amount to spend defending those assets.
Then, make security a priority for everyone in your organization by ensuring they are educated about the latest scams, tricks and techniques used by hackers to break into your network.
FlexITechs can help you perform a Technology Risk Assessment for your business to help you better determine what you should be spending on network security measures. Contact Eric Magill at 302-537-4198 or ericm@flexitechs.com for assistance.
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We thank you for your past business the past 10 years and hope we can continue to fulfill your technology needs in the future. If you have any questions about current technology issues, feel free to contact us at 537-4198.
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Sincerely,
Eric Magill
FlexITechs
Microsoft Small Business Specialist |
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