Tech Advisory

Technology Advice for Small Businesses

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How to measure the real energy cost of workplace computers

Most businesses know what their computers cost to buy and almost none know what they cost to run. Measuring real consumption, instead of relying on nameplate ratings or rules of thumb, shows where the money goes and which changes are worth making. Start with the arithmetic The calculation is simple. Multiply a device’s power draw… Continue reading How to measure the real energy cost of workplace computers

Why VoIP call transfers fail between phone systems

A call transfer may seem simple, but behind the scenes, multiple phone systems must coordinate how to pass an active call to another person or number. They do this through SIP messages, which different vendors may handle in their own ways. When systems don’t agree, calls can drop, callers may hear silence, or transfers may… Continue reading Why VoIP call transfers fail between phone systems

When should a business retain or delete Microsoft 365 documents?

Every document a business keeps carries both a cost and a risk. Keep records too briefly and the company may breach a legal requirement or lose evidence it needs. Keep everything forever and storage grows, searches slow down, and old content becomes a liability in a lawsuit or a data breach. Microsoft Purview lets administrators… Continue reading When should a business retain or delete Microsoft 365 documents?

Why cloud application dependencies matter during an outage

A business application can become unavailable even when its core systems are working. A failed identity provider, DNS resolution issue, unresponsive payment API, or backed-up job queue can prevent users from completing essential tasks. These services are dependencies that applications rely on to function. Understanding which dependencies are critical to business operations is essential to… Continue reading Why cloud application dependencies matter during an outage

How to document technology decisions before an employee leaves

When a long-tenured employee leaves, the most valuable knowledge they take with them is rarely a list of passwords. Rather, it’s the reasoning behind IT decisions: why a firewall rule exists, why backups run at two in the morning, or why one vendor was chosen over another. Access can be transferred quickly, but that knowledge… Continue reading How to document technology decisions before an employee leaves

How to run a cybersecurity tabletop exercise without disrupting operations

Most small and midsize businesses (SMBs) keep an incident response plan on a shared drive and never test it with the people who would have to use it. A tabletop exercise closes that gap. It is a facilitated walkthrough of a realistic incident in which participants talk through what they would do, who decides, and… Continue reading How to run a cybersecurity tabletop exercise without disrupting operations

Building a cloud outage runbook: What employees should do when critical tools go down

A 2026 study found that 73 percent of Americans expect significant disruption within 24 hours of a major cloud outage, and more than half would feel the impact within four hours. For businesses whose operations depend on SaaS tools for communication, project management, finance, or customer service, an unplanned outage without a response plan means… Continue reading Building a cloud outage runbook: What employees should do when critical tools go down

Microsoft Bookings: Setting practical scheduling guardrails

Microsoft Bookings makes it easy for clients to schedule their own appointments. But without the right settings, you could end up with appointments that leave no time to prepare, cancellations just 10 minutes before a session, or back-to-back meetings that leave little room for other work. Bookings offers scheduling settings that can help you avoid… Continue reading Microsoft Bookings: Setting practical scheduling guardrails

8 signs your outdated IT systems are holding your business back

Outdated IT tools have a way of degrading gradually rather than failing dramatically. Systems that worked well a few years ago may start slowing down workflows, creating security gaps that require frequent patching, and increasing maintenance costs. Recognizing the warning signs early is less expensive than waiting for a critical failure to force the issue.… Continue reading 8 signs your outdated IT systems are holding your business back

Android screen rotation control: How to stop your phone from flipping when you don’t want it to

Android’s built-in screen rotation control is a binary choice: either the phone rotates automatically based on its accelerometer, or it doesn’t. That sounds fine until you’re reading in bed and a slight shift of your wrist flips the screen sideways, or you’re trying to show someone a photo in landscape and the device refuses to… Continue reading Android screen rotation control: How to stop your phone from flipping when you don’t want it to