Category: Blogs

26 Apr 2018

What Makes a Good IT Support in Miami

Take a moment to ask some of your friends and loved ones about what they’ve liked and hated about the jobs they have. When it comes to positives, you may hear things about the fulfilling nature of the work, the flexibility the jobs offer, and if they are lucky, great pay. But when you hear about negatives, one of the first things you hear about is the people, especially managers. A poor manager, in many cases, can make even a dream job unbearable. IT takes many different forms, from networks service to IT support in Miami. But across all these different specializations, there are a lot of common threads about what makes a successful manager.

Good Traits

One may be quick to say that one of the first things you need to do to be a good manager is to be an expert at the task itself. After all, how else would you know when things are going right? This isn’t entirely the case. Yes, good managers need to be good at their own role, but they also need to know what everyone else does in order to find ways that things can be done better and more efficiently.

IT also has particular challenges that are difficult to address, mainly related to how quickly things can change and adapting both your own management style and your team’s work style. “While there are some things one cannot change about individuals, some leadership traits can be learned. There are very few people who are natural leaders – leadership is something people have to work at. Knowing what your shortcomings are, and recognizing them as such, is half the battle,” explains Allan Boardman, international vice president of ISACA and chair of ISACA’s Credentialing and Career Management Board.

Good Habits

In many ways, you need someone to juggle knowledge of many different job duties. This can be difficult for IT consulting in Miami, as there are many different job roles that not everyone can do.

As a result, if you want to be a good IT manager, you need to not over-focus on your particular skill set, but general project management skills, with enough knowledge to know whether one of your staff members is unable to handle one of the tasks in front of them. In order to make the most of this, you also want to work on your communication skills. How can you clearly articulate a message for different type of workers? Presentation, negotiation, all of these fall under that category, and you want to be able to switch on the fly.

When deciding who’s going to run your managed IT service in Miami, all of these traits are essential parts of making sure you choose the manager most likely to guide your team to success. In addition, if you’re a job seeker looking to find new IT work, you may want to scout potential managers to see if they are exhibiting some of these “green flags” that they would be good people to work under.

17 Apr 2018

Why to Move IT consulting in Miami and your Career Towards Tech

Technology is a wide umbrella, but if you are starting a college track or find yourself at a career crossroads, it’s a pretty good idea to try and find space for yourself under that umbrella. Why is this so? Well, there’s a lot of reasons, but we’re going to focus on two: the potential and the spread of the technology field.

Prospects

When it comes to meaningful work, technology is about the best option you can use. Some may find this surprising compared to more human-facing work—but everything has its place. Tech is driving innovation across tons of fields, but also provides a mental fulfillment for yourself.

At the core, tech work is about solving problems, whether it’s making something new or making something easier. Few fields can say that they are doing that the way that tech does. Even if you’re not on the bleeding edge, tech provides constant challenges and tangible achievements.

Versatility

Perhaps one of the nicest things about working in a tech field is that you have more options than ever to actually put into practice what you learn and specialize in. This can extend from vocations (like IT consulting in Miami or cybersecurity for the government) to even the type of technology you work with. In addition, on a personal level, pursuing a tech career allows you support a field you are passionate about while having more job security.

Let’s talk about academia as an example. Becoming a college professor is not only becoming more difficult due to competition, it is also not as lucrative as you may believe. As far as teaching at lower levels goes, you may have more job security, but you still aren’t making much, and some people are cynical about the treatment of teachers. However, supporting education is still a noble pursuit. Why not work in technology and support schools in a different way? This could mean basic IT, , running a managed IT service in Miami or by helping manage various technology systems, such as those used for logistics or other areas.

You can apply this manner of thinking to just about any career path. As tech becomes a more ubiquitous part of our lives, it does the same for the work world. As a result, you can weasel your way into just about any field. In addition, having some tech knowledge may make you more appealing even in other career paths. Publishing is a good example here. Overall, print publishing is on a downslide due to technological competition. But what if you were able to bring a little bit of web design knowledge to help a print titan bolster their digital initiatives? This would make you far more appealing of a candidate than someone who just has print experience to offer.

Overall, many people start learning tech to some degree because they have to, as innovations become key to more and more jobs. You owe it to yourself to get ahead of the curve, and start learning and working in these areas now.

10 Apr 2018
IT Support in Miami

IT Support in Miami – Is IT For Me?

Don’t believe that tech is the land of opportunity? Try these statistics on for size. According to data for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of computer and information technology occupations is likely to grow 12 percent from 2014 to 2024. The number may seem modest at first, but you need to realize that this is faster than the average for all occupations.

“Tech isn’t for everyone, but tech is probably the single greatest opportunity that exists for millennials today,” says Mark Smukler, General Assembly alumni and Co-Founder of Bixby, a rental management platform. This means that even if you weren’t thinking of tech as a potential career choice, you may want to revisit that mindset, and one of the most accessible ways to get into that arena is through IT, or information technology.

The IT Landscape

For those of us who have worked in traditional office jobs most of our lives, it’s very possible that you have a bit of a narrow view of what IT can be. Those are the people you call when your office computer isn’t working, right? Not entirely. These jobs run the gamut from IT support in Miami to other similar technical staff jobs. These include companies that don’t necessarily specialize in tech, but require cutting edge technical tools and programs to function and stay competitive. Who is going to make that happen? Chances are, someone with plenty of job security and a nice salary. These positions are commonly called hybrid technical roles, that come with high salaries and the ability to work on new skill sets. For those who want to work their way up in the world, there will always be the opportunity to improve one’s self and their resume.

Speaking of salary, let’s get to brass tacks when it comes to IT and technology. The median salaries for the nine top jobs in 2016 ranked between $61,000-127,000. The biggest thing is that if you have the knowledge and skill, there is a far lower barrier to entry. To get that type of money, other fields may need higher levels of education, which come with higher student loan costs.

Ways to Get Started

Of course, if you want to enhance your IT skills in formal education, there is a chance to do so. Many graduate programs in IT specialize in areas like programming, tech support, web development, along with software engineering. In other cases, people with undergraduate degrees like math and the sciences may cross over in order to specialize a bit more.

However, the drawback to IT is that compared to other fields, there is constant change. Even for something like networks service Miami, new platforms, new programming languages and more pop up all the time. This means you don’t have the luxury of resting on your laurels. Even if you have formal education, it is important to keep focused on new developments in the field. By staying current and taking advantage of every resource you have, your resume will stay evergreen in a field that is likely to do the same.

02 Apr 2018

Adding Value To Your IT Career and IT support in Miami

If you were to sit down and compile career advice from 1000 success gurus, chances are that you would find some common threads. Chances are one of these common threads would include investing in yourself in some sort of way. There are many different ways to do so, but the details can vary from job to job, including IT, for one. IT is notable because it’s one of the fields showing the greatest amount of growth, but unlike some of the other contenders (healthcare), it’s very easy to work on your own to add value to yourself as a current and future employee. The best thing of all is these practices branch across all IT practices, from networks service in Miami to basic tech support across the country. Let’s see what you can do.

Enhance Your Knowledge

The Internet means that there are more means than ever for the average person to enhance their knowledge of just about any given subject. Technology is one of the biggest benefactors of this. Want to learn a new programming language? There are sites and apps for this. Looking to bone up on your web design? Take a course, then find a cheap or free platform to be your playground. The key here is to find good, authoritative sources to try and steer you down the right path. Following popular influencers on social media is a start, but you can still do more.

Try to join online groups where professionals in your field come together and ask questions.  Consider downloading a podcast from an IT expert and listening to it when you have some downtime. It may even be worth it to look at free course materials from universities (several offer them on their website). Remember, the aim here isn’t to try and break the mold. All you want to do is immerse yourself in relevant information so you can take a more formal leap when it makes sense.

Enhance Your Resume

Now, this begs the question, when does a more formal leap make sense? The answer to that depends, but one of the most common examples is getting a certification. Many people get their knowledge piecemeal, a class here, a job there, some hobbyist work here. Certifications are a way for employers and professionals to get a basic idea that your skill set meets some sort of universal standard. This matters at all levels, even a basic IT support in Miami job. At that point, you can combine this with your past knowledge and experience to give them a complete picture.

You don’t have to be so formal if you don’t want to, though. An equally valuable thing to try and do is create something on your own and maintain it, outside the confines of your day job. This could be a blog, an app, whatever makes sense. This gives you an opportunity to tinker creatively, but it also shows potential employers two things:

  1. You are dedicated enough to the craft of tech to work on it in your free time.
  2. You have the knowledge to create a working product without having your hand held.

Both things are of great value in a field where things are constantly changing.

28 Mar 2018

How Certifications Impact Your IT Path for managed IT service in Miami

When it comes to getting into IT, you generally have one of two paths, and neither one is wrong. Your first option is studying a formal IT degree. This opens up your career options to some extent afterward, as certain jobs require degrees in computer science or software engineering. Others choose to learn as they go, getting smaller jobs and working on their own to hone their knowledge, whether this leads to them opening their own business or working commercially for other businesses. The benefits here are more autonomy and no student loans to deal with—always nice. The thing about these is that whichever path you choose, you’re likely not alone. One of the best ways to stand apart is with certifications. Whether you want to work in managed IT service in Miami or plan on integrating tech knowledge into another field, certifications are a good way to increase potential job interest. There are more tangible benefits as well. Compare the salaries of IT professionals with those with certifications, and you’ll see having certain certifications correlates with more earning power.

The Benefit of Certifications

For many, a certification fills the same void as a computer science degree would. Basically, for any IT position, you need knowledge of certain things, and having the necessary credentials is a base guarantee to an employer that you have that necessary knowledge. In addition, going through the study and certification process may serve as a solid way to help you bone up on base concepts that you will need going into the future. On the other side of the coin, if you want to specialize more, these can help you in that area as well. There is no such thing as a bad certification—what you want is one that will be worth your time and help your career goals in a meaningful way.

What Certifications Are Useful Now

So, what certifications should you be looking at? There are many out there, but here are some of the most common that people undertake every year to improve their resumes and themselves.

CompTIA A+ Technician: This of this as a sort of starter-level certification, a beginning point for your IT career. A certified A+ technician is qualified to handle PCs, printers, laptops, mobile devices, and operating systems. Chances are that if you work in an office somewhere, your IT person has this certification or something similar. To qualify, you need to pass a multiple-choice and performance-based exam.

Network +: This is designed specifically for managing wireless networks.  Many help desk technicians or IT specialists have this certification. One has to pass an exam on wired/wireless devices and technology.

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP): This particular certification is recognized worldwide as showcasing the competence to handle security for an organization. You need to showcase the technical and managerial skills to handle security programs.

This is only scratching the surface. Look at the websites of industry professionals and organizations to see what current certifications are out there. As tech and trend changes, some become obsolete, so you want to make sure you are investing your time wisely.

19 Mar 2018

How to Grow Your Miami Business Quickly with Managed IT Services in Miami

A great thing about running a business in a huge global city like Miami is that you have the ability to scale your business extremely quickly.

It’s not like small towns, where the limited amount of people is likely to put a cap on sales. The limited amount of commercial property is likely put the brakes on any dreams of lightning-fast expansion. That’s provided that it makes business sense to open two locations in a tiny town (often it doesn’t). In this case, you’d need to expand outside of the small town, which could present logistical problems.

On the other hand in a populous area like Miami, it usually makes perfect sense to open multiple locations in the same city. What’s more, it much easier to do this very quickly.

The one major hurdle preventing you from scaling at speed might be the amount of capital, time, and effort you need to put into recruiting new staff. However, there are way around that too.

Outsourcing

There are loads of benefits to outsourcing, not least it provides you the opportunity to scale your business very quickly.

With outsourcing, you don’t need to place job ads, interview candidates, train the successful employee or deal with any of their HR issues like sick pay or annual leave. Instead, you just choose the best company for the job, sign the contract, sit back, and relax. In fact, there are many agencies with expertise in certain types of role. These will probably be able to perform the non-crucial tasks in your company much better than the average recruit. A strong brief of your expectations and regular communication with your client will help to ensure that this remains the case.

In a big city like Miami, it’s likely there will be loads of decent options right on your doorstep too. If you’re looking for a company to provide a top-notch managed IT service, Miami has plenty. You want someone to look after your offices, there’s tons of highly-rated facilities management agencies in the city. The list goes on…

Another benefit is that you can typically rid yourself of their services far easier than you can do with permanent employees. If you’ve decided you don’t want the best managed IT services Miami has to offer anymore? Simply cancel the contract. There are less employment laws preventing you from doing that without any headaches. Ideal for a small business that doesn’t have the capital to weather rough storms.

There are definite long-term advantages to hiring new employees. These are easier to man-manage and monitor. You can give them a stronger idea of your company culture and up-skill them so they can eventually take on a more important role. In the positions that are absolutely to the success of your business, it’s advisable to do this.

However, in areas where you need new faces in a hurry, there’s arguably no better business strategy than outsourcing.

12 Mar 2018

The Brain and Stereotyping – Managed IT Services in Miami

It’s completely natural for our brains to create stereotypes. Our brains are programmed to make instant decisions and this proves to be helpful in many cases. Stereotypes are essentially shortcuts that our brains make – and there is nothing wrong with this. In fact, we hold onto most stereotypes unconsciously.

It’s when we hold onto these stereotypes for longer than we need to and they become biases that they could form a problem.

Professional stereotypes and discrimination

We place many laws on employers to prevent them from discriminating against people during the recruitment process.

For example, in most developed companies it is illegal to discriminate against a candidate because of their gender or their race. But is it really possible to prevent ourselves from unconsciously doing this once we’re aware of these stereotypes.

Let’s take an example of a recruiter hiring for a job in Managed IT Services in Miami. The male recruiter is well aware that of the stereotype that women aren’t as capable in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) positions. Once that is embedded inside him, can he really treat the candidate truly equally? That’s not to say that he’ll discriminate negatively against the candidate. Perhaps in an effort to disprove his prejudice, he gives the female candidate an easier ride. It could be argued that, whatever way he goes, there’s a form of discrimination that can’t be helped.

Social stereotypes and discrimination

It could argued that social stereotypes are less of a big deal, unless they’re spiteful or disrespectful. This could be labelled xenophobia or racism, rather than stereotyping, and there’s not much of an argument against this being a terrible thing that needs to be rid from society.

But, what about supposedly ‘friendly’ or ‘amusing’ social stereotypes? The fact that an IT worker is shy and introverted or that a long blonde-haired surfer from Miami is always relaxed. Are these stereotypes more harmless? Perhaps, in the sense that they are less likely to offend people. But there’s an argument that these stereotypes can limit people from reaching their true potential if people start to believe them about themselves.

What about the belief that people living in trailer parks are lazy and uneducated? In a professional setting, it’s probably illegal to stereotype this way in a job interview. But it could be just as harmful in a social setting, especially if people believe this about themselves.

As Henry Ford famous said “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.” A negative self-stereotype will lead to more people thinking they can’t, limiting their potential to do great things in this life.

The best way to ignore self-stereotypes is to be aware of them – then do everything you can to prove them wrong. It’s a great strategy for dealing with stereotypes of other people too.

What happens when you meet someone who works in IT support in Miami. Are they geeky or are they lazy? Probably you’ll make your own mind up when you meet them…Perhaps we should do this whenever we meet anyone.

05 Mar 2018

The Future of Jobs in IT find more about Managed IT services Miami and IT consulting in Miami

Back in the early 90s, the idea that computerization would begin to affect people’s jobs stopped becoming fantasy and started to become a real problem that people would have to think about.

It affected low-paid manual workers first, with those employed to work on production lines being the first to suffer. It turned out robots were more productive at tasks such as sticking labels or lids on packaging.

Soon enough, even more advanced jobs began to be threatened. We’re starting to see self-checkouts replace retail staff, for example.

And it’s only going to get worse. There’s even talk of ‘smart contract’ technology being utilized in the blockchain eventually replacing lawyers. Whether or not you believe a world without lawyers is a wonderful thing, this illustrates the growing threat of computerization rather well. Being a lawyer has been judged by society as one of the top prestigious job after all.

So, what about jobs in IT?

On first glance, jobs in IT may be one of the safest from the threat of computerization. They’re the ones programming and correcting the computers, after all. But is that the case? It could actually be argued that IT workers are actually among the most threatened of their jobs being made redundant – but also that they are in the best position to prevent this from happening.

The key for these individuals is to keep up-to-date with new trends. They have to learn skills, while mastering new hardware and software in order to remain relevant. Just as an IT expert who has mastered the first edition of the Apple Mac wouldn’t be much use today, an individual who knew everything there was to know about today’s equipment wouldn’t be worth hiring in ten years’ time – unless they updated their skills.

There are few positions where your knowledge has remain up-to-date as much as IT expert. Interestingly, ‘lawyer’ is one of the few jobs where this is required.

The growth of IT jobs

Thankfully, demand for IT jobs continues to grow across the world. As we become increasingly reliant on technology, we became increasingly in need of people who can explain how it works – and fix it when things go wrong. It’s resulted in parts of the world that you never would have imagined becoming ‘tech hubs’. If you’re after companies that provide managed IT services, Miami could now be a great place to look. Barcelona is forming its own base of tech-friendly startups as well. With these blazing hot party cities turning into tech hubs, the stereotype of IT workers not liking to go outside and socialize is slowly melting.

How to survive a career in IT

The road has been laid out. If you want a long and prestigious career in IT, the world has essentially become your oyster. You could chase a career in tech support or IT consulting in Miami. In order to benefit from this globalization fully, you’ll need to keep up to date with the latest trends. Many professionals would agree that this is a fair trade.

28 Feb 2018

Starting a Business IT support in Miami and Managed IT service Miami

The city of Miami may be thought of primarily as the home of sun, sea, surf, and luxurious living, but there are plenty of ‘non-glamorous’ industries that are thriving in this part of the world as well.

In fact, Miami may well be one of the better parts of the United States to start a business, whatever field you choose to go in.

The city has a thriving economy, largely due to the high numbers of tourist that visit the city each year. The spending power of both the tourists and the locals in Miami is also likely to be significantly higher than the average city, as it is an expensive place to live and the ‘glamorous’ industries that exist here to tend to attract wealthy high-rollers.

If you’re running a business that sells goods or services in the city of Miami, you could expect your profit margins to be high. Plus, you’ll get to enjoy living in one of the most fun areas of the world.

Miami as a Tech Hub

Although it’s not as famous as Silicon Valley, Miami is becoming somewhat of a tech hub. There are several innovative businesses that have been launched from this city in recent years, while many of the world’s largest tech companies have bases here.

This is good news if you’re a tech entrepreneur or have dreams of being one. Being based in a tech hotspot and being able to network with like-minded professionals has historically proven very useful for people in this field. Perhaps you have basic tech skills and you’re looking for a low-end employed job? There are lots of job in IT support in Miami, while computer repair and web design jobs are in abundance too. Alternatively, if you’re running any sort of corporate business and you’re looking for Managed IT service Miami is one of the better places to be too.

The longer that Miami maintains its reputation as a tech hub, the more tech-minded entrepreneurs will flock to this city. This is the way that other hubs of this nature grew in stature.

Perhaps the only holding back a large number of entrepreneurs from migrating to this part of the world are the living costs. The demand to live in Miami is such that rental costs are unlikely to drop anytime soon. Perhaps the business advantages of being surrounded by like-minded companies might one day justify the extra expense.  

Miami as a Destination for Career Advancement

Career advancement can be difficult in a small town where there aren’t many jobs, nor opportunities for the business you’re working for to grow. In a huge city like Miami, that simply isn’t the case. More than 450,000 people live in this part of the world, according to 2016 figures. Some 15.5 million people visited the city that year, according to local tourism figures. This city really is your oyster, when it comes to expanding your business or advancing your employed career. The only thing that holds you back is your imagination.

The best IT support in Miami and Networks service Miami for your business. Give us a call and we can explain how our IT support package is right for you.

19 Feb 2018

What to Do About Ransomware IT support in Miami

There has been a real uptick in the amount of ransomware going around the internet these days. In 2016, the FBI reported that ransomware amounted to a $1-billion source of revenue for those criminally minded people who produce it. What is ransomware, your mind wander? Ransomware is any sort of software downloaded to your network that blocks access to files or information on the network until a sum of money is paid. It is essentially digital extortion.
The threat of ransomware affects every company or site that regularly engages with, with companies that store critical data online at particular risk. This makes sense, given the criminals will go after the companies or organizations with the most volume of critical data available. However, any business operating in the digital space needs to be wary of ransomware as a daily threat because if they simply go along with conventional malware protection software it might not be enough.
Managed IT service Miami companies have devoted immense time and money to building security software to prevent ransomware from infiltrating networks. Here are two advisable methods that all managed service providers should incorporate into their work for all clients:
  1. Utilize Multi-Layered Endpoint Security
The most effective way to prevent infection is by keeping everything out in the first place. While it might sound easy, it really is nothing of the sort. The most effective way to keep software criminals out is by focusing on the end-point security components of your site management, specifically phishing. Phishing is when a suspicious email – that looks like a professional company email – is sent to another company asking for information about passwords and other private information. The cycle with phishing is usually before two days are up, so you really can’t let anything linger in the web browser by relying on a blacklist.
  1. Backup Disaster Recovery
Sometimes security is compromised. If your defenses have been breached, the best thing to do is have a fully fleshed out plan B. This should include a cloud-based backup recovery system for all the customer’s encrypted data. The best way to do so is to run a backup on the files from a day preceding the ransomware attack. A cloud-based application will make this possible at all times so that you are not limited to a single system and can set up data retrieval to run continuously. This eliminates the risk of lost or stolen data and allows the IT support team to focus more on potential incoming threats.
These are the two most important backend security measures that should be employed by an IT support in Miami company in 2018. Without the vigilant attention to all manner of communication going on between your collection of networks and others, it is only a matter of time before ransomware will hit. When it does, you need to be prepared for it by having the most effective IT solutions running on your networks.
The best IT support in Miami and Networks service Miami for your business. Give us a call and we can explain how our IT support package is right for you.