Indigo Tech Services

03/04/2024

Spring has kind of been here for a few weeks already and that means it's time to start thinking about spring cleaning. The dustiest thing in your office might be your server or network equipment.

Or it might be clean but just old. Replacing old equipment is a great way to improve productivity and employee morale. If you have a bunch of junk computers and don't know what to do reach out to [email protected] today to setup a free consult.

10/02/2023

Indigo Tech Services is celebrating it's 1 year anniversary today!

The past year has been absolutely full of ups and downs, triumphs and tribulations and everything in between.

Looking back to when I first got started it's amazing that time has flown by so quickly. And also it feels like I have been operating for a lot longer than a single year.

As I reflect back on the progress so far I wanted to share a little bit of the secret of my success. And it's not ultra efficient work process, or studying IT whitepapers until 3am every night.

I must have heard some variation of "oh wow it's brave of you to go it alone like that" fifty times this year. But that's the secret. I'm not alone, nor have I been at any point on this journey.

Sure it feels like that when it's late and a server is acting up and if you can't fix it before morning there's going to be a disaster. But I am surrounded by awesome people all the time.

I have a thousand mentors, peers and people who want to help me succeed. I have learned so much from so many other people along the way that it seems impossible to put into words. Some shared their wisdom, some their support...heck even the worst folk taught me lessons in how I don't want to operate.

My only hope is that I have been able to share my knowledge, support and encouragement as much as others have shared with me. We really are all in this together.

Everyone have a wonderful and productive day. Year two is going to be even more amazing than year one!

03/27/2023

Confession: I saw this on reddit and didn't realize it was AI generated. My first thought was "I bet that jacket is bullet proof as puffy as it is." But no, it's just another AI generated image.

There was another once recently that showed the former president getting arrested that some people fell for. That one I didn't think was real for a second because a news event as big as a president getting chased down by cops would be on every tv, radio and social media site all day for at least a day.

Altered and manipulated images have been around for forever but what makes AI generation different than someone with photoshop is how quickly someone can generate the images and how close to photo realistic they can now be.

And you just know this is going to impact the cybersecurity space somehow. Generally it's dumb to predict the future but it's easy to imagine someone using AI for email phishing. Couple of ideas popped into my head this morning.

1) hackers collect email accounts/passwords from a hacked site. They use those email account to search for social media to get reference images of their target. They use the reference images to create "compromising" AI generated art and threaten to email it to your friends/family/network if you don't pay in bitcoin.

2) Better than ever fake social media profiles - hackers pick a target and scrape their social media. Now they can generate images and text to closely mimic the person. They can then create a fake new account and claim their old one was hacked and to follow them at the new account

We can't all be media literacy experts and it's increasingly frustrating how we literally can't trust our eyes anymore on the internet. However with some vigilance and keeping a cool head we can prevent MOST of the dirty tricks out there.

Something I tell all my clients is that if you're not sure if something is spam/fake/suspicious to send it to me for a closer look. Most of the bogus stuff out there crumbles when you investigate it and look for other angles or corroborating evidence.

If you're looking for an IT provider who will always take the time to check in and help out with the little uncertainties Indigo is right for you.

03/23/2023

Out in the world we run into a common, frustrating occurrence.

I call it the "just some guy" phenomenon. And it means that your network and data are being handled by someone's nephew or cousin or someone who isn't up to the challenge of the modern threat landscape.

Something like 70-80% of small businesses work with an MSP or IT company and these incumbents range in quality all over the place. As I have been meeting with and chatting up more and more potential customers I keep running into places with just some guy as their provider.

And I have started sending out the following list of 10 questions for your IT person/company. These are some baseline things EVERY IT provider should be putting forth to protect your network.

1 - Do you have Anti-virus and Endpoint Detection and Response software on all computers? This is a layer of cybersecurity protection to help secure computers and servers from nasty infections.

2 - Do you ensure there are no computers older than 5 years and no obsolete versions of windows? Old equipment kills productivity, lowers morale and is more vulnerable to hacking and malware.

3 - Do you restrict admin access on all employees? This is the biggest struggle to sell people on but preventing admin access can minimize the damage that any rogue employee or infected computer can do to the rest of the network.

4 - Are your phone/data/IoTs networks segmented? This enhances performance and minimizes attack surface area for bad actors.

5 - Do you have 2 factor setup on your email, remote access and VPN accounts? This simple change could have prevented that big pipeline hack from a few years ago.

6 - Are you offering email security services and backing up email? Most people don't think about it but your email is not backed up by default and accidental deletions can lead to major data loss.

7 - Do you have onsite and offsite backups for your data that are tested regularly? Onsite backups are vital for quick restores. Offsite backups are insurance in the event of a fire/flood/theft. Testing is important because when your server goes down minutes count towards getting it back up and running.

8 - Do you have a business class firewall with active security services? It's amazing how many larger companies have an 80 dollar off the shelf router instead of a business class firewall inspecting and protecting network traffic coming in and out of the network. That is like using a bike lock instead of a bank vault.

9 - Do you have a strong password policy? That means no default passwords, no repeats, no sharing and NO 'Password123' anywhere.

10 - Do you regularly remove old and obsolete equipment and tidy up the server/network closet. Any IT provider worth their salt will at least push you to keep things neat and tidy to avoid clutter and junk from piling up.

If your IT provider can't or won't make these things happen on your network Indigo absolutely will!

02/22/2023

One thing that's frustrating as a sole proprietor is reaching out to vendors and other service providers and hearing nothing but crickets.

I get it. I'm a little fish, right now. My business needs are modest and my eye is always on the bottom line. I don't have piles of cash to spend quite yet.

Conventional wisdom in the MSP space is that smaller clients can't or won't pay as much. And they're not profitable and not worth pursuing because it's not worth the effort. Supporting 3 companies with 3 employees each is more work than a single 9 person company after all.

From a purely financial position this makes sense. But there's more to business than just monthly expenses and revenue.

I've seen companies grow from 40 people to over a hundred. And shrink from 20 down to 2. The ebbs and flows of macroeconomics affect small businesses more and more quickly than the big fish companies in the world.

Now I also firmly believe that there are many obstacles to growth for small businesses. For some it's cash flow, for some it's competition. For me right now it's marketing and I'm having a heck of a time just getting a company to answer a call or email.

For most small businesses IT support is a bottleneck between them and their full potential.

I see it all the time. Computers so old they could be in middle school, network equipment that's as much dust as it is metal and plastic, and costly and ineffective software solutions.

All these things kill productivity and that means wasting money and time. It also shows employees that their bosses don't care enough about them to get a new computer. That can also kill productivity.

The solution is simple enough, hire a professional company with decades of experience who knows a little about both technology and psychology and you have a recipe for success. Indigo is that company.

And we serve the big and the little fish alike. Reach out today and we'll see if we can get you off the hook of your network issues.

IT services by people, for people

02/20/2023

Got a new client signed up today and I feel great about it!

If anyone's interested we have a referral program here at Indigo. You put us in contact with someone who needs IT services and if they sign up with us you get a bonus based on their monthly bill up to $500

If you know someone and want us to reach out send an email to [email protected] or call 704-916-9009

02/15/2023

Here's a free million dollar idea to help Gen Z out in the workforce.

1) Start a company. Easy, all the info you need is online.

2) The service you offer is this: someone can text or email you the relevant information and then you make a phone call for that person.

3) There's a flat fee per call plus a rate for calls that go long/require being on hold.

You win because the shy people don't have to pick up the phone. Gen Z wins because they don't have to bother talking to someone.

02/13/2023

There's an inherent contradiction in being a good IT provider. You have to be extremely honest and also extremely good at keeping secrets.

Discretion is part of nearly every modern job but finding the balance can be tricky. Here's how we do it at Indigo.

1) Be upfront about pricing and services. If a client asks "why is this on my invoice?" then I have not communicated with them correctly. I can tell you any part of our pricing off the top of my head because it's vital for the customer to understand what they are paying for and why.

2) Exercise discretion at all times. This means keeping your client's data secret, obviously. But it also means making choices about what information to report to owners/managers and what to ignore. I never go looking for incriminating stuff on a computer I manage but if I find it I make sure it's communicated appropriately.

3) Constant communication and learning internal company structures. It's impossible to avoid office politics completely, especially when you have the keys to the kingdom of the network and data. But knowing who to communicate what information to and who to ask avoids uncomfortable and costly discussions and cuts down on having too many hands on any given project.

4) Professional mouth shuttery. This is my own term for situations like having to cutoff someone's access at Noon and then hearing from that person at 12:04 that their email isn't working. It's brutal sometimes when you see what happens behind the scenes. But keeping some professional distance from the client allows for objectivity and easier transitions when people inevitably move on to other opportunities.

If this doesn't sound like how your current IT provider handles themselves and you'd like a little more consideration, call or email today!

704-916-9009 / [email protected]

02/08/2023

You may have heard that the free version of Microsoft Teams is going away. If you're worried about it here's some info to put your mind at ease.

1) - If you're paying for office software (which most businesses are) then teams is included in the subscription. No action needed.

2) - If you're not paying for office software subscriptions there are alternatives to teams available. Slack is good for chatting/intra office communication. Zoom and Google Meet are good for video conferencing.

3) - The free version of teams was extremely feature limited and the full version is much better anyway.

If you do need to purchase here's a quick and dirty breakdown of pricing.

Teams only - $4 per person per month
365 Basic , includes full teams and web versions of office apps - $6 per person per month
365 Standard, includes full teams and desktop versions of office apps - $12.50 per month

Hopefully this answers some questions you may have had. Understanding and tailoring what office version you need to your business can be tricky and it's easy to overpay for licenses you don't need.

We're happy to answer any questions or review your current license structure to make sure your IT dollars go as far as possible.

02/06/2023

https://fortune.com/2023/02/02/bosses-monitoring-workers-productivity-paranoia-backfiring/

This is why we don't spy on our employees. And also don't ask your IT person/company to do it for you!

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

01/31/2023

Pay more, get more.

Simple concept. Everyone should be able to understand it but in practice writing that first check or signing that first contract can be tricky.

But what comes after, happiness with the purchase or buyer's remorse? Here's a few things I have helped clients sign up for that they have never gone back on.

And please note this isn't just for the 4 months or so I've been operating this is for all my previous jobs going back almost 18 years now!

1 - faster internet service. This is really a no-brainer these days. Slow internet drives more frustration and angst at work than pretty much anything else. I recently helped move a client from a bare minimum fiber connection to a faster speed. Now they can move their entire infrastructure to the cloud and run their business with more speed and flexibility than ever.

2 - managed services vs hourly pay. Let's be honest, paying per-hour for IT service is bad for everyone. It's annoying for me to write up 20-30 invoices or time entries per month for calls that took 5-15 minutes. People feel like they are nickled and dimed. No one that's ever switched to a flat monthly fee has every requested to go back. Because you average out the costs and reap the benefits of not having to watch the clock for every little thing.

3 - newer equipment. We've all probably worked somewhere where the computers run on steam power and were originally built by the dwarves. It stinks and productivity always suffers. Modernizing, and standardizing equipment allows for so much more productivity. A new computer will pay for itself in less than a year in most cases when their existing computer is 5 years old or older.

Now if you look around and see some really old computers in your office, or a slow internet, or an itemized bill from your IT provider with a lot of little rinky d**k entries on it then it might be time for an upgrade.

Indigo Tech Services is here to help get you and your network back into the 21st century. And if history is any guide you won't regret investing a little extra into your network.

https://indigotechservices.com/contact-us

IT services by people, for people

01/27/2023

Pop quiz: what does the fi part of "wifi" mean?

I'll give you a minute. Ok times up.

It means nothing! The fi means nothing. You might be tempted to think it's like 'hifi' or 'high fidelity' from the stereo world. But you'd be wrong. I would understand, but you'd still be wrong.

Now if you're like me you are both excited to have learned something and a little chagrined that you didn't know it already.

Because what else do you not know? What are the other gaps in your tech knowledge?

Well fret not, friends. Indigo Tech is here to answer any and all of your tech questions and we are happy to do it.

Happy Friday and feel free to drop this tidbit in the breakroom and wow everyone else at work.