Do you like doing the same job twice? Most companies can’t function without computers, but are using old-school paper-based systems can cost time and money, and duplicate work. That’s why a Vancouver IT consultant can show you how to cut costs by going paperless.

For example, the cost of running two information storage systems – digital and paper – is rarely identified. Companies often overlook the cost of updating a computer from a paper document or the cost of printing out documents to make sure their paper files are kept current.

Let’s face it. Paper is going the way of papyrus – expensive to make, difficult to access and store; and hard to “read” in a searchable, onscreen world. Companies that commit to 100% digital documentation show their ability to adapt and thrive in today’s business environment. While some companies may hesitate to go paperless, IT consultant Vancouver clients are enjoying the many benefits of working in the cloud.

Here are the top 5 ways paperless offices save money and work smarter:

Easy Access to Information

Digital information can be viewed by one person or one thousand people for the same basic costs. With the right network support Vancouver employees and clients can view that critical file at the same time. Collaboration with multiple stakeholders is easier and all history and revisions are documented.

Business Agility

Paperless businesses can react to change very quickly. Huge files like annual reports can be kept up-to-date with minimal investment of time and money; fix typos, change prices, and update information whenever you choose. Your IT consultant Vancouver can help you capitalize instantly on trends.

Remove Paper and Save Money

No more paper cuts! More importantly, fewer large stacks or boxes of files to create, access, store, shred and dispose. Paper is expensive to buy, printers need maintenance and toner, letters and faxes can be misfiled or lost in the mail. Removing paper removes a huge business expense.

Work Efficiently

Employees spend many working hours simply dealing with paper. Besides mailing, faxing, couriering, and filing, they lose critical pieces of paper and search through large paper files to get the information they need. They waste time ensuring that information on paper is the same as information in the system carefully installed through IT consulting Vancouver to make their work easier.

Second Generation Storage

As an information storage medium, paper is not ideal. It fades, tears, and eventually disintegrates. Digital documents never degrade and can be backed up in multiple ways and stored all over the world. More importantly, if IT consulting Vancouver recommends moving to a new system, all that information can be transferred and used with your new applications.

The benefits of the paperless office are undeniable, but how do you get there? See our Case Study on using a Vancouver IT Consulting firm to help you choose the perfect solution for your unique business needs. Call for your quote today.

If all your office documents are still on paper and taking up storage space, you may want to consider the benefits of switching to a paperless system. Paper has been part of the normal office environment for hundreds of years; but the computer industry has evolved and many firms that cling to hard copies risk losing money, clients, and hours. With an IT consultant at your service, you can save time and resources by going paperless.

One easy way to go digital is to use the latest high-speed scanners and scan every single piece of paper that comes in to the office, then name and file it appropriately. This can be combined with dedicated fax numbers that allow each employee to receive their own faxes on their computer. When all documents created in-house are also filed in the document management system, you have a completely digital system at your fingertips.

This means your staff can search every document for a particular name, phrase, or even word fragment. When all your documents are stored digitally, this can potentially save hours of time and frustration. A paper copy can also be created with the touch of a button using a digital printer.

As Vancouver IT consultants we know our clients worry about losing their digital copies. For companies like law firms that require multiple files and paperwork, the idea of creating backups can seem time-consuming to create and hard to access. However, today the process of document storage and retrieval is smoother, more reliable, and cheaper than paper document storage.

Digital copies also are accessible from any Internet-enabled device, 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world. This means your staff never need to worry about taking files home or working on them remotely – with the right network support, Vancouver offices can make their most confidential files available and secure. This is a valuable benefit to employees desiring a flextime, those who need remote access or work-at-home schedule.

Productivity multiplies when several people can look at the same information at the same time, while all working on parts of one brief. It is easy to work in parallel and have your document management system take control. Files are always up to date and the same document can be part of several files.

All of these advantages of going paperless don’t even include the material savings in paper costs, printing and fax supplies, and file storage space.

*Read our Case Study of how much going paperless saved one law firm. Paperless Office Vancouver (PDF)

The benefits of the paperless office are undeniable, but how do you get there? Using an Vancouver IT consulting firm to help you choose the perfect solution for your unique business needs makes all the difference. Call for your quote today.

We’ve all had that sinking feeling… when we realize we accidentally deleted a mission-critical file. Email and website security audits, while essential to your network IT security, cannot save you from losing work this way.

While files can still be restored from your backups, it is far easier to protect yourself from yourself – or your well-meaning employees – by getting a file security system that includes password protection for your essential data.

File security means using password or login protection on critical documents. Some operating systems, like Windows NT, automatically offer this service; but most will allow you to set up password-protected folders or virtual drives to safeguard your most valuable data.

It is also available for applications like MS Word. You can create passwords or security on individual documents or set default security settings on every document created as part of your Vancouver network security strategy.

A consistently enforced company-wide password policy is an easy way to keep security top-of-mind in your organization. To make an extremely secure password, remember these tips:
• the longer the password, the harder it is to crack
• use words that you can remember easily
• keep your password long and include uppercase letters, numbers, or special characters
• make your password at least 10 characters and preferably 15
• create P@s$w0rds using a variety of characters that look like a word so they are easier to remember

Some systems offer a password reminder, usually as a question about your personal history. When choosing a password reminder, make sure it is not information that can be found online. For example, some people list their schools on their Facebook or LinkedIn pages. This makes it easy for a hacker to search for your graduation year or your favourite teacher.

Opinions differ on whether it is useful to change this password frequently. Vancouver network support specialists note that once a hacker has cracked a password, they will quickly (and secretly) exploit their access, making any further password changes irrelevant.

Asking all users to change their password too frequently can create more vulnerability. This is because people may create sequential passwords like p4ssword1, p4ssword2, p4ssword3 or write their passwords down. To reduce this risk, keep mandatory password changes to a minimum.

Keep in mind it is also essential to plan for the physical security of your data storage. Your servers, routers, and backups must be kept in a fireproof room, and protected with a non-water fire suppression system. Locks, access fobs, and decoy equipment may be advisable. Check with your Vancouver network security team for advice on your unique network security needs.

How a Firewall Protects Your Business

The firewall is your first line of defense against hackers. While anti-virus software protects against attacks coming in through your email system, the firewall is hard at work checking ID for all your other software.

If you want the best in Vancouver network and IT security, a good firewall will make sure everyone who wants access to your private network and mission-critical data has a right to be there. It also protects against attacks on any bugs in your software that may be a back door where hackers would sneak in.

Most people are familiar with spam email, but may not realize that suspicious websites all over the Internet are broadcasting data from computers that access the sites. Hackers are hoping to find an easy way to sneak into your network.

Cybercrime is a crime of opportunity; most networks that face a security breach are not directly targeted. If you have a firewall set up, it can check every tiny packet of data that comes in against the many Internet standards. Data that doesn’t conform to these widely accepted rules can be quarantined in a safe area until it has been looked at by your Vancouver network security and network support expert. For more information see our blog about Vancouver Network Support: How anti-virus software protects the security of your system

Today it’s more important to your clients to trust you with their private information. While large corporations can afford to employ their own security experts, even small or medium-sized firms must budget for a strategy to be relevant to today’s online business environment. Even a small unauthorized release of data is expensive to fix and can damage a company’s reputation.

Protecting your company can also mean protecting your employees’ time.  Firewalls can restrict access to certain types of website, and to monitor and manage what staff can access at each computer in your system. Although there are creative ways around these restrictions, simply knowing that someone is watching can be enough to motivate people to work smarter.

A firewall is a critical part of your integrated IT network and Vancouver Network security system, and must be continuously monitored and maintained to remain effective.

If your firewall works properly, you should never know it is there. You can make sure your Vancouver network’s firewall can protect your IT investment. Get a full Vancouver network security audit today.

How anti-virus software protects the security of your system

Would you leave the front door of your home wide open? Of course not. You want to protect your belongings and peace of mind. Anti-virus software is like the lock on your computer’s back door.

Think about your IT network security the same way as your home security, except the stakes are much higher. According to Forrester’s Research, the costs of a network security breach for a law firm could be as high as $35 million! The right Vancouver network support can protect your network.

Your data needs to be protected from intruders (email spam, viruses and hackers) for the security of your business. With the right IT support, you can feel safe knowing your computers and data are safe from harm. For more information see our blog about Vancouver Network Security: How a Firewall Protects Your Business

Optimizing IT network security is vital for any business. You may not always know if a website you or your employees visit is safe or an email is from a trusted source. That’s why the right anti-virus program can protect your network from getting viruses such as Trojans, malware and spyware. It can stop hackers from accessing your data, whether it is client information, bank accounts or credit card information.

Not all viruses or scams are severe or destroy all your valuable data but they can slow your processing time and drastically impact your computer systems’ performance, and affect your ability to run your business. And who can afford to waste even a minute in this highly competitive economy?

There are many benefits to getting and maintaining anti-virus software:

• protects your IT network and valuable data
• saves costs of fixing or replacing your computers
• helps your computers to run better

It’s also important from a legal standpoint. Some organizations need to prove they have taken reasonable measures to protect their clients’ information, including the emails they exchange with them. Keep in mind that not all antivirus software is capable of dealing with viruses, spyware and adware.

How safe is your Vancouver network system?

1. Is your current anti-virus system up-to-date?
2. Have you got the most effective firewalls?
3. Do you have a data back-up plan in place?
4. Is there a company-wide password policy?
5. Is your network hardware safe from fire?

If you answered “No” to any of these questions, it’s time to Get a full audit on your network security .  With the right Vancouver IT support in place, your information will be safe and you’ll get peace of mind.

When trying to open an e-mail attachment of any size on a Rim Playbook bridged with a Blackberry on a BES v4.1 the user receives the following error “Attachment too large!”

Solution:

1. Download and install SP6 or higher for BES v4.1.
2. Install the latest OS updated on the Blackberry and the Playbook.
3. Open the BES Manager
   Right click the user with the problem described above and select “Resend Service Book” from the menu.

“System.IO.FileNotFoundException was unhandled:”The Web application at http://servername could not be found. Verify that you have typed the URL correctly. If the URL should be servicing existing content, the system administrator may need to add a new request URL mapping to the intended application.

The problem is that SharePoint 2010 can only be installed on a 64bit platform and Visual Studio console application template defaults to 32bit.

To resolve this error follow the steps below.
1. Right click your project and go to Properties.
2. Click on the “Application” tab and make sure that .Net framework is set to V3.5
3. Click on the “Build” tab and change the “Platform target:” to “Any CPU”.
4. Save your project and run it again.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
“EnableLinkedConnections”=dword:00000001

1. Click the Start button , type Programs and Features in the search box, and then click View installed updates in the left pane.
2. Under Uninstall an update, scroll down to the Microsoft Windows section.
3. Right-click Windows Internet Explorer 9, click Uninstall, and then, when prompted, click Yes.
4. Restart your computer.