IT Services
The formation of a successful business idea can be as much a matter of chance and luck as it can be an art, craft and skill. Undoubtedly, you should utilize some of the same methodized techniques used by many of the most popular entrepreneurs, but the truth is, in some cases, luck and chance play a huge part in a person’s success. For example, I had a friend who bought…
Many small businesses have replaced their on premises Exchange Server with Office 365. In a lot of cases this change was driven by the need to replace an ageing Microsoft Small Business Server installation. A common migration scenario is to move mail to Exchange Online (part of Office 365) and then replace Small Business Server with either Microsoft Server Essentials or Microsoft Server standard. Some may opt for no server…
Cloud terminology can be very confusing to anyone who is not involved with the IT industry. In this article I’ll look at the three most common acronyms that you’re likely to come across. I’ll attempt to explain them in non-technical terms, and in particular their relevance to Australian small businesses. First, a definition. Cloud computing is “the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to…
Bizcare is a Microsoft Silver partner for Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions. That’s good for us, but why should you as a client care? The obvious answer is that it provides some assurance that we have undertaken relevant training and reached the level of knowledge and skills required by Microsoft to obtain this competency. But there is a more important indirect benefit which is the increased access that it gives…
To answer that question I need to explain what open-source software is. According to Wikipedia open-source software is “computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose”. So what does that actually mean? In practical terms it means that you can legally use open-source software for personal or business use…
There are many things that can go wrong and result in data or system loss. Data protection strategies need to identify risks and prescribe actions to mitigate those risks. So what could go wrong? Hardware can fail, be damaged or get stolen. Staff can accidentally or deliberately delete or damage data. Malware (malicious software such as viruses) can delete or hijack data. Hackers can steal or vandalise data. Hardware Failure…
SharePoint is a browser based collaboration and document management system. It has been around for many years and until relatively recently required on premises servers and a team of administrators and developers to be useful and productive. SharePoint Online is a similar platform but hosted and maintained by Microsoft. Small businesses can now use the same technology that a few years ago was only available to mid to enterprise size…
Bizcare uses a leading IT Professional Services Automation (PSA) tool called Autotask to deliver services to our clients. One of the components of this tool is a sophisticated service desk. We tracked all the work we do for clients as a ticket in the service desk. We record all stages from initial creation of the job to resolution and billing. Technicians record detail of the work performed as well as the time…
Office 365 Groups is a relatively new Office 365 service that helps you work with other people in your organisation. You can set up a group to collaborate on working on documents, creating spreadsheets, scheduling meetings or sending email. In the past you needed the help of IT support to create distribution groups, set up team websites and create shared calendars. Office 365 Groups automate most or all of these…
A major component of Managed IT services is the continuous monitoring of computers and other devices in the network. Any monitoring parameters that may indicate an abnormal state generate a ticket in our service desk. The ticket is automatically assigned a priority depending upon the detected conditions and investigated by a technician. The issues vary from temporary conditions such as an interruption to internet connectivity to critical such as a…