InfrastructureLeadership

2019 State of the IT Industry Landscape, Part 5: The Internet of Things and Wireless

In the fifth and final installment of our 2019 update on the state of the IT landscape, we look at two more industry trends: the Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless and wi-fi technologies. What are they, and why is demand increasing? Why is cybersecurity still of constant importance in these areas? Industry Trends: The Internet of Things (IOT) What is the Internet of Things? The IoT is a global network of objects that collect and communicate data via the internet. It extends Internet connectivity beyond laptops, phones, and tablets to an extremely diverse range of “things”. IoT devices include…
OTWAdmin
August 19, 2019
Cloud SolutionsLeadership

2019 State of the IT Industry Landscape, Part 4: The Cloud

This is part four of OXEN Technology’s 2019 update on the state of the IT landscape. In the first three parts we covered: the accelerating changes affecting the IT industry, the current economic outlook for the U.S. and the IT industry, and the growing importance of cybersecurity. In this section, we look at the effects of the cloud and cloud computing. Industry Trends: Cloud The future is here. Predictions of rapid adoption of cloud-based applications from only two years ago are already history. Today 91% of businesses claim to be using some sort of cloud computing. (And many small businesses…
OTWAdmin
August 12, 2019
Tech Tip

How to Resize and Crop Images in Microsoft Paint

Microsoft Paint is a simple graphics editor included with the Windows operating system. If you need to do some basic image editing, Paint is the perfect lightweight app. In this tech tip, we'll look at two tasks: how to resize an image and how to crop an image. Resizing an Image Open an image in Paint. Right click on the image file and choose Open with > Paint. Choose Resize from the toolbar. In the window that appears, you can resize based on percentage or pixels. Choose which option at the top. Make sure Maintain aspect ratio is selected at…
OTWAdmin
August 5, 2019
LeadershipSecurity

2019 State of the IT Industry Landscape, Part 3: Cybersecurity

In this portion of our 2019 update on the state of the IT industry, we review many of the pertinent and pressing statistics of the need for cybersecurity. It’s easy to paint an overwhelmingly complex and urgent picture of cybersecurity. However, we aim to balance the flood of data with digestible overview of the situation. Industry Trends: Cybersecurity Bottomline: Our cybersecurity risks and cost associated with them will never be lower than they are today. OXEN’s 2017 summary of cybersecurity for small businesses concluded that SMB IT security is viewed as a necessary but unwelcome cost, rather than as an…
OTWAdmin
July 29, 2019
Leadership

2019 State of the IT Industry Landscape, Part 2: Economic Outlook & SMBs

In this second part of our 2019 review of the IT landscape, we look at the current economic outlook for the U.S. and the IT industry. We also look at how small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) view technology and their IT providers. This provides context for the economic and financial considerations around the future of technology. Do we expect growth or contraction? U.S. Economy Outlook As a Midwest technology provider, OXEN focused our review on the economic outlook for the U.S. and, specifically, our local nine-state area. The overall economy remains promising for 2019. The leading economic indicator for the…
OTWAdmin
July 22, 2019
Leadership

2019 State of the IT Industry Landscape, Part 1: Change & Cybersecurity

The IT industry is very dynamic. Increasing cybersecurity threats and new, emerging technologies demand that we pay attention to what’s on the horizon. In order to be a valuable partner, consultant, and trusted IT leader for our clients, OXEN Technology must know what’s going on in our industry. We are obligated to understand the environment our clients are operating in and the technology needs that are (and will be) affecting them. With this in mind, we take a step back every few years and review the IT landscape. We hear about new cybersecurity threats and emerging technology all the time.…
OTWAdmin
July 15, 2019
LeadershipSecurity

The Shared CIO Role: Evolving IT Leadership to Serve You Better

I hope it’s OK to write about something other than the newest cloud feature or the latest tech gadget, because I’m not going to talk about new technologies in this article. Rather, I would like to talk about the necessary leadership in today’s businesses. Not so long ago, the only IT goal of any business was to find someone who could do the work of implementing, upgrading, and maintaining technology. It was a hard-to-find skill set, and it was even difficult to find someone able to set up a basic network. That is not the case today. There are IT…
Ryan Pieken
July 8, 2019
Tech Tip

Inserting Word Quick Parts into Documents

Microsoft Word Quick Parts are fields or variables that can be referenced and reused to automatically fill out information in your document. They range from complex objects like inserting a table of contents, to simple options that let you insert the current page number into a document footer, or the number of words or characters in the document. Here’s how you add simple Word Quick Parts like document properties, and more options like page number fields. Inserting Quick Document Property Fields Go to Insert on the Ribbon toolbar. In the Text group on the right, click Quick Parts. Choose from…
OTWAdmin
July 1, 2019
Managed Services

Top 5 Benefits of Managed IT Services

There are many benefits to outsourcing your IT with managed services. Here are our picks for the top five – though certainly this isn’t a comprehensive list. #1: Operational Expenses and Controlling IT Costs If your environment is ready for managed services, then outsourcing your IT requires only a small initial investment. Then all your IT needs are rolled into an ongoing predictable monthly payment. This means managed services is primarily an operational expense, and far easier to predict and budget for. Controlled and predictable spending on your IT? Always a good idea. On top of making this switch away…
OTWAdmin
June 17, 2019
AnnouncementsSecurity

Are you prepared for the end of Windows 7?

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 are popular and well-loved — and they're completely unsupported after January 2020. Have you prepared to upgrade yet? When Windows 7 reaches end of life and end of support in 6 months, it will no longer be a secure, compliant operating system. Microsoft will no longer releases updates or security patches. If you continue using it, you will be putting your data at risk. Hackers love to target unsupported applications and take advantage of vulnerabilities in legacy software. You don't want to be in the cross-hairs. Consider too that other services and manufacturers will…
OTWAdmin
June 10, 2019