The Greater Seattle Area IT Experts

The unfortunate part of Wi-Fi is that it’s so commonplace, people expect it to always be available, 100 percent of the time. Even the slightest interruption is enough to throw some folks into a frenzy. Perhaps you’ve experienced something like this yourself when your Internet at home is down in the middle of your favorite television show. In the workplace, a loss of Wi-Fi can contribute to far bigger problems than catching up on your soaps. Instead, it can mean a loss of productivity--a form of downtime that can cost your organization significantly.

There are countless benefits to keeping your Wi-Fi network both accessible and fast for your employees. In fact, 42 percent of employees have found that it’s a major contributing factor toward greater productivity in the workplace. This reason alone is enough to consider just how fast and reliable your own Wi-Fi connection is, as well as taking steps toward making it even better than before. Here are some ways that your organization can improve the quality of your Wi-Fi connection.

• Test your speed: Before you can improve your speed, it’s crucial that you test it to see if it really needs improving. To do this, you can work with your ISP or run one of the assorted speed tests that you can find on the Internet.
• Find the peaks and valleys: Once you know the Wi-Fi speed that you can expect, you can use this information to find out where your organization’s connection is strongest and weakest. A heatmapping application on your smartphone makes this process easier as well.
• Reconfiguring your router: Your router could also be the cause of your wireless troubles. You can access your router’s dashboard through your computer’s web browser, allowing you to reconfigure it as needed. Of course, before you make any crazy changes to it, you should first discuss the changes with your IT provider.
• Replacing your router: If your router is simply too old to be effective for your business’ needs, you can replace it. Remember that your technology should evolve and adapt as your organization does. If your router is older, it doesn’t necessarily have the most up-to-date wireless standards in place.
• Check for firmware updates: If your router has outdated firmware installed, then it has plenty of untapped potential that you might not immediately notice. To access this potential, visit the manufacturer’s website and download the latest firmware. Again, it’s critical that you consult IT before doing this.
• Move your router: Use your heatmapping tool to find the best place for your router. Doing so can help you improve signal strength throughout your space.

To learn more about how your business can improve Wi-Fi strength and signal, reach out to us at (206) 709-9556.

Defining Artificial Intelligence
It seems important that we first define precisely what artificial intelligence is in the real world. Getting down to brass tacks, A.I. is the development of systems that are capable of carrying out processes and tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence (or greater) to accomplish. A key consideration in A.I. is to most accurately mimic the decisions that a human would make in a given situation or when presented with a set of options.

Another key idea behind artificial intelligence is the concept of machine learning, or the automated process of taking huge amounts of data and results of past actions and making predictions based on these recorded outcomes. This particular capability holds quite a bit of potential when applied to network management.

Why Machine Learning Matters
In order to achieve optimal (or even proper) function, a modern business needs to be able to rely on its network. Machine learning driven by A.I. can help facilitate this optimization through a variety of processes, including:

• More rapid analysis of collected data sources than a human could achieve.
• The identification of user performance issues on an individual and systemic level
• Deploying proactive and preventative activities to avoid network issues from creating interpersonal stress and operational hang-ups.
• Providing insight into the origins of many issues, avoiding the blame game among staff members should something go wrong.

Additionally, the rise in network-reliant technologies means that A.I. will soon be an indispensable approach to network management. Between the Internet of Things, search engines, self-driving cars, and other emerging technologies, artificial intelligence may soon be the only way to keep things running smoothly, even in day-to-day life. After all, conventional network management was never foreseen as having to manage so much automation.

How do you see A.I. shaping your business operations in the near future? Let us know in the comments!

A study performed by Research in Action asked 468 CIOs all about their cloud usage and the costs that come with them. The majority agreed that cloud investment was one of the biggest expenses that their organization had, which only seemed to feed into the consideration that any additional expenses can add up in the long run. These CIOs also found that most of their concerns over hidden costs were made up for by the sheer quality, quantity, and reputation of the vendors. Here are some of the issues that were considered during this poll:

• Having to put forth more effort to properly manage vendors, and their corresponding Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Bottlenecking and the impact poor cloud performance could have on brand perception, productivity, and customer support.
• The increased cost of solving complex problems inside cloud environments.

Whether or not these concerns are justified is another issue altogether. While they might be difficult to measure, they are certainly issues that need to be addressed in some way, shape or form. Many organizations simply don’t have the solutions to adequately determine how much the cloud is costing them. Many of these companies are simply using dated systems that track their cloud performance, limiting the amount of information that can be tracked.

Costs of Scalability
Some businesses also have trouble scaling their cloud solutions to the point where the organization benefits most. This happens when you’re spending too much on cloud services you don’t need, spending too little and creating an operational deficiency, managing and administering the cloud in a way that doesn’t create a profit for your organization. You need to understand how much space and and processing will be required of your organization so that it can handle your cloud requests, as well as the flexibility needed to ensure change can be made easily enough. What it amounts to is understanding how your business’ cloud technology handles its bottom line.

Knowing When You’ve Gone Too Far
The cloud is nice for business purposes, but without taking a closer look at your finances, it’s easy to forget how much you actually use the cloud. Look at your personal use of cloud services as an example. If you use Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, and other cloud-based services, while they are all relatively cheap, they can add up and cost you a considerable amount of money.

Depending on your business’ specific needs, you’ll need various cloud services that will vary by industry. How will your organization use the cloud? To find out, reach out to us at (206) 709-9556.