Still Throwing Money at Old Technology?

By Alex Repola

Businesses and IT support specialists are notorious for continuously shoving money into old and outdated technologies. I believe that the real problem is that the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" has been passed down generation by generation.

What business owners everywhere aren't realizing is that putting a band aid on a machine that you rely on to assist in running your business is a horrible idea. We all know what happens after a few days, the band aid falls off and we are stuck searching for another band aid that sticks better or we say screw it, I'll work through the pain. This is no way to run a business, and eventually it will hurt your organization.

QeH2 has taken a century of IT support and business experience and built a model completely different than anything in the greater-Denver area. Designed from the business owners perspective, QeH2 has created a very different way of doing business. By leveraging and implementing best-of-breed technologies within every department, QeH2 has set the standard by taking a proactive approach to IT support in Colorado. Being on-site, working right along side the business owner and the employees, QeH2 is able to address issues and concerns before it effects business. Instead of putting out fires, we are preventing fires. This is where the majority of IT support companies fail to deliver. Stepping outside of basic maintenance and preventing technical issues from hindering day-to-day business transactions is how QeH2 does business.

Stop shoving money into old and outdated technologies. Let QeH2 come in, no obligation, to assess areas they can work with you to improve on your business processes and really, let you do what you do best. QeH2 has the proven track record within the IT support industry to truly grow your organization.

For more information, visit us at QeH2.com.

What's Driving Your Company?

by Eric Pratt

Which came first, the donkey or the mule? Who drives your company bus, you, your systems, or your employees? Better yet, do you empower your employees or do you cripple them?

I doubt that you think you are crippling your employees but I’m here to tell you that many of the clients I meet with are doing exactly that. Not purposely of course, in most cases not even knowingly. How? Horrible, outdated, poorly constructed technology. The best way to limit your team’s productivity is to limit them from the many great tools out there in today’s completely mobile and technologically advanced world.

The best thing you can do is invest in your employees and their success and I believe the best way to do that is through tools and business information technology that make them better, faster, more productive, and possibly most importantly more satisfied. Technology, if used properly, can be a weapon for your team to wield in its pursuit of competitive advantage and superior production. If you aren’t giving your people the tools then you aren’t enabling them to succeed. You aren’t empowering them to compete on a higher level.

How much effect can the right tools have on production? I could argue up to 50% productivity increase but for example’s sake let’s use 10%. So by providing your people with newer, faster computers, a better intranet in the office, mobile tools for the sales force, you should be able to compete at least 10% more effectively then without. That’s a no-brainer.

How many employees do you have? How much do you pay them? Let’s take another example, say 10 employees with an average yearly salary of $50,000. Again, these are conservative numbers by all accounts, most of you probably have more people with higher averages. So take those 10 employees at $50 grr apiece and make them 10% more productive by giving them some better tools to work with. The result? $50,000, the amount you are currently spending on an average employee.

My point? Simple, the next time your staff is getting overloaded and you are about to throw another employee blindly at the problem…. DON’T. Take a better approach, invest in what you have. Free up some time. Free up their minds. Give your best people the best business information technology tools on the market and watch their productivity go through the roof. Spend a little money investing in your most valuable resource instead of hiring another resource. Don’t think it will work? Think again. It’s probably working for your biggest competitor and that’s why they are kicking your butt.

If you're not changing with the environmnet and challenging the way "you've always done things" then you are moving as fast as others and you will get passed by. What are you waiting for?

A New Year Brings New Challenges: Is Your Business Ready?

by Alex Repola

As the holidays pass and we all return to work, we, well at least I, start looking at how I can be more efficient in my day-to-day activities, boosting productivity in the long run for myself and my organization. Sometimes this means assessing what I'm currently doing and looking at different ways to continue to be a fierce competitor in the market place.

Depending on where your business is currently and where you see yourselves down the road, there are some things to consider when planning an IT network for your organization.

Tech-FAQ.com defines a network as the grouping of hardware devices and software components which are necessary to connect devices within the organization and to connect the organization to other organizations and the Internet.

• Example of hardware used within a network is a network interface card (NIC), computers, cabling, etc.


• Examples of software within a network are protocols and network services which help the different network components communicate.

The first steps generally include installing and configuring the hardware, followed by installing the operating system and the software into the network infrastructure. Something very important to remember is that the operating system (OS), is considered to be the main software component within the network infrastructure, for it holds network communication protocols that allow networks to communicate. The OS also includes security applications to protect the network from outside threats.

10 Best Year-End Tech Practices for SMBs

by Alex Repola

Earlier this month TechRepublic's Erik Eckel released an article titled, 10 Best Year-End Tech Practices for SMBs. After reading through the best practices, it really helped me to realize how helpful a basic "clean-up" could be and the benefits of giving your IT environment a little TLC. Here are the 10 things to keep in mind as you and your organization bring in the new year.

1. Restore backups to confirm operation


2. Review disk image inventory and status


3. Physically clean servers and PCs


4. De-fragment hard disks


5. Audit software licenses and media


6. Perform network stress tests


7. Audit user accounts


8. Confirm equipment inventory


9. Clean printers


10. Clean your cube or office

Read more...

Some of these best practices are very basic maintenance items that are generally performed semi-regularly within your organization. Other items on this list may require you to spend some of your free time on the evenings or weekends performing some of these tasks to be ready for the 2010.

QeH2 builds and strengthens relationships based on how well we help SMBs pinpoint areas within their organization that may need just a little extra attention to lengthen the life of hardware and/or software; maximizing your resources and taking time and money previously spent on maintenance and reallocating those things on moving business forward.

Determining When to Virtualize Your Servers

by David Davis

Server virtualization isn’t just for big companies. Entry-level virtualization tools are free or low-cost, and there are many benefits to virtualization (including saving money). It’s not a question of “if” you should virtualize your servers; it’s a question of “when.”

Davis says following these five steps when determining if virtualization is right for your servers should help to alleviate some of the pains commonly associated with consolidating IT environments.

Step 1: Verify your motivation for going virtual

Most likely you will have to justify the reason to virtualize to a manager or a "C" level executive. Even if you don’t have to do that, you should be able to answer the “why” question for yourself with an answer that’s more concrete that “because it’s the next big thing.”

Step 2: Evaluate a virtualized solution

When selecting the right virtualization solution for your company, consider the following:

• Don’t choose the “newest” or “cheapest” solution just because they are new and inexpensive.


• Look for a solution that has been around for a long period of time to ensure the technology has been tested with a variety of applications.


• Look for a solution that has been proven in productiveIT environments.


• Choose a solution that offers flexibility and options to fit the needs of your company.