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Title: 10 Things Great IT Providers Always Do

What sets high-quality, reliable IT support apart from mediocre or substandard support? Is it lower prices? Flat-fee service? At Compushooter we believe there are many deciding factors that separate even the good from the great providers, but when our clients switch from their old companies to us, we get the same feedback over and over. The problem isn’t that they didn’t know they had bad support; they just didn’t know what good support was.

In today’s blog, we’re sharing 10 things top-level IT providers always do. It’s time to stop settling for tech headaches and subpar service that could be putting you and your company at risk. Great IT providers…

1. They answer the phone during emergencies.

If you have an emergency, you don’t have time to wait on hold or leave a message and hope for a call back; you need help NOW! Reliable IT providers know that time matters and will either answer their calls live or respond in 30 minutes or less.

1. They are consistently easy to reach and highly responsive when you need them for non-emergencies.

Are they readily available, even for small tech-support issues? One way to check is to ask around your office. Does your staff enjoy working with them, or are they tired of dealing with the same issues repeatedly, dealing with unhappy customer support or waiting forever for solutions? If the answer is no, that’s a red flag.

1. Do they offer after-hours support?

At the bare minimum, any IT company worth their weight will answer their phones LIVE (not voice mail or phone trees) and respond from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every weekday. But many CEOs and executives work outside normal “9 to 5” hours and need IT support both nights and weekends. High-quality IT companies can be reached after-hours any time, any day, and will still provide a fast response time.

1. They proactively monitor your network.

You shouldn’t be alerting your IT company to an issue! Their team of technicians should be monitoring your systems for downtime, breaches, inefficiencies and more and coming to YOU with proposed solutions and updates.

1. They have a customer-centric system that is easy for YOU to use.

Can you easily “open a ticket” in their IT management portal so they can properly assign, track, prioritize, document and resolve your issues quickly? Their ticketing system should be set up to make it easy for customers to submit requests. If they don’t have a system in place, we can practically guarantee your requests will sometimes get overlooked, skipped or forgotten. If this is the case, it’s time to question whether their customers are their true focus.

1. Have they prepared, proposed and implemented a cybersecurity plan for your organization, including protection against ransomware and data loss?

Cybersecurity is a huge issue! If your IT team hasn’t come to you with a plan on how to protect your business, they might not be qualified to provide you with the level of support and protection you need, which is undoubtedly putting you at risk.

You want to work with an IT provider that takes cybersecurity seriously and is regularly proposing new solutions to keep you secure from hackers’ latest advances.

1. Do they provide detailed invoices that clearly explain what you are paying for?

Do you know exactly what you’re getting for your money? This problem shows up in one of a few ways. The most common thing we see is a client being charged a flat fee, but they have no idea what that service includes. Can they get help with their printer? How about sourcing new computers? What’s extra? You deserve to know.

Another issue is overcharging for a level of support that doesn’t reflect the price tag. Important: expensive support does not necessarily mean the service is better!

A common problem we hear about is when businesses hire an IT company because they offer a very low price and then end up ‘nickel and diming’ their clients for every small request to make up for the bottom-feeder price they’re charging.

When choosing an IT provider, make sure they’re willing to be 100% transparent about costs, so you always know where your money is going.

1. They carry cyber liability and errors and omissions insurance to protect you.

If your IT team creates a problem with your network that causes you to be down for hours or days, to lose data or to get hacked, who’s responsible? What if one of their technicians gets hurt at your office? Or damages your property while there?

In this litigious society we live in, you better make darn sure whomever you hire is adequately insured with both errors and omissions insurance, workers’ compensation and cyber liability—and don’t be shy about asking them to send you the policy to review!

1. They INSIST on doing periodic test restores of backups to make sure the data is not corrupt and could be restored in the event of a disaster.

If your IT provider isn’t regularly backing up your data and making sure it’s backed up, you could lose EVERYTHING if you need a restore. We have seen this happen. Make sure your IT company is treating your data as if it’s as valuable as their own.

1. They get projects done on time and on budget.

If your IT provider is constantly tacking on fees or delaying projects, it’s time to switch. Great IT providers accurately estimate project timelines and work hard to stick as closely to the schedule and budget as possible. Things can and will go wrong from time to time, but they should be quickly communicated with proposed solutions.

It’s time to stop settling for flat-out poor IT service. Tech nightmares should be a thing of the past. If you want to know what trustworthy, reliable IT support is, we’ll perform a FREE, no-obligation Network Assessment so you can see how our team of experts will work together to handle your network stress-free. We’ll provide optimization ideas, share if and where you could be vulnerable to a cybersecurity issue and leave you with a list of ways to improve the technology in your business.

To get started, click here to book your FREE Network Assessment now or call our office at 480-464-0202.

Another day, another cyber-attack! In early April, Omni Hotels & Resorts was the victim of a cyber-attack that brought down the entire IT system and led to a company-wide outage. The organization took immediate action and brought the entire network offline to isolate the issue, protect its data and prevent further damage from occurring. Unfortunately, this process heavily impacted the hotel’s operations and day-to-day functions, such as managing reservations, unlocking hotel room doors manually and using point-of-sale (POS) systems in restaurants and shops within the hotel. Some estimates expect this attack to cost the Omni over a million dollars. While unconfirmed by the hotel, several sources speculate that the type of cyber-attack was a ransomware attack similar to what happened to MGM in Las Vegas several months ago.

While most customers were aware of the inconveniences of the Omni outage, many weren’t aware of the dangers associated with cyber-attacks. When a network is compromised, unless you have high-grade tools to protect you, every device you connect to is put at risk. When you’re traveling, it’s important to treat everything like a risk to ensure your safety. In today’s article, we’re sharing a couple of tips to keep you safe when you’re on the road for work or even on vacation this summer.

1. Don’t connect to the public Wi-Fi in the hotel. Truthfully, this also applies to coffee shops, airport lounges, etc. If a network is compromised and you connect to it, you could be giving hackers access to your devices.
2. Turn off the auto-connect feature. Even if you don’t actively connect to the hotel’s Wi-Fi, if a hacker has set up a fake Wi-Fi network and your device auto-connects to it, that could be a big problem. Shut the feature off and only manually connect to sources you trust.
3. Use your phone’s hotspot. Instead of connecting to public Wi-Fi, most cell phones come equipped with a hotspot that allows your other devices to connect to your phone’s internet. If not, one call to your wireless provider can often add this feature.

These tips will help protect you, but if you travel for work or have employees who travel for work, it’s important that all work devices have professional-grade cybersecurity tools installed on them. You don’t want to send your sales team to a hotel-hosted trade show, and instead of bringing back a list of leads, they bring back malware that could shut down your company altogether.

There is one final lesson in this terrible incident that all business owners need to understand: No matter the size of the company, you can still be the victim of a cyber-attack. The Omni chain, which boasts over 50 properties nationwide, would likely have a large budget to defend itself from cyber-attacks and yet still fall victim to hackers. No system is 100% impenetrable, but small business owners who don’t have any security measures in place are putting a big red target on their backs.

If you don’t have a cybersecurity system in place, or if you do and someone else is managing it but you’d like a second opinion, we offer a FREE Security Risk Assessment. This assessment will go over every area of your network to identify if and where you are vulnerable to an attack and propose solutions to fix it.

Click here to book your Security Risk Assessment with one of our cybersecurity experts, or call our office at 480-464-0202

In our technology-driven world, efficient IT support is the backbone of any successful business. From ensuring seamless operations to safeguarding sensitive data, reliable IT services are crucial for maintaining productivity and protecting your bottom line. However, not all IT support is created equal, and the cost of settling for subpar services can result in expensive consequences for your business. Bad IT service can negatively affect employee productivity, customer happiness and operational efficiency and quickly eat into your profits. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the hidden costs of bad IT support and how it could be impacting your business in ways you might not have considered.

Unresolved Recurring Issues

IT issues that aren’t properly resolved are like untreated wounds that fester over time. For example, one person’s poor password habits can become a company-wide issue that later results in an expensive ransomware attack when a hacker finds a weak link.

Recurring IT issues also drain company resources. Without addressing the root cause of the issues, the problems will persist, leading to ongoing costs.

Sloppy Systems And Processes

Your IT team can take tasks off your plate, like getting new employees access to the files, software and programs they need to do their job and revoking access when an employee leaves the company. If the procedures are not followed or outlined properly, your company’s processes will not run as efficiently as they should, costing you time and money, and it could open up big security risks to your company.

Unexpected Downtime

Operational inefficiencies aside, what’s the cost if you CAN’T do business? Not just the loss of potential sales, but the cost of employees sitting stagnant, staring at the wall and scrolling on their phones while your IT guy is trying to get your network back up.

If you have 20 employees at an average pay of $25 an hour and your system is down for three hours, you might as well light $1,500 on fire. Now, what if this is happening one, two, even three or more times a month? Add in the potential loss of sales and fees for emergency IT support, and the total for each outage will quickly add up to a sizable chunk of change you’re letting fall right through your pocket.

Security Breaches

If a negligent or inexperienced IT professional leaves gaps in your security system, you could be vulnerable to a cyber-attack. There is no limit to what this could cost your business if client data or financial data is leaked, stolen or exploited. Legal fees, fines and downtime from cyber-attacks have put thousands of companies out of business because the owners weren’t able to get out from under them. It is critical to the future of your business that you work with an IT professional who knows what you need to be compliant in your industry and secure from the latest threats.

These issues are only the tip of the iceberg. If you’d like us to take a closer look at what you’re getting for what you’re paying, to make sure you’re not exposed to risks and are operating as efficiently as possible, we’re happy to do so.

To schedule a free 10-minute discovery call to see how we can get rid of your tech issues once and for all, go to https://www.compushooter.com/aspirin or call us at 480-464-0202.

The initial reaction when you suspect your computer or network has been compromised is to panic. However, if your network has been breached, what you do next can make the difference between the incident being a minor inconvenience and being a devastating disaster that brings legal trouble and huge fines and halts your ability to do business.

In today’s article, we’ve consulted our cybersecurity experts on the top signs of an affected computer and the five steps you need to take as soon as you notice your network has been compromised to prevent as much irreversible damage as possible.

Signs Of An Issue
According to IBM’s latest cybersecurity report, the average data breach goes 277 days before it’s noticed and reported. This time frame sounds crazy considering that attacks using malware, viruses, keylogging tools and more can cause a considerable amount of damage very quickly, but most users miss the warning signs and don’t realize they’re under attack until irreversible damage has occurred.

Several of the biggest indicators of an issue can be mistaken for a slow or outdated computer or operating system. If you experience any of these issues, it’s a good idea to contact your IT team. If it’s an attack, they’ll know the proper steps to take, and if it’s not, they’ll be able to update your system or replace your device to improve performance. Here are a few key signs your computer could be infected:

● Slow computer or network performance
● Frequent freezes or sudden crashes
● Rapid pop-ups
● Locked user accounts
● Sudden and unexpected file changes
● Abnormal system behavior, such as the device continuing to run after a shutdown
● Unusual account activity

What To Do Next
If you’re experiencing any of these issues, the next steps you take are important. Here is what our team of experts recommends:

1. Take the network offline to isolate the incident, but DO NOT turn off the device or reboot it.
When a device isn’t working the way it should, the go-to move is to hit Restart. In many scenarios, that maneuver can work; however, if malware is involved, this simple act can make the situation worse. In some circumstances, rebooting your device can set in motion a crashed file-encryption process that can cause unrecoverable data loss. Disconnect your device from the network but allow it to remain on as you move through the next steps.

2. Call your IT team IMMEDIATELY.
It’s important to contain the breach before it infects the rest of your network or causes any more damage. Your IT team will be able to investigate the issue to determine what went wrong and what the impact was and mitigate the breach quickly. Do not try to fix this on your own. Attempting to run a “system cleanup” or your antivirus software will waste time and could cause more damage. Call in the experts.

3. Call your attorney.
There are several reasons to call your attorney. Depending on the size of the breach, your attorney may refer you to outside legal counsel with privacy and data security expertise who can advise you on the federal and state laws that may be implicated by the data breach.

4. Change passwords and secure all accounts.
As the IT team is working on containing the breach, you’ll want to change your passwords to protect any of your other accounts that may not have been affected yet. Hopefully you have multifactor authentication enabled and will be notified if someone tries to access your account, but if not, begin working through your accounts to secure them, starting with ones that contain financial information like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers and more.

5. Check your bank accounts.
Nearly all cyber-attacks are financially motivated, making bank accounts the primary target. As the breach is being mitigated, check your bank accounts and payment processing tools, including third-party merchant accounts and employee payroll systems, for any anomalies or sudden changes.

If you’re hit by a cyber-attack, there will be a list of other steps to take, like implementing a PR communications plan, notifying appropriate parties such as law enforcement and more. The most important thing you can do if a data breach occurs is to isolate the incident and hand it over to a qualified cybersecurity professional as soon as possible. Time matters in these situations.

If you need a reliable, trustworthy cybersecurity team monitoring your business, start with a FREE Cyber Security Risk Assessment. These assessments are designed to thoroughly examine your network to pinpoint any vulnerabilities and map out a plan to fix them. It is much more cost-effective to prevent a cyber-attack than to fix one, so book your assessment today by calling 480-464-0202.

Horror stories of people getting scammed out of hundreds or even thousands of dollars aren’t in short supply. As we scroll through the news app from the comfort of our couch, reading these accounts of how a stupid so-and-so opened an obviously suspicious attachment and a hacker drained their bank account, it’s easy to say things like “I’d never fall for that!” But would you?

The sobering truth is that, under the right conditions and with the right threat, anyone can fall victim to a financially devastating scam. This reality was recently demonstrated when a finance guru, someone armed with enough financial acumen to publicly advise others, lost $50,000 to a scammer pretending to be a CIA agent.
Charlotte Cowles, a seasoned financial advice columnist for New York Magazine’s digital fashion news site, The Cut, wrote a first-person account of how she boxed up $50,000 in cash in a shoebox, walked it out to the sidewalk in front of her house and willingly handed it over to an unknown person in a white Mercedes SUV. Looking back, she was humiliated that she couldn’t see the red flags, but the way these criminals intricately plotted every step would have convinced most people.

I suggest giving her detailed story a read, but to give you the nutshell version, this elaborate scam started early in the day when a woman from “Amazon’s customer service” called to inquire about unusual activity on Charlotte’s account. The woman told her this has been a frequent issue for the company, provided a case number ID and recommended Charlotte check her credit cards immediately. She shared that the issue was so prevalent that the company was working with a liaison at the Federal Trade Commission and offered to refer her to him for additional assistance.

Once connected, the FTC agent provided his badge number for reassurance and a direct number to reach him at, and confirmed personal details like her full name and Social Security number. Convincing, right? That’s when things took a turn. The agent shared that he had been following her case for some time, and to date, there were 22 bank accounts, nine vehicles and four properties registered under her name. The bank accounts had wired more than $3 million overseas, mostly to Jamaica and Iraq, and he wondered if she could tell him anything about this.

This crazy scheme escalated from there. The agent texted her a photo of her ID, claiming it had been found in a car rented under her name that was abandoned on the southern border of Texas with blood and drugs in the trunk and was linked to an even bigger drug raid. He told her there were warrants out for her arrest in multiple states and that she was facing heavy charges of cybercrime, money laundering and drug trafficking.
She frantically googled her name, looking for any warrants. Nothing. Sensing her rising discomfort, he asked if she had recently used public Wi-Fi. She had, at the airport. “Ahh…” he said, “that’s how most of these things start.”
As she texted her husband that she was in serious trouble, the agent offered her a solution, but she could tell no one. Everyone was a suspect, and they were watching her every move. The agent said her laptop was hacked, her home was being watched and they could even see her two-year-old son playing in the living room right now. At the mention of her son, she was all in to resolve the problem. Sadly, you know the heartbreaking ending of the story. She drained her savings and hand-delivered it in a floral-printed shoebox to the scammer.

Here’s the real kicker: if Cowles, armed with financial acumen and a journalist’s skepticism, can be led astray, what chance do the rest of us stand? It’s a digital Wild West out there, folks, and the outlaws are on the prowl, looking for their next big score. This tale isn’t just a wake-up call – it’s a blaring siren for small business owners everywhere. If you think you’re too smart to get scammed, think again, because it’s happening all the time.

When Charlotte began to share her story, everyone seemed to know someone who had gone up against a scammer and lost. One friend’s criminal-defense-attorney father had been scammed out of $1.2 million. Another was a real estate developer duped into wiring $450,000 to someone posing as one of his contractors. Even a Wall Street executive, who had been conned into draining her 401(k) by a guy she met at a bar. These stories are everywhere.
Cybersecurity cannot be ignored. With the AI tools available, scams are becoming more and more difficult to identify. If you want to protect yourself, your family and your business, you absolutely MUST take your security seriously. Every day, hackers are buying and selling personal information, like Charlotte’s Social Security number, on the dark web to hackers who will use it to run scams just like this one. You or your loved ones could be next.

This ISN’T meant to scare you, although it should; it’s meant to educate you and give you the upper hand to go up against these criminals. To protect what’s yours. The best way we can help is to offer a FREE Cyber Security Risk Assessment. We’ll do an in-depth evaluation of your network’s security system, including scanning the dark web for leaked information, and provide you with a comprehensive report of what you need to do to be secure.
You can book your Assessment with one of our experts for FREE by going here or calling 480-464-0202.