Month: February 2020

8 Ways The Cloud Can Take Your Construction Company To The Next Level

Construction companies aren’t like they were years ago where everything was managed and stored in paper documents and files. Everything today is digitized. But rather than processing and storing their critical data with onsite solutions, forward-thinking construction businesses are benefitting from the Cloud.

What Are The Key Benefits Of Using Cloud Technology In The Construction Industry?

The construction industry is one of the most information-intensive industries today. To complete a project requires an extensive exchange of data between you, your managers, subcontractors, architects, engineers, building inspectors, and others.

Consequently, on-premise computing solutions for storing and deploying data and applications are no longer practical for construction companies like yours. From mobile solution to in-office invoicing software, cloud-based solutions can streamline and simplify your daily tasks.

The benefits of using the Cloud in construction are numerous. If you’re looking to gain a competitive edge, investing in cloud solutions can get you there. It provides the potential to improve every part of your work processes.

How Can The Cloud Benefit Your Construction Company?

1. The Cloud Promotes Mobility. Even though reliable internet services aren’t available at all of your construction sites, when you combine mobile connectivity with today’s cloud solutions, your workforce can use the applications and data they need from virtually anywhere–even for sites that are highly remote.

2. Keep Your Files Secure. When you digitize your workflow and store your data in the Cloud, it eliminates the need for your workers to haul documents and files from site to site. This not only provides easy access, but ensures your files are secure and won’t get lost or ruined on a project site, or when being taken from one place to another.

3. Your Files Will Be Accessible From Anywhere. Your project and customer data will always be available to you and your authorized staff no matter where you are. This includes information on job sites no matter where in the world they are located. The 24/7 access and connectivity offered by the Cloud creates a highly accessible digital paper trail.

4. Using The Cloud Can Improve Workflows. No more relying on traditional paper-based workflows. The Cloud provides opportunities for workflows to be partially or entirely digitized. This allows for paper-free and instant communication between your headquarters, field offices, managers, contractors, vendors and partners.

• Your contractors can track work by the location, day and hour.
• Material shipment information is available in real-time and at a moment’s notice.
• Invoicing software in the Cloud that syncs with accounting software avoids duplication of efforts.

5. You Can Automate Processes. Automation with machine learning plays an enormous role in optimizing workflows and predicting problems before they occur. With workflows based in the Cloud, you can automate or semi-automate many processes.

• Use analytics to predict problems before they arise and optimize your workflows.
• Automate and monitor work and maintenance schedules.
• Optimize your logistics and prevent equipment and resource losses by tracking them in real-time via the Cloud.
• Track and optimize work-in-progress on sites using sensors that monitor downtime.
• Monitor and track staff performance.
• Detect safety issues on sites.
• Increase productivity and cut costs with IoT autonomous vehicles.
• Order equipment, fuel and other materials to be delivered on worksites.

All of this can be managed digitally to reduce downtime caused by inefficient planning.

6. Make Use Of Big Data. During the lifecycle of any project, you must process and share massive amounts of information like architectural and engineering drawings, production schedules, time and materials inventories, and more. The Cloud provides the ability to store and process big data that’s needed for this.

7. BIM Can Be Accessed Via The Cloud. You can also assess and monitor projects with Building Information Modeling (BIM) to manage and create 3D building data during the course of a project. BIM software is now geared towards all construction professionals, not just architects. It provides a digital representation of a building for construction documentation production, planning, performance predictions and cost estimates.  You can use it to demonstrate the entire building life cycle, processes of construction and facility operations.

8. Exceed Your Customer Expectations Using Cloud CRM Software. This is an essential tool for today’s construction companies. Why? Because over the long course of a construction process it’s important that you carefully manage your relationship with clients. You need a cloud-based system that you can access from anywhere to keep track of contact information, communications and ensure that their requests are being addressed. This provides your managers, sales reps, and marketers quick access to essential client data to ensure requirements are being met. You can use CRM software in the Cloud to:

• Track interactions with clients and prospects.
• Retain detailed records of each interaction.
• Gain insight into the success of your marketing and sales efforts.
• Enable collaboration across your multiple job sites.

Data Magic Provides IT Solutions That Improve Employee Experience

Data Magic provides organizations with IT and support solutions that can greatly improve their employee experience, improving productivity and efficiency.

Businesses invest countless dollars in customer satisfaction surveys and conducting market research, wanting to understand every little thing about their customers and the way they interact with the company. However, many companies fail to recognize that their employees are in fact their most important customers.

Think about it: Employees are consumers, using your products or services every day. What’s more, employees are the ones interacting with your clientele, convincing them of why they need said products or services and solving problems when they arise.

Forward-thinking companies are starting to realize that employee experience is just as important — and some would argue, more important — than customer experience, but what can they do to improve it? Undoubtedly the physical environment and company culture influence an employee’s experience, but what about less-obvious factors, such as the technology and resources employees are provided?

Fast, efficient technology that works when it’s supposed to is integral to the average person’s day-to-day life, so it makes perfect sense that it’s integral to positive employee experience as well.

Technology Improves Employee Experience

Here’s a closer look at how IT solutions improve employee experience and in turn have a positive impact on five key areas in a company.

1. Boost Staff Morale

If employees are given the opportunity to contribute to important decision-making processes, they have more of a stake in the company. With companies increasingly transitioning to team-based work structures, this is truer than ever.

Giving employees technology that allows them to communicate and collaborate seamlessly encourages the teamwork mentality. Instead of feeling like there is a clear separation between individuals, particularly on different teams or departments, employees who are actively connected throughout the workday are far more likely to prioritize common goals and interests over their own.

2. Business Becomes More Efficient

Numerous studies such as this one conducted by the University of Oxford Saïd Business School have proven that happier employees are more productive. One of the ways that a company’s IT solutions can make its employees happier is by allowing them to choose what sorts of technological devices they use throughout the day.

According to data from iOffice, a “Bring Your Own Device,” or “BYOD,” workplace is not only popular with employees, but it also increases efficiency. Instead of losing valuable time switching between devices or learning how to use one, employees in this model are given the freedom to use devices they are most comfortable with and which are the best for the tasks at hand.

3. Company Becomes More Profitable

There’s no question that a more productive and efficient workforce equals a higher bottom line, but what exactly drives that?

Simply put, providing employees with technology and systems that will enable them to work at their most productive and efficient enables them to put forth more — and better — results. And it’s cyclical: A stimulated and engaged employee who is producing strong results will be pleased and want to continue to do so, which in turn is bringing in more money to the company.

4. Better Communication with Staff and Clients

A common complaint among employees and management alike about technology is that the tools they are provided are completely wrong. According to data from PwC, nearly 70% of staff is dissatisfied with technology chosen by C-level leadership. Additional pain points include spending too much time simply trying to get technology to work properly and technology taking away from valuable and already-suffering human interactions in the workplace

Instead of making assumptions about the tools your employees need, simply ask them. This goes for customers too, and there is no one better suited to give you feedback than your employees.

5. Leverage Technology to Provide a Higher Level of Customer Satisfaction

Empowering employees enables them to deliver much better and faster customer satisfaction, and one of the best ways to do that is to arm them with the best technology systems available.

Having systems that boot up quickly, switch between tabs or portals seamlessly, and easily and accurately find customer or order information are critical to keeping customers happy or resolving an issue they may have.

Simply put, when you prioritize employee experience in your organization with the technology solutions your workforce wants and needs, they’ll prioritize you. Data Magic offers support that works like magic to companies of all sizes. We would love to talk with you about your company’s IT needs, so contact us today!

Employee Cybersecurity Training Key Part of Asset Protection

Discover the extent of cyber incidents caused by internal actors and how your company can protect digital business assets with cybersecurity awareness training.

A third of all data breaches are the result of actions by internal parties — usually employees. While not all of these actions are malicious, they point to a critical area of cybersecurity: the need for training and awareness.

What Is Cybersecurity Awareness Training?

Cybersecurity awareness training is the process of providing employees and other users of your network components with education about the policies, procedures and processes related to digital security. It also is the work done to make users aware of the types of cyberthreats, how to be aware of them and what to do if one sees suspicious activity. Cybersecurity awareness training is an important first line of defense in keeping data, systems, devices and users safe and protected from threats from hackers.

Why Is Cybersecurity Awareness Training Necessary?

According to the 2019 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 34 percent of nearly 42,000 security incidents analyzed involved internal actors. When broken down by industry, the level of insider involvement is striking. For example, internal actors were behind the majority of breaches in health care (59 percent) and involved in significant percentages of attacks in educational services (45 percent), information services (44 percent) and finance and insurance (36 percent).

Intent is an important distinction. In some cases, employees or other internal threats are motivated by finances, espionage or a grudge. For others, it’s a mistake — a lost external drive, unsecured smartphone or falling victim to a phishing attack — that causes the damage.

No matter what the motivation, the reality is that people within your organization can cause harm. That’s why cybersecurity awareness training is crucial for preventing, detecting and minimizing the impact of attacks.

What should Cybersecurity Awareness Training Cover?

Your training should cover some of the most common attack types. how to detect them and how to report them within your organization. Here are four core areas of coverage:

• Phishing Attacks. Phishing, typically done via email, is one of the most common ways that hackers infiltrate companies. Phishing attacks may take the form of emails purportedly from a colleague or business partner, often with an attachment or link. Once clicked, the link or attachment activates code that’s embedded in the user’s computer and can be controlled by a hacker to gain access to data or shut down systems. Helping employees see the telltale signs of an attack — poor grammar and spelling, unrecognizable email address and low-quality graphics, for example — can curb the effectiveness of these vectors.
• Malware. Malware is shorthand for “malicious software,” defined as a range of computer programs that can damage devices, servers or networks. There are many types of malware, including viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, ransomware, adware and scareware. Once installed on a machine, malware can spread quickly, causing damage immediately or lying dormant until activated by a hacker.
• Devices. Laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones are all commonly used in workplaces today. Whether provided by your company or used by employees and others, these devices are how hackers gain access. Your company should develop policies about what devices are allowed to connect to the network and how users access information, apps and servers. Defenses such as multifactor authentication, robust password policies and mobile management (including the ability to lock or wipe smartphones, laptops and tablets) are excellent protection. Be sure your employees understand these policies and how they are used.
• Physical Access. Does your company still have on-premises data centers containing servers and other networking equipment? Gaining physical access to servers and other equipment makes it easy for hackers and bad actors to obtain control. Your physical assets should be accessible only by those with a clear business reason. These spaces should also have fire suppression, climate control and power supply protection systems to keep data safe.

At Data Magic Computer Services, we help businesses like yours with managed IT services and cybersecurity solutions to keep data operational and safe. Keep your company protected with education and technologies that keep the bad actors out. To learn more, contact us today.

Here Is What Managed IT Services Can Do For Construction Companies

Construction companies, no matter how large or small, have unique aspects that make them different from other businesses. With programs like CAD, the need for construction project planning, remote workforces that need to stay in touch, and procurement and delivery of materials, they require a Managed IT Services and a provider that’s experienced in the construction industry.

What Are Some of The Benefits Of Managed IT Services For Construction Firms?

A Managed IT Provider will assess your workflow and design an IT plan that will align with your budget and help you meet your goals.

With the ideal IT infrastructure in place, your employees will have the tools that they need to remain on task and meet financial and operational expectations for each job.

• Mobile workers will get easy access to their data.
• IT that will keep corporate data and devices completely secure.
• Upgrades and maintenance of all types of business systems.
• Support for file handling and collaboration in the Cloud.
• Powerful workstations and mobile solutions that are up to the job.
• A complete team of IT professionals for a predictable monthly fee.

What Are Some Of The Things Included In Managed IT Services?

• Full assistance and monitoring for data storage, servers, and networks
• Installation, configuration, and maintenance of cybersecurity solutions
• Wireless network handling
• Local and Cloud backup and recovery for end-user devices and servers
• Administration of software patch and upgrades
• Managed firewall services incorporating data loss prevention, interference prevention, app control, and web-content filtering
• Unmatched skills and trained professionals to instruct you through every requirement
• Mobile management solutions for all BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) devices
• System analysis to check for vulnerabilities in your network
• Helpdesk support 24/7

Managed IT Services Support Collaboration

What really sets the construction industry apart from other businesses is how collaborative it is. Workflow follows paths such as design, construction and approvals.

The key to an efficient workflow lies in seamless communication between a construction firm’s two main workplaces, the job site and the front office. Success is dependent on collaboration between architects, engineers, your foremen and workers at the on-site level.

Using the right technology plays a large role in assisting with this. As new software advances collaboration processes, the need for dedicated Managed IT Services increases. Your Managed Service Provider must be able to help you collaborate in real-time while ensuring reliability and security for the IT solutions you use.

With Managed IT Services, collaborating with employees in the field via cloud technologies and mobile applications helps move work along and enables you to meet deadlines more easily. Once these tools are optimized to fully support collaborative projects between multiple users and in multiple locations, there are no technology limits to your workflow.

Managed IT Services Prevent Technology Downtime

Downtime can be devastating for any business. When construction firms’ IT assets aren’t functioning correctly, the work on job sites can grind to a halt.

Proactive IT maintenance helps to ensure IT systems continue to operate optimally to prevent downtime. Continuous IT monitoring and maintenance ensures your IT system remains fully functioning, optimized, and ready for use whenever needed.

Your Managed Service Provider will perform monthly updates and preventative maintenance, keep your software and hardware running at peak efficiency, and cut down the probability of IT failure and interruptions.

When your system is running efficiently and smoothly, this brings peace of mind and lets you concentrate on your construction business rather than worrying about technology.

Managed IT Services Provide For Secure Technology

Your Managed Service Provider will set up a multi-layered security solution to protect your data and IT assets from cybercrime. Their process for securing your data will evolve as the world of cybercrime does. They stay on top of the latest cyber threats and adapt their security procedures to reflect these changes.

Managed IT Services provide for cybersecurity with:

• Antivirus/Antimalware to protect users’ computers and files from cyber threats like ransomware.
• 24/7 Remote Monitoring & Management to detect and mitigate security threats.
• Mobile Device Monitoring so your confidential data isn’t exposed if an employee’s mobile device is lost or stolen.
• Services like managed firewalls, SPAM filtering, email encryption, backup & disaster recovery, and data-loss prevention.
• Password reports that let you know if someone’s email or computer password is inadequate or hasn’t been changed in a while.
• Patches and updates for software.
• A Two-Factor Authentication solution when your staff accesses client data.
• Dark Web Scanning and Monitoring.
• Warnings about major active scams that your team needs to be aware of.
• Quarterly reviews of security best practices and recommendations for improvement in your company.
• Security Awareness Training so employees are tricked into giving up your confidential data.

What Should You Look For In a Managed IT Service Provider?

When it comes to construction companies, not all Managed IT Services are created equal. You need an IT provider who specializes in the construction industry and understands the unique challenges you face. Some things to look for are:

• Access to highly trained and specialized staff.
• Support for the technologies that run your critical core applications such as estimating, accounting, project management, and document management.
• Experience supporting construction software.
• A company that provides Mobile Device Management (MDM) and remote access solutions that allow your team to have access to data, anytime and from anywhere.
• Affordable and comprehensive services, such as standard solutions, to go along with specialized IT functions.
• Knowledge about industry regulations and standards you must meet.

The Bottom Line?

When looking for Managed IT Services, you want to look for a provider who will be available when you need them and is up to date on current technology. Whatever IT service provider you choose, make sure they have experience working with construction companies like yours.