Author: Taher

Advantages of Hosted VoIP vs. Traditional Business Phone Service

Is your business reevaluating its business phone service contract? If it’s been a while since you’ve gone through this process, you’ll find that the landscape has changed considerably in recent years. Traditional landline phone service used to be the only choice. Upstart challengers like VoIP hit the scene, but early iterations were clearly inferior to the status quo.

Not anymore: hosted VoIP business phone technology has evolved, and businesses of all sizes are turning to hosted VoIP service with increasing frequency.

We highly recommend VoIP to just about every customer who’s evaluating phone service or looking for ways to trim their telecom budget.

Here are the reasons why.

1. Massive Cost Differences: VoIP Is More Affordable

The biggest driver of VoIP adoption is cost: the average monthly cost per “line” (there aren’t really lines with VoIP, but that’s a separate conversation) on VoIP is often half the cost of traditional phone service.
Honestly, we could probably end the post right here — cutting your phone bill in half (or maybe even lower) is enough for most businesses to make the switch. But the cost savings don’t stop here.
Traditional phone systems require an on-site PBX (private branch exchange). These are massively expensive, often landing over $1,000 per line. VoIP eliminates the need for a PBX, and there’s no corresponding cost: everything runs on your existing network and hardware.

If you’re up for a building remodel or you’re building a new facility, you have one more cost-relate reason to consider VoIP: wiring.

Traditional phone service means running copper wire alongside your network cabling. VoIP runs everything over a single LAN cable (full-duplex service), with voice and data (and sometimes even power) running over a single cable.

2. Wireless, Location-Agnostic Service

VoIP is a huge advantage to remote or hybrid teams because your employees’ phone numbers or extensions are no longer tied to a physical connection at their office desk. Depending on the VoIP service you choose, your employees’ VoIP extension can be tied to their broader system login (such as their Microsoft 365 or Active Directory credentials): wherever they open their laptop and log in, they instantly have access to their VoIP extension.

3. Massive Hardware Flexibility

IF you read the previous point and thought, “But what about the phone? People aren’t going to carry an office phone everywhere the go.”, well, that’s true.

But transitioning to VoIP means they don’t have to.

VoIP systems give you incredible hardware flexibility. In office settings, your employees can operate with a VoIP phone on their desks that looks and feels pretty similar to the one they used to have (albeit usually a lot lighter).

But they don’t have to operate this way. They could also take VoIP calls over software via USB headset or even via their laptop’s internal speakers and microphone — perfect for remote workers and those on hybrid schedules.

Microsoft Teams, for example, supports both entirely software-based voice and video calls and traditional VoIP calls where anyone internal or external can reach private extensions.

Depending on the software you use for your VoIP system, your team members will likely be able to place and receive VoIP calls from their smartphones, too.

4. More Capability Than Landline Service

We’ve hinted at this already, but modern VoIP systems can do more than landline systems—without costly add-ons and purpose-built hardware. Number portability, easy transitions in and out of group calls, fluid connection to your productivity suite (allowing you to share or collaborate on files during a call), seamless transition between voice and video calling, and many more features come standard with most VoIP contracts.

Landline service either can’t offer these or makes you pay extra.

5. Better Voice Quality

Lastly, you’ll get better voice quality by switching to VoIP.

Yes, you read that right.

We know: if you tried VoIP a decade or two ago, you probably don’t believe us here. When the technology was new, voice quality was generally awful, as was reliability.

But everything is better today: processors, internet connections, the software powering our VoIP experiences, and the microphones and speakers in our everyday devices. All of these improve the call quality far beyond cellular quality and usually well beyond what you get over traditional landlines.

Ready to Learn More? We Can Help

For most businesses, switching to VoIP service is a no-brainer. There are a few technical details to be aware of, like overall business bandwidth requirements and the importance of a backup or failover internet connection (which you likely need anyway if you’re moving to the cloud). But generally, even after we help businesses work through these considerations, VoIP is still the obvious winner.

Questions? Ready to discuss what a VoIP transition would look like for your business?
Reach out to our team today to learn more or discuss next steps.

No matter what your business does, some portion of your workforce needs a productivity and collaboration suite to get work done. This key suite of tools used to be called an office suite (with Microsoft Office as the undisputed king of the market.

But in the last decade or so, the “office suite” category has evolved into something much more powerful and wide-ranging.

In this timeframe, cloud services have steadily taken over and office-oriented businesses have both enjoyed and demanded more and more collaborative capabilities. Google Suite came along, eventually expanding and evolving into Google Workspace. And Microsoft Office had its own explosion of functionality and added tools, evolving into Microsoft 365.

Today, most businesses need an office, productivity, and collaboration platform. And the vast majority settle on either Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.

Both ecosystems are powerful, robust, and feature-rich. Yet there are countless differences between the two, as well.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the biggest differences across six categories:

• Cybersecurity and support
• Productivity and collaboration
• Cloud storage
• Ease of use
• Administration
• Pricing

Ultimately our goal is to help you decide which environment is right for your business. And once you decide, we’re ready and willing to help you set up your platform, set governance and policy, and educate your team on how to use the various tools within your chosen platform. Just reach out today to start that process.

For now, though, we’ll start with the basics.

Getting to Know Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace

Microsoft 365 is the evolution of Office and Office 365, containing the Office apps you know and love like Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and Exchange. It also contains powerful newer tools like Teams (an impressive collaborative tool that looks something like if Slack and Office had a baby) and SharePoint, and an army of smaller tools that add additional incremental value for some organizations.

Google Workspace, on the other hand, is the evolution of G Suite and is Google’s attempt at creating a cloud-first rival to Microsoft 365/Office. It contains parallel products for all the core Office apps, including Docs, Sheets, Slides, Keep, Drive, and Calendar. To rival Teams and SharePoint, Google has Meet and Sites.

Generally speaking, you can do most of the same things on either platform. But they all work just a little differently, and not every app is equal in quality. Google generally offers more lightweight, streamlined apps, while Microsoft offers deeper functionality and formatting (but a busier interface).

One major difference: Google’s suite is cloud-first (and mostly cloud-only). There is no desktop Docs app. The same goes for Sheets, Slides, and even Gmail. You also aren’t saving your Docs files to the network—everything lives in the cloud, usually with no clear file structure. All this enables much greater flexibility, but it can be limiting, too.

In the past five years or so, Microsoft has rolled out web-based versions of all its major tools, too. And it has heavily invested in building out a robust, mature cloud-based experience, with conditional access policies, SharePoint share permissions, MFA, folder sync, and the ability to work on any device. On this front, Microsoft has the edge because you can operate in the cloud and use browser-based versions of all its major tools, but you can also operate locally with heavier-duty desktop and mobile apps.

Cybersecurity and Support Differences

Both platforms are produced and maintained by industry titans, so in terms of basic cybersecurity, you’re very well protected either way. Both companies offer:

• Enterprise-grade encryption
• Their version of cloud security
• Data loss prevention
• 2FA
• Spam and malware prevention tools
• 99.9% uptime or availability guarantees

There are some differences you should be aware of, though.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 offers 24-hour support for all plans and much more robust support for multi-factor (not just two-factor) authentication.

Also, while all 365 accounts come with standard cloud security, Microsoft’s more advanced security package (Microsoft Defender for Business, Advanced security, and Cyberthreat protection) is reserved for higher priced Microsoft 365 Business Premium tier.

Google Workspace

Google similarly offers a tiered approach to security features, offering standard security and management controls at Business Starter and Business Standard. Business Plus adds enhanced security, including Vault and advanced endpoint management.

Google’s support is weaker than Microsoft’s: all account types include just standard support, which isn’t 24/7. Google requires customers to pay to upgrade to enhanced support.

Productivity and Collaboration Differences

Both office suites offer a wide range of productivity and collaboration enhancements, and quite a lot is at least somewhat similar. The two brands will regularly innovate a new feature, only to see the other company bring out a very similar feature in the next release.

Both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace allow for live co-authoring and editing of documents across the major productivity apps (Word/Docs, Excel/Sheets, and PowerPoint/Slides). Google has offered this longer, and its version of this tech is simpler and more stable — but as long as your Microsoft 365 and network environments are properly configured, you won’t notice any issues on the Microsoft side.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft’s main productivity and collaboration apps are available as desktop, mobile, and web apps. Some smaller and less mainstream apps aren’t represented across all three, but even with these less popular apps, Microsoft generally offers a version on whichever devices they make sense.

Microsoft 365’s wider app availability and its ability to integrate with Windows, OneDrive, and network infrastructure leads to a tighter ecosystem as well. Users can share a file in Teams, which another coworker can seamlessly open with Word and then send as an email — no awkward browser tab switching required. Because Google relies so heavily on the browser, the integration between apps just isn’t as tight.

On the collaboration and communication front, Microsoft has a kitchen sink’s worth of tools. The flagship is a relatively new app called Microsoft Teams, and it’s an absolute powerhouse. There are plenty of others with more focused uses, including Yammer. And, of course, there’s desktop-class Outlook, the de facto standard in standalone email applications.

Google Workspace

Google’s productivity and collaboration apps all run in your browser or in a dedicated mobile app. As a result, they tend to be lighter weight and highly streamlined. But there are times where running three or four Google apps in browser tabs just doesn’t work as well or feel the same as having two Word documents, an Excel spreadsheet, and Outlook open concurrently on your desktop.

As far as communication tools go, Google offers a handful of tools as well. Its alternative to Teams is Meet. While Meet is adequate as a videoconferencing tool, its capabilities don’t come close to what Teams can do.

Google doesn’t offer an alternative to Outlook. Instead, you’re expected to use Gmail in your browser. If you love the Gmail interface you’re using at home and wish your business email looked just like it, then Google Workspace delivers. But in our experience, most business users don’t want that at all. The ones who do opt for Google Workspace tend to do so in spite of the shortcomings of the Gmail interface.

Cloud Storage

Both suites are cloud-oriented and include cloud storage for every user, but there are differences between the various plans. Crucially, both platforms offer cloud redundancy (when you use Microsoft 365 as a cloud-first solution rather than as an on-premises one, at least). This means that your files are constantly synced to the cloud. Even if the primary cloud server the files live on goes belly up, redundancy means you retain access.

Microsoft 365

All business plans include 1 TB of OneDrive storage for each user. All except the Apps for business plan include file syncing across devices, secure sharing and permission-based email, and access or guest links for external recipients.

Google Workspace

Google’s three tiers cap storage per user at 30 GB, 2 TB, and 5 TB respectively. The Starter plan omits shared drives for your team and target audience sharing, two features that the pricier plans include.

Here again, Microsoft’s cloud storage and sharing are more nuanced and offer more options. But Google’s solution is plenty capable for most businesses, as well.

Ease of Use

Actual use is an area where the two platforms differ more noticeably. It’s not that one is substantially easier than the other to learn and use; it’s more that the experience of using each is markedly different than the other.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft enjoys incumbent status here: nearly every office worker on earth already has some familiarity with its products and interfaces. (And those who don’t, well, they’re going to have to learn it eventually.)

We’d say that for the completely uninitiated, Microsoft has a bit higher of a learning curve—but that’s because the apps are all more fully featured than the Google equivalents.

There are some areas where Microsoft has room to grow. Its collaborative tools (where multiple users can edit a document simultaneously) are powerful, but they are less mature and more complicated when dealing with network-based documents. Google’s collaboration features just work, nearly always.

Businesses that want to retain a traditional file structure (or a cloud-based equivalent), Microsoft 365 is the clear winner. Maybe folders are antiquated, but they still make sense to your users.

Google Workspace

Google’s tools are streamlined and lightweight. Learning them is not difficult, and they are, in general, easy to use.

However, it’s hard to get past certain hurdles, especially if you already know Microsoft’s products. Some functions just don’t exist, and others that are easy to use or immediately visible on Microsoft (like word count in Word) are buried three layers deep in Google’s product.

Google’s collaborative features are excellent, surpassing Microsoft’s both in usability and stability. However, Google’s file organization (you could hardly call it a file system) is much more challenging for the average user to understand and acclimate to.

If you work in the ways Google wants you to work, then Workspace has excellent ease of use. But power users or those that need certain functions Google has deemed unimportant will find themselves regularly frustrated.

Administration Differences

It’s crucial to choose a suite of tools that gives your teams the ability to succeed in their work. But businesses also need an appropriate level of administrative control.

This is another area where the two platforms take noticeably different approaches.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft is building on its legacy of building software for business. Organizations familiar with provisioning and endpoint managing Windows computers will find much of the same sort of support with Microsoft 365.

Microsoft 365 administrators can set password policies, configure file access control, gather employee and customer feedback, and much more. And Business Premium customers gain even more advanced administrative abilities, including:

• Remotely wiping lost or stolen devices
• Setting limits on transfer of company information
• Information Rights Management
• Automatic app deployment through mobile device management (MDM)
• Policy management

Mature businesses with complex office environments will benefit from these robust administrative controls, many of which don’t exist within Google Workspace.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace is true to form, offering a streamlined experience that doesn’t fuss with very much in terms of administration. Admittedly, since Google hardly installs any apps on desktops or laptops, they don’t need as much here. But some organizations will likely chafe at just how thin the administrative controls are in Google Workspace.

You can set up file sharing permissions on a team basis, and you can customize your employees’ experience by adding your business logo and providing premade templates. There’s also the ability to turn specific apps off. Still, this isn’t much compared to what Microsoft 365 admins enjoy.

Pricing

See general pricing information for both productivity suites in the sections below.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft has been known for complicated, multi-tiered pricing in the past, but it has simplified its business pricing structure considerably to just four plans. Prices below are on an annual subscription, auto-renew basis.

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 Apps for business: $8.25 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $22.50 per user per month

The two lowest tiers are too limiting for most businesses: Business Basic includes web and mobile apps, but not desktop apps. (It’s clearly targeting Google Workspace’s cheapest plan.) Apps for business includes those desktop apps but omits email hosting and custom domains.

Most established businesses will choose between Business Standard and Business Premium, depending on how robust their large file and advanced threat protection needs are. Businesses that need access control or a few other advanced features should also choose Business Premium.

Enterprise businesses have their own set of plans to work through, which we won’t list out separately here.

And if you aren’t sure which plan to choose, don’t worry — we can help you walk through that decision matrix.

Google Workspace

Google’s pricing tiers are simpler than Microsoft’s — which makes sense given that Google’s overall product is also simpler.

• Business Starter: $6 per user per month
• Business Standard: $12 per user per month
• Business Plus: $18 per user per month

Enterprise plans are all custom-quoted.

All Google plans give you custom email and domain and access to all the Workspace apps. The big differences are in cloud storage per user, security and management controls, and quality of voice and video conferencing. Unless you need something fairly obscure, the deciding factor with Google Workspace likely comes down to cloud storage and number of participants in a meeting.

Google’s Business Starter plan is a bargain, but Microsoft’s basic plan offers more at the same price (far more cloud storage and 3x the participants in meetings). It’s hard to recommend Google at the two higher price points as well when Microsoft’s platform offers so much more at roughly similar prices.

What Do We Recommend at Data Magic?

By this point in the guide it may be a little obvious, but at Data Magic, we recommend Microsoft 365 for most customers — either the Business Premium or the Business Standard plan. By our metrics, Microsoft 365 outplays Google Workspace in nearly every category that matters. In the few areas where Google Workspace has an edge, Microsoft 365 remains competitive. And when you work with a world-class managed IT provider like us, we’ll help you navigate any hurdles or issues you may come across.

Do you have questions about which productivity and collaboration suite is right for you? For assistance with this or any other aspect of IT at your business, Data Magic is here to help. Reach out now to get started!

Healthcare organizations are, like many others, in the middle of digital transformation. A new generation of tools and tech promise all sorts of real benefits, from increased efficiency to fewer errors to better data-driven decision-making.

But getting from wherever you are right now in terms of your organization’s relationship with technology to wherever it is you want to go? It’s a complicated process, and there are plenty of places where organizations can get off track.

In some cases, this just means not getting as much efficiency or ROI as possible from a digital transition. That’s highly unfortunate but isn’t necessarily an existential threat. In other cases, though, there’s much more at stake. Transitioning to the wrong system or tool — or using a good tool in the wrong way — can lead to regulatory violations, including HIPAA violations. And that’s something no medical organization wants to face.

Microsoft 365 and SharePoint in the Healthcare Setting

Within this context of digital innovation and regulatory concerns, many healthcare organizations have questions about specific tools and platforms. Microsoft 365 is a wide-ranging suite of tools that offers plenty to healthcare organizations, and many are already using it or are transitioning to it soon.

One pressing question is whether the cloud-based productivity suite is truly HIPAA compliant. Many organizations are asking, is SharePoint HIPAA compliant? What about the broader Microsoft 365 package?

Organizations may already be using these tools for general operations, but is it possible to move electronic health records and other material with personally identifying information (PII) to SharePoint or edit those documents in Microsoft 365?

The answer is, unfortunately, a little complicated. Microsoft isn’t totally clear on whether these products are compliant, and of course they can’t account for user behavior in every instance, either.

So, while it is possible to use Microsoft 365 and SharePoint in HIPAA-compliant ways, it isn’t automatic. Healthcare organizations need technical safeguards in place. That’s something we can take care of for you — but more on that later.

Let’s start with some FAQs you need to know before you make this transition.

Is Microsoft 365 HIPAA compliant?

This is an important question, but it might not be the right question to ask. It’s a little bit like looking at a car and asking whether the car is “speed limit compliant” — unless you’re actually asking whether a car has been somehow programmed to never be capable of exceeding the speed limit, then there’s no such thing as a “speed limit compliant” car. Whether the car operates at the speed limit is entirely up to the driver.

Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t ever ask questions about the quality of a car — or the quality of a software platform. A shoddily made car might have an accelerator that sticks, creating significant and unnecessary risk. And shoddily made software or digital services could do the same thing with sensitive medical data.

Microsoft 365 is well-made software, to be sure. But it’s nearly as unrealistic to expect Microsoft to be able to stop any and all instances of data misuse as it would be to expect car manufacturers to “lock” cars to the speed limit. The same rules and filters that might prevent a HIPAA violation in a healthcare setting would interfere with normal, ethical use cases in other industries.

Given all this, it’s no surprise that Microsoft isn’t totally clear on whether its products are HIPAA compliant. Can they be used in HIPAA-compliant ways? Yes. But can Microsoft guarantee them as HIPAA compliant? Not without outside help.

Is SharePoint HIPAA compliant?

This is another common question, but again it’s a little like asking “does this car drive the speed limit?”: it’s not exactly the right question, and it’s more about how you use it.

Some organizations want to use SharePoint exclusively for sharing EHR and other files and documents that may contain personally identifying information (PII). So we understand why this leads to the question about whether SharePoint is HIPAA compliant.

The answer is that it certainly can be used in HIPAA compliant ways. But no, the system isn’t designed to somehow prevent users from violating HIPAA — just like your car isn’t designed to prevent you from speeding.

With both products, organizations need specific technical safeguards in place if they want to remain HIPAA compliant. But to get into those safeguards, we need to look closer at aspects of HIPAA itself and compliance with it.

What are the core compliance areas to be HIPAA compliant?

HIPAA compliance breaks down into three core compliance areas:

• Technical compliance
• Administrative compliance
• Physical compliance

Technical compliance deals with the technological systems that interface with patient data that qualifies as PII. Access control, data integrity, authentication of users, and secure transmission of files all fall under this category.

Administrative compliance refers to the policies and procedures that organizations put in place to protect data and data access. Hospital policies about what can and can’t be shared verbally in public areas, rules about passwords and authentication, and any other administrative decisions touching on privacy fall into this category.

Physical compliance deals with the real world: are physical records kept in a location not accessible to the general public? Are on-premises servers and endpoints secure, either by physical barrier (such as a locked server room) or by high-quality access control (badges, passwords, biometrics, etc. for computer access)?

As we look at the question of using Microsoft 365 and SharePoint in a medical setting, all three compliance areas matter. The technical underpinnings of Microsoft 365 come into play, as do the administrative policies an organization sets up around the use of SharePoint. Physical compliance matters as well, though this has less to do with which software or platforms you’re using and more to do with how you physically set up your equipment.

What are the technical safeguards of HIPAA?

HIPAA rules require that organizations maintain “reasonable and appropriate” safeguards in all three of the major compliance areas. Generally, safeguards are reasonable and appropriate if they protect EHR from “reasonably anticipated” threats or disclosures, but HIPAA does not specify or define what these safeguards must look like.

On the technical side, HIPAA describes three types of technical safeguards:

• Access control
• Safeguards on data in motion
• Safeguards on data at rest

Access control

Access control is straightforward enough in concept: only those who have been granted access should be able to access data. So a completely open cloud workspace (like a simple Google Workspace) clearly fails this, while a legacy rights-managed folder-based network generally has the appropriate technical safeguards.

Microsoft 365 and SharePoint can certainly be set up as environments using appropriate access control. So on this point, the products are reasonably HIPAA-compliant.

Data in motion

Data in motion (and data in use) can be harder to protect (or at least to prove protection of). These terms describe when data is in transit between systems or it is actively being used by a system (or human operator).

Typical safeguards on data in motion include data encryption, access control (on systems and on specific data), and using metadata or anonymized data for research and analytics rather than raw data.

Data at rest

Data at rest is data that’s sitting on a server somewhere — either your on-premises server or a cloud server belonging to a provider like Microsoft. This data isn’t being used, but your organization needs to maintain it in case it’s needed later on.

Data at rest safeguards include encryption and access control once again. Physical access control usually comes into play here as well: an unguarded server in an unlocked room may be a HIPAA violation if it gets breached. The argument could be made that the organization didn’t implement “reasonable and appropriate” safeguards — in this case, locks and access control.

How does an IT provider assist in technical HIPAA compliance?

By now it’s likely clear that using Microsoft 365 or SharePoint while staying compliant requires some technical considerations. That’s where an IT provider like Data Magic comes into play.

At Data Magic, we assist healthcare clients with designing and implementing the technical safeguards required and recommended by HIPAA regulations. We design environments where healthcare professionals and support staff can simply do what they need to do, not spend their time worrying about all facets of their technology being compliant.

A quality IT provider assists in this way by providing the cybersecurity layers, risk assessments, and ongoing auditing to make sure clients are covered and remain HIPAA compliant.

Is a BAA needed with Microsoft?

HIPAA regulations stipulate that healthcare organizations must enter into a business associate agreement (BAA) with any business associate that has access to protected health information (PHI). Microsoft states that it “will enter into BAAs with its covered entity and business associate customers,” but the company is quick to point out that the BAA alone does not ensure compliance with HIPAA or HITECH.

Microsoft goes on to state explicitly that your company’s compliance program and internal processes are the key to HIPAA compliance and that “your particular use of Microsoft services aligns with your obligations under HIPAA.”

BAA isn’t automatic, either. If you need a BAA with Microsoft, you’ll need to reach out directly (or through your IT provider).

Microsoft 365 and SharePoint HIPAA Compliance Is Complex. Data Magic Can Help.

By now we hope we’ve showed you that, while it’s possible to use Microsoft 365 and SharePoint in HIPAA-compliant ways, the burden lies on your organization to ensure that you’re in compliance while using the products. And that can get complex in a hurry.

Data Magic is an IT and cybersecurity organization that specializes in creating the technical safeguards and policies needed to achieve HIPAA compliance — with Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and a wide range of other apps and services.

If you’re ready to step into a cloud-forward future — without worrying about compliance — reach out today. We can help you move from where you are to where you want to be.

Changes are coming soon to the Cloud Solution Provider program, according to a recent announcement from Microsoft.

Most of Microsoft’s business-oriented products and services, including the widely used Microsoft 365 suite that includes Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook, and dozens of other apps you may be using every day are being affected, so it’s time to share a little more about what you can expect moving forward.

The term you might come across that describes these changes is the Microsoft New Commerce Experience. Most of the changes within it are technical and behind the scenes, things that your IT service provider will handle for you. But there are a few changes you should know about, including some exciting new features and efficiencies — along with some potential changes to how billing and contracts work.

Here’s everything you need to know as a business leader about Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience — plus a timeline for when the changes will take effect.

What Is the Microsoft New Commerce Experience?

The Microsoft New Commerce Experience is Microsoft’s latest initiative to simplify and streamline its business services offerings. If you’ve worked with Microsoft licenses before, you know that they can be complex and multi-layered, both from an end-user perspective and from a solutions provider or partner perspective.

Under the Microsoft New Commerce Experience, a wide range of plans, each with its own distinct set of policies and procedures, will now be offered under similar licensing terms.

Is This a New Program?

The Microsoft New Commerce Experience isn’t brand-new. Some business products, including Azure plans, server software, Azure RI, and others moved to the New Commerce Experience starting in 2019.

What’s new for 2022 is the transition of other much more broadly used software into the Microsoft New Commerce Experience.

Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Windows 365 in the Cloud Solution Provider Program are transitioning to the New Commerce Experience, which means a much wider set of customers and solutions providers now need to understand the new program and its guidelines.

What’s These Changes Mean to Businesses and End Users

Much of the change involved in this transition is technical, behind-the-scenes tweaking that end-users won’t see or deal with on a day-to-day basis. However, a few of the changes could make a big difference for organizations using Microsoft 365 or other business solutions. Here’s what you need to know.

More Subscription Plan Options

First, the new commerce experience allows businesses to choose from three subscription offers:

• 1-month subscription (month-to-month)
• 12-month subscription
• 36-month subscription

Legacy plans allow for only one choice, a 12-month subscription.

This flexibility is helpful in several ways, though in other ways it’s less flexible than the old plan. The old 12-month subscription allowed companies to drop seats at any point, so it acted more like a monthly subscription in practical terms.

So, what do customers get when choosing each of the new subscription plans?

The 12- and 36-month plans work similarly. Businesses that choose those plans lock in their pricing for the length of the term, both for current and for additional seats. Pricing stays the same as it was under the legacy 12-month plan, and you still pay by the month if you so choose.

The one big change with these plans is that you’ll no longer be able to execute seat reductions at any point. Now you’ll need to do those at the end of your 12- or 36-month term. For businesses with high volatility or seasonal workforce expansion and contraction, this change is less than ideal.

What about the month-to-month plan? That plan offers everything that the other plans include, just with less commitment. You’ll be able to add or reduce seats at the end of every month, giving you much greater flexibility. However, that flexibility and lack of commitment come at a cost: the 1-month plans are priced at a 20% premium over the others.

These costs and terms are consistent with other products, including the Microsoft Web Direct program, bringing greater transparency and simplicity to Microsoft products and plans.

Pricing Updates

Alongside updated subscription options come several price increases for 6 key Microsoft packages. These increases are as follows:

• From $5 to $6 per user for Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• From $20 to $22 per user for Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• From $8 to $10 per user for Office 365 E1
• From $20 to $23 per user for Office 365 E3
• From $35 to $38 per user for Office 365 E5
• From $32 to $36 per user for Microsoft 365 E3.

These price increases will take effect whether you choose a monthly (price increase + 20% premium for all licenses) or annual subscription. However, a 3-year term will lock in current pricing.

Better Provisioning and Subscription Management Capabilities

Along with these new plans, Microsoft is rolling out new behind-the-scenes tools and updates that make life easier for businesses and the providers that serve them. The company is enhancing provisioning capabilities so that companies (or their IT services partners) can more easily provision equipment without running into licensing snags.

There’s also improved subscription-management capabilities, with streamlined methods for adding seats and reassigning licenses. Along with this comes the ability to automate subscription changes at renewal and an easier price list.

Increased Choice and Flexibility

By better aligning these core product offerings with other products and services, Microsoft is making it easier for businesses to adopt new products and add-ons. Now, those additional services don’t require an entirely separate billing and payment system, because nearly everything available through Cloud Solutions Providers is now a part of the New Commerce Experience.

And while the premium-priced monthly term subscription may sting a little, businesses with wide variances in software needs within a calendar year will benefit from all this added streamlining and flexibility.

Windows 365 Now Available

Another strategic advantage for some businesses is the addition of Windows 365, now available on a monthly term (with annual pricing). Windows 365 is a cloud-based service for creating cloud-based Windows virtual machines, called Cloud PCs.

Again, while not every business has a need for Windows 365, the ones that do use this service will benefit from a streamlined commerce experience that makes this service available alongside other Microsoft offerings.

When Does the Microsoft New Commerce Experience Begin?

Microsoft expanded this new experience and model out to include Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Windows 365 on January 10, 2022.

That means you already have access to the new model and can switch at any time. New customers likewise already have the opportunity to start their Microsoft relationship in the New Commerce Experience (though there’s a short window during which new customers can choose either experience).

If you’re a current Data Magic client and we haven’t yet discussed what these changes will mean for your plan, we’ll be in touch soon. Or, if you’re itching to switch earlier than is required, feel free to get in touch with us first.

When Do Microsoft’s Legacy Commerce Plans End?

While Microsoft is positioning this change as a positive, forward-thinking one, we understand that any change can be disruptive. If you’re hoping to hold onto your current plan for a little longer, you may have a small window to do so depending on when you last renewed.

The final date for sales under the Legacy Commerce plans is March 10, 2022. No new sales under the legacy terms will be allowed beyond that date.

Businesses and organizations on an existing Legacy Commerce plan have a little longer to renew. Microsoft has set an end-of-renewal date of June 30, 2022.

The takeaway: if your plan is up for renewal before June 30, 2022, you have the option to renew your existing legacy contract or to move to the New Commerce Experience. If your renewal lands after that date, you’ll need to choose from the available options in the New Commerce Experience.

Other Key Takeaways

We’ve covered the basics of this transition, but there are a few more observations and takeaways you should know.

12- and 36-Month Customers Should Plan Carefully

The 12- and 36-month new commerce plans allow customers to lock in rates for those time periods and to add seats to their license at that locked-in rate.

However, these plans don’t allow customers to drop seats during the term at all. This change means that customers on these plans need to plan their seats carefully.

If there’s a likelihood of lowering headcount or fluctuating staffing levels, you might end up paying for seats you don’t need for quite a few months.

Subscriptions Don’t Transfer Between IT Providers

Another point worth noting is that customers on Microsoft New Commerce Experience plans cannot transfer those 12- or 36-month subscriptions to a new IT provider. Locking in on one of those plans essentially means committing to another 12 or 36 months with your current managed IT provider — or getting stuck with a costly “dead subscription” if you do make the switch.

If you’re not 100% satisfied with the service you’re getting from your current provider, then be ready to make the switch when your current license is up for renewal. We are ready to step in and help you navigate this kind of switch as well.

The New Commerce Experience Is Independent of Already-Announced Price Increases

Last, you may have heard about another recent Microsoft announcement, where the company explained that price increases were coming across the board to its commercial plans for products like Microsoft 365.

That is still happening, effective March 1, 2022. Unfortunately, those price increases will apply to the 12- and 36-month agreements. The month-to-month arrangement will be priced 20% higher.

There’s a bit of good news on this point, though: as an incentive to get companies moving toward New Commerce Experience plans, legacy customers can postpone the price increase and even lock in an additional 5% savings — but only if they move quickly. For more on this discount — or anything else about the New Commerce Experience — don’t hesitate to reach out to Data Magic. We’re ready and well equipped to help you navigate this transition.

The cybersecurity world is constantly changing. Attacks are becoming more frequent, more sophisticated and have worse outcomes.

Because of this, cybersecurity auditing has become a practice that every business should be doing regularly to ensure that cybersecurity vulnerabilities are identified before there’s an attack that can be harmful or financially devastating.

Here, we’ll answer the following questions:

• What Is a Cybersecurity Audit?
• How Often Should Agencies Audit Their Cybersecurity?
• What Are Steps For Securing My Business?

We’ll also include some great tips for a cybersecurity audit!

Let’s get started.

What Is A Cybersecurity Audit?

A cybersecurity audit is a cybersecurity review that identifies cybersecurity vulnerabilities within an organization or business. It looks for cybersecurity weaknesses, compliance problems, and out-of-date software so that it can be addressed before being exploited.

An organization might have cybersecurity auditing done by an internal cybersecurity team or cybersecurity firm or through a PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).

How Often Should Agencies Audit Their Cybersecurity?

Per cybersecurity guidelines, cybersecurity audits should be done on at least an annual basis for any business that processes credit cards. Smaller businesses might want to audit their cybersecurity more often than annually, though not as often as monthly. It depends upon the cybersecurity requirements and regulations that the business must follow.

What Are Steps For Securing My Business?

There are nine cybersecurity auditing steps that we recommend for any business. Consider this security audit checklist to help you with your computer security auditing.

1. Define your Cybersecurity Audit

There are three cybersecurity audits that typically get defined – Security Vulnerability Scan, Network Penetration Test, and Wireless Penetration Test. These cybersecurity reviews can be done by cybersecurity professionals or using tools that are available online. The only difference is the level of expertise required to do so.

2. Determine the Assets that You’ll Be Focusing On

To audit your cybersecurity, you need to find out what assets are the most important ones to your business. Assets that should be focused on as part of cybersecurity auditing include:

• financial records
• employee records
• customer data
• patient data

3. List Out Potential Threats

For every cybersecurity audit, you should make a list of potential cybersecurity threats. This will allow you to create methods for mitigating those risks and training employees on cybersecurity awareness. Some cybersecurity threats to consider are:

• disgruntled employees
• hackers
• malware & viruses
• natural disasters

4. Assess the Current Level of Security Performance 

After making a cybersecurity threat list, it’s necessary to have your cybersecurity auditors assess the performance in mitigating those threats. This will provide an objective cybersecurity audit that will allow you to identify your business’s security strengths and weaknesses.

5. Set Up Configuration Scans 

After identifying your assets and threats, set up configuration scans to check all of the devices on your network. These include computers,  phones, servers, and more. This cybersecurity audit step is particularly important for smaller businesses that may have a limited security staff with limited time to focus on cybersecurity. Configure scans to run when network devices are not in use during business hours.

6. Perform an Internal Vulnerability Scan

Perform an internal vulnerability scan to find vulnerabilities that might be present in your business. This cybersecurity audit step can identify potential system and application vulnerabilities, which might allow hackers to gain access to your business.

7. Run Some Phishing Tests

Phishing is a popular social engineering tactic that hackers use to gain access to confidential information. The most common way they do this is via email with a malicious link or attachment. To help protect your business, use an anti-phishing tool that will alert you if a phishing email gets sent to your employees.

To run phishing tests,  send sample phishing emails to your staff and see how many of your employees click on the links or open attachments, which can put your business at risk for a data breach.

Regardless of the result, it’s worth it to invest time into educating your employees on the dangers of phishing.

8. Monitor Your Firewall’s Logs 

The firewall is the first line of defence for your business, so it’s important to monitor its logs. This cybersecurity audit step will allow you to see how many times a hacker has tried to breach your network, so you can implement proper security measures.

If you find that there are a significant number of breach attempts on your network,  it may be time to upgrade your cybersecurity suite to be sure you’re getting the best protection possible.

9. Prioritize Risk Responses

Once you have completed your cybersecurity audit, it’s time to prioritize the risk responses. This will ensure that critical assets are immediately secured in case of an attack, without putting too much strain on the business.

For example, if a natural disaster threat is one of your top risk responses, you may want to allocate more money and time towards storing your data offsite. That way, you’re prepared if your business is ever affected by a natural disaster.

Once your cybersecurity audit is complete, there are many benefits to keeping up with it periodically throughout the year.

For example, you should conduct a cybersecurity audit every year to ensure compliance with regulations for your business. Additionally, you may want to update your cybersecurity audit when there are major changes to the threats that your business is subject to. This helps ensure that your business is always protected against the most current threats out there.

Though it will take some time, conducting a cybersecurity audit is well worth the investment to protect your business.

Additional Tips For Your Cybersecurity Audit

As you’re going through each step of your cybersecurity audit, keep these additional tips in mind.

1. Have a dedicated security team that is responsible for implementing the steps from your cybersecurity audit.
2. Prioritize which threats you’re going to focus on because threats will continue to evolve and become more complex.
3. Try to make sure your cybersecurity audit is as accurate as possible by using data that is up-to-date.
4. Keep your cybersecurity audit results in a safe, easy-to-access spot so that you can utilize them going forward.
5. Test your cybersecurity audit processes regularly to make sure they are effective. This will help you quickly pinpoint problems in the system.
6. Know that cybersecurity is an ongoing process and that you should continually focus on updates and improvements.

Takeaway

The more time you spend conducting a comprehensive audit of your business’s cybersecurity measures, the better off you’ll be in case of a data breach.

After conducting your own cybersecurity audit, you may want to hire a third-party cybersecurity service to help you identify problems and recommend solutions.

Cybersecurity can be complicated, so it’s wise to reach out for expert help before you run into issues with your business’s data.

The explosion of work-at-home customers and employees is spurring the need for robust remote IT support services. Over 36.2 million Americans will be remote workers by 2025, which means an increased need for tools that help them remain engaged with their work.

Whether you have a distributed workforce or looking to access business devices no matter your location, remote support software gives you the added flexibility to work remotely.

Fortunately, there are tons of remote support tools to help you support your virtual users. Below are some of the tools that will help you provide top-notch IT support to your remote employees and clients. 

If you need a bit of extra help, Data Magic co-managed IT can partner with your existing team to implement the use of these helpful tools and create a successful IT strategy in your organization.

The Best Remote IT Support Software

Here are our picks for the best remote support software and tools.

TeamViewer

TeamViewer brings you integrated remote access for all your connectivity requirements. The software supports all major mobile and computer operating systems with a set of advanced features.

A single business subscription is roughly $50 per month, a multi-user subscription is around $103 per month, and a subscription for teams with their corporate license is around $207 per month.

Key TeamViewer features include:

• Better device compatibility and support compared to competitors in the same category.
• Features LAN wake-up, restart and install.
• Provides remote printing capabilities.

RemotePC

RemotePC is a straightforward remote access software that’s easy to set up and get started. Pricing starts at $5 a month for an unlimited user license and 10 computers.

Key features include:

• Easy access from a browser and without installing software.
• Invitation to colleagues to work on one computer for presentations and other team activities.
• RemotePC meets the regulatory and compliance standards of several bodies, including FIPS and PCI.

BeyondTrust

BeyondTrust Remote Support (Bomgar Remote Support) allows technicians to connect to, view, and control remote devices and systems. The software works across the most popular software platforms.

Best features of BeyondTrust include:

• The ability of end-users and other technicians to chat and collaborate.
• It’s fast generating a link for clients so you can remote in.
• A clean and fairly easy-to-figure-out remote access console.

Zoho Assist

Zoho Assist offers your business exceptional security while improving your customer services. This all-around remote PC access software comes with a 15-day free trial. 

You can settle on a free plan, or upgrade to a paid subscription starting at $15 per month for professional use. The paid plans include mobile access, screen sharing, and session notes, among other features.

Key Zoho Assist features include:

• The preset and custom reports module can help increase your efficiency and customer satisfaction levels.
• All transactions within the software take place via 256-bit AES and SSL encryption.
• Included apps allow customers and technicians to walk from their workstations.

ConnectWise Control

The ConnectWise Control remote access software has a priority for security and speed when connecting to other devices. An easy-to-use dashboard makes this software a favorite among technicians, customers, and SMBs.

Critical ConnectWise Control features include:

• Seamless remote access and support on all major browsers and systems.
• A security customization feature allows setting up role-based permissions and several multiple authentication methods.
• The software comes with a library of over 100 extensions and integrations that help improve performance.

Amazon WorkSpaces

Amazon WorkSpaces is cloud-based virtual desktops that replace the traditional desktop. These spaces feature a bundle with an operating system, storage space, computing resources, and software applications. The virtual resources are available for remote users.

Key features of Amazon WorkSpaces include:

• A flexible pricing model including a free tier.
• 24-hour, 7-days a week customer support.
• Secure and encrypted services.

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Parallels RAS is one of the best remote access technical support software for businesses experiencing growth and scaling up their IT infrastructure. The software can also scale up to meet an abrupt market requirement. The cost for Parallels Remote Application Server is $99.99 per year per concurrent user.

Key features of Parallels RAS include:

• The software has a seamless user experience on HTML5 browsers, iOS, and Android.
• A multitasking feature lets you run multiple applications at once and switch between them using native gestures.
• Task automation helps maximize resource utilization.

GoToMyPC

GoToMyPC lets you access several remote computers at once and from anywhere. This is a fairly simple tool to use that comes with useful features, such as remote printing and a shared clipboard.

GoToMyPC is $28-$35 per computer per month.

Key features of GoToMyPC include:

• You can create desktop icons for different remote computers.
• Comes with mobile apps for Kindle, iOS, and Android devices.
• Requires a unique password for each remote computer you connect to.

VNC Connect

VNC Connect is a secure and easy-to-use virtual desktop software that many remote IT support companies use. The software has customizable plans to meet your business and budget requirements.

Pricing starts at $3.39 per computer per month.

Key features of VNC Connect are:

• Flexible session permission.
• Allow remote access to your headless system or independent machines and computers.
• Offers a free guide on working essentials of remote connections for a beginner.

Splashtop

Splashtop offers you powerful security to protect your business-critical data. The software has an excellent track record of supporting remote teams and resolving technical issues. Splashtop starts at $40 per month for 25 computers.

Major Splashtop features include:

• Integrations with an extensive selection of popular business solutions.
• A Transport Layer Security (TLS) and 256-bit AES encryption protect each remote session.
• You can view multiple remote screens on your screen.

Manage and Secure Your Remote Workforce and Client Support Communication

Don’t fall for misleading reviews and aggressive marketing when choosing your remote IT support tools. The software has deep access to your system, so make sure you understand the security implications and what support you’ll get.

Here are a few things you need to ask when looking for the best remote support software for your SMB.

• Does the tool meet your security needs?
• Does the software affect compliance?
• Will the software provider offer the support you expect?
• Does the software represent the best value?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the number of options available or things you need to consider, get in touch with the experts today. Data Magic specializes in providing managed and co-managed IT support services to medium to large businesses.

Our team of experts will partner with your existing team to handle server management, backup and disaster recovery, and help desk tickets more efficiently. At Data Magic, we have experience in various IT support tools, so we can advise on the best options to create an efficient technology stack that combines our knowledge with yours.

Get in touch with our team today and find out how Data Magic can help transform your business processes.

While data backup and recovery mistakes are common, data loss can be devastating. You can lose countless files, contracts, or products in one fell swoop. Though it might be possible to replace what you’ve lost, it can take months or even years to do it, resulting in higher unforeseen expenses. 

The good news is that you can take steps to avoid data backup and data recovery mistakes. 

What Is Data Backup and Recovery?

Data backups work by saving data in a separate place, whether on a physical hard drive or cloud. If your data is lost, your backup will still have everything you last saved on it.

Data recovery is exactly what it sounds like; it refers to the process of bringing back virtual data that was lost, deleted, or damaged in some way. A data recovery organization can use this process to retrieve lost data for you.

Despite these important technological advances, mistakes can still happen. These seven tips will help you understand what they are so you don’t make any costly errors in the future.

Mistake #1: Not Storing a Copy Offsite

One of the top data backup and data recovery mistakes is not storing a copy offsite. Imagine your city floods, preventing you from reaching your office where your main computer system and all its backups reside. If you do not have a copy of that data stored offsite, it’s as good as lost.

Natural disasters like fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods all pose a risk to your data if there is no offsite backup. Physical theft is another often overlooked risk that can do some serious damage to any computer files, especially if your units are stolen or smashed. 

You can keep your data offsite on an external hard drive and update it with new backups frequently.

Mistake #2: Not Having a Redundancy Copy

Another data backup and data recovery mistake is not having a redundancy copy. This type of data backup mistake occurs when you have only one original data file stored offsite, which means that it’s your sole backup.

If that data gets corrupted or destroyed, all of the data has been lost forever. Always have at least three copies of your data stored offsite to avoid this problem. Having a redundant copy gives you peace of mind knowing that you still have a copy to fall back on if something happens to your original data.

Mistake #3: Not Using Cloud Storage

Data backup and data recovery mistakes can occur when you’re not using cloud storage. While physical backups stored offsite are a good idea, it’s also a good idea to utilize the cloud.

Using the cloud to store your data means your information is stored offsite in servers located at data centers. Cloud data storage is the safest and most reliable data backup and recovery method because you can access data anywhere. 

You can also update your information much more frequently than other backup systems, meaning your cloud storage will have more up-to-date and accurate files than other systems would. With cloud data storage, even if your office burns down or floods, all your data is always available online.

Mistake #4: Not Verifying and Testing Backups

Another data backup mistake is not verifying and testing backups. Your data backup and recovery plan will only work if you can restore data from a recent backup, so it’s essential to regularly test and verify your data backups. You should always check:

• File sizes match the original files
• Data was backed up successfully
• Data-related errors are captured in data logs
• External data drives are connected properly

By ensuring that your backups are error-free, you can avoid nasty surprises down the road.

Mistake #5: Not Having a Tested Disaster Recovery Plan in Place

Having a disaster recovery plan is a sensible practice. Testing this plan regularly will prepare you to use it should the worst happen.

Also, make sure to conduct data backup and data recovery training for employees to prepare for a data disaster. Undergo this training at least once per year and when hiring new employees who need to learn your data recovery process.

Mistake #6: Not Using Automation Features

Not using data backup and data recovery automation features is another data backup mistake. If you have a data disaster, you will need to perform data restore requests manually, which can take up all of your time. Automation features enable companies to automate data backup tasks such as verifying, scheduling, and notifying employees when data backups are complete. 

Automation features make data backup and data recovery tasks easier and faster, so you can spend more time focusing on your business. However, one thing to remember is that not all data backup and data recovery automation features are created equal. Choosing an automated system that also allows for occasional manual backups can keep your files up to date no matter what happens.

Mistake #7: Using Outdated Technology

When your data backup technology becomes outdated, your liabilities go up. Increased risk of security breaches, loss of mobility, and less connectivity will leave your databases vulnerable. You could also miss regular backups or be unable to restore data due to an unsupported feature. 

Ensure that the technology you select has the most up-to-date features to avoid this problem. This is easy to do by taking the following steps:

• Reading reviews
• Testing free software before buying
• Comparing features of different software
• Asking colleagues or other business owners about their data backup solutions
• Talking with data recovery companies about their experience

Once you choose the right solution for your situation, you should implement the software as soon as possible and test it to make sure it works correctly.

Conclusion

When it comes to your business, you can never be too safe. That’s why it’s crucial to avoid making any of the top seven data backup mistakes listed above. By following these tips, you’ll help ensure that your data is always safe and readily available in a data disaster.

If you’re not sure where to begin, contact Data Magic today, and we’ll help you get started with our Cloud Backup Services. We offer the most up-to-date software with automation features, so you don’t have to worry about manually backing up or restoring your data in a disaster again. Contact us to learn more about our data backup and recovery services.

This week, we’re showing you how to make the most of a lesser-known tool built into Microsoft 365: Microsoft Delve. Find out how to access this app, plus how you can use it to improve productivity and gain insights on your team and yourself.

How to Access Microsoft Delve

To access Microsoft Delve, simply launch your app launcher or click your image and navigate to My Profile. You should see Delve as a listed app in either of these ways.

You might not see Delve in the Start menu, though: it’s a lower-tier piece of the Microsoft 365 puzzle, so it doesn’t always show up as prominently as Word and Excel.

If you don’t find Delve using the methods here, it’s possible that your IT team has disabled this app or that you’re not using a current Microsoft 365 plan. Check with your IT contact (or your managed services provider) if Delve doesn’t show up where it should.

So, now that you’ve launched Delve, what can you do with it? Here are a few options.

Use Microsoft Delve to See What Your Team Is Working On

When you open Delve, you’ll see the people on your team listed to the left. Who exactly shows up on this list once again depends on governance and how your company’s Microsoft 365 and SharePoint ecosystem is configured. If you’re not seeing the right people, reach out to your IT support team.

On this main Delve screen, you can select a person in the list to see what documents they’ve been working on recently. Before you click on an individual, you’ll also see a “Popular documents” area that shows which documents in a workspace have had the most activity in terms of views and people contributing to the document.

Save Documents as Favorites for Easy Access

As companies move more fully to the cloud, the concept of a nested file structure (folders within folders) grows less and less relevant. This is a good thing in some ways, but it can lead to confusion. If you don’t know where a file actually lives and also can’t find it via search, you could be pretty stuck.

Within Delve, you can save files and documents as Favorites so you can easily access them later via your Favorites tab. Just click the little bookmark icon to favorite a file. Then you can quickly navigate back to that file from Delve at any point — even if it gets moved around or no longer shows on the Popular documents tab.

Use the “Me” Tab to Evaluate Your Own Productivity or Find Lost Files

Delve isn’t limited to checking in on your team members’ work. You can use it to check in on your own productivity, thanks to the “Me” tab. Navigate over there for a rundown on what you’ve been working on yourself. You’ll also find a bunch of other stats and fields that you can use if they make sense for your organization.

The “Me” tab is also a great place to find lost files. Say you were collaborating on a file with a coworker three weeks back, but you can’t remember the file name or where exactly it’s being kept. Finding it again can be a real hassle, but Delve makes it easy. No matter where you worked on the file, it will show up in your recent files as long as you were logged into Microsoft 365 when you did so.

Scroll back through a few weeks’ worth of files, and you’re sure to find the “missing” file — thanks to Microsoft Delve.

Any lingering questions? Reach out below!

Microsoft Teams is a powerful productivity and collaboration tool that your business is likely already using, but are you getting the maximum value possible out of this Microsoft 365 app?

There are quite a few productivity tools and shortcuts within Microsoft Teams that most regular users don’t know about. But with just a little exploring, your employees and coworkers can greatly increase their efficiency within Teams.

One of the greatest “hidden” features within Teams is the Search Bar. On the surface, it looks like any other search tool, a place to go when you aren’t sure where something is. But with Search Bar Commands, the Search Bar becomes a powerful portal to finding content AND taking numerous actions — all without losing your place within the Teams app.

Microsoft Teams Search Bar Commands: What They Are

If you’ve worked with Teams much at all yet, you know that the program has many different functions. You can access most of these functions with the tabs or buttons along the left side of the app. Even still, Teams environments can get complex, and it can be easy to become lost or disoriented when switching between Teams or app areas.

Search Bar Commands are a way to avoid some of that confusion — and to work more quickly.

To begin a Search Bar Command, simply click in the Search Bar and type the forward slash key (that’s this one: / ). Doing so will bring up a long list of commands you can type. For example, you could quickly set your status to available or away, using /available or /away.

You can launch a brand-new call or chat with someone without navigating away from what you’re doing, too, with /call and /chat.

Go ahead and try it now. You might be surprised by the number of functions you can access in this way.

Of course, you can access many of them another way. But being able to do so from the search bar can save you time and keep you focused on your current primary Teams task.

When You Might Want to Use Search Bar Commands

One of the best things about Teams is also one of its weaknesses: it can do so many things. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always toggle between those things so elegantly.

Say you’re deep into one of your Teams, collaborating on a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation. Teams allows you to open files shared within a Team directly in the Teams application. You and your colleagues can all simultaneously add to and edit a Word document.

But let’s say you’re in the middle of those edits and you need to reach out to a single colleague via chat for a clarification.

You could click over to the Chat tab and have your conversation. But when you switch back to the Teams tab? You’re probably not going to drop right back into your document. You’ll have to choose the right Team, then the right Channel on that Team, then reopen the document, find your place, and finally resume working.

By using a Teams Search Bar command, you can avoid all the navigation and just quickly send your message. Use /chat or even @[username] to send a simple message directly from the Search Bar. Or, for a more complex interaction, use /pop and then select a person to pop out that chat history into a separate window. Your main Teams window is unaffected, leaving you to continue editing in one window while you chat in another.

Search Bar Commands in Microsoft Teams are a powerful way to get more done faster and with better focus. Try adding just one or two to your workflow to get started. You can add more as you feel more comfortable.

Keep Improving Productivity with Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are another way to massively improve your speed and efficiency in Microsoft Teams. No matter what you’re doing, you can probably find a keyboard shortcut or two to speed it up.

These can get overwhelming quickly, so again, our advice is to add them in slowly. Pick two or three to add to your routine, and then add more once those feel like second nature.

Wherever you are in Teams, ctrl+period (or command+period on Mac) will show you a list of relevant keyboard shortcuts.

Here are a few that are really useful:

• Ctrl+E will jump to your Search Bar
• Ctrl+equals sign will zoom in
• Ctrl+minus sign zooms out
• Ctrl+n opens a new chat

And that’s just the beginning. See the full list from Microsoft for more.

Microsoft Teams is already a great application, but by adding in Search Bar Commands and keyboard shortcuts, you can take your Teams usage to the next level.

Any lingering questions? Reach out below!

There’s no doubt we are past the era of using a Google spreadsheet to help manage all business logins. It’s an inconvenient and insecure way of managing your passwords. 

Interestingly, a Password and Authentication Security Behaviors Report by Ponemon Institute revealed that 44% of the respondents were victims of phishing attacks while at work, indicating that password security continues to present a challenge.

Read on to learn more about enterprise password management solutions for businesses and how to promote healthy password behaviors among employees makes running your business more efficient. 

What Features Should You Look for in Enterprise Password Management?

If your business is considering adopting a password manager, consider the following:

• Security: Assess the kind of security/encryption infrastructure that each password manager uses. Go for those offering top-security features, such as extra-strength encryption and two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication requires an additional level of verification by the owner of the account. Some types of this additional security include:
  • Push notifications to your mobile device through the use of an authenticator app. Examples include Google Authenticator and Authy.
  • One-time passwords that use a special code to log in.
  • Emailed or texted special codes
  • USB keys are required to be inserted in order to log in.
  • Biometrics, like fingerprints and facial recognition. These are the most difficult to hack. 77% of mobile devices now offer biometric security options.
• Usability: Explore the possibility that all your staff can use the software regardless of their IT background, especially if they’ll be working remotely and won’t have access to immediate help. Consider rolling out password management solutions that are easy to set up and onboard for technical and non-technical staff.
• Compliance: Consider the privacy or compliance standards, if any, to which the password manager follows.
• Admin controls: Think about the kind of admin controls you want the software to have. The password manager should have rules that let you monitor how your workers are managing passwords and whether they’re observing healthy security practices.
• Price: Although good security is priceless, it’s a good idea to assess the cost of the password manager. Chances are you’ll get a good deal that offers excellent value for your money. 
• Extra features: Explore any other bonus features the software offers, on top of saving login details. A good password manager will not only have basic password management features like auto-login and autosave but advanced features like secure password sharing, too. Some also generate high-security passwords on your behalf, to be sure you’re not choosing a potentially weak password.

How Do Large Companies Manage Passwords?

It’s common for companies to ask their employees to change their passwords routinely as a security measure. However, this practice may be doing more harm than good. People tend to devise an easy, memorable password and then just change one or two characters when they need a new one. 

In fact, 61% of people use the same password across multiple devices, services, and websites.

A password management solution avoids this risk because the passwords that it creates are strong, unique, and don’t have to be memorized.

What Password Managers Do Companies Use? 

Based on the features mentioned above, you should evaluate the following password managers and select the best fit for your enterprise. Here are our top seven:

#1 LastPass

LastPass is ideal for SMEs, although they offer various packages for teams and larger organizations. 

Of all the enterprise password management solutions we have come across, LastPass has the best controls for admins. 

Users praise LastPass for the following reasons:

• Host of business-specific features.
• Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
• High-quality security framework.

LastPass has multi-factor authentication technologies and single sign-on (SSO), making it one of the best password managers for enterprises of all sizes. Pricing is between $4 and $6 per user per month for business plans, but you’ll need to contact them directly for their enterprise pricing.

The security of your data is key, and LastPass leaves nothing to chance, with TLS protocols and end-to-end encryption.

#2 DashLane

This is likely the best password manager for both small and big business enterprises. The software comes with a handful of password management features, including user management and multi-factor authentication.

DashLane’s UI is easy to use, allowing your employees to handle things quickly. Their privacy rating is also excellent. 

It’s worth noting that DashLane stores no data on their side, only the operational data they require. They are fully compliant with CCPA, GDPR, and SOC2. 

In addition, DashLane cannot access your secured data whatsoever because it’s against their privacy policy.

Using this third password manager will cost you $5-$8 a month per user as a business user, with discounts given to enterprise bulk buyers. You can choose any of their business plans, DashLane Business with all the features, or DashLane Team with all features and only SSO options as the exception.

DashLane has been operating with a US-patented security architecture for ten years. No hacking has ever happened to this architecture.

Bonus features include a dark web scanner. It notifies you of any data leaks and guides you on changing passwords in the event of a compromise.

#3 1Password

1Password is a password manager that’s one of the most secure, the easiest to use, and offers you a wide array of features. 

It provides solutions for enterprises, businesses, and teams and includes password sharing, two-factor authentication, and dark web monitoring.

You can choose from any of these three plans:

• 1Password Teams: The least expensive option with several advanced options, such as AD integration
• 1Password Business: Offers all features and, in addition, 20 guest access accounts and encrypted cloud storage of 5 GB per user
• 1Password Enterprises: Includes all features in the business plan. Moreover, it adds a dedicated account manager and training and onboarding assistance.

Business pricing for this password solution runs about $7.99 per user per month. Like with the others, you’ll need to contact them for their enterprise options. Most people use 1Password due to its intuitive admin controls, third-party integration options, and secure password sharing.

#4 Keeper for Business

Keeper is one of the cheapest options on our list of solutions, but don’t underestimate it. It offers one of the best security for communication between team members. 

This password software allows a role-based enforcement policy with different organization tiers, each with varying access levels. Therefore, only accounts and passwords in their level of access are available to them.

Keeper For Business is ISO 270001 certified and SOC2 compliant and includes a desirable dark-web scanner feature. For these reasons, it’s ideal for large organizations. 

What’s more, its simplicity and straightforward dashboard make Keeper for Business rate highly on usability. This one rings in at just under $4 per user per month with special pricing for enterprise customers.

#5 RoboForm

RoboForm for Business features one of the best auto-fill capabilities in the password management solutions market. 

This enterprise password manager offers you SaaS-based management of passwords. Admins have a centralized dashboard for managing passwords, enforcing policies, and generating reports on staff activity.

With RoboForm, you can:

• Create and manage various groups
• Create multiple admin accounts
• Securely share encrypted passwords with a specific team within the enterprise.

On top of being relatively cheaper than most other options, RoboForm pricing varies based on subscription length and the number of users. With a 1-year subscription, it’s $29.95 per user per year with 101-1000 users. With a 5-year subscription, the cost drops to $22.95 per year per user.

#6 IT Glue

IT Glue offers you an IT documentation platform that comes with a password manager feature. Therefore, you can link passwords with the necessary documentation.

Here are some benefits of IT Glue:

• It’s SOC compliant
• It alerts you of passwords at risk
• It allows granular-level control of user access.

With this password solution, your enterprise can also create personal user vaults. That way, each individual can maintain their master passwords. 

Pricing for this option is $39 per user on an enterprise level but includes many options others don’t, such as custom SSL branding for your documents, an Office Cloud Editor for collaboration, Workflows, and more.

#7 CyberArk

CyberArk is an advanced password management software that targets the security of your business’s entire IT system. 

With its advanced functionality, you may require more assistance from cybersecurity experts to set up and use. Thus, CyberArk fits larger organizations, and especially security teams.

 Among the things that its features offer include:

• Automatic credential rotation
• Granular, privileged access controls
• Detailed auditing reporting for compliance
• Real-time account monitoring

Their pricing is quote-based, requiring you to contact CyberArk’s sales team to get an estimation of how much using their services will cost your business enterprise. 

CyberArk may be a bit more advanced for most enterprises’ needs, but it’s ideal for large firms with requirements for bulky data and strict adherence to data security laws. Since they have so many options and different services that come with a password manager, it’s best to contact them for pricing.

What Is the Best Password Manager for Small Businesses?

Of all the password managers mentioned, LastPass’ features are the most suited for a small business, as it is priced just right and offers everything a small business needs.

Final Word

Data Magic can offer you the IT support you need to identify tiny details as you seek to improve your company’s security. Therefore, regardless of where you’re located, feel free to pursue our managed IT services. 

Contact us today. You can chat with us right on our homepage and find the answers you’re looking for!