Did you know that Info Advantage has multiple New York State Contracts? These contracts allow us to consistently leverage our collaborative agreements with partners to better serve our clients in obtaining products and services faster and at a more competitive price. According to the White House, during the 2020 fiscal year, the U.S. Federal government spent nearly $600 billion on good and services. Although these are larger scale purchasing decisions than those of the state of New York, they stand to provide an example of how investment and innovation can be spurred through government contracts. The Office of the New York State Comptroller offers that state contracts can provide many necessities for local governments and school districts like road salt, fuel, vehicles, heavy equipment, food, furniture, computer hardware and software, and much more. These goods and services contracts fall intro one of three general categories: commodities, service, and technology. In addition to potential monetary savings, New York State contracts meet the competitive bidding requirements of New York State General Municipal Law. Thus, local governments and school districts have assurance that the necessary research, solicitation, and negotiation has been done! The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) notes that the government wants to buy from or contract with small business for several reasons, including: To ensure that large businesses don?t ?muscle out? small businesses To gain access to the new ideas that small businesses provide To support small businesses as engines of economic development and job creation On top of our New York State OGS Contracts, Info Advantage is proud to be a New York State Certified Woman-Owned Business! To satisfy the state?s Minority and Women?s Business Enterprise (MWBE) Supplier Diversity Program, Info Advantage offers procurement services to New York State agencies including state, county, and local government offices. A contract with the New York State OGS helps to define discounted pricing for products when sold to eligible buyers in New York State. These buyers typically include state/county/city/town/village office, public K-12 and SUNY schools, and various types of non-profit organizations. If you?re an eligible buyers that is looking to take advantage of the opportunities provided by these contracts, contact us today to learn more about how our services could benefit your organization.
According to a recent survey, three out of five Fortune 500 executives believe that up to 25% of their workforce will continue to work remotely, full-time, after the pandemic ends. Words such as hybrid, flexibility, and remote were mentioned by more than 53,000 employees in surveys gathered by Great Place to Work between early 2020 and May 2021. These words came in response to the question of what employees liked about their workplace or what could make their workplace better. The main takeaway of that information? The hybrid work model is here to stay! The hybrid work model allows employees to split time between in-office locations and remote locations. But, for it to be effective, on top of being beneficial to employees, it also has to bring value to a business. This is where we believe technology play a big part in the equation! Security will continue to be a major focal point for organizations in the modern technology age, especially as businesses continue to navigate between on-premises, remote, and hybrid work models. Making it even more important that ever to make sure devices are protected and secure. Technology, specifically solutions focused on connectivity, communication, and teamwork, will allow you to bridge the gap between on-premises and remote employees and enable your teams to function seamlessly regardless of location. To help navigate the changing working model, Dell Technologies has introduced the Dell Hybrid Client, the world?s first client computing software with hybrid cloud management enabling seamless access to application and data wherever they may be. Designed for anytime, anywhere access, Dell Hybrid Client brings simplicity and flexibility to every workspace and enable your workforce to work confidently in the office or a remote setting. The Dell Hybrid Client experience is one of a kind, providing: Instant Access: Convenient and secure single sign-on, provides immediate access to necessary apps and data. Simplified Workflow: One time login and seamless use of an array of IT-approved web apps, Linux apps, virtualized apps, and storage. A Consistent Experience: A ?follow me? feature allows employees to get a consistent, personalized experience no matter which device they log in from. Ready on Day One: All features are available right out of the box, with intelligent, low-touch deployment from the cloud. It offers multiple ways to deliver apps, multiple cloud providers, and multiple form factors, as well as safety at every touchpoint! At Info Advantage, we want to ensure that your business can grow and move forward, regardless of where your employees are working! It?s a simple philosophy that allows us to help businesses solve their IT issues permitting them to become more profitable and successful. If your business is trying to navigate the hybrid work model or you?re interested in learning more about the this solution, contact us!
For small and midsized business, the Microsoft 365 productivity suite is a staple in the software cupboard. How would you feel about spending a fraction of the cost of other licensed software, but still get some of the most revolutionary collaboration tools available? With Microsoft 365 you can do just that! It’s a suite of applications that help you stay connected and get things done; providing you with powerful tools that help you work, learn, organize, connect, and create. Info Advantage would like to share insights into the different ways you can buy Microsoft Licensing: OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) ? This option is a box product, downloadable retail copy, preinstalled on a device with a 1 time user license. Advisor ? This option is applied to M365 and O365 and the customer pays Microsoft directly. CSP/NCE (Cloud Services/New Commerce Experience) ? This option is procured through a reseller and applies to M365, O365, Windows Server, Windows CALs, SQL Server, SQL CALs. Open Business ? This option includes all Microsoft Products Perpetual, or Perpetual with Software Assurance (2-year upfront payment). Discontinued as of 12/31/2021. Open Value Annuity ? Annual or Full Pay options (3-year upfront) ? VLSC Distribution of Licenses. On top of all that, Microsoft has recently announced changes to their Microsoft Customer Experience Platform. These changes allow you to unlock the value of your customer data to create personalized experiences, delivering more relevant customer engagements and building deeper connections. Best of all, Info Advantage is here to make sure that you have the guidance you need to set it up and manage it properly. Do you want to find out where you currently stand in your licensing based on all the changes in 2022? Claim a Free Microsoft Licensing Summary Report by emailing CChan@info-adv.com. This report takes 72 hours to generate, but ultimately will provide your business with all documentation of licensing purchased with Microsoft. After which, we can talk about next steps for your business and how to best leverage your licensing! It?s our goal to provide enterprise-level IT practices and solutions to your business and our experiences have allowed us to build and develop the infrastructure needed to keep our clients up and running. You can listen to our recent webinar on “Microsoft Program Changes 2022” for even more details.
IT is expensive, it’s time consuming, and it can be downright frustrating. You pay your employees to work, but if their workstations aren’t working or the server is unreachable, they can’t do their jobs.These are just a few reasons why it?s important to work with a good MSP, and even more importantly, one that?s well connected. Info Advantage strives to help businesses utilize technology to improve their operational efficiency, increase productivity, and strengthen network security! A process that?s made easier when you have partnerships with industry leaders across the technology landscape! Today, we want to introduce you to our friends at Sophos! A worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, Sophos protects organizations and consumers from today?s most advanced cyberthreats. Sophos delivers a broad portfolio of advanced products and services to secure users, networks and endpoints against ransomware, malware, exploits, phishing, and a wide range of other cyberattacks. Sophos began producing antivirus and encryption products over 30 years ago. Today, their products help secure the networks used by millions of users in 150 countries and over 500,000 businesses! Their products allow you to secure every endpoint of your network, from laptops to virtual desktops and servers, to web and email traffic and mobile devices. What?s more, Sophos ensures your network?s security by providing the one thing no one else can: Simplicity. One of our favorite Sophos products is their Managed Threat Response (MTR) solution! Offering 24/7 threat hunting, detection, and response delivered by an expert team as a fully managed service, Sophos MTR takes targeted actions on your behalf to neutralize the most sophisticated attacks. Some key benefits of Sophos MTR are: High-Fidelity Detection: Spot suspicious behaviors and the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the most advanced adversaries. Proactive Defense: Discover indicators of compromise identified through threat hunts, proactively protecting your environment. Elite Expertise: 24/7 investigation of anomalous behavior and actionable defense against threats. Outcome-Focused Security: Decision-driving data that enhances configurations and automated detection capabilities. Working with companies like Sophos allows us to provide you, our clients, with the best technology solutions from industry leaders. At Info Advantage, we know that, with the help of these partnerships, we?re able to translate your operational needs to technology initiatives, navigate manufacturers and different technologies, and align the best solutions to solve your business needs! Contact us today to learn more about our partners, our solutions, and what Info Advantage can do for your business!
World Backup Day is March 31st, each and every year. However, while there is value to having a dedicated holiday to raise awareness of the need for backup, it should not be the only time it is considered. Let?s go over the importance of proper backup practices, just in time for the holiday, so that you can establish the backup that your business needs if it’s not already in place.