Advanced Automation Blog

With little fanfare, the AI Wars have begun. When we say “war” we mean just that: a battle for the survival of tools designed to improve human productivity. To start we should rewind a little. Most new software platforms (and many, many established ones) have started to use “artificial intelligence” to improve their products, or at least improve the prospect of selling them. In this week’s blog we will discuss the increased prevalence of “AI” and how some of the largest names in computing have gone all in on the technology.

When someone mentions cookies, people start paying attention. Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, snickerdoodles… Browser? While Browser cookies aren’t the most scrumptious, they do need some attention. Nowadays, many websites you visit have a popup asking if they want to allow cookies for that site and knowing what you are agreeing to is important. In today’s blog, we will describe what cookies are, how they work, and why they can sometimes be better than cookies with chocolate chips. 

Everyone knows that a telephone system is a core component of a well-functioning business. Unfortunately, many businesses’ telephone systems haven’t advanced, but the way people do business has. If your business is paying a premium for its telephone system and isn’t getting the collaboration benefits needed to stay competitive, the answer might be VoIP.

The past several years have brought about dramatic increases in internet speeds, further fueling online activity and allowing businesses to innovate in all kinds of ways. Here are five of the best benefits that these increased Internet speeds have brought about for small and medium-sized businesses.

You can’t take two steps outside of your home or two mouse-clicks or screen-taps online without seeing something written or hearing someone talking about AI. This has created a situation where every business is claiming AI as a revolutionary tool and consumers, overwhelmed with the term, have begun to take the technology for granted. In today’s blog, we want to determine whether AI brings added value or is just a term used to help companies market their products.

Today’s businesses have more technology involved in their processes than ever, making it essential to have access to the support that will keep them in operation. Nowadays, that kind of support is best obtained through a relationship with a managed service provider.Now, I feel it is appropriate to acknowledge that all this is coming from a managed service provider… but that’s just because we feel strongly enough about the benefits of managed services to offer them over the traditional approach to business IT support and services.

Data is at the heart of all successful modern businesses. The information you collect and store can help you make better decisions, plan better strategies, and gain a competitive advantage. Let’s look at how your raw data can be refined into more meaningful insights through the use of business analytics tools.

Business can get messy, particularly when variables outside your control are involved, which could spell doom for your organization. We’re talking, of course, about instances where your organization might be under a particularly large threat—instances where your data is at risk, which could jeopardize your future. Thankfully, there are options to mitigate this risk.

Nowadays, finding a business that does not use technology in its everyday processes would be extremely challenging. That’s just how things are today. This technology also typically sees advances in capabilities and accessibility, particularly for the small and medium-sized business sectors. This year, 2024, seems poised to be no exception.

Augmented reality is one of the more intriguing technologies that have come along in recent years, and businesses have begun to use it in pretty interesting ways. In today’s blog, we thought we’d go through three of the most popular and effective use cases of AR and the effect it can have on your business. 

More small and medium-sized businesses than ever are seeing AI's potential to transform their operations. However, like any technology, AI has its own set of pros and cons. Let's discuss three major advantages and drawbacks you can expect if using it in your business. Hopefully, it helps you make an informed decision about adopting AI.

Running a business has definite highs and lows. When things start spiraling seemingly out of control, it’s important to maintain the confidence that with the right decision-making and conscientious action, you can get through any problem that a business faces. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss some of the technology that can help you get through tough situations. 

How can you know when your organization should upgrade its technology infrastructure? The truth is that it’s not always immediately obvious when you should do so, as there are countless factors in play to consider at any given time. Today, we want to help your business determine when to bite the bullet and upgrade your technology.

As necessary as technology is in modern business operations, a variety of common IT-related obstacles must be overcome for your efforts to succeed. Fortunately, partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) can make these obstacles less “mountain” and more “molehill.” Let’s examine some of the most often seen business technology challenges and discuss how a relationship with an MSP helps alleviate them.

Among IT professionals, an acronym is sometimes used when discussing certain issues and challenges: “PEBKAC,” or Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair. In other words, user error. 

A business telephone system has picked up some pretty costly requirements over the past several years. Not only does your business need to have a clear and concise calling system internally, it needs to incorporate video conferencing and remote communications. This can get pretty costly if you don’t have the right technology in place. That right technology is VoIP and it can save your business money and present options that allow your employees seamless communication capabilities.

The cloud is a remarkable innovation that businesses of all industries and sizes can utilize to scale growth and operations. How you use the cloud, though, will change depending on your company's specific pain points and requirements. How can you invest in a cloud solution that ticks all your boxes? It starts with assessing whether you want to utilize a public, private, or hybrid cloud infrastructure.

Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) are incredibly important elements of any successful business, as without them, you’re just one disaster away from a world-shattering wake-up call. We take a strategic approach to data backup and disaster recovery that considers your daily data backup needs while recognizing its long-term benefits. Let’s discuss how you can ensure that your business can use BDR to survive any potential threat the world throws at it.

With communication rising to the top of many businesses’ priorities list, it’s no wonder that Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is one of the most powerful ways to revitalize your company’s communications infrastructure. If you’re still using your old traditional telephony solution, buckle up because you’re about to find out how to ditch it for good.

Information technology—IT—is a necessity for the vast majority of modern businesses to function. For the sake of these businesses and their operations, it pays to optimize this IT by any means available.

Let’s go over the benefits that a relationship with a managed service provider gives businesses, particularly regarding the overall efficiency these businesses see as a result.