Capstone Works Blog

With 2024 ending and 2025 rapidly approaching, it’s time to reflect on the past year and start planning out your objectives for the next. While there are likely going to be a lot of things business owners won’t be able to predict over the next year, business IT can be pretty formulaic as long as you are proactive.

In this guide, we’re going to go over the basics so your business doesn’t end up being blindsided by some of these critical IT budgeting situations.

It’s time to have a hard conversation.

As a business owner, manager, or even as an employee taking the reins on their career; there are things you can do to make significant improvements to your business.

But you don’t.

It’s holding you back. Let’s fix that, today.

When it comes to managing IT issues, some companies still rely on the older way of doing things. In our industry, we call this the break-fix model. This approach involves waiting for something to break and then paying someone to fix it. While this may seem like a cost-effective solution, it can actually lead to more problems and inefficiencies in the long run.

In this article, we'll explore the break-fix model and why it's an inefficient solution to IT problems. We'll also discuss alternative approaches that can help your business save time, money, and headaches.

Businesses search endlessly for an advantage. When they are able to acquire one, it can transform their operations, and the way they look at future situations. One of the very best technologies that a business can use is cloud computing. Let’s take a look at some of the best benefits that an organization can see from the use of cloud computing.

Here’s the scenario. Your business insurance provider may have reached out to you, asking questions about your IT and overall cybersecurity. In our experience, this has caused some confusion for a lot of organizations, so we wanted to chime in and help Austin business owners get a better understanding on why your insurance provider is even getting into the weeds with this, and what they are actually looking for.

Nobody likes getting surprise charges. It feels… dirty. So many companies do it. You’ve got those surprise processing fees attached to your phone bill, the mechanic calling you to tell you that you’ve got a cracked turbo when you only went in for an oil change, or your computer guy sending you an invoice for additional support along with the monthly bill…

It feels like a lot of these other computer support companies make a living off of surprise fees and invoices. It’s NOT it normal, and we’re going to tell you a little secret about the IT industry so hopefully you don’t ever have to pay a surprise IT invoice ever again.

Time is money, and smart businesses understand that by increasing productivity and reducing the time to complete tasks, they increase their profit. Modern automation is driven by modern technology, and that technology needs to be implemented properly, as well as maintained, so your business can stay ahead.

Saving a little on your technology can go a long ways, but cutting too many corners can lead to additional problems and expensive downtime. Here are a few ways you can cut costs without creating long term issues.

Don't be Afraid to Replace

Got an older PC that's causing you a lot of issues? Older technology is typically more expensive to run, and after a while, it's cheaper to simply buy a new desktop than it is to continue pouring money into something that always seems broken. It's a great time to buy workstations, and if things are tight you can even buy refurbished desktops to keep costs low.

We've all been through an office or personal a move at some point in our lives. Whether to go to school, follow a career opportunity, or simply move to a new house, most everyone has experienced it. Moving a company, however, presents some unique challenges as the move must have minimal impact on your team's ability to serve clients or sell products. We'll discuss the range of considerations and actions you need to take to make your move surprise and hassle free. Some of the items on this list are so obvious they will require little discussion, but others are hidden landmines that can significantly affect your relationship with your vendors and clients.

The FBI has issued alerts to all businesses about the spread of BEC scams.  One of the fastest growing hazards facing businesses today is the growth of Business Email Compromise or BEC scams.  According to the FBI, these scams have grown by more than 270% since the beginning of last year.  At their last reporting, more than 7,000 businesses have lost more than $1.2 billion in the last 2 years.  At Capstone Works we help you to manage your IT risks.  We are at the forefront of IT risk management; monitoring, assessing and evaluating threats to your network no matter where they may come from.  You can be confident knowing that Capstone Works is in your corner.  While these scams may, at first, seem less impressive than thefts perpetrated by sophisticated malware targeting banks and other large institutions; a BEC attack is, in reality, more vicious.  They are more versatile and can avoid the basic security steps taken by businesses and individuals.  Instead of simply targeting your machines, a BEC scam targets your people!  Criminals are convincing their victims to hand company money right over to them, and they have been very successful in doing so.  According to the FBI, “The scam has been reported in all 50 states and in 79 countries.  Fraudulent transfers have been reported going to 72 countries; however, the majority of the transfers are going to Asian banks located within China and Hong Kong.

Have you ever heard that loud fan whine noise coming from your server room? Is it your IT infrastructure hard at work helping you to increase profits or is the sound of the “zombie” servers? A zombie, or comatose, server is a physical server that is running but has no external communications or visibility and contributes no computer resources; it essentially consumes electricity but serves no useful purpose. For something you have most likely never heard of, it’s a big problem. An estimated one in three servers in North America falls into the "undead" category. Given those odds, it’s likely that most businesses are running servers that are no longer doing anything relevant and could be decommissioned.

Organizations today cannot successfully grow their business while neglecting their technology needs; though it is impossible to become an IT expert while remaining focused on your niche. The world of IT is constantly changing - from cloud computing, Big Data, mobility, the Internet of Things, and new data storage – options can be overwhelming for any SMB owner. Is it time for you to upgrade your data storage? Are you employing the best solution to fit your needs? As you evaluate your technology solutions, don’t forget about your data storage options.

Sometimes when your workstation feels bogged down, a relatively cheap and simply hardware update can make a huge difference in performance. Adding more RAM (Random Access Memory, often just referred to as memory) can be a game changer for your bogged down PC.