As the cost of purchasing IT equipment is driving down relentlessly year on year, the true cost of managing a business IT strategy need to manage a business’s IT resource well remains critical. For many SMEs there is just no budget or requirement for a permanent IT resource on site, but it is still crucial that IT strategy and implementation is done well.

Datawise Computing has been working with local businesses for 20 years, providing long term partnerships resulting in an in depth knowledge of both their business and their IT requirements.

IT consultancy is a long term relationship, building on trust and shared knowledge to produce a real benefit in IT implementation.

Datawise Computing has expertise in office systems, networking, database and web design and has experience from the one man band to large multi-nationals. If you would like to consider a long term partnership with a local IT consultancy that you can trust then please use the contact form to get in touch.

I’ve just produced my 2014 Calendar, you can get it by clicking on the photo…

What does a visitor see when he or she views your web site on a mobile phone or other portable device? Is it a barely readable, shrunken view of your full web site? If so you may be losing out. Mobile users generally have a specific purpose in mind when accessing a web site on the go. The probably don’t want to read in depth articles or view high resolution images, but they may well be looking for specific information, such as how to find your premises, or how to get in touch.

A mobile web site can cater for these specific requirements by providing only what they need in an appropriate format for viewing on a small screen. Buttons should be larger for touch control, images should be kept to a minimum, phone numbers should be touch to dial, location information should be keyed to maps.

Have a think about what pages and information your customers would like to see when on the move, and then give them a few pages tailored to that information. This way you will improve the overall usefulness of your web site and keep your mobile users happy!

Although computers are incredibly reliable and becoming more so, they still have one major mechanical component, the hard disk. The hard disk is the part of your computer that stores all those documents, photos etc. that you absolutely must keep, and yet that same hard disk is the single most likely component to fail. When it fails it usually does so suddenly and spectacularly. It’s on occasions such as this that you value having a recent and reliable backup. Even if your files are stored on another external hard drive there is a fair degree of security. It is highly unlikely that both disks will fail at the same time.

So, if you value the content of your hard drive, please be proactive, go and get an external drive, or sign up for cloud backup. Do it now so that when that precious disk drive fails you can smile in the knowledge that everything on it is also stored elsewhere for safe keeping :)

For the small business one of the essential tools is email. More and more email users need to be able to access their email on the go as well as at the desk. The simplest solution to enable small businesses to gain a corporate class email system is to sign up for Google Apps for Business. Google Apps for Business provides business class email, calendaring, contacts and collaborative documents and for the price of £2.75 per user per month. Google Apps email works across the spectrum from web browsers to Outlook to phones and tablets – all your messages are available anywhere you choose.

This is one way to improve the performance of mobile staff and to allow the small business a full suite of collaborative tools for a minimal investment. Users can be added and removed with ease, and remote devices wiped if lost (provided Google’s device management software is installed).

Datawise Computing has now transitioned several businesses to Google Apps for Business, with excellent results. If you need big business communication for your growing business, then please ask how we can help you to set this up.