Datalyst Blog

Datalyst Blog

Datalyst delivers expert managed IT services in Providence, RI. Optimize performance, secure your systems, and grow with us. Contact us today!

Dan is a trusted IT advisor with a background of over 25 years in IT and continuously works on the challenges of putting the right people in place to drive business growth and customer satisfaction.

A Field Guide to Phishing Attacks

A Field Guide to Phishing Attacks

Despite the name being mildly amusing, phishing attacks are no laughing matter. These scams, in all their different forms, wreak havoc on businesses—ranking as the top breach threat in the 2020 edition of Verizon’s annual Data Breach Investigations Report, and successfully impacting 65 percent of United States organizations in 2019 as reported by Proofpoint’s 2020 State of the Phish Report. Avoiding them requires you to be able to spot them, so let’s go over the different varieties of phishing that can be encountered.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Social Media Is A Tool For Any Sized Business

Social Media Is A Tool For Any Sized Business

Nowadays, social media companies have a lot of power and influence, which is part of the reason that so many of today’s largest businesses have adopted social media as a critical promotional tool. With the average person spending about two hours and 24 minutes on social media and messaging applications per day, this makes social media a clear opportunity for any sized business to embrace. Let’s consider a few ways this can be accomplished for these different businesses.

0 Comments
Continue reading

What Exactly is Software-as-a-Service?

What Exactly is Software-as-a-Service?

Businesses have many problems they need to solve. With technology, the process typically starts with identifying a problem, researching solutions, and finding one that will successfully work to solve the problem. Traditionally, when dealing with technology, a company would procure the hardware and hire technicians to implement the solution and deploy the services needed. If they had to borrow money to do it, they would because the profits would presumably be more than the payments even with banks tacking on interest. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Keep Your Team on Task with a UTM

Keep Your Team on Task with a UTM

As Southern New England businesses continue to adapt to the current challenges, they rely on online tools to continue to maintain contact with their clients. While having online access is a great benefit, it can also lead your team to distraction. Learn how content filtering can keep your team on task. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Is Security Being Sacrificed for the Sake of Convenience?

Is Security Being Sacrificed for the Sake of Convenience?

While this time of year is always huge for online retail, there is likely to be a much larger number of people turning to the Internet for their holiday purchases than usual… and, it would seem, a larger number of people taking security into consideration as they do so. Let’s examine how consumers are taking their data into their own hands and what this means for your business.

0 Comments
Continue reading

A Look at Modern Networking

A Look at Modern Networking

There are times when people take their technology for granted. One of the most under-the-radar, yet still critical parts of a business’ technology infrastructure is the networking equipment. By this we mean the hardware that connects your business to the Internet and to your network. We are talking cables, switches, and routers. This month, we will take a look at typical office networking found in 2020 and the technologies that are primed to replace them. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Homeland Security is Warning Businesses to Update Google Chrome

Homeland Security is Warning Businesses to Update Google Chrome

We realize that it’s one thing for us to tell you how important it is to update your software. After all, we’re tech guys, so we worry about that kind of thing all the time. Hopefully, it’s quite another matter when Homeland Security does it, which is why we’re really hoping that you take heed of this warning and update Google Chrome.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Knowing Your Technology Means Knowing What to Expect

Knowing Your Technology Means Knowing What to Expect

For most businesses, inventory is a big deal. That’s why it is so surprising that many of the same businesses that depend on their inventory and supply chain fail to properly inventory their technology. This month, we’ll discuss the importance of keeping a technology inventory.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Smishing Isn’t as Funny as It Sounds

Smishing Isn’t as Funny as It Sounds

As serious as they are, cyberattacks aren’t always given the most serious-sounding names. We are, of course, referring to “phishing”: the manipulation of the user, rather than of a computer system, to gain access to data. Phishing can come in many forms, with some—like phishing someone via SMS message—doubling down on the silliness of the name. Let’s examine this variety, and why “smishing” is not something to trifle with.

0 Comments
Continue reading

The Help Desk Keeps Business Running Smoothly

The Help Desk Keeps Business Running Smoothly

When there’s a computer problem, downtime ensues, and productivity suffers. It’s really that simple. Your staff isn’t running on all cylinders because they are always having to restart, the software they need isn’t working properly, or they simply forgot their password.

0 Comments
Continue reading

More Than 70 Percent of PCs Run Windows 10

More Than 70 Percent of PCs Run Windows 10

Ever since Windows 10 debuted in July of 2015, it has slowly risen in its market share. This has continued throughout the tumultuous times that 2020 has provided, as the OS has now reached a market share of 72.2 percent as of October. Let’s go over why this matters, and why—if you haven’t done so yet—you need to add your organization’s PCs to that number.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Is Automation Really a Threat for Workers?

Is Automation Really a Threat for Workers?

Automation has helped many businesses improve their output and efficiency, but what is the cost to the people that work for these organizations? Many systems rely on the autonomy of artificial intelligence systems to keep certain tasks and workflows on point. Automation could replace up to a quarter of the current workforce in the next ten years, so people are naturally skeptical and worried about how safe their jobs are going to be with more and more businesses utilizing software automation. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

How to Work Remotely Without Undermining Security

How to Work Remotely Without Undermining Security

With remote access being so popular right now, it is important that there is an awareness of how to maintain your business’ security while utilizing it. There are a lot of steps involved in doing so. Let’s go over some of the most important considerations that you need to weigh while your office continues to work remotely.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: How to Alter the Android 11 Power Menu

Tip of the Week: How to Alter the Android 11 Power Menu

If you need a reason to upgrade to Android 11, it comes with a highly useful selection of options when you access the menu that appears when you hold down the power button on your device. However, you have the option to add much more value to this menu. To do this, you’ll need to make a small investment in an automation-driven third-party application known as Tasker. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Make Your PC Faster

63609443_RAM_400

Does your PC feel sluggish these days? If you are working remotely, and your computer is slow, it can be really frustrating and make it harder to do your job. Before you buy a new computer, here are some tips to squeeze a little more life out of what you already have.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Adobe Retiring Support for Flash at Year’s End

Adobe Retiring Support for Flash at Year’s End

Flash Player—the familiar Adobe web application that first premiered in 1996—is finally going into retirement at the end of the year. This is quite a big deal, as Flash Player was (at least initially) instrumental to many of the platforms that so many rely on these days. However, what will this mean for your business?

0 Comments
Continue reading

Monitoring Your IT is a Crucial Step to Success

Monitoring Your IT is a Crucial Step to Success

Your business’ technology is extremely important to your business’ success and ensuring that it is functioning as designed has to be an ongoing priority. This can be harder than you may think. Today, we’ll go over how you can actively confront this challenge and keep your IT running as it should. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

How Remote Work Changes Shadow IT

188861050_IT_information_technology_400

As remote work becomes the norm, your IT department's ability to manage your remote workers' devices is limited. This often leads to issues with shadow IT, or the presence of unauthorized and unapproved software solutions on your devices, usually due to your employees trying to fill a need.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Making the Most of Google Keep

Tip of the Week: Making the Most of Google Keep

The Android platform has various tools and applications available to assist users in keeping themselves organized and productive. One of these applications, Google Keep, offers particularly significant benefits. For this week’s tip, we’ll be going over some ways that you can use Google Keep to help “keep” track of the cornucopia of important information you need to process and retain.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Some Budget Smartphones You Should Know

Some Budget Smartphones You Should Know

We’ve looked at the best phones (flagships), we’ve looked at some of the most innovative devices, but what happens if you don’t have $1,000+ to buy a smartphone? Many of the main manufacturers spend a lot of their marketing budgets highlighting their most expensive devices, so a lot of people don’t know that there are some very capable smartphones that don’t come with four-figure price tags. Let’s take a look at some phones that people can get that won’t empty their wallets.

0 Comments
Continue reading

About Datalyst

Datalyst has been serving the Southern New England area since 2010, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses. Our experience has allowed us to build and develop the infrastructure needed to keep our prices affordable and our clients up and running.

get a free quote


DATALYST is a Registered Trademark
The United States Patent and Trademark Office reference number: 5,341,888

Understanding IT

Get the Knowledge You Need to Make IT Decisions

Technology is constantly evolving, and keeping up can feel overwhelming. Whether you want to understand cybersecurity threats, explore automation, or learn how regulations like PCI DSS impact your business, we’ve made it easy to access clear, straightforward insights on key IT topics.

Insights to Understanding IT

Contact Us

10 Riverside Drive Suite 106
Lakeville, Massachusetts 02347

Mon to Fri 8:30am - 5pm EST

info@datalyst.net

(774) 213-9701