As businesses continue to struggle with the economic fallout of COVID-19, many leaders are looking for ways to reduce costs, including technology. When implemented strategically, technology is a business enabler—an investment, not an expense. However, it’s always good to eliminate inefficiencies or redundancies in the IT department whenever possible. I recently had the chance to contribute to a TechRepublic article called “CIOs: 8 ways to trim IT budgets”. My tip, which focuses on telecom costs, is number 6. Below is more detail on how companies can potentially find savings in the IT budget.

With so many businesses operating fully remotely, the ability to collaborate in the cloud has become essential. Hybrid cloud solutions give companies the flexibility to use the cloud in a way that best suits them. TechTarget recently interviewed me about how Amazon Web Services (AWS) fits into the hybrid cloud landscape. Thus far, AWS has not made a play to be a leader in hybrid cloud. But could that be part of a bigger strategy for the cloud computing giant?

Video chat meetings are now part of daily operations for so many businesses. When the coronavirus quarantine period started, video conferencing was a bit of a fun novelty. Colleagues who had never tried Zoom were now using it multiple times a day. Sadly, it didn’t take hackers long to realize they could exploit the popularity of video chat platforms to commit cybercrimes. Zoom in particular has experienced so many security issues that many organizations, including school districts in NYC, have banned it. While there are certainly more secure platforms, I use Zoom every day. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Kelser has advised our clients on how to use Zoom and set it up for them. Recently, I was a guest on FOX 61 Morning News to discuss cybersecurity best practices for Zoom.

Kelser Corp announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Kelser to its 2020 Tech Elite 250 list. This annual list acknowledges the top tier of North American IT solution providers that have earned the highest number of advanced technical certifications from leading technology suppliers, scaled to their company size.

Glastonbury, CT – Kelser Corporation announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company has named Kelser to its 2020 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Elite 150 category. This popular list identifies North American solution providers that deliver operational efficiencies, IT system improvements, and a higher rate of return on investments for their customers. These accomplished MSPs work tirelessly to guide their customers and create solutions for complex IT issues.

The world learned last week that the information of over 10 million hotel guests at MGM Resorts was obtained by hackers. The data breach is the result of a security incident that occurred last year, but the data was being shared in hacker circles recently and discovered and verified by ZDnet. Most of the data is limited to hotel stay info, addresses, and phone numbers dating back to 2017 and earlier. Since Kelser is a trusted, local managed service and cybersecurity provider, FOX61 News had Kelser CTO Jonathan Stone on following the breach to discuss what hackers can do with this type of apparently harmless information.

The latest issue of Corporate & Incentive Travel Magazine tells the story of how I was at a conference—a cybersecurity conference of all things!—and it provided an unsecure general access wireless network. There was no preregistration for this network and the password was distributed freely to attendees. Most attendees wound up using the hotspots on their phones. Many conferences and events of all types have inadequate cybersecurity protections in place. The Wi-Fi networks offered at these events may seem more secure than public Wi-Fi, but in most cases, they are not. In fact, they could be more dangerous to use because hackers interested in a particular type of data can target the network of a specifically relevant conference (rather than the general network of a coffee shop, for instance).

Hopefully you’re reading this on a device that is running an operating system other than Windows 7. If not, I have some bad news for you. You’re on your own.