BlackCSI Blog

Digital storage is one part of computing that has seen astronomical growth over the past several decades, and with the solid state drive (SSD) more affordable than ever, you have to wonder how well your old hard disk drive (HDD) is holding up. Despite the cost difference between the two, the HDD is a viable option, albeit a mechanical one that is prone to breakdown over time.

Even the most lucrative businesses never have enough capital and resources to do everything they would like to do. Whether it’s paying an unexpected bill or purchasing something you truly need, there are plenty of ways to spend more than you think for your business, especially with technology. Let’s go over some of the ways you can use technology to actually save money for your business.

You always read that “business has changed”. This is true because society has changed; and technology supports this new normal. More people use their mobile devices for a majority of their communication, their browsing, and a lot more, and it is changing the way business is conducted; it’s just not always easy to separate work use from personal usage. Let’s take a look at some of the ways mobility has changed the way people approach work, and how that shift in perspective has changed business.

Automation continues to play a major role in business operations, but some companies have more trouble than others with implementation. Most businesses just don’t think out their strategy before implementing it, so we wanted to bring to your attention what businesses tend to automate, as well as the tools used to do so.

With the Internet cementing itself as one of the best tools to get work done, it’s easy to forget just how sluggish it used to be back when it first became available for use. Internet speeds have undergone some dramatic shifts over the years, so let’s remember the good old days when it took ages to do just about anything with it.

Let me ask you a question: how do you balance the prevalence of remote work with the fact that a lot of company resources should only be stored on-site? A VPN—or virtual private network—provides the answer for many businesses. Let’s examine what a VPN actually is, and how it helps to protect your business’ data as you access it from outside of your business’ secure network.

Now that AI tools are more publicly accessible than ever before, the question of whether or not it’s good for business looms ever closer. These tools are limited in their capacity to help, but they do show enormous potential that could be indicative of success in the future. Let’s go over some of the questions people have about AI tools.

AI is a major topic lately, whether it’s on the topic of new and upcoming chatbots that are capable of generating text or making art that can compete with even the most skilled of artists. AI is commonly targeted as a culprit in stealing jobs, as well, and with these applications becoming more sophisticated over time, it’s no wonder people aren’t sure how to react to these developments.

The past several years have brought about innovations in artificial intelligence, or AI, that has workers worried for their jobs—especially as it moves into more practical and usable mediums. This can all be tied to the Turing Test, a way of measuring the intelligence of a computer, created by one of the most notable minds behind computing, Alan Turing.

Regardless of the business attempting it, data migration (or the process of moving data and systems to a new piece of infrastructure) is critical to get right. One way to improve your chances of success is to create and follow a migration strategy, evaluating it as you go. Let’s walk through some practices involved in doing so.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become one of the fastest growing technology industries in history. As of 2022, there are over 14 billion connected devices on the IoT with the number to reach over 20 billion by the end of 2026. With that many devices, you may find yourself wondering what types of devices they are. Today, we’ll go through exactly what devices make up the IoT and how to get the IoT to work for your business. 

We started this series on web browsers by focusing on the biggest of them all: Google. Now it’s time to look at some of the other options users have for their search engine needs. This time, we’re focusing on Bing, Microsoft’s proprietary search engine, and DuckDuckGo, a different search engine altogether.

You probably use Google more often than you think, but there are, of course, other search engines out there that perform similar functions. Why, then, is Google by far the most popular one? We’ll discuss some of the pros and cons of the various other search engines, but let’s start with Google itself.

You’ve probably seen the word “metaverse” pop up in your news feed at least once or twice over the past couple of months, but the concept can be a bit difficult to understand, as it’s a bit complicated by nature. Let’s discuss what the metaverse is, why it’s important today, and what you might expect from a metaverse in the future.

Artificial intelligence has become a popular topic to discuss in the business world, and like just about any current technology trend, you know Microsoft has to hop on the bandwagon with its own solution. Microsoft’s new AI-powered image generation tools will be integrated into many of their applications moving forward.

If you have ever forgotten your wireless router’s password, then you know that a factory reset might be imminent—assuming of course that you have changed your password in the first place (which you should have). For situations like these where you want to avoid a factory reset, you can use this router password repository to find your default credentials.

It’s often the case that the demand for new software outstrips the stock of available coders, a trend that has led to many businesses looking to adopt what are called “no code” tools to help them build the software they need. Let’s take a look at these no code tools and how they can help businesses stay ahead of the game.

Building a company’s computing infrastructure is a costly and time-consuming process. Sure, you can purchase new servers; or workstations in bulk, but overall it takes some time to get everything set up and running just how you need it to. PC manufacturers are shipping fewer computers than ever before and that may have an impact on your business’ ability to get the technology it needs when it needs it. Let’s take a look. 

Communications are important for small businesses, but how much do you pay attention to your telephone system? While it might have been useful in the past, chances are your team members and clients are communicating with you in different ways, rendering your telephone system, more or less, obsolete—at least the traditional telephone systems, anyway.

Compared to other options like Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, traditional telephone solutions are simply outdated in nature and scope. Let’s go over what you need to know about VoIP.

Your business’ operations and performance will vary depending on how you choose to invest your IT resources and budget. If you see marked improvements over the years, then you are doing something right. If things remain the same, however, perhaps you could benefit from a different approach to your technology investments. Let’s examine the subtle art of IT investment and how you should approach it.