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St. Louis Based Computerease Adds Small Business Monthly’s Best IT Firms To 2021 Awards

St. Louis Based Computerease Adds Small Business Monthly’s Best IT Firms To 2021 Awards

Computerease adds an award by Small Business Monthly as Best IT Firms in St. Louis to the 2021 lineup In December 2021, one of St. Louis’s oldest IT companies, Computerease, added yet another recognition to its lineup of awards for 2021. The locally renowned publication, Small Business Monthly, released its list of Best IT Firms for 2021, including Computerease among its ranks. Earlier in 2021, Computerease was named as Best Cybersecurity Firm by the same publication, Small Business Monthly, and CRN’s MSP 500 of industry leaders in the IT support industry. Ryan Haislar, President of Computerease commented, “We are truly honored to be among our fellow top IT support companies in the St. Louis area. We commit to deliver exceptional IT support and cybersecurity for our clients. Receiving these awards reflects our dedication and commitment to putting our clients first.” Small and medium business owners throughout the St. Louis area trust St. Louis Small Business Monthly as a leading source for business-related resources.  There’s a few newcomers to the list of 2021 list of Best IT Firms for St. Louis featuring longstanding IT companies like Computerease. However, Computerease is unique in its longevity. Ryan Haislar said, “My father started Computerease in 1984 back when businesses were just starting to use technology in their day-to-day operations. He saw the future of technology as integral for running a successful business. I’m proud to keep his vision alive 37 years later.” A small business surviving for 37 years is an accomplishment, let alone in the IT industry where technology and IT firms have a flashpoint of a lifespan. Computerease is an IT support company that invests in the long-term success of its small business clients. It’s one thing to make computers and servers work well; it’s quite another to act as a trusted IT advisor that listens to a business’s priorities and long-term goals. Technology can make or break a business, so choosing the right IT firm is essential. Thankfully, business-focused organizations like the St. Louis Small Business Monthly make it easy for local business owners to identify which IT firms they can trust, like Computerease. About Computerease Small and medium businesses throughout the Greater St. Louis area trust Computerease with all their IT support, cybersecurity, and VoIP phone needs. As a 2nd generation family-owned and operated business founded in 1984, Computerease has grown and adapted in a constantly evolving industry. The company is a regional leader in helping small and medium businesses streamline technology while fueling business growth.

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Are tax bills burning up your profits for your small business?

Are tax bills burning up your profits for your small business?

Every penny counts for a small business. You pay a portion of each dollar towards taxes. This is money that’s drained from your bank account and goes straight to the government. Many business owners aren’t aware that there’s a tax benefit that allows you to invest your hard-earned money back into your business. There’s a special tax deduction for small businesses titled “Section 179 election”, the federal government allows you to buy up to 1 million dollars of computers, software, VoIP phone systems, office furniture, or other tangible goods to reduce your taxable income in your current year’s tax return instead of spreading the tax savings over multiple years. Please consult a tax professional to make sure you know the qualifications of the tax credit. In fact, the end of the year is the best time to reinvest into your business while taking advantage of Section 179 tax benefits. As an IT support company serving small businesses, we advise business owners on what projects can help to keep their business working efficiently and effectively. There’s 3 main areas that really help pay back and protect a business for the future: Increase network speed – A faster and more reliable performance of your computers and servers equals more productivity in your day-to-day operations VoIP phone systems – Save thousands in phone expenses every year and gain productivity boosting features with a VoIP system Cybersecurity upgrades – Firewalls and other security upgrades decrease the chance of becoming a cyberattack victim which could mean significant downtime and labor costs to get your business back up and running Are you looking to make a wise investment back into your business while saving on your tax bill? The Computerease team helps clients every day with making the best decision to invest wisely on technology that can drive your productivity and profitability. Fill out the form on the right to set up a 15-minute Discovery Call to learn more.

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Why Baseball and Business Are Going High Tech Permanently

Why Baseball and Business Are Going High Tech Permanently

The pandemic forced every business and organization to change very quickly. Some closed, some adapted to flexible working environments, and some changed how they interact with the public. In the beginning there was a lot of turmoil and a huge learning curve. Now, over one year later, some changes are permanent. There are permanent changes even for baseball! The St. Louis Cardinals are back in season, and they made a few announcements as they expect up to 15,000 people in attendance for games at Busch Stadium. A few of these changes include having only digital tickets available through the MLB Ballpark app and an entirely cashless stadium, debit or credit cards only. These changes were accelerated in response to the pandemic, but they are permanent changes. Paper tickets and paying for your hotdog and beer with cash are things of the past. It makes sense to implement these changes because there is less contact between patrons and workers, but there are also financial advantages to adopting streamlined processes. In an all-digital world, there’s no cost to print and deliver paper tickets. There’s no cash to handle and balance at the end of the day. Everything has been streamlined and optimized for ease of use for staff members and patrons. There’s less time waiting for a cashier to give you the proper change, or even get more change if needed. There’s an ability for people to have a smartphone open and ready to scan to gain instant entrance to the ballpark. There might even be shorter lines! Technology can be used to streamline and optimize ways of doing business and ways of interacting with the public and your clients. As an IT company, we’re very familiar with keeping our clients up to date with changing trends in technology. For example, some of our clients made a quick adjustment to a work from home environment at the beginning of the pandemic, only to find that it was more efficient. So, we helped transition their businesses and technology to a remote-only work environment to optimize cost savings for the future. Added Flexibility and Functionality With Technology For our business, and for many of our clients, our VoIP phone system proved its value within the first days of the pandemic. We had the flexibility to accommodate work from home and flexible work arrangements without any loss of functionality. We’ve also helped several new clients who are looking to transition to virtual meetings with clients and patients. Each business and medical practice definitely has unique needs for the best software and hardware to accommodate their budget, customer experience, and long-term goals. How does your business use technology? How can technology improve and streamline the customer experience? What kinds of technology investments pay off in the long run? What is the lifetime cost of one IT solution compared to another? These are all questions that you need to be asking when you’re making IT decisions in your business. The St. Louis Cardinals undoubtedly examined similar factors when they decided to implement their new digital initiatives. They analyzed the impact on patrons’ experiences, health and safety protocols, and overall costs, realizing that permanently adopting new technology was the best outcome. Your business is a much smaller organization than the St. Louis Cardinals, but you can also embrace new technology to help streamline and optimize your business practices. I suggest talking to your peers in the community and other business owners in your industry to see what new technology has been successful for them. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. Instead, learn from other people’s experiences! We’ve worked with our clients, some for almost 20 years, to continually adapt in a rapidly changing world. I’m here if you have questions about how new technology may impact your business. You can reach me by phone at (314) 432-1661 (MO) or (618) 346-8324 (IL) or filling out the form on the right.

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8 Lessons Small Businesses Can Learn From Election Security

8 Lessons Small Businesses Can Learn From Election Security

We are all aware that the headlines are crazy these days, especially with the election coming up next month. Are our election systems safe from cyber criminals?  Are other countries going to hack into our systems and influence the elections? Politics aside, we wanted to take a look at the cyber security measures being taken to secure the election and what can be learned from them to protect small business. The purpose of this article is to discuss the Missouri state government’s cybersecurity strategy and how these strategies can be applied to the cybersecurity needs of your small business.  National, state, and local governments have invested millions into cybersecurity strategies developed by cybersecurity experts. These strategies offer important lessons for how to keep your small business protected from cyber threats. The state of Missouri’s election security website details eight strategies to maintain security including: No single point of access – each of the 116 election jurisdictions have their own voting system, making it more difficult for hackers to infiltrate Small Business Lesson #1: Don’t reuse passwords!  Many people use the same email address and password combination EVERYWHERE.  If a hacker gets that email and password combo, they have a ‘single point of access’ to your digital world.  Always make your passwords complex and NEVER reuse passwords.  Use a password manager (such as our Passportal) to securely create, store and manage complex passwords. Not connected to the internet – voting machines aren’t connected to the internet so they aren’t at risk of an internet-sourced cyberthreat Small Business Lesson #2: Any device that is connected to the internet is a vulnerability in your network and needs to be protected from cyberthreats. Voting machine paper trail – every single voting machine has a backup paper trail to audit the votes Small Business Lesson #3: You don’t need a paper backup of your important data in your business, but it’s best practice to have failsafe backups of your data easily accessible in case of any problems. Bipartisan counting of absentee ballots – a bipartisan team counts the absentee ballots Small Business Lesson #4: It’s very important to have more than one person overseeing your network’s security and critical business data. Your IT company should partner with you and your team to regularly do a comprehensive overview of ALL your cybersecurity protection measures. Never assume that it’s just “being taken care of!” Public testing of machines – all voting machines are publicly tested before and after election day Small Business Lesson #5: It’s critical to test and monitor the cybersecurity protections you have in place for your business. For example, a routine dark web scan can detect any of your business credentials that are compromised, allowing you to take measures to address vulnerabilities before a larger cyber incident occurs. Machines are locked and sealed – after being checked for accuracy, the voting machines are locked and sealed on election day to prevent any tampering Small Business Lesson #6: After your network security is configured with the cybersecurity solutions in place, it’s important to NOT make any changes without your IT support company’s knowledge. If one employee gets the admin credentials and decides to download a file or program, they could inadvertently infect the entire network with a malicious file. Your network and endpoints need to be secured and tamper proof! Second chance voting – Missouri requires all voting machines to give voters a 2nd chance to verify their ballot is marked correctly, giving them confidence and peace of mind Small Business Lesson #7: Your clients count on you to keep their personal and financial data secure, so taking the proactive measures to protect their information gives them reassurance and peace of mind. Results audited by LEA’s – all election results are audited by local election authorities (LEA’s) before any certifying results Small Business Lesson #8: Please, please, please do NOT rely on your friend’s kid who “knows a lot about computers” to take responsibility for the cybersecurity strategy for your business. Today’s cybersecurity threat landscape is continually changing and a cybersecurity-experienced IT professional needs to be involved in providing adequate protection for your business. The federal, state, and local governments rely on the professionals to keep the elections safe and your business should do the same. Bottom line? Be serious about protecting your business and implement a multi-layered cybersecurity strategy that is actively monitored and reviewed by a qualified, cybersecurity trained, IT professional. Also, develop and maintain cybersecurity best practices and systems to prevent your business from falling victim to a cyberattack. Federal, state, and local governments invest in technology to prevent election tampering and there are processes and safeguards in place to maintain the accuracy and integrity of election results. It’s critical for you to also take cybersecurity seriously for your business. Have questions or concerns about vulnerabilities in your business? I’m available to discuss any questions you have, just call my office at (314) 432-1661 and I’ll be happy to speak with you.

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