Tech Trends: Exploring the World of Innovation

What Does TCO Stand For?

As everyday consumers, we often consider price one of the top indicators to justify a purchase. When we say "price," we mean the sticker price, but rarely do we factor in other costs involved with maintaining a product. The same goes for organizations. They are often home to various software and services with an upfront cost. That upfront cost is likely an attractive number, strategically formulated to obtain a signed service agreement. Licenses and maintenance fees associated with the purchase are usually a small component of the overall total cost of ownership (TCO). Where actual costs can begin to pile up are in the areas of labor to maintain software, infrastructure, and hardware.

Calculating true total ownership cost can be a tedious process, though it is necessary. Before sending your IT team out to solicit new SaaS products, be sure they have a standardized template of data to look for beyond the sticker price.

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Rising data breaches in healthcare have paved the way for compliance laws to keep patients' medical data secure. Thousands of healthcare providers in the US are now legally required to adhere to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As a result, they need to use HIPAA-compliant technologies when corresponding with clients and patients online. 

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In industries across the spectrum, cloud computing is far outpacing physical storage infrastructure. It may provide you a sense of security knowing your data is physically on-site, however, these systems often take up valuable space, are easily compromised (including physical theft), and cost a fortune to maintain. The cloud is a "new" technology that provides an efficient working model that is secure for any industry, especially those that house sensitive data like governments, financial institutions, and healthcare.

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LegitScript certification is a way for mental health practitioners to establish and build trust with potential patients online. 

Potential patients and their loved ones are searching for mental health professionals online. If they are searching on social networks, such as Facebook, and using search engines, such as Google and Bing, licensed mental health practitioners need to be certified to advertise on these platforms.

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When customer service or success teams are managing hundreds or thousands of customer queries every day, a collaborative inbox can be an advantage.

Instead of an email message going to individual customer service agents and managers, everyone shares the same inbox. Working together collaborating to solve customer problems is a big advantage.

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Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have been popular amongst numerous organizations and sectors. Now, with remote and hybrid work so widespread, companies need to be even more conscious of the way they allow employees and contractors to access files and internal systems.  You may ask "Do VPN's really work?" Continue reading to find out.

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We know Agile project management to be a continual approach to planning and performing tasks related to a project. It breaks project tasks into smaller chunks, usually referred to as sprints and iterations. Sprints sound quick, but they can take up to a few weeks - depending on what needs to be done. This approach to project management has many benefits including more freedom, efficient resource use, better collaboration, and so much more. 

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Have you noticed people seem to be angrier these days? It is more than a coincidence. Polling company, Gallup, surveyed 160,000 people in 116 countries during 2020 and early 2021. The results, shared via Forbes, show that anger, stress, and sadness are at all-time highs. Interestingly enough, it is not solely due to the global pandemic - which has certainly raised tensions. These statistics have been trending in the wrong direction for many years now. Uncertainty seems to be the biggest contributor to people feeling down or upset. As is highlighted in the survey, 4 in 10 adults have experienced some form of stress or worry in recent times. 

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Service Integration and Management (SIAM) technology was created to optimize the critically-needed area of IT Service Management (ITSM). SIAM providers can manage all of IT's services while also ensuring they are using best practices in their services.

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