February 2015 - In This Issue:

WIN A $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD

YOUR BUSINESS IN REVIEW

WHAT'S HAPPENING ATMACHADO

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT

PROPER MAINTENANCE ANDSECURITY

COMIC RELIEF

More than your IT Department®

What's Happening at Machado Consulting...

Protect your most valuable andvulnerable asset, your data!

My motheralways told me,"be careful whatyou wish for". Ithink as themiddle ofJanuary rolledaround, many ofus hadn't seen

any snow yet and wished for a littlebit of the white stuff. Well we gotplenty of it! Six, count 'em six,snowstorms in the last three plusweeks; winter is definitely here! Withall of this snow the possibility of

Win Yourself a $25 Amazon Gift Card!Star Search

Okay all you detectives out there, let's seeyour skills at work! We are still in searchof a winner for our Star Search contest!

There are 6 stars to find. The first star ishere in the newsletter (not the happy starin this section). The remaining 5 stars can

be found throughout our website . Once you have found all 6 stars note their location and sendan email to jody-lynn@machadoconsulting.com. Your answerswill be verified and we will let you know if you are the winner ofa $25 Amazon Gift Card!! HAPPY SEARCHING!! (Hint: Not all stars are the same.)

3 Desirable Network Security Factorsfor your Business

power outages increasessignificantly. This month I wouldlike to talk about protecting yourmost valuable and most vulnerableasset, your data. Disaster recovery is one of the mostoverlooked aspects of InformationTechnology. Many organizationsfeel secure that they are covered,but in reality, their plans fall short. At Machado Consulting, we helporganizations take a complete andholistic approach to disasterrecovery and business continuity. What about security? NetworkSecurity is just one concern - andfrankly, hackers and malware aren'tthe most prevalent threats. A floodor fire, a power surge, even aspilled cup of coffee, can damage aserver beyond repair. Even whenyou back up your data regularly,storing all of it in one location is likekeeping all of your money underyour mattress.

Ask yourself, how long could yourbusiness remain offline before thelost productivity and revenuebecame a serious threat? An hour? A week? If you've been fortunateenough that you've never had tofind out, you should calculate thecost of downtime. It's sobering. Anddowntime isn't the only setback toconsider. How much data could youafford to lose? We've talked tobusiness owners who back up theirdata only sporadically, or whensomeone remembers. We don'tknow how they sleep at night. Accidents are inevitable. Downtimeand data loss don't have to be. Want to learn more about ourDisaster Recovery and BusinessContinuity solutions? Click here orcall us at 508-453-4700 and let usprotect your data.

Security Scans, Backup & Recovery, Redundancy

When scoping out your current networksecurity situation there are several factors atwork. The first is threat detection andmanagement. Your network could be atserious risk if your network administrator

isn't scanning your system for issues or security problems. Security scans are part of keeping your online presencehealthy, they are imperative for keeping threats an arms-lengthaway from your system. With Machado Consulting's UnifiedThreat Management (UTM) device, your network can beprotected from the many threats lurking on the Internet. Whilethe UTM is a comprehensive security solution designed to helpyour business avoid problems, another option is a Backup andDisaster Recovery (BDR) solution designed to keep data lossand downtime to a minimum. This is key if yourbusiness wants to keep uptime at an all-time high and limit theloss of data. A third solution we can offer you is a term knownas redundancy, backing up your server's data on anotheridentical server. By doing so your data is always recoverableand your business stays afloat in the event of an outage.

To read more about these three network security aspects andhow they affect your business, click here. If you would like todiscuss these options in further detail and learn how MachadoConsulting can keep your business running during a disaster,please contact us at 508-453-4700. As always, protecting yourdata is our top priority.

Client SpotlightCity Wide Maintenance of Boston

City Wide Maintenance of Boston manages building maintenance forcommercial properties in all of Eastern Massachusetts and Southern NewHampshire. They offer over 20 services for properties of all sizes and types,from janitorial services to large scale maintenance related projects. In an industrynotorious for poor service they pride themselves on professionally managingtheir business and the valued relationships they have with their customers.

Understanding that every project and customer has unique requirements, City Wide has developedproven systems and business practices to deliver consistent results every time. Operational expertise combined with attentive and well trained personnel allows their customers tofocus on their day job, not building maintenance. City Wide's proprietary customer managementsystem provides the back bone technology to handle the ongoing demands of your facility. Theirsystem manages maintenance schedules, customer satisfaction ratings and scope of work details.Combine great technology with great managers and you have the City Wide Solution to buildingmaintenance. Simply put, City Wide Maintenance does what they say they are going to do. Their clients see adifference in the quality of service delivered by City Wide. That's why they boast a client retention rateof more than 90%, far exceeding the industry standard.

Tips and TricksPutting Power Back into your Laptop

A laptop with no power can be a pain, especially when it only lasts a minimalamount of time. Sometimes it feels like you can't operate at full capacity withoutleaving your laptop plugged in at all times. Thankfully, you don't have tosuffer. With a little bit of troubleshooting and basic PC maintenance, you canprolong the life of your laptop's battery significantly. Change your power settings so they are as conservative as possible. To accessthese options, simply click on the Power Options selection in the Control Panel.

Some of the settings you can change are: screen brightness, how often the display turns off, when thecomputer enters sleep mode, and where your computer's resources are being used. Lower thebrightness of your laptop's display. The brightness can sap your battery for all that it's worth. Andunplug any USB devices plugged into it; they could be unknowingly draining your laptop's battery life.Even something as simple as an external mouse or keyboard could be using unnecessary batterypower.

Whether you're looking to increase your productivity, or simply make better use of your company'stechnology, Machado Consulting can help your business optimize your laptop's performance. We canhelp you figure out what's causing your laptop troubles and educate you on how to resolve the issue.Whether you need to replace the battery or replace the laptop, we've got your back. All you need todo is call us at (508) 453-4700. To read more on putting power back into your laptop battery, clickhere.

Comic ReliefDoes your Disaster Recovery Plan look like this?

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