Category Archives: Office/ Technology/ E-Commerce

By Mark Shaw

Well with all the signs pointing to COVID-19 being behind us, companies of all shapes and sizes are deciding what the future will hold for them when it comes to where and how to operate.

Technology is at the forefront of that on so many levels. From working from home needs to the new levels in which cyber security is playing a part to protect all of us, these shifts will become the way we work going forward. 

We are seeing companies have three main strategies. The first being bringing people back to the office. We are, after all, social creatures, and this makes sense. The next is everyone will stay working from home. The last being a blend of the two: some work from home and some in office days.

All three of these trends provide different needs for organizations. Going back to the office in many ways is the most secure, everyone is behind the security devices managed by IT professionals, and each have a single-entry point to protect all the employees and their devices. This is what the playbook for firms have been for years.

In the completely remote work from home situation IT Support and Cyber firms alike are changing the way they support these companies. Let’s also be clear these firms should not be the same, mind you. Your internal or external IT support should NEVER be your cyber security firm. If you don’t believe this, watch the news, and study the new laws being introduced globally. A separation of church and state is coming and if your IT firm says it can do cyber security, RUN. They are lining their pockets and exposing you.

By Jill Nagy
Like many businesses during the corona virus pandemic, Integrated Staffing is having “a weird year,” according to co-owner Dhianna Yezzi. In the midst of it, the company moved from Glens Falls into new, larger space at 463 Maple Ave. in Saratoga Springs.
Integrated Staffing is a locally owned and operated temporary, temporary-to-permanent, and permanent staffing agency.
The new headquarters was once a house. An addition to the front of the building provides office space for five people in an open space off the former front foyer. Construction began before the pandemic but was halted because of it.
“It took about two years, but we finally have our addition,” she said. Its former office at 22 Hudson St. in Glens Falls is currently vacant but “we have the space and can open if needed.”
The company’s Albany satellite office is open by appointment only.

By Mark Shaw
Businesses are starting to wake up to the growing need for cybersecurity. Your worlds have changed, and everyone rushed on day one in April to take their computers home, get VPNs set up and now you are in a mixed state.
Some staff are home, others are in the office full time, others swing in and out of the office on a flexible schedule. This has produced some wonderful changes in the way we work; it has also provided cyber criminals a series of new methods to attack.
What we are seeing is a growing need to treat cybersecurity differently. This is not an IT problem. Your internal or external technology resources should not be the same. You need to consider a clear separation of church and state in your organization.
Why? I`m sure you are asking why would you need a second company involved in your day to day technology? I have an IT team, why do I need someone else? I have an outsourced IT firm, why wouldn’t they be good enough? Let`s spend a few moments and discuss the rationale for having a separate and completely distinct cybersecurity firm.
Would you go to your dentist and ask them to check out a pain in your foot? Would you hand over all cash flow to one person with no oversight? Probably not, right?

By Rose Miller
As fall and winter approach, employers will not only have to plan for the on-going pandemic, but they must also address the challenges faced by working parents, a stressed workforce, decisions involving onsite versus a remote workforce and possibly shutting down again.
These decisions involve creating comprehensive and legally compliant policies and procedures.
It is also a time for employers to think about a comprehensive approach to its company’s benefits. Like every aspect of the business, employers need to assess how the pandemic has impacted their entire benefit offering. They need to also consider how new federal and state mandated leaves interplay with paid time off policies and insurance benefits. Based on their findings, they may want to revise what type of benefits are critical to both the company and its employees.
According to the annual MetLife Benefit Trends Survey for 2020, generational demographics show a glimpse on how businesses should revise their benefit offerings and possibly reallocate funds to better meet employee needs.