Washington Works Blog

Having tools that help enhance your ability to support your customers is rarer than you may expect. One of the best tools a lot of businesses employ is Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The CRM system can transform how a business operates, but to make the most of it, you’ll need to employ some strategies. 

Taking care of your computer isn’t just about software updates and backups—it’s also about keeping it physically clean. A dust-free and tidy workspace helps your devices last longer and run smoothly. This month, we look at five straightforward tips anyone can follow to maintain a clean workstation.

Productivity is what fuels your personal or professional goals, and it’s easy to tie it into your self-worth if you’re not careful. It’s hard to be productive all the time, though. Today, we want to give you some actionable tips on how you can keep your productivity levels reasonably high.

Sometimes, one of the most effective ways to be productive is to step back for a moment. Consider how long a chess grandmaster will sit and stare at the board, planning the moves and maneuvers for the next seven turns.

So, to boost your productivity, approach your tasks like a chess grandmaster. Let’s discuss how to go about doing so.

Collaboration is super important for all kinds of businesses today, especially because so much work is done online. With so many people working from home, it's clear that businesses need a safe way to work together successfully.

If your business works with a Managed Service Provider (MSP)—an IT company that handles things like computers, networks, and security—it’s worth knowing how to get the most out of that relationship. MSPs like us can help keep your tech working smoothly, but to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth, here are three simple ways to work with us most effectively.

Subscriptions are nothing new in the business world, but they can be tough to track and, more importantly, cancel. Now, a new ruling from the Federal Trade Commission makes it easier than ever to cancel a subscription. Today, we want to discuss how this impacts you, your business, and your users.

With the many issues that arise day by day, it’s no small feat to stay productive. Still, a team must be able to manage its various tasks and projects in an efficient way, and it can make all the difference in efficiently completing these tasks. Today, we want to examine why productivity is important and how you can keep it high for your team.

Business cybersecurity is increasingly important for every organization in operation today, to the point where it could very well be the difference between your business’ survival or failure. While extensive things must be accomplished to ensure your overall business continuity, you have to start somewhere.

Let’s review some of the most essential things you can—and need to—do to keep your business secure.

Relationships in business are just like relationships elsewhere in life: messy and sometimes chaotic, but generally good to foster. This goes for relationships with customers, vendors, and even your employees. Today, we want to look at how you can build better and stronger relationships for your business.

Cloud computing, particularly Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), has become an essential tool for businesses of all sizes. Hosted software offers numerous benefits like anytime-anywhere access, scalability, and hassle-free management of hardware by the provider. In today’s post, we’ll share a few practical tips for working with cloud computing more effectively.

We live in a world where technology is central to everyday life, yet unfortunately it does not last forever. Eventually, your smartphone, laptop, smartwatch, or other device will reach its end of life, or EOL. This is when the manufacturer stops supplying critical updates—including security.

In business today, technology plays a big role. Unfortunately, by using technology, each individual has to make security considerations. This is because there are more cyberattacks today than ever before. To keep business rolling effectively, today’s workers must carefully consider and understand their role in their organization’s cybersecurity initiatives. In today’s blog, we look at four ways they can do just that.

Nobody likes the thought of the device they rely on daily suddenly dying, leaving them without a phone, a laptop, a smartwatch, or whatever the case may be. This is why it is important to stay conscious of when these devices are due to reach their end-of-life date, or EOL, when the manufacturer will no longer support them or provide crucial updates.

Fortunately, there’s a resource that makes this monitoring far easier to manage.

Everywhere you look on the Internet, there’s a scam, threat, or other malicious entity. 

Okay, maybe that’s not 100% true, but the possibilities are nearly endless for hackers. They’ll hide spyware, adware, and even ransomware online, so you must take measures to ensure that your devices and business are safe.

The NSA—the National Security Agency of the United States of America—are pretty well-known for their digital prowess. Therefore, when they provide a list of practices to help keep our increasingly crucial mobile devices secure, it only makes sense for us to listen. 

Make no mistake about it, collaboration is an important part of nearly every business. Today, organizations are asked to do more with less and one of the best ways to do that is to build a great collaboration strategy. If there were no collaborative strategy, however, every task within the business would be delegated to a single person with a limited scope and mindset, placing a cap on both the task’s potential and the business’ potential. 

You or one of your employees may need to work while on the road for many reasons. Unfortunately, this can be dangerous if you aren’t careful. We wanted to take a few minutes to (hopefully) review some security best practices your entire team should follow should they ever find themselves working as they travel.

Multifunctional printers can be indispensable business tools. However, they also pose significant security risks, potentially serving as entry points for cybercriminals seeking to exploit vulnerabilities and pilfer sensitive data and resources. Safeguarding your organization against these threats is paramount. This blog post will explore key measures to fortify your networks against printer-based vulnerabilities.

The fact is that phishing messages are all over the place. It doesn’t matter if you are a large corporation or a small business with only a dozen employees; the threat of phishing attacks is real and should be prepared for. Thankfully, one of the easiest ways to avoid phishing messages is as easy as moving your mouse. We are, of course, talking about hovering over links.