Staying Safe during the 2019 Holiday Season
As always, the best security precaution is to be aware of your surroundings and ensure you’re adequately equipped to address some of the more hostile aspects of that environment. Today, this not only applies to your actual physical surroundings but extends to the cyber world as well. This fact should be kept in mind year-round, but there should be a higher degree of awareness this time of year when consumers…
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2019 TSI Annual Shopping Outreach
With the winter holidays fast approaching, people start thinking more and more about their loved ones, spending a lot of time looking for that perfect little gift that makes them smile. Unfortunately, this is also a very stressful time of year for many local area families that struggle to make the holiday special for their loved ones. To help bring holiday cheer to all, TSI is participating in the Foxboro…
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Why Contractors with CUI Don’t Really Need Gov’t Software Licensing for DFARS Compliance
With the recent news that DFARS compliance requirements will start being enforced, we’ve seen a significant increase of questions concerning the role and application of ‘Government’ licensing- such as Office 365 Government or AWS GovCloud- for contractors possessing Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Aside from adhering to DFARS compliance itself, Government licensing- notably for Office 365 Government- is extremely expensive from both a subscription and implementation standpoint, and in turn, an…
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Think You’re Too Busy to Get Ready for That Big Thanksgiving Meal? Technology Has Something Different to Say
If I had to make a list of all the things I deeply love, “barbecue” and “technology” would undoubtedly be right at the top. In my position as an IT project manager at TSI, naturally my job takes care of the latter on a daily basis. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not totally dedicated to the former, of course. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, meaning that I’m already…
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What is CMMC? The Complete CMMC Compliance Guide
Believe it or not, the day that many of us thought would never arrive is finally here: the Department of Defense is actually going to start enforcing the CMMC or DFARS/NIST 800-171 compliance requirements and if the conversations we’ve been having with our managed IT services clients are of any indication, there’s certainly a lot of surprise- and dread- to go around. As a direct result of these updates and…
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What to Do When You Didn’t Plan Your Windows 7 to 10 Upgrade
Ten years. That’s how long it has been since myself and my colleagues at TSI had to inform our clients that their beloved Windows XP machines would be going away. Once Microsoft had announced that it was ending support for that particular operating system, it represented a fundamental shift in the way that organizations managed and ultimately planned their technology strategies- up to a point. In my experience, there were…
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Guest Post: How IT Plays a Role in Protecting a Company’s Brand Image
These days, user-generated content (UGC) is essential for any company that wants to remain relevant and competitive. Allowing UGC on your platform is a must, as it harnesses the power of your product’s end-user. UGC does come with its fair share of risks, however, including brand-damaging issues like profanity, nudity, and racism. These elements could prove disastrous to a brand if they slip through the cracks. Marketing departments are developing…
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Why You Don’t Really Need Penetration Testing… at Least, Not YET
Coming from a family that has been proudly serving the greater Boston area with innovative, technology-based solutions since 1989, a big part of my life involves staying up-to-date on everything going on in the IT space. When I’m not fielding calls with potential clients or helping existing ones better accomplish their long-term goals, I’m pouring over articles and other resources about the latest tips, tricks, trends and best practices that…
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How The Shifting IT Landscape Gave Rise to the Era of Co-Managed IT
It’s no secret that technology moves fast. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that the very idea of what it means to be an IT professional often changes just as quickly. When my father started TSI Support in 1989 and before the advent of managed services, all MSPs were essentially the exact same thing – computer fixers. They would sit back with their fingers crossed, just waiting…
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Two Birds, One Stone: Here’s How to Address ISO 27001 and 13845 at the Same Time
As someone who has been providing IT support to SMBs for nearly 30 years, there’s one topic that seems to come up with my clients over and over (and over) again: Compliance. We all understand that compliance is important – there’s really nobody on the other side of that issue. But where people start to get frustrated has to do with how unclear compliance requirement can sometimes be. I was…
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Cyber Security Policy Starter Kit:
10 Critical Policies That Every Company Should Have in Place
