We simplify…    We stabilize…    We eliminate problems…
Don’t you wish your computer was like your toaster—one button to turn on, one dial to adjust, and one tray to empty the debris? We aren’t there quite yet!

Our laptops and desktops are getting better at self-diagnosis and self-healing, but they have a long way to go. We ask them to do many things at once. We install software from many different vendors. They require us to learn how they want things done, not how we imagine that they ought to work. They give us very little feedback about why they don’t respond the way we think that they should.

Let us help simplify your computer system!

Our customers hire us to do some of the following tasks. What can we do for you?

ASSESS: diagnose, and inventory what exists.

• Ask how you wished things worked
• Evaluate your current systems’ functionality
• Determine what doesn’t work
• Understand and document your data backup system
• Document the inventory of your hardware and software
• Document the your user accounts, privileges, permissions, access
• Document your network configuration
• Help you understand the total cost of ownership
• Annually inventory your agency’s computing equipment
• Meet with nonprofit development office to review grants for technology upgrades
• Meet with small agency’s CEO to discuss next year’s IT budget
• Perform an annual review of system function and discussion about next steps

STABILIZE: proscribe, update, repair, and find the quick fixes.

• Advise you about your options
• Repair, troubleshoot, find quick fixes
• Begin with the simple, the cheap, the stupid fixes and work up to resolution
• Spot test recover your backup system
• Update printer drivers
• Resolve problems with Internet connections
• Make sure your email system works for you
• Coordinate processing of warranty service claims
• Mediate problem resolution with Internet service provider
• Resolve problems with Google nonprofit email IMAP for staff
• Respond to email from server that its hard drive is full
• Call AppleCare for warranty service on failed hard drive
• Call Dell for warranty replacement of logic board, hard drive, & power supply
• Determine why computer has lost its sound output
• Resolve audio recording software, Audacity, issues for talent agency
• Work with Hotmail to resolve hijacked email account
• Secure departing employee’s computer for legal purposes for a corporate treasurer
• Set up Fortinet router with wireless VPN subnet for doctors
• Set up Sonicwall router with multiple subnets each used by a different organization in the same office space
• Verify that surge protectors and uninterruptable power supplies are functional
• Track down and resolve issues with Excel documents that don’t print correctly
• Resolve problems with Mac keychain and passwords
• Switch email services and transfer email data from old to new system
• Resolve login problems with user account

MAINTAIN: prevent problems, train, budget, and plan steady systems.

• Back up the information on your computers
• Test systems
• Keep software updated, as appropriate
• Keep operating system patches up-to-date
• Make sure anti-virus applications are current
• Test Internet connections making sure you get what you purchased
• Install server software and updates
• Configure server services
• Upload to the Cloud
• Register software with manufacturer
• Reset routers
• Connect Windows computers to Apple servers
• Connect Apple computers to Windows servers
• Connect computers to printers
• Manage network user accounts
• Export data from one system and import it into another
• Configure and test backup system
• We do the futzing and tinkering
• Manage the total cost of ownership
• Upgrade eMac to Leopard OS to be compatible with new printer drivers
• Meet photocopier network technician at client facility to learn the work-arounds required for printing from XP without using logins
• Call AppleCare to obtain warranty service for MacBook battery
• Find proper drivers Ricoh Aficio MP C4000 leased printer/scanner
• Replace failed iMac hard drive with new and transfer store data to new
• Replace iMac memory (RAM) with newer faster memory
• Prepare computer user accounts for new staff person at nonprofit
• Add new client computers to Retrospect network backup set
• Remotely access computer to change backup schedule
• Check server logs to verify that it is running as it ought to
• Transfer bookmarks from one computer to another
• Repair corrupted email files

UPGRADE: replace, design & implement improved technology assets.

• Advise on system design and purchase
• Upgrade hardware, software, and/or network systems
• Order, unpack and set up, transfer data, configure, test, teach
• Set up server
• Arrange for new domain names
• Arrange for and manage hosted services
• Plan for collaborative calendars
• Install office productivity software
• Set up a process for scanning documents with optical character recognition
• Install network equipment
• Configure firewall and unified threat management systems
• Design and set up wireless networks
• Create Virtual Private Networks (VPN)
• Create user accounts
• Configure network user accounts
• Set up an Apple Software Update server
• Set up an Apple Remote Desktop Task Server
• Set up DNS and DHCP server services on your local network
• Participate in annual IT budgeting meetings
• Give advice regarding technology components of grant proposals
• Provide access to specialists
• Assist nonprofits in getting software and hardware at discounts
• Solicit quotes for products and services and evaluate them
• Determine an appropriate backup plan as insurance for your data
• Set up virtual Windows operating system on your Apple computer
• Replace wireless in home with Time Capsule to back up computers
• Replace Quickbooks data file on Dell with file sent by accountant
• Find easy optical character recognition scanning solutions for integration into Microsoft Word
• Replace hard drives with larger ones on RAID system
• Change backup system from BRU to Retrospect
• Extend wireless signal to fully cover office building
• Help choose new CRM database system

EDUCATE: research for future opportunities, tutor, and mentor.

• Train and mentor your IT guru
• Teach a class to your staff
• Advise on how to recycle electronic equipment
• Research options for hosted services in the Cloud
• Research group email, calendar, and task systems
• Demonstrate how to format a Microsoft Word or Excel document
• Show how to export from Pages to Microsoft Word format
• Walk you through creating an effective filing system
• Help you clean up your computer’s desktop and other directories
• Discuss whether to use Quickbooks for Mac or Windows
• Learn how configure a printer or copier for scanning to a Mac mini, then teach your staff how to use it, and retrieve and file documents
• Show your how to set ATT Yahoo to allow non-Yahoo accounts to function over its system
• Teach you how to transfer photos from camera to computer and how to use iPhoto
• Help staff transition between Mac and Windows; translate what they know on the old computer to how to do it on the new computer
• Teach how to organize and back up photos