Businesswoman with headphones smiling during video conference. Multiracial man and woman … [+]
Here are five things in technology that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 – 23 technological products for working from home that will elevate your office.
Why this is important for your business:
PCWorld has come up with a long list of “work from home essentials” that they recommend that will boost your productivity and your home office environment. These include: The Logitech C920e webcam for virtual meetings. Its sharp resolution and autofocus capabilities are just a few notable specs. The Lamicall Adjustable Laptop Stand is known for its support when positioned in front of a screen all day long. The Hiearcool USB-C with multiple connections including a microSD and USB-A port for just $25 dollars. Logitech’s MK540 wireless keyboard and mouse combo is listed for its affordability and performance. For the complete list, access the link. (Source: PCWorld)
1 – 23 technological products for working from home that will elevate your office.
PCWorld has come up with a long list of “work from home essentials” that they recommend that will boost your productivity and your home office environment. These include: The Logitech C920e webcam for virtual meetings. Its sharp resolution and autofocus capabilities are just a few notable specs. The Lamicall Adjustable Laptop Stand is known for its support when positioned in front of a screen all day long. The Hiearcool USB-C with multiple connections including a microSD and USB-A port for just $25 dollars. Logitech’s MK540 wireless keyboard and mouse combo is listed for its affordability and performance. For the complete list, access the link. (Source: PCWorld)
Why this is important for your business:
These days we all work remotely and I found this list really helpful – I even bought a few products from it!
2 – DailyPay will offer access to earned wages for small businesses across the country.
Payment platform DailyPay is expanding its services to small businesses with 400 or fewer employees, the company announced in a press release. Services like DailyPay, which offer employees “earned pay access” – giving them flexibility in receiving payment – are a growing method, as demonstrated in recent studies. (Source: PRNewswire)
Why this is important for your business:
I’ve been writing and talking about access to earned wages for a while now, but one of the limitations was that platforms like DailyPay were only available to larger companies. But not anymore. Offering a paid access solution is a great benefit to offer your employees, especially when 60% of them live paycheck to paycheck. It could make the difference between hiring or losing the next good worker.
3 – Ransom payments increase by 500%, to an average of 2 million dollars.
Funds lost to ransom attacks are rising, said James Coker of Information security reports. Payments are up 500 percent compared to 2023 (Source: Infosecurity Magazine; PRNewswire)
Why this is important for your business:
Coker cites cybersecurity firm Sophos and its State of Ransomware 2024 report which shows that 63% (almost two-thirds) were ransom demands of $1 million or more and 30% exceeded $5 million. In correlation with ransomware statistics, cybersecurity firm SonicWall released a report of the “5 most widespread network attacks” used against small businesses. The most used, affecting 43% of small and medium-sized companies, is known as Log4j. Discovered in 2021, this vulnerability was “one of the most widely deployed” (globally), where hackers used malicious scripts exposing passwords and other sensitive information on Windows and Linux systems.
Your best defense? Training!
4 – Amazon presents an AI assistant.
Amazon’s AI assistant – Amazon Q – is offering business owners and developers access to its data leveraging, software and application development capabilities to increase productivity. As detailed on the AWS blog, there are three specialized wizards: Amazon Q Business, Amazon Q Developer, and Amazon Q in QuickSight. A breakdown of each wizard is presented in a video on the AWS blog. (Source: ZDNet)
Why this is important for your business:
With Amazon Q Business, applications can be built based on insights from employees looking to speed up tasks or find more efficient ways to organize/retrieve data. The wizard will build the specified application according to the input provided by the user. Developers can use Amazon Q Developer to request “real-time code suggestions” and speed up the process of working with Java.
5 – Microsoft Teams added many new features in April 2024, such as multi-shift chats with Copilot.
Microsoft Teams was recently updated with features like Microsoft Planner – a task management app that organizes task management and project scheduling; multi-turn chats – users can ask follow-up questions after Microsoft Copilot produces a chat summary; Town halls can also be created for multiple team members with real-time captions available in six different languages; and it will be easier to retrieve and attach files during chat sessions. (Source: Neowin)
Why this is important for your business:
I highly suggest hiring a Microsoft consultant to review all of the Teams features for your group. Why? Because I’m pretty sure you’re using a very small percentage of what’s available to your business… and you’re paying for it!
