Databranch Monthly Tech Talk IT Solutions for the Workplace December | 2020

What's Inside? 01 - Monthly Update from David 02 - AI Will Affect Every Business In The Years Ahead, Even Yours 03 - If Your IT Support Wasn't Good Enough Last Year, This Is The Switching Season Did you know? A 2016 study in the  Archives of Surgery medical journal showed that surgeons with a history of playing computer games made 37% fewer errors at work. May your days be filled with peace, hope, and joy this holiday season. As always, thank you for your business, loyalty, and support. MONTHLY UPDATE FROM DAVID Here we go then. Come on 2021. After what we went through last year, we’re not scared of you at all! I do wonder what big changes businesses round here will face this year. I reckon we saw at least 5 to 10 years of business change happen in 2020. Certainly, in terms of people working remotely, and businesses setting up their IT so anyone could work anywhere on any device. These were already trends that were just accelerated dramatically by the virus. The risk of ransomware is one worrying trend. This is the most terrifying type of cyber-attack. It’s where hackers lock away your data, in a way it’s virtually impossible to recover. They only give it back to you when you cough up a ransom. Trust me, you should fear ransomware. We’ve seen some horrendous attacks. The more you can do to prepare and secure your business, the better. A more positive trend is the use of big data in a business. There are some amazing tools available for any size of business to analyze and leverage data. Even good old Excel is a powerful data crunching tool these days. And can help you make better decisions. I’d always love to talk about your business. You can reach me at dprince@databranch.com or 716-373-4467 x 12.   Until then, stay safe, David Prince President - Databranch

AI Will Affect Every Business In The Years Ahead, Even Yours Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn and adapt their behavior as they gain experience. The code that powers AI gets smarter and smarter as it's exposed to more data and scenarios. As computers have developed more processing power, AI has become useful in lots of different ways. We believe every business will be using some form of AI in the years ahead.

AI is reshaping what's possible in business AI is already being applied in many different industries to carry out a range of specific tasks; with more and more use cases expected to emerge over the coming years as the technology gets more sophisticated. AI is embraced by businesses because it can make their products and processes much smarter. It can also save lots of time and remove the need for employees to do repetitive, manual tasks. Using AI can optimize existing business processes and result in a significant boost in how your business performs. A key feature of many AI applications is the ability to process huge amounts of data very quickly. This can give you real-time insights into opportunities and challenges as they occur. Plus, the information can help you plan with more clarity.

How is AI being used today? While many types of businesses are using AI to improve a wide range of processes in a variety of different settings, banking, retail, and healthcare offer good examples of how AI can be used. Many online retailers use AI to offer personalized shopping recommendations. These recommendation algorithms analyze data on previous clicks and purchases. The more recommendations are tailored to your personal tastes… the more you end up buying. With a huge number of transactions flowing through the global financial system each day, banks are increasingly relying on machine learning and AI to automatically detect fraud. Working in real-time, AI helps banks to block dodgy transactions before they happen. This is key as stolen money can be difficult to track down and get back once it has left the victim’s account. Artificial intelligence is also transforming healthcare. By giving medical professionals accurate data and insights, they can work faster while providing high-quality care to more patients. It also helps doctors make better treatment decisions and diagnose patients with increased speed and accuracy. AI can help to encourage healthy living by coaching people on actions they can take to improve their health. For example, a smartwatch may learn an individual’s behavior patterns and send well-timed notifications to start exercising if it notices they’ve been sitting still for too long.

So, this is all well and good for big businesses... but how will you use AI in YOUR business? The chances are that you’re already using some form of AI in your business. It’s increasingly built into the software that we all rely on every day. But are you taking full advantage of what’s available? As a business, we track the latest applications that use AI to help protect us from cybercrime. And help staff collaborate and communicate better; to get their jobs done faster. Let’s talk about the latest smart applications that can help you.

If Your IT Support Wasn't Good Enough Last Year, This Is The Switching Season How satisfied are you with your IT support team? How well did they look after you last year? With the pandemic forcing massive urgent technology changes for millions of businesses, the quality of their IT support contributed to whether businesses thrived, survived, or struggled last year. The start of a new year is an opportunity to plan and change. With the hope that 2021 won’t be as destabilizing as 2020 was. A key element of your success will be making sure that you’re working with the right people to support your growth. If your business needs better IT support from someone you can partner with, now’s the time to switch.

But you must be clear on why you're switching Before looking for a new IT partner to work with, you must first be clear why you’re looking to move away. Is your current IT company difficult to get hold of? Do they take too long to fix problems? Are they not proactive enough to stop problems happening in the first place? Make a list of issues you’ve faced. And speak openly with your prospective new IT partner about what went wrong. Clarity on the problems you faced with the last company will help make sure you pick the right partner for the future.

Switching IT partners is a lot easier than you think The first thing to check is your contract. How long are you tied in, and how simple is it to bring it to a close? Much of the risk and complexity around making the change can be reduced by having open conversations with both your old and new IT support partner. You’ll want them to work together to do an effective handover. And allow your new partner to clear up any outstanding problems or complicated situations that are holding back your business. Switching IT partners may be the best decision you make for your business this year. Obviously, we’d love to talk to you if you’re thinking of switching. Let’s set up a no obligation video call and you can tell us all about your business.

WE LOVE REFERRALS The greatest gift anyone can give us is a referral to your friends. Referrals help us keep costs down so we can pass the savings to our clients. If your friend ends up becoming a client - we’ll gift them their free first month of service (for being a friend of yours) AND we’ll gift you a $100 Amazon Gift Voucher. Simply introduce me via email (dprince@databranch.com) and I’ll take it from there. I personally promise we’ll look after your friend’s business with a high level of care and attention (just like we do with all our clients).

Technology Trivia The first known selfie was taken in 1839 by American photographer Robert Cornelius. How long did he need to stand still while the picture was taken?  Clue: it's too long to comfortable maintain a pout.   The first person to email us at info@databranch.com and give a correct answer gets a $25 Amazon Gift Card 🤓

NEED A LAUGH? Never use ‘beefstew’ as a password. It’s just not stroganoff

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