Still on Windows 10? What a Maine Small Business Should Do Before 2027

Short answer: Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025. Consumer security updates were extended in June 2026 and now run to October 12, 2027, but…
Why Your Business Needs Managed IT Services (and When It Doesn’t)

Short answer: a business needs managed IT services when a day without email or files costs real money, when nobody can say for certain that backups work and…
Are Cloud Services Right for Your Business? A Decision Guide for Maine Small Businesses

Short answer: for most Maine small businesses, email, calendars, documents and the common line-of-business apps belong in the cloud (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace plus a cloud server…
What Network Monitoring Actually Watches (and Why Small Businesses Need It)

Short answer: network monitoring means a small software agent on every computer, server and network device reports its health around the clock to a system that alerts a…
Business Wi-Fi Done Right: How to Design a Wireless Network for a Maine Office, Shop or Clinic

Short answer: a good business Wi-Fi network has business-grade access points placed by a site survey (roughly one per 1,500 to 2,500 square feet of open office, more…
The One Setting That Stops Most Email Hacks: Multi-Factor Authentication

Short answer: turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for every email account in the business, using an authenticator app or a passkey rather than text-message codes. A phished or…
Moving Your Business? The IT Checklist for an Office Move in Greater Portland

Short answer: start the IT side of an office move eight weeks out, because business internet in Greater Portland can take four to six weeks to install and…
How Much Should a Small Business Budget for IT? Three Things Every Plan Needs

Short answer: published benchmarks put total technology spending at roughly 3 to 7 percent of revenue for small businesses, with the share depending on how dependent the business…
Deleted Doesn’t Mean Gone: How to Wipe a Computer or Phone Before You Sell or Recycle It

Short answer: deleting files and emptying the trash leaves the data on the drive, recoverable with free software. Before a computer or phone leaves your possession, either run…
The Small Business Security Baseline: 8 Controls Every Maine Office Needs

Short answer: a small business is reasonably protected when eight controls are in place: multi-factor authentication on email and remote access, scheduled patching, managed endpoint protection on every…