Tip of the Week: 3 Best Practices to Organize Your Files and Devices

It can be hard to accomplish work in a timely manner when your technology is a haphazard mess. To help with this, we’re devoting this week’s tip to three ways you can improve workflow by organizing your technology.

Make Sure Your Files Are Where They Need To Be
How do you organize your files? Is your desktop filled to the brim with icons, making it nearly impossible to find what it is you are looking for? This isn’t an unusual problem, but it is one that needs to be fixed in order to simplify your workflow, especially if you utilize an on premise shared network drive. In order to avoid misplaced files, wasted time, and general confusion, it’s best to educate every user on proper protocol for storing and sharing files before they access the shared drive.

For help with establishing an organized approach to file sharing that fits your company’s workflow, give Horne & Benik a call at (603) 499-4400. Our trained IT technicians understand the ins and outs of computer networking, and can set up a system that maximizes efficiency, productivity, and communication. This includes backing up your files in order to safeguard your company from data loss.

Delete Unnecessary Programs and Applications
It’s the nature of doing business for computers to accumulate programs over time, and for some of these programs to fall out of use as they’re replaced by better software. In order to keep your system clear of clutter, it’s in your company’s best interest to remove unused and unnecessary programs from your network.

Also, following through with such a move helps improve your company’s security, seeing as you won’t have outdated apps on your network that don’t get updated (a major security risk). In order to safeguard your network from such a risk, we recommend performing regular network audits. Horne & Benik can assist you with this too.

Keep Track and Get Rid of Unused Devices
Like software, mobile devices tend to be replaced by new and improved versions every so often. When you get a new device, what do you do with the old one? While you’ve got several options of what you can do with it (like repurposing it for a different need or keeping it on hand as a backup device), there are two fates that you don’t want for your old friend; losing track of it and disposing of it improperly. Devices that were once used for company purposes may have sensitive data still stored on them, or, just as bad, company-used apps that can access sensitive accounts without need of a password. You also don’t want to just chuck an old mobile device in the trash, seeing as computing technologies are made up of materials that are bad for the environment. Plus, if there is still a shred of company data on a trashed device, then you’ll have no idea of its fate once the trash man carries it away.

For help retiring an old device by wiping it clean of all company data, as well as recycling a device the right way so the environment isn’t harmed, Horne & Benik is standing by to assist you.

Now that your devices and files are in order, you will experience the benefits of a workflow that’s more organized and more productive. Call us today at (603) 499-4400 for assistance with all of your company’s technology needs.