Preferred Blog

For many small and mid-sized businesses, cybersecurity once felt like something for the “big guys.” You had antivirus software, ran updates occasionally, and assumed your data was too small to attract attention. But that illusion is gone.

Today, cybersecurity is no longer optional; it’s essential for survival. Cyberattacks on SMBs have exploded, insurance and compliance requirements have tightened, and one data breach can derail years of hard work.

If you’re still treating security as an afterthought, it’s time to rethink your strategy.

For most law firms, compliance feels like a necessary headache, something you manage just to avoid penalties, not something that helps you win clients. But what if the very systems and safeguards you put in place to stay compliant could also become one of your strongest differentiators?

When implemented strategically, compliance does more than keep regulators happy. It can demonstrate your firm’s professionalism, build trust with clients, and even enhance your operational efficiency.

In a profession where reputation and confidentiality are everything, compliance offers necessary defense and, the way we see it, opportunity.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI, UNITED STATES, December 3, 2025 -- Preferred Communication Systems (Preferred), a leading provider of Managed IT and Cybersecurity services headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, proudly announced the acquisition of Business System Solutions’ (BSS) Grand Rapids location.

This strategic acquisition enhances Preferred’s presence in the Midwest and strengthens its commitment to helping small and mid-sized businesses achieve peace of mind and a better bottom line through technology.

“We are excited to welcome the Grand Rapids team into the Preferred family,” said Christine Arden, COO and Co-Founder of Preferred. “This acquisition allows us to expand regionally while continuing to deliver high-quality cybersecurity solutions and customized IT. It underscores our commitment to exceptional client service and positions us to meet the evolving technology needs of our clients with greater scale and expertise.”

BSS’s Grand Rapids branch has a strong reputation for serving local businesses with managed IT solutions. By joining Preferred, clients in Grand Rapids and the surrounding area will gain access to a broader range of technology services and strategic solutions.

“Preferred’s proactive approach, compliance expertise, and proven track record will bring significant value to our Grand Rapids clients,” said Bill Ooms, founder of Business System Solutions. “We’re proud to see this branch join a company that shares our values and our vision of empowering businesses through technology.”

The acquisition of BSS’s Grand Rapids operations is effective immediately, with integration efforts already underway. All key BSS employees remain in place, ensuring continuity and a consistent customer experience.

We all have too many accounts nowadays. Between our personal lives, work, and practically all the entertainment we consume, there are dozens to keep track of and manage… and then there are the ones that charge us for a service they offer. The stacking costs of these services are bad enough, but if you see them start to double or even triple in a given month, you may be experiencing a common problem that is simple enough to solve.

To do so, we need to clarify the difference between creating an account and logging in.

Cybersecurity and compliance? They are inseparable from growth.

Regulatory standards like HIPAA, FINRA, and CMMC II demand more than technology. Especially if you’re in an industry like financial services, healthcare, or DoD contracting, regulatory standards require strategy.

It’s a symbol that we’ve all become familiar with in recent years: three horizontal lines, representing the menu of whatever application or website is currently in use. Sometimes appearing as three dots, this little icon can be surprisingly important for both the end user and the business using it… especially now that mobile devices are so commonly used for browsing (early this year, 64% of all website traffic was observed to come from these devices).

Here's a horrifying thought: Imagine your beautiful office has 50 hardworking employees... but only one tiny, single-stall bathroom. It's chaos. There's a line down the hall, all day. Productivity grinds to a halt. It's a classic bottleneck, and it’s completely unnecessary.

Here's the hard truth: This is exactly what’s happening to your business’ data right now. You’re paying your ISP for a super-fast Internet connection, but you’re forcing all that crucial business data through a flimsy, $50 consumer-grade router; you’re going to find out it’s not up for the job.

If there’s one truth we’ve learned supporting businesses for over two decades, it’s this: cybersecurity isn’t just an IT issue, it’s a people issue. That’s why over 90% of cyber attacks use social engineering to gain access into systems and user accounts.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a solution that has grown more popular over the past decade or so, primarily because more employees already own devices capable of running work-related applications. The employee gets to use a device they already know and love, while the employer saves money from the cost of equipping that employee. That said, the security risks associated with BYOD can undermine an ill-prepared implementation and open the door to potential legal action.

Have you ever considered investing in smart technology for your office? We’re talking, of course, about the smart appliances, lights, thermostats, and so on, all of which make your office feel like you stepped into a sci-fi movie. As IT experts, it would be wrong for us to let you implement all these shiny new solutions without considering the security implications.

Our question to you is this: are you willing to leave glaring security weaknesses in your infrastructure for the sake of being considered “high-tech?” We hope the answer is an emphatic “no.”

When an employee leaves your business, they go through (or they should, at least) a comprehensive offboarding process where you collect their keys, laptops, and other assets you gave them to do their jobs. You may have collected these physical keys, but certainly not their digital keys. You might still see them pop up in the instant messaging app, or you might find recent activity from their account in your shared drive, all of which is problematic.

If you’re not careful, ex-employees might still be using company resources for their own personal use, and this can create a serious security risk for your business—not to mention the legal ramifications should anything bad happen.

Cryptocurrency has brought about innovative new technology for use in the business world, but it’s also created more headaches, primarily due to ransomware. With ransomware, a malicious entity can lock down your computer files and demand a cryptocurrency ransom in exchange for your data’s safe return. So, why is cryptocurrency the chosen currency for these kinds of transactions?

Many small businesses don’t think about HIPAA until it’s too late. Yet if your organization handles or even touches protected health information (PHI), from patient records to insurance data, you’re subject to HIPAA’s security and privacy rules.

That includes medical practices, wellness startups, law firms, and even marketing agencies serving healthcare clients. For many, compliance feels complex or out of reach, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right structure, HIPAA readiness becomes part of your everyday operations, not an occasional scramble.

This guide outlines what every small business should know, along with a practical checklist to help you build and maintain HIPAA compliance with confidence.

So, you’ve added an antivirus to your business’ cybersecurity protections. That’s great—it’s an essential element of the comprehensive defenses that a modern business needs. However, it is important that the antivirus you’re relying on is, in fact, reliable.

Let’s go over how not all antivirus tools are the same, and what makes it so important to implement one that meets your business’ needs and protects against the threats you would otherwise have to deal with.

Let me ask you something: how well does your current IT support function?

If your first instinct is to say something vaguely positive, like “good” or “fine,” you’re probably missing out on significant benefits that could come from a more immersive and fleshed-out service delivery, rather than a stopgap meant to preserve the status quo. If your provider has never asked you about the future and your goals for it, it may be time to seek what else is out there.

With the rise of generative AI infiltrating pretty much every sector of society, it’s no wonder that businesses are finding creative new ways to use it for their gain. However, you need to be especially careful when using generative AI in the workplace. Today, we want to cover three common no-no’s that your business should keep in mind as it navigates the wild landscape that is AI.

Remember tape backup? For some SMBs who have moved on, this form of data backup is a clunky and frustrating relic of the past. But if you aren’t remembering it and are instead still dealing with it, you might be experiencing some operational frustrations of your own. Today, we want to cover a better solution—one that takes the unpredictability out of business continuity.

The horror genre has always been a means of shining a light on society's fears and concerns, often using metaphor to convey its message. In the spirit of the holiday, let’s consider some of the films over the years that have used artificial intelligence to teach us lessons through the ever-so-effective format of fear.

Every growing business reaches a crossroads: keep reacting to IT problems as they come or get ahead of them.

For many small and midsized organizations, that choice determines far more than just uptime. It defines how productive your people can be, how confident your clients feel about your security, and how fast your company can grow.

Multitasking is a common thing for today’s workers, and so is having multiple tabs open in your web browser. You might even have multiple different apps running simultaneously, which can make you feel like you have to constantly close one window to open another. Well, no more. You can use Smart Windows (also known as Snap Windows) to place two or more side-by-side and enhance your productivity.