Preferred Blog

Today, few topics are generating as much buzz right now as Artificial Intelligence. It's a concept that can feel both futuristic and, at times, a little intimidating. What if I told you that AI is already working behind the scenes in many businesses, acting as the most efficient, data-driven coworker you've ever had?

Have you ever received an email that just felt…off? Maybe it promised a prize you didn't enter to win, or it tried to scare you into thinking your account was in trouble? That’s likely a "phishing" scam, and it's one of the most common tricks thieves use on the internet.

For business owners, your most critical assets aren’t your office or your inventory; it’s your data. Every client list, financial record, and strategic plan forms the makeup of your company. Protecting this data, due to its importance, isn't just an IT issue—it's an essential business function.

In business, it’s tempting to think, if it's not broken, don't fix it. This is especially true for technology. Your computers turn on, emails go out, and things seem to work… so why bother with constant maintenance?

What if I told you this safe approach is actually draining your profits? It’s a hidden expense, and understanding it can completely change how you see your IT.

As you prepare to travel, remember that your digital security strategy needs to be as agile as you are. While advice like using strong, unique passwords and employing a VPN on unsecured Wi-Fi are helpful, professional data on the move has grown more complex. Today, we offer key security strategies that go beyond the usual to help you travel with greater digital confidence.

Every business owner understands the concept that time is money, but are you one of the few who know exactly how and where it is chipping away at your bottom line? One thing that is often cited is productivity, or often, the lack thereof. We believe that understanding these numbers is the first step to mastering them.

You’re on your second coffee, but the gears just aren’t grinding. You know the feeling. Sometimes, it isn’t that you lack motivation, it’s that where you are working isn’t conducive to productivity. A well-optimized workspace, not just in your physical setup, but in your digital organization, can improve productivity and efficiency of tasks immediately.

We’ve all felt that mini-panic that happens when our personal technology glitches. Not a great feeling. That’s just if your microwave is on the fritz, or your smartphone fell in the toilet. We all depend on multiple devices each day, but for a business owner who is responsible for so much, technology failure really isn’t an option. This month, we thought we’d go into how technology outages can impact a business to give you a better perspective of just how much is at stake.

If you’re like most professionals today, you know that writing emails can be a surprisingly time-consuming task. You want to sound professional but not stiff, friendly but not casual, clear but not robotic. What’s more, when your inbox is already overflowing, the last thing you want is to stare at a blinking cursor trying to craft the perfect response.

Is the steady hum of your office printer the soundtrack to shrinking profits? For many businesses, the hidden costs associated with printing—paper, ink, toner, maintenance, and even the time employees spend managing physical documents—add up to a significant expense.

At Preferred, we specialize in proactive business technology support, and we often see companies bleeding money through unnecessary printing. There is a powerful solution: a Document Management System (DMS).

Cyberattacks aren't just something that happens to other people, they’re a real-world threat to businesses, individuals, and even governments. Hackers are smart, sneaky, and persistent. The good news is that with a little strategic effort, you don't have to be helpless. Employing the right habits and strategies can help make it very hard for hackers to mess with you. In this month’s newsletter, we talk about how to get better at keeping hackers out of your network.

Support for the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system is coming to an end, so let's talk about something crucial for your business technology: upgrading as soon as possible. Microsoft has officially set the date: October 14, 2025. After this day, mainstream support for Windows 10 concludes. While that might seem like a comfortable distance away, in terms of IT planning and business operations, it's practically tomorrow. Waiting is not a strategy; planning is.

Starting a new business is an exciting journey, but making the right technology choices is crucial for long-term success. A solid IT plan ensures smooth operations, security, and scalability. This month, we teach you some ways you can go about building one.

Most of us use our internet browser every single day without thinking twice. Open tab, type something, click stuff, maybe panic a little when 42 tabs are open. Your browser can actually do a lot more for you, including saving you time and keeping you organized. This month, we thought we’d give you three browser tips that can seriously help you.

Your Point of Sale (POS) system does more than ring up sales, it’s the control center that keeps your entire operation running. From processing payments to managing inventory and generating reports, it plays a vital role in your daily business flow. Like any technology, a POS system can get old, glitchy, or just fall behind. If you’ve been questioning whether yours is still doing the job, here are five clear signs that it’s time to move on and upgrade to something better.

Cyberthreats aren’t just occasional inconveniences, especially nowadays. They are constant, evolving, and some are so highly sophisticated that you can hardly blame yourself if you fall victim to them. This is why proactivity is so important. Businesses that take a reactive approach to cybersecurity find themselves in a never-ending cycle of damage control. Without a purposeful cybersecurity strategy, any organization faces recurring breaches, data loss, and ultimately a situation where customer distrust can result in the company's financial ruin. This month, we thought we would take a look at why having a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that addresses these risks is so critical for the modern business to accomplish.

Businesses run on collaboration, and thanks to technology, working together has never been easier. The right tools can make all the difference, helping teams communicate better, stay organized, and keep projects moving forward. Let’s go into the aspects that make some of the key collaboration tools businesses are using today work.

Imagine owning an elevator that you would only service if it broke down? Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, that’s exactly what businesses do when they rely on a break/fix IT strategy.

Break/fix IT means waiting until something goes wrong before calling in the experts. While this might seem like a cost-saving move, in reality, it’s a fast track to frustration, downtime, and lost revenue. Let’s break down why this approach makes no sense in today’s business world.

Absolutely nobody likes dealing with passwords. They’re annoying, hard to remember, and yet, somehow, hackers seem to have no problem cracking them. That’s where password managers come in. They take the stress out of remembering a hundred different logins while keeping your business secure. If you’re still relying on sticky notes or using the same password for everything so you can remember it, it’s time to make the switch.

Artificial intelligence is taking over enterprise computing. So much so that there is some degree of cynicism among CIOs and other technology leaders about what exactly AI can do for them. The reality is that AI can do some pretty remarkable things and is advancing pretty quickly, but if you are expecting it to transform your business with minimal effort, you might be in for a rude awakening. This month, we want to take a look at how AI is beneficial for businesses and what to expect from the technology in the near future.