Macro Systems Blog

A change is happening in the White House. Mikey Dickerson, a Google site reliability engineer, has just been appointed by the United States government as the deputy federal CIO, proving that even the big wigs need consulting from time-to-time.

We recently covered net neutrality and all of the threats that could compromise our right to indiscriminate Internet service, but a new development concerning 21st Century Fox and Time Warner might be one of the most scary situations yet. In a $80 billion bid, 21st Century Fox attempted a takeover of the media supergiant.

The open office is convenient for a number of reasons. It is far more space-efficient, and it makes collaboration easier among coworkers. However, did you know that the open office can make people worse at their jobs? In 2002, a study in the journal Environment and Behavior tracked employees as they were moved from a private office to the open office, and the results were less than desirable.

Unless you have been vigilant about covering your digital tracks, you’ve likely got your personal information floating all over cyberspace and it’s being used for who knows what. Most of this personal data is used for marketing purposes, but hackers like to get in on the data-collecting action too. Being aware of how your personal data is collected is the first step towards getting a handle on it.

Paid time off is somewhat of an anomaly to the business owner. They don’t want to provide too little and destroy morale, yet they don’t want to lose capital by providing too much to their employees. It might seem strange to suggest unlimited paid time off, but according to some business owners, it might be a quality solution to this dilemma, with enough care put into its integration.

Network security entails a ton of different procedures, and it can be easy to lose track of what you’ve already implemented, and what still needs to be done. Instead of worrying about keeping your business’s confidential data safe, know with certainty that it’s as secure as possible by following our security checklist.

Big data is changing the way that the world works. Businesses are looking at big data to discover new trends in various industries. Additionally, big data is being applied to maintain the health of both humans and the environment, including the endangered rainforests.

When you first considered starting your own business, you thought nothing could possibly go wrong. You had so much hope for the future. But, things are a lot more complicated than that. You start to think the worst - your business is failing, and you don’t know what to do about it. When times get hard, do you throw in the towel, or persevere?

We all like to think that our businesses are the most influential in our chosen field. However, the true scope of how true this is, lies not only in your expertise, but also with your clients. If they aren’t satisfied, you can be sure that this fact will reflect itself in your sales figures.

We live in a world where money is the solution to all problems. If you have a problematic piece of technology, what do you do to fix it? You can call in the professionals, or shell out for new hardware or software. Either way, you’re spending money, but the difference in how much you need to spend depends on the policies your IT support budget specifies.

When it seems like every idea has already been patented or brought to fruition, that’s a key indicator that innovation in your company is lacking. Traditionally, advancements in business technology have driven innovation for companies. If your company’s innovation well is running dry, then there are measures that your business can take to become more innovative.

If there’s one thing that our extremely technical society has evolved into, it’s one where technology is always striving to improve itself. This is especially important for businesses that are looking to maximize the return on investment they get from their hardware and software. Do you know where your organization concentrates its resources for tech upgrades?

When it comes to your business’s data security, there can be no room for error. October is Cyber Security Month, so there’s no better time to ensure that your business is taking all of the proper precautions to maximize security protocol. However, there’s an often-forgotten aspect of cybersecurity called employee risk management, and it’s more complex than you might think.

Few people like going to meetings. Yet, there seems to be no way around them. The key to having a successful meeting is to run it as efficiently as possible. Unfortunately, according to a recent study by Blue Jeans Network, meetings are becoming much less productive.

What’s your reaction to your mobile device beeping at you? If you’re the kind of person that drops everything to see what it says, then you’re probably way more distracted at work than you should be. It’s a bad habit to look at your phone every minute or two, but with hard work, habits can be broken. Here are three actions you can take to minimize workplace distractions so you can be more productive.

The technological landscape of the office environment has evolved significantly over the past few years, especially in terms of technology that fosters inter-office collaboration. What could only be accomplished by sitting down together in the same room, can now be done remotely through the use of video conferencing and VoIP technologies. It’s a true golden age of business technology achievement, and if your business isn’t fully leveraging your communications technology, you’ll quickly fall behind.

The continuity of your business should be a major priority, especially considering how the livelihood of yourself and your employees is on the line. Believe it or not, there are some organizations out there that don’t give a second thought to the preservation of their data and critical assets. Therefore, it’s clear that you need to pay proper attention to how your organization handles problems like natural disasters, data loss, hacking attacks, and other hazardous incidents.

The most recent edition to the Windows family of operating systems, Windows 10, offers several new features that appeal to business owners. Yet, many businesses are still skeptical about adopting it for their entire infrastructure. Still, there’s good news abound for Microsoft’s OS, as compared to the unpopular Windows 8, Windows 10 is being tested on twice as many computers following its release date.

Technology is a wondrous thing, allowing your business to achieve greatness and change the way you approach business. However, it has also brought about an extremely wasteful society that tosses old technology aside in favor of the latest and greatest devices. This is a habit that society has yet to break, but it’s not too late to do the right thing and commit your business to environmentally-friendly practices.

Many businesses see the value in allowing their team to work remotely, which sounds great on paper. Workers don’t have to be at the office to get work done, so long as they have an Internet connection. Most important of all, though, is how much money a business can save by allowing its workers to work remotely. Thus, the primary objective should be to make it as easy as possible for remote workers to perform their jobs.