Your IT Support Experts - Homepage

We partner with many types of businesses in the area, and strive to eliminate IT issues before they cause expensive downtime, so you can continue to drive your business forward. Our dedicated staff loves seeing our clients succeed. Your success is our success, and as you grow, we grow.

Home

About Us

IT Services

Understanding IT

News

Blog

Contact Us

Support

(703) 359-9211

Free Consultation

Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Contact us to see how we can help you! Sign Up Today

Macro Systems Blog

Macro Systems has been serving the Metro Washington, DC area since 1997, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Twitter Can Be a Valuable Business Asset

b2ap3_thumbnail_twittastic_400.jpgDespite the fact that 255 million people use Twitter, some businesses want nothing to do with it. They see it as little more than a waste of time. However, these anti-Twitter activists fail to realize that the social media outlet has an unmistakably large influence in the marketing industry. Unlike Facebook, Twitter gives you the opportunity to customize your audience to suit the precise needs of your business, and the best part of this is that it’s completely free.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Alaskan Healthcare Organization Hit with Huge Fine for HIPAA Violation

b2ap3_thumbnail_fines_imposed_for_hipaa_400.jpgAmerican healthcare organizations must store and exchange patient data in ways that comply with the HIPAA law, or else face hefty fines. One mental health service in Alaska recently learned this lesson the hard way after being hit with a $150,000 fine. Is your healthcare organization’s IT infrastructure 100 percent HIPAA compliant?

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: How to Exercise at the Office

b2ap3_thumbnail_exercise_at_work_400.jpgIt’s 2015, and if you have made any New Year’s resolutions, there’s a good chance that “getting more exercise” is on your list. Can’t find time to exercise because you’re stuck in an office all day? Don’t let that stop you. Here are some tips to help you exercise, even while you’re at work.

0 Comments
Continue reading

If You Sense There’s a Better Way to Do Something, You’re Probably Right

b2ap3_thumbnail_ideas_for_business_community_400.jpgHave you ever found yourself neck deep in a major business project and nothing seemed to be working? In times like these you may have thrown up your hands and said, “There must be a better way to do this!” Often times there is, and it’s in the form of new technology. Is your current IT provider familiar with the latest technologies that can make operations easier for your business?

0 Comments
Continue reading

An IT Christmas Carol

b2ap3_thumbnail_an_it_christmas_carol_400.jpgA technology-based parody of the classic Christmas story, “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens.

Once upon a time, in a land not much different from this one, there lived a business owner. His name was Scrooge. He wasn’t an unlikable fellow; jolly and cheerful at any glance, his smile could light up the darkness in anyone’s life. Yet, when the winter months arrived, and a chilled wind blew across the land, so too did a fell gust freeze his heart. It was time to figure out why his systems were hacked (again), and he knew it would be an expensive endeavor. How he hated managing his IT.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Lizard Squad DDoS Attacks Lead to Internet Outages in Sweden, and More

b2ap3_thumbnail_ddos_lizard_squad_400.jpgIn the past, we’ve been known to go into detail about threats, vulnerabilities, and how to protect your business while online. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks aren’t new in the technology world, but notorious hacking group Lizard Squad has somehow managed to take out Internet service for much of Sweden with a faulty DDoS attack; an unprecedented feat, especially for a ragtag group of irate gamers.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Pluto Mail Makes it Possible to Unsend an Email

b2ap3_thumbnail_pluto_mail_flexibility_400.jpgFor those with weak stomachs, it’s not recommended to go back and read an email that was just sent. In doing so, a spelling or grammar error is likely to be found, which will cause one’s stomach to turn and fill with regret. If only there was a do-over button. Thanks to the new app called Pluto Mail, there is one.

0 Comments
Continue reading

3 Businesses That Manage Other Businesses on Your Behalf

b2ap3_thumbnail_business_to_business_management_400.jpgWe offer a handy IT service called vendor management. This is where we resolve technology issues on behalf of your business by coordinating with vendors to provide a fix, even if it lies outside the realms of our expertise. You may not realize it, but you actually use vendor management services for other everyday aspects of your life.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: How to Safely Shop Online

b2ap3_thumbnail_safe_holiday_shopping_400.jpgThe holiday shopping season is upon us and more people are choosing to shop from the comforts of their home PC or mobile device rather than fight the crowds. Shopping online is super convenient, but it’s not without the risk of identity theft. The best way to protect your digital shopping cart from hackers is to know how to safely shop online. We’ll show you how.

0 Comments
Continue reading

HIPAA Protects Patient Privacy

b2ap3_thumbnail_hipaa_protects_you_400.jpgThis subject isn’t very interesting outside of hospital administrators… or for hospital administrators, but there’s no denying that healthcare is one of the most important industries in our society today; and one that is having a technology overhaul at present. The influx of cheaper and more powerful technology is surely going to be a driving force for healthcare in the 21st century. Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), the United States government has followed the lead of other Western nations in forcing entities to upgrade their healthcare practice’s information technology for the betterment of patients, insurers, and health care providers.

0 Comments
Continue reading

One Failed Restaurant Shows Us Why it’s Vital to Be Listed Correctly on Google Places

b2ap3_thumbnail_google_places_400.jpgWhen a dining establishment goes out of business, it usually doesn’t make the news. After all, running a restaurant is a risky endeavor. However, for one Washington D.C. eatery, it’s blaming its failure a Google Places mishap, which makes you think twice about how important it is for your business to have its online information properly displayed.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: 5 Ways to Extend Your WiFi Signal

b2ap3_thumbnail_wifi_extention_400.jpgToday, having a strong WiFi signal is critical. You need a reliable signal for every part of your home, office, and even outside the building. Is your wireless signal strong in some areas and spotty in others? Would your life be immensely easier if your signal extended for just one or two more rooms? For this week’s tip, here’s how you can extend your WiFi signal.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Check Out These 5 Crazy Mobile Contraptions from 2004

b2ap3_thumbnail_crazy_old_mobile_400.jpgTen years ago, the world was a different place. In the technology world, Gmail was first introduced, and North Korea banned mobile phones. But while North Korea banned them, just south across the country’s border was the ITU Telecom Asia expo in Busan, South Korea, where the future of the mobile phone was bright. How did they think the cell phone of the future would pan out?

0 Comments
Continue reading

Microsoft Fixes Vulnerability Going All the Way Back to Windows 95

b2ap3_thumbnail_vulverability_fixed_400.jpgWell, better late than never.
This is to be said of Microsoft after they recently patched a security flaw that’s come with every generation of its operating systems going all the way back to Windows 95.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Why a Digital Scanner Should Be at the Top of Your Shopping List

b2ap3_thumbnail_document_scanner_400.jpgThis holiday season, upon witnessing the aftermath of opening exchanged presents, you may look across the sea of wrapping paper strewn across your living room and say to yourself, “There’s just way too much paper in my life right now.” If one of those boxes contains a digital scanner, then you’ve got everything you need to take back your life from the throngs of paper.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: How to Take the Sting Out of Downtime

b2ap3_thumbnail_downtime_boom_400.jpgEvery office worker knows that downtime experienced from a technology issue can totally derail the day’s productivity. However, one thing that office managers might not be aware of is how, in a downtime event, it’s possible to divert a worker’s energy so that productivity still happens on some level, which helps take the sting out of downtime.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Darkcoin: Anonymous Cryptocurrency for the Paranoid… and the Criminal

b2ap3_thumbnail_darkcoin_400.jpgThe world of online currency is a strange, bizarre realm. While it’s designed for online transactions, it has gone from the somewhat useful (Bitcoin) to just plain silly (Dogecoin). However, there’s now an anonymous cryptocurrency available for use called Darkcoin, which attempts to make online transactions more difficult to trace.

0 Comments
Continue reading

IT Notifications Are Important Too!

b2ap3_thumbnail_notifications_delivery_400.jpgIt’s important to keep your communications plans organized, but it’s especially important for your IT department to keep in touch with other parts of your business. If a fatal problem shows its face, you want to make sure that they are there to fix it. In order to prevent these situations, plan out your IT communications strategy in detail, and stick to it.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: How to Stay Productive Even When You Feel Sick

b2ap3_thumbnail_under_the_weather_productivity_400.jpgIt doesn’t matter how extraordinary your business skills are; eventually, your body begins to catch up with you and you’re hit with a storm of illness that no painkillers or medication can quell. In this case, it’s often better to quarantine yourself to your home and take it easy for the day. But, that doesn't mean that you can’t be productive at the same time.

0 Comments
Continue reading

How Will Future Technologies Change Two-Factor Authentication?

b2ap3_thumbnail_two_factor_authentication_400.jpgIn these times, passwords are losing their effectiveness. Hackers can now input millions of passwords every second to crack your code. Even now, professionals are working on new solutions which can jumpstart online security. While using a password is still an ideal choice, there are plenty of other options that are being discussed in the two-factor authentication field.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Customer Login


Contact Us

Learn more about what Macro Systems can do for your business.

(703) 359-9211

Macro Systems
3867 Plaza Drive
Fairfax, Virginia 22030