What You’ll Learn:

1. Infrastructure
o What to expect from your internet service provider (ISP) –
When paying for internet, a major factor is speed. We will address bandwidth and how to measure what you are getting as opposed to what you should expect.

 o Optimize network speed –
We will address optimization of home networks answering questions like “Why can I stream YouTube, but all of my Zoom calls are choppy?” We will also give some general guidelines on how to get more with what you have.

 o Expand the reach of your WI-FI –
There are times that you can see your neighbor’s wi-fi signal on your computer better than you see your own. We will discuss why this might be, things you can measure, and some hardware that might give you a better signal than your neighbor.

 2. Reliability
o PC optimization strategies –
The best way to know if your computer is running well is to first measure its speed. We will talk about benchmarking so that you can measure your performance gains.

 o Windows tools to ensure reliability –
We will take a look at the new tools in Microsoft Windows to quickly see its reliability and what is causing crashes.

o Hardware considerations –
It is often enticing to consider throwing out your current system and buying something new. There are hardware upgrade considerations that you may want to consider first. As well as making sure that your current computer setup (physically) allows your computer to fight its greatest enemy…heat.

3. Safety
o Business continuity considerations –
According to the US Small Business Administration, 90% of companies will fail within two years of a disaster. There are many factors that any business must overcome after catastrophic event, but losing all data may make this recovery seem insurmountable. We will touch on backup, cloud, and cybersecurity to mitigate these risks before an event happens.

o Protect your computer from malware –
Just keeping things up and running can be a struggle in itself but add to the fact that your network is under constant attack from hackers, bots, and (possible) employee malfeasance.

In the past couple of years there have been stories about a business being hacked through an internet thermometer in a fish tank as well as numerous stories about ransomware and data breaches. While these attacks seem targeted the biggest risk is not having any protection in the wild landscape that is the internet. There having been numerous experiments in which computers have been placed on non-secure connection to the internet without protections, and they were loaded with malware within minutes…even seconds…by bots that are constantly looking for victims. We will touch on malware and viruses expand your understanding of the threat.

All of these items will be discussed as an overview of areas, as a decision maker, to consider when preparing for employees to work from home. The goal is that you will be able to leave with prioritization for your immediate technology roadmap. There will be time at the end for Q&A.