Consulting Archives

June 30 is coming: Is it time for an upgrade?

cyberguru Consulting June 5, 2018June 4, 2018end of financial year, EOFY, EOFYS, reduce tax, tax, tax deduction, tax deductions, tax savings, tax time

It’s nearly the end of financial year! As another tax time rolls around, you may be considering tax deductions, ways to maximise your income or finalising budgets for next financial year.

Whilst buying discounted office supplies and stationary during the “end of financial year sales” may provide for some of these, it’s timely to think about whether you would like to look at giving you and your organisation a real upgrade. You may also be looking at how best to take advantage of what you already have.

Here’s three suggestions of what you might like to do:

Hardware and Peripherals: Purchase or upgrade existing hardware, such as desktop and laptop computers, printers or peripherals.
Software: Purchase a new software edition or subscription to Microsoft Office, Norton Security Premium, Acronis Backup. You may also like to subscribe to cloud-based services such Office 365.
Knowledge: Seek assistance to provide your business with the necessary training and skills to improve your operations.

Whether it is computer hardware, software or knowledge, there are some great investments you can make to give your business the edge. CyberGuru can assist you with making the most out of these improvement, and work on a plan going forward.

It the time you can give you a business, contact us to review your requirements and to provide some answers to your questions.

Coming in mid-2018 – Microsoft Office 2019!

cyberguru Consulting March 20, 2018March 19, 2018Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Office, Office 2016, Office 2019, Office 365

Microsoft has announced the next perpetual edition of Microsoft Office, Office 2019. In keeping with Microsoft tradition, it will arrive in the middle of preceding year rather than the year of its name.

In breaking with tradition, Office 2019 will only run on devices using Windows 10 and not on older editions of Windows, namely Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

Microsoft have also advised they will release Office 2019 with five years of mainstream support and approximately two years of extended support to align with the current version of Microsoft Office (Office 2016) which is expected to end on 14 October 2025. For more information, please see the Microsoft TechNet article.

While this seems harsh, we often still see computers running versions of Windows and Office well past their use by date. By the end of this year, Office 2007 will be nearly 12 years old, and Office 2010 not much younger. We strongly suggest that now is the time consider upgrading to Office 2013 or 2016, or transition to Microsoft Office 365.

It looks like the subscription model is becoming the increased focus from Microsoft, and purchasing Office 365 will be the way going forward to continue to keep getting the latest features. We expect Office 2019 will likely be the last version that Microsoft release, with future releases all being subscription-only.

CyberGuru is able to provide consulting, support and training in Microsoft Office applications, and able to support you in the transition from one version to another. If we can assist in any way, please contact us.

Are you ready for the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme?

cyberguru Consulting February 20, 2018February 20, 2018NDBS, Notifiable Data Breach Scheme, privacy, security

On Thursday 22 February 2018, the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme (NDBS) will come into effect. This will affect organisations that are already covered by the Privacy Act, businesses with a turnover greater than $3 million, health service providers, entities that collect personal information and credit reporting bodies.

The NDBS requires these businesses and organisations to report eligible data breaches to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as well as affected individuals.

The scheme requires affected businesses to take reasonable steps to ensure the security of personal information including but not limited to:

sensitive information such as about an individual’s health
documents commonly used for identity fraud (including Medicare card, drivers licence and passport details)
financial information

To prepare for the NDBS, we suggest the following three steps:

Assess any security risks in your organisation.
Put strategies in place to minimise these risks.
Prepare a data breach response plan if you identify any suspected breaches.

CyberGuru can help your organisation address these through review and improvement of your computer systems, as well as implementation of training and education to staff, contractors, and ongoing support and advice on how to manage these. Please contact us for more information.

For further information regarding the NDBS can be found on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) (link opens in new window) website.

Three new year’s resolutions for business

cyberguru Consulting January 17, 2018January 17, 2018new year, new year resolutions

As the new year begins, many business owners are looking at how best they can improve the efficiency of their organisations and often see their use of computers as one way they can do this.

Here’s some tips on how you can make these can set you up for the year to come:

Resolution one: Have a stable computer system

Check over your computer systems to see what you are using and make sure that you are getting the most of what you have already. You can work out a plan for regular maintenance and support for these systems. This may include performing hardware and software updates, scheduling regular backups and changing passwords. Similarly, check your website and install updates to your website content management system, plugins and themes.

Resolution two: Be more organised

Organise yourself by reviewing your file storage systems, and perhaps establishing a new folder structure. For example, files may be organised function or client. Consider using a new location that makes it easier for them to be accessed, such as a server, network attached storage (NAS) device or cloud. You may also like to look at how your emails are stored and saved and have this set up in a similar way.

Resolution three: Improve your knowledge and skills

Identified areas of weakness in your business and seek training or further education in managing these. Perhaps you could do with some Microsoft Office 365 training on how to take advantage of the new features, website maintenance techniques to increase the number of visitors to your website, or learn how to practice a new business method altogether.

If you are looking to set these new year’s resolutions but not sure how to ensure they fulfilled, we can help with these, please feel free to contact us.

Special Christmas Offer 2017

cyberguru Consulting December 12, 2017December 11, 2017Christmas, special offer

Have you been looking for a Christmas present for a client, colleague, family or friend? Are you in need of advice on what new computer system, hardware or software to purchase or are you looking to your improve computer knowledge and skills?

CyberGuru can help your small business, not-for-profit organisation or individually to take advantage of your computer to its fullest potential.

To celebrate our 20^th year of operations this year, we are offering a $20 discount of pre-paid voucher to spend on any of CyberGuru’s computer solutions (consulting, design, support and training).

If you contact us before 20 December, we can arrange this for you before Christmas!

Terms and conditions:

Please mention this Blog when ordering pre-paid vouchers.
This offer is not valid in conjunction with any other offer and not redeemable for cash.
This is to be used any of CyberGuru’s computer solutions (consulting, design, support and training) by 30 June 2018.
You can purchase more than one voucher – why not for your yourself or a client, colleague, family or friend?
You can share this offer with others who may also be interested.

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