Datalyst Blog

As vaccines are showing promising results, we finally seem to see a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. While it is still early to “look back on” the pandemic (after all, we are far from out of the woods), it makes sense to look to the future and consider how the lessons we’ve learned will continue to impact us—and this is perhaps nowhere truer than in the workplace.

Today is Christmas day. In normal years, you would be bundling up to go to visit family and friends or preparing to host them.

Data security is always a challenge that businesses must rise to meet, but the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated things significantly by creating situations that make ensuring this security even more difficult. Let’s go over the impacts that many organizations—especially those in the healthcare industry—have had to deal with due, in part, to the coronavirus.

The current crisis has exposed many weaknesses in society, most notably, inequalities in our education system. While many schools have switched to hybrid and fully remote learning, other school districts are finding their students are unable to fully engage due to a lack of reliable broadband access. One solution school districts can consider is providing hot spots to give the students connectivity.

Keeping your network and infrastructure free from threats is always a priority, but with so many people working remotely businesses have encountered problems doing so. In fact, hackers, known for their opportunism, have been ultra-opportunistic during this period and it is causing many headaches for network administrators. Let’s take a look at some statistics that are definitely concerning as we head into the fall, where many experts expect the virus to become more problematic. 

The new school year has begun in some parts of the country, and it has caused a stir. With Massachusetts and Rhode Island setting guidelines for the reopening of schools for the 2020-21 school year, it looks very possible that many students are going to be able to return to school in some capacity in September. Regardless if your child’s school district opens or not, there are almost assuredly going to be times when he/she will be asked to use the computer to navigate their studies. Today, we’ll try to help you out by taking a look at what you need to know to prepare for times when your child will need to go to school from home. 

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 situation in March, creating a vaccine has been a major priority. True to form, hackers have begun targeting the very organizations responsible for the vaccine trials. There’s a lesson to be learned, today we’ll discuss it.

There is no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has had no small impact on the way that business is conducted. A considerable part of that impact is directed toward the technology that powers these businesses. One way or another, the way that businesses use their technology is bound to be influenced before all this is over.

Many users are noticing or just starting to hear about Google and Apple’s initiative to work with local governments to provide an easy way to help users prevent getting infected with COVID-19. The idea is that, if a local or state government wanted to build an app for users that would tell them if people nearby have been tested positive for COVID-19, they would get a notification on their phone. 

This, of course, raises many questions and concerns about privacy, but a lot of people are being warned that this has been forced onto their phones already, and that just simply isn’t the case. Let’s take a look.

For the months that COVID-19 has been around, everyone has done all they can to hold on to their business. They have closed down, they have closed their offices and forced their employees to work from home, they have borrowed money and scaled back or eliminated their 2020 plans. It would be nice if all that sacrifice would pay off, but the frustrating reality is that there is going to be a lot of sustained discomfort for a lot of business owners. Let’s take a look at some things small business owners should consider as they reopen their businesses. 

Chances are your business has been affected by COVID-19. For those companies who had to shut down their operations, and are in the process of opening back up; or, the business that moved operations out of their location and had their employees work remotely and are recalling their employees, this situation is unprecedented. This month, we thought we would take a look at some of the factors surrounding this process, and how they will affect your staff.

Massachusetts businesses that have been able to stand up against the pandemic still have a long road ahead before things normalize. For businesses that are in the beginning phases of reopening, decision makers will have a lot of work to do to protect staff and ensure the continuity of their organization. 

One thing is for certain: businesses that were able to react quickly, or were prepared to make major internal and external changes were more likely to persevere through this disruption. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t taken hard work, but we want to explore some of the technology differences that could lead to stability for a modern office, despite outside forces.

As businesses across Massachusetts start to reopen over the next weeks and months, it’s important to be aware of the health of your IT infrastructure as you start to come back into the office. Things are going to be different moving forward, and you may need to adjust your network in order to handle it.

Getting tickets to see Hamilton was difficult before the global pandemic. The last time I had checked, ticket prices were over $600 on the low-end, and that was to reserve them 9 months early. With the pandemic, well, it’s just best to stay home.

Fortunately, on July 3rd, Disney released the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical on Disney+. You no longer have to Wait for It. What if you want to watch Hamilton with your friends while still practicing social distancing? We Know, and we’re about to show you. Best of all, your friends won’t need to be In the Room Where it Happens. We’re probably not going to stop with the Hamilton song title puns either.

At the time of writing this, it has been a little over a week since Governor Charlie Baker had declared that Massachusetts enters Phase 2 of the reopening plan. As many businesses have had to make massive changes over the last several months, a growing number are starting to settle in this new normal. 

Now that we’ve been reminded just how much a situation outside of our control can affect our business’ and, potentially, our livelihoods, it’s time to look at ways to mitigate risks when future unforeseen events happen.

If your business is fortunate, your team may be or is able to work remotely. However, even though your team is not in the office, your business still has a responsibility to secure your clients’ data. As your team will always be your weakest link when it comes to data security, you must ask yourself: is your remote team in compliance with Massachusetts' Data Protection Law?

Whether your business is just starting to open up, or your staff is diligently working remotely, the effects of COVID-19 are going to be long lasting for most businesses. For those of us who were lucky enough to get our employees situated and productive without putting them at risk, we’ve started to see the value in having the infrastructure to allow for remote access.

Many states’ stay-at-home orders that are/were designed to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus are now lapsing all over the U.S. As a result, business owners are re-opening their doors to a great deal of uncertainty. We have put together this guide to help the business owner understand that, even though you’ve finally been given the go-ahead, you have a responsibility to keep your staff and customers safe.

The Internet has never been more valuable than it is today. Over the past couple of months tens of millions of students have been introduced to telelearning, millions of businesses have promoted telework, people are meeting with their friends online, and consuming content from their living rooms (or their home offices) at rates never before seen. So what about security? Today we’ll take a look at how all this use is changing the Internet. 

As Massachusetts strives to control the spread of COVID-19, students are at home learning remotely. While Massachusetts schools are committed to providing quality education to students, many schools are finding they are unprepared to provide the level of technical support their students need. Now more than ever, schools need to be able to leverage technology to assist their students as they adapt to the new learning environment. Here are some tools that can help your school district give your students the support they need.