Virtualization is difficult to understand. The technology itself is complex, and the industry is dominated by vendors that the average business owner has never heard of. Almost everyone knows Microsoft though, and its virtualization platform just got a big speed boost that won’t cost users a thing -- if they know how to take advantage of it.

Office 365 is chock full of so many apps that it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of them all. Sure, you have the most popular tools like Word and Skype for Business, but there are three tools in the lineup that seem like they could be used the same way: Outlook Groups, Yammer, and Microsoft Teams.

How many new technologies did your business adopt last year? Too many? Too few? You’ve officially made it through 2017 and there’s no better time than now to review which IT fads were worth investing in, and which ones should be left in the past.

New technological developments such as cloud computing and virtualization are prying small- and medium-sized businesses away from traditional client-server architecture. In contention now lie Containers, a technology influenced by cloud computing that offers a less complex alternative to virtualization.

Gone are the days when you have to spend a large amount of money each month on the telephone bill. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology has made it cheaper -- and in most cases, free -- to place and receive calls. Whether you’re a business owner or an individual user, there is a VoIP option that suits you.

At the Ignite conference in September, Microsoft announced that the Teams app will eventually replace Skype for Business as the primary communication tool for Office 365. This is a huge development, and there are undoubtedly many questions that need answers.

As a convenient cloud solution, Office 365 boasts nearly 30 million users. But that’s nothing compared to licensed versions of Microsoft’s productivity suite, which have more than one billion users. Office 2019 was announced in September and it will mean big changes for businesses that want simpler versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and more.

In late August 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused widespread power outages and floods across Texas and certain parts of Louisiana. Weeks later, Hurricane Irma hit the coast, affecting Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina businesses. Now, experts are saying there are more storms to come, which is why you need a good disaster recovery (DR) plan that has you prepared for the worst.

More businesses are moving their operations to the cloud, but sadly some applications are getting left behind. Today, customers want to access their desktop software as easily as they can access their G Suite apps from any device. Luckily, Google listened to their customers and developed new features with Citrix.

Employees don’t usually prioritize managing files and photos because they can be tedious and time-consuming. Those who have to deal with a high volume of files and photos across different devices often depend on the auto-sync functions of Google Drive or do manual backups on external drives or SD cards.