LEVEL UP: NEWS & VIEWS FROM RED LEVEL

What We Learned About Remote Working in 2020

What did we learn from remote working last year? Plenty, as it turns out. We upped our tech game at home. Kind of. We bought more equipment for our home studios and home offices. This correlates with increased video conferencing as well as the rise in podcasting that people and companies are venturing into. Microphone sales increased near the end of 2020 and are expected to continue to grow at a CAGR of 7.9% through 2025. What were we buying for our home studios? Microphones Speakers Gaming headsets (hitting record levels) Soundproofing foam Everything by Apple (Macbook Pros, iMacs, iPhones, iPads, and Airpods, all hit record sales numbers) What didn't we buy? New desks and chairs (Haworth sales, for example, [...]

2021-06-10T12:36:57+00:00By Red Level|working virtually|

Red Level Named to Redmond Channel Partner Magazine RCP 350

Red Level has been named by Redmond Channel Partner (RCP) magazine to the RCP 350, a qualitative list of companies that demonstrate a laser focus on Microsoft technology and a strong commitment to providing great value for their customers. Selected by the RCP editors, the RCP 350 recognizes companies that are members of the Microsoft Partner Network, have major end-user service operations in the United States and have at least one Microsoft gold competency. “Red Level is honored to be recognized as one of the top 350 Microsoft partners. We strive to understand our client’s business needs and pair them with the technologies that enable them to reach their goals. Through this, we have been able to expand our team, [...]

2021-05-28T18:22:14+00:00By Kristy Mossoian|Awards|

Cloud Security, Part II: BYOD, and Remote Workers

In the first part of this series, we talked about many of the areas where cloud computing can be affected by employees and some of the major security issues. In this part, we will explore two overlapping areas of concern in cloud security: Remote working Bring your own devices to work (BYOD) Remote Workers After the first pandemic lockdowns, many organizations invested in secure equipment for their employees; others did not and put the onus on their employees. Those organizations did themselves a disservice. Employees should not be expected to be security experts 80% of IT business leaders believe employees need mobile devices to do their jobs —TechRepublic The pandemic may have forced most office workers into becoming remote workers, [...]

2021-04-23T14:19:21+00:00By Dave Linabury|Uncategorized|

Cloud Security, Part I: Employee Risk

While the COVID-19 pandemic closed down much of society and work environments, one area that was blown wide open was security—in particular, cloud security. In this two-part series, we will examine risks to (and solutions for) businesses. This first part covers employee risk; because it can be the largest and most sensitive topic related to cloud security. Malware delivery continues to shift into the cloud, with 61% of all malware delivered via a cloud app. 36% of phishing campaigns target cloud app passwords and 13% of campaigns use phishing methods hosted in the cloud. Malicious Office documents increased by 58% in 2020 and now comprise 27% of all malware downloads, using cloud app delivery to avoid email and web security. [...]

2021-06-10T12:42:21+00:00By Red Level|cloud computing, cloud environment, Cloud Security, cloud services, cloud strategy|

How to Choose the Right Managed IT Company

When looking for an IT company to manage your firm's technology, reading reviews is an excellent first step. We often choose our lawyers, healthcare providers, and even phone carriers based on word of mouth or reviews. Choosing an IT provider is no different. Start with reviews. Just don't stop with reviews. A company may have dozens of 5-star reviews yet be unable to service your firm. Some IT companies are specialized while others may lack critical experience in your industry. We've compiled a list of IT-specific questions for you. These aren't questions you will get answers to out of a Google review. Some of them may not apply to your situation, but most will. You should be familiar with these [...]

2021-04-16T17:30:26+00:00By Red Level|Managed IT Services, Managed Services, Managed Services Provider|

Tech Stack Showdown — Top Five Stacks Compared

Why might you want to read about tech stacks? We can think of two primary reasons: You're a developer. You want to keep current. Skip right to the comparison. You're not a developer. You have a digital project and want to understand what you're getting into. Stick with us a bit. We'll explain this in plain terms first. Section 1. Explanation What the heck is a tech stack? A tech stack is a set of tools, programming languages, and technologies that work together to build digital products or solutions like websites, and mobile or web apps. Some people call them Solutions Stacks, but it's the same thing. Netflix is built on a tech stack. So are Airbnb, Facebook, WebMD, Wikipedia, [...]

2021-03-03T20:32:32+00:00By Red Level|Digital transformation, IT Detroit, IT Solutions, Microsoft Partner, productivity, scalability, Technology partner|

Language and Artificial Intelligence Challenges

What article on artificial intelligence is complete without a linguistics joke? An esteemed professor of linguistics addresses his 101 class. "In English, a double negative is a positive. In Russian, a double negative is still a negative. But there are no languages we know of, where a double positive can be a negative." A kid in the back row scoffs, "Yeah, right." As machine learning becomes more commonplace every day, we encounter more obstacles. This article will explain some of the issues faced by companies analyzing Big Data sets, and the unusual challenges endemic to training machines to understand language, the written word, and how we communicate with each other. First, you need data Finding the right data is the [...]

2021-03-03T20:31:31+00:00By Red Level|artificial intelligence|

MS Power BI Hacks: The Ultimate Guide

Power BI. It's … well powerful. And there's a ton of power hidden under the hood that you should know. These aren't fun hacks. They are serious workflow improvements you can take advantage of right now. Don't have Power BI? Get the latest version here. If you're not even proficient at BI, may we first recommend some videos? From Edureka: Power BI Full Course - Learn Power BI in 4 Hours From Naresh i Technologies: PowerBI Online Training Session 1 From Zebra BI: 7 Worst Power BI Dashboard Mistakes & How to Avoid Them From Guys in a Cube: 5 things you didn't know about Power BI Desktop From softlanding: All You Need to Know About Microsoft Power BI From Red Level Group: What’s The “Power” in Microsoft’s Power BI Making a Well-Designed [...]

2021-01-27T14:46:07+00:00By Red Level|Power BI|

How to Reduce Background Noise in Teams Meetings

How to reduce background noise in Teams meetings Microsoft announced that you now have the ability to remove unwelcome background noise during calls and meetings with a new AI-based noise suppression option in Microsoft Teams. Whether it's shuffling papers, slamming doors, or barking dogs teams offers three levels of noise suppression to help keep distractions at a minimum. You can enable this new feature by adjusting your device settings before your call or meeting and selecting "High" in the "Noise suppression" drop-down. Note: This setting is currently available only in the Teams Windows desktop app. From the main Teams window Select your profile picture at the top right of Teams and then select Settings. Select Devices on the left and then, under Noise suppression, select [...]

2021-01-12T15:09:07+00:00By Red Level|Collaboration Solutions|

Digital Transformation: New Study Shows How to Grow Your Business in 2021

It's often said that change equals growth. But while that may be true, it doesn't take into account the fact that changing how we do something – and adapting to new technologies and systems – can be hard. If you own or run a company, where a change in process means tens or even hundreds of people learning a new way of working, just the thought of mixing it up can be extremely daunting. However, with new digital technologies making businesses more efficient, more secure, and more successful, it's hard to ignore the positives of digital transformation. Research this year by OneAffiniti took a closer look at how the last tumultuous 12 months might have affected the outlook of IT [...]

2021-01-05T19:13:23+00:00By Red Level|Digital transformation|