The IT Experts

Universities rely on quite a bit of technology that enables them to function, and what we’re referring to goes beyond the productivity suites found on campus computers and the multimedia equipment educators use to spice up their lectures. Let’s review a few solutions that universities today can leverage that can bring these benefits.

Degree Progress Management

In order to earn their degree, each student is required to complete a litany of required courses. While each academic program will require different ones, there is no way for a student to obtain a degree without following these requirements. Many programs will offer space for elective courses, or selective courses (those which the student can choose from a list to fill a particular requirement). This system can result in some academic challenges, as students have to be that much more careful while selecting their classes (and not to take too many courses that don’t apply to their degree).

Degree Progress Management solutions help to reduce the likelihood of improper scheduling, showing students and their advisors what has yet to be completed in order to complete a degree, and which classes can fill those requirements. These solutions can also accommodate other considerations, showing a student how their progress would be influenced by something like a changed major.

Student Retention

There’s no question that there are students who begin their collegiate experience woefully unprepared for the workload they face. Many institutions see students struggle their way back home as a result of not knowing what resources and educational supports they had access to on-campus.

However, there is student retention software that enables educators to assist these students in organizing what they need to do. From appointment creation to educational to-do lists, students can find the support they need to succeed in their education and beyond.

Online Learning

In the past, we have relied on synchronous learning - the traditional, lecture-based approach that required both teacher and student to be present for the lesson to be delivered. With today’s technology, students are able to embrace asynchronous learning. This method allows students with less time and fewer resources to learn in an unstructured way, progressing at their own rate.

This method is well-suited to online learning, where applications can be rebranded to reflect the educational organization. These educational platforms give students plenty of tools in a centralized platform, allowing them to discuss topics in message boards, access learning modules, review their grades, and to delve into additional resources.

Perhaps you are a member of the educational industry, and maybe, you aren’t. Either way, we found these technologies and their applications to be worth sharing. How have you witnessed technology shaping education, or any other industry? Share your experience in the comments!

Remind Me What Disk Defragging Is Again?

Disk Defragging has long been a pretty reliable way to squeeze a little bit of performance out of a slower computer, especially on computers that were going on a year or two without much maintenance otherwise.

Disk Defragging works by essentially organizing your hard drive, which stores the data on your computer, at the physical level. Think of it like the card catalog system at the library; it’s easier to find a certain book when the card catalog is in proper order.

Unfortunately, as your hard drive is writing and deleting data, it doesn’t always store things sequentially. A single file might exist across several areas of the physical platter on the hard drive. Hard drives spin so fast that this isn’t noticeable at a small scale, but over time it can start to take your computer longer and longer to boot up, open applications, load files, and perform other everyday tasks.

Defragging Doesn’t Seem So Bad. Why Shouldn’t I Do It?

On traditional mechanical hard drives, often referred to as HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), defragging wasn’t especially harmful. HDDs, although very sensitive pieces of equipment in the long run, were built in a way that they could withstand data being written, erased, and moved over and over again without wearing out the drive. Despite the delicate metal platters spinning at speeds around 72,000 RPM, they are pretty resilient to normal usage.

Don’t get me wrong, HDDs will wear out over time, but typically other mechanical failures will happen before the drive wears out due to overwriting the data.

In fact, we even recommend that HDDs are defragged normally depending on usage. For years, operating systems like Windows 7, 8, and even Windows 10 all have the ability to regularly defrag hard drives when the computer isn’t active, and that’s usually enough to keep a drive working efficiently.

The real problem these days is that not all hard drives are mechanical HDD drives. Most modern computers, and especially laptops, have ditched their traditional HDD drives for Solid State Drives (SSD).

What’s an SSD and Why Shouldn’t I Defrag It?

SSDs are storage devices that, unlike HDDs, don’t contain any moving mechanical parts. The data is stored electronically. These types of drives are much faster compared to traditional mechanical drives (for years, hard drive performance was the biggest bottleneck for overall PC performance until SSDs started to become affordable for consumers). SSDs are also much more energy efficient and less prone to being damaged if they are shaken or dropped. This makes them extremely popular in laptops and ultra books.

There is one downside to the improved speed, reliability, efficiency, and stability of an SSD. The cells start to deteriorate after a few thousand cycles. This actually isn’t a big deal for normal, everyday consumer usage, as it could take decades or even centuries before the cells in the drive wear out, depending on the model of SSD.

That’s typical usage though. We assume a typical user isn’t flushing their entire hard drive every few days, removing all of the data and filling it back up again. The average lifespan assumes you are just accessing files normally, using applications, occasionally creating, downloading, and deleting files of various sizes, etc.

Disk Defrag reads all of the data on a drive and rewrites it as needed to organize it. This process is much more aggressive than normal everyday use and will reduce the lifespan of your SSD drive by a little bit each time it’s done.

How Do I Tell If My Drive is an SSD?

Most modern laptops sold over the last three or four years typically come with SSD drives, but there are exceptions. That said, it’s a pretty good bet your laptop is sporting a newer SSD as opposed to a traditional mechanical drive.

For everyone else, it really depends on your PC’s configuration and your data storage requirements. Most new PCs come with SSDs, but manufacturers can still cut costs on budget desktops by using HDDs instead, and if you need a lot of storage ranging in the terabytes, HDDs are still the best option as high capacity SSDs can get very pricey.

To check in Windows 10, you can actually go into the Disk Defragmenter tool to see what type of drives you have.

1. Click the Start Menu and type Defrag and select Defragment and Optimize Drives.
   

   

   

   

   

   
2. When the window pops up, you’ll see all of the drives on your computer.
3. Under the Media type column, the drive will either be displayed as a Solid state drive or a Hard disk drive.

If your computer is running slow, we can help! We can also proactively manage all of the computers in your organization to keep them running smoothly. Reach out to us at (954) 834-2800 to learn more!

Cloud Benefits

Most applications that your business could use will have a cloud option, but rather than purchasing the solution outright, you’re buying them “as a service.” What this means is that you get full access to the application, as well as hosting, access control, and security options for protecting the data, all without having to manage or maintain the systems; you just have to pay a monthly rate that can easily fit into any budget.

The traditional method of software acquisition involved purchasing licenses on an annual basis, but this prevented organizations from purchasing software in the short term. By purchasing software as a service, businesses have more freedom to try new services. Additionally, software as a service is more mobile than traditional methods of accessing solutions, as they can be used by anyone on an Internet connection. This makes it particularly useful for project management and collaboration.

How to Pick Your Cloud Services

You know what services your organization offers, so naturally, you want to select cloud-based services based on what your business needs. This could be anything from services that help you manage workflow, customer relations, marketing, productivity, and support. The biggest pain point to consider for all of these is the annual cost of such a service, and how it affects your budget. Are there other opportunities for your organization to improve operations? Are they lacking any tools? Any non-legacy software solution can be deployed through the cloud, so addressing your needs becomes easier in general if you know what to look for.

The Cloud for Management

You can centralize your management through certain Customer Relationship Management software, giving your organization more control over how it manages its customer relationships, including the management of tasks, interactions, and contacts. Professional Services Automation and Enterprise Resource Planning include CRM software to provide organizations with resources to run an entire business, from the procurement stage to distribution.

The Cloud for Productivity

Businesses that utilize the cloud for productivity have ways to provide scalable resources to end users in a way that gives greater control over software costs. Every organization needs a spreadsheet program, word processor, and presentation software. Cloud-hosted solutions give businesses greater control over these kinds of solutions. There might be other industry-specific software applications that are used exclusively by organizations like yours. If there isn’t a solution out there that does what you want it to, you can purchase server space and host the application on your own cloud platform--or, better yet, get a managed IT provider to handle this responsibility for you.

Security

Some organizations use the cloud for security to keep unwanted intruders and malware off of their network. Most businesses take advantage of local network protection, but subscribing to security services through the cloud gives you access to more dynamic solutions as a whole that are needed to guarantee systems remain safe and secure.

Communications

The cloud is exceptionally helpful for communication solutions. Companies are making the jump to Internet-based phone systems, cloud-hosted email, and collaboration platforms that allow for work to get done across departments.

Does your company need more cloud-based resources? We can help. To learn more, reach out to KB Technology's IT professionals at (954) 834-2800.