OTAC 10th Annual Connection Reception

By -- 2017-09-27 in OptfinITy News

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For the tenth consecutive year, as Alexandria’s premiere business organization, Old Town Alexandria Connection, OTAC, is hosting a FREE reception to foster relationships among regional business professionals who will meet, mingle, and connect with potential clients and business opportunities. Invitation-only admission with complimentary food, cash bar, scholarship raffle, & multiple prize drawings.

One hundred percent of all of the proceeds from this event, including the event fee, the reception sponsors, and the onsite auction directly supports the Peter Williams Memorial Scholarship; given to college-bound high school seniors who embody the community spirit that the late Peter Williams, attorney and past OTAC President, practiced throughout his lifetime.

Optfinity is not only a proud sponsor of OTAC and this event, but Michael Drobnis, our President and CEO, is also the current OTAC President. So please click here to register as a guest of Optfinity and we look forward to seeing you at this highly anticipated event.

WHAT:   Food, drinks, door prizes, auction, networking, business opportunities, & great conversation
WHEN:   Wednesday, October 11th, 2017 | 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
WHERE:   In the heart of Old Town Alexandria at:
                 Chadwicks – Second Floor Dining Room
                 203 Strand Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

5 Awesome Windows® Features You Never Knew Existed

By -- 2017-09-27 in Blog

1. Window Shake and Shrink
If you’ve ever worked within multiple Microsoft® windows, you know that bouncing back and forth between them can be a pain. To fix this, click on and hold the title bar of a program and give it a little shake with your mouse. All other windows will minimize, and the one that you tossed around like an old polaroid photo will remain in the foreground. Go on and try it!

2. Problem Steps Recorder
This tool can be used to record your screens and document the steps taken for a specific task. With this feature, you can create how-to videos or document the process taken toward something for you or someone else to refer to later. From the Start Menu, click in the search bar and type “psr,” then press Enter. You will see this program open, and all you have to do is click record. From there, you can go ahead and work through your task, and this application will record all of the steps taken. It’s for sure a true hidden gem for Windows!

3. Calculator
Many people underestimate the functionality of the calculator tool. Sure, you can use it for simple operations, but what about easily finding out how much your mortgage payment will be? Or how much your vehicle will cost you after interest? Open up the Calculator, click “View,” then hover your mouse over “Worksheets”. You’re welcome!

4. Pin to Taskbar
This is a simple one, but it really comes in handy. At the bottom part of your screen, to the right of the Start Menu, is called the taskbar. You can place or pin commonly used programs to it to easily launch when needed. If the program is already open, simply right click on the logo in the taskbar and choose “Pin to Taskbar.” You can also do this from the Start Menu by right clicking on the program name and choosing the same option.

5. The Windows+T
Now that you have your taskbar customized, hold down the Windows button on your keyboard and press T. This will navigate you through all open and unopened programs on the taskbar. Once the one that you want is highlighted, open or display it by simply pressing Enter.

Michael Drobnis to Moderate Cybersecurity Panel at Fairfax County Vendor Forum

By -- 2017-09-27 in OptfinITy News

Our President and CEO, Michael Drobnis, will be the moderator for the Cybersecurity Panel at this year’s Vendor Forum hosted by Fairfax County on October 5th, 2017. The Cybersecurity Panel will focus on various electronic threats that small businesses are increasingly confronting and address how to prevent them. We are proud to have Optfinity not only represented at this year’s event, but also to be leading the discussion on such a hot topic.

The Vendor Forum is an annual event hosted by Fairfax County created to provide a forum for small businesses to interact directly with county procurement representatives. Hosted in conjunction with the Fairfax County Small Business Commission, the Vendor Forum provides an intimate and interactive setting for suppliers to:
*Network with Fairfax County agencies and their large contractors
*Discover marketing and business fundamentals that can help grow your company
*Explore alternative options for funding your business
*Learn how to properly and effectively pursue work with Fairfax County

Click here for more information on the event and to register to attend to see OptfinITy’s President in action!

September Webinar: Social Media Trends

By -- 2017-09-12 in OptfinITy News

Social Media is a powerful marketing toolset.  Join us to learn about the current social media trends and how you can leverage them to improve your organization. 
As usual, the event is on the fourth Friday of the month, so be sure to check out our calendar for next month’s event.

Register today!

Cybersecurity: Too Important to Put on the Back Burner

By -- 2017-09-12 in Blog

While the linked article focuses on the need for security teams to think like criminals, leverage Artificial Intelligence technology, and understand that machine learning will lead to more jobs, the important part for you is to know that you need to invest well in cybersecurity to keep yourself and your business safe, whereas a cybercriminal only needs to get lucky once.

This main point cannot be over-emphasized enough. Many small businesses and organizations will put the bare minimum into their technology security and back-up, assuming that the issue of being hacked is something to be dealt with when the time comes. What many don’t understand is it is too late once you’re the victim to be able to mitigate the problem and it will cost you more than it would have if you were proactive instead of reactive.

Can your business or organization survive without your computers and data for more than a week? What would happen if your clients’ data were violated and news got out that your business was compromised? Large retailers often face backlash and a loss of revenue, but they are so big, they can ride out the storm. Having a reliable and trusted IT company looking after your needs and ensuring your safety should be your number one concern.

If you really want to know how secure or vulnerable your systems are, contact Optfinity today. We provide no-cost, no-obligation assessments on virtually any technology aspect you can think of. We would love the opportunity to sit down with you and give you sound advice, whether you choose to rely on us or not for your IT needs. This is too important an issue to worry about sales or numbers. We honestly care more about your business’ well-being and the technological security of your whole team.

Why You Should Archive Email

By -- 2017-08-28 in Uncategorized

If you’re using a standard email provider like Google or Yahoo, and you delete an email, after a few days your email is gone forever. This is, of course, unless you’ve saved it in a separate folder or archived it. While this may suit your personal needs, there are many reasons why you, as a business, should be archiving all emails, even those deleted by you and your employees.

Compliance and legal requirements are the biggest reasons why all your emails should be archived. In the event that you find yourself under audit or investigation, you definitely want to be able to provide these as soon as possible. If you’re relying on Google, there is no way to ensure all your emails are kept and may find yourself in trouble if you can’t find that one email from 3 years ago.

This is why paying a reputable and reliable company to archive your emails for you and your entire organization are so important. Read the full article to understand all the reasons why you should be archiving. And remember not only do we provide online archiving for all email services we offer, we can also provide you with free email assessments to help give you peace of mind whether or not your current provider has your archiving needs covered.

Two zero-day vulnerabilities disclosed after Foxit refuses to patch PDF Reader

By -- 2017-08-25 in Blog

Foxit’s PDF Reader was recently discovered to have two zero-day vulnerabilities discovered by Zero Day Initiative. When exploited, an attacker can execute arbitrary code, causing whatever malice they want.

While both of these weaknesses were discovered over 2 months ago, Foxit decided, at the time, to not fix the discovered bugs. They instead put out a statement telling users to utilize Safe Reading Mode. The problem with this solution is a user can be tricked into disabling these safety features, allowing hackers into their systems. This prompted the researches to go public sooner than they planned.

Because of this public shaming, and the assumed public outcry, Foxit has reversed its tracks and decided to release security updates to its users. While the company, in the end, did the right thing, who knows how much this bad publicity has hurt their bottom line and reputation. When it comes to cyber security, you always want to be known as the company which goes too far, not the one that doesn’t do enough.

If you’re unsure if what you offer to your clients has any security weaknesses, Optfinity can provide you with a free, no-obligation assessment to help give you peace of mind and mitigate any potential negative PR you may encounter by accidentally providing a product or service with security flaws.

Michael Drobnis to Speak to Rotary Club of West Springfield

By -- 2017-08-22 in OptfinITy News

The President and CEO of Optfinity, Michael Drobnis, will be making a presentation to the Rotary Club of West Springfield. They asked Optfinity to provide our technical expertise on IT security issues pressing to the businesses community as well as society as a whole. Michael jumped at the chance to educate others as well as make new friends in our community.

If you belong to a group or organization and would like someone to provide some training, guidance, or education on a specific technological topic such as websites, mobile apps, cloud service, or even the best way to use Microsoft products, please feel free to reach out to us anytime. We would love the opportunity to assist our friends in the community.

The Rotary Club meets on Wednesday mornings at 7:30 for breakfast at the Springfield Golf and Country Club (8301 Old Keene Mill Road). Most members start to arrive around 7:15 for coffee and fellowship, and the buffet breakfast begins at 7:30. Optfinity will present at 8:00 for roughly 20 minutes, and the meeting will adjourn at 8:30am. Some embers may stay after the meeting to ask additional questions.

Optfinity would like to congratulate its President and CEO, Michael Drobnis, for graduating from Leadership Fairfax.

By -- 2017-08-15 in OptfinITy News

The Leadership Fairfax program is designed for those already in a leadership role from mid-level to senior, from all walks of life and representing all the gears that drive the area’s engine–nonprofits, public service agencies, private corporations, educators, executives and volunteers. To ensure the most advantageous learning environment for these busy students, only 45-50 applicants are accepted into the program each year.

Leadership Fairfax trains successful leaders to use their skills and influence to improve their community. Based on an experiential model, each class member learns about community needs and how to address problems and seek solutions. Alumni have logged over 300,000 volunteer community service hours serving nonprofits and Fairfax County advisory boards and commissions, providing direct resource development and program services, and becoming elected officials.

We are proud to now say that Michael Drobnis is a distinguished member of this great organization and we look forward to all his hard work and dedication to the Fairfax County as a representative of Optfinity. We know he will represent us all as the professional with the kind heart he has always shown himself to be.

OptfinITy Ranked Among Top 501 Managed Service Providers

By -- 2017-08-14 in OptfinITy News


May 31, 2017 – OptfinITy ranks among the world’s most progressive 501 Managed Service Providers (MSPs), according to MSPmentor’s 10th-annual MSP 501 Worldwide Company Rankings. The top MSP 501 companies ranked this year include organizations from around the world and from diverse technology and business backgrounds. Collectively, they amassed $14.48 billion in total revenue (based on 2016 results), up more than 15 percent from a year earlier.

The complete 2017 MSP 501 list is available at MSPMentor.net. In addition to honoring OptfinITy, this year’s MSP 501 list and study showcases the following:

• The top MSPs in Europe, Middle East and Africa
• The top MSPs in Asia, Australia and New Zealand
• The top Small Business MSPs’ list, comprised of organizations with 10 or fewer employees
• The top vertical markets pursued by MSP 501 companies
• The leading tools they leverage to run their businesses
• And the top technologies they provide to customers

“I would like to thank MSPMentor for recognizing all the fantastic work my OptfinITy colleagues do every day,” said Michael Drobnis, CEO of OptfinITy. “Our employee’s dedication, combined with dynamic growth-oriented customers is the reason we are who we are.”

“On behalf of MSPmentor, I would like to congratulate Optfinity for its recognition as an MSP 501 honoree,” said Aldrin Brown, Editor in Chief, MSPmentor. “The managed service provider market is evolving at a rapid pace and the companies showcased on the 2017 MSP 501 list represent the most agile, flexible and innovative organizations in the industry.”

The 2017 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by MSPmentor and its partner, Clarity Channel Advisors. Data was collected online from Feb. 16 through May 15, 2017. The MSP 501 list recognizes top managed service providers based on metrics including recurring revenue, growth and other factors.

About Penton Technology’s Channel Brands
Penton Technology’s channel brands define emerging IT markets and disrupt established IT markets. They are a division of Informa. The channel brands include: MSPmentor, The VAR Guy, Talkin’ Cloud, the WHIR, and WebHostingTalk.

About Informa
Penton Technology, Think Tank, MSPmentor, The VAR Guy, Talkin’ Cloud, the WHIR, WebHostingTalk, Channel Partners Online, Channel Partners Conference & Expo and Channel Partners Evolution are part of Informa, the international business intelligence, academic publishing, knowledge and events group. Informa serves commercial, professional and academic communities, helping them connect and learn, and creating and providing access to content and intelligence that helps people and businesses work smarter and make better decisions faster. Informa has over 7,500 colleagues in more than 20 countries and a presence in all major geographies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Contacts:

OptfinITy:
Michael Drobnis, CEO
michael.drobnis@optfinity.com

Penton:
Aldrin Brown, Editor in Chief, MSPMentor
aldrin.brown@penton.com