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Financing

ITS provides a variety of leasing and financing options to help your capital IT purchases flow into your monthly budget. Financing technology purchases instead of making large purchases every few years can help you develop a predictable monthly and annual budget, and ensure that you are keeping technology products refreshed on a fixed schedule to maximize security and efficiency. We are seeing many of our Small- Medium- Business clients use this model to purchase new Windows 10 machines before the Windows 7 End Of Support date.

When you utilize a planned, monthly payment for your technology hardware and services, you are able to preserve cash for activities that drive value back into your business. This fixed monthly expense also helps you realize the dollar amount for each employee in your business; just like you know your HR related expenses per head-count, you can now also determine your IT expenses per head-count. This really helps you plan for the future and maximize your cash-flow!

The end of the lease or payment cycle brings a variety of options: you keep the same monthly payment and roll into fresh hardware, or you purchase your IT equipment at cash value and continue using this hardware in some aspect.

If you already receive any monthly-billed services from ITS, your financed hardware can be added to your existing monthly bill. Many of our services can also be arranged as monthly charges instead of break/fix occurences.

New Technology. No Hassle.

Technology changes at amazing rates; the products and services we provide are designed to keep your business up-to-date without an up-front financial burden. Contact our sales team to learn more about financing your next technology rollout!

Window 7 End-Of-Support

Windows 10 was introduced in July 2015, which set an end-of-support date of January 2020 for Windows 7. Many users have switched to Windows 10 devices as their computers reached the end of their life cycle, but there are still several Windows 7 machines in use in schools, businesses and homes.

Why Does This Matter?

When a Windows product reaches end-of-support, it no longer receives security patches and updates from Windows. These patches and updates are currently released monthly to Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 computers, and help the computers run efficiently with maximum security. If a Windows machines no longer receives patches and updates, it becomes more vulnerable to viruses, ransomware, and other cyber security risks. Cyber criminals will identify risks with the unsupported versions of Windows 7, and target Windows 7 vulnerabilities in spam emails, browser hijacks, and other scammy tools.

Will I like Windows 10?

Many users were startled by the changes between Windows 7 and Windows 8. The changes in Windows 10 bring the operating version back to something that resembles Windows 7. We still have the Start Menu, and items located within the Start Menu are familiar. While there will be new features and learn and discover, the differences will not be great between Windows 7 and Windows 10.

What Are the Benefits of Windows 10?

Windows 10 has beefed up their security with the built-in Microsoft Security Essentials. While this product does catch viruses, malicious software and spyware and is installed free with your Windows 10 computer, we do recommend installing additional security software – especially for business users.

Windows Hello brings biological factored sign-in to your Windows 10 computer. This means that you can use your fingerprint or facial scan to unlock your device, depending on the hardware and model.

Windows 10 also introduces several mobile-friendly traits to help you share content across phones, TVs and other devices. Using the Windows 10 browser, Microsoft Edge, and compatible Microsoft apps with a Microsoft login, you really can use a Windows 10 device as an extension of your Android or iPhone and vice versa.

Learn more about Windows 10 from ITS.

Windows 10 in Education

Each purchasing and refresh cycle, educators struggle with this question, “Do my students need to learn to use Microsoft products to succeed in a modern world?”

We would like to think that teachers and curriculum are able to provide content, guidance and strategies that promotes learning and troubleshooting from a brand agnostic perspective. If you can make a snappy business proposal in Keynote, you can make one in PowerPoint. If you can sum data points in a column and develop charts in Google Sheets, you will also find the right series of clicks in Microsoft Excel.

But, we constantly see studies and reports that say Microsoft Office is still one of the most requested skill-sets in the business world.

In the end, we believe the decision is a local decision: you know what type of business and industry awaits your students locally, you are the developers of your curriculum and provide programming inside and outside school to support technology growth, and you can choose your devices.

What causes schools to shy away from Windows devices?

  • Viruses
  • Updates running randomly
  • Cost
  • Blue Screen of Death

Windows 10 in S mode is Windows answer to many of the common fears of educational deployments of Windows machines. There are some limitations, but it may be a good fit for your District. The biggest factor, in our opinion, is that only apps obtained from the Microsoft Store can be installed on a machine in Windows 10 S mode – this limits your antivirus options to only the built-in Windows Defender. Learn more about Windows 10 S Mode and Windows 10 Pro in S Mode for Education.

Regarding cost differences between Windows 10 devices and iPads/Chromebooks: Lenovo makes the same chassis for the Chromebook and Windows 10 in the 100E and 300E at very similar price points. If your District feels that a Windows experience is manageable and important for future careers, cost will not be a limitation.

End Of Support For Windows 7

If this isn’t a machine refresh year for your labs, carts, 1:1 devices or staff machines, you still need to be prepared to make some replacements. Windows will end support for Windows 7 in January of 2020; this means that Windows 7 will no longer receive security updates and patches, and will be more vulnerable to viruses, ransomware and other security risks.

There are upgrade paths available to upgrade your operating system from Windows 7 to Windows 10, but the costs may not make sense if your machine is older or running with lesser hardware components.

Learn more about the end-of-support for Windows 7.

2019 Door Schedules

It’s that time of year – 2018 rolls to a close and 2019 looms around the corner, and holiday door schedules need set.

If you are logging into your door system to change door times for Christmas and New Year’s holidays, consider changing all known holidays at once. For your convenience, 2019 Federal Holidays are listed below:

Tuesday, January 1 – New Year’s Day
Monday, January 21 – Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, February 18 – President’s Day
Monday, May 27 – Memorial Day
Thursday, July 4 – Independence Day
Monday, September 2 – Labor Day
Monday, October 14 – Columbus Day
Monday, November 11 – Veteran’s Day
Thursday, November 28 – Thanksgiving Day
Wednesday, December 25 – Christmas Day

Remember that you can also change your business hours temporarily on facebook (or make a sticky post) and edit your Google Business listing to let your customers know your open/closed status.

Happy Holidays!