Smartphones have become so ingrained in our lives it's hard to imagine a life without these handy gadgets. Being one of the best known smartphones, iPhone has become the go-to device for nearly every market. While these are great gadgets, they are technology, and technology will eventually stop working. Do you know what to do if your iPhone won't turn on?

Here are four things you can try when your iPhone won't turn on.

1. Charge it with a wall charger One of the main reasons your iPhone won't start is because its battery is dead. Before you deem the battery 'dead', you should check if the phone is on. Press and hold the power button for up to five seconds. Chances are, the phone has just gone to sleep. If this is the case, you should see the unlock screen pop-up after a few seconds.

If it doesn't pop up, your phone is likely dead. All you have to do is plug it in, preferably to a wall charger. Your phone should turn on automatically after a few minutes (up to five). If it doesn't, let it charge for around 15 minutes before trying to turn it on. If it does turn on, it would be a good idea to let it fully charge.

2. It's charged but still won't turn on Like all operating systems, the one on the iPhone will crash from time to time. If it does crash, you shouldn't lose any data unless you were in the middle of downloading or uploading files. These will have to be started again.

If pressing the power button doesn't turn the phone on, you should still plug it in and let it charge for 15 minutes. Then conduct what's called a hard reset:

1. Unplug your device.
2. Press the Home and Power buttons for 10-20 seconds until you see the Apple logo.
3. Let the device run for a minute or so and you should be able to use it again.

It would be a good idea to not do this while the phone is connected to your computer.Your computer may recognize your phone's hard drive and start automatically syncing through iTunes. Doing a hard reset when the device is syncing may result in losing information.

3. A hard reset won't work Another good thing to consider at this stage is switching cords. Chances are someone next to you has another iPhone cable. Borrow it and try the first two steps again. These cables aren't the most damage resistant thing in the world and have been known to wear out or fray at weak points rendering them useless. If you were trying to charge your phone through a wall charger, try again but this time connect it to your computer - make sure it's on.

4. It's truly dead If after trying different cables and charging methods, hard resetting and charging for a couple of hours your device still won't turn on, you have one option left. Go to an Apple store, or reseller. They may be able to get your iPhone working, or at the very least will to confirm the problem.

Sometimes the phones display a USB cord with an arrow pointing to the iTunes icon. This is your iPhone's way of telling you that something has gone wrong with the software and it needs to be plugged into your computer and connected to iTunes. If you see this, you will likely have to reset your phone which means you will lose everything stored on the hard drive. If you have been backing up your phone, however, your data loss will be minimal.

Has your iPhone stopped working? Are you unsure if your backup solutions are enough to keep all of your files safe? Contact us today as we may be able to help.

As our devices and workflows become more and more technically advanced, the amount of data available to a company of any size has increased exponentially. For small businesses that have been using spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel, this data could quickly overwhelm your Business Intelligence (BI) efforts. To avoid this, many software vendors have introduced Software as a Solution (SaaS) apps specifically for small businesses.

Here is an overview of four Business Intelligence SaaS apps that you could use in your business:

KPI KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a company that offers a cloud based dashboard that integrates with your CRM or ERP software. It provides a way for businesses to visualize, analyze and report real-time data from your business’s key metrics. All the results can be viewed on your computer or on your mobile device.

GoodData GoodData is an on demand BI provider that offers users a base service that they can add apps to as and when needed. The whole service and dashboards are stored and run in the cloud, and are considerably cheaper than traditional BI services.

Bimotics Bimotics offers an on demand BI service for businesses in almost every major sector. They offer one suite that has data connectors, an established BI engine and analytical tools that should meet most small businesses’ needs. The suite can also be accessed by almost any mobile device.

Tibco Silver Spotfire Silver Spotfire is a cloud based SaaS aimed at individuals and small businesses. It lets users create interactive dashboards and visual analytics without the need of costly infrastructure. This app also integrates with major social media services, allowing users to put live dashboards on their blogs.

These are just four useful apps that you can use in your business. If you’re interested in how you can integrate BI solutions into your business, please contact us.

Data is all around us, it seems that wherever we go we’re leaving a data trail the size of a mountain. It’s estimated that in 2011 we generated 1.8 Zettabytes (10^21) of it. By 2015 that number is expected to be 7.8 Zettabytes per year. The amount of data out there is simply overwhelming, spawning the term “big data”, and it’s quickly becoming the next step in the evolution of how we view and work with data.

You’ve probably been reading technology blogs and have seen Big Data mentioned in conjunction with large companies, maybe even dismissed it as something, “for the big guys”. While Big Data is currently the focus of large companies, it won’t stay that way for long and it will pay to know about it.

What is Big Data? In recent years the amount of data available has exploded and companies have reached a point where there’s so much of it available they can’t physically store or analyze it using existing means. This quandary is called Big Data.

Frank Moss, former director of MIT Media Lab, describes Big Data as coming from, “Computers, smart phones, GPS devices, embedded microprocessors, sensors...[which] are forming a ‘societal nervous system’ that is generating a cloud of data that’s growing at an exponential rate.”

This growth has overwhelmed many companies causing a need for Big Data solutions. These solutions provide businesses with a way to immediately make sense of vast amounts of information, make informed decisions and exploit data.

What can I Do With Big Data? The uses of Big Data are near limitless. For small businesses the best deployment, currently, is for market research. You can use Big Data to help decrease the risk of decisions by increasing your knowledge of current trends, your target market’s demographics and customer buying patterns. Research that would normally take weeks can be done in minutes or seconds, allowing your company to make better marketing decisions quicker and with a higher chance of success.

Are SMEs Ready for Big Data? Large companies are utilizing Big Data because they simply can’t keep up with the incredible amount of data generated. At the same time, smaller organizations have simply not reached the point where they are being overwhelmed by data, therefore there’s no pressing need to look into it. This is rapidly changing though, so it’s beneficial to keep your eye on developments.

If you have any more questions regarding Big Data or Business Intelligence and their uses within your organization please contact us, we will be happy to sit down with you.

In the past Business Intelligence (BI) software and practices were limited to MNCs and large enterprises. With the growing number of SMEs, BI software and system developers have been turning out many useful products for SMEs. Is your company planning on implementing BI practices?

If you are looking into integrating Business Intelligence at your company, no matter what system you choose or the size of the project, there are a number of things you need to be aware of in order to make the implementation successful.

4 Things to Know before You Start Before you start any BI project, there are 4 key BI implementation areas that you and your company will need to be clear on:

1. Data or Information: In most SMEs there is a limited amount of data available, so you need to be sure where all the relevant data is located. This typically includes client and employee information kept on accounting systems, spreadsheets or contact manager databases, sales or business reports, industry and competitor information, and more.
2. Technology: A large number of BI programs require technical systems that are stable and have minimal downtime. It’s a good idea to ensure that your systems meet the requirements and are stable. As with any software, be sure to do your homework and pick a system that is reliable and compatible with your business. Don’t just pick the cheapest system – pick the system that best meets your needs.
3. Knowledge: Many SMEs have employees that wear more than one hat, and as such may not be experts in any one thing. It’s important that, when implementing BI, you have employees who understand it and the related systems. If you don’t, there are many qualified BI consultants out there you can turn to for help and training.
4. Communication: It’s crucial that you have constant communication with the employees involved in the implementation, and that you explain what BI is, the analytics used, how to interpret what the results mean, and the actions to take.

Your Criteria To Success Once you have picked a good system, there are a number of criteria you should aim for to ensure successful implementation:

• Align Business and Technical: It’s important that the business side of your company knows about the implementation and will actually use it. Both sides need to work together to ensure an aligned team.
• Piece by Piece: It’s a good idea to not implement BI across your whole organization in one go because that involves far too much work and complication. Instead, look at the areas of your organization that could benefit the most from BI and start there. For the majority of organizations, Customer Service and Sales are a good choice.
• Ease of Use: Chances are, your employees do different jobs and won’t concentrate solely on BI. Therefore, you might want to pick or develop a system that is easy to use. As a benchmark, pick a sales or business manager and, if possible, a business analyst, and see how long it takes them to learn the system. The bigger the gap between the learning time of these employees, the harder the system is to use.
• Flexibility: It’s common knowledge that your business is always changing. Therefore, It’s a good idea to ensure that the BI system you choose is flexible and can be quickly and easily adapted to meet changing needs. If you have a rigid system, it will be successful in the short term, but a nightmare or even a failure in the future.

With planning and patience, BI will bring about an improved business and bottom line. If you would like to learn more about BI or would like help implementing it please contact us.

As technology and programs become more sophisticated, so do the viruses and malware that affect them. Traditional malware is transmitted as a program that users have to download onto their system. A new malware program has been developed to transmit over Facebook, and instead of infecting a system, it infects a browser, making it nearly undetectable to virus scanners.

The malware software is called LillyJade, and is available for download at underground websites. When a hacker downloads the program, they can modify it to meet their needs. They then release it as a browser plug-in (software that adds functions, e.g., the ability to automatically translate a website), to your browser. It transmits itself by sending messages to an infected user’s Facebook friends with a link encouraging them to download the plug-in.

At this time, the purpose of the malware appears to be to conduct “click fraud.” It shows fake ads on sites like Facebook, Yahoo and MSN. These ads are usually pay-per-click, which means that any time an infected user clicks on one of these fake ads, the hacker gets paid.

There are two interesting things about this program. The first is that it infects browsers, not systems. This makes it nearly undetectable to virus scanners, which scan for infected files on your computer’s hard drive. The second is that the program can be modified to run on nearly any browser regardless of the operating system.

Tips to avoid being infected Here are four tips on how to minimize the chance of being infected by malware like this.

1. Keep your browser(s) up-to-date.
2. Don’t click on suspicious links.
3. If a friend messages you with a link, encouraging you to click on it, verify with them that they sent the link.
4. Don’t install browser plug-ins, unless you’re sure they’re from a vetted source.

As with any malware threat, proper preventative measures will normally be enough to ensure that your system is safe. If you’re unsure if your system is secure, or would like to implement more robust security measures, please contact us. We have a solution for you.