At the end of every year, like most people, we like to take a moment of reflection and say thank you. In its own way, 2021 has been just as difficult as 2020. We do appreciate all of our clients. You challenge us every day and that’s a good thing. From a technology point of view 2021 was a crazy year.
We are thankful that there have been no ransomware incidents among our clients
In 2021 Ransomware incidents are running about 300% higher than 2020 and 2020 was 800% higher than 2019. It’s not like we were starting from some low number either. This growth has been steady since 2013. This is a war that is not being won. It is still being fought. Now 1 in 3 businesses have experienced ransomware personally. The criminal element never lets a good crisis go to waste. In some ways, we’ve been lucky. As much as we focus on security and making sure things are configured properly, the people we are battling aren’t some kiddie hackers, they are now smart highly trained international organized crime corporations. In response 2022 will mean revamping and modernizing security. This is an all hands on deck situation and that needs to include every member of your staff too. We have to train them because they are the front line of security. We are dependent on them doing the right thing.
We are thankful for your patience during a time of significant change
Your willingness to adopt our more remote style of support and understanding of our need to protect all of our clients and ourselves and our families has absolutely been a blessing. While much of the IT industry went all in on fully remote, you never see us support, Harbor never did that. Sure we like to solve problems remotely when ever we can because it’s the most efficient way to work, but we also find value in coming out to your office, checking up on things, having a chance to talk with everyone and meet with management. Because if it’s just problem – fix – good bye, then we never have the opportunity to solve the underlying issue that may have caused the problem in the first place. Maybe there’s a newer, faster way to do what you’re trying to do. Maybe there’s a different product in your 365 subscription that does it better. This is when we get to show you those things and this is when you get to tell us what your plans are, because when we all marching in the same direction we can get there faster.
But not being a fully remote organization has a big downside in a pandemic. It means that we’re exposed to people from different companies every day and that of course means that we carry that with us to the next business and back home. So we have to be careful and do things that we never imagined that we do. But through it all our clients have been amazing. You’ve had to adopt changes too and together we’ve figured it out. We’re thankful for you. And besides, isn’t all business personal?
We are thankful for your commitment to modernization
Keeping up with technology is hard. We’ve just been notified that our certification exams will be updating every 2 months, instead of every 2 years! That means a lot more continuing education on our end and we already do some every other week. But the pace continues to pick up. Recently the CEO of Microsoft said that we can expect as much change in technology over the next 10 years as we’ve seen in the previous 40! These next 10 years are going to be intense. What you do and what we do are going to look nothing at all like they do today in 10 years. That’s hard to imagine until you think what to what 40 years of technology means. 40 years ago was 1981. Most businesses didn’t even have a computer. From then to now has been nothing short of a revolution and we’re embarking on a new resolution with a rate of change 4 times faster than the one we’ve just experienced!
Facebook may have renamed themselves Meta, but every tech company is building new product for the metaverse, a virtual world where they can take advantage of the coming boom in computing power. (and don’t worry, they’ll figure out the ugly headset problem too) Because, the USA has just obtained the technology that everyone has been waiting on that allows the transistors (if they still call them that anymore) to move away from silicon into single atom layers of metals. I’m shocked that this hasn’t hit the news more because being the owner of this tech is like being the first to the moon. It’s that monumental. Interestingly, it was invented by a lithography company operating in Connecticut. Who better to learn how to print on glass at the microscopic level? There’s the lesson that everyone is a tech company these days.
Your commitment to modernization means that we get to see your businesses thrive as it takes on new challenges and be a small part of your effort to grow and be successful. We’re thankful that you trust us to help you navigate this new tech and help you make the right decisions that result in your business thriving.
I guess I could have said this is a much shorter way. We’re thankful for you and Missy is popping by with a little something to express our gratitude. We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving kick-off to this holiday season.
About Harbor Computer Services
Harbor Computer Services is an IT firm servicing Southeastern Michigan. We work exclusively under contract with our clients to provide technology direction and either become the IT department or provide assistance to the internal IT they already have. Most recently we were recognized as one of the top MSP’s in the nation by ChannelFutures coming in at #40 nationwide.
There are a few simple things that make Harbor Computer Services the best choice for your business. •We are Professionals •We are Responsible •We care about your business
