Clean Out Your Computer Day

National IT experts Technology Services Group (TSG) are using “Clean Out Your Computer Day” as the perfect opportunity to practice what they preach and improve their own data storage and system performance.

Monday February 9^th is “Clean Out Your Computer Day” a global initiative which encourages businesses and households to get rid of the clutter on their computers.

So as purveyors of IT’s best practices Technology Services Group (TSG) are encouraging customers and staff alike to help relieve frustrations, improve their computer’s performance and also prevent data loss.

“Data is being shared and sent around the networks at an alarming rate” explains Paul Burns, National Technical Director at TSG. “If you think about all the documents, spreadsheets, presentations, mp3s and videos that you receive, even the most organised run the risk of becoming swamped.”

“Saving to your desktop is never a great idea. But it is equally as important to create a distinction between business and personal files. Do you know how much of your bandwidth and back up is taken up with personal files?”

“It’s worth reminding businesses that as well as the physical options for data storage we are faced with increasing possibilities for online services. Microsoft Office 365 comes with OneDrive storage built in and there are plenty of other options such as Dropbox or Apple iCloud.”

Whilst this might not get rid of the problems many business have with duplicate files it does keep everything safe and secure, and accessible from any device with an internet connection.

Paul Burns continued “Microsoft’s SharePoint allows you to collaborate effectively with colleagues. The document management capabilities of SharePoint with libraries, project sites, version control and a host of other features help keep everything neat, tidy and compliant. In fact, many use SharePoint to manage their ISO quality management processes which is testament to how highly it’s rated.”

“Having dealt with the clutter of files and emails, it’s worth appreciating how aging equipment also contributes to the risk of a disaster that could just be waiting to happen. So it’s not so much about having a clean out, but rather a clear out.”

In spite of the warnings, it is feared that there are plenty of businesses still using PCs running Windows XP well after Microsoft ended its support, updates and patches. And the same is likely to be the case when Window Server 2003 reaches end of support in July this year.

Why not check out our Top 10 Tips for decluttering your technology (and tidying up your email!)