Even in the best of times, printers can be a concern for IT departments. Perhaps the greatest share of print-related headaches comes from what feels like a relatively simple detail: supplying print devices with toner. All too often, businesses end up either with supply closets full of unlabeled toner boxes, or else a complete lack of toner when they critically need it (such as the day quarterly reports are set to be printed).

The current public health crisis has only exacerbated these problems, with skeleton crews struggling to support print environments in the office and many employees taking printers home with them. These are real problems that take up far too much of IT staffers’ time. CDW has three simple ways to help solve them.

Usually, trouble with wireless devices and networks comes down to the efficiency of radio transmissions, not speed. Fortunately, products that implement Wi-Fi 6, the IEEE’s 802.11ax wireless networking standard, are well positioned to alleviate the performance problems that plague manufacturers. Most of the benefits of Wi-Fi 6 can be explained through three simple abbreviations. At first glance, these may seem like alphabet soup, but the features they represent offer significant improvements to organizations that deploy Wi-Fi 6.

In my work with CDW customers, I often come across technology leaders who want to improve their cybersecurity posture but aren’t really sure where to start. They might recognize that their organizations need to improve their cybersecurity controls but don’t know where their investments will pay off the most.

When I hear concerns like this, I immediately look to the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While there are many different cybersecurity standards out there, I prefer this one because it uses plain language to describe the five most important activities in cybersecurity. I’d like to walk you through this framework using two different examples.

Is Microsoft a security company? The idea has been on my mind for a while. I think back to the days of my early Microsoft experiences. For me, that would be Windows 3.1 and DOS 5.0 up to DOS 6.22. It was the base of my conquest for co-sysop on a few dial-up BBSs (bulletin boards), getting really good download ratios, and finding all the sweet “warez”. I was also digging through every inch of my computer. Today, in my role as a Microsoft 365 pre-sales architect, I give even more thought to the security aspects of Microsoft’s environment.

The sudden shutdown of physical offices across the country this spring has accelerated many organizations’ journeys down the digital transformation path. Companies that had previously been reluctant to adopt tools such as videoconferencing and cloud collaboration rolled those solutions out to users in a rush as they scrambled to enable remote work. Because they deployed so many solutions in such a short period of time, most organizations will want to undertake some sort of security assessment to be sure they haven’t opened themselves up to new vulnerabilities. But this moment also presents an opportunity for organizations to provide a permanent boost to their cybersecurity practices through ongoing engagements.

Here are three examples of CDW’s high-value cybersecurity offerings.

Given today’s unique environment, companies are looking to technology, current and emerging, to help navigate the business landscape that exists before them — and the one that is to come in the near term. To help our customers through this constantly evolving environment, we’ve identified three key phases that organizations are moving through as a result of the pandemic. In mapping out this journey with our customers, CDW’s Consulting Services has determined where organizations should focus their technology investments.