Blog – Page 2 – PCIS Ltd.

Digging for gold in your company’s data

October 22, 2015

You’ve probably heard about ‘Big Data’ and ‘Predictive Analytics.’ These are the big buzz words floating around today. These terms sound very technical, futuristic even… and expensive. Perhaps you were informed that you need to start a project that incorporates these concepts, but you have no idea why or how you would embark on such a mission. Let me give you an example of why you should do just that. Most likely your company has customers. Hopefully the information about…

School district IT departments need help

The state of technology in Canadian school districts

September 7, 2015

Thought Leadership

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In May, PCIS conducted a market survey to gather insight on the state of technology at school districts across Canada. IT Managers and Directors from over 300 school districts were invited to complete a survey. The results revealed some common issues that resonated throughout the country while some highlighted challenges unique to their particular district. Because education is regulated and governed at the provincial level, it was not surprising to learn that districts that operated within the same province shared…

Technology trends in K-12 Schools. The biggest IT challenges

September 6, 2015

Thought Leadership

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Technology continues to play a significant role in evolving the learning environment. A catalyst in driving change in teaching methods, it has given educators the ability to positively impact student learning outcomes. But with all the benefits that technology brings, challenges arise for IT administrators who must continually find ways to proactively implement solutions and resolve potential issues that advanced technology and innovation presents to them. The top technology trends in the K-12 school segment that create challenges for IT…

Top 5 reasons why school district IT strategy plans fail

August 11, 2015

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So you think you have a good IT strategy for your school district. Well, do these problems remind you of… you? Let’s say you’re in year two of a five year plan. However, budget cuts hamper your ability to complete the rest of the plan. To make matters worse, declining enrolment is expected for the next few years. Budgets will shrink. That means fewer resources to execute your plan. You throw your hands in the air. You wonder why you…

Migration Solutions for the cloud

August 11, 2015

Technology Tips

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There’s been much talk about the cloud as the best solution for meeting today’s changing needs of technology in school districts. Though most IT Directors are advocates of moving to the cloud not everyone’s heads are in the clouds. For many, moving away from on-premise storage and access is a bit unsettling. Data security and privacy is high on the list of concerns for schools especially for Canadian schools who feel uncomfortable with their data hosted across the border. Their…

The Pros and Cons of BYOD Program in Schools

August 11, 2015

Thought Leadership

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According to the National Consumers League, on average, children are 12 when they receive their first mobile device. With this early introduction into the daily routine, it’s no wonder they grow addicted to it and become dependent on their device. Not all parents are on the same page but with 56% of children in the US owning a cellphone, it’s inevitable that these devices make their way into schools. Whereas a few years ago, schools had strict policies against kids…

Facebook is on its way to dominate the world

March 27, 2015

Thought Leadership

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Facebook is now ready to dominate the online world of business with the latest announcement from its F8 conference. The company made it very clear that having 1.35 billion active users and allowing them to share bad selfies and cat videos is not their end game. I’m shocked. Really. True, Facebook is making some good money from advertising but hey – that’s just for the cash flow. Their strategy is to dominate businesses within the social networking site as well…

Even Jack Sparrow can have a copy of Windows

March 21, 2015

Thought Leadership

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How do you combat software theft? Give it away for free. Microsoft recently announced that anyone in China who has a copy of the Windows 7 Operating System (and up), legitimate or illegitimate, will be able to upgrade for free to the new Windows 10 version. The estimated number of users, who would be able to take the advantage of this offer, would be in the hundreds of millions! Why would Microsoft do such a crazy thing as giving their…

The distance between your wrist and pocket is exactly $300

March 13, 2015

Thought Leadership

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What just happened? Did we suddenly move to a new universe where spending minimum $300 on a gimmicky technology gadget is normal? Actually that isn’t new at all – the gadgets seem to change with the season. It seems as though the latest “it” gadget with a $300 price tag can easily go to $15,000 for the fancy version – and this device likely won’t last for more than 3 years!! Even if it does, it will have become obsolete.…

Amazon, is it science fiction or reality? Turns out, it’s both.

March 6, 2015

Thought Leadership

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Amazon, the global warehouse for universe of goods, is promised us next-day delivery – hey wait, that’s yesteryear’s news. Although many current online retailers still struggle with this, with Amazon that chestnut of a promise is from so many years ago now. Not to be discouraged, Amazon has upped the ante several times. First, the internet giant started with same day delivery – and just how did they do that? Amazon created distribution centres where the highest volumes of purchases…