RenascenceIT Consulting

RenascenceIT Consulting Providing Small Business IT

IT support 24x7 throughout the Bay Area; addressing internet connectivity, hardware failures, VoIP, remote monitoring, malware/virus attacks and server glitches.

10/20/2026

Quick question: is there a computer in your business that nobody wants to touch?

Maybe it runs a lab instrument. Maybe it controls expensive equipment. Maybe your whole team depends on the software on it.

It works, so nobody risks breaking it with an update. And it keeps running, sometimes for years without a security patch.

The good news: you may not have to shut it down to make it safer.

Your IT team might be able to isolate it from the rest of your network, making it harder for an attacker to reach your other systems.

Two things to ask this week:
→ Do we have any critical computers that can’t be updated?
→ If so, what are we doing to protect the rest of our network?

10/13/2026

Someone left your firm six months ago.

Their email was shut off the same day.

But can they still log into your project platform?

Most platforms have completely separate logins. Unless someone specifically removes that access, it stays active — months, sometimes years.

Former employees. Subcontractors. Consultants from projects that wrapped up long ago.

How many can still get in?

Two reasons this matters:
One: those systems contain your project files, drawings, and client data.
Two: cyber insurance renewals are increasingly asking who has access to your systems.

This is exactly the kind of gap that surfaces during a renewal.

Something you can do this week: open your project platform’s user list. Check who’s still active and when they last signed in. If someone shouldn’t be there, have it removed.

Simple check. Could uncover a problem nobody knew existed.

10/06/2026

Somebody deletes a project folder in OneDrive.

Nobody notices for four months.

On a work or school account, Microsoft holds deleted files in the recycle bin for 93 days. That's Microsoft's own number — and your administrator can change it.

But once that retention period expires, you can't just go back and restore the folder.

Here's the part most people miss: OneDrive keeps your files synced, but it doesn't give you a separate backup copy. If a deletion gets synced, that gets synced too.

Syncing and backup are different jobs.

Two things worth checking this week:

One: find out what your OneDrive retention period is set to.

Two: ask whoever manages your backups whether Microsoft 365 is actually included.

Plenty of backups stop at the server.

09/29/2026

Your team's hours are what you sell.

So why are they spending them watching Revit models load?

If you run an architecture, engineering, or construction firm in the Bay Area, here's what your technology partner should get right.

One: workstations sized for your actual Revit and AutoCAD projects, not the software's minimum. Minimum means it opens. It doesn't mean it performs. Anything less and your team is drafting at the speed of a medieval scribe.

Two: a network built for heavy files. Central models, linked files, Bluebeam markups from the job site. When we fixed one Bay Area construction partner's chronic network slowdowns, they reported a productivity jump of at least 60%.

Three: someone managing your licenses. Updates planned around your deadlines, and no paying for seats nobody uses.

If your current IT partner doesn't know the difference between a Revit minimum spec and a Revit performance spec, that's not an IT gap. That's a billable hour problem.

Drop "BIG FILES" in the comments and we'll send you our infographic on handling large AEC files.

08/27/2026

Windows 10 stopped getting free security updates for businesses back in October 2025.

Did your machines make the switch?

Microsoft does offer Extended Security Updates — but for businesses, that's a paid, temporary bridge, not a real fix. And it's not the same free extension consumers received.

If you're not enrolled and paying for that bridge, any machine still on Windows 10 hasn't been patched in months.

If you are enrolled, the clock is still running. It's a runway, not a landing.

Take five minutes this week and find out which machines in your business are actually covered — and which ones aren't.

That's not an IT project. That's a Monday morning question.

08/20/2026

What happens to your business if your best person wins the lottery tomorrow?

A Chase survey from earlier this year found that nearly half of small business owners plan to step away within 10 years. Only 8% say they feel fully ready for that day.

But this isn't just about you stepping away.

It's about the one person who knows where everything lives — the passwords, the vendor relationships, the way things actually get done. When they leave, that knowledge walks out with them.

Two things to do this month:
→ Write down what exists only in someone's head
→ Cross-train a backup for your one irreplaceable role

That's not a big project. That's a Tuesday afternoon.

08/13/2026

If your next remote hire aced the video interview, are you sure it was actually them?

Fake AI-generated candidates have become one of the top hiring risks of the year.

Face-swap and voice-clone tools that can carry someone through a full video interview without being who they claim.

And this isn't just a hiring headache.

Whoever you hire gets access to your systems, your data, your clients. A fake candidate is a security decision wearing a resume.

These tools glitch under real motion and real-time thinking. Ask a candidate to turn their head on camera, or throw in one unscripted question. Small habit. Not a new process.

We help our business partners treat hiring like the security decision it's become.

08/06/2026

That QR code on the flyer, the invoice, the parking meter.

Do you know where it actually goes before you scan it?

Microsoft's Q1 2026 threat data shows QR code phishing jumped 146% in a single quarter — from 7.6 million attacks in January to 18.7 million in March.

It's now the fastest-growing attack vector Microsoft tracks.

And it works because of one simple truth:
You can't tell where a QR code goes just by looking at it. You have to scan it first to find out.

That's not carelessness. That's just how they work.

One fix: before you scan, preview the link. Most phones show you the URL first. Take the two seconds to actually read it.

Train your team on this. It takes five minutes and it's one of the most practical things you can do right now.

07/30/2026

If you asked your team right now, would they admit which AI tools they're actually using?

Verizon's 2026 breach report found that shadow AI — unapproved AI tools used at work — has quadrupled in a single year.

It's now the third most common non-malicious insider action security teams find inside a business.

And it's rarely reckless.

People are just trying to work faster. They'll use whatever gets the job done — with or without a policy telling them what's allowed.

Two things fix most of this:
→ Ask your team what they're already using. No judgment, just visibility.
→ Give them one approved tool instead of a rule with no alternative.

The goal isn't a ban. It's a policy that actually works.

07/23/2026

Your team downloaded a new AI tool this month.

Are you sure it's the real one?...

Attacks disguised as popular AI tools are up 5x this year. Kaspersky detected over 33,000 of them targeting small businesses in just the first four months of 2026.

The fake versions posed as ChatGPT, Claude, and DeepSeek. Employees downloaded them thinking they were real.

Three fixes. Five minutes each.
→ Official source only. Never a search ad or a group chat link.
→ One approved tool list for the whole team.
→ A free version of a paid tool? Stop and check.

The businesses handling this well aren't the most cautious. They're the most organized.

Address

39962 Cedar Boulevard, Ste 121
Newark, CA
94560

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm

Telephone

(510) 552-6896

Website

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