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Written by Twilla King, Senior at Robert Morris University

As we near the final days of my internship, I am excited to reflect and update you all on my experiences over the past several weeks. I cannot believe my twelve-week internship at Apogee is coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday I pulled into the parking lot nervous about what my experience would be like. If you would have asked me eleven weeks ago what I expected to take away from working at Apogee, I would have told you that I simply hoped to learn new things and get pushed out of my comfort zone. I’m proud to say that my experience at Apogee has completely exceeded my expectations. Since my last blog, I've become even more emerged in the ins and outs of a business on the rise.

"I am proud to say that my experience at Apogee has completely exceeded my expectations."

They say all good things must come to an end, and with the reign of Windows 7, this is no exception. Windows 7 is almost nine years old, at least two and a half versions behind Windows 10 and approaching an end of Microsoft support. After January 14, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support for PCs running Windows 7. 

On November 30, 2018, Marriott announced a massive data breach of their Starwood guest reservation database, exposing the personal information of 500 million guest who stayed at hotel chains including W, St. Regis, Sheraton, and Westin. If you have stayed at a Marriott owned property any time prior to September 10th of this year, you may be affected. 

A manufacturing business is loyal to the production of tangible objects that are high in quality and competitive in cost. A common misconception is that manufacturing companies do not rely profoundly on technology. However, businesses in the manufacturing industry are actually heavy duty users of technology. Engineers demand on computers and software for design. A large amount of information is generated and used during the design, manufacture, and use of a product to satisfy any customer needs. Since a large amount of information is generated, the use of information technology can enable substantial improvements of operation, organization, and effectiveness of a manufacturing process and activities.

Every aspect of a company is more adequately connected and integrated using information technology, since IT strives to make things simpler in the manufacturing sector.

Don’t take the bait.

It’s a simple request. But how certain are you that your employees won’t bite? Very? Somewhat? Not sure? Or not at all? Business leaders should embrace these questions to be certain employees won’t sink the company.

There was a time when the phrase “we’ve gone fishing” had a simple meaning. It was about spending a day on the lake or river and hoping to bring home dinner. But the relaxing hobby takes on a new spelling -- “phishing” -- and different definition in today’s world of technology.

Phishing for workers ­-- casting emails instead of fishing line to lure unprepared victims -- has become a primary sport for hackers to steal information from company employees. The annual Bassmaster champion pales in comparison to an information-plundering winner. The competition is so intense, a new phishing champion’s reign might last no longer than a few seconds.

Pittsburgh Technical College has one it partner for its new women in steam program and.. it's us! 

Apogee IT Services is excited to be the IT sponsor of the new Women in STEAM outreach program at Pittsburgh Technical College (PTC). PTC’s Women in STEAM is a student-led organization dedicated to empowering and engaging young women into higher level learning to prepare them for their future careers in science, technology, engineering, art, and math fields. Women in STEAM is designed to guide young women in recognizing the important roles they will have as future leaders in Technology. The program also works to create a sense of community through peer to peer activities that promote innovation and collaboration between academic programs by sharing their experiences and providing support to one another.   

The word “non-profit” is a seemingly simple yet complex word. It spans a multitude of industries, and there are many types of non-profits or not-for-profit organizations, from humanitarian and disaster relief agencies to religious affiliates. There are nonprofits small and large, corporate entities and educational institutions. In 2017, Americans gave $140 billion to non-profit organizations alone. 

No matter the type of non-profit, if you help lead one, chances are you face many challenges. One of those key challenges is technology. Over the years we’ve worked with many non-profit clients. Calling on these experiences, we've highlighted three major areas in which a managed Service Provider can be extremely beneficial to the growth of a nonprofit.

What is “Certainty?”

From a security standpoint, it is a simple question:

“How certain are you that your organization won’t become
the next security-breach story?”

More than 38 percent of business leaders said they weren’t certain, but they should understand that everything going in or out of their technology-enabled business network is a target for intruders.

Written by Twilla King, Senior at Robert Morris University

During my first semester of college at Robert Morris University, I sat through 42 hours’ worth of technology lessons as a university requirement with no desire to ever look back. I was finally done with the STEM world—or so I thought. I was first introduced to STEM when I attended my first engineering summer camp at the age of 6, and even graduated from a STEM high school with a concentration in engineering. Yet, I knew I would never pursue a career in the STEM field, as my passions were always revolved around governmental affairs. So, it is a surprise to many - myself included -  that I would find myself interning with an IT services provider.