Insights & Resources
No jargon. No sales pitches. Just practical guides to help you use technology smarter — whether you run a childcare center or a small business.
FERPA follows U.S. Department of Education funding, which leaves most private preschools outside it — while Head Start and district pre-K follow different rules. Find your bucket, then the five record controls that satisfy all of them.
Read article →The closure notice went out and half the families never saw it. What SPF, DKIM and DMARC actually do, what Gmail now requires of every sender, and the five-step fix that also stops scammers spoofing your domain.
Read article →California's new 30-day notification deadline applies to centers of every size. Who has to be told, what the notice is legally required to say, and who sends it when the breach happened at your app vendor.
Read article →Which messages are fine to send, which ones need written consent, the opt-out rule that catches centers out, and why texting from staff personal phones is the bigger problem.
Read article →What PCI actually allows for tuition autopay, the one thing you can never store even with written parent permission, the five places card numbers hide in a childcare center, and how to clean it up.
Read article →What each platform really costs, where each one wins for a childcare center, which nonprofit and education discounts still exist in 2026, and how to switch your email without losing a message.
Read article →What should be ready before a new employee walks in, what happens in the first 45 minutes, and the five onboarding shortcuts that quietly hand out more access than the job ever needed.
Read article →The federal 911 rules that apply to ordinary business phone systems, why room-level location matters in a childcare building, what VoIP really costs, and how to switch providers without going dark.
Read article →What Title 22 actually requires in a disaster plan, why your VoIP phones die exactly when you need them, and a three-layer way to reach every parent during a wildfire, quake, or power shutoff.
Read article →The five habits that stop most attacks, how often to actually train, what a program costs in 2026, and how to run phishing simulations without making your staff feel tricked — plus the extras childcare centers need.
Read article →The surprising answer to childcare's most-asked privacy question — why HIPAA usually doesn't cover your center, which California rules do, and how to handle allergy lists, medication forms, and immunization records the right way.
Read article →59% of employees use unauthorized AI tools at work. Shadow IT and Shadow AI create hidden CCPA compliance gaps, data leaks, and $670K breach cost spikes for small businesses.
Read article →Every call that hits voicemail is a family touring somewhere else. What AI answering services actually do, what they cost, California's call-recording and bot-disclosure rules, and how to roll one out without sounding robotic.
Read article →Business email compromise cost US businesses $3.05 billion in 2025 — the FBI's highest recorded total. Here's how BEC attacks work and the specific steps to protect your small business.
Read article →Title 22 doesn't require paper. What to scan first, what to keep in a locked drawer, how long to keep records, and the security setup that makes your center audit-ready in thirty seconds.
Read article →Buzzers, keypads, fobs, or mobile entry? How to choose door access control for your childcare center — with real costs, fire-safety rules, and the everyday mistakes that undo good systems.
Read article →JADEPUFFER is the first confirmed AI-driven ransomware that hacked, adapted, and encrypted a network without a human attacker in the loop. Here is what small businesses need to know and do right now.
Read article →Fake parents with bogus checks, rerouted tuition payments, and phishing aimed at your childcare software. How each scam works — and the simple policies that stop them.
Read article →Support ended, and the extended-update safety net doubles in price every year. Which PCs upgrade free, which to replace, and what to do before October 2026.
Read article →The time between a software flaw being disclosed and attackers exploiting it has dropped to 10 hours. Here's what small businesses and childcare centers need to do about software patching in 2026.
Read article →Every teacher carries a camera in their pocket. How to write a phone and photo policy that protects children, staff, and your license — and enforce it with technology.
Read article →A daycare CRM leak exposed 140,000 family records. The eight questions to ask any childcare app vendor — and the account settings most centers get wrong.
Read article →83% of former employees still have active accounts after they leave. The exact checklist every small business and childcare center needs to follow — from disabling accounts to recovering devices.
Read article →Licensing checklists skip the technology side. Here’s the full IT setup for a new center — internet, Wi-Fi, records software, sign-in, cameras, and devices — in order.
Read article →What Title 22 requires at the door, how to replace paper sign-in sheets with digital check-in legally, and the pickup authorization practices that keep children safe.
Read article →The application is now a security audit, and most small businesses fail it. What underwriters require — MFA, EDR, tested backups — what coverage costs, and how to qualify.
Read article →Passwords are behind 80% of breaches and 89% of SMBs already have compromised credentials circulating online. Microsoft is now auto-enabling passkeys across Microsoft 365 — here's how to roll them out without disrupting your team.
Read article →The FTC's amended COPPA rule is now in force. What California childcare centers must know about parent apps, photo-sharing, parental consent, and kids' data.
Read article →A plain-English breakdown of managed IT pricing — per-user vs per-device models, typical monthly ranges, what drives the cost, and how to avoid overpaying.
Read article →A plain-English guide to protecting children's and parents' data at California childcare centers — Title 22 records, COPPA, FERPA, retention rules, and the IT controls that keep you compliant.
Read article →Are cameras required in California daycares? Who can view footage, how long to keep it, audio consent rules, and how to store recordings securely — a 2026 guide for childcare directors.
Read article →49% of small businesses were attacked in 2026. Most had no plan. Learn the exact steps to take in the first 60 minutes -- who to call, what to isolate, and how to recover without losing everything.
Read article →California's January 2026 CCPA updates introduced mandatory cybersecurity audits, privacy risk assessments, and tighter protections for children's data. Penalties reach $7,988 per violation — and every affected consumer is a separate violation. Here's your plain-English action plan.
Read article →96% of ransomware attacks now target your backups first — and 76% succeed. The classic 3-2-1 rule was designed for hardware failures, not adversaries with your admin password. Here's the updated 3-2-1-1-0 standard small businesses need in 2026.
Read article →Microsoft just announced two new bundled Microsoft 365 Business plans with Copilot built in, launching July 1. Here's what changes, what Work IQ does, and what small businesses should do before the deadline.
Read article →AI now writes flawless phishing emails, clones voices from 3 seconds of audio, and runs live deepfake video calls posing as your CEO. 40% of BEC emails in 2026 are AI-generated. Here's how the attacks work and six specific defenses that stop them.
Read article →Microsoft launched Copilot Business for small teams in December 2025 at $18/user/month — rising to $21 on July 1. Here's what it does app by app, whether the ROI holds up, and what the broader M365 price increase means for your renewal.
Read article →43% of data breaches target small businesses, and the average breach costs $108,000. Zero trust security eliminates the biggest assumption in IT — that inside your network means safe. Here's how to implement it in four phases without disrupting your team.
Read article →California passed 20+ AI laws that took effect January 1, 2026. Here's a plain-English breakdown of which ones actually apply to small businesses and childcare centers — and the specific steps to avoid costly fines.
Read article →Not every IT company understands childcare. This buying guide covers what questions to ask, red flags to watch for, and what good managed IT actually includes for preschools and daycares in California.
Read article →Why your current Wi-Fi probably isn't cutting it — and what a proper setup actually looks like for a busy childcare facility. How many access points you need, how to segment networks, and how to fix the most common problems.
Read article →What happens when a staff member leaves with your client data on their personal phone? A device policy protects your business, gives you legal clarity, and pairs with MDM software to actually enforce the rules.
Read article →The shift from AI tools you prompt to AI agents that act autonomously is the biggest change in small business technology this year. Here's what Microsoft Copilot agents can do right now, what it costs, and how to stay compliant.
Read article →Small businesses are the number one target for hackers in 2026. Learn the 7 cybersecurity steps every small business must take — explained in plain English, without the technical overwhelm.
Read article →Licensing compliance, parent data security, device management — childcare centers have unique IT needs. Here's a plain-English breakdown of what managed IT is and why your center needs it in 2026.
Read article →From visitor management to parent communication and staff scheduling — the top cloud tools transforming childcare centers in 2026, reviewed by EDCON's IT experts.
Read article →AI isn't just for big corporations anymore. The small businesses winning right now are using AI to automate customer follow-ups, analyze their data, write content, and free up hours every week. Here's where to start.
Read article →MDM (Mobile Device Management) lets you manage every phone, tablet, and laptop in your business from one place — push updates, enforce security, and remotely wipe a lost device in seconds.
Read article →From scheduling appointments to sending invoices to following up with leads — you're probably doing 7+ things by hand that a $20/month tool could handle automatically. Here's exactly where to start.
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