June 19th, 2010  Posted at   Continuity Disaster Recovery
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The economy is showing signs of recovery; however, many businesses are still reeling from the effects of the recession. From start-ups to multi-billion dollar businesses, everyone is looking for ways to cut costs while turning a profit. In fact, many companies are just trying to keep things in the black, however that does not eliminate the need for practices that will improve and grow these businesses. Since few people have the expertise to manage much of today’s technology, a certain percentage of their budgets should be allocated to IT and software applications maintenance. Here we will cover how managed services can benefit small and medium businesses.

  1. Increased productivity- Businesses are established to fill the need for a product or service while providing a livelihood for the business owners and their employees. In order to do this, businesses have to ensure they are working at full capacity at all times. Downtime or work performed at reduced levels is time and money wasted. Managed Services can help businesses not only quickly repair problems when they occur but also act as a proactive measure to spot and treat potential problems before they have an impact on productivity.
  2. Supports in-house IT- Many businesses do not want to relinquish all IT maintenance control to an outside party, and small businesses do not always have the resources to support the type of IT department needed to keep their business running at full speed. A majority of businesses can benefit from adding the expertise, tools and availability of a Managed Services Provider to help support in-house IT departments.
  3. Remote services- Managed Services Providers work from a remote location, providing desktop, email and back-up and recovery support services without adding to the actual number of “employees” on site. The services provided are unobtrusive and in the majority of cases, have no impact in the day-to-day activities of current in-house employees.
  4. Affordable- Generally when you bring on a Managed Services Provider, a consultant will perform an onsite assessment of the company, its workflows and processes and the current state of its supporting technology to determine what services are needed to meet organizational goals. Business owners often have a choice between several different levels of service, making it possible for a company with a limited budget to choose a package that best suits their needs.

Security is a big concern for business owners and individuals alike. In the past, business owners have been reluctant to entrust secure or private information to a third party, offsite vendor. As Managed Services Providers continue to prove their value, more companies are realizing the benefits and value of their services. Managed Services Providers continue to improve technology to provide secure, quality services for businesses of all sizes. As a result, smaller businesses which operate with leaner budgets find themselves in a position to reap the benefits of these services. Business owners often have to make difficult decisions regarding how they will improve their business while sticking to the budget. As the market for Managed Services experiences continual growth in the next few years, this method of IT maintenance and service delivery will likely become the “norm” for small to mid size businesses looking to reduce costs and improve uptime and business continuity. Companies that recognize the benefits of Managed Services will have a jump on their competition.

June 19th, 2010  Posted at   Data Recovery
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The subject of computer backups has always been a topic of importance when it comes to preserving the data on your computer. These days there are more options available to you in this arena, which can be both a help and a hindrance. On one hand, having more options is helpful because better solutions have been brought to the marketplace from which you can now choose to fit your needs. A hindrance exists in that the multitude of choices might scare off users and cause them to avoid the issue altogether, which can have a disastrous ending.

It does not have to be complicated nor time consuming, so there is no good reason not to tackle backing up your computer.

The Philosophy

We all know that backing up can preserve the information that is stored on your computer, but how far do you take your backup philosophy? It depends on what you can ‘afford’ to lose.

To one computer user, just backing up periodically will suffice. The thought here is that if you lose your data, you can restore it apart from your operating system, and the time that this takes is not a critical consideration. Many home users fall into this category. It makes sense as long as you are not dependent upon your computer for time-sensitive applications and tasks and/or for accessing and retrieving data relative to finances, etc.

To another user this philosophy is not enough. Those who depend on their data and computer for more than just casual personal computing understand that if a hard drive fails, their business is down until they can get it back up and running again. Home users who store irreplaceable photographs and home video on their computers will also fall into this category. A more comprehensive backup plan is recommended to help recover from disasters in a timely fashion.

Computer Backup Options

There are several ways to tackle backups of your important data:

Built-in operating system options. Microsoft Windows operating systems provide built-in back up capabilities that allows you to back up your documents or files onto external media. Beginning with Windows XP and its Automated System Recovery feature, each successive Microsoft desktop operating system includes the capability to help recover your entire hard drive if necessary. These backup solutions are reliable and provide a built-in way for you to back up your data without having to buy an additional program to do so.

Manual copying onto external devices. You can always resort to the old stand-by method of backing up by manually copying your data onto an external hard drive, USB memory stick or other external device such as a recordable CD, DVD or even a floppy drive if you have one. This is cumbersome, but if you do not have a lot of files, it may be an acceptable solution for you. The pitfalls with this method are that if you have multiple files, you have to make sure you get all of them, and you may need numerous target media to save all of your files to.

Online options for backing up over the Internet. The newest option in computer data backup solutions is provided by online companies that enable backup and restoration of your documents and files over an encrypted high-speed Internet connection to any PC. A small background application backs up and transfers your files to a hosted storage area in a remote datacenter when your computer is idle; however, this is not a comprehensive disaster recovery solution for your entire hard drive. This solution works best when targeted at protecting individual files and documents on a PC or a Mac, and is generally a subscription-based service for which you pay a monthly fee for use.

Making an image of your hard drive. This is a more comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution generally performed by technically savvy computer users. This option includes using 3rd-party programs to make an image of your entire hard drive, which can then be “re-imaged” in case of catastrophic failure to a new hard drive, providing a hard drive disaster recovery plan. Using this solution, within a short period of time, you can be back up and running with ALL of your documents, settings, programs and EVERYTHING intact, as if the disaster never occurred.

The way to determine the best solution to fit your needs is to ask yourself how soon you need to be back up and running after encountering a disaster, and how much you are willing to pay. If you can wait several days, then a computer back up program might be right for you. If you need your data files immediately, and you have a second computer that you can copy them to, then an online solution might be the best way to go. Or finally, if your business depends upon your computer and its applications and data, then you must have a more comprehensive solution.

June 12th, 2010  Posted at   Computers and Technology
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What is Cloud Computing?

You can’t look at any technical section of a newspaper or website these days without reading about “cloud computing.” The term seems to be popping up everywhere. So, what exactly is cloud computing? A simplistic definition is computing on the Internet. It allows users the ability to access everything on the Internet, from software to their stored data, without having to store anything on their actual computer. The user only needs a computer with a web browser in order to access the cloud.

What is So Great About Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing has the potential to allow small businesses or businesses on a budget the ability to have high quality computing at a lower cost. Business owners no longer need to invest in expensive IT equipment or pay an entire IT staff that would normally be required in order to keep a computer system running. Storing data on the cloud would help reduce IT costs while still allowing businesses to grow.

What Security Problems Does Cloud Computing Needs to Address?

Cloud computing is such a new technology that many of the kinks have not even been completely realized much less worked out to a satisfactory level. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into what potential security and privacy concerns cloud computing could have for consumers. Some of these concerns are:

  • If you store your valuable business documents on the cloud and the cloud goes down, will it be coming back up with all of your important documents in tact.
  • It is also important to know that the company with whom you are storing your important information is financially stable and will not suddenly disappear taking all of your valuable information with it.
  • Where is your company located and where will your data physically be stored? If your data is stored in another country, is that country required to comply with the same security standards that you would expect from your home country.
  • Who is in charge of storing and managing your data? It is important to know that the people managing your data have the proper security clearance and credentials, and that they are handling it securely and not using it improperly for their own financial gain.
  • How secure is the login? Would hackers be able to easily gain access to your data?
  • Is your data encrypted so that others cannot easily view it?
  • Is the cloud storage company willing to undergo a certification process and willing to comply with certain security standards?

At this point, it is unknown how providers plan to resolve these issues, but whatever the solutions they will be critical to the future of cloud computing. Cloud computing has so much to offer businesses from flexibility to growth potential to tremendous cost savings. If the confidential data stored in the cloud isn’t secure, the only thing cloud computing will be able to offer businesses is a giant headache.

June 4th, 2010  Posted at   Broadband/Internet
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There are several stories circulating on the Internet regarding bandwidth (the speed at which you access the Internet) and how it is going to begin to reach capacity very soon unless something is done. This will render the Internet almost completely useless for everything but the simplest and slimmest of applications.

The reason given is because the demand for high-speed Internet access is growing at a rate of 60% each year. Estimates tell us that by as early as 2010, we could begin to see excessive slowdowns in Internet response based purely on the amount of traffic that is traversing the web around the world.

In addition to the mammoth demand growth factor is the fact that bandwidth-hogging applications like YouTube and other multimedia streaming sources are causing bandwidth to slow down as well.

What does all of this mean? It means that the Internet would not be fast enough for much beyond maybe checking email. Feature-rich web pages would churn slowly on your screen. It would take many minutes to log onto your online bank account to check your balance. In effect, it would be like the days when we had to use analog modems to connect to the Internet. One potential concern resulting from eventuality would be that operating system (Microsoft Windows, Mac, etc.) and other business and home application patches and updates would be slowed down, as would be antivirus definitions, etc.

How else could it affect you? If you are now enjoying the high speed of your Internet connection, enjoy it while you can. But beyond that, businesses that have begun to depend on the Internet could be forced to do business the old fashioned way using snail mail, faxing and other resources to send and receive information around the world. Imagine a world without the ability to download movies or music and where the act of researching information on Wikipedia would be slowed to a crawl. All of this and the other myriad of website applications that you enjoy now would be challenging to view.

What is being done? There are several options being looked into right now. US companies and those in the UK are busy right now in an effort to upgrade infrastructure, cabling and supercomputers to expand the capabilities of the Internet. There is also talk about planning a very fast parallel network called “The Grid.” Other consultants are conferring on the idea of creating systems for “caching” (storing frequently requested information) on servers in the cloud rather than having the Internet deliver information on demand as it is needed.

The bottom line – there is nothing for the average user to do at this point. Keeping informed as to the possibilities that might occur will help you understand the ‘whys’ behind any major slowdowns that you might face in the near future. Technology has accomplished amazing feats in the last 20 years, and the hope is that something will be devised and implemented quickly to maintain the instant, any time access to information and entertainment that we all need and desire. That is what makes the Internet such an important resource for us all.

May 28th, 2010  Posted at   Business
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How many times have you purchased new software or hardware, and avoided the help menu or user manual? Experts reason that about 90 percent of all features included with software go unused! Much of this comes down to lack of training for individuals using the technology – they use what they know and need most, and avoid anything that would require study or practice to implement. It’s human nature to take the path of least resistance, but with a little motivation you could better benefit from the money spent on technology for your business.

Instead of letting your technology investments continue on underutilized, here are 4 tips for getting the most out of your technology dollars:

1. Put the client in the driver’s seat of communication.

You can improve the quality of customer service offered by your company through the use of simple technology. The more connected you are to your clients, the happier they are with your work. Use technology to give your clients a way to initiate discussion with you, either through blog interaction or a discussion forum. Set up instant messaging so clients can contact appropriate staff members as necessary. It’s simple technology, but will result in improved client retention, repeat customers and better communication.

2. Create a business culture of continuous improvement.

One of the most amazing aspects of technology is how quickly it is updated and improved. Just when you think you have the best of the best, new technologies and processes are created to improve productivity. Even in the sometimes mundane office environments, new ideas will enhance efficiency and productivity. Encourage staff and consultants to let the new ideas flow – continuous improvement is the key for making the most out of your technology.

3. Take advantage of training opportunities.

If the cost of sending staff to training courses is a bit much, and you’re unable to conduct monthly training seminars on your own – consider bringing in vendors and experts whenever a new version of software is released. You can also have managed service providers deliver training virtually as needed, in order to keep your staff up to date with the programs and tools used in the office.

4. Internal email newsletters with tips.

Most businesses recognize the value of sending newsletters to their clients to keep in touch and establish relationships, but what about internal newsletters among staff members? Send a weekly email to your staff with a single technology tip that explains how to do something that will improve their productivity or make their lives a little easier. Keep it fun and add a cartoon or a quick quiz to keep the staff looking forward to their weekly newsletter. Your ideas for topics can come from training and seminars you attend, or from questions staff ask the IT department. If one person doesn’t understand something, there are probably a few others who also don’t understand – but aren’t speaking up about it.


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