TechTidBit - Tips and advice for small business computing - Tech Experts™ - Monroe Michigan

Brought to you by Tech Experts™

Cloud Computing

New Year’s Resolutions For Problem Free Computing

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

Even though we’re a few weeks into the new year, it’s not too late to take a look at your company’s network and make a few resolutions for better computing in 2012. Here are a few suggestions.

Better backups – now!
Implement a better, more reliable backup system to ensure your critical business data is properly protected. If you’re still using tape drives or not employing the latest professional-grade backup software, there’s no bigger New Year’s resolution that you should have.

You should have both an onsite and offsite backup of your data that allows you to restore files fast. Your backup should also be image-based, not just file-based.

Data loss can happen from human error, hardware/software failure, fire, flood, theft or other disaster. Every hour that you’re without your critical business information could cost you thousands of dollars.

Check out the cloud
Is cloud computing is right for you? In many cases, parts of your IT infrastructure can easily be put in the cloud to save you money and give you better service. It is important to talk to someone who can honestly assess your situation and tell you the pros and cons of making the switch to the Cloud. It’s not for every business but it’s worth exploring closely.

Dump the old PCs
I know that no one really likes spending money on new computers but think about how much unproductive time your staff spends waiting for their slow machines.

You can get an entry-level business desktop now for as little as $600, and speed upgrades to newer machines are very reasonably priced. What’s the cost of staff sitting around waiting for their computer or dealing with computer problems?

Upgrade your server
New servers are light years ahead of the ones made three, four and five years ago. Your company is less productive and less profitable with a server that slows everyone down.

Change your passwords
Most businesses regularly have employees leave, including those who were involved with supporting the computer network. Changing passwords regularly will improve security and protect your valuable customer and business data.

Perform a security review
We’re seeing all sorts of increased threats from hackers these days and you need to make sure your security approach is up to date. There are many parts to your security that you should examine including password strength; anti-virus software; and getting a strong firewall that will prevent intrusions, attacks and other malicious activity.

Keep up with your preventive maintenance
Downtime and annoying IT problems can be prevented with regular maintenance on your computers and network. If you’re not doing this now, it’s time to start!

Start the year right with a full audit of your network to develop your IT plan for the year.

Our top of the line network audit is a 27-point review of the security, performance and reliability of your network, and includes a full hardware and software inventory, plus checks on the health of your server, firewall, and network backup.

How Strategic Business Continuity Planning Can Prevent Losing Money And Customers

The concept of business continuity planning is nothing new to conscientious business owners.

Without a doubt, the ability of an enterprise, large or small, to recover from catastrophic events and continue to provide an acceptable level of service to its customers  while maintaining a satisfactory level of profits is a basic requirement of good business practice.

Although such awareness has always been a feature of good management, the startling events of September 11 2001 has brought the world into a heightened state of preparedness for disaster.

Why the need for continuity and disaster planning?

Increasingly, natural disasters continue to surface in one place after another.

Consider recent major floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, corporate crimes and malicious attacks upon computer systems in nation after nation and you will sense the pressing need for sound business continuity planning to avoid disruptions due to technology and other failure.

Another factor which contributes to this need is the changing business climate in view of the expansion and increasing accessibility of the Internet over the past decade.

So organizations which formerly rendered services to their customers during fixed hours of business, now find themselves offering their services on an extended schedule, even 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This means that customers have grown accustomed to this ready access to their suppliers and vendors. And now the reality is that consumers have become less and less tolerant of interruptions in a company’s service and availability.

Business continuity planning – is it just for big business?

Business continuity planning now takes on an increasingly important role, not just for larger enterprises, but for small businesses alike.

In fact for small businesses it is even more critical to be ready to respond to the needs of its customers.

Customers expect this and have no problem locating alternate suppliers who stand ready to take your place in the market!

This is true whether you are in the manufacturing or service business, marketing and sales or any other facet of business.

Your network – a key  component in business continuity 

Nowadays a company’s IT System with its network of computers has become the backbone of many businesses.

Vital functions such as Data Processing, inventory and  payroll management, Internet based operations including online sales, human resource and training systems, project management and an almost endless variety of other business functions are critically dependent on the efficacy of your computer system.

Clearly then, any technology disruption can have disastrous consequences.

Therefore business continuity planning often deals  extensively with maintaining a dependable IT system.

This brings into focus not only the hardware components of the system and its application programs, but also the data contained in the system.

Ways to ensure continuity

Some of the key components that determine system reliability include Data Storage Devices, UPS systems, power generator systems and so on.

And nowadays, Cloud Computing is being relied upon to extend the reliability of Computer Systems and ensure business  continuity in the event of major failure.

There seems to be a tendency to use the expressions ‘business disaster recovery’, and ‘business continuity’ interchangeably.

However upon closer examination it becomes clear that the two concepts are quite distinct.

Continuity of service is the desired state we want to maintain while recovering from any unexpected calamity whether an extended power outage, Computer System failure or other problem.

Such continued operation calls for a comprehensive plan that covers the most probable occurrences.

From this information it can be seen that ensuring business continuity calls for a strategy regardless of the size of the business.

As disasters continue to increase in frequency and magnitude, more and more careful thought must be given to your company’s preparedness to respond in the event of any business threat.

The increasingly prominent role of computers in business calls for highly reliable data backups, hardware redundancy, and keen, effective planning as a way to ensure business continuity in the event of any catastrophe.

Alert: Top Four Threats Attacking Your Network

There are many threats that could be attacking your network. Here are just a few that most clients have happen to them.

Overconfidence
User overconfidence in security products is the top threat to your network.

Failure to “practice safe software” results in nuisance attacks like porn storms (unstoppable rapid fire pornographic pop-ups) and more subtle key loggers that steal passwords.

Surveys promising free stuff result in theft of information like your mother’s maiden name, high school, etc. which can be used to answer common security questions.

To avoid theft of otherwise secure data, think before you click.

Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites like Facebook are exploding in popularity. Threats range from malware (eg. viruses, worms, spyware) to scammers trying to steal your identity, information and money. Many businesses and government agencies are using these sites to communicate with clients and constituents, so simply blocking access is no longer reasonable; defending your company while allowing employee access requires social network education for your employees and the enforcement of strong acceptable use policies.

We can help you develop a policy, then monitor compliance using a Unified Threat Management device that controls and reports on network access.

Attacks On Mobile Devices
Everyone is going mobile these days, not just the “road warriors.”

Once limited to laptop computers, mobile network devices now include PDAs, handheld computers and smart phones, with new appliances appearing in the stores every month. Mobile devices often contain sensitive data yet they are easily lost or stolen.

Be sure to password protect and encrypt data on all mobile devices whenever possible. Include mobile devices in your acceptable use policy.

Cloud Computing
“The Cloud,” in its simplest form, involves using the Internet to access and store your data.

It’s actually thousands of servers all working together to provide computing power. When you access e-mail using a web browser, you are working in “the cloud.” Using the cloud for automated off-site backup is rapidly gaining popularity, but that’s just the beginning.

Companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Google envision the day when we will use inexpensive terminals instead of computers to run programs and access data located somewhere on the Internet.

You need to be sure that any data you store and access across the Internet is secure not just where it is stored, but during the trip to and from the Internet.

Pay close attention to this top threats and it will help with network security.

Microsoft Office 365: Work Anywhere, Anytime?

Microsoft is coming out with a new product called “Microsoft Office 365.”

This product is being pushed more for the business market and not towards home users as much as their popular “Microsoft Office Suite.”

Microsoft Office 365 is a subscription based web application that essentially gives you your copy of Microsoft Office anywhere you are and at any time, using Internet Explorer and a web connection.

This software is powered by Microsoft’s already popular “SharePoint” collaboration application.

Office 365 doesn’t give you access to all of the applications available in the traditional Office suite – for instance, Outlook isn’t included in the package – yet.

Microsoft Office 365 includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft OneNote, and something Microsoft is calling Microsoft Outlook integration.

Outlook integration links a local copy of Outlook that is installed on your PC to the Office 365 suite in the cloud.

One of the best features in Office 365 is the ability to share files and documents on the go through a web interface that acts like a centralized server for your company.

This connection is 100% secure with encrypted data transfers and is password protected allowing only those who know the password to access to your company’s data and files.

This gives you access to the documents that you were working on in the office while you are on the road. And, anyone else in your organization that needs access to your files can use them anytime, anywhere.

Another advantage of using a web based application like this one is that, since it is a web hosted application, you don’t need to install any software.

You can access your documents from any computer with and Internet connection using just your password. The ability to store and work on your documents anywhere doesn’t come without some caveats.

Although Microsoft guarantees 99.9 percent uptime, most Internet service providers don’t. If your entire organization was deployed on the Office 365 platform and your company’s Internet connection went down, you could very well experience a bout of low productivity until everything came back online.

Office 365 and other cloud services are undoubtedly the wave of the future.

If you’d like to explore some cloud solutions for your organization, please give the office a call at 734- 457-5000.

 

Questions About Cloud Computing? Hosted Services 101

With cloud computing taking off the way it has in the information technology field, hosted services are becoming widely implemented, more and more each and every day. So what are hosted services?

Hosted services are a wide variety of IT functions including: email hosting, web hosting, storage, security, monitoring, applications, (SaaS) and infrastructure over the Internet or other wide area networks (WAN).

Email Hosting
This type of service offers premium email at a cost rather than using advertising supported free email, or webmail (IE: Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, etc.).

Email hosting allows for custom configurations, as well as supporting a large number of accounts. Another great benefit that people love is the fact that you can have your email with your own custom domain name.

For example, instead of JSmith@yahoo.com, you can have JSmith@(yourcompanyname).com.

Security can be enhanced with this service, from spam filtering, to custom platforms and policies.

Hosted email is far more customizable then a traditional free email solutions. Most companies that provide email hosting also provide web hosting.

Web Hosting
This service lets users publish personal or professional websites, and make them available via the World Wide Web.

The hosted service provider is basically providing the customer with server space to store the various information, videos, audio, and image files, as well as management and backup services for their websites.

Remote Backup
This service provides users with an online system for backing up computer files and storing them. We covered remote backup service in our September newsletter (www.TechTidBit.com).

Typically, remote backup software would run on a schedule, and backup files daily, compress, encrypt, and sends the files to our servers via the Internet.

The beauty of a remote backup service is the fact that the client does not have to worry about switching and labeling tapes, or any manual steps what so ever.

Disaster recovery takes it a step further, and is able to take a backup image, and virtualizes your entire server. In the event of a server crash or other disaster, the service provider can have your server back online and fully functional within hours.

Hosted services are here to stay, due to their ability to minimize IT and training costs, control and predict your costs, remotely monitor/manage the infrastructure, and maximize the changing business needs and requirements, allowing the business to focus on its operations, and core growth rather than their computer networks.