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Proactive Computer Network Management Reduces Total Cost of Ownership

In today’s challenging economic times, many small businesses like yours are reluctant to spend money. However, a modest investment in network maintenance can ultimately improve your profitability and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of your network infrastructure. Your business depends on your network Your revenue is directly tied to the availability and performance of your network, because it’s the backbone of your business. Your network houses critical applications, allows your employees to communicate, and gives customers access your goods and services. When your network fails, your business suffers. Employees cannot access the applications and information they need to keep your business up and running, and basic means of communication, such as printing, filing, and emailing, are unavailable. At the same time, customers cannot access the information they need to buy your products. You’re forced to spend time and money to get the system up and running, increasing your TCO. The end result: productivity declines and revenue decreases. Managing your network can prevent revenue loss It pays to minimize network performance degradation and downtime, and a network management system will help you do this. Large companies have long deployed such systems, but as networks become more critical to smaller businesses, they have become important for small- and mid-size enterprises as well. A network management system will provide tools that improve network performance, help network administrators manage the network more efficiently, and include an early warning system for network outages. These benefits allow your business to operate more efficiently, thereby cutting costs and preventing revenue loss—and reducing the TCO of your network infrastructure. Need Help? Finding a good network management system and deploying it correctly is by no means a simple task, but there are plenty of solutions that provide the necessary functionality at a relatively low cost. We can help you deploy an easy-to-use network management system that helps you manage your network more efficiently and save money at the same time. Contact us today for more information. Related articles: Assessing the business impact of network management on small and mid-size enterprises

Business Impact of a Major Data Loss Event

Data breaches are costing companies more than ever, according to a recent study—and smaller companies may be most at risk. Data losses, which can result from theft or carelessness, are a downside of the information age. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), more than 35 million data records were breached in 2008 in the United States—47 percent more than in 2007. How much do data losses cost? The Ponemon Institute, which studies business privacy practices, surveyed 43 U.S. companies across 17 industry sectors that lost data in 2008. According to the study, data losses ranged from 4,200 records to 113,000 records, and each data record lost cost $202—making the total cost between $848,400 and $22,826,000. That number was up from $197 per data record lost in 2007, $182 in 2006, and $138 in 2005, the first year the study was conducted. Why are data losses so costly? When you lose data, a number of costs are incurred, including detecting data losses, notifying victims, paying for victim reparations (such as free credit checks), and hiring experts to remedy the problem. You also must account for business lost as a result of customer mistrust. In fact, in the Ponemon study, $139 of the lost $202 per data record represented the cost of lost business. Small companies may suffer the most from data losses. Another study conducted earlier this year by StollzNow Research asked IT managers from 945 companies about their experiences related to data management. They found that an alarming 49 percent of small companies fail to back up their data on a daily basis. This is despite the fact that nearly half of all participants experienced data loss in their workplace in the past two years, and 36 percent felt that data loss could have a significant impact on their business. Don’t put yourself at risk. We can help you prevent costly data loss by implementing a policy for the preservation of data, and by installing and testing backup systems on a regular basis. Related articles: Tech Managers Often Underestimate Impact of Data Loss Study: Data Losses Proving More Costly for Businesses

Considering Netbooks for Your Business?

Market research organization Techaisle recently released a study forecasting that SMBs worldwide will purchase 1.1 million Netbooks in 2009, jumping to 3.5 million units in 2010. Between 22 and 30 percent of SMBs said that they are considering Netbook purchases as they upgrading core desktops and notebooks. Designed primarily for wireless communication and access to the Internet, Netbooks are small portable laptop computers equipped with wireless connectivity, no optical disk drive, a small keyboard, and screens usually no larger than 10 inches. According to the survey, this interest in Netbooks is fueled by the global economic crisis forcing companies to rein in IT spending, as well as by increased interest in easy and low-cost access to mobile computing. The study suggests that while some are considering Netbooks as a possible replacement for desktops and notebooks, it is more likely that they will be used to augment those items. Contact us for ideas on how Netbooks might benefit your own business operations. Related links: Global SMBs TO Buy 1.1 Million Netbooks in 2009 ABI Thinks Netbooks Will Win How the Netbook is changing the industry Netbooks, Small, Efficient Web Tool

Are you regularly defragmenting your disks?

When most people want to purchase a new computer or upgrade their current one, they focus on finding a CPU with the quickest speed, the most computing cores, or the most RAM they can afford. However, they may be overlooking the most likely reason for computing slowdowns: fragmentation in the disks. Disk drives claim the dubious distinction of being the slowest component on today’s computers, and the more fragmented they are, the more they drag down the performance of the entire system. Fragmentation is the scattering or fragmenting of files on a hard drive from continually writing, deleting, and resizing them. The more you use your computer, the more these bits of data get scattered about. As this happens, it takes longer for the computer to retrieve this data as it reads back from the disk. Defragmentation is the process in which a special software utility is run to arrange all of this data into contiguous spaces on the disk. Today, frequent defragmentation is becoming more and more important as drive capacities become larger and we start to use our disks more heavily. We now regularly store and retrieve various forms of media such as photos, images, music and videos from our computer disks. Thousands of media files dramatically increase disk fragmentation. We also use our systems to run “virtualized” guest operating systems, which also dramatically increases file fragmentation as these operating systems perform simultaneous read/write operations on the disk. Resident antivirus programs will also slow down disk operation if it is made to continuously read fragmented files. In a business maintaining several computers, these operations will significantly shorten the life span of the drives, and will also contribute to work slowdowns and productivity loss. So before spending money on a new CPU or RAM upgrade, try defragmenting first. Let us help you implement a schedule and procedures to better manage this important process.

Why a PDF is Best for Sharing Files

PDF stands for Portable Document Format , a file format that originated in print publishing as a tool for proofing print jobs before sending them to the printer. Today, it has become the standard for sharing print-ready documents via the Internet. The format was developed by Adobe and was originally available only to owners of the company’s Acrobat software. During the mid-90s, Adobe began distributing Acrobat Reader software, a free tool for viewing PDF files – making it a popular choice for authors, publishers, and designers who wanted to get around the formatting limitations of HTML . PDF is now accepted as an open standard, and is widely supported by other software vendors. Several characteristics of PDF make it a great choice for sharing or publishing documents over the Internet. Ability to retain formatting. PDF allows the original presentation and formatting of any document to remain exactly as its original author intended it to look, including images, fonts, and layout. This is a distinct advantage over other formats such as Microsoft Office documents or HTML, which can change the document’s appearance according to the software and fonts installed on the computer used to view the document. Security. With PDF documents, you have full control over users’ ability to open, print, copy,modify, or share documents. You can selectively enable or disable these actions for each document according to your preferences. Easy to create. Because PDF has become an open standard, many software vendors support the format.You don’t necessarily need Adobe’s Acrobat software to create PDF documents. Many plug-ins for Microsoft Office, print drivers, or online conversion services are available free or for a fee and make it easy and convenient to publish or export to the format. Compressible. PDF file sizes can be shrunk to suit the needs of target users. PDF documents can be packaged and compressed while retaining the original quality, or can be down-sampled and compressed to dramatically reduce file size, making it quick to download over the web. Powerful and flexible. You can add interactive elements including form fields, hyperlinks,electronic signatures, and multimedia such as sounds and videos to your PDF documents. Although these features are also available with other formats,they are not as easy to package and share as PDF. So consider switching to PDF when you want to share or publish documents over the Internet. If you need assistance, let us know – we can help. Related articles: Customize PDFs online with these tools PDF Converter Downloads 4 Very Light Alternatives to Adobe Reader

Getting Started with CRM

In today’s tough economic environment, converting your most promising prospects into customers and your current customers into loyal patrons is more important than ever. Whether your business is big or small, you need your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts to work together in sync-and this can only truly be done with a Customer Relationship Management program and system in place. What is CRM? Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a broad term that covers the management of all aspects of a company’s interaction and relationship with customers. It involves strategies, programs, and tactics to put the customer at the center of your business, with the goals of differentiating the company’s competitive positioning, attracting leads, encouraging customer adoption, improving customer satisfaction, encouraging customer loyalty-and ultimately driving revenue growth and profitability. Why is Automation in Implementing CRM Important? Among many other outcomes, an effective CRM involves properly identifying exactly who your customers are by not only segmenting them into groups but actually identifying them one by one so you can tailor your interaction with them in a way that meets their individual needs, wants, and expectations. And not only that, you also need to capture, store, and analyze each interaction with them in order to maximize your efforts. As a business owner, you have a lot to focus on, and to implement CRM effectively, automation is definitely key. Attempting to achieve the goals mentioned above manually with a paper system takes a huge amount of time and effort, with incomplete results that often don’t justify that cost. You need to implement efficient technologies that support coordinated interactions through all customer channels across all customer touch-points, whether they happen through e-mail, phone, fax, instant messaging, via the web, or in face-to-face meetings with your sales people. You can only do all these things efficiently and effectively with an automated CRM system. What Do You Need to Consider when Evaluating CRM Systems? These days there are so many CRM options available that choosing the one best for your needs can be confusing. In evaluating your options, it’s important that you weigh a system’s features against your particular circumstances and business goals. As you begin researching different services, keep in mind what your goals are, any constraints you have to work within (such as budget), and who are the expected users of the system. One of the first things to consider is whether you need an “on-demand” or an “on-premise” solution. On-premise solutions involve purchasing CRM software that runs on your own hardware and server. On-demand solutions are externally hosted systems accessible via the Internet. These convenient internet-based systems have no hardware or software set up requirements – saving you time and money. With employment trends heading more and more toward virtual or mobile employees, on-demand solutions are the best way to go for a lot of small- and medium-sized businesses. In some cases, however, there is good reason to run CRM software on your own server, inside your own office. For instance, if security is of paramount concern, especially if you’re handling sensitive customer data, then you might be uneasy letting someone else manage your system for you. Also, if an always-on Internet connection is not possible, or if you need to integrate your CRM system with other systems (such as your telephony or accounting package), then an on-premise solution is the way to go. Another important consideration is deciding what type of CRM system you want. Some CRM systems are geared towards marketing, and provide excellent automated lead generation, lead tracking, and marketing communication packages. Others focus on managing the activities of sales people, providing prospect and account management as well as opportunity management. Still others automate all aspects of the customer service function, such as automated helpdesk systems and knowledgebase. Finally, some focus on customer analytics, converting raw customer data from various systems into information you can act on. Whichever type of CRM you choose, make sure that you research all the options available to you carefully. Be sure to check with your IT services professional for help in not only finding the right fit for your business, but also in adopting a system that will integrate well with your current or planned IT structure.

Protect Yourself from Adware and Malware

While the internet is a vast resource for all sorts of information, data, and other useful thingamajigs, there are aspects of it that aren’t so desirable. Viruses, for instance. They wreak havoc in your system, destroying files, crashing the operating system – generally making life much more difficult. But if you thought that viruses were the only nasty thing out there that you need protection from, think again. Adware (advertising software) and malware (malicious software) are types of harmful software called “spyware” that are not usually covered by anti-virus scans. While viruses affect your system directly, spyware runs in the background and transmits information about you through the ’net, which can be used a number of ways ranging from annoying to downright illegal. These dangers are often unnoticed by users since they don’t directly affect the computer’s operation the way viruses do. What’s more, many people confuse them with viruses, but they’re very different and should be handled differently. Lots of spyware can also slow down your computer, so it’s important to have anti-spyware programs installed on your computer to keep it free from these harmful invaders. There are many free spyware scanners and removers on the internet – simply download and install one, and then run it on a regular basis. Scanning for adware, spyware, and malware takes approximately the same time as doing a virus scan. Also, remember to update your scanners so that you have current definitions and less chance of overlooking new threats. Finally, we recommend that you refrain from visiting and downloading from unfamiliar websites since they could serve as hosts for both spyware and viruses.

Free Online Solutions Make Your Life Easier

Do you frequently struggle with creating PDF documents, sending large files through email, and converting various file types from one to another? If so, you may have found that some mainstream solutions are complicated and time consuming. But there are some online solutions that can help you with these common tasks without requiring you to learn complicated applications and workflows, or even install anything on your computer. CutePDF – makes PDF a piece of cake PDF files ave become a standard in document exchange between professionals around the world. The only problem with this is that you usually need expensive programs like Adobe InDesign or Photoshop to generate them, but thankfully CutePDF is here to save the day. CutePDF is an online tool that converts all compatible documents, such as MS Word or MS Excel files, into PDF format, which you can then send out. Simply download the easy-to-understand free version, and convert your documents to PDF in a jiffy. You can also purchase a pro version with more features if you need them. Send large files through YouSendIt If you exchange files on the web – especially audio or video files, or programs and installers – then you’ve probably been frustrated by most email servers’ inability to handle large files. Now you can use YouSendIt, a free online service that lets you send files up to 100MB easily and quickly. Just upload the files you want to send and enter the email address, and the recipient will get an email with instructions for downloading the files from the YouSendIt servers. If you register for a free account, you can opt to have your own email address appear as the sender. Again, there is also an optional paid version that increases the maximum size limit. Convert your files using YouConvertIt File conversion is yet another tricky and frustrating issue. Opening .docx (MS Office 2007) documents, for instance, in older versions, or using some video and audio files in foreign formats, requires the user of a special converter. The problem with converters is that you have to scour the internet looking for the specific converter you need for each situation, and often each operates differently. With YouConvertIt, you simply enter your email address, upload the file you want to convert, choose output file type, click convert, then follow the instructions given. It’s a simple as that. The more professional and long-winded approaches to accomplishing these tasks do have their merits, but most of us don’t need or want the hassle. With these free, online solutions you can quickly accomplish what you need in just a few simple and easy steps.

Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support for Windows XP

Last April 14, Microsoft officially announced the end of mainstream support for Windows XP , seven years after XP originally shipped. Non-security patches, fixes, and updates are no longer available free from Microsoft, and phone support for security and non-security related issues and change requests are no longer provided. Any future bugs found in the platform will not be fixed without a fee. This new development affects all versions of XP (except for Embedded): Home Edition, Media Center Edition 2002, Media Center Edition 2004, Media Center Edition 2005, Professional, Professional x64 Edition, Tablet PC Edition, and Tablet PC Edition 2005. About 63 per cent of all internet connected computers still use Windows XP, according to March 2009 statistics from Hitslink , while Windows Vista makes up about 24 per cent. Businesses are in no hurry to move to the forthcoming Windows 7, either. A survey released by appliance vendor Kace revealed that 83% of businesses have no plans to upgrade their PCs to Windows 7 within the first 12 months of its availability. Microsoft is expected to release Windows 7 later this year or early next . However, companies enrolled under Microsoft’s Premiere customer program have no worries, since Extended Support is available for them until April 8, 2014. Unfortunately this program is typically only available to large enterprise customers who enjoy volume licensing . Small businesses may be out of luck, unless they can work out a deal with a Microsoft channel partner for non-security related support. Microsoft emphasized that security-related patches will still be issued for all legitimate XP users at no charge. This includes fixes for vulnerabilities inside Windows that worms such as Conficker exploit . Those planning to upgrade, take note: while Windows 7 users will be able to downgrade to Windows XP, the reverse will not be true. Microsoft said in its Engineering Windows 7 blog that XP users will have to perform a full install to have a smooth experience with Windows 7. Concerned? We can help you sort out how these new policies affect you. Call us today.

Boosting productivity by ‘not working’

Apparently, the well known adage “All work and no play make Johnny a dull boy” isn’t just some excuse to be laid back and take a break from the drudgery of work (hah, drudgery), but is really a fact based on science. At least as far as the fellows from the University of Melbourne in Australia are concerned. A recent study conducted by the University’s Department of Management and Marketing has shown that moderate internet browsing for personal uses during working hours (and MODERATE is the operative term here) actually increases productivity among workers. This a big “Ha! I knew it.” moment for many, with most employers preferring that their employees not be posting new status messages on Facebook or checking out the latest sensation from Britain’s Got Talent from YouTube. Their reasoning being that it wastes company resources and makes employees lazy. 300 employees from different companies were made part of the study, where it was found out that workers who use the internet for personal reasons, called “Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing” or (WILB) in the study, for less than 20 percent of their working hours were 9 percent more effective, focused, and therefore productive in their respective jobs. WILB activities usually encompassed searching for and researching about products to buy online, reading blogs and news websites, social networking (like Facebook, MySpace or Friendster) activities, playing online games, and watching streaming videos from sites like YouTube and Veoh. Professor Brent Coker, the man behind the research, explains that people need short breaks to reset their concentration. According to him, focusing on a certain task for too long degrades the level concentration, making “zoning out” from time to time essential in maintaining an optimal frame of mind to be able to accomplish a work task efficiently. But before you lug your gaming CDs to the office or prepare for marathon runs of your favourite Facebook application, Dr. Coker is quick to remind everyone of the term MODERATE usage. Anything beyond that, he says, will then result in loss of productivity. So don’t feel too guilty when you watch Susan Boyle belt her heart out on YouTube for a couple of minutes or post a comment or two on Facebook. As long as you get right back to work afterward, no harm, no foul.

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