Archive for the ‘Tech Tips’ Category
Data Security in 2012
Filed under: Tech Tips | Tags: business, networking, security, tips
Leave a Comment What does security mean for small– and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in 2012? It’s a multifaceted subject to consider, and one that we in IT management will no doubt be contending with ongoing. To look at the latest security trends in the coming year, let’s first take a step back to see where we were in order to gauge how we might better protect digital information in 2012.
A New Retention Compliance Paradigm
In October, I touched upon the importance for businesses to comply with relevant federal regulations with regard to records and information archiving, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Both public and private companies are expected to comply with SOX, and institutions need to consider all regulatory rules governing records retention with their industry. The federal government views any type of company information as a business record.
Retention benefits your business by mitigating risk, raising the awareness of corporate governance and internal controls, and can improve an organization’s ability to respond to changing business circumstances. For example, a strong business analytics solution can reduce costs by exposing problems much earlier. Moreover, creating an indexed and searchable email or communications storage system creates a unique company knowledgebase. Secure archiving stores intellectual property and acts as your business blue print — creating an undeletable record of how your company operates, interacts with customers, etc.
Before discussing with a client about how to implement a customized email archiving plan, it’s first critical to establish an email retention policy, as a retention policy is the basis for most of the technological decisions on a project. An email retention policy keeps archiving projects on track and helps inform most technological decisions along the way. Additionally, it is also intended to help employees determine what information sent or received by email should be retained and for how long. For instance, the chosen storage media will depend largely on whether the archiving project is meant solely to reduce the strain on existing storage units, or whether the client also requires it for potential lawsuits or regulatory compliance audits. Retention policies differ from company to company, and often depend on factors like the regulatory laws that govern each company’s industry, so it’s important to make sure businesses data lifecycle management policies don’t short-circuit its email retention policy.
Disaster Recovery Planning for SMBs
According to a recent Symantec study, one in two small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have no disaster recovery (DR) plan in place in the event of a network outage, loss of data or other IT disaster. SMBs are putting themselves at risk of losing their businesses if they have not designed a plan to protect their data (emails, accounting data, patient and client files, company records, legal records and other important documents and information).
Representatives from all departments in a business should be involved in the development of a plan to ensure all critical systems and processes can recover from any possible data loss activity.
Here are tips on what is needed in a DR “tool kit” to help minimize a disaster’s impact on a business’ IT assets: Read more »
The Need for Email Archiving
For many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), unlimited storage of emails is nearly impossible; there are budget constraints, hardware limitations and bandwidth quotas that will never allow enough storage. But there is a solution, email archiving. Archiving refers to a centralized storage plan where items are arranged in a logical and accessible manner that files the emails, but removes them from the server and backs them up safely for future reference.
Telecommuting Securely
Filed under: Tech Tips | Tags: business, cloud, networking, tips
Leave a Comment Based on research provided by the Telework Research Network, it is estimated that 20 to 30 million people currently work from home at least one day a week. Telecommuting offers many benefits to the employer, employee and the environment.
Advancements in technology, such as remote access, mobile platforms, and virtual private network (VPN), allow employees to work from virtually anywhere. Whether a business allows employees to work remotely once-a-week or several days per week, it is essential that a business sets up a comprehensive telecommuting plan.
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Tips on Being IT Secure
The computer network is probably the most important tool in any company. For that reason, the security of computers is crucial for its success. If information is stolen or lost, proprietary information about the company may be revealed. The more a business does to keep their computers secure, the safer the information will remain.
Here are 10 ways a business can best protect its computers, the data and its networks: Read more »
A Question for Many SMBs: What to do with Old/Unneeded PCs?
Filed under: Tech Tips | Tags: business, maintenance, save money, security, tips
Leave a Comment Whether a small- to medium-sized business (SMB) has a few computers or hundreds of computers, at some point there will be the need to replace them. Businesses often ask – what do we do with the old PCs? There are several options, including selling, donating, upgrading, repurposing and recycling.
Here are a few of those options:
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Data Protection Before and After a Security Breach
Two recent security breaches caused concern by millions of online consumers. Rightly, so…. Sony confirmed that personal information of its PlayStation Network (PSN) and Qriocity service customers has been compromised in a hacking attack. And Epsilon, an email marketing firm that services companies including TiVo, Best Buy and Walgreens, experienced an enormous email breach, putting customers’ email addresses in the hands of hackers.
Sony addressed its more than 70 million global PSN customers by posting an update on its blog alerting customers that credit card numbers (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained. At the posting of this blog, their network is still not completely restored.
While my blogs are traditionally focused on small and medium sized businesses, in light of these recent security breaches, I thought it would be important to provide a few tips on avoiding virus attacks, identify theft or other security breaches. Many Internet security issues are preventable and only require a few computer updates and of course, some common sense.
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Top Cloud Computing Benefits for SMBs
Filed under: New & Exciting, Tech Tips | Tags: business, cloud, save money, tips
Comments (1) Cloud computing offers many services to businesses including infrastructure, applications, and/or storage space, all for a nominal fee. This is extremely beneficial to the many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) investigating making the move to the cloud.
Like any business, SMBs want to keep costs under control. They are not looking to purchase additional infrastructure, servers, application programs and operation systems for use at their own premises. That’s where the cloud comes into the picture. Cloud hosting enables a business to run its websites or any other computing service on one or more virtual servers, making cloud hosting an extremely popular and valuable service.
Cloud computing is an on-demand subscription model, enabling on-demand access to reliable and configurable resources that can be quickly provisioned and released. An SMB pays only for the resources it uses making cloud computing a huge advantage.
Top cloud computing benefits for SMBs include:
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The Benefits of Cloud-based Solutions: Hard ROI vs. Soft ROI
As I’ve discussed in this blog, today many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are discovering the benefits of cloud-based solutions, or “virtualization.” By virtualizing, a business’ server capacity and business applications can avoid the need for a costly investment in hardware and software, and the organization can focus its attention and budget on the core business.
With cloud-based solutions it is no longer necessary to spend valuable investment funds on in-house servers and complex infrastructure technology. An IT service provider can help create a platform that can handle a business’ IT needs.
By working in the cloud, an organization will be flexible and cost efficient and they can easily respond to changing market needs, internal demands, and the arrival of new technologies. The IT service provider keeps them ahead of the game when it comes to hardware and software, allowing the organizations to concentrate on the business.
When considering the costs, benefits, and potential return on investment (ROI) of cloud-based solutions, IT Managers should consider two primary types of ROI calculations: Hard ROI and Soft ROI. Read more »
